by Trina Solet
When Diego came by after his meeting, he had a takeout bag with him. Trevor narrowed his eyes at him, but greeting Jamie came first. Diego gave him a hug then Jamie tried to peer inside the bag.
"So the babysitting went OK?" Diego asked.
"I consider it training. Plus Jamie helps me out a lot," Trevor said.
"I tell him when Zane's butt is stinky," Jamie told him.
"It doesn't get more helpful than that," Diego said and made a face. He then raised the bag he was carrying. "I see you looking at this Chinese takeout bag suspiciously. It is a little too full, isn't it? I got too much food. Want to help us eat it?"
Trevor hung his head. "You aren't fooling anyone," he said to Diego.
"What? I'm just a man who ordered too much food. I was hungry."
They sat down to eat and Zane slept through most of it. Then he was up to bang on things and munch on some rice. While they all hung out, Trevor had a few things on his mind. A friend from his old neighborhood called him about a job, but Trevor wouldn't be able to take that job and still live here.
He was also thinking about that conversation yesterday. Trevor was sure it was Diego's way of letting him know not to read too much into their kiss or anything else that happened between them.
If this thing with Diego was going nowhere, it would be better if he left.
When the kids were playing, Trevor decided to let Diego know about the possible job. "A friend of mine gave me a lead on a full time job, but if I got it, I would have to move."
Right away, Diego looked grim. "Move? Damn." For a while he just fixed Trevor with his dark eyes. "Do you know how much we would miss you and Zane?" he asked in a heartbroken voice and Trevor had the urge to tell him he would never leave. He stopped himself though. Diego would only miss him as a friend, nothing more.
"We're still here," he said. For now that was all he could offer.
Still looking gloomy, Diego asked him, "If you had to move, where would you be going?"
Just then Jamie walked up to them. "No, Trevor can't go anywhere. He has to stay here with Zane." Jamie looked very serious while his eyes teared up. He blinked and bit his lower lip like he was trying with all his four-year-old might not to cry.
"We won't let them leave. Don't worry," Diego reassured him and picked him up to hold him.
"Hey, I don't want to leave. I want to stay here," Trevor told him gently.
From his father's arms, Jamie frowned at him. "Stay here."
"I'll do my best," Trevor told him and gave him a hug, wrapping his arms around Diego as well. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay just like this forever.
Chapter 11
Finding out that Trevor might have to leave was a shock. Diego fervently hoped that it wouldn't come to that. It weighed on his mind and he couldn't sleep. It wouldn't be the end of the world if Trevor moved. They could still see each other, but not this much. The truth is Diego didn't want there to be any distance between them.
Since he was up anyway, he decided to do some work. That's what he had done for the past few nights as he worried that Trevor would move away. He stretched at his desk then he heard something. A soft, shuffling sound was coming from the hallway. He got up to go check it out, though he was pretty sure he knew what it was.
Jamie was in the hallway in his bare feet and his pajamas askew. He was peering toward the open door of Diego's office.
"What are you doing creeping and crawling around here?" Diego asked as he went over and picked him up.
"I wasn't creeping and crawling. I'm not a bug," Jamie said, indignantly but he looked kind of sad.
"You're supposed to be a bedbug at this hour. What's wrong?" Diego asked him as he carried him back to his room.
"I couldn't find Zane," Jamie said mournfully.
Diego sat on his bed with Jamie on his lap. "Was he hiding?"
"No, he was just gone and Trevor too." Now Jamie was even more upset.
"They're still here you know. They aren't gone," Diego told him.
Jamie hugged him and Diego smoothed his hair. Once he was a little calmer, Diego had him lie down. He sat next to him until he was asleep. Watching Jamie, Diego realized that this was the kind of heartbreak he wanted to protect him from.
The next day, Lance dropped by. Diego opened the door to him and eyed the bag of dry-cleaning hanging over his arm.
"I had to have my one nice suit dry cleaned," he explained.
"A date?" Diego guessed.
