The Freshmen - 44. Chapter 44

October 9, 2004

Santa Cruz, CA

Will

“He’s a professional?” Travis asked. “What does that even mean?”

“It means that he’s probably really good at stalking, and maybe other things,” Jake said. “And it also means that someone hired him.”

“What makes you think he’s a professional?” I asked.

“Because he had the fake ID and $50 in his wallet and nothing else,” Jake explained. “If he were just some underage guy trying to get in, he’d probably have other things in his wallet, like his real driver’s license and a credit card or two.” I nodded because that made total sense.

“Someone hired this dude to mess with me?” Travis asked, then started to freak the fuck out.

“Hey,” I said to him. I was sitting behind him so I wrapped my arms around him. “Let’s hear Jake’s hypothesis on this.” I felt him relax, all but collapsing into me.

“It seems that no matter what I do, and how much shit I overcome, there’s always someone else out there with a knife aimed at my back,” he said bitterly.

“I know,” I said, maintaining my calm pose. “So first we have to hear what this means, then we have to figure out who hates you.”

“Fine,” he said. We all looked at Jake, telling him to go on.

“Chuck, or whatever his real name, is probably someone people hire when they want to screw around with someone,” Jake said. “I don’t know what his skill set is, but he is damn good at stalking.”

“If he’s a professional, that means he’s very dangerous,” Dad mused.

“He probably is,” Jake agreed. “We’ll try to do a search and see if we can find out who he is.”

“Is this guy a hit man?” I asked.

“He could be, but I doubt it,” Jake said.

“Why?” Dad asked.

“Because he’s had a lot of opportunities to kill Travis,” Jake said, then turned to speak directly to Travis. “From the time you took him home from the bar to the last time he smiled at you in the limo, he’s been close enough to do it.”

“You’re saying he’s not trying to kill me because if he was, he’d have probably already done it?” Travis asked and started to lose his shit all over again.

“Look, I have no idea what’s at play here, but that’s my guess,” Jake said.

“So you don’t think this dude will start out stalking, then advance to kidnapping or murder?” I asked.

“I don’t think so,” Jake said.

“So what is he doing this for?” Travis asked.

“Think about what he’s done to you just this week,” Dad said. “Will said that since this started you’ve gotten more and more uptight. He has really stressed you out. And then when he messed up your apartment, you damn near melted down.”

“So your guess here is that this person doesn’t really want to kill Travis, they just want to torture him?” I asked.

“That’s my guess,” Jake said. “So we can chase this guy all over New York, and maybe we’ll catch him, but the smarter thing to do is to try to figure out who’s behind this.”

“Who would want to cause you pain?” Dad asked.

“I don’t know,” Travis said. “My first guess is Taylor or Zach.”

“I don’t think Zach would do that,” I said, and got a dirty look from Travis for once again being the Zach channeller.

“You don’t think he’s capable of doing that?” Dad asked.

“I don’t think he gives a shit enough to do it,” I said. “He’d have to find someone to do the stalking and that’s a major hassle. Then he’d have to pay the dude, and I don’t think he has that kind of cash, and even if he did, he wouldn’t piss it away on something this stupid.”

“It’s not stupid; it’s fucking scary,” Travis said. His voice was pretty loud so I pinched his nipple hard to tell him that wasn’t cool. “Ouch!”

“If he was that determined to mess with you, you would have seen signs of that before now,” I said. “I’m willing to bet it’s not him. How many millions you want to wager?” Zach wasn’t like Elizabeth Danfield or Alexandra Carmichael, who would come up with complicated schemes and nurse their hatred until they could satisfy it with vengeance. They all thought about my words then calmed down.

“It’s probably not him,” Travis admitted.

“What about Taylor?” Dad asked.

“She’s a much more likely candidate,” Travis said.

“She’s got enough skeletons in her closet that she doesn’t want coming out. It’s pretty risky to pick a fight with you,” I added.

“She’d figure that I’d keep my mouth shut so it didn’t hurt me too,” Travis said.

“That’s a lot of risk for her, and in the end, what’s the reward?” I asked.

