Sugar and Spice

by Max Hudson

  “Don’t feel bad my love,” Jesse said, patting Oscar on the shoulder. “These three carry heavy things for a living.” He turned to Ted who was currently documenting Steve’s victory dance. “That’s enough camera for now,” he said. “We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”

  Ted gave him a sour look for spoiling his fun, but he listened and put the camera down anyway. Jesse turned back to Oscar.

  “Do you want to get cleaned up here or back at your place?”

  “My place please,” Oscar said without hesitation. Jesse could tell that he was itching to get back to his safe zone, and he couldn’t blame him. The last twenty-four hours had been jam-packed with firsts for him. For both of them really.

  Jesse nodded and offered his hand.

  “Okay. Time to go then.”

  Jesse helped Oscar up and threw his arms around his boyfriend’s waist before turning to address his crew.

  “Go ahead and start labeling and sorting through yesterday’s footage. I won’t be gone long. My sisters are expecting us back at the mansion by noon.”

  They all nodded and got to work. They moved like a seamless unit, Ted opening up his camera to get to the memory drive and passing it along to Amal, who then took it over to the table where Steve was setting up his gigantic laptop. Jesse watched them a moment longer before turning and preceding Oscar into the hall.

  That was another unexpected thing to come out of the last twenty-four hours, he thought. Jesse had expected to feel much closer to Oscar after this ordeal and he definitely did, but what he hadn’t anticipated was this newfound closeness with Steve, Ted, and Amal. They’d all known him for many years, but they’d never seen him like this: vulnerable, lovestruck and stupidly happy.

  Even though it was kind of weird and scary, there was something very nice about sharing that side of himself with them. It reminded him of this time when he was really little and he realized that the buttons on their months old oven still had a protective plastic film over them, and how satisfying it had felt peeling them off. That’s how Jesse felt now. Exposed to the elements, but uniquely thrilled by it.

  Okay, so it wasn’t a perfect analogy, but still.

  Jesse stopped daydreaming about ovens and focused on getting Oscar into the car and pulling out of the parking lot. Oscar was quiet, but he didn’t seem to be freaking out either.

  “Whatcha thinking about?” Jesse asked, tapping on the steering wheel.

  “You,” Oscar answered. He dug his thumbs under the edge of his seatbelt and twisted it. “It’s a whole lot better than the alternative.”

  Jesse smiled.

  “Well I’m glad to be of assistance. Maybe next time we can try a visit with no cameras.”

  Oscar closed his eyes and leaned back against the headrest.

  “I’d like that a lot.”

  Jesse turned on the radio to his favorite classic rock station and expertly navigated the side streets to keep them away from the freeway. Oscar flinched at every abrupt stop and pothole, but remained lucid. He even kept his eyes open for some of the trip. Jesse felt an immense surge of pride in him. Oscar had already come such a long way.

  When they arrived at Oscar’s building, the two of them sat in the non-moving vehicle for several seconds longer than was necessary, not wanting to say goodbye.

  “I’ll walk you up,” Jesse said finally.

  The two of them held hands on their way up the ramp and let go as soon as they exited onto the busy street. Jesse immediately scanned the surrounding area for paparazzi; those mother fuckers had been relentless ever since picture-gate.

  Jesse did see one man who looked vaguely familiar with a camera strapped to his back. He tugged Oscar’s sleeve and the two of them bent down, pretending to look for a lost item, and the photographer passed right on by without recognizing them. Relieved, they continued into the building and up the stairs.

  When they made it to the tenth floor, Jesse gave Oscar a long, lingering kiss. It was so over the top that Oscar had to pull away because he was laughing so hard. Jesse tucked a strand of hair behind his ear.

  “Thanks for spending the night with me,” he said.

  “Thanks for making me do it,” Oscar responded.

  Jesse smiled and gave him one last kiss.

  “See you tomorrow?”

  Oscar nodded.

  “Good luck with the girls. Tell me how it goes.”