Lance dismissed that with a wave of his hand. "Not even close. It's for work. I'm going to this society thing with Mr. and Mrs. Heinrichsen. Mr. H doesn't want to take his walker so he'll be leaning on me and his fancy, ivory handled cane. It's some dinner to honor Felicia Dundee. You've heard the name. Dundee as in Dundee Lighting where Trevor works. She owns that and a few other things."
"She owns the Lighting Emporium? What about Mr. Dundee, Trevor's boss?" Diego asked.
"I think that's her son," Lance said.
"Where is this society thing being held?" Diego asked while he started to hatch a plan.
"At Hotel Silver Leaf. Why?" Lance wondered.
"I want to go," Diego told him simply.
"It's not your kind of thing, and I don't have an extra invite anyway," Lance told him.
"I don't need an invite just to go to the hotel if I'm not going to the dinner. I want to talk to Mrs. Dundee about Trevor."
Lance shook his head. "You will get that boy fired if you're not careful."
"I will not," he said defensively but that outcome wasn't out of the question. "I'll take Jamie as my wingman. If I get in trouble, he'll bail me out," Diego decided.
Lance looked at him like he was nuts. "You know, I will pretend I don't know you, right? If security drags you out of there kicking and screaming, I will be like 'I do not know that crazy man.'"
"Do what you must. Just give me the info on this thing," Diego told him. He had made up his mind he was doing this.
That evening Diego headed out to Hotel Silver Leaf. He dressed in work casual clothes. A suit just didn't seem appropriate. When he told Jamie they were going to visit a lady and talk to her, he took it in stride. Diego didn't want to tell him too much about their mission in case they ended up not being able to speak to Mrs. Dundee.
Walking into the lobby, they saw marble columns and floors and mahogany furnishings. The place was kind of old fashioned. Jamie got a little intimidated by the big, serious looking space, and Diego smiled down at him.
Lance had texted him where to go, and Diego had no problems. He saw the sign for the award dinner, but it hadn't started yet. People in fancy dress were still going in or just milling around. According to Lance's update, the guest of honor hadn't arrived yet, but her son was already inside.
That was perfect. Diego didn't want to have her son there, and he didn't want to wait for her to come out. By the time this dinner was over, Jamie would be up way past his bedtime. Lance was already inside, but he came out when Diego texted him that they were there.
"I thought you were going to pretend not to know me," Diego said when he saw him coming out, looking dapper in his one and only black suit.
"I still don't know you. I'm here for my man, Jamie," Lance told him.
"I didn't know you're here, Lance," Jamie told him and gave him a hug.
It turned out Lance wasn't there only to say hi to Jamie. When Mrs. Dundee arrived, he pointed her out to Diego. They got to approach her before she got swarmed by the people waiting around outside the banquet room. Then Lance did introductions.
"Hello, Mrs. Dundee. I'm Lance O'Dell. I work for Mr. and Mrs. Heinrichsen. This is my friend Diego Dominguez and his son Jamie, and they wanted to talk to you."
"I like your hair!" Jamie said to Mrs. Dundee.
She was a tiny old lady in a purple dress with a huge pile of red curls. She smiled down at Jamie. "A young man with good taste. I can give him a minute or two." She looked from Jamie to Diego who whipped out his phone.
> "This is who I wanted to talk to you about." He showed her picture after picture of Trevor with Zane. "His name is Trevor Yeager. He works part time at your lighting store. This is his little cousin, Zane." Now Diego played that video of Zane laughing, and Jamie jumped up to have a look too. "Trevor is taking care of his cousin, but he needs a full time job. I'd like you to give him one. That's all."
Mrs. Dundee laughed. "No one can say you don't know how to get to the point, young man. OK then," she said and got her bejeweled, giant phone out of her purple purse. "Steve, my boy," she said into the phone. "Yes, I'm here. But I want to talk business for a sec. That sweet looking boy you've got working at the Emporium, his name is Trevor. Be a dear and make him a full time employee. Alright." She stayed on the phone for a minute then rolled her eyed. "You heard me, honey. He starts full time on Monday," she said decisively then hung up.
