IN OR OUT: BOOK II: CHAPTER 7: Revelations Part 2

MICHAEL:

Where the fuck is everybody? I’ve looked all over my part of this fucking island, called their phones, and no one is fucking calling me back! I even tried all the restaurants and bars in the center of town, but nothing! One of the hostesses at the door even had the nerve to tell me that unless I had a reservation, I couldn’t go in. That is such bullshit! I was unceremonious pushed out of the way by the people who actually did have a reservation, and even tried to sneak in behind a large party to no avail.

At that point, I just wanted to know what was so fucking special about it that it was guarded by two sentinels and a guard bitch at the door. It reminded me of what it's been like anytime I tried to visit Kinnetik lately, and told by that idiot, Cynthia that I wasn’t welcome. All I know is that the guys have had enough time to cool off from the bullshit Boy Wonder started with me, and my response to it by now. It’s time for them to remember that I am fucking HERE, and it’s time they spend time with me since their whores, and pimp in Emmett’s case, should have had enough of being fucked into the mattress by now!

See! This has always been the problem since the bastard brigade began coming around. First, Boy Wonder, then it was Druggie Wonder, and then last of all, Doofus Wonder, who are all taking up valuable time that could be better spent focused on what’s really important... ME. I mean, after all, I’m finally rid of Ben! Okay, so it wasn’t on my own terms, but I need their support to help me figure out how to make him pay. All it should take is the threat of me coming to them for money, and they would be willing to help me drain Ben dry so that I can be self-sufficient. But in order to plant that particular seed, I need them to see me all broken up about it.

It should work since it most assuredly got Ma to do what she always does; threaten the guys, including Ben, on my behalf. Even though there hasn't been confirmation that she did it yet, I know Ma, and she never likes the idea of her baby being ignored. But speaking of Ma, even she hasn’t been answering her phone today. I don’t know what the fuck is going on with people not having their asses where they are supposed to be when I need to speak to them. THAT SHIT’S GOTTA STOP! By now, she’s probably hugged up with that fucking donut-eating dumbass, cooking and listening to whatever inane chatter they talk about.

Well, she needs to fucking quit it because I need her to do something for me. After spending the afternoon researching all about Boy Wonder and Druggie Wonder, I have an idea, but I don’t have all of the phone numbers I need or the email addresses. They are in my address book at the house, so I need for her to use the emergency key I gave her to go get it for me. Ma always needs to feel useful, so asking her to do this for me will make her happy enough that she’ll do whatever I want as repayment for my kindness towards her.

It sucks that I had to find out that Druggie Wonder inherited a large fortune alongside his twin sister. And who even knew that he had a fucking twin?! I should have been told since it could have been useful long before now. But what really chaps my ass is that not only was Boy fucking Wonder using the opportunity I gave him in California to make a name for HIMSELF; he also had the au-fucking-dacity to be working on other things when he should have been concentrating all his efforts on the movie. And that's yet another thing I need Ma for! 

She needs to pay a lawyer to take my case because that blond whore owes me. I want all of Rage, INCLUDING the artwork, since he cheated me. If he had done what the fuck he was supposed to do and charm, or fuck, whomever he needed to then the movie would have been made instead of being canceled! I mean, what good is being a slut if you don’t suck the RIGHT dick? No, instead he was too busy sucking Brian’s so that he would support him until he got HIS businesses up off the ground.

And as soon as I find Brian, I’ll show him my proof that Justin was just using him to finance his dreams, which without Brian’s money wouldn’t have been possible. But then again, why wait? There are several attendants here, who would know where Brian is being held hostage by Wonderbutt. All it would take is writing a letter, and putting it into the packet with all my evidence against that fucking whore, and asking them to deliver it. I don’t have a lot of cash with me, but even if I did, I wouldn’t want to spend it here beyond food and the bar. Besides, any tips should be automatic with their pay, and I’m not their fucking employer!

But if I tell them just how grateful Brian would be to receive a message from me, and promise them the fuck of their lives courtesy of the Stud, that should make up for what they don’t receive in cash, right? RIGHT! So first, I have to scope out the hottest attendants on the island, and then with a promise of the fuck of a lifetime, I’ll persuade them to do my bidding. It should be easy-peasy since they spend their lives here trapped on this halfway stable water raft. No doubt Justin will get pissed by the increased foot traffic, and leave Brian again, thereby returning my best friend to his rightful owner. And then Brian and I can finally be together!

So now that I have a plan to rescue Brian, it’s time to turn my attention to what I can do to get Ted away from Blake’s ass, and Emmett away from Drew. AH DUNCE! Why didn’t I think of that before?! Scrolling through my phone, I dial the Diner. Kiki comes on the line, and I’m actually nice to her because I’m suddenly in a good mood. I ask if Reece is on call and it’s just my luck that he is; further proof that I’m doing the right thing.

