Author’s Note: Thank you so very much for my friend Kathy (kittie8571) who is the Beta of this story!Chapter Twenty Six: Odd places mean different situations
Ennis closed his eyes for a second as the shadows of the public light lamps infinitely crossed the windows of the car. It was Friday night and he was finally driving home.
Except he was feeling like an idiot because of it.
First he had forced Jack to drive home alone because he had tons of paperwork to do, not to mention the handful of new cases that the board had assigned him to. He had managed to convince his boyfriend to leave him behind, which had been both painful and challenging. Jack had been clearly resistant and the fear never left his blue eyes the whole time they argued inside of Ennis’s office.
Ennis pretended he hadn’t seen it.
Half an hour after Jack had left, Ennis got a call from him. Jack wanted to make sure he was still fine. Ennis tried to be understanding and reassured him in every possible way, but ended up working and writing in the laptop’s msn messenger with Jack at the same time. The black haired attorney wasn’t able to relax for another half an hour.
After that, he couldn’t concentrate on the papers anymore. Flashbacks of sad blue eyes and crying yellow not-so-smiley faces on the msn chat were perturbing him. He was also remembering the night when Allan Pore had attacked him at the firm and the fact that he had felt, that night too, the urge to go home and had dismissed it. He was basking in guilt. So much so that he left his office and drove home without looking back. Work was long forgotten as he sped home to enjoy the weekend a few hours earlier.
Not surprisingly, the penthouse was silent and dark when he opened the door. Jack should be working in the guest room, where they had placed a few laptops and a collection of law books Jack had kept in his old apartment in Central Park. Actually, there was a list of things that Jack had rescued from the abandoned apartment to place in the penthouse. Mostly expensive, useless stuff but was important to Jack, so Ennis didn’t mind them that much. Actually, if he was honest with himself, some of it was quite fun.
Ennis raised one eyebrow when he reached the guest room, currently the “home office.” It was also dim and quiet. He felt a stab of worry in his heart, but quickly climbed the stairs to the second level. He let go of a breath he didn’t know he had been holding when his pupils contracted in the clear light of the suite. The balcony door was opened and there was a distinct sound of jets of water coming from the outside.
Ennis found Jack in the Jacuzzi, as expected, except Jack had, somehow, managed to fall asleep, sitting inside of the water with his head resting on the edge of the floor. The water was still blowing from the channels, but the sound of the modern Jacuzzi weren’t a problem to Jack. He was obviously sound asleep.
Ennis took off his shoes with two easy movements, without the help of his hands and knelt next to the edge of the water. He was forced to lean in order to reach Jack's shoulders.
“Hey, sleepy head?” He asked gently, feeling bad about wakening Jack from such a deep sleep.
“What?” Jack asked scratching his head and looking around.
“You fell asleep.” Ennis explained while Jack stood up slowly from the water, still looking confused about his whereabouts.
“I’m all wrinkled.” Jack complained, leaning to kiss his boyfriend.
“You smell like chlorine.” Ennis complained in the same petulant tone, but held his wet body against him just the same.
“I was thinking about a quick shower before bed, but I fell asleep. How late is it?” Jack’s face rubbed against his, Ennis enjoyed the feeling.
“Not much, I didn’t stay for long.” Ennis felt silly for admitting the truth but he managed to say it. “I was missing you.”
“Oh, so sweet.” Jack said in a sleepy manner.
“Go on, embarrass me even further. As if I didn’t really have a bad day.”
“You’ve told me already. But it wasn’t worst than mine, was it?” Jack asked, moving inside but looking back in a way that invited Ennis to come with him and continue the conversation.
“Not really.” Ennis followed Jack to the bathroom.
“I can’t believe Uncle Daniel did all that without talking with me.” Jack complained under the spray of the shower, while Ennis leaned against the wall.
“I wasn’t that surprised. I never bought the «I’m stepping aside» act. It’s just not who he is. He simply couldn’t help but try to find a way to help you.”
“That’s Uncle Daniel…” Jack shut the water off and stared at the shampoos. “I guess I can’t predict him like you do, because I immediately tend to believe that he won’t lie to me.”
“As if I was expecting this much confusion!” Ennis sat down on the lid of the toilet seat.
