Hotel Ferrero (Chapter 44)
Title: Hotel Ferrero
Pairings: Gasquet/Nadal, Djokovic/Roddick, Ferrero/Safin, A.Murray/Henman
Rating: R (Nothing explicit)
Warnings: Vampires, mentions of blood drinking, light bondage.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and this is a fiction.
Summary: Tim is happy about how things are going with Andrew while Novak misses Andy. Juan Carlos pays the price of having cheated while Richard tries something new.
Author's note: Finally, the next chapter will be the last one apart from the epilogue :)
From the previous chapter:
Marat had taken Juan Carlos out for a meal and a blood drink while Mario had been happy to hear that Tommy was coming to the hotel party. Novak had executed his master plan to put Marcos’ new herb in his best friend’s food and Tim had enjoyed a horny Andrew.
Chapter 44: Get ready for the party
“Good evening, my beautiful assistant!”
“Good evening, Mr. Henman.”
Tim’s assistant bit her lips, trying her best not to laugh. Her boss had been on cloud nine for a whole week already.
‘Ah, the power of love.’
The competent assistant got back to work as she saw her boss walk into his office. When the boss looked like that he had lost a part of his brain somewhere on the streets, it was the assistant’s job to focus more on work. That was what she had learnt from the Annual Vampiric Assistant Conference while talking to a certain Mario Ancic.
Meanwhile, inside the office, unlike what people might have thought, the first thing that the happy vampire did wasn’t drinking some sort of traditional British tea or blood. He rather sat down in front of his computer and took a deep breath. He needed his hand to be steady.
As the computer started booting, Tim prayed to God for a better outcome today. As one of Andrew’s sarcastically smiling pictures popped up as his wallpaper, Tim took another deep breath and grabbed his graphic tablet pen.
He was going to draw a big, blood-dripping heart for his boyfriend, just as he had been doing all week. At first, he had trouble drawing a simple heart. He had never been good at drawing since he was a baby vampire. So after drawing some ugly shapes that actually looked like he hated Andrew, he had asked his skilled assistant to draw him a heart instead. However, the Scot had recognized right away that it wasn’t Tim’s work so after that day, he had been trying to draw it all by himself.
‘Ah… don’t shake. It’s just a heart. I’m not signing a memo to sell my soul or something.’
Tim tried to draw as slowly as possible and after several attempts, he finally managed to draw something that could qualify as a heart.
‘Phew… I should’ve practiced drawing these before I started dating him. Wait, maybe it’s not too late to start learning now.’
While Tim was going through his future options, his computer informed him that he had received a new message.
‘Ah, it must be from Andrew!’
The vampire grinned and quickly clicked on the message.
Hey,
Don’t waste your time practicing hearts and rather get some work done. I don’t want to get blamed when your business goes down.
- Andrew
Tim was shocked. Until yesterday, the Scot had been fairly nice and was generally appreciative of his hard-fought drawings. But tonight, the message didn’t sound too friendly.
‘Oh, perhaps he finds the idea childish now. Well, I am three hundred and twenty eight years old. I guess vampires at that age usually don’t draw stupid hearts for a whole week.’
He tried not to be disappointed and got up from the desk to pour himself a nice cup of tea. Whenever life failed to please him, it was tea that could save his soul.
‘Okay, let’s act like an adult and leave him a decent reply. He’s going out with me. What more can I ask?’
Barely succeeding to cover his disappointment, Tim put his fingers on the keyboard to write when another message flew in.
Dear Timothy,
Just so you know, I loved that heart. But I still need you to get some work done. I’m expecting to have a nice dinner and a revenge tennis match after work.
- Andrew, he who would be the winner
Tim tried not to grin too widely. He didn’t need extra smile wrinkles. He was dating a smart, young vampire who was probably out of his league and he couldn’t afford looking like Andrew’s uncle.
‘Did he say a revenge match? Wrong choice of words, Andrew. Wrong choice of words.’
The vampire shook his head and clicked on the reply button.
Dear Andrew,
I admire your steady backhand and it’s such a pleasure to play tennis with you but I’m afraid that the result would be the same even if you play with your own racquet tonight. And just so you know, I think I’m getting better at drawing hearts.
- Tim, he who would be the winner AGAIN
Dear Timothy,
Pfffft.
- Love, Andrew.
