Choices - 11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It had been four days since Liam’s dinner with Nathan, and he still hadn’t contacted Aleksei. After talking to Marty a few hours earlier, he decided it was time. His best friend was concerned about Liam getting hurt again, but said he would support Liam in whatever decision he made.

Liam still wasn’t sure he wanted Alek back in his life, but did want to know if Alek was serious, or if he would buckle under family pressure. This was the day of the dinner Alek’s father had demanded he attend, and Liam was curious as to what the previously dutiful son would do. Would he stick to his guns? Bryce’s vote was that Alek would cave, but Liam wasn’t so sure.

He had pulled up Alek’s number several times during the week, but couldn’t bring himself to call. Part of his hesitation was to protect himself, but he also didn’t want to give Alek false hope. For both their sakes, Liam needed to be sure of himself and his own motives before contacting his ex-boyfriend. Alek might have disappointed him by walking out, but Liam didn’t want to cause him any unnecessary pain. Marty’s advice had been to tell Alek up front he only wanted to talk, without any strings attached. That way, he could get his answers and still be able to walk away at the end with a clear conscience.

Once his exercises were out of the way, and he’d swept the floors three times, Liam finally felt ready to make contact. He wasn’t sure if Alek would be at home, or at the shop, so he chose to call his cell. Alek carried the thing everywhere.

After only two rings a hesitant-sounding Aleksei answered. “Liam? Is everything okay?”

Liam stifled a laugh. “Everything is fine. I wanted to talk to you. Do you have time? Maybe we can meet for coffee at around seven?” It was probably childish of him, but he wanted to see if Alek would meet him at a time he was supposed to be with family.

“Coffee?” Alek sounded confused. “Yeah, I can do coffee. Is there something going on?”

“There’s nothing going on. I just wanted to talk to you about... there’s something I want to discuss with you. No obligations, no expectations, just to talk.”

“Umm. If this is a conversation you don’t want to have in public, I could come to you, or you could come here? We would have privacy.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, us being alone together.”

“Okay, Li,” he acquiesced quickly. “Whatever you want. I can meet you somewhere. How about Annie’s?”

“Annie’s would be great. I’ll see you at seven.”

Liam ended the call and took a deep breath. The coming conversation was going to be difficult, for both of them.

Liam arrived a little before seven, wanting to be early enough to prepare himself and get settled, but found Alek already waiting at a corner table. With a tight smile, he wove through the diners, finally coming to a stop in front of the cautious-looking man.

Alek gestured for him to sit and leaned his forearms on the table. “I ordered you an Earl Grey with honey,” he said with a slight upturn of his mouth.

Liam knew it was stupid, but he was touched Alek would remember what he liked to drink. They had been together for a year, but still, it surprised him. “Thank you.”

Neither man said anything when the waitress approached with a tray laden with two steaming mugs, and two plates of decadent smelling apple pie. “I also ordered dessert,” Alek admitted with a shrug.

Liam chuckled, and thanked the woman before turning his attention back to the handsome brunette. “I appreciate you meeting me.”

“Of course.” Alek’s expression changed from bemused to a look of concern. “You’re sure everything is okay?”

“There’s nothing wrong, Aleksei. I just heard some things… things I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh?”

“I was….” Liam cleared his throat, and then took a sip of his tea to buy himself a few moments. “I was taking a walk on Monday and ended up near the garage.” He paused again, meeting Alek’s gaze.

“My garage? You were at my garage?”

“Yes. At around four that afternoon.”

Alek’s brow furrowed, and his confusion was evident. “Okay? You were near my garage at four on Monday. I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”

“Your father was there.” Liam saw the moment when Alek’s eyes widened with comprehension.

“How much did you hear?”

“Enough to get the impression you broke things off with your girlfriend, and your parents weren’t happy about it.”

