CHAPTER 28: RELEASING THE CAGED BIRDS 

Lindsay was once again embarrassed, as her savior was the same man who had gotten her out of a different jail, not even twenty-four hours ago.

“Lindsay, this simply cannot be…”

“I know, Gardner, but it wasn’t my fault.”

“Why didn’t you just pay the man and have done with it?”

Instead of answering right away, she broke down in tears. When in the midst of her sobbing she found that he still hadn’t started the car, she sighed. “Gardner, as I’ve said, this isn’t my fault.”

“So you’ve said, and all without giving me a direct answer,” he said to her, wryly. “So how about we start with what seems to be an easier question for now. Just what were you doing back in my neighborhood? Last we talked, you were going back home to your wife to start setting some wheels in motion.”

“But that’s just it, Gardner! I did go back to the house, but Melanie has moved, and she didn’t leave me a forwarding address!”

“What do you mean she moved? I thought you two were, for all intents and purposes, married?”

“Apparently not!” Lindsay yelled, immediately calming herself in the face of her companion’s furrowed brow. She sighed deeply again, understanding that there was no easy or better way to give him the information he was demanding. “Here’s the thing, Gardner. Apparently, sometime during the night, Melanie had my things packed up and delivered to the storage facility. She didn’t even have the decency to tell me that she was doing it. Instead, she had her former harlot let me know that she had moved out, and Leda had moved in along with that bitchy assistant district attorney…”

“Have you tried calling her?”

“Oh boy, did I!” Lindsay exclaimed, even as she frowned and pouted because her plans to berate Melanie were also thwarted. “I only recently discovered that not only has the bitch left me homeless, she has also left me with no way to get in touch with her or anyone else in my contacts list.”

“Are you saying that she’s left with your son, and no way to contact her?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Well, we need to go back into the station and file a kidnapping report.”

“We can’t do that, Gardner,” Lindsay answered him, exasperated.

“Well why not? From where I’m sitting, that’s kidnapping.”

“It isn’t when Mel is also considered his legal parent.”

“What?”

“Mel managed to convince Brian to sanction a third-party adoption, where Brian still has his rights, and Melanie is also considered one of Gus’ parents.”

“You’re kidding… you have got to be kidding me, right Lindsay?!”

“I wish I were,” she muttered before continuing. “It was the only way Brian would continue to support Gus, since giving up his rights would mean that he was no longer responsible for his son.”

“You mean he wouldn’t have continued supporting YOU, don’t you?”

Lindsay had the good grace to flush in the face of Gardner’s very clear accusation. There was no mistaking his tone or his innuendo, and she knew better than to lie to him in that regard. Changing the subject to what she really needed to ask, she said despairingly, “So now I basically have nothing, except plans that will never come to fruition.”

Gardner thought for a few moments, weighing his options carefully. The simple truth was that he was in the middle of a divorce, and any associations at the moment would be considered evidence of his numerous infidelities. However, since nothing could be proven as of yet, it was all just speculation on Constance’s part. That was a plus in his favor, which hopefully stayed that way. He could offer Lindsay a place to stay, but it would have to be outside of the main house.

“Okay, so you can stay in the guesthouse, which has its own entrance to the estate.”

“The guest house? Why can’t I stay with you?” Lindsay was not pleased at all!

She was sure there would come a time when she would have to meet with Mel and Brian in regards to Gus. She had planned that living as a permanent fixture, within the mansion, would give her some clout to make her demands known from a position of power. And there was no way she could do that as an indefinite guest within the temporary quarters of Gardner’s estate. 

“I know that you are aware that I am in the middle of a divorce…”

“And what does that have to do with anything? Surely, you are allowed to have guests inside your home?” 

Gardner shook his head, already regretting having had this idea. “The bottom line is that we’re friends, Lindsay. Sure we have, and may continue to indulge in a few fringe benefits to that friendship, but having you live within the main house with me would announce that there is perhaps more to the idea than one friend helping out another. I don’t want to give Constance, and my soon-to-ex brother in law, any more ammunition to use against me in court. At this moment, all people have is speculation since it’s possible that my conversation with Nancy was overheard by more than just Marty Ryder’s wife. You do remember how things work within this society, don’t you?”

Lindsay sighed, reluctantly understanding exactly what Gardner was telling her, even though it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “I understand, Gardner. I really do. So I guess we’ll be housemates, one mansion removed?”

Gardner smiled at her terminology, happy that she easily saw reason… well, at least for now. “So the first order of business is that we get your belongings…”

“I don’t know if they are still open. Apparently- or as that bitchy butch, Leda told me- I will have to buy back my belongings if I didn’t make it to the storage unit on time. I tried to explain that to the driver, but well, you see how well that turned out.” Honestly, she didn’t really want any of her old clothes, which were serviceable but weren’t the type she wanted to establish her new position within Vanguard wearing.

“I understand. But erm, what are you going to wear until your first paycheck?”

She shifts in her seat, turning on a sultry look. “Well I was hoping that you would give me an advance on my pay…”

“Or more accurately, payment for services rendered last night and this morning, is it?”

She chuckled. “Gardner… I thought what happened between us was in friendship and gratitude.”

“I thought so, too, but perhaps I was mistaken?”

“No, you weren’t. It’s just that I don’t think I can establish myself as your right-hand woman, wearing the rags I wore as a University professor.”

“Well you’re going to have to until you receive your first check, Lindsay. As it is, I have bailed you out again, and am offering you a place to live until you can reestablish yourself. You can’t expect me to treat you as I would a wife, or even a mistress, since you’re not fulfilling either of those roles.”

