IN or OUT: BOOK II: CHAPTER 3

MICHAEL

I can’t believe what that little fuck has done! I just can’t believe it! Where the fuck does he get off thinking he can do this to me?! As I look around, I see the others looking at me with...scorn? Pity? Disgust? I AM NOT THE ONE THEY SHOULD BE LOOKING AT LIKE THIS!! I feel the tears of anger, stinging my eyes as I look to my left for some support from my best friend. But Brian isn’t there… NO! Instead, he’s over there with his husband! Well Justin is NOT getting away with this! I pull out my phone to call my lawyer. Something in these papers has to be illegal since they were drawn up so fast, right?

“Michael Novotny-Bruckner for Phillip Marchand,” I speak tersely into the phone before the receptionist can finish her greeting. “I don’t give a flying fuck if he’s in a meeting. I’m paying him so I expect him to take my call NOW!” She puts me on hold while I stand there tapping my foot in impatience. After what feels like a half an hour, she comes back on the phone and switches me over to him.

“Mr. Novotny, what can I do for you today?” Phillip’s voice comes over the line.

“FINALLY! You really need to fire your secretary; she kept me on the line forever waiting to talk to you.”

“I believe she told you that I was in a meeting,” he tells me.

“She did, but as a paying client, I expect that when I call, you stop what you are doing. Obviously, I’m calling with an emergency!”

He’s silent on the phone for so long that I begin to think that he’s hung up. I breathe a sigh of relief when he speaks again. “Well now, let’s see what you constitute as an emergency, shall we, Mr. Novotny.”

“It’s Novotny-Bruckner! That’s the second time you have left off my married name. Don’t do it again!” I correct and reprimand him at the same time, but he’s still not apologized. I swear if I didn’t need to deal with him right now, I would tell Ben to find a new attorney.

“What’s the purpose of this call?” He asks slowly, while still disregarding the fact that he’s wrong.

Sighing, I outline what my day has been like, beginning with this morning at the airport and the argument with Justin where I told him, yet again, that I would not sell my share of the comic to him. Then I let Phillip know about the two sets of papers I just received: one which gives me the rights to the comic, while the other set stops me from profiting from it in any way. Not only that, but the internet portion of Red Cape Comics has been derailed by the vicious little cunt, leaving me no way to make the business thrive. Ben will surely close the store now!

“So what are you going to do about it?” I demand an answer.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? What do you mean nothing?!”

“Very simple, Mr. Novotny. There is nothing that I can do. I’ve been looking over the paperwork I received just prior to your call. And during your rant, I paid especially close attention to the fine print.”

“What does that bunch of drivel have to do with anything?”

“Did you bother to read it before you signed these contracts?” he asks me.

I try to think back to what was in the agreements, then realize that I never read the contracts all the way through. I never thought that I couldn’t trust Boy Wonder not to be the stupid, brain-damaged twink he’s been since his senior year of high school. But I couldn’t say that. “No. I never thought that Justin would dupe me like this.”

“Sorry to tell you this, Mr. Novotny, but he didn’t dupe you, as you suggest. Each of the terms and conditions of using his services are spelled out in terms even you could understand. The same goes for your contract with Kinnetik Enterprises. The Misters Taylor-Kinney, formerly known as Justin Taylor and Brian Kinney, were extremely thorough in these contracts, even listing contingency plans should the need for them arise. As I’ve already said, there is no legal recourse you can take, especially when you’re the one in violation of the terms and conditions, which are listed in bold print within the contracts. My advice is to simply accept this and move on. If you wage a battle you can ill-afford, you will lose everything else. As for our continued involvement, I will be speaking to Mr. Bruckner directly, advising that I will no longer have anything to do with you. Good day and good luck!” He hangs up even as I scream into the phone.

“It’s Novotny-Bruckner to you!”

FUCK!!

