CHAPTER 20 - OH YES YOU ARE GOING TO FREAK YOU CREEPS

OPERA HOUSE - AN HOUR LATER

MASTER BATHROOM

BRIAN

He’s very quiet. “Penny for them?” I know what he is thinking about.

“He was watching us.” He looks up at me and instead of disgust, I see pain.

“But you…” I stop talking when I feel him trembling so I pull him closer. “What is it?”

For ages there is silence before he sighs. “He taped us.”

“Taped, wh…” I trail off as it hits me. “How long?”

“Don’t know.” He replies dully and starts to move away, but I tighten my hold. “After we split up, not that we had a relationship that existed outside the bed, he sent me a copy of what he recorded.”

Oh fucking fuck fuck!

“Who was it?”

“A guy from one of the orchestras I worked with. Brent dealt with it.”

“Justin, I need you to listen to me, okay?” He nods. “When you were with this guy were you in or out?”

“In.”

Now, I am pissed. “When was this?”

“About two years ago.”

“Have you seen the guy since?”

“No.”

“What did the guy want?”

“Me to help him move further up in the orchestra. When I said I couldn’t do that, he stopped seeing me and then he sent the video.”

“Had you told anyone about coming out before you met the guy?”

“Well, yes. I told Brent. I have never hidden who I am. Brent was always against it, but it’s my life and I live it honestly. We’d been arguing back and forth for months before I came out. He said it would ruin me.”

“How did you come out?”

“I didn’t really. I said to Brent that if I was asked, I would be honest.”

Forget pissed... I am royally fucked off!

“So were you asked?”

“Not really. But people aren’t stupid and there wasn’t the hoo-ha that Brent thought there would be. I was...” Now he trails off as realisation for him dawns. “I can’t believe I was such a fucking idiot!” He yanks himself out of my hold and almost breaks the rail off the wall, pulling down the bathrobe. “That! That!” He exclaims furiously. As much as I want to comfort him, he needs to process this. “He set me up, didn’t he?”

“I think so. Do you know where this guy is now?”

“No, but I know a man that does!” He snarls, and my first thought is bail money...lots and lots of bail money!

WOODY’S - AN HOUR LATER

MICHAEL

I sip my beer and try to forget what I saw earlier, but I can’t. How could he subject himself to that insipid, oh that’s a good word, fucking? But oh my goodness, the body on him! He is cut and dried so bad; the things I could get my tongue to do to him. I would have him quivering and begging me never to stop! I am about to bitch at the guy that bumped me but it’s Ethan, so I smile.

“Hey, how you doing?” He asks and signals the barman.

“Fine, just fine. How about…”

“Ah, Mr Gold, I am glad I caught you. Don’t move from there. I will be right back, need to locate my phone.” Sade tells him and he nods.

“Office, boss!” The barman calls out and she raises her thumb at him.

“Boss?” I question.

“Yeah, she owns this place.” He replies.

“Woody’s is owned by a lesbian?!” I gasp. “How is that possible?”

“She paid for it from money that she worked hard for.” Ted sneers as he sits down. “A concept that’s alien to you... you know, the working hard part.”

I have had a bad enough day without this jerk’s snotty comments. “Ted, I don’t know what is wrong with you. I mean, apart from your jealousy of me, but I…”

“Why would I be jealous of you? You have and are absolutely nothing.”

“My friendship with Emmett, of course! You…”

“You don’t have a friendship with Emmett.” He chuckles and that rankles. “Ems, as his friends call him, has a very big problem with being called a flamer. Twice. And by you, as a matter of fact. So he no longer considers you his friend.”

I just shake my head at him and pull out my phone. “Let me just demonstrate how wrong you are as usual.”  I put it on speaker and then dial Ems’s number.

“Calls from this number have been blocked. Please hang up.” The automated voice booms out of my phone and Ted laughs.

“Like I said, you have nothing.” He takes his drink and starts to smile.

“What are you smiling about?” I demand, using my annoyance that Emmett has overreacted to a little playful name calling as fuel to my fire.

“None of your business.” He snarks and walks away.

I look behind me, and seeing nothing, turn back to Ethan. “I wanted to get rid of him. I have a service that plays this message.”

“Really? Can you let me have the…”

“Sorry, Mr Gold. I had to take a call.” Sade interrupts and sits down next to us. “So, the outfits for competition night. Do you have a…”

“Competition night? Do you mean Studs and Staffs?” I interrupt.

“Yes. But this is the…”

“When did you buy Woody’s?” I ask her.

