Amnesia and Realizations. And Maple-Glazed Turkey. - Parts 5-6
Title: Amnesia and Realizations. And Maple-Glazed Turkey. - Parts 5-6
Written By: nancygrew
Category: Noah Who?
Rating: PG-13 [a swear word or five]
Author's Notes: Futurefic. Takes place late November 2015 more than a year after my fic Amnesia is Stupid. You do not have to read any of my other fics in order to understand this one. AU after Reid drives off to Bay City for some silly errand. Extreme Noah-bashing. Characters belong to ATWT.
Summary: Noah wakes up in Oakdale Memorial Hospital
Amnesia and Realizations. And Maple-Glazed Turkey. - Parts 1-4
CHAPTER FIVE: WEDNESDAY MORNING AT GRIMALDI SHIPPING
Noah and Luke arrived at Grimaldi Shipping shortly before eight a.m. Luke gave Noah what he referred to as the nickel tour of Grimaldi. Luke pointed out the docks, warehouses, employee gym, employee cafeteria. Luke greeted everyone he passed and they in turn swooned with delight at having attention paid to them by their young, hot boss. Or so it seemed to Noah. Luke led Noah to his office. Luke let Noah settle in on the leather sofa in the corner of the office to read while he sat behind his mahogany desk working on his computer. They passed a few hours in silence.
Suddenly the door to the office slammed open. An irate, middle aged man stormed into the office.
“Is it true?” the red-faced man screeched. “Are you taking me off of the Vancouver project?”
Luke leaned back in his chair. “Yes. The meeting I have scheduled with you for this afternoon is about the project. I am assigning it to someone else. I regret that you found out about the reorganization from someone else.”
“How dare you give the project to someone else! I earned this project.”
“You failed miserable with this project,” replied Luke coolly. “I requested that you develop a plan to halt the decrease in revenues for the Vancouver office. You responded with the suggestion of firing half of the Vancouver office. You offered no alternate options. I am incredibly interested in why, exactly, you feel that you didn’t handle this project with complete incompetence.”
“The office is losing money,” yelled the man. “Laying off the dead wood will save Grimaldi Shipping hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.”
“Pffft,” replied Luke. “The Vancouver office is NOT losing money. It’s making less profit than it used to make. You were supposed to develop a business plan on how to reorganize the office to turn it around. You didn’t offer me any alternatives to your option of laying off half of the staff. You didn’t offer options about repurposing the office or offering staff the opportunity to relocate to one of our other offices or anything useful at all. I am incredibly disappointed in you, Mitchell.”
“You’re a bleeding heart brat who doesn’t seem to understand that you are running a business and not a charity,” sneered Mitchell.
“First of all, I don’t believe I ever suggested that we not correct the problem of the office not making as big of a profit as it should be making. But what you seem to fail to understand is that if we don’t show our employees any loyalty, how can we expect loyalty from them? Also, if we start laying people off then our competitors will see that as a weakness. We really don’t need to have other shipping companies circling us like sharks scenting yummy blood.”
“You don’t have a clue about what you’re doing, little boy,” Mitchell snarled at Luke. “The company was just handed to you because your daddy knocked up your mommy.” Noah noticed that a large, burly security guard had come up to the office and entered behind Mitchell. Someone must have called Security when they heard Mitchell screaming. Luke made a subtle hand gesture to the security guard who stopped in the doorway.
“Is there a reason you think that I’m going to let you talk to me in a disrespectful manner?” asked Luke with seemingly genuine curiosity. Luke stood up from his desk and approached Mitchell. “Because I may be relatively inexperienced but you are a lazy idiot whose business ideas are all about twenty years out of date. You have not made any innovative, or even useful, suggestions during the years I’ve been president of Grimaldi Shipping.”
“How dare you--”
“Stop,” Luke interrupted Mitchell. “My decision is made and I don’t really care about your whining complaints. You can either shut up and keep your job or you can start looking for other gainful employment. I’m good with either choice you make.”
“I’m going to kick your girly ass!” yelled Mitchell. He swung a fist at Luke but it didn’t connect. The security guard had leapt at Mitchell and tackled him to the ground. It wasn’t a gentle tackle by any means. It was a tackle that would have made some NFL quarterbacks cry. Luke sighed.
“Max, please let Mitchell up,” said Luke. “Mitchell, do you need to be taken to the emergency room?”
“I’m fine,” Mitchell gasped. “I shouldn’t be surprised that a little sissy like you had to have your security guard protect you.”
“I’m glad that you’re not hurt,” replied Luke. “Mitchell, you’re a danger to others so I’m going to have HR call you to conduct your exit interview over the phone.”
“You’re firing me?” asked a shocked Mitchell. “I’ve worked for this company---”
“Max, please escort Mitchell from the premises and have his security accesses revoked. Do not let him leave with his Grimaldi laptop or cell phone,” said Luke. “Have his personal effects reviewed and then forwarded to him."” Mitchell was led away by a grinning Max.
“Louise, please come into my office,” said Luke.
Luke’s administrative assistant entered Luke’s office and shut the door. She was teary eyed as she stood quivering before Luke.
“How did Mitchell learn about my plans for the Vancouver project?” asked Luke sternly.
“I’m best friends with his administrative assistant and I told her about it but I told her not to tell anyone,” cried Louise.
Luke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Is there a reason that you felt that your loyalty to your boss was less important than gossiping with your friend?”
“I wanted to warn her so that she could start looking for another job,” said Louise. “I’m so sorry. Please don’t fire me.”
“I believe that your mistake, and it was a very serious mistake, was not due to maliciousness. But I do need to be able to trust my administrative assistant one hundred percent. Can you handle the responsibilities of your job and can you offer me your loyalty and discretion?”
“Yes,” sobbed Louise.
“Fine,” replied Luke. “You won’t be fired for this incident but I’m going to need you to learn to be more professional.”
Louise thanked Luke profusely and left his office. Luke sighed heavily. Estimates would put the weight of the sigh at a metric ton.
“That was pretty horrible,” said Noah.
“Yes, it was,” agreed Luke while he got himself a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
“You really humiliated the guy,” Noah continued. “If he’s been working here for a long time then it was wrong of you to fire him just because he didn’t handle some business project the way you felt it should be handled. It was especially cruel to fire the man right before Thanksgiving.”
Noah was startled by the amused gaze that Luke shot him.
“Have you been secretly attending business management classes?” asked Luke.
“Of course not,” replied Noah. “I’m going to be a filmmaker.”
‘Then why would you think I would care about your opinion on how I should handle Grimaldi Shipping business?” questioned Luke.
“Seeing you treat someone with so much meanness really bothered me,” said Noah.
“Funny. It would have aroused Reid. Seeing me fire an incompetent minion would have made him hard as a rock,” said Luke offhandedly as he sat back down behind his desk.
“I can’t believe you would say that to me,” hissed Noah.
“I can’t believe that you would take the side of a man who wanted to fire a dozen people because he was too lazy and stupid to come up with a better idea,” replied Luke with a shrug. “Of course, your default setting has always been to side with anyone else over me. I take that back. One time you and I were kidnapped by a pair of psychotic lovers and you actually did take my side over theirs. Of course, one of them did shoot you.”
Noah was stunned that Luke thought that Noah didn’t automatically take Luke’s side on issues. The only times that Noah ever sided against Luke was when Luke was wrong, wrong, wrong, dead wrong. Luke shouldn’t have expected Noah to take his side when Luke was in the wrong. And someone had shot him?
A pretty woman in her early thirties rushed into the room. Noah figured she must be about thirteen months pregnant. She was huge. She was so huge that her belly probably affected the tides of the oceans and the orbit of the moon.
“Are you okay?” the woman asked worriedly as she rushed towards Luke.
“I’m fine,” said Luke as the woman fussed over Luke. “Max prevented Mitchell from hitting me. I think Max might have enjoyed tackling Mitchell far too much. Hopefully, Mitchell won’t try to sue us for physical damages.”
“Well, enough people heard him threaten you that even if he does try to sue us, he’ll lose,” replied the woman.
“Noah, this is my big sister Abigail Williams Ward,” introduced Luke. “Abigail, this is Noah Mayer. He has amnesia and has no memories after December 2008.”
Abigail appeared startled. “Does he know that . . .”
Luke smiled gently at his sister. “Yes. He knows that we broke up a long time ago. Karen Haines feels that his amnesia is going to be of short-term duration but right now he’s hanging out with me because I’m safe and familiar.”
“Well, it’s . . . nice to meet you Noah,” said Abigail gamely as she offered her hand in greeting.
“We’ve never met before?” asked Noah as he shook Abigail’s hand. “Before I got amneisa?”
“No, I didn’t move back to Oakdale until after you and Luke broke up so we never had the opportunity to meet,” answered Abigail with a slight frown. “I came back for my father’s . . .I came back for a visit when you and Luke were still together but you were out of town. Luke, I have a meeting with the director making our new cruise ship commercial in about ten minutes. Do you want me to cancel it so that I can drive you home?”
“Don’t be silly,” replied Luke. “I’m not exactly traumatized by firing Mitchell. Go be brilliant at your meeting. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“You’re okay with the fact that Gregory and I are having Thanksgiving dinner with his family and then coming over to your place for dessert, right?” asked Abigail.
“Of course,” said Luke. “I don’t begrudge you having in-laws that love and adore you and want to spend time with you. I’m happy that Reid and I get to have you two for part of the day. And you’re not the only ones spending part of the day at more than one place tomorrow. Mom and Adam and Dad and Lien are having dinner at our place but dessert at the Hughes house. I think Maddie and Lowell plan on having dinner with the Wards, dessert at our place and a second dessert with the Coleman/Munson/Ryan family.”
“Going house to house for food on Thanksgiving, aka the Autumnal Harvest, is sort of the grown-up version of Halloween,” said Abigail.
Luke shivered. “I just had a vision of Reid going door to door for turkey sandwiches on Friday.”
Abigail giggled and kissed Luke on his cheek. She said goodbye to Noah and coolly offered her wishes for a speedy recovery.
“Luke, why didn’t I meet Abigail after I moved back to Oakdale?” asked Noah worriedly. “Did you ask your family to cut me out of their lives after we broke up?”
Luke looked pissed. “Actually, you were the one who didn’t want to be friends after we broke up. Since we weren’t friends, you decided it would be easier for you if you didn’t have any contact with my family. My mom was really hurt that you didn’t keep in touch after you moved to LA. We didn’t hear from you for years. No one is holding a grudge against you, or anything, but you never really tried to restore your relationships with the members of my family. You and I are friendly now but it’s not like you normally spend holidays with my family any more.”