BEN

I know that I should feel at least a little bit of remorse. I mean, I’m standing here watching as all of Michael’s hopes and aspirations lay in a pool of broken dreams at his feet. But all I’m really feeling at the moment is the equivalent of Buyer’s remorse. I bought into the myth that Michael presented to the world, never really getting to know the man I call my husband. I was just so intent on not being alone that I neglected to look deeper, beyond the surface of his actions, to the true meanings behind them. In seeing them now, with wide open eyes. I can’t hold Brian and Justin the slightest bit accountable for finally washing their hands of Michael… well, where business is concerned anyway.

I’m surprised when my phone rings within my pocket. But I know from the stomping, pouting, and cursing bursting forth from Michael’s lips, that the call must be from Phillip. I answer and listen to the man’s litany of complaints about Michael’s behavior throughout their interactions, and the treatment of his secretary and wife, Regina, culminating in Michael being let go as a client just a few moments ago. Again, I can’t blame the man for not wanting to help Michael, as he acted entitled once again, instead of suitably grateful for the truth of the matter and the technically free legal advice. I paid the retainer, so the fact that Michael was benefitting from it, without spending a dime of his own money, should have made him a little bit more… I don’t know… respectful? Nice? Something other than what he actually is? All I know is that something has to give, and this time it’s not going to be me.

I sigh and look at the two men who figuratively pissed in Michael’s Cap’n Crunch this morning. One good thing came out of all this...they finally told us one of their biggest secrets. “So you guys are married, huh? Brian looks me squarely in the eyes and nods. “How long?”

“We signed the papers just after the Stockwell incident but before starting Kinnetik,” he tells me.

“Wait a minute! That means you two have been married…”

“Longer than you and Michael have been,” Emmett finishes for me. “Which I’m a bit pissed about. Don’t tell me you had a ceremony and didn’t invite the rest of us?”

“Not exactly, Em,” Justin says. “Brian and I just decided to do it our way; no muss, no fuss, private and just us. We talked about it briefly before I left and decided to do it officially once I was back from L.A. We had already taken steps to ensure that we were tied together before I had left to work on Rage. But we also needed to get away from everyone and everything for a while, to see if that final step was something we should take; to see if I was what he still wanted and vice versa. Sure absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it also makes people grow in unimaginable ways. Brian and I needed to figure out if we could still be together after that. Then I left for New York...”

“So what are you doing here, then?” Emmett asks and this time, I’m surprised as Brian answers honestly.

“We’re back to that place again.”

“Which one?” Ted asks, and I can see that he’s a little afraid of the answer. Why?

Justin cleared his throat, his eyes shining. I can see where the others understood what place they were speaking of. “Ethan. But we aren’t sure why. All we know is that we took a wrong turn somewhere and we have to find it or…”

“No. Don’t speak it, Justin,” I stop him. “You two just go find out where that wrong turn is and face it. At the end of it, your road together diverges, at least you will know that you’ve addressed it and can move on.”

“What about you, Ben?”

I look back at the man I married, who is once again on his cell phone. No doubt that this time it’s to Debbie, filling her in on Brian and Justin’s wrongdoings. “I have a feeling that I’ve been on the wrong road for a long time, Justin. So I’m making a u-turn and speeding along in the opposite direction. If Michael can meet me in the middle, then perhaps I’ll give this another chance.”

“But if he can’t?”

“Then I’ll move past him to meet my destiny head on. But one thing neither of us will walk away with is a lack of knowledge.”  

Michael is marching over to us now, like he’s got a heat-seeking missile jammed up his ass. I want nothing more than to be done with this whole scenario that is undoubtedly about to play out. The papers are crumpled in his hand, which upon reaching us, he launches at Justin. In a fast move, Brian pulls the younger man behind him, putting some much-needed distance between the younger man and my wayward husband.

“Brian, MOVE!! This is between the trick and me! He won’t get away with this!” Michael screeches.

