by Con Riley
“Aiden.”
“Yes, to you, Aiden, and to your mom. None of us expected him to pass away like that. We all were so very sorry for your loss.” He watched as Evan stared into the photo, looking closely at his father for another few minutes before replacing it carefully. When he turned toward Theo again, his face was set—he instantly looked older.
“I remember that party, Mr. Anderson. I remember your… your….” He struggled for a moment. “I remember your partner. He found me outside with Aiden, and he wouldn’t leave us alone until we agreed to help him. Then he made us serve punch to everyone. Everyone. I only wanted to be left alone.”
“How old were you then, Evan?” Theo asked.
“Eleven. It was right after I came to live with them.” Theo remembered David’s determination to adopt Evan. Aiden had been much younger when his adoption had been formalized, David had said. They hadn’t intended to adopt again, but once they met Evan they couldn’t stop thinking about him.
“Did you realize that all those people you served punch to were there to celebrate your adoption? You dad didn’t talk about anything else for months. He was worried about Aiden initially, but the way that kid was with you….” Theo paused. “It was like he’d always been your big brother, like he was made for the role.”
Evan smiled, and this smile reached his eyes. “Yeah, he said he was pissed at the beginning. He’d had Mom and Dad to himself for nearly ten years. There he was, nearly sixteen years old when he got saddled with an eleven-year-old brat.” He shook his head, remembering. “I wasn’t the easiest kid to get along with.”
Theo recalled David talking about his worries for his youngest son. He’d felt Evan had been in the system too long. His language was terrible, his attitude even worse. He looked like an angel, but someone had broken his wings somewhere along the way.
Theo took a moment to edge carefully back to the couch, slowly lowering himself before considering the young man in front of him.
“So, what changed for you?” he asked.
“My family. Aiden mostly. He wouldn’t take my….” He stopped just short of cursing again. “He remembered what it was like to live in a group home, even though he left when he was much younger.” Evan shook his head, then sat at the far end of the couch when Theo indicated he should. “I’ve heard they’ve improved somewhat since then,” he added. “But it was no place to grow up. I’m so grateful they got me out.” Blinking across the distance between them, he scrubbed at his eyes with the heels of his palms for a second. “So, if it’s important to Mom that I try to be like Dad, then I will. Aiden already is like him. Too much like him, to be completely honest. He takes on too much.”
Theo could actually recall only the breadth of Aiden’s shoulders, and his mop of dark curls, such a contrast to his adoptive brother’s slight build and straight blond hair.
Evan continued, “Aiden took up where Dad left off. He’s looked after us all. He never stops working.” Sounding proud, he added, “He has his own business that he started on the Internet. He just opened his first retail store.” Theo nodded, impressed.
“And he’s—” Theo started to ask.
“Aiden just turned twenty-six. I’m twenty-one. Look, like I tried to explain on the phone, Mom thinks I’m the last chance, the last link between her old life and… well… now, I guess.” Theo watched as the younger man braced his elbows on his knees and dropped his head to his hands. “I still feel bad for choosing the wrong major. She was all set on business, but….” Theo couldn’t watch him struggle any longer.
“Evan, the spot is yours, if you really want it. My only concern is that you get to the end of the internship to find that your mom expects you to continue. You know it might give her some kind of false hope, don’t you?” Frankly, Theo thought that it was desperately unfair to ask a kid—and he was still a kid—to step into a grown man’s shoes. Especially a dead man’s shoes that were impossible to fill.
He took in the way that Evan’s face broke into a huge smile of relief. He looked incredibly young when his face lit up like that, all shining eyes like pools of mercury and white-blond hair that fell forward almost constantly. Evan flicked it back as he leaned over to shake Theo’s hand. His shake was firm, though. He might look slight, Theo thought, but the kid had strength. He’d have needed it to get through a loss like he’d experienced, let alone his early childhood.
Shrugging off his newest intern’s thanks, he gestured toward the photo on the mantle again.
“I’m not suggesting this only for your benefit, Evan. Your dad was a good man, a fine friend, and a reliable colleague. We all miss him and wondered if we should have noticed sooner….” His voice trailed away as the younger man’s head dropped forward again, eyes masked by the fall of silvered hair. He watched Evan shake his head.
“We’d all be glad to see you at the office, Evan. Just don’t make your mother any long-term promises, especially if your vocation lies elsewhere.”
The younger man nodded, keeping silent.
Theo guessed that would have to do.
They moved on to a discussion of the role requirements, and Evan took some notes.
“What should I wear?” he asked. It was a valid question. Theo had just described what essentially amounted to weeks of rummaging in dusty storerooms, filing, and endless contact with copier ink cartridges and toner.
“What you have on is fine for the first day, then something a little more casual after your orientation is complete.” He remembered how it was to be a student. He’d only owned one formal suit, supplemented by Ben’s shirts and Italian silk ties. Evan’s look of disappointment surprised him.
“Or you can wear a business suit every day. Whatever you’re comfortable in.” Evan smiled brightly again, smoothing down his tie.
Kids.
Theo had no idea how their minds worked anymore.
