by Jerry Cole
She looked down her long nose at him. “Do you really expect me to buy that?”
“I wanted to see him.” Finn held his hands up in defense. “Fuck, call the authorities. Father tries to pick son up from school! It’ll be front page news by tomorrow! Maybe we can get it on the nightly news—”
“That’s not the bloody point, Finn and you know it. You’re supposed to call first. You’re expected to ask. You’re supposed to – nearly twelve years. That’s how long you were out of his life.”
“I know, Angela.”
“And now you want to waltz back in like it’s nothing. That’s not how it works.”
“I know, Angela.”
“He’s a child, Finn. He needs stability. He needs consistency. He needs—”
“Mark is who I assume you’re talking about. Father of the year. I think I saw him wearing that shirt last week, actually.” Mark was Angela’s longtime boyfriend, pseudo-father to Zac and all-round asshole in Finn’s eyes.
“Yes, like Mark,” Angela said matter-of-factly.
Finn didn’t know what else to say. It was an argument they had nearly every time that they saw one another, and one that Angela always won. And even if she didn’t win, she still did. Zac was going home with her tonight, which meant that she was victorious no matter what Finn said. Finn’s entire relationship with Zac rested on her, and she wasn’t giving in without a fight... lots of them.
But God damn, Finn wanted to push. It was that smug look on her face. The way she crossed her arms and looked down her nose like a teacher schooling a student. She had all the power and Finn had none. All he could do was get under her skin, an act which he enjoyed thoroughly, even if it did hurt his chances with Zac.
Finn was about to cross the line and go low. He knew he shouldn’t, but he could feel the snark seeping out of him. Lucky that Angela jumped in before he had a chance.
“Well, this was fun.” She clapped her hands together suddenly. “But I really have to go – you see, when you commit yourself full time to something other than yourself, there are a lot of other chores that go with it. I have to take Zac to swim practice – he does that, in case you don’t know.”
“I knew that,” Finn lied.
“Then I have to make dinner. Check his homework. Clean the house. Make lunches for—”
“I get it.”
“And yet here we are,” Angela sighed. “Next time you want to see Zac, call first. Seriously, Finn... it’s not that hard.”
Finn was done. The only thing he could do now was nod his head, regroup, and maybe try again another day. Honestly, if he got out now, he might even count it as a victory. But then a hauntingly familiar voice called out and Finn suddenly wished he were anywhere but at that school.
“Ms. Blackman!” Alexander called from across the lot. “Can I have a word?”
It was Alexander from last night, the hot piece of ass that Finn had ditched Anthony to see. The date had gone well too, so well that Finn had only left the man’s apartment some seven hours earlier. It was one of those nights too where both men had known what they were getting themselves in to, with no numbers exchanges or any of that nonsense. A perfect night... until now.
“Mr. Lopez,” Angela beamed as Alexander came running toward her. “What a lovely surprise.”
“I’m glad I caught you.” Alexander looked as good as he had last night, and this morning. Dressed in a pair of brown chinos and a white polo, his thick muscles pressed against the fabric and threatened to tear through the shirt. Finn’s eyes glanced at his package too, remembering only too well what he had been doing with that piece of equipment earlier. “Zac ducked out without taking his... oh.” It was only just now that Alexander noticed Finn standing there, staring like a total idiot. “Finn?”
“Hey, Alexander...”
“What are you doing here?” Alexander asked. He took a small step back and rubbed at his arms as if cold.
“Just seeing my son... Zac – he's my son... Zac Blackman.” He could feel Angela putting the pieces together. He could feel her eyes flicking between the two men, sensing the tensioning, realizing what was going on. “Did I not mention that?”
“No, you didn’t. But I guess we were busy,” Alexander chuckled nervously. He, like Finn, seemed to be doing everything he could to not look at Angela.