“Michael, be thankful that I’m standing here right now and that Justin is behind me. If not, you wouldn’t be, standing that is. Instead you would be breathing in all that water behind you. Now I’m going to tell you this for your own good… move on, leave Justin alone and get yourself some help while you’re here. No one owes you anything; no one is going to bow down to your wishes or tantrums, and most of all, no one is going to fix the shit you created for yourself.”

I watch as Michael’s eyes suddenly fill with tears. How come I never noticed his tendency to cry at the drop of a hat and adopt that pitiful expression before?

“So that’s it, Brian? You’re just going to stand by and watch your twink ruin me? You’re not going to stop him after everything I’ve done to help you out in the past? You’re just going to cast me aside for this… this…”

“My husband, Michael. Justin has never been a trick, since the night I first laid eyes on him. He’s never had to whore himself for my attention, even if he sometimes may have felt like he did. He never had to dumb himself down to gain or keep my interest or respect. He never had to pretend to be helpless so that I could ride to his rescue. Instead, most of the time he fought me coming to his rescue at all! In short, Michael, Justin is a man… MY MAN and I am his. It has been this way for a very long time and will remain so if I have my way. I’m not going to apologize because you can’t accept this simple, fundamental truth for yourself and move on with your life.”

“But Brian…”

“NO BUTS, Michael, unless it’s for you to BUTT OUT! Now I do believe it’s time for us to get our villa assignments, so ta-ta. Ben, see you around.”

I smile at his retreating back. “Yeah but if I don’t, have a good time and I’ll see you back on the mainland. First, though, remember what what I said… both of you.”

“We will,” Justin calls out with a wave, moving off to the side with Alex.

Barry turns to face Michael and me. I chuckle inwardly at the scowl still on his face as he too watches Brian and Justin head off. Apparently, I’m not the only one who’s noticed. “Right, so well, let’s get you both settled in.”

“Where are we going?” Michael asks. “I thought we would all be staying there in the main hotel behind you.”

“Wrong again, Michael,” I correct. “Your ears always choose the wrong time not to work! So for the person in the cheap seats, which would be you… we are going to be on another side of the island entirely, away from everyone else, to work out our problems.”

“Oh for the love of FUCK! We don’t have any problems! We are doing just fine as we are.”

I just look at him for a moment. At first, I think that he is really just that blind, but then there is something in his eyes that tells a different story. “Well, be that as it may, I do have problems with this arrangement…”

“It’s a marriage, Ben.”

“No Michael, it’s an arrangement, as I’ve said. And now that we are away from your mother, we can address them and decide if we are finally going to have a marriage, or dissolve the arrangement altogether.”

“What are you talking about? We have been married for years. Besides, dissolving our partnership will leave you high and dry,” he tells me smugly. I laugh as he scowls back at me. “What the fuck is so amusing, Ben?”

“You are, if you truly believe that. Anyway, Barry, is it possible for me to have my own villa but still be in close proximity to Michael? Although I don’t want to stay in the same place with him for now, based on how he acts, that could change.” Although I don’t think it will is what I leave unsaid.

“Sure, Ben. In fact, I’ve already arranged for that to happen. Just as the Taylor-Kinneys methods of pain management are legendary, so are the Novotny Temper Tantrums. We wouldn’t want you to be too uncomfortable while you’re trying to get your lives on track. Sleeping with one eye open is not conducive to getting a good start on this journey.” He chuckles and I know that he’s discerned just how angry I am with Michael. Zen Ben has officially left the island!

“Wait! I thought the purpose of this was actually live together,” Michael interjects.

“It would have been, but then again, each couple is different and have separate needs. While Ben will be in the actual villa, you will be in the guest house right next to it. I’ve already called ahead and it is being stocked as we speak.”

I wave back to Ted, Blake, Emmett, and Drew as we move off, hoping they will have an easier time of it than I will. But come hell or high water, this trip will not be for naught. I’m getting myself back, and in the end, that’s what matters!