Tim almost choked on his fine tea. He couldn’t tell if the Scot had snorted at his overwhelming tennis skills or at his improvement in heart drawings.
‘Probably both.’ His inner voice spoke but Tim quickly poured tea inside him and the voice was drowned.
Dear Andrew,
I should probably ask for a little bit more than a kiss when I win AGAIN tonight. I hope you would be able to get some decent lunch.
- Love, Tim.
Pleased with his message, Tim finally started working. He couldn’t help the grin that kept creeping into the corner of his mouth. He was in love.
“Ha… hoo…”
Novak let out a few last pants in his coffin and grabbed the phone properly. “Wow, that was totally amazing.”
He grabbed a pre-prepared towel and made himself more decent.
“I know. I rock at phone sex.” Andy was proud of his verbal ability.
“Actually, I think you rock at all sorts of sex.”
“Aww, I’m glad to hear that. You’re my perfect partner for that matter.”
Novak giggled before pulling the bedcovers up until his chin and realized that Christmas was only ten days away.
“Hey, do you have any Roddick Christmas tradition? If there is, you’d better get ready. Christmas is just around the corner.”
“Well, we do have this tradition where we sit near the fireplace and tell embarrassing stories about each other.” Andy told the vampire seriously and enjoyed the light laughter coming from the phone. It was almost scary that he could miss someone else so much in such a short time.
“What about your family? Any spooky vamp tradition? Do you guys even like Christmas?”
“Hey, I even went to church when I was younger. And, yes, we do have an interesting tradition. Have you ever heard of fireball ping-pong?”
“You play table tennis with fireballs?” Andy’s mind was soon filled with a white Super Mario throwing fireballs at the dragon.
“Yes. I’m the defending champion for twelve straight years with… oh, well…”
“Murray, I guess.” The American finished the sentence for his boyfriend. “It’s fine. You know you can talk about him.”
“You always say that but I know that you punish me when I do.” Novak pouted.
“But I never heard you complain.” A wicked grin hung on Andy’s lips as he recalled all the gentle teases that he had done on purpose in coffin.
There was a slight pause as the Serb recalled the same nights as well.
“I miss you, Andy.” Novak sounded a little sad.
“I miss you too, kid. Try not to think about me and enjoy the fun.”
Andy tried to keep the mood light. He didn’t want to let the vampire know that he felt a hole in his heart that he hadn’t had before.
“Oh, trust me, I will.” Novak giggled.
“You will?” Andy had been expecting a response such as “Aww, but I’ll still miss you,” but apparently, he was wrong. “Would you care to elaborate?”
“Well, I have to go shoot a popular talk show and they told me that I even get to dance with the hottest vampire girls.”
“Uh…. Nole, I really love you but you can’t really dance.”
“I know, especially not cha-cha-cha. So I’m thinking that I’d rather just stay close to her as much as possible and make sure the audience rating doesn’t drop!” The Serb giggled while Andy felt a fireball in his stomach.
“If you were here, I would’ve given you such a hard kiss.” The human dropped his voice.
“Ah, I’d accept any kind of kiss if I were there.”
Then, Novak carefully worded the question that he had been dying to ask from the very beginning, even before the phone sex.
“Andy, there’s no chance that you’ll make it to the Hotel party, right?”
“You’re going there?”
“Yeah, I have a charity tennis match a few days before, so I guess I’m going.”
“Ah, too bad that I can’t. It’s too far away for me.”
“True. Don’t worry, I just asked. I’ll go eat Marcos’ delicious food for both of us.”
“Haha. Yeah, you do that.”
It was strange for the Serb to think about going to the Hotel Ferrero’s year-end party alone. He had been attending the luxurious yet surprisingly cozy party for quite some years with his ex-boyfriend. Andrew had always made time out of his tight schedule for him.
‘I guess I can’t have it all, can I…’ The vampire permitted himself a wry smile.
Andy was worried. He figured that the time off from each other would be easier for him who hadn’t really been in a serious relationship before than for the vampire who was still used to having someone right next to him.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I love you, Andy.” Novak made a kissing sound and added in a hurry, “Oh my, I’ve got to run. I don’t want to be late for my studio make-up!”
“Haha, okay, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Have fun and I love you too.”
