by Rhys Everly
“You’re the best,” I said and went around the reception desk to kiss her forehead.
“Just remember, I’m the maid of honor,” she said as I ran off. Maid of honor? I’d fucking adopt her if I could.
I got in the car and drove carefully around the streets she’d highlighted in the printed map of the town. The road took me into a suburban street with large, stunning homes, and at the end, located on the cul-de-sac, was a mansion.
The stonework looked incredible, as did the gardens in the front. There weren’t any cars in the driveway, but that didn’t mean the house was empty. He had a large family. All I needed was for one of them to answer the door and let me find Leo.
I rang the bell and waited for a response.
A man in his twenties answered the door.
“Dawson Eldred?” he said and lifted his hand, trying to touch me as if I were a Madam Tussaud’s wax sculpture.
“The one and only. You must be Luke. Leo’s younger brother,” I said and shook his hand.
Luke took my hand and smiled.
“One of them, yes,” he said. “Are you looking for Leo?”
“He’s not here,” Leo shouted from behind the door, and Luke turned to look at him. I tried to step inside so I could talk to him, but Luke turned from starstruck fan to a protective brother.
“Leo, can we talk?” I asked and caught a glimpse of him standing by the stairs.
He looked so beautiful. So sexy. And all I needed from him was to listen so I could have him back in my life.
Twenty
Leo
"We have nothing to say, Dawson," I said in a composed manner. Again, I was proud of myself because my insides were screaming.
"Can you please let me explain? This situation is so—"
"This situation was to be expected," I said, and it took all my energy not to forgive him. His sad puppy eyes were killing me. Why did he have to be such an asshole? Why did he have to be such an attractive asshole?
"I shouldn't have trusted you again, and that was my bad. It's not anyone's fault. It's not your fault that you look out for yourself. It's what I do. It's what everyone does."
Dawson shook his head.
"But that's not what's happening. If you at least let me tell you—" Dawson started again, but I interrupted him. I truly was done with him, as much as it pained me.
"It's fine, Dawson. We're fine. There's nothing to explain. I don't want to talk to you again. Just leave me alone, and soon we won’t have to see each other ever again,” I said.
Dawson bit his lip, and I could tell my words had hurt him. My heart was begging to cut Dawson some slack, but I wasn't letting this man anywhere near my heart ever again.
“Thanks for stopping by. It was a pleasure to meet you,” Luke said and started pushing him away.
Good, because I didn’t have the strength.
“Bye now,” he said and finally shut the door.
Luke turned to me and frowned.
“Want to tell me what just happened? Why did we kick Dawson fucking Eldred out? Shouldn’t we be inviting him in?”
“Because I can’t stand the look of him,” I said.
“That makes one of us,” Luke replied and crossed his arms. I gave him the sternest look I could muster, but he insisted. “So, you two...”
“Yeah, us two were a thing. But not anymore,” I said and sat down at the bottom of the stairs.
Luke approached me and sat down next to me.
“I know it’s nosy of me, especially considering we haven’t had a relationship in forever, but I want to know,” he said.
I looked into my brother’s eyes and found only warmth.
“You know I didn’t want to leave you behind. None of you,” I said. “And I told Andy, so I’m going to tell you. I’m going to make it up to you. All of you. Starting with being there for you all.”
Luke smiled, and he patted my knee.
“That’s cool. Now tell me what happened with Dawson,” he said, and I laughed.
“Gee. You are nosy, aren’t you,” I said.
Summer ran up to us from the back holding the phone in her hands, and she passed it to me.
“It’s Milo,” she said.
Crap. Was this bad news? Wasn’t no news supposed to be good news? I took the phone from her and got up to speak to him. Like Nathan suggested, I called him last night, in the middle of the night in London, and he got out of bed to get this mess sorted. I hadn’t heard back from him since then.
“I gotta take this,” I said to Luke.
“Okay, but you owe me a love story,” he said, and I walked upstairs.
“Hey, Milo. Is it bad? It’s bad, isn’t it?” I said.
“It’s terrible,” he confirmed. “They want to see you. Like now.”
“What do you mean now?” I asked.
I closed the door of my room, the room I had grown up in and hung way too many posters in, and sat on the bed.
“I mean now. I’ve been talking to them about the part and if you’re still the only one they’re talking with, but all the casting manager was willing to tell me is that they want you in their offices this afternoon,” he said.
“But the meeting isn’t until next week. And it’s already ten. How am I going to get to LA by this afternoon?”
My heart started racing, and now I was truly panicking. Why did they have to move the meeting again? To the last minute, no less. Were they trying to make me fail them? Would they turn around to tell me they didn’t need me anymore when I didn’t turn up for the appointment?
“That’s why I’ve only just called you back now. I’ve arranged for a private jet to fly you over there. You gotta go to Newport News airport ASAP. I’ve just emailed you the details,” he said.
“Fuck,” I shouted, and I heard Yaya from outside the room shout about language. “Okay. I gotta go. I need to get ready. And I haven’t even prepared anything.”
“You don’t need to prepare. It’s a meeting. Not an audition. Come on, sweetheart. Don’t shut down on me now,” Milo said, and I hung up to get ready.