“I don’t feel betrayed, I’m just mostly surprised to see him doing all these crazy things for me. He’s not the kind of man who flies all the way to Europe for nothing. He’s just as intrigued with this as I am.” Jack shampooed his hair while talking with Ennis.
“You have to admit that this whole situation has weird details, things that did not match with your father regular M.O. It all points out that she’s not your sister, but then there’s reasonable doubt coming from the will.”
“It’s pointless to speculate until I’ve managed to contact Hanna Olson again, and after Uncle Daniel’s approach, it might be a little difficult.” Jack stepped out of the shower and dried his body and hair with a towel.
“We should concentrate on our close family. How are we going to convince Matilda to have the surgery?” Ennis asked, trying not to focus too much on Jack’s body.
“You said close family.” Jack sat down on his lap, towel around his hips, smiling.
“Yeah, she is, isn’t she?” Ennis was surprised himself with his own choice of words.
“She is…” Ennis felt Jack’s nose against his neck. “We are.”
“Yeah.” Ennis moved his arms around Jack, holding him close and wondering if the toilet seat would support them for long. “Come on, let’s just go to bed, we’re exhausted.”
“Let’s go.” Jack offered him a hand and they moved back to the bedroom.
“What are the plans for tomorrow? It’s my first weekend without physio.” Ennis sat on the edge of the bed, removing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt.
“I have this thing planned with Nick and Daniel.” Jack said, already resting against his pillow.
“Sounds good.”
“I’m not sure you’re going to like it.” Jack said softly.
There were people laughing and singing around them. Just outside of the stadium, the floor was covered with tickets and garbage, and there was a well-known smell of hotdogs and popcorn in the air. Ennis felt the usual tiredness of someone who had watched an exciting match for two hours. Except this time he hadn’t seen his favorite sport, not even close.
“I say. It was a nice afternoon for a pair of dukes dumped by their boyfriends.” Nicholas said happily.
He was casually dressed, which had shown Ennis a completely different side of him. With a tee-shirt and a pair of jeans, Nicholas blended in with the crowd of fans. Especially if one was able to recognize the cap with the name of the boxer who had won that afternoon.
“I’m not sure who dumped who.” Ennis defended, while Nicholas smiled. “I sure wasn’t going to spend my afternoon in a dusty old museum.”
“Amen to that.” Nicholas said, taking one last swig from his beer before throwing it into the nearest garbage can.
Jack and Daniel had fixed their minds into going to the new showing of their favorite painter, whose name Ennis angrily had refused to memorize. But the two brunettes decided to leave their boyfriends with a matching date. Daniel convinced them to go to a much anticipated boxing match, offering them tickets and all. Ennis hadn’t been very excited, since boxing wasn’t one of his favorite sports, but it was still better than staying home alone or taking another tennis lesson. He was glad he had come.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love art, but these new "alternative" painters and sculptors are simply pathetic.” Nicholas added a few seconds after.
“Oh, but don’t you dare telling them that. I once spent two hours fighting with Jack over a sculpture of a penis he'd decided to buy for the living room.” Ennis remembered in a low tone, making Nicholas burst out laughing. “He kept telling me it didn’t look like one, it was a representation of power rising into the skies… For the love of God! I can still recognize one when I see one!”
“I have never suspected that you were so funny, Ennis.” Nicholas said when they reached his car.
“I’m not.” Ennis confessed. “It’s just… I don’t have many people that I can talk with honestly about Jack and our relationship.”
“I understand.” Nicholas said seriously.
“I didn't even realize I needed that.” Ennis looked at his hands. It was uncomfortable to be so honest with a man he didn’t know all that well.
“You feel comfortable talking with me because I've been honest with you about my relationship since the beginning. Also, you don’t know that many gay men, so it’s natural that you want to bitch a little about your partner with someone who can truly understand you.” Nicholas stopped with his keys in his hand, looking at Ennis. “You can count on me for that.”
“Thanks, I guess.” Ennis smiled and sat down on the passenger seat of Nicholas’s car.
“I don’t think we’ll ever be as close as Jack and Daniel are, but I hope with time we can be friends too.” Nicholas started the car. “Especially because it’s what Daniel has been bitching to me about.”