Noah was saddened by the loss of having a family. He suspected that Luke wasn’t being completely truthful about how he ended up estranged from the Snyders. He had loved the Luke’s family. And they had loved him. He suspected that they had been grateful to him for how well he handled Luke.
An incredibly handsome middle aged man entered the room.
“Noah, this is Damian Grimaldi. My father.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” said Noah hesitantly holding out his hand in greeting. He wasn’t sure how Luke’s life had changed enough that he now was involved with the Grimaldi family. Damian looked at Noah in disgust.
“He has amnesia,” explained Luke to Damian. “He doesn’t remember anything after early December 2008.”
“So he has no memory of how your professor tried to seduce you away from him and Noah got angry and reported the professor to the dean for inappropriate conduct with his student?” asked Damian. “He doesn’t remember how betrayed you felt when his interference caused problems with your senior project?”
Luke shook his head. “Damian--”
Noah interrupted whatever excuse Luke was going to make.
“If a professor was trying to seduce Luke, then I was right to report him!” defended Noah angrily. “I can’t believe that Luke would try to take advantage of some gross pervert’s attraction to him just to get school credit. That kind of entitlement is horrible and the Luke I fell in love with would have been above that.”
Noah was surprised by Damian’s laughter.
Luke sighed at his biological father. “Damian, I’m pretty sure that we’re not supposed to look at Noah’s brain injury as an opportunity to amuse ourselves.”
“I’m an old man, Luke,” replied Damian somberly. “I must take my pleasures while I can.”
Luke huffed a laugh. “Old? All of a sudden, you’ve become Wilford Brimley? Are you still boxing a couple days a week to keep in shape?”
Damian shrugged. “I’m fifty now. I’ve decided that that’s old enough to take my pleasures while I can. Of course when I was twenty I decided that that was old enough to take my pleasures while I could. And yes, I am still boxing a couple days a week. I have an amazing body for a fifty year old. Your aunt Iva can’t keep her hands off of me.”
“I don’t get the joke,” said Noah petulantly.
Damian ignored Noah. “Luciano, unless you need me for something today, I thought that I’d spend the rest of the day working on Kingsley Malta business from Iva’s place.”
“That’s fine with me. How long are you staying in Oakdale for this visit?”
“I’ll be flying back to Malta the day after Thanksgiving but I’ll be back in a month or two. Iva and I are both looking forward to the Autumnal Harvest Feast at your place tomorrow. Are you sure that there’s nothing that we could bring?”
“Absolutely positive.”
“You were right to fire Mitchell, you know,” said Damian. Noah was surprised at how quickly news traveled through the Grimaldi Shipping offices. “His work has been shoddy for quite a while and his blatant disregard for your authority was troubling.”
“Agreed,” said Luke.
“But you should know that I would have fired your administrative assistant for her indiscretion and his administrative assistant for her loyalty to Mitchell instead of to you.”
“Luckily for Louise and Thelma, I’m in charge here,” said Luke coolly with a raised eyebrow. Damian huffed a laugh and nodded in agreement.
Damian left the room without saying anything further to Noah.
Noah frowned at Luke. “I demand to know what was so funny about one of your professors trying to use his position to try to steal you from me.”
Luke rolled his eyes. Noah hated it whenever Luke got all eyeroll-y and bitch-y. Sometimes Noah felt that Luke was way too gay. “Damian was having a little fun at your expense. It was actually your professor who had the hots for you. I vented to Damian about it and he’s the one who reported the professor to the dean and gave him a video of the professor kissing you. The professor got fired before your senior project was completed and you blamed me. Damian always thought it was hypocritical of you to insist that it was ‘right’ to turn me in and get me expelled from school when I behaved unethically but that it was ‘wrong’ to turn in your professor when he behaved unethically.”
Noah wasn’t sure what to say. He was sure that there must be more to the story than what Luke was telling him. It would be just like Luke to only tell part of the story.
Luke sighed. “Look, it’s all in the past so there’s no need for us to get into it. Especially since you don’t remember any of it.”
Louise buzzed Luke’s office to let him know that his aunt had arrived for their lunch appointment. Luke advised Louise to send Carly in.
“Noah, you remember Carly,” said Luke. “She and my Uncle Jack are remarried. She, Grandma Emma and I opened up a barbecue restaurant slash blues club together and Carly’s now running it. We meet every Wednesday for lunch to discuss the business.”
Carly appeared puzzled.
“Carly, Noah has retrograde amnesia and doesn’t remember anything after December 2008.”
Carly appeared unconcerned by the trauma of Noah having brain damage. The three of them sat down at a round table in Luke’s office. Luke unpacked the lunch that Ms. Crichton had packed. There was more than enough for Luke, Noah and Carly.
Noah was annoyed that Carly and Luke immediately started discussing their business. Noah would never want to be a big baby about a having a medical condition but brain damage was a pretty big deal and he thought that it might actually be worth more than an offhand comment. It’s not like Carly was a complete stranger to him. They were both Snyders. Sort of.
After speaking briefly about the current state of The Juke Joint, Luke moved to another topic. And this topic wasn’t about Noah’s amnesia, either. “Maddie is doing a great job with Calliope’s Cinema and Café. She’s great at getting publicity for the different film festivals and she’s created some great quirky internet ads for the place. She has book clubs and film discussion groups meeting in the café which has really increased traffic.”
“Are you trying to get me to feel competitive with Maddie?” asked an amused Carly. “Am I supposed to make a solemn vow to be a better manager than her?”
Luke huffed a laugh. “No. But I wanted to make it very clear how pleased I am with the job that Maddie is doing before I put forth a proposition to you.”
“What’s the proposition?” asked Carly as she crossed her shapely legs. “Whatever it is, it may be the first completely non-sexual proposition I’ve ever received from a man.”
“I think that The Juke Joint has expanded as much as it should for right now. The restaurant/club is thriving; it’s almost always busy. The sauces are selling even better than anticipated. I think now is a good time for you to put Jenny Wendell in charge of the restaurant/blues club and put Pete Wendell in charge of the barbecue sauce factory and distribution center.”
“Why would I do that?” asked Carly. “I’m way too young to retire. Plus, there’s still plenty of bank to be made.”
“I feel that there could be a wider market for some of the vegetarian soups that Grandma Emma has created for Calliope’s. Maddie’s degree is in liberal arts not business. I think that if you and Maddie are willing to work together, we can put something pretty amazing together. I’ve created a preliminary marketing plan that I’d like to discuss with you and get your feedback on before I bring it up with Maddie.”
Noah interrupted the conversation. “Don’t you think you should be discussing this with Maddie?”
“I will be discussing it with Maddie and she and Grandma Emma will have veto power if they don’t like the idea,” said Luke. “But if Carly isn’t even interested in the proposition then there’s no point in getting Maddie excited about the possibility of marketing the soup on a wider scale.”
“You should have talked to Maddie first. Did marrying that jerk make you forget how to be loyal to your friends?” asked Noah with righteous indignation.
“Luke is the most loyal guy on the planet. He’s loyal to his friends, his family, his employees. Also, Luke was loyal enough to not marry someone else while he was still dating you,” snipped Carly.
“Are you referring to me marrying Ameera?” asked an upset Noah. “Because I was trying to save her life.”
“Don’t be so disingenuous, sweetie,” cooed Carly. “You dove back into the closet so fast it would have made Liberace’s head spin. You married a complete stranger fully knowing that it would break your sweet boyfriend’s heart. You chose a stranger over a man who wanted to spend his life with you. A stranger who you knew had some sort of relationship with your psychopathic daddy. It was a dick move on your part.”
“What is your preferred treatment for obstructive hydrocephalus?” Luke asked Carly.
“Pardon?” answered Carly.
“Sorry, I just assumed you must be channeling Reid,” answered Luke with a grin. Carly flashed an engaging smile at Luke.
“I don’t think you’re being fair,” said Noah to Carly.
“Look, it’s all matrimony under the bridge,” said Luke. “This all happened years ago and it’s completely irrelevant to our current lives.”
Suddenly, Casey Hughes bounded into the room. Noah almost didn’t recognize him as Casey was dressed like a grown up. Casey Hughes in a suit. Strange days, indeed. Maybe the end-times were approaching. Noah wasn’t as surprised as he should have been that Casey, with his less-than-strict morality, was now working at Grimaldi Shipping.
“Luke, I just heard that Mitchell tried to kill you. Are you okay, man?” asked Casey with concern. Carly looked at Luke with worry.
“He didn’t try to kill me,” said Luke. “He tried to hit me. Max, with much joie de vivre, tackled him. I fired Mitchell. Not a big deal.”
“I’m glad you’re alright. Hi, Carly,” said Casey who looked startled when he noticed Noah. Casey shot Luke a questioning look.
“Noah hit his head. He doesn’t remember anything after 2008. I suspect he’s getting a little stir-crazy in here. Are you free to take him out and hang out a little with him?” Luke asked Casey.
Casey seemed to hesitate. He raised an eyebrow in question to Luke. Luke raised an eyebrow back at him. Casey raised his other eyebrow. Luke raised his other eyebrow. Noah had no idea what the meaning behind the Eyebrow Summit was, but he was glad that Casey decided that he was free to hang out with Noah.
“Hey, man,” said Casey to Noah. “Do you want to go visit Maddie? She’s the manager of a movie house slash vegetarian cafe. She co-owns it with Emma and Luke. It’s a pretty happening place. I think you’ll really like it.”
“That sounds nice,” said Noah. Casey and Noah said goodbye to Luke and Carly. Luke told them to have fun. Carly waved a hand carelessly in their direction as she started to peruse the business plan that Luke had printed out for her.
CHAPTER SIX: WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON CHILLIN’ WITH CASEY
Noah soon learned that not only did Casey dress like a grown up but that he drove a grown up car.
“This is a really nice car,” said Noah.
“I bought it used from Reid when he bought a new car a couple of months ago,” enthused Casey. “He’s so anal that the car was in better shape than new cars I looked at and he gave me a ‘pseudo-family’ discount so I was pretty thrilled with it.”
“So, are you seeing anyone?” asked Noah while thinking that life would be so much better if Dr. Buttface didn’t keep popping up in conversation.
Casey fidgeted. “Yes. Faith Snyder and I are a couple. She graduated magna cum laude from Oakdale University this past spring and started attending law school this semester. She’s in Chicago at Northwestern but we’ve been getting together every other weekend. I think we’re doing pretty good with this long distance romance.”
“You’re dating Luke’s little sister?” asked a shocked Noah. “I don’t approve of this, do I?”