“When I had the money. Now, Mr Gold, I take it like every Liberty Avenue man, you go to the gym?”

“I don’t need to. I, like my cello playing, am perfectly honed.”

“Excellent. I look forward to seeing you in this then.” She turns her phone to him at such an angle that I have to get off my seat to go behind him to see it.

“This is what we will be wearing?” He doesn’t sound happy, and I don’t blame him. That is hideous!

“Yes, and the jacket will be open. You know, to show your perfectly honed body.”

“Sade! Got Chyna for you!” Someone calls out from across the bar.

“Coming!” She shouts back and heads behind the bar.

“I may have to go to the gym.” He grumbles.

“As loathed as I am to say this, go to Chyna. The amount of pain she has put me through…”

“What do you mean, pain?”

“She is a very hard taskmaster, but the results are awesome. I mean, look!” I lift up my shirt and I see his eyes gleam. “Well, I have to go now.” I pause and look around. “Seriously, come to our class. They may be munchers but they know what they are doing.”

OPERA MANSION - 30 MINUTES LATER

MASTER BEDROOM

JUSTIN

I still can’t believe how stupid I was! I trusted him! I move closer to Brian as he massages my scalp. I can’t help but marvel at his...his protection of me. He took the control and spoke to Brent, and in ten minutes, he confessed all. Okay, Brian telling him that he would have him cockblocked and deleted from every advertising agency in this universe made his preservation skills kick in, but that’s not the point. And even better, he called Cyn and Daph and they are both on their way to LA to pick up the original recording. He said he would mail it, but then again, he’s said a lot of things.

“Want a hot drink?” He asks as he continues to massage me into a puddle of mush. “Raise one finger for no and two for yes.”

I raise two fingers...politely!

“Get in. I shall surprise you.” He orders as he walks across to the bed and lifts the sheets. I clamber in. When he pulls the comforter up to my chin and makes a thing of tucking me into bed, I want to haul him in...but he does make very good malt chocolate and I am hoping for malt chocolate. “You want a malt chocolate, don’t you?”

“How did...please with a Flake stirrer.”

“Be right back.” He heads to the door. “Only the crumbliest, flakiest milk chocolate, which misses your mouth and makes a mess on your floor.”

“You are such a nerd!” I tease him as only he could remember a Jasper Carrott riff on the Flake advert...from the 1990s!

“But you love me anyway!” He laughs.

“Yeah, I do!” I bundle happily under the blankets and then realise what I have just said.  The house has never been so quiet. I feel the blankets being pulled off my head and look up at him. “Hi.”

“Hi, yourself. So, did you mean that?”

I suddenly find it hard to meet his gaze. “Yes.” I whisper. “I mean it.” The silence continues until I finally have to look at him. The expression on his face is one I've never seen before.

“You don't have to say it back.” I tell him, terrified that I have just ruined everything. “I shouldn't have said anything, it just happ…” Before I can finish, he is in bed and his mouth is on mine in the most intense kiss we’ve ever shared. Shit, it's the most intense kiss I've ever shared with anyone!

After long moments of his tongue exploring every part of my mouth, he finally ends the kiss so that we can breathe.  “I love you too.” He says. “I never thought I'd be able to love again, but I do love you, Justin Taylor.” With that, his mouth reclaims mine, and he proceeds to show me just how much he does love me…and I still got my malt chocolate afterwards!

VIC AND DEBS HOUSE - NEXT MORNING

KITCHEN

MICHAEL

As I come in, they both look at me. “What now?” I sigh crossly, wholeheartedly sick of their behaviour.

“Nothing. Debs, did I tell you that I saw Fat Marley in the diner and she told me that there is an audit going on at the Big Q?”

“Why no, Vic, you did not. How interesting.”

“I’ve seen her lately. Shouldn’t that be Fatter Marley?”  I ask over my shoulder. “She looks like Ursula from that fish movie, but uglier.” He doesn’t reply, so I put the kettle on and try to tune them out.

“Yes, it is. It seems that they have managed to find all the back tapes from a couple of years ago during said audit and the stuff on there is of great interest to certain people.”

I slow my movements and try to slow my heartbeat.

“Who might they be?”

“Not sure. But as you well know Debs, having been audited ourselves, they go through everything in fine detail. Inventory, renovation costs, any compensation paid out...everything! And you are not going to believe who they hired to do it.”

“Who?”

“Ted.”

“Ted? As in Teddy, Ted?”

“Uh huh. He kept his auditing business going on the side, while he was waiting to hear from Kinnetic.”

Auditing business?! What fucking auditing business?!