“She gets to see me suffer,” Travis said. “That would be enough.”

“Really?” Dad asked.

“Really,” Travis answered. “She is an evil, scheming bitch. She is more than capable of pulling this off. She’s probably spending the money we gave her to do it.” As soon as he thought about Taylor, I could feel the anger exploding in his body. She was like kryptonite to him.

“At least we can rule out Curtis,” I said, referring to the guy who had pretended to be Travis’s father for most of his life.

“Can we?” Dad asked.

“I mean, he’s dead,” Travis responded.

“He could have left money and instructions with one of his henchmen to do something like this,” Dad hypothesized.

“I can see him doing that,” Travis said. “It would be just like him to find a way to torment me from beyond the grave.”

“What about the people you’re working with?” I asked Travis. “Do you get along with them?”

“You’re thinking one of them could have done this?” Travis asked.

“If someone were jealous of you, or if you snaked a role away from them, I’m wondering if they could be that petty,” I responded.

“Based on my experience with Hollywood celebrities, they can be that petty,” Dad said, which was pretty funny.

“There’s definitely a hierarchy at Sunset Valley,” Travis said. “The actors who have been on the show a long time and are the main characters have their own clique. They expect everyone else to worship them. That doesn’t mean that they get along with each other; it’s sort of like a class thing.”

“You mean it’s like society and all stratified?” I asked.

“Kind of,” Travis agreed. “It’s pretty much based on either seniority or how much airtime that person gets.”

“So how do they treat you?” I asked.

“Most of them ignore me and act like I’m just there to serve as a backdrop for them to spout their lines so they can look fabulous,” he said, shaking his head. “The others are really nice to me because they think I’m hot.”

“I can see that,” Jake said. It was pretty funny that he agreed with Travis’s statement about being hot since he and Travis looked so much alike.

“I’ve only had issues with two people,” Travis said. “Meredith Lucas and Jack Roenig.”

“Why don’t they like you?” I asked.

“Jack wanted my part and obviously didn’t get it,” Travis said. “He got cast into a role where he’s basically an extra that occasionally gets a line or two. It’s pretty clear that he’s jealous of me.”

“You think that’s enough to make him hire a stalker?” Dad asked.

“No, but Meredith could have,” Travis said. “She’s his girlfriend, and she plays a character who has been around for a while and gets a lot of lines. She was lobbying for Jack to get the part. She makes enough cash to hire Chuck Diller if she wanted to. It’s worth noting that she’s 37 years old and he’s 21.”

“So Jack is her boy toy, and part of her payback to him was getting him a prime role on Sunset Valley,” I concluded. “Only you came in and stole it away from him.”

“Seems like it,” Travis said. “They both give me dirty looks whenever I’m around. Remember when I told you that I totally botched my lines the first day I was there?”

“Yeah,” I replied.

“They were the ones who made a really big deal out of it,” he said. “The other actors were annoyed but seemed to write it off to me being a rookie. After I got my shit together and did better, everyone was nicer to me except for Jack and Meredith.”

“I guess we can slot them in as potential suspects,” Jake said, making notes.

“The only other person who might have it in for me is Corey Jameson,” Travis said.

“Who’s he?” I asked.

“He’s the dude who probably would have gotten my role in Palisades if I hadn’t been chosen,” Travis said. “Scuttlebutt is that he hates me for that.”

“Does he have the money to hire a professional stalker?” Dad asked.

“I don’t know,” Travis said.

October 10, 2004

Escorial

Palo Alto, CA

Will

“I’m pretty nervous about going back to New York,” Travis said, as he finished zipping up his bag. Neither one of us were in good moods because last night we’d decided to come back to Escorial to make our trip home easier, and that meant we didn’t get to surf this morning.

“There are a whole bunch of reasons for you to be nervous,” I said. “Which ones bother you the most?”

“I’m freaked out that Chuck Diller, or whatever the fuck his name is, will continue to haunt me,” Travis said. “I’m worried that the guard Jake hired for me will be either a douche or an idiot. And I’m nervous that staying with Jeremy will cause all kinds of problems.”