  Jesse promised that he would and took the elevator back down to the ground level. Once outside, he got back in his car and took his usual route to his apartment where he picked up his crew. They all headed over to Sugar Manor as a group.

  Today was the day that he would tell his sisters about Oscar. Everyone had mutually agreed that they should do it on camera since their reactions were bound to be priceless. Also, Jesse wanted to test the waters first before blindly introducing his urban legend of a boyfriend to his crazy family.

  When Team Jesse entered the mansion, the girls were all sitting delicately in the second living room watching something colorful on TV. They were all dressed up nicely with their hair and makeup done since Jesse had given them fair warning that he was going to be filming with them today. They just didn’t know what the topic of discussion was going to be.

  “Hello, hello,” he chirped coming to join them.

  Ted, who was carrying the main camera and Steve, who was carrying the B-roll, fanned out across the edges of the room so that they could get good clear shots of everyone. Amal stood near the archway, monitoring the external audio levels on each camera with his phone.

  “Hey baby brother,” Leah said, giving him a side hug on the couch. “Long time no see.”

  Jesse turned his eyes toward the TV.

  “What are you guys watching?” he asked.

  “It’s this cartoon that Sky and Mari like,” Isabel answered. “It’s actually got a really good storyline.”

  Katelyn snatched up the remote from the coffee table in front of her and turned the TV off.

  “The storyline can wait,” she said. “What did you wanna tell us Jess?”

  Jesse glanced up at the ceiling and then back down at his lap, taking a deep breath.

  “Okay, so you know how I told you my boyfriend was just some guy I met at a bar?”

  They all nodded their heads.

  “Well that isn’t exactly true. He’s um... he’s actually someone famous. Someone who’s been out of the public eye for a while…”

  They all looked at him expectantly. He scratched his head and sighed.

  “I’m dating Oscar Hernandez.”

  Each of his three sisters had a completely different reaction to that. Leah groaned, Katelyn laughed, and Isabel frowned.

  “That’s not funny, Jesse,” Isabel said.

  “It is a little funny,” Katelyn amended.

  “Who is it really?” asked Leah.

  There wasn’t a true believer in the bunch. He didn’t really blame them. He wouldn’t have believed it either.

  “I’m serious,” Jesse insisted. “Amal, tell them.”

  “He speaks the truth,” Amal said, but he didn’t even bother making it sound convincing. The jerk.

  “Uh huh,” Katelyn said, crossing her arms. “In that case, I’m secretly dating the Easter bunny.”

  Isabel shook her head in mock seriousness. “Ooh, your husband’s not going to like that.”

  Jesse pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “You guys, I’m being serious.”

  “Then prove it,” Leah challenged.

  Jesse looked over her head at Steve and asked him if he brought his laptop. Steve nodded his head, bobbing the camera ever so slightly. He told them where it was and Jesse sent Amal to go retrieve it. He’d figured something like this might happen, which was exactly why he’d had them start exporting the footage earlier.

  Jesse scrolled through the many dated folders until he found the one marked from yesterday. Inside were a dozen or so individual clips. He double clicked on one labeled: Osca
r Hernandez Confessional 1. Jesse turned the screen toward them and his sisters crowded around to watch. Jesse watched their eyes as Oscar introduced himself and explained why he’d been gone for so long. He saw the exact moment their skepticism shifted into bewildered belief.

  “He even sounds the same,” Katelyn mumbled.

  “Looks the same too,” Leah agreed.

  “Oh-em-gee, he’s so hot!” That was Isabel’s contribution.

  Jesse closed the laptop and handed it back to Amal.

  “See,” he said smugly.

  “Jess this is freaking insane!” Katelyn said. “How did this even happen? You better tell us everything.”

  Jesse laughed.

  “I will. It’s actually a funny story. I got our whole first meeting on tape.”

  “No way!” Izzy shouted. “Show us!”

  Jesse shook his head.