“I guess so.” Finn tried for a guilty smile and a shrug. “So... how was work—”
“Really?” Angela snapped suddenly at Finn. “Really, Finn?” She looked to Alexander, who was now looking as guilty as Finn was feeling. “Really! Your son’s teacher? I don’t even... really?!”
“I didn’t know who he was,” Finn tried before he could stop himself.
“What a relief,” Angela said back with scathing sarcasm.
“Ms. Blackman, I assure you that anything myself and—”
“Give me this.” Alexander had been holding a few pieces of rolled up paper, presumably for Zac. Angela snatched them from his hand before he could finish speaking. “You are not to let Zac know any of this.”
“Of course not!” Alexander held his hands up in defense.
“Why?” Finn challenged. “Are you ashamed of what I am?”
“Oh, please.” Angela rolled her eyes at both men. “More worried what will happen if Zac’s school friend’s find out his father had sex with his teacher. Did you think of that – oh, wait. That would require you thinking of someone other than yourself. Ha! Honestly, I don’t know why I...” and on and on she went.
Finn didn’t spend much longer in that parking lot; maybe another thirty seconds, maximum. Once Angela started huffing and puffing and working herself into a frenzy, Finn was quick to say goodbye – to her, not Alexander -- and get the heck out of there before she went off like Vesuvius.
What made the whole thing so frustrating was that he had done nothing wrong, technically anyhow. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to get an earful, not to mention having this held over his head from now until Zac turned eighteen. He had gone to that school to try and better his relationship with his son, but now he was probably worse off than before.
Finn wanted nothing more than to be a better person. He wanted to improve his relationship with his son, and show himself and everyone that he had what it took to be a good father. He wanted a serious relationship with a man that he loved, someone he could be with while not wishing he was with someone else. He wanted the world to know he wasn’t the selfish asshole that everyone in it seemed to think he was. But maybe he was just fooling himself? Maybe, most likely, Finn was doomed to spend the rest of his life alone. After how today went, it seemed par for the course.
Chapter Five
What would Dakota Jim do? Dakota Jim was the most active, charismatic, courageous, outgoing character in film history and whenever Austin found himself down in the dumps, or needing to solve a problem, he’d often lay back in his bed, stare at the large poster of Raiders of the Last Ark hung above his bed and ask that exact question, hoping it might provide an answer to whatever dilemma he was currently facing. What would Dakota Jim do?
Austin’s current problem was simple, he wanted Freddy back. So again, what would Dakota Jim do? Most likely, Dakota would simply go and get his man. He’d put on his hat, strap his whip and gun to his side and do whatever it took. And most importantly, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. That was why Indiana was such an endearing, inspiring character. It also helped that he was ruggedly handsome, successful and the kind of guy that women – or in this case, men – swooned over.
Austin sighed, rolled over in bed and instead focused on the Pirate Bride poster that hung on the other side of his room. Again he asked, what would Dakota do? The answer to this question was baked into the movie itself. In the film, Westley did all manner of things to get his love back. He fought giant rodents, he climbed the cliffs, he was tortured to within an inch of his life! All in the name of love. Could Austin do that?
Austin’s entire bedroom was covered in posters a
nd knick-knacks and other pieces of memorabilia from film and television, and everywhere he looked he thought of the main character from that particular film and tried to channel them into his own resolve, to inspire him to go and get Freddy back.
And all the while, Austin tried to ignore the obvious problem that kept creeping itself into his mind’s eye: What if Freddy didn’t even want him back?
This was all Charles’ doing; Charles and those horrible, filthy lies that he spouted as if they were fact. Austin knew them to be false of course, but now they were in his head, buried away like fucking tumors, and he couldn’t get them out. What the heck was he going to do?!
“Yoohoo...” Cassidy slowly pushed open the door and stuck his head into the room. At the sight of Austin still in bed, he rolled his eyes and threw the door the rest of the way open. “What do you think you’re doing?!” Cassidy hollered in that usual high-pitched way that he spoke.