“Jack has mentioned it to me too.” Ennis chuckled.
“It’s our fault for falling for a pair of rich spoiled New Yorkers.”
“I can’t say that I planned it.” Ennis murmured, looking through his window.
“I really don’t want to step into your personal life, but let me tell you that I’m really impressed with the way you’re dealing with things.” Nicholas struggled with finding the right words. “I can’t imagine how it must be to start a relationship with another man for the first time at our age.”
“It’s been complicated.” Ennis murmured back. “Sometimes I have no idea what I’m doing at all.”
“That I can easily understand! It’s different for me now, because being gay no longer defines me as a man, it’s simply a part of who I am. I remember how it was when I was finding that myself.” Nicholas stopped for a second. “It will be the same for you, in time.”
Ennis stood silent, unable to find the right words.
“It’s ok.” Nicholas said seriously. “You don’t need to say anything else, Ennis.”
“Thanks.” Ennis murmured, feeling somehow embarrassed, partially because he was so glad that the conversation was over and also because Nicholas was so at ease talking about both of their personal lives while he was totally mortified.
The conversation moved back to the boxing match and Ennis easily relaxed, but just as they were about to enter Ennis and Jack’s penthouse, Nicholas placed a parcel in front of Ennis.
“Just a few good books to help you in the way.” He said when Ennis stared at it.
Ennis didn’t have the time to respond as Jack and Daniel appeared on the other side of the door, talking about the museum and the paintings. He quickly hid it behind his back and smiled at his boyfriend, who wanted all his attention. Thankfully Nicholas remembered, right on time, that they needed to make reservations for dinner, distracting Daniel and Jack to the living room.
Ennis quickly climbed the stars, not resisting looking inside of the parcel. Just as Nicholas had said there were books inside. Ennis looked at the first title and moved to hide the parcel as if his life depended on it.
There was no way in hell he was going to explain to Jack what he was doing with a gay Kama Sutra hidden inside a brown paper bag, given to him by Daniel’s boyfriend.
Ennis sat on the old wooden table, his feet resting on the matching wooden stool. It was a hot day, but the nice fresh breeze outside was making it all more bearable. An old lady in a wheelchair sent him a disapproving look, but Ennis only smiled, which seemed to infuriate her even more. She hadn’t been the first one unhappy to find him mistreating that table. After all, he was a healthy man spending time in the middle of the hospital park. And not just any part of the hospital park, but the closest to the Cardiology section. Old people with oxygen going right to their mouths. Lost of old people… it was like a zombie movie.
“Did I make you wait too long? You look nervous.” Veronica finally appeared, wearing her nice purple coat.
“Not at all, I’m fine.” Ennis answered.
“Sorry. I know it’s a bit depressing, but it’s a nice change.” Veronica waved at the old lady on the wheelchair. “And it gave me the distance I needed from Kenzei.”
“You’re going to let that run your life?” Ennis asked, annoyed of how many times they had discussed Kenzei since the break-up.
“Can you be a little bit more considerate?” Veronica said, not really angry, taking her sandwich out of Ennis’s plastic bag.
“Usually you like my honesty.” Ennis said simply.
“Let’s just not talk about Kenzei today.” Veronica sighed.
“Now you're talking sense.” Ennis smiled and punched her playfully in the arm, Veronica just rolled her eyes.
“You’re in a good mood. How was the boxing match with that designer guy…” Veronica tried to remember his name.
“Nicholas.” Ennis offered. “It was nice. I told you he’s one of that gay couple…”
“I think it’s good for you to have friends like him. I’m sure Jack knows that too.” Veronica said between a mouthful of her lunch.
“Jack and Daniel are trying hard to make us into friends and I’m not going to say that I don’t like the guy, but…”
“But what, hardhead?” Veronica rolled her eyes again.
“Jesus, you’re mean today.” Ennis teased her.
“Just finish your line of thought before this conversation goes right back to the topic we both don’t want to talk about.” This time she looked annoyed enough to make Ennis talk.
“He’s a bit too much for me sometimes.” Ennis looked around worried about possible patients eavesdropping on them. “He’s just too comfortable talking about personal stuff.”