“If I were you, I’d be pretty uptight too,” I said, getting a dirty look from him. “I think that your guard will take care of Chuck Diller, one way or the other, and he works for you, so if he’s a douche or an idiot, he can be replaced.”

“You’re saying those two basically cancel each other out,” he mused. “That leaves Jeremy.”

I sighed. “I’ll bet you’ll really enjoy being there.”

“I thought you were okay with this? Are you just saying that, or are you just pretending it will be okay?” he asked pointedly.

“Excuse me?” I asked, and not all that nicely. There was no reason for him to attack me about this.

“I don’t want this to come between us,” he said plaintively. “If you were living with Zach or Taylor, it would bug the shit out of me.”

“If my life was at risk and the only way for me to be safe was to stay with them, how would you feel?” I asked.

“Trapped,” he said. “I would have to go along with it because of you, but I’d be totally spazzing out that they would try to use that as a way to sneak past my walls.”

“Do you think that’s going to happen with Jeremy?” I asked.

“I think he’s going to be amazingly nice to me, and he’ll seem like he’s got his shit together,” Travis said. “That’s going to make me like him, and I don’t want you to be mad at me because of that.”

“Here’s the difference,” I said. “You told me that you never have to deal with Zach and Taylor, and that they will never break down your walls.”

“I said that and I meant it,” he said firmly.

“I don’t have that luxury with Jeremy,” I said.

“Why not?”

“Because it will make things really tense at home,” I said. “When I come back here for Thanksgiving, it’s not like I can just glare at him the whole time and ruin it for everyone.”

“I can see that,” he said. “Luckily I don’t have that problem.”

“Why not?” I asked. “If you’re at your mom’s house and they’re around, won’t it be the same?”

“If they’re there, I’m not,” he said firmly. “If it’s alright with you, I was planning to spend the holidays here.”

“That is so awesome!” I said, and felt my whole face explode in a big smile. He smiled back at me just as broadly, so happy that he had a place to go where people loved him.

“So how are you going to handle things when Jeremy is here?” he asked, making our smiles fade.

“I’m going to ignore him,” I said. “I talked to my father about that. I told him I’m not going to talk to Jeremy or respond to his questions or comments.”

“How are you going to feel if I do?” he asked.

“I’ll be annoyed,” I said. He frowned at me. “Remember the argument we had about Taylor’s email?”

“I remember,” he said, but thinking about it had irritated him.

“You needed me to be on Team Travis, and to basically tell them to fuck off,” I said. He nodded. “Now it’s reversed. I need you to be on Team Will and not force me to interact with him.”

“That’s going to be tough,” he said.

“So you won’t do that for me?” I demanded. “You’re not in my corner?” I was well on my way to being seriously pissed off.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it; I just said it will be tough,” he snapped back at me. “I’ll work it out with him so he leaves me alone.”

“You do that,” I said, then grabbed my bag and backpack and headed to the kitchen. I tried to use that walk to work off my anger at him. He’d made it this big deal, and all but demanded that I have nothing to do with Taylor and Zach, and in return he was having a hard time even promising to back me up when we were here with Jeremy.

“Will,” he said, and gently grabbed my arm to stop me before I walked into the kitchen. “This is why I’m worried about it. I’m staying with them. I can’t turn around and be completely rude.”

I rolled my eyes at him in annoyance and walked into the kitchen, intent on having a decent breakfast. “Good morning,” Grand said.

“Morning,” I said, then focused on my food. Travis came in and sat next to me, but we didn’t talk; we just ate. After a few minutes, he gently scratched my back, and when I looked at him, he was smiling weakly, trying to get me to not be mad at him. I swallowed the food in my mouth and leaned in to give him a nice kiss, letting us put that behind us for right now.

After we were done eating, Grand led us into his study where we found my father, Jake, Stef, and another dude. “Travis, this is John Kowalski,” Jake said, introducing them. This guy was probably 6’1” tall, was bald with a really thick neck, and looked like he used to be in the military.