Andy waited for his boyfriend to hang up and when he heard the mechanical sound of the dead phone, he was very sure of the presence of that deep hole in his heart.
Meanwhile, in Madrid, Juan Carlos was sitting at his desk, narrowing his eyes through his silver glasses. He had rarely seen Marat looking so excited and meticulous.
‘Of course, it has to be all about sex with him.’
The hotel owner lay back against his chair and decided to enjoy the probably short time that he had to see a very different Marat. The Russian was extremely busy setting up a scene for their second home movie, since the first one that Juan Carlos had sent to Hewitt quite some time ago.
‘I’m glad that I sent Janko on his Christmas vacation. It would’ve been mortifying if he heard anything from outside.’
Relieved that his other bodyguard was out of town to see his German boyfriend in the States, the Spaniard let out a chuckle as he saw Marat deeply ponder on something with a frown on the handsome face.
“Marat. It’s not like we’re officially putting it out on the market. Only you and I are going to watch it, or probably only you yourself.” Juan Carlos pointed out.
“Hey, art isn’t about how many spectators you have. It’s about pursuing the highest quality possible no matter what.”
The Spaniard burst out laughing but the Russian couldn’t care less. Everything had to be perfect. He didn’t want to miss a detail and hit himself on the head every time he watched this movie in the future.
‘Let’s make sure that everything is in its right place, hmm.’
He scratched his chin and checked the set for one last time.
Juan Carlos finally managed to stop laughing and was now busy tapping his fingers against his desk.
“Marat, we need a new blanket.”
“No, we don’t. We won’t cover anything.”
“I’m not talking about your Oscar-winning film here.”
“Oh, we’re talking about your security blanket?” Now Marat was the one to chuckle. His lover could be such a baby like that.
“I do feel safe even without that blanket, thank you very much. I’ve got you as my bodyguard, remember?”
Marat couldn’t stop himself from grinning like a half-brained vampire but luckily for him, Juan Carlos found it adorable.
“Anyway, since you absolutely despised the last one, I’m giving you full authority to choose the new one. You know the rules. It has to be big enough for the two of us and no see-through material.”
“Ahaha, okay. Let’s hit the store after we finish this masterpiece.”
Marat smiled and Juan Carlos smiled with him.
However, half an hour later, Juan Carlos was definitely not smiling anymore.
“Just get started already!”
“Patience, patience, my dear.”
Marat’s voice had never sounded more evil in the Spaniard’s ears. He was lying naked on a huge, black desk with the Russian’s necktie covered around his eyes and his wrists cuffed above his head.
“Is that damn thing even on?” He didn’t want to shoot same scenes twice just because his lover happened to be stupid enough to forget about putting the camera to work.
“Ah, Juanqui, you swearing only makes the quality better. And, yes, that thing is on.” Marat licked his lips in anticipation. He had been taking all the time in the world, trying different things on his lover.
“Shall we reshoot the feather sce… ouch!!”
Marat dropped the feather and rubbed his ribs. It seemed that Juan Carlos’ kicking only got better every day.
“You pick up that feather again and I’ll make sure you… mmm…”
Feeling goose bumps on the sensitive skin where the Russian had just licked, the Spaniard tried his best to focus on his breathing. They had done similar things numerous times before and it shouldn’t make any difference even if there was a camera in the room.
“Oh, hang on, Juanqui. I’d like to check the angle again.”
“Marat!”
“I said hang on. Don’t whine, sweetie. I’ll be back in no time.”
Of course, Juan Carlos had no intention whatsoever to hang on. Since he couldn’t throw anything with his bound hands, he chose to kick. He carefully moved his right foot and ran into his magic cube.
‘He dare tried to use my magic cube as a part of this horrible setting? You’ll pay the price, Marat.’
The vampire took a deep breath, checked his lover’s location with his ears, swung his leg back and kicked.
“Argh!” Marat yelped and rubbed his arm. He had been hit by the pointy edge of the cube. It hurt.
“How did you do that? You can see through my tie?”
“I don’t need to see. It’s a piece of cake.” Juan Carlos snorted, extremely pleased with the results.
Unfortunately for him, those words only made the Russian hornier. Now his mind was invaded by all sorts of action heroes that his lover could be.
“We definitely need to shoot one with you as the super hero and me as the sexy villain.”
“Uh, sorry to give a humble opinion but that doesn’t strike me as a pornographic idea.”