Ben had never lost his own youthful streak, and Theo considered that as he accepted Evan’s assistance to get up from the couch, then watched from his window as he started to cross the street below.
He and Ben had been on exactly the same wavelength when they first met. There was no way he would have guessed, after their first drunken evening together in Milan, that they weren’t the same age. The longer they were together, the more it seemed that Ben stayed perpetually young—in spirit, at least—while he seemed to age for both of them. Perhaps that was the effect of corporate life.
Looking down into the street below, he saw a Vespa coming around the corner just a few seconds before Evan did. It was a fucking miracle that he managed to get across the street before the fast-moving bike took him out. From behind the pane of window glass, Theo heard Evan cussing out the rider. He had such a potty mouth. Theo smiled, thinking that Evan absolutely was a bundle of contradictions: He had the face of an innocent and the soul of a street fighter.
Forgetting his back pain momentarily, he watched as the Vespa rider circled back, pulling to a halt right next to the curb near Evan. He couldn’t help his smile as he watched the smaller man gesticulating wildly, getting right up in the rider’s face. Yeah, fearless.
He blinked a little as the rider dismounted, towering over Evan. Theo fumbled for a pocket before remembering that he was wearing sweats. His cell phone was in the kitchen. Fuck. He hoped he wasn’t about to witness David Daly’s boy getting a beating.
The other dude was much taller than Evan. Theo could see that even from his skewed third-floor perspective. His shoulders looked twice the breadth of Evan’s, who watched the other man approach, then looked over his shoulder, scoping out an escape route, perhaps. Even from this distance, Theo noted the way his fists curled. Yeah, the kid had learned something about survival before he lived with the Dalys, Theo figured.
He watched as the other man held out his hands, palms facing Evan, like he was calming a startled pony. Theo huffed out a breath heavy with relief. Then he gasped as the taller man reached into the inner pocket of his jacket. Fuck. Please God, not a gun.
Theo’s split second of horror stretched out long and thin as he mentally calculated whether to smash his window as a distraction, or try to reach his phone first. Thankfully, the scrap of paper the other man pulled from his pocket waved in the breeze like a small white flag, signaling surrender.
Almost panting as if he’d been running instead of standing still, Theo hung onto the window sill as he watched Evan lean in toward the other man, frowning as he took the paper from him. He nodded, then gestured toward Theo’s building. The other man turned to look in the direction Evan pointed, removed his helmet and placed it on the bike’s seat. All Theo saw was a mess of dark hair and a huge smile.
Theo backed away from the window some, then edged closer again as the rider proceeded to strip off his jacket, looking around for a moment for somewhere to put it before thrusting it into Evan’s arms. Theo blinked and shook his head as he watched one man start to strip—right there, out on the sidewalk—while the other held a growing pile of his discarded clothes.
The other man shed a black band T-shirt before replacing it with a crumpled dress shirt from a side pannier on his bike, which he tucked into equally creased dress pants.
“What the hell?” Theo had never seen anything like it. Perhaps Evan hadn’t either. He stood, clutching the pile of discarded clothes, eyes wide. Once Theo stopped fearing for Evan’s life, he could almost see the humor in the situation. It wasn’t every day that Theo got to see a nearly naked young man outside his apartment window, and the taller dude was built.
Tanned and built.
He smiled as he watched the taller young man’s—and he was young, Theo saw that once he turned again to look at the building—expressive face crease with a frown. He made a hand movement that Theo interpreted as how do I look? Theo smiled a little wider as Evan looked mildly horrified and shook his head. He translated that as terrible. You look terrible.
The tall man shrugged, wide shoulders slumping. Then he stuffed his discarded clothes into the side panniers on his bike.
When Evan began to undo his own tie, then went on to loop it around the other man’s collar, Theo moved a little closer to the window, feeling slightly voyeuristic. This was the most entertainment he’d had in… forever.
Evan finished straightening his tie on the other man, then carried on talking for a while, pointing at his hair. Theo heard the other man’s laughter from three floors up. Then he watched the man lean down a little as Evan pulled a comb from his back pocket.
Evan did his best, but even Theo could see that his mission was hopeless.
By this time, Theo had guessed that the taller dude was his next potential intern, Joel Hudson, an environmental studies major. Yes, he looked a little like he belonged in the great outdoors, rather than in an office.
Evan shook his head, and Theo couldn’t blame him. Even in a shirt and tie, the other man looked the opposite of suitable for a formal interview.
Still, he was resourceful; Theo would give him that at least. He’d nearly killed a stranger—just like Ben had with him at their first meeting—then used the opportunity to get some help with his interview preparation. He watched them for a few more minutes, while his back yelled at him to sit down again already. Oh yes, this guy was an opportunity taker.
He noticed the way he talked to Evan the whole time, his face completely animated.
When he pulled out a cell phone, Theo saw Evan recite, as if giving his own cell number.
“Smooth move, dude.” Theo remembered how Ben turned his own anger at their near-death almost-collision into an opportunity to extract his hotel name and room number from Theo within five minutes. When he’d opened his hotel door later that night to the handsome, energetic Italian, his life had changed forever.
Later, much later, Theo found himself wondering if opening the door to Joel Hudson was the moment that his whole life changed again.