I ask him if he knows how to get in touch with Tino, or Darius aka Dr. Crystal, telling them that I need a favor which would coincide with what I know they really want. Tino wants his best whore back, but if I offer Darius a shot at Blake too, Ted will be devastated enough that he’ll want to come back and hang out with me. Drew will be so busy trying to keep an eye on Blake that he’ll neglect Emmett in the process, and then Emmett will come back, too. My plan is fucking PERFECT! All my boys will finally be exactly where I want them at long last, which is back by my side where they belong! I make sure to tell Reece to have them call me directly. The fewer people involved in these negotiations, the better. I feel so accomplished now!

But that only takes care of Druggie Wonder, and still leaves Boy Wonder free to chase Brian again. Well I have the perfect foil for that little shit since he’s already here on the island, working as a musician in one of the restaurants. I’ll just wait until he gets off work and approach him. I’m sure that he’ll jump at the chance to retrieve his own property. Justin did always want to do charity work, so seeing Ethan again would be right up his alley since he never could resist the whole starving artist bit. So he can take his all fucking millions and pay it forward to ETHAN instead of sticking by Brian, who should be spending his own millions on me. It will be a win-win for everybody!

As for Drew, once I cause chaos between them, I’ll look like the hero when I get him and Emmett back together. He's so stupid, fooling him should be as easy as taking candy from a baby. Then he’ll have no choice but to accept me as a permanent fixture in Emmett’s life. He’ll do what I want, and let Emmett come out and play whenever I want, and not just when he’s busy.  And that’s the way it should be!

“Michael? Michael Novotny, is that really you?”

I turn behind me when I hear my name called, wondering why it sounds so familiar, yet not. “David? Hi, what are you doing here? And what’s wrong with your voice?”

“I’m on vacation after a bout with Cancer.”

“But that’s ridiculous. You’ve always been a health fanatic. How the hell did you end up with that?” I can’t help but be shocked.

David was always trying to get me to go on runs with him, instead of going to the gym with my friends. He never did understand that although we met at the gym, it was a chance to gossip and just hang out. Brian was the only one who really took working out seriously, but then again, he had a reputation to uphold so that was understandable. I mean, he was always regarded as a god among men, and with good reason! But, looking at David now, I can see just how much weight he’s lost and that he’s not as bulked up as he used to be.

“I know, it was a shock to me, too. It began as testicular cancer, than metastasized to prostate cancer. The change in my voice was a side effect of the chemo and radiation treatments."

“Well that explains the rasp that wasn’t there before. But hey, at least you’re all better now, right?” I ask, thinking that having David here could possibly work to my advantage somehow. He never could stand Brian, and vice versa. And as for Ben, my involvement with David was always a sore point with him. Wouldn’t it be great if the three of them were in the same place and space, fighting over me?

“Yes, I’ve gotten the all clear finally, and ready to get back to the business of living.”

“That’s really great, David. I’m happy for you,” I tell him, and I am, although not for the reason he probably thinks. “Hey, you wanna get a drink with me? It’s been forever since we’ve seen each other. There’s so much to catch up on.”

“Sure, since I’m on my own tonight.”

“Just tonight?”

“Yeah, my partner, Chase, is on an overseas conference call. Two of our other friends are also here on the island, but it’s their first night and I wanted to give them a little privacy.”

“How nice of you,” I say, just barely keeping the sneer out of my voice. The fact that David is here and with a fucking PARTNER is not going to fit well into my plans. “The guys are here, too. But their partners are monopolizing their time, as usual.”

“And your husband? Where is he?”

“How did you know I was married?”

“I still talk to Debbie from time to time. She didn’t tell you?”

“No, she didn’t mention it.” My mother and I will be having a conversation about this. She was supposed to cut him off the moment he dumped me, not develop a fucking phone relationship with him! “I guess she forgot in all the excitement of her getting married herself.”

“She told me. I sent her and her new husband open-ended tickets to Hawaii as a wedding gift. It was the least I could do for all her help with Hank.”

“And how is Hank?” Not that I really care, but it gives us a little more to talk about since I’m hoping the guys will come into the bar we’ve arrived in. I’m anxious to see the fireworks.

“He’s good. He’s in his last year of school, studying Corporate Law. He’s already got a job lined up with one of my friends.”

“That’s really great. I may need to pick his brain about some business of my own.”

“Oh, that’s right. Your mom told me that you finally got the comic shop you’ve always wanted, and that you and Justin started a comic book. I’ve seen his work. After all, Hank is an art enthusiast, and owns a few pieces of his earlier works. We caught his last show in New York, and looking forward to the next one in Chicago later this year.”