“Personal stuff? What do you mean? Sex?” Veronicas asked completely at ease, despite the approach of the wheelchair’s lady.
“He offered me…” Ennis stopped and smiled to the old lady, who just passed them by with another nasty look. “A couple of books about gay sex and about finding the gay man inside of you.”
“Sorry, Ennis.” Veronica said laughing. “Even I know who the gay man is who’s been inside you!”
“Sshh.” Ennis said quickly. “Are you out of your mind?”
“Sorry, my bad. I just found it all too amusing, I couldn’t resist to make an easy joke. I don't have that many opportunities to laugh lately.”
“First of all, how can you be so nonchalant with this? And second, how do you know that I’m not an exclusive top?” Ennis whispered between Veronica’s disturbing giggles.
“First, because I’m a nurse. When you know this much about the human body, you don’t get perturbed talking about physical and biological acts. I’ve seen and heard about it all. Secondly, I presumed that the insecurity was also related to the fact that your commitment with Jack made you both complete equals.” Veronica pointed her index finger at Ennis. "You’re not totally in control and that scares you even more.”
“I’m an open book.” Ennis murmured embarrassed. “And you’re starting to sound disturbingly like me.”
“Actually I just took a wild guess about your preferences.” Veronica laughed a bit more while Ennis looked at her disturbed. She'd been acting weird ever since the break up. Probably some psychic readjustment to the new reality was making her act with a weird sense of humor.
“Well I didn’t come to talk about my sex life, no matter how much people seem to enjoy hearing about it.” Veronica rolled her eyes again. “I came because I need your help to plan Jack’s birthday party.”
“I wasn’t expecting that.” Veronica said seriously. “But isn’t it difficult to do so with all the important guests? A party like that may prove to be too much for you to handle, Ennis.”
“I know that. Jack already has a stupid party at the mansion planned by the firm. All the important guests and employees are going to be invited. It used to be done for Enrique’s birthday, so it’s tradition now.” Ennis took a couple of photographs from his trousers’ pocket. “But I was planning to do something different.”
Veronica eyed the photographs Ennis was giving to her. She easily recognized them. They were of the roof terrace Ennis and Jack had at the penthouse.
“You want to do to the party on the terrace?” Veronica asked with interest.
“Jack planned to decorate the place, but he never found the time to do it. I wanted to surprise him by doing it and making a very small party there. Close friends only.” Ennis explained excited.
“You’re forgetting one, very important detail, Ennis. You live in the same house! How can we decorate the thing without him finding out? This is not While you were out!”
“Don’t worry. Unfortunately I have the perfect excuse. Matilda’s health has not been improving, so I think its time for me and Jack to move to the mansion for a few weeks. With the work needed for the upcoming party, Jack’s never going to suspect.” Ennis explained.
“Ok. That might work.” Veronica kept analyzing the decorating possibilities of the terrace space. “And if anything happens with Matilda, you know you can call me any time. I have an acquaintance or two that can help with her problem.”
“The problem with Matilda is convincing her to accept the help.” Ennis shook his head. “I hope I don’t get this stubborn when I grow older.”
“You’re already as stubborn as it gets, Ennis.” Veronica smiled.
“What about ideas for the terrace, then? Do you have any?” Ennis asked hopefully, dismissing Veronica’s comment.
“I have many already. I’m just not sure you’re going to like any of them. Too crazy for you.”
“What about that friend of yours who decorated your old apartment?” Ennis asked, relaxing a little and smiling once again at the old lady who was still observing him.
Next time he would bring her something. Maybe chocolates or flowers.
It was of no use to have an enemy among Veronica’s usual patients, he thought, while Veronica babbled about potters of bamboo and sun’s thematic decorations.
Jack took a deep breath and kept staring at the piece of white paper with bolded black letters. It was difficult not to look at it as it was glued to the wall at the eye level. He didn’t need to read it to know what was written there, but he did it anyway, unable to resist the power that the place emanated.
Please remain silent
He couldn’t remember the last time he had been in this church. He must have been a child, his father a young widow searching for consolation among his religious beliefs. Jack never appreciated the environment and as he got older, he understood that he would never belong to this place.