“Jerking off. Get out!” Austin pulled the covers up further, as if trying to cover his fake-erection.
“Liar! I don’t believe you for a second!” Cassidy leapt forward and grabbed at the covers.
“What the fuck are you—”
“Show me that cock!” Even though Cassidy was smaller than Austin, he easily overpowered him and yanked the covers free. This, of course, revealed Austin to still be fully clothed. “I knew it! Pay me.”
Cassidy Bowers was both Austin’s roommate, his oldest friend, and his best friend. They’d known one another for as long as either could remember, having grown up on the same street. Friends right from the get-go, Cassidy came out years before Austin was brave enough to. It was always a little more obvious for Cassidy though; it was said he danced his way from the womb, singing a chorus number as he jived.
“Will you please leave me alone,” Austin groaned and turned his back on his best friend. “Can’t I just wallow in self-pity alone... the way it’s supposed to be.”
“I thought you had work?” Having just showered, Cassidy was dressed in a pure-white bathrobe with pure-white slippers; they were the only things of non-color he owned. He held the edges of his robe as he climbed on the end of Austin’s bed and sat cross legged to face him.
“I called in sick,” Austin shrugged.
“Oh good!” Cassidy exclaimed happily... with just a hint of sarcasm. “So, you’re going to do some work on your book – what's it been now? Three months since you last touched it? Looking like you do now by-the-by, it’ll probably be about that long again until someone touches your cock—”
“Are you done?” Austin rolled over and shoved his head into his pillow. He hated when Cassidy was in this kind of playful mood. It only ever happened when he was either going to get laid, or just had. Which, to be fair, was often.
“Not even close!” Cassidy suddenly jumped to his feet and started stamping on either side of Austin, shouting and screeching as he did. “Up you get! This is your official wake up service! Brought to you for free from Cassidy Bowers!”
It was lucky that Cassidy was by no means large, or even medium sized, otherwise he just might have crushed Austin to death there and then... or so Austin could only wish. Rather, Cassidy was tiny, like really small. Standing at exactly five feet tall, with a body to match, he was the kind of guy that was forced to have a loud personality to make up for the lack of size. And truth be told, ‘loud’ didn’t begin to describe Cassidy.
His voice was high-pitched. His hand-movements were constant and erratic. His sense of humor was beyond crude. And his dress sense was nothing short of audacious. Cassidy was a queen, and proud of it.
“Get off!” Austin surged upwards, throwing his entire body at Cassidy in a bid to expel the little man from both his bed and room.
Cassidy saw this coming and leapt from the bed, landing delicately on his feet. “All right, Austin, the horseplay is over.” He put his hands on his hips and pretended to be serious. “I came in here just now, believe it or not, because I’m worried about you – skipping work? That’s a new low, Austin Janssen-Dirk. You only do three shifts a week!”
Austin worked in a retail clothing store called JeanFection. It was a too-cool-for-school denim store that charged way too much for the product it was pushing. But it was an easy gig, and seeing as Austin’s parents paid for everything in his life, it was more than enough to support him. That, and he was meant to be using his down time to write, not mope in bed all day.
“Worried about me?” Austin feigned ignorance. “Why are you – I’m sick! Seriously,” he lied. “It’s just a cold, but I don’t want to go in and risk infecting people. That’s not cool.”
“Oh... sick, are you?” Cassidy raised an accusatory eyebrow. “Riddle me this then, will you. Where were you last night, at approximately six o’clock – and if your answer is anything other than Hoyts Cinema on Crown St, do not bother speaking to me, because I know you’re lying.”
Austin’s face dropped. “How did you...”
“Oh, honey.” Cassidy threw himself at Austin, and wrapped his little arms around his best friend like a mother would her infant. “He’s not worth it.”
“He is worth it,” Austin sighed and allowed for himself to be held by Cassidy. There was no point in lying to him, and he didn’t really want to anyway. He needed someone to talk to, and Cassidy usually had all right advice... sometimes, anyway.