"Are you friends with Trevor?" Jamie asked her.
"I guess I am," she said with a grin. "And this Sunday, a gaggle of my friends are coming to my house for my birthday. You and your daddy should come by and bring that good friend of mine, Trevor, and his little, laughing boy too."
Jamie was delighted to accept her invitation. "OK."
"Thank you so much, Mrs. Dundee," Diego told her.
"Sure thing. And that look in your eyes tells me you're sweet on my good friend, Trevor. You watch out that I don't give you a run for your money. He's a cutie." Mrs. Dundee winked at him and went off to be accosted by some other people.
"I can't believe you pulled that off," Lance said. He had stepped back, but now he joined them again and stared at Diego in astonishment.
Diego was amazed himself, but he had to give Lance credit for his part. "That was thanks to you. The way she looked you up and down told me that she has a taste for eye candy. That was key to persuading her. I was going to go with the sob story approach until I noticed how she eyeballed you," Diego told him.
"You just called me eye candy," Lance said and left wearing a goofy smile on his face.
As Diego and Jamie started to head out, the little guy had some questions. "Does eye candy look like eyes? Is it for Halloween?"
"Yes. That's right," Diego told him. Any other explanation would have been too complicated. He had to think about the next step now. Diego needed to talk to Trevor, but he was worried that he might be angry that he interfered like this. Diego did this without running it by him first after all.
Now that it was too late, he was worried that Trevor might resent him for it. But Trevor needed this job for Zane. This wasn't about helping him out though. It was a different kind of feeling that had driven Diego to do this. It was pure selfishness.
Diego couldn't pass up the opportunity to keep Trevor close. He didn't want to give up even one second of time spent with him. He was desperate to make sure nothing kept him apart from Trevor.
Chapter 12
Late last night, Trevor had been trying not to think about Diego, but that's when Diego got in touch with him and asked if they could spend some time together the next day. It was Saturday, and they met up in the hallway as Trevor was carrying Zane and some laundry back to his place. The laundry was mostly Zane's doing.
As soon as Jamie saw the two of them, he ran over to them eagerly. "You're still here," he said.
"You want to come and hang out with us?" Trevor asked.
They all went to Trevor's. Trevor started folding the laundry on the couch, mostly Zane's clothes. Once the kids were settled in the play area in the living room, Trevor asked Diego about what Jamie said. "Is Jamie worried about us leaving?"
Diego confirmed it. "He is. He had a bad dream where you were gone and he was looking for you guys, and calling for Zane."
"And Dad called me a bedbug," Jamie complained to Trevor. He heard what they were talking about because Diego didn't keep his voice down.
After Jamie got busy showing Zane how to stick colored Velcro shapes on a board, Trevor turned to Diego. "Bedbug is the worst nickname ever."
"I kind of like it, but it probably won't stick," Diego said with a shrug.
"Was he really upset that we might move away?" Trevor asked. He felt so guilty for giving Jamie nightmares.
"He was, but he has nothing to worry about. You guys aren't going anywhere," Diego told him.
"Diego, you can't..." Trevor started to say.
Diego interrupted him. "You know, with your boss's name being Mr. Dundee, I just assumed he was the owner of Dundee Lighting Emporium."
"I'm pretty sure that he is," Trevor said. He wasn't sure what Diego was getting at.
"Maybe that's what he wants people to think, but it turns out that Mr. Dundee only manages the lighting store for his mother. She's your way in. She is your ticket to a full time job," Diego said.
"I've never met her. Am I supposed to accost her and ask her to hire me full time?" Trevor asked.
"Already done," Diego told him.
Trevor was confused. "What? What is already done?" he asked. He was starting to get a little worried about that wily look in Diego's eyes.
"Me and Jamie went to see Mrs. Dundee. So the accosting is already done," Diego said. "We showed her pictures of you and Zane and played that video of Zane babbling and giggling like a tiny, adorable lunatic, and she said you had the job. You start full time on Monday."