“Hey, didn’t you watch Smallville? Superman and Lex Luthor are so in love with each other. I’m sure Luthor is pretending to take over the world because he couldn’t get Superman pinned under him.”
“Do you always watch action movies or TV series with that kind of mind?” The Spaniard had to ask.
“Why does your voice sound accusing? I have the right to feel whatever I feel. I’m telling you, Lex has the hots for Superman!”
The Spaniard shook his head and had a question for the Oscar-winning director. “Do you even have a title for this one?”
“Ah, I’m glad you asked. I’m thinking about A hard night at the office or something more poetic like Passionate fire burnt a working night. What do you think?”
Juan Carlos felt his eyes quickly go back to their normal color. Those cheesy titles made him feel like a third-rate porn star.
“You don’t like it? Ah, what a shame. Then, we’ll just put a red tape on the video label and write Do not watch. I bet no one can resist the temptation of that title.”
“I thought it was meant to be watched only by you and me.”
“Oh, right. Well, then we should really write Do not watch so nobody will dare try to watch.”
Juan Carlos wasn’t sure if he could trust the mad director. It could be dangerous if he didn’t warn him properly.
“Safin, if I hear that anyone, I repeat, anyone, watched one of these videos, I’m going to make you suffer.”
The hotel owner’s voice was dangerous and Marat’s eyes grew darker.
“Mmm… Juanqui…”
“I just made a death threat, you moron. You shouldn’t be turned on.”
“No. You did that exactly to turn me on so that I’d turn you on again.”
Marat came back to the desk while Juan Carlos tilted his head. ‘When did he become so smart?’
The Spaniard didn’t have enough time to answer that question as the Russian devoured his lips. It truly was going to be a hard night at the office.
While Juan Carlos was working hard, his beloved Richard was dealing with a serious matter at Mallorca, at his boyfriend’s place.
“Hmm…”
The French had his arms crossed over his chest. Today was the day that he and Rafael decided that the half-vampire should try his new medication.
“It’ll be fine, no? I won’t blame you even if you attack me.” Rafael chuckled, still amazed at the probable side-effect.
“I won’t attack you because I’m horny. Don’t dream about it.” Richard pouted. “Besides, I decided to try drawing during sunset today. So as soon as I drink you, I should use my energy in drawing.”
“Ah, bad luck for me.”
Richard giggled at his boyfriend’s tone, and then asked a question. “Rafa, do you really believe I could draw under the sun one day?”
Rafael shrugged. “Most of the half-vampires face the sun better when they get past three hundred, no?”
“Yes, but not 100% of them, and even if I’m lucky, that’s like forty nine years from now!”
“Right. I’ll be in my seventies by then.” Rafael chuckled at their age difference but Richard was clearly not amused.
“Hey, you could draw a portrait of me before I die. I’ll have the best portrait ever.”
“That’s not funny, Rafa.” Richard’s voice was sharp.
“Aww, don’t be upset. We still have many, many years together, no?”
The Spaniard tried to kiss his boyfriend but was pushed away. Rafael smiled bitterly and thought about something that would cheer up his boyfriend. Nothing particular came into his mind until he noticed a huge bag in the corner of the room.
“What’s that bag you brought, Richie? You never told me what was in there and you didn’t open it yet.”
“Oh! I didn’t show you my protective suit? I brought it with me to draw during sunset!”
“You have such a suit?” Rafael wriggled his eyebrows.
“I borrowed it. It’s too expensive even though Juanqui did try to buy it for me. I said no and rather chose another present, hehe.”
Richard grabbed his bag and opened it. “Ta-dah!”
As the half-vampire pulled out something that resembled a spacesuit, Rafael suddenly heard Andy Roddick’s voice in his ears.
‘Oh, now I know what he was talking about. Yes, it really looks like a spacesuit.’
While Richard looked at the suit in awe, Rafael did his best to put on his most gentle voice. “Uh, Richie?”
“Yes?”
“Are you really planning to draw in that suit? I mean, don’t you think it would be a little bit uncomfortable?”
“Hmm…” Richard put on a serious face.
Ah, Rafael had always believed in his boyfriend’s clarity of thought.
“Nope. That’s only a small price to pay for getting so much safety.” Richard smiled widely and the Spaniard couldn’t come up with anything that could possibly beat that beautiful smile.