“I have no idea if the non-amnesia version of you approves or not,” replied Casey. “Or even if you know about it or not.”
“We didn’t stay friends?” asked Noah.
“You and I haven’t really kept up,” said Casey. “I left Oakdale for Carbondale about the same time that you left for LA.”
“You’ve kept up with Luke but not me?” asked a peeved Noah.
“Well, Luke and I worked at keeping up our friendship even though we lived in different cities,” said Casey. “For one thing, Luke and I have literally known each other all of our lives. For another thing, I’m a little bit bi-curious for Luke.”
Noah looked disturbed at Casey’s comments. “Are you joking?”
Casey shrugged. “The man looks good in a tux. Plus, he’s pretty awesome.”
“Have you been working for Luke a long time?” asked Noah in a desperate attempt to change the topic of conversation.
“Since I graduated law school a year and a half ago. I love working with Luke at Grimaldi. The work is challenging and exciting and I get to travel quite a bit. A couple months ago, I was with Luke in Monaco buying a ship. I love watching my little buddy do business. The sellers completely underestimated Luke before they met him and ended up impressed as hell by his business acumen. After Luke made the deal of the century, we all went and played baccarat in the casino. Luke won several hundred thousand dollars.”
“You’re kidding,” said a stunned Noah.
“Nope. It was totally awesome. Then I heard him talking to Reid on the phone during the flight back to the States asking him if he was okay with donating all of the winnings to Doctors without Borders. I might be more than a little bi-curious for Luke. Fortunately, Faith is perfectly cool with it. The fact that my girlfriend is perfectly cool with me being a little bi-curious for her brother is a little worrisome.”
“Does Luke have to travel a lot for business?” asked Noah.
“Yes. He heads up an international shipping company and is a member of the board for Kingsley Malta. He’s probably away at some exotic port one week for every month or so.”
“That doesn’t sound like he has a close relationship with his husband.”
“Huh. Are you concerned about the state of Luke’s marriage because you care about his happiness or is this that knee-jerk reaction thing you do where you just assume that Luke is a big ol’ jerky loser and that everything he does must be wrong, wrong, so very wrong?”
“That’s an ugly accusation to make to me,” muttered Noah.
“Whatever, dude. Hey, do you remember the conversation that we had about the unfairness of you expecting Luke to lie for you to the government for months and risk going to prison while you refused to lie for Luke over a stupid college election even though it meant expulsion for him?”
“I remember.”
“Good times. Look, I don’t mean to be harsh. I still consider you a friend even if we don’t hang out together. Heck, I really wanted the two of you to work out. But it’s not like you and Luke were right for one another.”
“I gave up everything to be with Luke and it turns out that we weren’t right for each other?”
“What exactly did you give up for Luke-a-rino?” asked Casey laughing. “Did I miss something?”
“I lost my dad because of our relationship,” said Noah.
“Yeah, it must be awful not to be able to have Thanksgiving dinner with the man who murdered your mother,” said Casey with supreme unconcern. “Luke didn’t make you gay. You yearned for penis long before you ever met Luke. To blame him for your dad hating you or for your own internalized homophobia is jive.”
They arrived at their destination and parked the car. Casey and Noah walked into Calliope’s Cinema and Café. The downstairs of the building was a café and wide, curved stairs led upstairs to what was obviously the movie theatre. The café had a warm and inviting décor. The colors were bright and festive. Mismatched couches and tables and chairs were set up in seating groups. An eclectic mix of quirky movie posters hung on the walls: Cat-Women of the Moon, Kitten with a Whip, The Reckless Buckaroo, Dragstrip Girl, Danger Woman, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T.
The aromas were mouth-watering.
Casey led Noah to the line of customers at the counter. They waited in line. When they reached the counter, Maddie noticed them. Maddie had been assisting another woman getting orders together for the customers in line. Maddie smiled at them. “Hey guys, I didn’t know you two were going to stop by for lunch! What can I get you?”
“I’ll have a bowl of the pumpkin soup and a whole grain and legume roll. Noah has amnesia and can’t remember anything after December of 2008. Oh, and a large orange-and-ginger juice, please,” said Casey.
Maddie lifted her eyebrow at Casey who shrugged. Maddie turned towards Noah. “Amnesia?”
Noah sighed. “Yeah.”
“Okay, why don’t you and Casey take a seat and we’ll do some major catching up. Do you want to order something or do you want me to just pick something out for you?” asked Maddie.
“You’ve always known what I’ve liked,” replied Noah. “Why don’t you pick something out for me?”
“Okay,” said Maddie. “Why don’t you and Casey grab a seat and I’ll bring you both lunch?”
Noah and Casey managed to snag a table just as a group of college-age kids got up to leave.
Maddie arrived with a tray of food. She slid a bowl of soup, a roll and a large juice towards Casey. She slid the rest of the food towards Noah. “I’ve brought you an avocado and spinach wrap, gingered cantaloupe and a glass of peach punch.”
“I think you should know that Luke plans on bringing Carly into Calliope’s,” said Noah as soon as Maddie sat down.
“Why would you tell me that?” asked an annoyed Maddie.
“I think it’s something you need to know,” said a hurt Noah. “If he plans to bring someone else into the business that you’ve obviously worked so hard on then it’s not fair of him to keep you in the dark.”
Casey swallowed the mouthful of soup he had in his mouth. “You are a dick.”
“It’s dishonest of Luke to try to cut Maddie out of the business,” replied Noah.
“First of all, Luke is a sweetie pie who would rather cut off one of his feet than to hurt a friend’s feelings,” huffed Maddie. “Second of all, I have lunch meetings with Luke every single Monday so that we can go over the business. He always makes a point to tell me what a great job I’m doing and is always appreciative of my hard work, my creative ideas and my business suggestions. And instead of just vetoing any of my decisions, he offers me an alternative and explains why he thinks that the alternative is a better idea. And he’s always right.”
“I don’t know why you’re mad at me,” whined Noah. “Luke’s the one who’s behaving unethically. Casey probably knows all about it. Ask him.”
“I’m busy enough with Grimaldi Shipping work,” said Casey. “I’m not involved in Luke’s extracurricular businesses. But I know that you’ve obviously misinterpreted something if you think Luke’s going to cut Maddie out of the business. Also, you’re a dick.”
“He’s meeting with Carly right now!” insisted Noah.
“I’m sure he is,” said Maddie. “He has a lunch meeting with Carly every Wednesday so that they can talk The Juke Joint business. And he has a lunch meeting with Jade every Friday so that they can talk The Pizza Bowl business. If he is talking to Carly about Calliope’s then he probably wants to get her involved in marketing the vegetarian and vegan soups and/or breads that Emma created for Calliope’s. Carly was very involved in marketing the barbecue sauces for The Juke Joint and has the experience, the contacts, etc.,.”
“It’s not right for him to have you as the manager and to just bring in Carly without even asking you about it,” said Noah.
“Do you have any idea how much money the barbecue sauces are making?” exclaimed Maddie. “If Luke makes the decision to expand the marketing of Calliope’s products, then that could mean truckloads of money for me. Maybe even boatlaods. I wouldn’t be able to complain about that.”
“What if he cuts you out of the business and you don’t make anything?”
“Do you have a clue to what makes Luke tick?” asked an astonished Maddie. “Ethically, as majority owner, he could present the decision to me and Emma as a fait accompli and suggest that each of the three of us give Carly a percentage of our profits in order to have her take us to the big leagues. But I’m willing to bet cold, hard moolah that Luke is checking to make sure that this is something that Carly is interested in. Then he’ll give Emma and me a choice about whether this is the direction we want the business to go in. Then he’ll give Carly a percentage of his shares.”
“I don’t know why you’re angry with me,” said Noah. “I’m just trying to do the right thing by you.”
“Did it ever occur to you to try to do the right thing by Luke? I can’t believe that even when you have amnesia and still think that you have feelings for Luke, you would still try to sell him out by revealing his ‘nefarious business scheme’ to me, your EX-girlfriend. Did you ever love Luke?”
Casey snorted. Noah could not believe Maddie’s lack of gratitude. He was just trying to do the right thing.
Suddenly Maddie squealed in delight. Noah turned in his seat so that he could see who, or what, Maddie had seen over his shoulder. Due to the squealing, Noah was expecting to see the Beatles or Elvis Presley. Or possibly Adrian Zmed. A tall, black-haired man in a business suit was walking towards them. Maddie jumped up. She leaped into his arms and kissed him on the mouth. Hard. She grabbed his hand and brought him to their table.
Casey stood up and shook hands with the man.
“Noah, this is my boyfriend Lowell,” introduced Maddie. “Lowell, Noah has amnesia and doesn’t remember anything after 2008. Noah, Lowell is the administrative assistant for Reid at Oakdale Memorial.”
“It must be a journey into Hell each and every day that you work for that jerk,” said Noah.
“I don’t think that a man who saves lives on a daily basis should be referred to as a jerk,” said Maddie. “You had an accident and went blind and he was the only doctor who could do the experimental surgery to restore your sight. You owe him a lot.”
“The man doesn’t have much patience for imbeciles but since I’m not an imbecile, we get along extremely well,” replied Lowell coolly.
“Are you saying that I’m an imbecile?” asked a confused Noah.
“I think you’re far too malicious to be considered an imbecile,” answered Lowell carefully. “Imbecility implies a certain harmlessness. Your toxicity and cruelty prevent me from considering you harmless.”
“How dare you--”
“Did you or did you not callously convince Maddie to abandon her dreams of Wesleyan by leading her to believe that there was something real and true between the two of you when all along you were just using her to hide your sexuality?” asked Lowell.
“I cared about--”
“Did you or did you not make sexual advances to a heartbroken Maddie while your boyfriend was lying paralyzed in a hospital bed after your father tried to murder him?” asked Lowell.
“You don’t understand--”
“I understand that you treated Maddie horribly,” said Lowell. “She is a sweet, smart, kind woman who has been through so much. She deserved better than some closet case using her to make himself feel better. I am not interested in your self-justifications.”
Noah was stunned. He waited for Maddie to defend him like she always had.
Maddie caressed Lowell’s cheek. “Baby, I love that care about me so deeply but you don’t have to be angry on my behalf. I forgave Noah a long time ago. Whatever pain he caused me was just so minuscule compared to how wonderful my life is now. We’re so fortunate to have the life that we share together.”
Lowell gently kissed Maddie.
Casey grinned at Noah as Noah tried to figure out why he was so uncomfortable seeing Maddie kiss another man. Other than the fact that the man she was kissing had stated that Noah was a malicious jerk.
“I know what you’re thinking,” whispered Casey to Noah. “You’re thinking, ‘Wow, Lowell is luscious.’”
