by J. S. Cooper
“But I thought he wanted to meet in the foyer?”
“He can meet us outside,” Lucas said. “We need to talk, and we need to talk fast,” he whispered.
“Okay. It was nice meeting you, Mr. and Mrs. Windsor.”
“Edith and Edward, remember, dear.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. It was nice meeting you, Edith and Edward. We’ll be back later. Bye.”
“Bye, bye.”
Lucas and I headed out of the room and down the long hallway towards the front door. As he stood outside, Lucas shook his head. “What the hell is Jack playing at?”
“You tell me. He’s your cousin. I don’t really know him.”
“He obviously knows something’s up,” Lucas growled. “If he tries to stop Papa from giving me this money, that’s it. The coffee shop is done. I just don’t know what I’m going to do.” He sighed. “Man, oh, man. Why?”
“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “If I’d known he was your cousin I wouldn’t have.” Though that was a lie. I would have. I’d been so horny and so into him that night that I wouldn’t have said no. But Lucas didn’t have to know that. I didn’t want him to think I was a bad friend. Because I really wasn’t. I was here, after all.
“It’s fine,” he muttered. “What’s the game plan, then?”
“What do you mean, what’s the game plan?”
“I mean, my cousin slept with you a couple of days ago. I’m trying to convince my grandparents that we are totally in love and I’m about to propose. My cousin either knows that is not true or thinks that you’re a hussy. And you said you don’t want to be a hussy in front of him, so then he knows it’s not true.”
“I mean, isn’t there any other way?” I didn’t want to hurt Lucas and his chances, but I didn’t want Jack to think worse of me. I knew it shouldn’t matter. But it did. I couldn’t stand him, but I didn’t want him to think I was some sort of ho.
“I mean, I guess I could tell him,” Jack sighed.
“Yeah. I mean, why not be honest with him?”
“Because he’s not my favorite cousin.” He rolled his eyes. “And he might tell Nana and Papa, and then I might not get the money.”
“But if your company’s worth billions, what does he care if you get a couple of million to start your business?”
“You’d think he wouldn’t care. Right?” He shrugged. “But you know how it goes with family and money.”
“Do you really think he’s like that?” I didn’t know Jack well, but he didn’t seem the sort of person that would be homophobic or stingy or hold it over Lucas’ head. I mean, he drove me crazy, but aside from that, he seemed like a pretty level-headed guy. I didn’t get vibes that he’d be prejudiced or bigoted in any way.
“I know,” Lucas admitted. “I don’t think he would be. But he’s not the sort of person who will lie for me. You know?” He sighed. “So, even if I trusted him with my secret, I don’t think he would actually lie to my grandparents or my parents. Then, what happens then? I’m out.”
“But would your grandparents really care? Edith and Edward seem so lovely and—”
“They are lovely,” he nodded. “But they very much want me to have a traditional family like them. They want me to get married and to give them great-grandkids and …” he signed. “That’s not going to happen.”
“I mean, you could do IVF with a surrogate if you met someone.”
“Yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m not even into kids. So, unlikely.”
“You just don’t want kids anyway?”
“Not really.”
“Lucas, why don’t you just tell them that?”
“I just don’t know how, I guess. I’ve been living this lie for so long.”
“Have you, though? When I met you, you were out and proud.”
“Yeah. I mean, it was easy in college. There were so many other gay guys and everyone was so open and welcoming. It was a completely different environment. This environment, well …” He shrugged. “It’s just difficult. You know? I didn’t know how to tell them. I don’t want to disappoint them.”
“You wouldn’t disappoint them, Lucas. You’re a wonderful human being. You’re—”
“Am I interrupting something?” Jack said, standing right behind us. I looked up at him and for a few seconds, all my old feelings of lust came back to me. He really was handsome.
“No, you’re not interrupting anything,” I said quickly. “Lucas and I were just talking.”
“About us?” He raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean about us?” I said quickly.
Jack chuckled. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on here, if you’re trying to pull a long con or something. But whatever. Lucas, I am pretty sure you probably know by now that your girlfriend and I had sexual relations the other night. So, are you going to tell me what’s going on, or we’re just going to keep playing this game?”
“We’re not playing any game,” Lucas said. “This is my girlfriend and I love her, and we’re going to get married, and we bang every night. In fact, we banged ten minutes ago.”
“Really?” Jack looked skeptical.
“Really,” Jack smirked.
“You banged ten minutes ago. When was this? When we were in the living room with Edith and Edward, or when you were waiting out here? You just have a quick bang in front of everyone?”
“Fine. We didn’t bang ten minutes ago. It was more like ten hours ago, but—”
“Lucas, seriously?” Jack sighed. “Look, I know we have very different approaches to life. But I’m your cousin. And I love you. And I don’t know where you met Isabella, if you met her on the same dating app as me, and presented her with some plan to try and get money. I don’t know what’s going on. But please believe me. You can’t trust her.”
“Excuse me?” My voice rose. “I’m not to be trusted? I’m—”
Jack started laughing. “Hey, you’re the one that completely lied to me on the dating app, then came back to my place to hook up and then—”
“Enough.” Lucas interrupted him. “Isabella is one of my best friends. I’ve known her since college. Do we have to have this conversation here? Can we go into town first?”