I’d already had a shower, so I pulled a small bag out of the closet and packed a couple pairs of socks, some underwear, deodorant, and my laptop. The suit Dawson had bought me stared back at me during this process, and I couldn’t help but stare back.
“What are you looking at? You’re not coming with me. You were purchased by a traitor.”
Great. Now I was talking to clothes. I was such a catch.
The suit was great. It fit me just right so that I could breathe, but also look dashing and show off my muscles. And I needed all the help I could get.
Fuck. I guess it was coming with me.
“What are you doing? Is the house on fire?” Yaya said behind me and made me jump.
“Yaya, you didn’t knock,” I said. This took me back years.
“I did. You just didn’t hear me,” she said. “Are you leaving?”
I grabbed my grandma’s shoulders and gave her a kiss on the left cheek.
“Only for a couple of days. My meeting in LA has been pulled to today, and I need to get there as soon as possible. But I’ll come back. I swear. I’m not even taking all of my stuff. See?” I said.
“But the end of the festival is tomorrow. It’d be so nice to have you here for it,” she said.
I sighed. It would be. I hadn’t seen the release of the butterflies since I left, and it had always been a family tradition.
“I’ll try and make it. I promise,” I said and zipped the bag up, slinging it over my shoulder.
“What about the young man you’ve been hanging out with?” she said.
“What about him?”
“Well, is he going with you to LA?” she asked.
I had no idea how she knew about Dawson. We had made sure not to be seen in public and had kept mainly indoors. But then again, she was close friends with his mom, Christine. So, of course she knew about him.
“He’s not coming anywhere with me. I
’ve trusted him too many times, Yaya. And he always betrays me,” I said and lifted the suit he bought me out of the closet.
Yaya stepped between me and the door with a sad smile on her face.
“What do you think relationships are, my little lion? Do you think you can be in a relationship without trusting and betraying each other for the rest of your lives?”
“Well, I would hope so. Otherwise, what’s the point? Where does the betrayal end?”
“What did you trust him with?” she asked.
“A secret. About my career. And he lied to me,” I said. Speaking it out loud to her made it sounded silly. But I knew it wasn’t. My career was as important as anything else.
“A secret? My boy, jobs come and go. Work isn’t supposed to be our end all be all. Did you trust him with your heart?” she insisted.
I nodded.
“And did he betray it?”
It was the same thing, wasn’t it? Lying to me about his next role was the same thing as betraying my love. Why did Yaya make it sound like it wasn’t?
“He’s already had his second chance, and he blew it,” I said.
Yaya laughed.
“Second chance?” She was in hysterics. “Do you know how many mistakes your papou made in his lifetime? I couldn’t even count them if I tried. Did he learn from his mistakes? God, no. Not always. But I forgave him. Because I loved him. And so did he when I made mistakes. That’s what marriage is, my little lion. That’s what relationships are. Trusting in someone that will forgive you when you make mistakes. Because we’re all human. We’re bound to make them. But only those willing to accept them and forgive us are our family.”
“I can’t imagine you making any mistakes, Yaya,” I said.
She broke into laughter again. “I’m human too. No matter what I’ve made you all believe,” she said. “But don’t tell anyone I said that.”
I chuckled, looking up at the ceiling to keep the tears in. There had been so many over the years, I couldn’t let any more spill.
Yaya stepped closer and wrapped me in her warm embrace.
“Do what you have to do, my little lion. Whatever decision you make, I’m sure it will be the right one,” she said and let me go, wiping my eyes and stepping aside so I could leave.
I rushed down the stairs and bumped into Andy at the bottom of them. I told him what happened with the meeting, and he insisted on taking me to Newport News even though he had to go to work, so we got in his white 4x4 and he zoomed past the town to get me to the airport.
“Wow. Private jet, huh? My brother is a superstar indeed,” he said and patted my knee.
“I don’t indulge. I care about the environment too much, but this is an emergency,” I said.
“Still. Not a lot of us can say they can afford a private jet,” he said.
“Being a prisoner in a boy band has its perks for sure.”
At that comment, he turned his head briefly and pursed his lips. It was his apology.
It was good to have him back in my life. Not just him. All of my family. Even the members that didn’t even exist when I left, like Summer. I’d yet to officially meet Maya, but I couldn’t wait. I definitely didn’t want to lose this again. Just like Yaya had said, they’d all forgiven me and taken me back in. As if I’d never left.
Was I being too harsh on Dawson? Last night, I wanted him to follow me and explain himself, and today, I’d sent him off, despite the fact that he’d come for that exact reason.
It didn’t matter now. I had to get to LA. Love could wait. It had waited for seventeen years.
Twenty-One
Dawson
When I got back to the bed and breakfast, Melody was sweeping outside the front door, and she looked up at me as soon as she saw me.
“And?” she asked.
I shook my head, and she sighed.
“Such a hothead. I’m sure he’ll come around,” she said.
“I don’t know how if he won’t let me talk to him,” I said and went inside.
“Oh, before you go, you’ve got company. A Ms. Coletti, a Ms. North, and a Ms. Wu are waiting for you in the restaurant upstairs. I told them you might be a while.”