“Actually, I wasn’t thinking that,” said Noah. “But I’m becoming less and less convinced about your heterosexuality.”
Maddie giggled. Like a schoolgirl. Like a schoolgirl who was being tickled by feathers. Pink feathers. “Casey is referring to Lowell as luscious because of this hysterical fan blog that was created about him. It’s called The Luscious Lowell Blog. People post photos and articles about him. Also fanfic. Some of the PWP fanfic totally freaks me out. Did you know that there’s a thing called Wing Fic?”
“I’m really positive that I don’t want to know about the thing called Wing Fic,” said Noah. “Why would an administrative assistant to a Chief of Staff at a little hospital have a fan blog?”
“There was a plane crash just outside of Oakdale in Luther’s Corners about a year ago,” said Casey. “The plane contained the vice-president of the United States, his security team, his aides and the pilot and co-pilot.”
“When Jack Snyder became Chief of Police a few years ago, he implemented emergency and disaster training for the entire police department. He worked closely with emergency services, the hospital and various agencies such as Homeland Security to foster communication and cooperation and to have a plan in place for various emergency situations,” advised Maddie.
“And when Reid became Chief of Staff of Oakdale Memorial about five years ago, he instituted all sorts of protocols and training procedures for various emergency scenarios,” said Casey.
“When the vice-president’s plane went down and he and his fellow passengers were rushed to Oakdale Memorial with life-threatening injuries, the media descended upon Oakdale like locusts on . . .cake,” said Maddie.
“Cake?” asked Lowell with a charmed smile.
“I’m sure locusts enjoy cake just like all other living beings with a soul,” replied Maddie. Casey nodded enthusiastically. “Anyway, Lowell ended up doing most of the press conferences.”
“He was awesome,” said Casey. “One of the reporters asked him if he didn’t think it was a horrible decision to bring the victims to some piddly little hospital instead of life-flighting everyone to Chicago. The reporter insinuated that all the victims were going to die horribly because Oakdale Memorial Hospital treats patients with duct tape and chanting.”
“My sweet baby explained to him that Oakdale Memorial has one of the top neuro units in the entire country and the top trauma department in the state,” bragged Maddie. “Lowell explained how highly Oakdale Memorial and it’s staff ranked in various other categories. He then explained the new state of the art technology that the hospital had acquired and how it was used. He advised the reporter about the dozens of articles that Oakdale’s doctors had published in prestigious medical journals over the past handful of years.”
“He then advised the reporter that all of this information was on the hospital’s website and he volunteered to teach the reporter how to use a search engine,” laughed Casey. “The reporter actually apologized to Lowell.”
“Then another reporter expressed shock that such a state-of-the-art hospital could be found in a relatively small town,” boasted Maddie. “Lowell explained that Oakdale was a socially conscious town whose citizens and businesses donated time and money to the hospital and other civic organizations. He explained that Oakdale was the home of several international businesses such as Worldwide Industries, Grimaldi Shipping and DeWitt Cereals. He told the reporter that Oakdale was the home of successful national businesses such as The Juke Joint Barbecue Sauces. He explained that Oakdale had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, the best school district in the state, one of the highest quality of living rankings in the Midwest.”
“He then advised that reporter that all of this information was on the town’s website and he volunteered to teach that reporter how to use a search engine,” laughed Casey. “This reporter actually apologized too.”
Noah smiled tightly at Lowell. “That sounds really impressive. I’m sure Maddie must be thrilled about dating a secretary who gives good press conference.”
“Actually, I think that she is happier about me actually enjoying cunnilingus,” said Lowell with an artic chill in his voice.
“Well, I know that you two don’t get a lot of chances to spend time together during the day,” Casey said hurriedly to Maddie and Lowell. “So, Noah and I are going to take our food to go.”
Casey and Noah gathered up their food and said goodbye to Maddie and Lowell. Noah was hurt that Maddie hadn’t cared enough to defend him to Lowell. He was sad that he had amnesia and no one seemed concerned particularly about helping him through it. Casey and Noah ate their lunch while sitting in Casey’s car.
“So, Jade is co-owner, along with Emma and Luke, and the manager of The Pizza Bowl,” said Casey heartily after they had finished their meal. “It’s near here. Do you want to walk over there and see her?”
“That would be great,” said Noah. He and Jade had gotten along. She’d probably show some sympathy for his condition.
They walked a few blocks over to The Pizza Bowl. Classic rock blared from the speakers while rowdy crowds bowled or sat at booths scarfing down pizza. The scent of pizza filled the air. Noah suspected that somewhere underneath the odor of mozzarella, basil and tomatoes was the odor of bowling shoes but he wasn’t going to think about it too strongly.
Casey led Noah up to the pizza counter. He ordered a large root bear and a slice of La Margherita. Noah ordered a ginger ale and a slice of La Diavola. When they received their orders, Casey led Noah to a nearby door. Casey knocked on the door using his elbow. After a moment, a disheveled Jade opened the door. Noah could see a blond man in his late forties standing a few feet behind Jade. Jade greeted the men and welcomed them into her office.
Casey nodded at Jade and the older man. He plopped himself atop Jade’s desk. “So, Noah has retrograde amnesia and doesn’t remember anything after December 2008. Were you and Andy in here making out in the middle of the day, you flatfooted floozy?”
Jade gave Noah a suspicious look. Noah shrugged. “It’s true. I fell and hit my head and lost seven years worth of memories. The doctor thinks it’s probably temporary.”
Noah sat down beside Casey and began to eat his slice of pizza. It was really good.
“Noah, this is my friend Andy Dixon. He owns a photography studio over in Old Town,” introduced Jade. “Andy, this is Noah Mayer. He’s . . .he’s a director at WOAK.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Noah,” said Andy. “Jade, I better get back to the studio. Casey, Jade and I are going to see you at the Autumnal Harvest Feast, right?”
“You bet your sweet patootie,” answered Casey. Noah shot Casey another look. Noah was now convinced that there was NO way that Casey was strictly heterosexual. Andy kissed Jade lightly on the cheek and turned to leave. Jade squeezed his butt with both hands eliciting a squeal from Andy and a laugh from Casey.
After Andy left, Jade turned to Noah. “Is the amnesia thing an inconvenience for you or is it a Kafkaesque and horrific dreamscape?”
“Losing seven years of my life is pretty . . .nerve-wracking. It’s not quite as nightmarish as discovering that you and your cousin Luke both have a thing for geriatrics.”
“Hey! Andy is nowhere near as . . .mature as Brian Wheatley,” defended Jade. “And Brian had a thing for Luke not the other way around.”
“I was referring to Dr. Buttface,” replied Noah. “Brian isn’t even gay. Luke probably got confused about it because of all of the drinking he was doing.”
“I’m sure that Richard is going to be devastated that Brian isn’t gay,” said Casey.
“Who’s Richard?” asked Noah.
“Brian’s husband,” said Jade. “And your ex. Sort of. You and Richard went out on a couple of dates when you were blind and you exchanged a couple of half-hearted hand jobs. But when you regained your sight, you dumped him.”
“Richard’s pretty cool,” said Casey. “He’s half-dork, half-funniest man alive. And he and Brian make a pretty good couple. They dote on one another. Brian is running the Rose Foundation for Lily and Richard is managing The Yacht Club.”
“Brian’s really gay?” asked Noah. “Luke was right?”
“Yeah, too bad you didn’t believe him at the time,” said Jade sadly. “Luke was pretty devastated when Brian started putting the moves on him. Lucinda was recovering from cancer and the last thing Luke wanted to do was to cause her any more stress. It was a pretty bad time for Luke. Well, you remember how everything in Luke’s life fell apart all at once.”
Noah was uncomfortable. It hadn’t been entirely his fault for disbelieving Luke but he wished that he hadn’t been quite so harsh with Luke. But if Luke hadn’t stolen the election, then he wouldn’t have gotten expelled and he and Noah wouldn’t have broken up. Luke always seemed to be the architect of his own misfortune but that was no reason for Noah not to have had a little bit more compassion for Luke and his issues.
“On the bright side, you and Luke are pretty much living your dreams now,” said Jade.
“How can you say that?” asked a confused Noah.
“Well, you’re not in LA or New York but you’re still making movies,” answered Jade. “You get paid well enough at WOAK that you can afford to make short films on the side. Since you make them independently, you don’t have to worry about compromising your artistic vision.”
“But what about Luke?” asked Noah.
“Heck, Luke’s happier than he ever dreamed of being,” replied Jade. “He ended up staying in Oakdale where gets to be the loving son/brother/grandson. He’s found someone he’s madly in love with and who loves him completely without condition. He’s making a difference in the world via his foundation and his businesses.”
“He and I were supposed to live out our dreams together,” answered Noah.
“Your dreams weren’t compatible,” said Jade kindly. “You’re both happier now than you were when you were together.”
“So, you and I have talked about this? We’ve remained friends?” asked Noah.
“Well, we don’t really spend a ton of time together,” said Jade. “But you’ve always loved filmmaking more than you loved relationships so I don’t take it personally.”
“I loved Luke more than I loved filmmaking,” said an affronted Noah.
Jade looked at Noah with a twisted half-smile. “You loved Luke as much as you could but it was never with the blind devotion and ferocity with which Luke loved you. And that’s okay. Not every relationship has to be all epic and eternal for it to have been worthwhile.”
Noah suddenly couldn’t eat anymore. He handed the remains of his slice of pizza to Casey who downed it in three bites.
“Do you want to stay with me at my condo while you’re getting your sea legs, so to speak?” asked Jade. “I have the coolest condo over in Mill Town.”
“In Snyder Village?” asked Noah.
Jade laughed. “Yeah. I cannot begin to tell you how bizarre it is that so many of my neighbors are Snyders. Fortunately, I like most of them or the homespun values might be a little bit suffocating.”
“Thanks for the offer of a place to stay but I’m actually staying with Luke while I get used to the whole amnesia thing,” said Noah.
Jade looked surprised. She glanced over at Casey who held up his hands defensively. “Does Reid know that Luke is letting you stay with them?”
“It was his idea,” said Noah. “He wanted Luke to help me through this traumatic episode.”
Jade started laughing. “You and Reid staying in the same house must be comedy gold! I cannot wait until the Autumnal Harvest Feast!” Noah felt that Jades amusement at his expense wasn’t very polite.
“Are you and Andy going to Mom and Dad’s for desert after the Autumnal Harvest Feast?” asked Casey.
“Yep,” replied Jade. “We’re doing the same as you and Faith, Lien and Holden, Hope and Parker, Lily and Adam, Katie and Jacob. Dinner at the Snyder/Olivers and dessert at the Hughes.”