WHEN Maggie arrived just before one, arms full of files and takeout for lunch, Theo heard her lean on the door buzzer, then let herself in. Even if he’d wanted to he couldn’t have explained exactly how he came to be flat on his front, stretched out on a sheet across his living room floor. It was, he judged, fairly inexplicable.
Besides, the fact that a smiling young man was kneading oil into his lower back would probably make any explanation he could come up with pretty redundant. So instead of explaining, he lowered his head to the sheet again, and groaned as Joel’s long, strong, amazing fingers pushed his pain away.
“Theo Anderson!” Maggie dumped the files on the couch before kneeling down beside him. “What did I tell you about lawsuits?”
Theo shook his head. He had no idea how he had progressed from interviewing the young man to allowing his shirt to be removed and practically begging him not to stop once he started with his massage demonstration.
“There’s no need to worry, ma’am. He already offered me the job, and I already accepted the position. This massage is for therapeutic purposes only, although if I’d known the effect it would have, I guess I would have offered right at the start. It would have saved a whole lot of talking.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Joel talked as if someone might ration words at any minute. He’d only stopped talking once he started rubbing Theo’s locked-up muscles. The silence had been incredible, and Theo had fallen headfirst into it, almost drifting off to sleep once he was sure that Joel’s actions weren’t going to make his back spasm any worse. Theo craned his head to the side, blinking into Maggie’s dark stare. “Get out while you still can, Maggie.” Theo’s voice dropped to a hoarse whisper as he said, “I think he hypnotized me.”
“I can stop any time you like, Mr. Anderson. You just say the word.” As the warm hands on his back slowed, then stopped their rhythmic motion, Theo whimpered. He could hear the smile in Joel’s voice.
“That’s what I thought, boss.”
It had been Joel’s smile that led to Maggie finding them this way. The interview hadn’t gone according to plan at all. Theo had barely made it to the front door this time before Joel had pushed it open. His cheerful, “Hey, how are ya?” was quickly countered with a, “Wow, he wasn’t kidding. You do look like crap.”
Theo could almost hear Evan saying that exact phrase.
Before he knew it, Theo had found himself shuffled to his living room, eased back onto the couch, and under rapid-fire investigation. Did he need a drink, something to eat, any medication? What was the problem, how had it started, and what was helping? When Joel moved on to making suggestions for alternative therapies, Theo stopped him.
“I’m guessing you’re Mr. Hudson.” Theo tried to sound calm and composed. Joel nodded, then apologized. “That’s all right, Mr. Hudson, this isn’t the most formal of interview sessions that I’ve ever run. It’s been one of those weeks.” Frankly, it had been one of those years. “Perhaps you could tell me why an environmental studies major is even looking for a spot in my department.” All of Theo’s years of experience in hiring and firing had taught him that asking open questions was the best way to extract the maximum of information.
Mr. “Call me Joel” Hudson had started talking, and hadn’t stopped for at least ten minutes.
He began by explaining his rationale for choosing his major. He’d been deeply influenced by several well-reported man-made disasters and, as a nature lover and ardent spokesperson for the voiceless—Theo guessed that he meant for trees and wildlife—environmental studies was a natural choice. He spent a year traveling—Australia mainly, taking in a little of Asia—and had made a point to visit environmental research centers in each country he visited. Theo didn’t doubt his enthusiasm, but after a lecture on deforestation in Borneo, he was still no closer to understanding why the man wanted office experience in what sounded, by comparison, such a pedestrian field.
Joel had an answer for him, and hearing his thinking made Theo want to log into chat immediately. Morgan would absolutely love the way Joel’s mind worked. Or he’d hate him passionatel
y. It just depended on the day.
As Joel talked and talked and talked, Theo wondered again if Morgan was okay. It had been days since he’d answered Theo’s pings.
He missed Morgan.
He missed his company.
Yes, that was it. He missed Morgan’s witty company, especially as he had so much time on his hands. Starting suddenly, realizing that the room was silent, Theo saw that Joel was studying him intently.
“Who hurt you?” Joel asked.
“It’s just an old football injury.” Theo watched as Joel pursed his full lips a little. He really did have the most expressive face. Honestly, it bordered on ugly, but when he smiled, it was practically gorgeous. His smile was amazing, all bright white teeth and just huge.
Really huge.
“I don’t mean your back. That’s obvious. I mean what happened to you?”
Theo shook his head.
This wasn’t the time or place. He had zero intention of talking about himself, especially to a complete stranger. “Tell me again why you want to intern. Just keep it short this time.” Theo settled back, wincing, as Joel started talking again. He had a comforting accent that revealed he’d grown up in Minnesota, or Minne-snow-ta, as he called it, shivering a little.
“I aim to work for a nonprofit or even start my own one day, but there’s little point wanting to change the world if you don’t know how the world works right now.”
Theo nodded at his logic.
“An internship with your company, particularly in your department, will look so good on my resume. But, more importantly, I need to see what business looks like from the inside out. I’m an idealist, but I guess that money will always talk. I figure that it can’t hurt to at least understand a little more about corporate America, even if you all are directly responsible for destroying the planet.”