Well that’s just fucking great! Yet another thing Boy Wonder has taken from me. Hank used to adore me, and now he likes my enemy. Pasting a smile on my face, I tell him, “Yeah, the shop is doing great. And although Rage is popular, Justin and I have decided to dissolve the partnership. He and Brian are so busy that he really doesn’t have much time to work on it anymore.”

“So, he’s still with Brian? WOW! I’ll bet no one saw that coming.”

“You have no idea,” I mutter.

“Justin really lucked out, finding his forever love the first time out, unlike the rest of us. But although it’s taken a few tries, we’ve found our own. I have Chase, and you have Ben. Am I going to meet him?”

“I honestly don’t know. He and I are here to get our marriage back on track,” I lie smoothly. I can't very well tell him that it's over, now can I?

“Well I hope it works out for you. I remember how much you wanted to be married. Does that mean you’ve finally let go of the hope that you would settle down with Brian?” he asks, and it’s taking everything in me not to throw my drink in his face and tell him to go fuck himself. How dare he think I should let go of Brian?! Brian is MINE!

“It wasn’t a matter of settling down with Brian, but a promise Brian made me that we would always be there for each other.”

“That’s not exactly how I remember it, but I guess the relationship between you and Brian would have changed with the presence of Justin and Ben?”

“Not really. I mean, Justin is still just a little twerp who uses Brian for his money, and Ben understands how I feel about Brian. As his best friend, it’s always been my job to guard Brian’s best interests.”

David laughs. “Is that what you called what you were doing? For real, Michael?”

“What do you mean by that? Of course, that was my ultimate goal!”

“Again, not the way I saw it. But then again, I really didn’t understand what the situation really was between you and Brian until after I sent you back home to Pittsburgh. It took meeting Chase, and having to deal with his ‘best friend’ Eric to really understand what should have been very obvious to me when I met all of you. You were territorial of Brian due to a long-standing friendship, and weren’t ready to grow up and move away from it being just the two of you. Brian was though, and it was something you couldn’t handle. If there was one thing I learned early on about you, Michael, it was that you don’t like change that you didn’t initiate yourself.”

“That’s not true!”

“Actually, it is. I remember when we were moving to Portland. You kept worrying about you leaving everyone and everything. I suppose I could understand that, since other than Paris with me, you’d never been or lived anywhere else on your own. But Michael, do you realize how much of life you’re missing out on because of your resistance to change? There’s a whole world out there, full of new opportunities if you would just live life and stop trying to keep yourself, and the others around you, from doing so. I suspect that based on their success alone, Brian, Justin, Ted, and Emmett have learned this, while you still refuse to. I have to wonder if that’s the core issue of the problems you mentioned about you and Ben.”

I’m sitting here fuming at the things he’s saying. David doesn’t know me anymore, so he has no right to question my choices! But I still need him on my side, so I decide to pretend like I’m really going to listen to his unsolicited advice. “Okay, maybe what you are saying is true to some extent. I just want everything to go back to the way things were before the guys and I got partners.”

“But Michael, it can’t. Don’t you see? If having cancer has taught me one thing, it’s that you can never go back. You can only move forward and adapt to what your life becomes in the here and now. If you spend all your time looking back, or trying to stay the same, you’ll miss the true gift that life really can be. I know I sound a bit philosophical right now, but having a disease that if untreated could have killed me, puts things into a whole different perspective. Speaking of which, it’s time for me to go meet Chase. He should have finished up by now. We’re supposed to meet at HAWT to dance, which between business, my practice, and cancer, we haven’t had much time to do lately. I hope the next time I see you, I can meet your partner and that everything will have worked itself out for you. You deserve happiness, Michael, but not at everyone else’s expense. Remember that.” With that he kisses my cheek and is gone.

He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and oddly, he sounded like Ben just now. It makes me glad to be well rid of the both of them. I know that David sees himself as warning me, but I mean, what does he really know but what my big mouth mother has told him? What does he know about the proper way to keep my friendship with the guys intact? From the sound of it, this Chase character was forced to make a choice between his best friend and David.

Well, Brian would NEVER EVER choose anyone over me! Granted, right now he isn’t talking to me, but that’s just to keep the peace with his ready piece of ass. Brian has just been too busy to go out tricking, so he has to keep his live-in trick happy if he wants to continue to get laid. Well I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and go ahead with my plans to get my friends’ heads out of the asses of their partners, and back on their shoulders with their minds staying focused on me, which is how it should be. And then David will have to apologize for doubting me when everything works out the way I want it to.

That was the one thing David never understood about me… if I ever wanted something bad enough, I always got it. And retrieving my friends from the clutches of their evil, dick-riding, soul-sucking partners and my ex is right at the top of my list.