Noah stopped paying attention to the conversation that Casey and Jade were having. He had always tried to ‘man up’ but he was feeling kind of blue about discovering that he had somehow managed to lose the Snyders as his family and Casey and Jade as friends. Oh, and Luke as his boyfriend.
“Dude, are you okay?” asked Casey.
“Sure,” answered Noah. “But can we head back to Grimaldi Shipping? I could really use Luke right now.”
Casey and Jade exchanged glances. Casey stood up, kissed Jade on the cheek and led an emotionally exhausted Noah back to the car.
When they arrived back on Grimaldi Shipping, Luke and a beautiful brunette woman who appeared to be in her early fifties were debating a Merchant Shipping Pollution Act that Congress was currently updating. From what Noah could tell, Luke was arguing that stricter pollution standards would be beneficial to Grimaldi Shipping as the company was larger than most of it’s competitors and could afford to meet the new standards more readily. And that the more environmentally aware the company was then the more good publicity that would entail. Noah was disgusted by Luke’s cold-blooded assessment.
Luke smiled when he saw Casey and Noah. “Welcome back, guys. Noah, this is my Aunt Ellie. She’s an executive here at Grimaldi. Aunt Ellie, this is Noah Mayer. He has temporary amnesia and doesn’t remember anything from the previous seven years.”
Ellie offered her hand to Noah. “It’s interesting to finally meet you. I was recently helping Mama move some stuff out at the farmhouse and came across your wedding album. You and your bride looked so happy in the pictures.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” said Noah. “Luke, I’m really tired. Can we go home?”
Noah thought that he saw Casey roll his eyes but decided that he must have imagined it.
Luke pursed his lips and scratched his ear. “Aunt Ellie, can you handle the Green Committee meeting for me this afternoon?”
“It’s no problem for me to take the meeting for you,” said Ellie. “But Noah isn’t staying with you, is he?”
Luke shrugged. “It was actually Reid’s idea for us to help Noah while he becomes a little more comfortable with his condition.”
“Really?!?” asked Ellie. “I love your husband dearly but he’s not exactly one to be volunteering to take care of lost lambs. Unless he plans on roasting those lambs on a spit.”
“Maybe it’s the spirit of Autumnal Harvest Feast,” teased Luke. “Casey, I signed that contract you sent me and put it on your desk. I’ll see you two tomorrow for supper. Noah, we can go now.”
Noah and Luke left the office. Noah fell asleep in the car as Luke drove them home.
Amnesia and Realizations. And Maple-Glazed Turkey. - Parts 7-8
Amnesia and Realizations. And Maple-Glazed Turkey. - Parts 9-10
Written By: nancygrew
Category: Noah Who?
Rating: PG-13 [a swear word or five]
Author's Notes: Futurefic. Takes place late November 2015 more than a year after my fic Amnesia is Stupid. You do not have to read any of my other fics in order to understand this one. AU after Reid drives off to Bay City for some silly errand. Extreme Noah-bashing. Characters belong to ATWT.
Summary: Noah wakes up in Oakdale Memorial Hospital
Amnesia and Realizations. And Maple-Glazed Turkey. - Parts 1-4
CHAPTER FIVE: WEDNESDAY MORNING AT GRIMALDI SHIPPING
Noah and Luke arrived at Grimaldi Shipping shortly before eight a.m. Luke gave Noah what he referred to as the nickel tour of Grimaldi. Luke pointed out the docks, warehouses, employee gym, employee cafeteria. Luke greeted everyone he passed and they in turn swooned with delight at having attention paid to them by their young, hot boss. Or so it seemed to Noah. Luke led Noah to his office. Luke let Noah settle in on the leather sofa in the corner of the office to read while he sat behind his mahogany desk working on his computer. They passed a few hours in silence.
Suddenly the door to the office slammed open. An irate, middle aged man stormed into the office.
“Is it true?” the red-faced man screeched. “Are you taking me off of the Vancouver project?”
Luke leaned back in his chair. “Yes. The meeting I have scheduled with you for this afternoon is about the project. I am assigning it to someone else. I regret that you found out about the reorganization from someone else.”
“How dare you give the project to someone else! I earned this project.”
“You failed miserable with this project,” replied Luke coolly. “I requested that you develop a plan to halt the decrease in revenues for the Vancouver office. You responded with the suggestion of firing half of the Vancouver office. You offered no alternate options. I am incredibly interested in why, exactly, you feel that you didn’t handle this project with complete incompetence.”
“The office is losing money,” yelled the man. “Laying off the dead wood will save Grimaldi Shipping hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.”
“Pffft,” replied Luke. “The Vancouver office is NOT losing money. It’s making less profit than it used to make. You were supposed to develop a business plan on how to reorganize the office to turn it around. You didn’t offer me any alternatives to your option of laying off half of the staff. You didn’t offer options about repurposing the office or offering staff the opportunity to relocate to one of our other offices or anything useful at all. I am incredibly disappointed in you, Mitchell.”
“You’re a bleeding heart brat who doesn’t seem to understand that you are running a business and not a charity,” sneered Mitchell.
“First of all, I don’t believe I ever suggested that we not correct the problem of the office not making as big of a profit as it should be making. But what you seem to fail to understand is that if we don’t show our employees any loyalty, how can we expect loyalty from them? Also, if we start laying people off then our competitors will see that as a weakness. We really don’t need to have other shipping companies circling us like sharks scenting yummy blood.”
“You don’t have a clue about what you’re doing, little boy,” Mitchell snarled at Luke. “The company was just handed to you because your daddy knocked up your mommy.” Noah noticed that a large, burly security guard had come up to the office and entered behind Mitchell. Someone must have called Security when they heard Mitchell screaming. Luke made a subtle hand gesture to the security guard who stopped in the doorway.
“Is there a reason you think that I’m going to let you talk to me in a disrespectful manner?” asked Luke with seemingly genuine curiosity. Luke stood up from his desk and approached Mitchell. “Because I may be relatively inexperienced but you are a lazy idiot whose business ideas are all about twenty years out of date. You have not made any innovative, or even useful, suggestions during the years I’ve been president of Grimaldi Shipping.”
“How dare you--”
“Stop,” Luke interrupted Mitchell. “My decision is made and I don’t really care about your whining complaints. You can either shut up and keep your job or you can start looking for other gainful employment. I’m good with either choice you make.”
“I’m going to kick your girly ass!” yelled Mitchell. He swung a fist at Luke but it didn’t connect. The security guard had leapt at Mitchell and tackled him to the ground. It wasn’t a gentle tackle by any means. It was a tackle that would have made some NFL quarterbacks cry. Luke sighed.
“Max, please let Mitchell up,” said Luke. “Mitchell, do you need to be taken to the emergency room?”
“I’m fine,” Mitchell gasped. “I shouldn’t be surprised that a little sissy like you had to have your security guard protect you.”
“I’m glad that you’re not hurt,” replied Luke. “Mitchell, you’re a danger to others so I’m going to have HR call you to conduct your exit interview over the phone.”
“You’re firing me?” asked a shocked Mitchell. “I’ve worked for this company---”
“Max, please escort Mitchell from the premises and have his security accesses revoked. Do not let him leave with his Grimaldi laptop or cell phone,” said Luke. “Have his personal effects reviewed and then forwarded to him."” Mitchell was led away by a grinning Max.
“Louise, please come into my office,” said Luke.
Luke’s administrative assistant entered Luke’s office and shut the door. She was teary eyed as she stood quivering before Luke.
“How did Mitchell learn about my plans for the Vancouver project?” asked Luke sternly.
“I’m best friends with his administrative assistant and I told her about it but I told her not to tell anyone,” cried Louise.
Luke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Is there a reason that you felt that your loyalty to your boss was less important than gossiping with your friend?”
“I wanted to warn her so that she could start looking for another job,” said Louise. “I’m so sorry. Please don’t fire me.”
“I believe that your mistake, and it was a very serious mistake, was not due to maliciousness. But I do need to be able to trust my administrative assistant one hundred percent. Can you handle the responsibilities of your job and can you offer me your loyalty and discretion?”
“Yes,” sobbed Louise.
“Fine,” replied Luke. “You won’t be fired for this incident but I’m going to need you to learn to be more professional.”
Louise thanked Luke profusely and left his office. Luke sighed heavily. Estimates would put the weight of the sigh at a metric ton.
“That was pretty horrible,” said Noah.
“Yes, it was,” agreed Luke while he got himself a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
“You really humiliated the guy,” Noah continued. “If he’s been working here for a long time then it was wrong of you to fire him just because he didn’t handle some business project the way you felt it should be handled. It was especially cruel to fire the man right before Thanksgiving.”
Noah was startled by the amused gaze that Luke shot him.
“Have you been secretly attending business management classes?” asked Luke.
“Of course not,” replied Noah. “I’m going to be a filmmaker.”
‘Then why would you think I would care about your opinion on how I should handle Grimaldi Shipping business?” questioned Luke.
“Seeing you treat someone with so much meanness really bothered me,” said Noah.
“Funny. It would have aroused Reid. Seeing me fire an incompetent minion would have made him hard as a rock,” said Luke offhandedly as he sat back down behind his desk.
“I can’t believe you would say that to me,” hissed Noah.
“I can’t believe that you would take the side of a man who wanted to fire a dozen people because he was too lazy and stupid to come up with a better idea,” replied Luke with a shrug. “Of course, your default setting has always been to side with anyone else over me. I take that back. One time you and I were kidnapped by a pair of psychotic lovers and you actually did take my side over theirs. Of course, one of them did shoot you.”
Noah was stunned that Luke thought that Noah didn’t automatically take Luke’s side on issues. The only times that Noah ever sided against Luke was when Luke was wrong, wrong, wrong, dead wrong. Luke shouldn’t have expected Noah to take his side when Luke was in the wrong. And someone had shot him?
A pretty woman in her early thirties rushed into the room. Noah figured she must be about thirteen months pregnant. She was huge. She was so huge that her belly probably affected the tides of the oceans and the orbit of the moon.
“Are you okay?” the woman asked worriedly as she rushed towards Luke.
“I’m fine,” said Luke as the woman fussed over Luke. “Max prevented Mitchell from hitting me. I think Max might have enjoyed tackling Mitchell far too much. Hopefully, Mitchell won’t try to sue us for physical damages.”
“Well, enough people heard him threaten you that even if he does try to sue us, he’ll lose,” replied the woman.
“Noah, this is my big sister Abigail Williams Ward,” introduced Luke. “Abigail, this is Noah Mayer. He has amnesia and has no memories after December 2008.”