  “Not right now. I want you to be surprised when the show airs. But yeah, I just thought I’d go ahead and tell you who I’m dating because he’s probably gonna be hanging around at some point or another.”

  Leah practically squealed in excitement.

  “I can’t believe I get to meet Oscar Hernandez!”

  Jesse frowned.

  “Yeah,” he said. “But you can’t... I don’t know, fangirl all over him or whatever. He literally just got to the point where he can make it out of his house for long periods of time without having a panic attack.”

  Katelyn put her hand on his shoulder, always a mom, even when her kids were nowhere to be found.

  “Jess. Don’t worry about it. We’re not gonna grill him or anything. We just want to get to know your boyfriend. If he makes you happy, that’s all that matters. Even if he is a super cool cryptid whose autograph I’d really like to have.”

  “What about you two?” he asked, addressing Leah and Isabel.

  “I’m cool,” Isabel said.

  “I’m not gonna say anything about his show,” Leah said, “but don’t expect me to go easy on him. Mental issues or not, he’s still dating my baby brother.”

  Jesse decided that from Leah, that was the best he could hope for.

  “What about the girls?” he asked Katelyn.

  She waved off the question.

  “I guarantee you they’ve never even heard of Garrett’s Guide. Mom and dad might’ve, but we’ll talk to them for you. Make sure they stay polite.”

  Tears started welling in his eyes. He felt overcome with love and gratitude.

  “Thanks guys,” he whispered.

  His older sisters cooed at him and brought him into a big group hug. He was just having touching heartfelt conversations with everyone this weekend.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Oscar stood before his front door, sunglasses in hand, hoodie pulled over his head, ready to put his carefully concocted plan into motion.

  He was leaving the apartment again, but this time without Jesse by his side. He wasn’t going to be deterred by any couch movers or chatty neighbors or prevailing feelings of terror. He was going to open the door, make his way all the way down the stairs, exit the building, and buy a cup of coffee from the cafe across the street.

  No big deal. Easy-peasy. If he could handle cameras and cars and movie theaters with Jesse, he could definitely manage this measly little outing all by himself.

  Or so he told himself. At this rate, those words were going to be carved into his tombstone. Here lies Oscar Hernandez Vega. His life was hard and he told himself lots of things that probably weren’t true. May he rest in peace.

  Hopefully this outing wouldn’t actually result in death though. He had meticulously planned out every detail. As ridiculous as it sounded, he’d even gone as far as buying a brand new grey hoodie so that nobody could see him in his old black one and connect it to the infamous picture of him and Jesse kissing. As if that would ever happen.

  Oscar took a deep breath and put on his sunglasses before twisting the knob and pushing the door open. He could hear his heart thumping in his ears as he stepped out of his apartment and closed the door behind him. He left it unlocked this time. Just in case.

  He tightened the strings on his hood on his way to the staircase and paused to look down at the next floor below. His stomach gurgled unpleasantly at the thought of going down, but at least he couldn’t get trapped there like he could on the elevator. Staircases worked both ways, and he knew for a fact that there was nobody who could possibly come up behind him and block the way; yet another benefit of living on the top floor. He was fine. He was safe. He just had to take it one step at a time. Literally.

  Oscar took a deep breath and descended with closed eyes. He tried to make his steps slower than his heartbeat, hoping that maybe his heart would take a hint and follow suit. Every time he thought he might be able to keep his eyes open for more than just a second or two, he would get scared and flinch over the simple sounds of people living their everyday lives in the hallways around him: a slamming door, an enthusiastic conversation, the scurrying of a child. All of them terrifying in their own right.

  By some miracle, he did not encounter a single person on the stairwell that day. He counted his blessings and forced himself to take long strides through the lobby instead of running across it like he wanted to. At the tall glass door at the front of the building, he took a moment to breathe before pushing it open and entering the outside world. All the while, he was desperately trying not to make eye contact with the unfamiliar doorman.