“John Kowalski,” the guy said briskly as he held out his hand. “Call me JK.”

“Travis Buck,” he said, then when they shook hands, Travis cringed.

“Will Schluter,” I said, introducing myself.

“Nice to meet you,” he grumbled, and shook my hand like his was a vise.

“Dude, do not squeeze my hand that hard,” I said in annoyance.

“Can’t handle it?” he asked in a snarky way.

“No, it’s just rude,” I said.

“I made up a list of rules for you to follow,” JK said, and handed a paper to Travis.

“The client will not leave his residence without alerting JK,” Travis read. “The client will only go to public venues that have been pre-approved by JK. The client will only interact with people in public that JK has cleared…”

“Seriously?” I asked, looking at Travis.

Travis walked over to Grand’s shredder, put the list in it, and watched along with the rest of us as the paper was sliced into fragments. “We’ll have someone show you out.”

The guy looked at Jake, then at my father, then at Grand, as if they had the authority to overrule Travis. It was funny that he didn’t look at Stef, who was the most powerful person in the room. “If you will follow me, I will show you to the door,” Grand said smoothly.

JK gave us all dirty looks then almost stomped after Grand. Grand returned a few minutes later and that was our cue to start speaking. “You handled that so well,” I told Travis.

“Sorry about that,” Jake said. “The guy came highly recommended.”

“He reminded me of that marine dude you hired to beat me up when I was fourteen,” I said to my father.

“Indeed, I can see the resemblance,” Stef said, just to pile on and give my father shit. Dad just glared at me, while I raised an eyebrow to taunt him that I was right.

“I’ll work on this on our flight to New York,” Jake said. “It’s probably smarter to hire someone from Manhattan who knows the place.”

“Probably,” Grand agreed.

“You’re coming with me?” Travis asked Jake, surprised.

“I’m coming with you,” he confirmed.

“Can we stop in Boston first?” I asked. It would feel weird to go to New York with Travis, almost like I was hanging out with him right before he sold me down the river to be BFFs with Jeremy.

“Why?” Jake asked.

“Yeah, we can do that,” Travis agreed, ignoring Jake.

“Well let’s get going,” Jake said. “We have a lot to do and the time change will chew up most of the day.”

As soon as we boarded the plane, Jake got out his laptop and began emailing and using the phone. Travis and I opted to snag the bedroom. We made love then slept, then we landed in Boston and I left Travis to head to New York. And Jeremy.

October 10, 2004

Tribeca

New York, NY

Jeremy

The concierge had just called to tell me that Travis and Jake had arrived. If I weren’t on these drugs, I would be having a complete panic attack. I had braced myself to welcome Travis into our world, but Jake was a tougher challenge for me. He was like an extension of my father, and he and I had not really gotten along very well. That was probably my fault, yet one more thing to feel guilty about. Kris put his hand on my shoulder in a supportive way. “Just be calm and this will turn out alright.”

“Thanks,” I said, smiling at him. We opened the front door to the condo just as they were getting off the elevator. “Welcome!” I said to them enthusiastically.

“It’s good to see you,” Jake said a bit abruptly, and gave me a fleeting hug. He saved a much warmer greeting for Kris.

“Thank you so much for letting me stay with you,” Travis said earnestly. “This past week has been a living hell. I’m glad I found a place to be safe.”

“I am so glad you are here,” I said. We hugged each other tightly, and it felt good to have at least one person in the family who didn’t totally detest me.

“Dude, welcome!” Kris said and gave Travis a similar greeting. “I am so looking forward to spending time with you.”

“Thanks,” Travis said a bit shyly.

“Jeremy, there’s a guy named Adam Kawashima who should arrive soon,” Jake said to me, busting into our happy greeting time. “Can you make sure the guy downstairs lets him up here?”

“Sure,” I said, and went to call the concierge.

He stopped me with another instruction. “I’ll need to talk to him about our security arrangements as well. Can you let him know we’ll be coming down to see him later on?”