Abigail appeared startled. “Does he know that . . .”
Luke smiled gently at his sister. “Yes. He knows that we broke up a long time ago. Karen Haines feels that his amnesia is going to be of short-term duration but right now he’s hanging out with me because I’m safe and familiar.”
“Well, it’s . . . nice to meet you Noah,” said Abigail gamely as she offered her hand in greeting.
“We’ve never met before?” asked Noah as he shook Abigail’s hand. “Before I got amneisa?”
“No, I didn’t move back to Oakdale until after you and Luke broke up so we never had the opportunity to meet,” answered Abigail with a slight frown. “I came back for my father’s . . .I came back for a visit when you and Luke were still together but you were out of town. Luke, I have a meeting with the director making our new cruise ship commercial in about ten minutes. Do you want me to cancel it so that I can drive you home?”
“Don’t be silly,” replied Luke. “I’m not exactly traumatized by firing Mitchell. Go be brilliant at your meeting. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“You’re okay with the fact that Gregory and I are having Thanksgiving dinner with his family and then coming over to your place for dessert, right?” asked Abigail.
“Of course,” said Luke. “I don’t begrudge you having in-laws that love and adore you and want to spend time with you. I’m happy that Reid and I get to have you two for part of the day. And you’re not the only ones spending part of the day at more than one place tomorrow. Mom and Adam and Dad and Lien are having dinner at our place but dessert at the Hughes house. I think Maddie and Lowell plan on having dinner with the Wards, dessert at our place and a second dessert with the Coleman/Munson/Ryan family.”
“Going house to house for food on Thanksgiving, aka the Autumnal Harvest, is sort of the grown-up version of Halloween,” said Abigail.
Luke shivered. “I just had a vision of Reid going door to door for turkey sandwiches on Friday.”
Abigail giggled and kissed Luke on his cheek. She said goodbye to Noah and coolly offered her wishes for a speedy recovery.
“Luke, why didn’t I meet Abigail after I moved back to Oakdale?” asked Noah worriedly. “Did you ask your family to cut me out of their lives after we broke up?”
Luke looked pissed. “Actually, you were the one who didn’t want to be friends after we broke up. Since we weren’t friends, you decided it would be easier for you if you didn’t have any contact with my family. My mom was really hurt that you didn’t keep in touch after you moved to LA. We didn’t hear from you for years. No one is holding a grudge against you, or anything, but you never really tried to restore your relationships with the members of my family. You and I are friendly now but it’s not like you normally spend holidays with my family any more.”
Noah was saddened by the loss of having a family. He suspected that Luke wasn’t being completely truthful about how he ended up estranged from the Snyders. He had loved the Luke’s family. And they had loved him. He suspected that they had been grateful to him for how well he handled Luke.
An incredibly handsome middle aged man entered the room.
“Noah, this is Damian Grimaldi. My father.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” said Noah hesitantly holding out his hand in greeting. He wasn’t sure how Luke’s life had changed enough that he now was involved with the Grimaldi family. Damian looked at Noah in disgust.
“He has amnesia,” explained Luke to Damian. “He doesn’t remember anything after early December 2008.”
“So he has no memory of how your professor tried to seduce you away from him and Noah got angry and reported the professor to the dean for inappropriate conduct with his student?” asked Damian. “He doesn’t remember how betrayed you felt when his interference caused problems with your senior project?”
Luke shook his head. “Damian--”
Noah interrupted whatever excuse Luke was going to make.
“If a professor was trying to seduce Luke, then I was right to report him!” defended Noah angrily. “I can’t believe that Luke would try to take advantage of some gross pervert’s attraction to him just to get school credit. That kind of entitlement is horrible and the Luke I fell in love with would have been above that.”
Noah was surprised by Damian’s laughter.
Luke sighed at his biological father. “Damian, I’m pretty sure that we’re not supposed to look at Noah’s brain injury as an opportunity to amuse ourselves.”
“I’m an old man, Luke,” replied Damian somberly. “I must take my pleasures while I can.”
Luke huffed a laugh. “Old? All of a sudden, you’ve become Wilford Brimley? Are you still boxing a couple days a week to keep in shape?”
Damian shrugged. “I’m fifty now. I’ve decided that that’s old enough to take my pleasures while I can. Of course when I was twenty I decided that that was old enough to take my pleasures while I could. And yes, I am still boxing a couple days a week. I have an amazing body for a fifty year old. Your aunt Iva can’t keep her hands off of me.”
“I don’t get the joke,” said Noah petulantly.
Damian ignored Noah. “Luciano, unless you need me for something today, I thought that I’d spend the rest of the day working on Kingsley Malta business from Iva’s place.”
“That’s fine with me. How long are you staying in Oakdale for this visit?”
“I’ll be flying back to Malta the day after Thanksgiving but I’ll be back in a month or two. Iva and I are both looking forward to the Autumnal Harvest Feast at your place tomorrow. Are you sure that there’s nothing that we could bring?”
“Absolutely positive.”
“You were right to fire Mitchell, you know,” said Damian. Noah was surprised at how quickly news traveled through the Grimaldi Shipping offices. “His work has been shoddy for quite a while and his blatant disregard for your authority was troubling.”
“Agreed,” said Luke.
“But you should know that I would have fired your administrative assistant for her indiscretion and his administrative assistant for her loyalty to Mitchell instead of to you.”
“Luckily for Louise and Thelma, I’m in charge here,” said Luke coolly with a raised eyebrow. Damian huffed a laugh and nodded in agreement.
Damian left the room without saying anything further to Noah.
Noah frowned at Luke. “I demand to know what was so funny about one of your professors trying to use his position to try to steal you from me.”
Luke rolled his eyes. Noah hated it whenever Luke got all eyeroll-y and bitch-y. Sometimes Noah felt that Luke was way too gay. “Damian was having a little fun at your expense. It was actually your professor who had the hots for you. I vented to Damian about it and he’s the one who reported the professor to the dean and gave him a video of the professor kissing you. The professor got fired before your senior project was completed and you blamed me. Damian always thought it was hypocritical of you to insist that it was ‘right’ to turn me in and get me expelled from school when I behaved unethically but that it was ‘wrong’ to turn in your professor when he behaved unethically.”
Noah wasn’t sure what to say. He was sure that there must be more to the story than what Luke was telling him. It would be just like Luke to only tell part of the story.
Luke sighed. “Look, it’s all in the past so there’s no need for us to get into it. Especially since you don’t remember any of it.”
Louise buzzed Luke’s office to let him know that his aunt had arrived for their lunch appointment. Luke advised Louise to send Carly in.
“Noah, you remember Carly,” said Luke. “She and my Uncle Jack are remarried. She, Grandma Emma and I opened up a barbecue restaurant slash blues club together and Carly’s now running it. We meet every Wednesday for lunch to discuss the business.”
Carly appeared puzzled.
“Carly, Noah has retrograde amnesia and doesn’t remember anything after December 2008.”
Carly appeared unconcerned by the trauma of Noah having brain damage. The three of them sat down at a round table in Luke’s office. Luke unpacked the lunch that Ms. Crichton had packed. There was more than enough for Luke, Noah and Carly.
Noah was annoyed that Carly and Luke immediately started discussing their business. Noah would never want to be a big baby about a having a medical condition but brain damage was a pretty big deal and he thought that it might actually be worth more than an offhand comment. It’s not like Carly was a complete stranger to him. They were both Snyders. Sort of.
After speaking briefly about the current state of The Juke Joint, Luke moved to another topic. And this topic wasn’t about Noah’s amnesia, either. “Maddie is doing a great job with Calliope’s Cinema and Café. She’s great at getting publicity for the different film festivals and she’s created some great quirky internet ads for the place. She has book clubs and film discussion groups meeting in the café which has really increased traffic.”
“Are you trying to get me to feel competitive with Maddie?” asked an amused Carly. “Am I supposed to make a solemn vow to be a better manager than her?”
Luke huffed a laugh. “No. But I wanted to make it very clear how pleased I am with the job that Maddie is doing before I put forth a proposition to you.”
“What’s the proposition?” asked Carly as she crossed her shapely legs. “Whatever it is, it may be the first completely non-sexual proposition I’ve ever received from a man.”
“I think that The Juke Joint has expanded as much as it should for right now. The restaurant/club is thriving; it’s almost always busy. The sauces are selling even better than anticipated. I think now is a good time for you to put Jenny Wendell in charge of the restaurant/blues club and put Pete Wendell in charge of the barbecue sauce factory and distribution center.”
“Why would I do that?” asked Carly. “I’m way too young to retire. Plus, there’s still plenty of bank to be made.”
“I feel that there could be a wider market for some of the vegetarian soups that Grandma Emma has created for Calliope’s. Maddie’s degree is in liberal arts not business. I think that if you and Maddie are willing to work together, we can put something pretty amazing together. I’ve created a preliminary marketing plan that I’d like to discuss with you and get your feedback on before I bring it up with Maddie.”
Noah interrupted the conversation. “Don’t you think you should be discussing this with Maddie?”
“I will be discussing it with Maddie and she and Grandma Emma will have veto power if they don’t like the idea,” said Luke. “But if Carly isn’t even interested in the proposition then there’s no point in getting Maddie excited about the possibility of marketing the soup on a wider scale.”
“You should have talked to Maddie first. Did marrying that jerk make you forget how to be loyal to your friends?” asked Noah with righteous indignation.
“Luke is the most loyal guy on the planet. He’s loyal to his friends, his family, his employees. Also, Luke was loyal enough to not marry someone else while he was still dating you,” snipped Carly.
“Are you referring to me marrying Ameera?” asked an upset Noah. “Because I was trying to save her life.”
“Don’t be so disingenuous, sweetie,” cooed Carly. “You dove back into the closet so fast it would have made Liberace’s head spin. You married a complete stranger fully knowing that it would break your sweet boyfriend’s heart. You chose a stranger over a man who wanted to spend his life with you. A stranger who you knew had some sort of relationship with your psychopathic daddy. It was a dick move on your part.”
“What is your preferred treatment for obstructive hydrocephalus?” Luke asked Carly.
“Pardon?” answered Carly.
“Sorry, I just assumed you must be channeling Reid,” answered Luke with a grin. Carly flashed an engaging smile at Luke.
“I don’t think you’re being fair,” said Noah to Carly.
“Look, it’s all matrimony under the bridge,” said Luke. “This all happened years ago and it’s completely irrelevant to our current lives.”