  Outside, most of his energy went into reminding himself to walk like a normal person and keep breathing and focus on the sidewalk ahead of him. He didn’t have to think too much about which direction to walk in. Before ever leaving his apartment he’d sat for hours looking out his window and deciding whether or not jaywalking was a risk worth taking—it was not, he’d concluded—which crosswalk to use, and what door to enter the cafe from. In addition to finding out what their least busy time of day was, Oscar had also formed a decent idea of what the interior looked like by studying the photos in customer reviews. So far, everything was going exactly according to plan.

  Oscar ran into his first big hurdle when he heard a quiet jingling as he approached the crosswalk. He stopped, turned to face the street, and was soon joined by an elderly woman walking her dog. It was a small fluffy white thing with beady little black eyes. Oscar’s eyes looked on the creature. He held his breath as it approached and cautiously sniffed his shoes.

  A few seconds later, the woman called the dog back, tugging on its leash. The motion made the collar jingle once again.

  “Sorry,” she said. “He’s friendly, I promise. Just a little nosy.”

  The crosswalk light changed just then. Oscar speed walked across the street without saying a word. He exhaled the moment his foot touched sidewalk again and didn’t dare look back. If there was any sort of God in this world, the old woman and her dog would not follow him into the cafe.

  Before entering the establishment, which was aptly named “Bean O’Rama”, Oscar peered through the front window and checked to see how busy it was. There was what appeared to be a happy couple sitting at a table near the back, and one young man wearing headphones, completely absorbed in something on his laptop screen. Oscar breathed a sigh of relief and stepped inside.

  He approached the counter, which was currently being wiped down by a barista. As said barista turned to look at Oscar, Oscar looked up at the menu to avoid eye contact.

  “Are you ready to order, sir?” the barista asked.

  Oscar shook his head and struggled to focus on his breathing.

  “All right, no problem. Let me know when you’re ready.”

  Oscar pretended to stare intently at the menu above the barista’s head. He already knew what he was going to order. All he had to do was spit out the words. One black coffee.

  “Uh…”

  “Ready?” the barista asked once again.

  “Yeah,” Oscar said. He cleared his throat and repeated himself. “Yes.”

>   “What would you like?”

  Oscar looked down and caught the barista’s curious gaze for a moment before looking back at the register and becoming painfully aware of the distance still present between him and the counter. He took a step forward.

  “Can I have a black coffee?” He looked at the barista’s name tag. 'Shaun'.

  “Dark roast?”

  “Uh… sure.”

  “What size?”

  “... small?”

  “Cream and sugar?”

  “ ... No.”

  How many questions was this man going to ask? Ordering a black coffee was supposed to be simple. If he wanted cream and sugar, he wouldn’t have asked for it black. That was literally the whole point!

  “That’ll be $3.75.”

  Oscar pulled a hand out of his hoodie and produced his card. The barista slid it down the side of the register, tapped something onto the screen, and then handed it back.

  “All right,” said the server casually. “I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”

  “Thank you.” Oscar forced a twitchy smile and stood there for what felt like a moment too long before going to sit at a table on the opposite side of the room, as far away from the other customers as possible.

  He kept himself facing away from the large entrance windows, elbows on the table and hands laced in front of the lower half of his face, as he watched the barista from the corner of his eye. Why had he looked at him so intently? Had he recognized him? Had he noticed the name on his card? He hadn’t considered that the cashier would look at his card. What if this turned into a new version of the theater situation? Was Oscar being paranoid and mistaking good customer service for staring? The reviews did commend the good customer service at this location.

  “Dark roast, no cream no sugar?”

  Oscar nearly flinched at the barista’s call. In Oscar’s defense, he’d spoken much louder than was strictly necessary for the nearly empty cafe. Oscar turned his head toward the counter, stood, and pushed in his chair with a painfully loud screech. Much to his relief, the other customers seemed too involved in their own activities and conversations to pay him any mind. He walked back up to the counter.