“What if I wanted to?” Lindsay asked, thinking she could do worse than to be considered a rich man’s mistress until she could become Brian’s wife.

“Tell you what… we’ll revisit this once my divorce is final. But in the meantime, you should welcome the opportunity to become financially independent and self-sufficient. Look where not being either of those things has gotten you so far.”

“Point well taken, Gardner, even if I don’t like it. I will do as you suggest. However, would you at least buy back my meager belongings until I can do better for myself?” She knew he wasn’t giving her much of a choice in how their personal situation was being handled beyond their business arrangement.

“That’s fine, but I expect reimbursement directly from your initial paycheck. I'll have contact accounting about it directly. The bribe and bail aside, supporting you was not part of the deal. So now that’s settled, let’s get out of here and get you stored in your new temporary lodgings.”

Lindsay sat back in the passenger seat, and fastened her seatbelt thinking, Well when you make a deal with the Devil, remember to mind his horns.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SOWK

“Thanks a lot for bailing me out, Ben. No one is answering their phones,” Michael whined.

“No problem; just don’t make it a habit,” Ben sighed. “What were you in there for anyway?”

“The coffee shop owner said that I was screaming and disturbing the peace before I hit my head on the table and knocked myself out.”

Ben suppressed the urge to snicker aloud. He could just about imagine that happening to Michael. “Well that didn’t seem like enough to keep you held over for bail…”

Michael sighed. “Apparently, they wanted me held because some assholes thought I was stalking Emmett. I mean, seriously, why would I do that? I just wanted to talk to him. It wasn’t my fault that he didn’t go to the Diner where Ma would have made him sit and listen to me. Instead he went to the Birch Street Cafe to meet with Jenn Taylor and some other broad. Why would he want to meet with the little bastard’s mother when…”

Ben just stopped and stared at Michael, before responding. “And you wonder why Emmett wouldn’t want to speak to you? You keep disparaging a young man he considers a very good friend.”

“He was MY friend FIRST!”

“So does that mean he can’t have other people in his life, simply because you have a problem with them?”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“But it’s what you just implied, Michael. Seemingly, you think that your friends can’t have a life of their own unless you approve of it. I read the interview that you gave to Howard Bellwether, and even I had to admit you were completely out of line divulging their secrets without their knowledge, and judging them the way the bigoted world- and homo hypocrites like good old Howie- already does.”

“That’s not what happened!”

“Yes, it is. And for what? So that you could have a few minutes in the spotlight? So that you could feel superior because your life choices were different from theirs? Please, help me understand why you said and did that to men who you supposedly considered your friends?”

“They ARE my friends!”

“Not according to your firsthand accounts of who they all are. The bottom line is that you don’t like that Brian and Justin are involved with each other…”

“They’re not involved; they’re just fucking plain and simple!”

“And that really bothers you, doesn’t it? But why exactly? Is it that Justin is getting the parts of Brian you feel you’re entitled to; that he’s getting what you were never ever going to be offered from Brian? Or is there some other valid reason for your abominable behavior towards a young man who has already been through so much in his short life? Because let me tell you, Michael, right now you are seeming to be an even worse bully than Christopher Hobbs ever was, or will be. I’ll see you after work tomorrow for your scheduled appointment,” Ben told him, before walking away.

Michael continued to mutter on his way to the bus stop. Okay, so he may have been wrong to say those things about Ted and Emmett, but it’s not like they haven’t heard those things before, especially from him. But Brian… well, Michael thought that if Brian could see how ridiculous his continued association with the little blond trick really was in black and white, then he would surely kick the trick to the curb and resume the life that he and Michael had been planning since they were fourteen. No one understood his motives for wanting Justin Taylor out of Brian’s life. It wasn’t only that he was jealous of the kid having Brian in a way he didn’t, the way people thought; it’s that he was from the other side of town.

What could Justin possibly understand about Brian’s struggles, growing up in an abusive home, in near-poverty conditions? Hell, the little blond had lived a life of privilege! So what could he possibly want with Brian, other than to be taken care of the way Lindsay expected to be? She was from that vaunted world, too, and he’d watched her wrap his best friend around her finger and tie him up in knots for YEARS. He’d be damned if he would allow some interloper to come in again, the way she had, and start the process of fucking with Brian’s head all over again!

Do I want Brian? Hell yeah, who wouldn’t?! He was gorgeous, smart, and successful! But do I think that Brian and I stood a chance at a relationship? No… because Brian isn’t and would NEVER be relationship material. David was, Ben is, but Brian isn’t, and that’s fine, as long as he doesn’t make the mistake of thinking that he is. Fucking Justin’s got his head all twisted!

Michael sighed at his thoughts, thinking that if he couldn’t be with Brian, then it was better for his best friend to remain alone. That way they would always be free to be with each other in the only way Brian would allow. Justin couldn’t give Brian that freedom, and although Michael wouldn’t like it, he would. Because he understood Brian in a way no one else ever could. But nothing was going the way it should. 

Now Brian had a restraining order against him, and all of his friends were still not speaking to him. They wouldn’t even let him apologize! He didn’t know what was going on in their lives anymore. And although he could understand why they had shut him out in theory, he didn’t think it was fair for them to keep holding his interview with the Oregon reporter and Bellwether against him. It was time to let it go and get back to the way it had always been between him and his friends! But that wasn’t going to be possible as long as the little blond was around. 

And as Michael boarded the bus, once again, he counted all the ways that this was all Justin’s fault!