Suddenly, Casey Hughes bounded into the room. Noah almost didn’t recognize him as Casey was dressed like a grown up. Casey Hughes in a suit. Strange days, indeed. Maybe the end-times were approaching. Noah wasn’t as surprised as he should have been that Casey, with his less-than-strict morality, was now working at Grimaldi Shipping.
“Luke, I just heard that Mitchell tried to kill you. Are you okay, man?” asked Casey with concern. Carly looked at Luke with worry.
“He didn’t try to kill me,” said Luke. “He tried to hit me. Max, with much joie de vivre, tackled him. I fired Mitchell. Not a big deal.”
“I’m glad you’re alright. Hi, Carly,” said Casey who looked startled when he noticed Noah. Casey shot Luke a questioning look.
“Noah hit his head. He doesn’t remember anything after 2008. I suspect he’s getting a little stir-crazy in here. Are you free to take him out and hang out a little with him?” Luke asked Casey.
Casey seemed to hesitate. He raised an eyebrow in question to Luke. Luke raised an eyebrow back at him. Casey raised his other eyebrow. Luke raised his other eyebrow. Noah had no idea what the meaning behind the Eyebrow Summit was, but he was glad that Casey decided that he was free to hang out with Noah.
“Hey, man,” said Casey to Noah. “Do you want to go visit Maddie? She’s the manager of a movie house slash vegetarian cafe. She co-owns it with Emma and Luke. It’s a pretty happening place. I think you’ll really like it.”
“That sounds nice,” said Noah. Casey and Noah said goodbye to Luke and Carly. Luke told them to have fun. Carly waved a hand carelessly in their direction as she started to peruse the business plan that Luke had printed out for her.
CHAPTER SIX: WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON CHILLIN’ WITH CASEY
Noah soon learned that not only did Casey dress like a grown up but that he drove a grown up car.
“This is a really nice car,” said Noah.
“I bought it used from Reid when he bought a new car a couple of months ago,” enthused Casey. “He’s so anal that the car was in better shape than new cars I looked at and he gave me a ‘pseudo-family’ discount so I was pretty thrilled with it.”
“So, are you seeing anyone?” asked Noah while thinking that life would be so much better if Dr. Buttface didn’t keep popping up in conversation.
Casey fidgeted. “Yes. Faith Snyder and I are a couple. She graduated magna cum laude from Oakdale University this past spring and started attending law school this semester. She’s in Chicago at Northwestern but we’ve been getting together every other weekend. I think we’re doing pretty good with this long distance romance.”
“You’re dating Luke’s little sister?” asked a shocked Noah. “I don’t approve of this, do I?”
“I have no idea if the non-amnesia version of you approves or not,” replied Casey. “Or even if you know about it or not.”
“We didn’t stay friends?” asked Noah.
“You and I haven’t really kept up,” said Casey. “I left Oakdale for Carbondale about the same time that you left for LA.”
“You’ve kept up with Luke but not me?” asked a peeved Noah.
“Well, Luke and I worked at keeping up our friendship even though we lived in different cities,” said Casey. “For one thing, Luke and I have literally known each other all of our lives. For another thing, I’m a little bit bi-curious for Luke.”
Noah looked disturbed at Casey’s comments. “Are you joking?”
Casey shrugged. “The man looks good in a tux. Plus, he’s pretty awesome.”
“Have you been working for Luke a long time?” asked Noah in a desperate attempt to change the topic of conversation.
“Since I graduated law school a year and a half ago. I love working with Luke at Grimaldi. The work is challenging and exciting and I get to travel quite a bit. A couple months ago, I was with Luke in Monaco buying a ship. I love watching my little buddy do business. The sellers completely underestimated Luke before they met him and ended up impressed as hell by his business acumen. After Luke made the deal of the century, we all went and played baccarat in the casino. Luke won several hundred thousand dollars.”
“You’re kidding,” said a stunned Noah.
“Nope. It was totally awesome. Then I heard him talking to Reid on the phone during the flight back to the States asking him if he was okay with donating all of the winnings to Doctors without Borders. I might be more than a little bi-curious for Luke. Fortunately, Faith is perfectly cool with it. The fact that my girlfriend is perfectly cool with me being a little bi-curious for her brother is a little worrisome.”
“Does Luke have to travel a lot for business?” asked Noah.
“Yes. He heads up an international shipping company and is a member of the board for Kingsley Malta. He’s probably away at some exotic port one week for every month or so.”
“That doesn’t sound like he has a close relationship with his husband.”
“Huh. Are you concerned about the state of Luke’s marriage because you care about his happiness or is this that knee-jerk reaction thing you do where you just assume that Luke is a big ol’ jerky loser and that everything he does must be wrong, wrong, so very wrong?”
“That’s an ugly accusation to make to me,” muttered Noah.
“Whatever, dude. Hey, do you remember the conversation that we had about the unfairness of you expecting Luke to lie for you to the government for months and risk going to prison while you refused to lie for Luke over a stupid college election even though it meant expulsion for him?”
“I remember.”
“Good times. Look, I don’t mean to be harsh. I still consider you a friend even if we don’t hang out together. Heck, I really wanted the two of you to work out. But it’s not like you and Luke were right for one another.”
“I gave up everything to be with Luke and it turns out that we weren’t right for each other?”
“What exactly did you give up for Luke-a-rino?” asked Casey laughing. “Did I miss something?”
“I lost my dad because of our relationship,” said Noah.
“Yeah, it must be awful not to be able to have Thanksgiving dinner with the man who murdered your mother,” said Casey with supreme unconcern. “Luke didn’t make you gay. You yearned for penis long before you ever met Luke. To blame him for your dad hating you or for your own internalized homophobia is jive.”
They arrived at their destination and parked the car. Casey and Noah walked into Calliope’s Cinema and Café. The downstairs of the building was a café and wide, curved stairs led upstairs to what was obviously the movie theatre. The café had a warm and inviting décor. The colors were bright and festive. Mismatched couches and tables and chairs were set up in seating groups. An eclectic mix of quirky movie posters hung on the walls: Cat-Women of the Moon, Kitten with a Whip, The Reckless Buckaroo, Dragstrip Girl, Danger Woman, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T.
The aromas were mouth-watering.
Casey led Noah to the line of customers at the counter. They waited in line. When they reached the counter, Maddie noticed them. Maddie had been assisting another woman getting orders together for the customers in line. Maddie smiled at them. “Hey guys, I didn’t know you two were going to stop by for lunch! What can I get you?”
“I’ll have a bowl of the pumpkin soup and a whole grain and legume roll. Noah has amnesia and can’t remember anything after December of 2008. Oh, and a large orange-and-ginger juice, please,” said Casey.
Maddie lifted her eyebrow at Casey who shrugged. Maddie turned towards Noah. “Amnesia?”
Noah sighed. “Yeah.”
“Okay, why don’t you and Casey take a seat and we’ll do some major catching up. Do you want to order something or do you want me to just pick something out for you?” asked Maddie.
“You’ve always known what I’ve liked,” replied Noah. “Why don’t you pick something out for me?”
“Okay,” said Maddie. “Why don’t you and Casey grab a seat and I’ll bring you both lunch?”
Noah and Casey managed to snag a table just as a group of college-age kids got up to leave.
Maddie arrived with a tray of food. She slid a bowl of soup, a roll and a large juice towards Casey. She slid the rest of the food towards Noah. “I’ve brought you an avocado and spinach wrap, gingered cantaloupe and a glass of peach punch.”
“I think you should know that Luke plans on bringing Carly into Calliope’s,” said Noah as soon as Maddie sat down.
“Why would you tell me that?” asked an annoyed Maddie.
“I think it’s something you need to know,” said a hurt Noah. “If he plans to bring someone else into the business that you’ve obviously worked so hard on then it’s not fair of him to keep you in the dark.”
Casey swallowed the mouthful of soup he had in his mouth. “You are a dick.”
“It’s dishonest of Luke to try to cut Maddie out of the business,” replied Noah.
“First of all, Luke is a sweetie pie who would rather cut off one of his feet than to hurt a friend’s feelings,” huffed Maddie. “Second of all, I have lunch meetings with Luke every single Monday so that we can go over the business. He always makes a point to tell me what a great job I’m doing and is always appreciative of my hard work, my creative ideas and my business suggestions. And instead of just vetoing any of my decisions, he offers me an alternative and explains why he thinks that the alternative is a better idea. And he’s always right.”
“I don’t know why you’re mad at me,” whined Noah. “Luke’s the one who’s behaving unethically. Casey probably knows all about it. Ask him.”
“I’m busy enough with Grimaldi Shipping work,” said Casey. “I’m not involved in Luke’s extracurricular businesses. But I know that you’ve obviously misinterpreted something if you think Luke’s going to cut Maddie out of the business. Also, you’re a dick.”
“He’s meeting with Carly right now!” insisted Noah.
“I’m sure he is,” said Maddie. “He has a lunch meeting with Carly every Wednesday so that they can talk The Juke Joint business. And he has a lunch meeting with Jade every Friday so that they can talk The Pizza Bowl business. If he is talking to Carly about Calliope’s then he probably wants to get her involved in marketing the vegetarian and vegan soups and/or breads that Emma created for Calliope’s. Carly was very involved in marketing the barbecue sauces for The Juke Joint and has the experience, the contacts, etc.,.”
“It’s not right for him to have you as the manager and to just bring in Carly without even asking you about it,” said Noah.
“Do you have any idea how much money the barbecue sauces are making?” exclaimed Maddie. “If Luke makes the decision to expand the marketing of Calliope’s products, then that could mean truckloads of money for me. Maybe even boatlaods. I wouldn’t be able to complain about that.”
“What if he cuts you out of the business and you don’t make anything?”
“Do you have a clue to what makes Luke tick?” asked an astonished Maddie. “Ethically, as majority owner, he could present the decision to me and Emma as a fait accompli and suggest that each of the three of us give Carly a percentage of our profits in order to have her take us to the big leagues. But I’m willing to bet cold, hard moolah that Luke is checking to make sure that this is something that Carly is interested in. Then he’ll give Emma and me a choice about whether this is the direction we want the business to go in. Then he’ll give Carly a percentage of his shares.”
“I don’t know why you’re angry with me,” said Noah. “I’m just trying to do the right thing by you.”
“Did it ever occur to you to try to do the right thing by Luke? I can’t believe that even when you have amnesia and still think that you have feelings for Luke, you would still try to sell him out by revealing his ‘nefarious business scheme’ to me, your EX-girlfriend. Did you ever love Luke?”
Casey snorted. Noah could not believe Maddie’s lack of gratitude. He was just trying to do the right thing.