Alek rubbed the heel of his hands over his eyes. “Not happy is an understatement. My father was furious. I just….” He lowered his hands and stared at Liam. “I couldn’t lie anymore. I’m tired of pretending to be someone I’m not. Life is too short to live for someone else.”

Liam’s breath caught at the emotion he saw in Alek’s suspiciously damp eyes. “I can’t believe you actually did it.”

“After your accident, I was miserable. I know I lost you because of my own selfish stubbornness, but the thought of you being gone from the world forever… it hit me hard. It’s too late to fix the past, and I’ve fucked up more that can be forgiven, but I couldn’t keep pretending to be something I’m not.”

Liam struggled to stay calm in front of the big man. “I called Nat,” he confessed.

“Why?”

“I had some questions about what I overheard at the garage.”

The look of hurt on Alek’s face made Liam flush with guilt. “Why didn’t you just ask me?”

“Alek… I couldn’t. You have to understand. After everything that happened between us, I needed to talk to someone who would be completely honest with me.”

Alek’s disappointment was palpable as he lowered his head. “I guess I deserved that. I know I haven’t given you any reason to trust me.”

Liam sighed, knowing he wasn’t expressing himself properly. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, but I can count on Natascha not to sugar-coat anything for me. She wouldn’t be afraid to hurt my feelings.”

Alek looked resigned when he raised his head. “I get it, Li. Nat has never been shy with her opinion. What did you two discuss?”

“She told me you broke up with Natalia, and that you came out to your parents.”

Alek took his coffee cup in his hands and wrapped his long fingers around the white porcelain. “Natalia and I talked the day of your accident, but I didn’t break the news to my parents until last Wednesday.”

“Why did it take so long for you to tell your parents about the break-up? Surely her father would have mentioned something before now. Your sister said he and your dad were friends.”

“Nata asked me to wait. She was in the middle of a huge project at school, and didn’t want the fallout to throw off her focus. She’s a sweet girl. After sticking with me for so long, the least I owed her was the benefit of time.”

“You make it sound as though the breakup didn’t upset her. I would have thought she’d be more devastated having her boyfriend dump her than by her parents’ reactions.”

Alek shook his head. “We were never together like that.” Earnest brown eyes met Liam’s as if trying to convey the truth through a look. “She knew I was gay almost from the moment we met in person. Nata is a smart girl. Her parents have hounded her for years about me, and when we finally got the chance to have a private conversation, we decided it would be the best thing for both of us just to play along. Nata wants to finish her business degree and apply for permanent citizenship when she graduates. I wanted my parents off my back. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“It’s great she wasn’t hurt, but I still don’t understand the timing. You had the perfect set-up going. Your parents were happy, and you could carry on like the perfect straight son without them being any the wiser.”

Alek visibly flinched, but Liam refused to feel guilty. In his eyes, it was always more important to Alek that he be the perfect son, even at the expense of his relationships.

“You’re right. That was the old me… that was how I used to think, but seeing you in that car, trapped by mangled metal and glass, made something inside snap. Perfect is an illusion. I was making myself miserable—hell I took you for granted—and for what? So my father would be proud of me? I hurt you, and I know I’ve lost my chance, but I wanted to be someone who deserves a man like you. I would never be worthy of a love like we shared if I was always lying.”

“But, the repercussions could be bad for you,” Liam pointed out. “Your dad was tied so closely with your business. Won’t that cause you problems now?”

Unexpectedly, Alek smiled, looking pleased with himself. “He can’t touch my business. I have alternate financing. Jason put me in touch with a private lender, and helped me to set up the loan. “

“Jason?” Liam nearly shouted. “Corey’s Jason?”

“Yes, Jason Sedor” Alek responded, his forehead creasing in confusion again. “He’s the only lawyer I know.”

“How the hell is he involved in this? Why didn’t he say anything? Why didn’t Corey? Fuck, I even talked to Corey the other day and he didn’t say a word.” Liam’s agitation was causing his voice to rise. The feeling of being betrayed by his friends stung.