"What?" Trevor said, stunned. That was way too much to absorb all at once.
"Mr. Dundee will tell you all about it. His mother filled him in already. I heard her do it myself. And you can thank her in person tomorrow," Diego said.
"I can?" Trevor said automatically. He still hadn't caught up to any of this.
"When we go to her birthday party tomorrow. All four of us. It's a major shindig. I think black tie is optional," Diego told him like there was nothing strange about anything he was saying.
His offhanded attitude only left Trevor more bewildered. "Diego..." he said and then he just stopped there. He had no idea how to follow that up, what he should ask or say. Maybe he could just lie down for a while.
"Don't look at me like that. It was all Jamie's fault." Diego pointed at his little boy, who was telling Zane not to eat his plushy superhero toy. It was kind of hard to believe he was the guilty party. "Jamie complimented Mrs. Dundee's hair. I never knew my boy liked big hair. I think that's what won her over. When you meet her, make sure you compliment her hair too. I think that's the key to winning her over. Being a hottie helps too, but you have that covered."
Trevor was still speechless, just shaking his head and blinking in confusion.
Now Diego lost his nonchalant air and looked kind of concerned. "Don't tell me. You don't know if you should tell me off or just deck me."
"I'm not a violent guy, so I guess I only have one choice. Thank you, Diego," Trevor told him. He was starting to get over the shock and confusion, and now he was touched by what Diego had done.
"Save your thanks for Mrs. Dundee," Diego told him as he smiled with relief.
"Are we really going to her birthday party?" Trevor still found that part hard to believe.
"We most certainly are. Jamie accepted her invitation for all four of us – you, me, Jamie and Zane. It should be fun. She's quite a character," Diego told him.
Trevor just let out a loud breath. "This is like the fridge all over again," he realized. Diego had the most off the wall solutions to his problems.
"A little bit different. Pick out something nice to wear. Make yourself pretty," Diego said to him with a grin. "And if you have forgiven me, it's safe to tell you that Lance helped me meet Mrs. Dundee."
"Lance was in on this craziness too?" Trevor said.
"In body but not in spirit. He thought I was crazy too," Diego admitted.
Next they explained what was happening to Jamie so he wouldn't worry. He was overjoyed and promised to give Mrs. Dundee a "big, big thank you." Since they were all in good spirits now, Trevor decided to cook a major dinner and invited Lance too.
With plenty o
f help, he made a lasagna with Italian sausage and it was a big hit with the guys. Zane wasn't a fan. He only played with the little bit he got, making a mess of it and himself. If his food had more than one ingredient, he was almost guaranteed to reject it.
When Diego told Lance about Mrs. Dundee's birthday party, he said, "I'm going too."
"Seriously?"
"I'm going with Mr. and Mrs. Heinrichsen. This shindig is a big deal. Mr. and Mrs. H wouldn't miss it. And Mr. H still refuses to use his walker, so he needs me there to lean on," Lance explained.
"What's the dress code for this party?" Trevor wondered. "Diego said something about black tie."
"I said it was optional," Diego said.
"Any kind of suit is fine," Lance told him.
Later on, Lance had gone and Trevor wanted to show his one and only suit to Diego. The kids were asleep and the two of them had stepped into Trevor's bedroom. It was only once they were already in there that Trevor realized that they were on dangerous ground.
Trevor pulled the suit from his closet and held it up for Diego to see. "I invested in it for job interviews. You think it's OK?"
"Aren't you going to model it for me?" Diego teased him.
"No. I guess it better be OK. I'm not going to buy another one," Trevor decided.
"I'm sure you'll look good in it," Diego told him and held his gaze too long.
When Trevor forced himself to look away, he found that he was staring at his bed. He quickly put away his suit. "I guess I'm just nervous."
Trevor didn't admit that he wasn't nervous only about tomorrow. He was also nervous about being alone in his bedroom with Diego. It wouldn't take much, maybe one touch from Diego and Trevor would be rolling in that bed with him.
"Your bed is pretty small," Diego told him as he eyed his bed speculatively.