“And why is that exactly – please, tell me! From what you told me when you were together, he was an average at best lover—”
“I never said that.”
“Oh, honey, I just guessed from what you told me. Plus... and this is a big one... he’s a cunt. There, I said it!”
Austin tried to pull free, but Cassidy wouldn’t allow it. “He is not a—”
“After the way he broke it off with you? Puh-lease. Cunt is the nicest thing I could say. And even if he wasn’t. Even if he was the nicest guy out, and the best lover with the biggest cock – somehow even bigger than yours, Mr. Well-endowed. Even if all that was true...” Cassidy gently released his grip on Austin, and even shuffled away a few inches. “He dumped you,” he said softly. “It’s as simple as that. Get over him because he’s over you.”
“Ah... wow.” Austin was a little stunned. This was a bit much, even for him. “I guess we just skipped the whole sympathy part of the break-up, huh?”
“That was last week.” Cassidy jumped to his feet and put his hands back on his hips. “We are now well and truly onto the, get your life back on track, part of the post-break-up. And Austin... I hate to say it, but you have a long way to go.”
“What do you mean?” Austin said defensively. This was in spite of the fact that it was past noon, he was still in his pajamas in bed, and he smelled like some food you might find behind the couch a week after you dropped it there.
Cassidy sighed and waltzed toward the door. “Even before Freddy came along, Austin, you were on a downward spiral – let me finish,” he hurried. “You haven’t touched your book in months, you barely go to work and you have the easiest job ever, and your hair is so long and out of control that I’ve started telling people you’re my hippy sister visiting from New Zealand.”
“I just had my heart broken!” Austin defended. “I’m sorry that getting a haircut is low on my list of priorities.”
“And everything else? How does your break-up factor in with those unfortunate events?” Cassidy tilted his head to the side, and observed Austin with a combination of worry and pity.
Austin didn’t respond... but that’s just because Cassidy was right. Even before he had met Freddy, Austin’s life had been on the fast track to nowhere.
It was two years ago that he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in creative writing, and certain that in no time he’d be a published author. He was so certain in fact that his parents had even offered to pay his rent, and give him a weekly allowance, just so that he would have time to write. His parents were very well off, and his entire family was very close, so Austin had no trouble accep
ting their gracious offer. This was helped by the fact that he was sure it wouldn’t take long before he was on his own feet.
Now it was two years later and there was still no book to show for it. Writing was hard. Thinking about writing was hard. The whole process was hard! Austin had tried... God, how he had tried. But he was also lazy, and unmotivated, and comfortable.
But he’d never admit that out loud. “Whatever,” he blew through his lips and lay back down in bed. “Enjoy your dicking tonight.”
“Oh, I will.” Cassidy rolled his eyes and made to walk out the door, but then he stopped, turned back and pulled a small card from the pocket of his robe. “By-the-by, I came in here because I found this on the floor in the living room. Thought it might belong to you.” He flicked the card on-top of Austin, strolled from the room and slammed the door behind him.
It took some time before Austin bothered to see what exactly Cassidy had flicked his way. Those moments of silence were spent in self-pity, and a very slow dawning of realization that everything Cassidy had said was correct. Austin’s life was in the mother of all ruts, and he was doing nothing to change it.
And then, as if by divine intervention, Austin noticed the little white card sitting on his shoulder. It read, Finn Connor, Life Coach Specialist: ‘How to Finish First in the Game of Life.’
The first time Austin had read that card, he’d been insulted. Now, it hit a little too close to home. Austin’s life was in a rut. He needed something to fix it – someone! Maybe a life coach was the way to go? Maybe this was fate? Helped of course by the fact the life couch was an insane hottie that Austin would literally kill for, just to see him in a speedo.
Austin stared at that card for several moments more before finally picking it up, as if he had been unable to accept that it was real until this point. Was he really in such desperate times that he needed a life coach? Truthfully, yes, he was.
Chapter Six