However, one hour later, Richard realized what the human had been talking about. He had tried the blood-drinking supplement and had drunk Rafael’s blood with more ease and was now trying to draw the beautiful scenery from his boyfriend’s window.
“Jesus! This is why Novak said that Andy took it off him!”
“That was really too much information.” The Spaniard shuddered at the memory of the very detailed undressing process that he had to listen to.
“Rafa, what should I do? I really want to try drawing something under the sunlight.” The artist inside the stringer was angry at the unbelievably uncomfortable outfit.
“Well…” Rafael rubbed his nose for good luck as he was about to suggest an offer that would probably fall in Richard’s “dangerous” category.
“You told me that you had those tests about the skin response to sunlight, no?”
“Yes, I went to see the doctor with mom last week.”
“And, the results were good, no?”
“Yes, I’m so glad that they were! It was about time! Some other half-vampires from my art class already did some drawings and sculptures during sunset!” Richard couldn’t wait to see things change in front of his eyes under the blissful light of the Mother Nature.
“What if you put on heavy clothes and wear a cap? I can hold up an umbrella for you so you won’t have to worry.”
Richard managed to take off the helmet and looked up at his boyfriend. “You will do that for me? Maybe we can hang the umbrella somewhere so you won’t be tired.”
“No, the sun moves. I’ll be okay. I’ve got the strongest left arm on tour, no?” Just to emphasize his point, Rafael flexed his arms and his biceps sprang out.
“Aww, Rafa…”
Richard opened his arms with a huge smile. His boyfriend deserved a big hug and the sweetest kiss just for those lovely words.
“I’m not bluffing. I mean it.” Rafael answered, pulling his boyfriend close to his body. He was willing to do whatever it took to help out the half-vampire.
“I don’t know…”
Normally, Richard would have already turned down an offer that could possibly tire his superstar boyfriend who deserved all the rest in the world, but he really wanted to try drawing under the natural light. The breath-taking scenery was another reason why Richard had trouble rejecting Rafael’s offer.
Not waiting for an answer, Rafael walked up to the door and picked up the biggest umbrella from the shoe closet.
“What do you think? This would be big enough to cover you, no?”
“But Rafa…”
“The sunset won’t last forever. Get out of that suit and start drawing. We don’t have much time left.”
Rafael’s smile was gentle and Richard quickly moved away from the window, struggling with his protective suit.
“This thing sticks to my skin!”
“Let me help you.”
The two needed more than a minute to get Richard out of the wrinkled suit.
A few minutes later, the half-vampire was finally in front of the easel, painting trees and birds while giggling at the new feeling.
“You feel alright? Not too nervous?” Rafael asked, happy to see his boyfriend enjoy the small amount of sunlight. Sometimes even such small things could bring so much joy in your life.
“I feel good! Now I know why you love the sun so much!”
“It’s just a sunset, Richie. Wait until you get to go out and draw in the middle of the day.”
“With a seventy year old grandpa? Nah, I don’t think so.” Richard stuck out his tongue and went back drawing. He was losing light faster than he thought.
“No need to be disappointed, no? Tomorrow you can wake up a little earlier, then you will have a little more time.” Rafael caressed his boyfriend’s back with the hand that wasn’t holding up the umbrella.
“Yeah, I suppose so. Perhaps I should’ve tried this earlier. I guess I was too afraid.”
“Nah, you tried just at the right time. Everything needs time to prepare.”
Being careful not to put Richard out of the umbrella, Rafael leaned forward and placed a warm kiss on the blushing cheek.
“Uh, since you kissed me, I’ve got something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
Richard put down his paintbrush and smiled awkwardly. “Uh… since the sun has almost gone down, maybe you could help me with something.”
Rafael was about to ask his boyfriend to elaborate when he realized what the vampire was talking about.
“Oh. Ahahaha. So it really does have such side-effects?”
“Don’t laugh! This is embarrassing!”
“Exactly how strong do you feel like jumping me?”
“Rafa!”
The Spaniard dropped the umbrella and picked up his boyfriend in his arms.
“This is really embarrassing.” Richard shoved his head between the human’s neck and shoulder, hoping that things would get better shortly.
“I got you, don’t worry.”
Rafael grinned until his face hurt and happily dived on the bed.