“Jason couldn’t say anything.” Alek asked, touching Liam’s arm before pulling away again. “He’s a great lawyer, and would never breach a client’s confidentiality, even with his husband.”

Liam felt foolish now. Alek was right. Jason would never breach Aleksei’s trust by spilling his secrets. “I apologize. I was just surprised.”

“That’s understandable. I think he was equally shocked to see me walking into his office, but I remembered him mentioning he knew the name of a few private lenders who offer business loans. I had no idea if he would help me or not. I couldn’t have been his favourite person, but he was professional and very helpful. With the new financing, I can pay off my start-up loan, so my father won’t have that to hold over my head.”

“He must have been livid.”

“I thought he was going to have a stroke when I told him.”

“But what about the contract from that business friend of his? Can they go after you that way?”

“The contract is binding on them for the next two years. I had Jason review it, just to be sure. Unless they can prove negligence or wrongdoing on my part, Niko is obligated to pay me the minimum contract price if he tries to renege. I won’t be needing them for very long, in any event. At the beginning of the year I won the bid with the Ontario Provincial Police to recover all accidents in the jurisdiction. There are enough of those to keep my drivers busy.” Sadness crept back into Alek’s eyes. “Your accident was our third call after the contract took effect.”

Not allowing himself to overthink, Liam reached for Alek’s hand. “I never told you how grateful I was you were there. I was confused and scared. Yours was the only face I recognized. You made me feel safe, like everything was going to be okay.”

“I’m glad I could be there for you.” Alek smiled, and some of his sadness seemed to lift. “I hated to see you hurting and not be able to do anything about it.”

“You did do something. You stuck by me so I didn’t feel alone. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Is Natalia going to have problems with her parents now?” Liam asked, genuinely curious.

“Sergei, her father, is livid with me, and Nata said he was angrier for her than with her.”

“That must be a relief. I know you said the relationship wasn’t real, but it sounds as though you care about her.”

“I do,” Alek admitted. He took a bite of his pie, chewing slowly, before speaking again. “She kept encouraging me to make things right with you. She said I would never be happy otherwise.”

“You talked to her about me?” Liam asked, trying to ignore the flutter in his chest.

“Nata figured out early on I was pining for someone. When she asked me outright, I confessed. I knew enough about her by then I was sure she wouldn’t judge, or tell my secrets.”

“She sounds like a good friend.”

“A very good friend. I think she felt guilty asking me to wait to come out to my parents, especially after all of her lectures about you.”

“Well, if it means anything, I’m proud of you. I know it couldn’t have been easy.”

“That means a lot. You have no idea how much.” Alek’s face lit up and he looked as though a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He started to speak again when his cell phone rang. With a grimace he reached into his pocket and checked the number. “I have to take this, I’m sorry.”

Liam nodded in acknowledgement and tried not to eavesdrop on the conversation. From what he did hear, the call was about an accident just outside of Kingston.

“Damn, I have to go. There’s been a collision on the 401. They need a truck out there right away. I’d send out another driver, but John’s been working ten days straight without a day off, and Seb’s got the kids while his wife is working. I really need to hire a few more people.”

“Don’t worry about it. I hope everyone is all right. Stay safe out there, okay?”

“I will.” Alek smiled again, although it was tinged with sadness. “Thank you for inviting me out. I’ve wanted to clear the air for a long time.” Liam nodded, but didn’t speak. “My only regret is not getting my head out of my ass before it was too late.” Alek stood, and placed a chaste kiss against Liam’s hair. “For what it’s worth, I will always regret hurting you. Be happy, Liam. I hope Nathan treats you as well as you deserve.”

Liam was speechless as Alek put enough money on the table to pay their bill, before turning on his heel and heading out the door. A big part of Liam wanted to run after Alek and explain, to tell him the truth, but now was not the time. Alek was needed elsewhere.

Thank you to my editor/beta and friend, Gary for all of his help and advice.   Thank you to everyone who reads and supports this story.