Alice, Karen, and Tracy? What on earth were they doing here?
“Thanks, Mel.”
I took the steps up to the restaurant two at a time, and for the first time in a week, it was empty, almost serene if not for the three women chatting loudly around a table on the balcony. Their table was brimming with breakfast, paperwork, and laptops. It was their usual setup wherever they went in the world. But seeing them here, after everything that had happened, warmed my heart.
"Good morning, Mr. Eldred! Nice of you to join us. You look like shit," Alice said and got up to give me a hug.
"Is everything okay? Your eyes look swollen. Is it summer allergies?" Tracy asked. "If so, we need to do something about that."
As warm as my heart had felt, it had quickly gone back to numb when I remembered what they'd done.
I looked from Tracy, to Alice, to Karen not knowing where to start. Karen wasn't at fault here. My main beef was with the two ladies that ruled my life. I sat down and waited for them to do the same.
"I look like shit because you made everything shit," I said matter-of-factly.
Alice and Tracy exchanged glances, but when they turned their attention back to me, they looked as clueless as before.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Dawson,” Alice said. "Anyway, we'll get you some make-up, and you'll be presentable in no time. I managed to get you a meeting with one of the three streaming giants for a producer role in one of their new TV series."
"And since it's a big step for you, we thought we might come early and prep you before we go," Tracy added.
"And in case you were wondering, the meeting is today," Karen said when I didn't say anything after a few seconds. “In New York. So we’ve got the jet ready to fly you back so you can meet them.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Not only had they ruined my one chance at love, they also were clueless to the fact and didn't care that I was upset with them.
"Do you even realize what you've done?" I asked, trying hard to keep the wild beast inside me tame.
"What have we done?" Tracy asked.
"I phoned you the other day to tell you to get me into the Death Knight film as a producer. And what did you do?" I said.
The look of disgust on Leo's face came to haunt my vision again. I was trying to be calm about it, but the more Leo looked at me with burning hatred in my head, the angrier I got.
"What did we do? We made a bit of a headline to open up your options a little. And guess what? It worked. You can thank us after the meeting today."
"And no need to rush. We've got a whole bunch of meetings for you over the coming weeks, so you can take your pick," Alice added.
I touched my temples to massage them. It was unbelievable. I couldn't fathom how completely and utterly oblivious they were to the fact that they'd cost me my happiness. I knew they hadn't done it out of malice, but it still infuriated me.
"I told you about that film because I wanted to be behind the scenes. You've been begging me for years to take on a producer role. But I finally found the one project I was passionate about and you go and ruin everything. Out of all the times you could have made a headline, this was the worst," I said.
Karen reached out to me and touched my hand.
"Dawson, are you okay? What happened? What are you talking about?"
I looked at her. She was innocent in all of this, but she looked apologetic as if she had done something personally and wanted to make up.
"There is this person I met here. No, scratch that. I reunited with a person I used to know. We used to be… we used to be lovers. But then stuff happened, and I betrayed him. I was young and stupid. I cared about my career more than my personal life.
"But I saw him again, here of all places, and I got him to forgive me. It was an apology owed for s
o many years. But as much as he hated me and I pretended I didn't care about him, it turned out all those feelings we had for each other were still there. So he opened up to me, and I did the same with him. And he trusted me with his top-secret project. He's finally getting his big break. The one I stole from him all those years ago.
"I wanted to help him and support him. And to be with him. That's why I asked you to get me in the production team. But what you guys did…" Vocalizing everything that had happened made me break a little more inside.
Karen squeezed my hand tighter. "He thinks you betrayed him again?"
I nodded.
"Oh my God, you guys!" Karen squealed.
"I lost someone I care about. Twice." I sighed and wiped my face with the back of my free hand, not realizing I’d been crying.
Alice put her pancake down and grabbed my shoulder.
"Have you tried to explain to him? Because if he can't understand what you are doing, then maybe he wasn't the right person for you, sweetie."
I knew what she was trying to do. Alice was my friend as much as she was my agent, and she was trying to help. But this wasn't helping.
"You know, being with him, I was starting to make plans. It sounds stupid, I know, to make plans with someone you've just met, or reunited with, whichever way you want to look at it. I was even starting to think if and how I could come out, girls. I mean, I did to my parents, yesterday. Or they came out for me. It’s confusing, but—”
All three women leaned closer, a mix of shock and surprise written on their faces.
"What?" Tracy said.
I turned to her. "I know you wouldn't have enjoyed it. But I thought I was ready to do it. You see, what Leo and I had all those years ago, it wasn't ever erased like I thought it had been. It was just put to sleep. Hibernating, waiting for the right moment to reawaken. Meeting here, all of a sudden, reunited after all these years, it was like a blessing.
"I was ready to finally be happy. I've always had my personal life take a backseat, and now? I was ready to be with him. Openly. Not only because he's out, but because I don't think I'd be able to hold him a secret. He wouldn't deserve that. Now… well, now, you don't have to worry about me coming out, I guess," I said and felt a streak of fresh tears roll down my cheeks.