The sound of the wooden door opening made Jack look away from the paper sign. A fat, small woman with red hair passed him without a word and Jack sighed forcefully to calm down his nerves. This was all too tiresome for him.
He went into the room where the weird woman had come from, finding the expected lined seats and the enormous figurines of saints and the holy family hanging on the walls. It was the figurines that he hated the most, those big unmoving eyes had scared him just as much when he was a kid as they were scaring him now. Maybe he was overreacting, but this visit was unfolding a lot of childhood memories. He never liked church as a kid and he learned to hate it as a teenager. Although Enrique never tried to interfere in Jack’s religious decision, he did send a guilty look or two on Jack’s direction, which never really worked and Jack had only returned on the day of his father’s funeral.
That exact day and today.
“Can I help you, son?”
Jack had been so focused on the small clear blue eyes of the saint Mary’s figurine that he hadn’t heard the priest approaching him.
“I think you can, Father Sebastian.” Jack said, turning around to face the older man.
“Jack Twist.” The priest tone was soft and knowing, recognizing him immediately. “What a surprise.”
“I could say that myself, Father.” Jack tried to sound confident.
“I have to say that you look much better than the last time we spoke.”
“I had the support of my friends and loved ones.” Jack tried not to think about Ennis in front of the priest and under the cold eyes of the scary figurines.
“I see.” The priest nodded silently.
“I came today because I was hoping that we could talk about my father again.” Jack approached carefully.
“Well, we barely spoke during the funeral, Jack.” Father Sebastian chose his words careful. “You were going through a rough time.”
“It wasn’t easy. But now that things have settled down, a few family issues have come to light and I was hoping that maybe you had some information to guide me.”
“You have my attention.” The priest said simply, leading Jack to a small room with a desk and a few chairs.
“This might sound strange to you, but my father has left a few chores to do.” Jack tried to explain. “They include decoding some messages…”
“You’re talking about riddles?” The old man asked confused. “Riddling was a pleasure that both I and your father used to share.”
“Really?” Jack asked surprised.
“But you are surprised?” Father Sebastian asked amused. “Studying the message of God is like decoding a particular difficult riddle. It just happens to have the best reward of them all in the end.”
“I see.” Jack said flatly, trying not to sneer at the religious comment. “But did he tell you anything about his riddles… for me.”
“I’m sorry, Jack. He didn’t.” The priest sat on the chair behind the old table. “You were an unreachable part of Enrique’s life. At least for me. We could talk about anything, except you and your personal choices.”
“I see.” Jack murmured, secretly pleased with his late father’s attitude.
“I’m not going to say that I didn’t know what was happening in your life, but Enrique made it clear that you were out of this church’s reach.”
“He was right.” Jack said simply. There was no need to fight over religious beliefs with a priest. He wasn’t Nicholas or any of those idealistic gay men.
“Anyway, I’m not able to help you, Jack. Both ways.” Father Sebastian rose from his chair, eager to see him leave.
“There is something else…” Jack really wanted to explore every possibility but it was hard to explain the confusion surrounding his father’s past. “It has come to my attention that my father may have a daughter somewhere in Sweden.”
“Jack, I can assure you that your father had not confided in me anything remotely related to that and even if he had done it in confession, I couldn’t possibly tell.” Jack was astonished with the calm with which the priest took the information Jack had given him.
“That’s all? You have nothing to say? It’s fine that my father may have an unacknowledged daughter somewhere in Europe, but it’s wrong of me to sleep with a man every night.” Jack didn’t want a confrontation, yet the words were out of his mouth before he could think, before he could stop himself.
“You recognized it yourself.” Father Sebastian opened the door for him. “You’re out of this church’s reach, Jack.”
Jack left without looking back. Not even to glance one last time at the scary figurines or the enormous cross.
Author: My life has been crazy! I've just moved two times (3 houses in 2 months) and had few oral exams! Including Anatomy of the Head and Neck! I'm with exams now, but I'll find the time to write more soon. I'm writing chapter 32 and feeling silly for not having post for more than 2 months. It's just that when I'm not writing I feel unfair to be posting! Please be supportive with your reviews, I really need it.
On the next chapter: Our favourite lawyers are back at the Twist mansion! With further details about Mrs. Santos and cute moments!