“Whatever you want,” Jack said. “I’m open.”
“Well, let’s get the Bentley, and I’ll tell you on the drive to ice cream.” Lucas sighed.
“You don’t have to do this if you’re not ready yet, Lucas,” I told him.
“No, it’s fine.” He rolled his eyes. “You’re my best friend, and I don’t want my jackass cousin thinking you’re some sort of hussy or gold digger. Because I don’t really know what went down between the two of you, and I don’t know if I want to know.” He paused and started laughing. “Actually, that’s a lie. I want to know all the dirty details. But more about that later.”
We got into the Bentley and Lucas started it up. It purred to life, and I just couldn’t believe that I was sitting in a Bentley in Greenwich with Jack and Lucas. How surreal was this life?
Lucas put the car in gear and cleared his throat. “Hey, Jack. There’s something I have to tell you.”
“Yes, Lucas?” Jack said from the back seat.
“I’m gay.”
“I know.”
“What? You knew?” Lucas hit the brakes, put the car into park, and then looked into the back seat. “You knew?”
“Are you joking me?” Jack said with a laugh. “You thought I didn’t know? I’ve known since we were little kids.”
“What do you mean you’ve known since we were little kids?”
“I’ve probably known as long as you’ve known.” Jack shrugged. “I mean, right?”
“So why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“Because it felt like you were keeping it a secret, and I didn’t want to make you tell me if you weren’t comfortable telling me.”
“Oh.” Lucas looked pleasantly surprised. “I didn’t realize you’d be so considerate. You always teased me when we were younge
r, made fun of me, and—”
“I teased you about inconsequential stuff. Your sexuality is not inconsequential.” Jack shook his head. “I would never try to out you or make you tell me something you weren’t comfortable with.”
“Wow.”
“I’m not a jerk. You realize that, right?”
“I guess I do now.” Lucas laughed. “Well, kind of. You were a jerk to Isabella.”
“No, I wasn’t.” Jack shook his head. “I definitely wasn’t.”
“I would say you were,” I said. But then I pressed my lips together. “But this is not about me right now. You guys continue.”
“So why is Isabella pretending to be your girlfriend if you’re not interested in members of the fairer sex?”
“Because I have a business idea, and I want to ask Papa to give me part of my inheritance upfront so that I can get it off the ground.”
“That’s the coffee shop you were talking about?”
“Yeah.” Lucas nodded. “I really want to have a go at it. I’ve had this idea for a long time and I need the capital.” He shot Jack a look. “I know. You probably think it’s a stupid idea, and—”
“I didn’t say that,” Jack responded, and I looked at him in surprise. “Do you have a business plan?”
“I do,” Lucas said quickly.
“And where does Isabella fall into all this?”
“Well, she’s an artist, and I thought part of the coffee shop could also be like a bookstore-slash-art center, so she’d have her gallery and she’d teach classes there, and … I know. It sounds like a lot.”
“No, it actually sounds like a pretty good idea.” Jack frowned at me. “Hmm, so you really are an artist, then?”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t lie about that.” I stared at him, my lips pressed together. Who would lie about being an artist?
“Just like you wouldn’t lie about how much you love football.”
“Look. It’s just a long, complicated story. I didn’t mean to lie about loving football. I—”
“You wanted to impress me, huh?”
“No, I didn’t want to impress you. I just thought that was what you’d heard about me.”
“What do you mean? Heard about you from who?” He rolled his eyes.
“Look, I didn’t set up my profile on the dating app. When you were talking initially it wasn’t with me.”
“What?” He stared at me for a few seconds and nodded. “Ohhh. This is actually starting to make sense. So, what exactly—”
“Hey, guys,” Lucas interrupted us. “This is about me right now and not you two. You can chat later. So, are you going to help me convince Papa to give me the loan?”
“No.” Jack shook his head. “I’m not in on a lie, Lucas. You know I’m not that sort of person.”
“Fine.” Lucas deflated. “So, I guess it’s over. That’s it. No money. No coffee shops. No art studio. No—”
“I didn’t say that,” Jack said, slowly smiling. “I’ll give you the money. I’ll be an investor in your business.”
“What?” Lucas sounded shocked. “You would invest in my business? But I don’t need you to invest. I can get my own money. I—”
“You do need me, Lucas. Because you’re not a businessman. You have no clue how to run a business. And as many great ideas that you have, it’s not going to be successful unless you have someone backing you who can help you with the business side of things. I will do that.”
“For free?”
“No.” Jack laughed. “I’m a businessman. Do I look like I’m going to do it for free?”
“So, what do you want?”
“15% of the profits.”
“What?”
“I’ll give you a year or two to make it profitable. But after that, I want 15%.”
“For how long?”
“Twenty years.”
“What?”
“Hey, it’s a good deal. Normally I want 50%, and for a lot more than twenty years.”
“I don’t know.” Lucas looked at me. “What do you think?”