“I can do that,” I said. It irritated me that Jake was treating me so rudely. He'd come into my home, given me a perfunctory greeting, then all but taken over. His requests were more like orders. The person that I was a month ago would have already explained things to him very clearly. I called the concierge then pondered Jake’s actions. My father was tighter with Jake than he’d been even with Robbie, so if Jake was treating me this way, that was likely largely an extension of my father’s attitude toward me. That just depressed me even more.

I walked back into the room only to find Jake still on a roll. “We will need to find a place for Travis’s guard to stay.”

“My guard has to spend the night?” Travis asked.

“Excuse me,” I said to Jake. “I understand what you are doing, but the way you are doing it is totally rude and unacceptable.”

Jake looked at me and blinked in surprise. “I’m just trying to get things set up.”

“You walked into my house, gave me a very dismissive greeting, then started all but ordering me around,” I said. “I am more than willing to work with you, but I demand that you treat me with respect.”

“That seems reasonable,” Kris said, backing me up. Travis didn’t say anything.

I turned to Travis. “In the meantime, let me show you where your room is,” I said, and led him down the hall. “I’m going to put you here, because it will be quieter.”

“Quieter?” he asked.

“The other guest room is next to Kris’s office, and he can get a little loud if he’s on the phone,” I said. “I understand your introversion, and I want you to have a calm place to retreat to.”

“Thank you,” he said, and then gave me a very warm hug.

“You’re welcome,” I said, smiling at him.

“Uh...” he said, as he started to say something then changed his mind. “Never mind.”

“Did you need something else?” I asked.

“I was going to ask you for a favor, but this is a shitty time since your whole house is being turned upside down because of me,” he said glumly.

“It’s actually kind of exciting,” I said. “What do you need?”

“If you have time, I’m wondering if you would help me practice my lines. I’ve got a good system worked out to do it, but I need someone else to help me,” he said. I thought about that and smiled. It might be cool to play-act with him.

“That actually sounds like fun,” I said. “We can start later on. Now I have to go make sure Jake hasn’t decided to redecorate the condo.”

“I’m sorry he’s being a dick,” Travis said, which was so meaningful to me because it meant that I wasn’t being an obnoxious asshole when I bitched at him. Meds or no meds, I still loved it when I was right.

“Make yourself at home,” I said, and walked back out to the main room.

Jake was there waiting for me. “I am sorry,” he said, and held out his hands. I took them and then he pulled me into a big hug, and I could tell that the feelings behind it weren’t contrived.

“You probably had a stressful day,” I said pleasantly, shocking the shit out of him. He obviously did not know how much I loved it when people had to apologize to me. “We’re good.”

He looked at me like he was studying me, then his gaze got more intense as his beautiful blue eyes bored into mine. I felt like he was trying to dive into my soul, and surprisingly enough, I let him. “I’m glad.”

The doorbell rang, which was an unusual occurrence here. People were usually announced by the concierge first. Kris left to answer it and returned with an Asian man who looked to be about my height. He was very handsome, and probably in his early thirties. He headed straight for Jake. “Adam Kawashima,” he said, introducing himself.

The doorbell had brought Travis out of his room and into our midst so Jake introduced us all to this guy. “Adam is my prime candidate to help make sure you’re safe,” he said to Travis.

“How are you going to do that?” Travis asked skeptically.

“My nickname is Ninja,” he said. I rolled my eyes internally at this guy who had adopted that moniker. That was as bad as a hunky Swedish guy calling himself Thor. “I’ll be around you when you go out, and we’ll work out a system to make sure you’re safe when you’re home.”

“I know I have to have a guard, but I’m really uncomfortable with having a dude who just sticks to me like glue wherever I go,” Travis said.

Ninja smiled. “You probably won’t see me when you go out. If you do, it will be a glimpse.”

“Seriously?” Kris asked.

“It does us no good if I’m just walking around with Travis like a guard,” he said a bit dismissively. “I’ll follow him from a distance and make sure no one bothers him. And if this stalker shows up again, I’m in a much better position to grab him if I’m in the shadows.”

“I can work with that,” Travis said. After that, we spent the rest of the evening integrating Travis and this Ninja dude into our household.