I looked from Lucas to Jack and back again. I couldn’t stand Jack, but he was right. Lucas has had no idea how to run a business, and neither did I. Lucas would need the help. He had grand, lofty ideas, but he wasn’t always good with practical details, and I did want his business to be a success.
“I think you should do it,” I said. “I think that was a kind offer for your cousin. He could really help,” I told Jack. I turned back to Lucas. “It’s up to you, of course. I mean, it’s your business. I’m just going to work for you.”
“You’re not going to work for me. You’re going to be a part of it. You’re going to be a—”
“We’ll have to actually work out a contract for the fine details,” Jack interrupted. “This is money I’m lending you, Lucas. I don’t really know what contract you have with Isabella here, or how much money she’s putting in. But—”
“I’m not putting in any money,” I told him. “I barely have any money. And I have even less now after that dinner I paid for the other night.”
“Wait. What?” Lucas interrupted. “You paid for dinner on your date with my cousin?” He looked at Jack and shook his head. “You are a dog, aren’t you?”
“I’m not a dog,” Jack grinned. “But she offered. Who was I to say no?”
“You could have said no. You knew that I didn’t have much money.”
“How was I to know you didn’t have much money?” He shrugged. “You offered. When someone offers, why would I say no? Plus on the dating app, you said …” he paused. “Oh, yeah. I forgot. That wasn’t you.” He shrugged. “I guess that’s what happens. You play with fire, you’re going to get burned.”
I glared at Jack and then turned to Lucas. “Let’s go for that ice cream. I need ice cream before I continue either of these conversations.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Lucas said.
I could tell that he was happy. Really, really happy. I sat back in the car and looked out of the window. I was glad that Jack had been so nonchalant and understanding about his coming out. Which, of course, was reasonable and should have been expected. But I knew that Lucas had been worried and nervous and scared. And now the answer to his other prayer was coming true. He was going to have his business.
But where did that leave me? I could already tell from the way that Jack had spoken that he didn’t really want me to be a part of this. Was I going to get sidelined? Was I just going to go back to my apartment with my friends and teach art to annoying preschool and elementary school kids? Try and sell my artwork on Etsy and submit multiple submissions to art galleries? Was that going to be my life, living paycheck to paycheck?
I sighed. I’d worry about it later. For now, I’d get my ice cream and just see what the future held later.
Chapter Sixteen
“So, I’m going to get mint chocolate chip. Isabella, you want strawberry, right?” Lucas asked me as we stood at the counter in the ice cream shop.
“Yes, please.”
“Jack, what do you want?”
“I’ll take the vanilla bean,” he said.
“Vanilla bean. Really, Jack?” Lucas shook his head. “Who thought you would be plain vanilla?”
“I guess you don’t know me as well as you thought you did, hey, Lucas?”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Jack?” Lucas rolled his eyes.
“You’re always full of drama. You know that right?”
“I’m full of drama?” Lucas shook his head. “Whatever.”
Jack looked at me. “So, you guys have been friends since college, I gather.”
“Yeah, that’s what I said already.” I nodded, as I looked at him, “Really good friends. Lucas used to hang out with me, Abby, Emma, and Chloe all the time.”
“Abby, Emma, and Chloe?” Jack looked curious. “And they are?”
“Oh, sorry. They’re my roommates and my best friends.”
“They’re lovely girls. All of them hot.” Lucas
grinned. “Trust me, if I were straight, I’d have fallen for all of them.”
“Very funny.” I laughed.
“Lucas, you’re an idiot.”
“Why? It’s true.” Okay. Let me pay you for these ice creams.” He looked at Jack. “No need to offer, this is on me.”
“I didn’t hear myself offering,” Jack said with a laugh. “I think you can afford some ice cream. You do get a nice allowance each month.”
“Oh my gosh. We’re not going to talk about my allowance again, are we?” Lucas shook his head and looked at me. “Jack is in charge of the family trust fund, and he doles out money to all of us. You’d think it was his personal money, the way he goes on.”
“I don’t think it’s my personal money. It’s our family money,” Jack said dryly. “And let’s hope it’s here for many generations.”
“Well, we’re the last generation right now. No one else even has kids. And the way things are going, no one else is going to have kids.” Lucas laughed. “So why not spend it all now?”
“Lucas.” I touched him on the shoulder. I could see that Jack was looking annoyed.
“Why? It’s true. We have millions of dollars. Billions for all I know. And yet I’m going to get called out for buying a watch last month?”
“You bought a Cartier watch for $20,000,” Jack said dryly. “That was no small chunk of change.”
“For us it was.”
“For us?” Jack said, “If you want to be spending money like that, come and work for the family business. There are many different things that I can have you doing. And I can provide training before I put you into any real position of power.”
“Uh, that’s okay,” Lucas said quickly and pulled out his phone. “Actually, I have a call to make, can I come back and talk to you guys in a second?”
“Um, what?” I didn’t want to be left alone with Jack.
“It’s fine,” Jack said. “We’ll get our ice creams. Go. We’ll be here.”
“Great.”
“See you in a second Isabella. See you, Jack.” And with that, Lucas was out of the ice cream shop.
“Well, how’s this for life, huh, Isabella?”
“Hmm?”
“We meet again at another eatery.”