Suddenly Maddie squealed in delight. Noah turned in his seat so that he could see who, or what, Maddie had seen over his shoulder. Due to the squealing, Noah was expecting to see the Beatles or Elvis Presley. Or possibly Adrian Zmed. A tall, black-haired man in a business suit was walking towards them. Maddie jumped up. She leaped into his arms and kissed him on the mouth. Hard. She grabbed his hand and brought him to their table.
Casey stood up and shook hands with the man.
“Noah, this is my boyfriend Lowell,” introduced Maddie. “Lowell, Noah has amnesia and doesn’t remember anything after 2008. Noah, Lowell is the administrative assistant for Reid at Oakdale Memorial.”
“It must be a journey into Hell each and every day that you work for that jerk,” said Noah.
“I don’t think that a man who saves lives on a daily basis should be referred to as a jerk,” said Maddie. “You had an accident and went blind and he was the only doctor who could do the experimental surgery to restore your sight. You owe him a lot.”
“The man doesn’t have much patience for imbeciles but since I’m not an imbecile, we get along extremely well,” replied Lowell coolly.
“Are you saying that I’m an imbecile?” asked a confused Noah.
“I think you’re far too malicious to be considered an imbecile,” answered Lowell carefully. “Imbecility implies a certain harmlessness. Your toxicity and cruelty prevent me from considering you harmless.”
“How dare you--”
“Did you or did you not callously convince Maddie to abandon her dreams of Wesleyan by leading her to believe that there was something real and true between the two of you when all along you were just using her to hide your sexuality?” asked Lowell.
“I cared about--”
“Did you or did you not make sexual advances to a heartbroken Maddie while your boyfriend was lying paralyzed in a hospital bed after your father tried to murder him?” asked Lowell.
“You don’t understand--”
“I understand that you treated Maddie horribly,” said Lowell. “She is a sweet, smart, kind woman who has been through so much. She deserved better than some closet case using her to make himself feel better. I am not interested in your self-justifications.”
Noah was stunned. He waited for Maddie to defend him like she always had.
Maddie caressed Lowell’s cheek. “Baby, I love that care about me so deeply but you don’t have to be angry on my behalf. I forgave Noah a long time ago. Whatever pain he caused me was just so minuscule compared to how wonderful my life is now. We’re so fortunate to have the life that we share together.”
Lowell gently kissed Maddie.
Casey grinned at Noah as Noah tried to figure out why he was so uncomfortable seeing Maddie kiss another man. Other than the fact that the man she was kissing had stated that Noah was a malicious jerk.
“I know what you’re thinking,” whispered Casey to Noah. “You’re thinking, ‘Wow, Lowell is luscious.’”
“Actually, I wasn’t thinking that,” said Noah. “But I’m becoming less and less convinced about your heterosexuality.”
Maddie giggled. Like a schoolgirl. Like a schoolgirl who was being tickled by feathers. Pink feathers. “Casey is referring to Lowell as luscious because of this hysterical fan blog that was created about him. It’s called The Luscious Lowell Blog. People post photos and articles about him. Also fanfic. Some of the PWP fanfic totally freaks me out. Did you know that there’s a thing called Wing Fic?”
“I’m really positive that I don’t want to know about the thing called Wing Fic,” said Noah. “Why would an administrative assistant to a Chief of Staff at a little hospital have a fan blog?”
“There was a plane crash just outside of Oakdale in Luther’s Corners about a year ago,” said Casey. “The plane contained the vice-president of the United States, his security team, his aides and the pilot and co-pilot.”
“When Jack Snyder became Chief of Police a few years ago, he implemented emergency and disaster training for the entire police department. He worked closely with emergency services, the hospital and various agencies such as Homeland Security to foster communication and cooperation and to have a plan in place for various emergency situations,” advised Maddie.
“And when Reid became Chief of Staff of Oakdale Memorial about five years ago, he instituted all sorts of protocols and training procedures for various emergency scenarios,” said Casey.
“When the vice-president’s plane went down and he and his fellow passengers were rushed to Oakdale Memorial with life-threatening injuries, the media descended upon Oakdale like locusts on . . .cake,” said Maddie.
“Cake?” asked Lowell with a charmed smile.
“I’m sure locusts enjoy cake just like all other living beings with a soul,” replied Maddie. Casey nodded enthusiastically. “Anyway, Lowell ended up doing most of the press conferences.”
“He was awesome,” said Casey. “One of the reporters asked him if he didn’t think it was a horrible decision to bring the victims to some piddly little hospital instead of life-flighting everyone to Chicago. The reporter insinuated that all the victims were going to die horribly because Oakdale Memorial Hospital treats patients with duct tape and chanting.”
“My sweet baby explained to him that Oakdale Memorial has one of the top neuro units in the entire country and the top trauma department in the state,” bragged Maddie. “Lowell explained how highly Oakdale Memorial and it’s staff ranked in various other categories. He then explained the new state of the art technology that the hospital had acquired and how it was used. He advised the reporter about the dozens of articles that Oakdale’s doctors had published in prestigious medical journals over the past handful of years.”
“He then advised the reporter that all of this information was on the hospital’s website and he volunteered to teach the reporter how to use a search engine,” laughed Casey. “The reporter actually apologized to Lowell.”
“Then another reporter expressed shock that such a state-of-the-art hospital could be found in a relatively small town,” boasted Maddie. “Lowell explained that Oakdale was a socially conscious town whose citizens and businesses donated time and money to the hospital and other civic organizations. He explained that Oakdale was the home of several international businesses such as Worldwide Industries, Grimaldi Shipping and DeWitt Cereals. He told the reporter that Oakdale was the home of successful national businesses such as The Juke Joint Barbecue Sauces. He explained that Oakdale had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, the best school district in the state, one of the highest quality of living rankings in the Midwest.”
“He then advised that reporter that all of this information was on the town’s website and he volunteered to teach that reporter how to use a search engine,” laughed Casey. “This reporter actually apologized too.”
Noah smiled tightly at Lowell. “That sounds really impressive. I’m sure Maddie must be thrilled about dating a secretary who gives good press conference.”
“Actually, I think that she is happier about me actually enjoying cunnilingus,” said Lowell with an artic chill in his voice.
“Well, I know that you two don’t get a lot of chances to spend time together during the day,” Casey said hurriedly to Maddie and Lowell. “So, Noah and I are going to take our food to go.”
Casey and Noah gathered up their food and said goodbye to Maddie and Lowell. Noah was hurt that Maddie hadn’t cared enough to defend him to Lowell. He was sad that he had amnesia and no one seemed concerned particularly about helping him through it. Casey and Noah ate their lunch while sitting in Casey’s car.
“So, Jade is co-owner, along with Emma and Luke, and the manager of The Pizza Bowl,” said Casey heartily after they had finished their meal. “It’s near here. Do you want to walk over there and see her?”
“That would be great,” said Noah. He and Jade had gotten along. She’d probably show some sympathy for his condition.
They walked a few blocks over to The Pizza Bowl. Classic rock blared from the speakers while rowdy crowds bowled or sat at booths scarfing down pizza. The scent of pizza filled the air. Noah suspected that somewhere underneath the odor of mozzarella, basil and tomatoes was the odor of bowling shoes but he wasn’t going to think about it too strongly.
Casey led Noah up to the pizza counter. He ordered a large root bear and a slice of La Margherita. Noah ordered a ginger ale and a slice of La Diavola. When they received their orders, Casey led Noah to a nearby door. Casey knocked on the door using his elbow. After a moment, a disheveled Jade opened the door. Noah could see a blond man in his late forties standing a few feet behind Jade. Jade greeted the men and welcomed them into her office.
Casey nodded at Jade and the older man. He plopped himself atop Jade’s desk. “So, Noah has retrograde amnesia and doesn’t remember anything after December 2008. Were you and Andy in here making out in the middle of the day, you flatfooted floozy?”
Jade gave Noah a suspicious look. Noah shrugged. “It’s true. I fell and hit my head and lost seven years worth of memories. The doctor thinks it’s probably temporary.”
Noah sat down beside Casey and began to eat his slice of pizza. It was really good.
“Noah, this is my friend Andy Dixon. He owns a photography studio over in Old Town,” introduced Jade. “Andy, this is Noah Mayer. He’s . . .he’s a director at WOAK.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Noah,” said Andy. “Jade, I better get back to the studio. Casey, Jade and I are going to see you at the Autumnal Harvest Feast, right?”
“You bet your sweet patootie,” answered Casey. Noah shot Casey another look. Noah was now convinced that there was NO way that Casey was strictly heterosexual. Andy kissed Jade lightly on the cheek and turned to leave. Jade squeezed his butt with both hands eliciting a squeal from Andy and a laugh from Casey.
After Andy left, Jade turned to Noah. “Is the amnesia thing an inconvenience for you or is it a Kafkaesque and horrific dreamscape?”
“Losing seven years of my life is pretty . . .nerve-wracking. It’s not quite as nightmarish as discovering that you and your cousin Luke both have a thing for geriatrics.”
“Hey! Andy is nowhere near as . . .mature as Brian Wheatley,” defended Jade. “And Brian had a thing for Luke not the other way around.”
“I was referring to Dr. Buttface,” replied Noah. “Brian isn’t even gay. Luke probably got confused about it because of all of the drinking he was doing.”
“I’m sure that Richard is going to be devastated that Brian isn’t gay,” said Casey.
“Who’s Richard?” asked Noah.
“Brian’s husband,” said Jade. “And your ex. Sort of. You and Richard went out on a couple of dates when you were blind and you exchanged a couple of half-hearted hand jobs. But when you regained your sight, you dumped him.”
“Richard’s pretty cool,” said Casey. “He’s half-dork, half-funniest man alive. And he and Brian make a pretty good couple. They dote on one another. Brian is running the Rose Foundation for Lily and Richard is managing The Yacht Club.”
“Brian’s really gay?” asked Noah. “Luke was right?”
“Yeah, too bad you didn’t believe him at the time,” said Jade sadly. “Luke was pretty devastated when Brian started putting the moves on him. Lucinda was recovering from cancer and the last thing Luke wanted to do was to cause her any more stress. It was a pretty bad time for Luke. Well, you remember how everything in Luke’s life fell apart all at once.”
Noah was uncomfortable. It hadn’t been entirely his fault for disbelieving Luke but he wished that he hadn’t been quite so harsh with Luke. But if Luke hadn’t stolen the election, then he wouldn’t have gotten expelled and he and Noah wouldn’t have broken up. Luke always seemed to be the architect of his own misfortune but that was no reason for Noah not to have had a little bit more compassion for Luke and his issues.
“On the bright side, you and Luke are pretty much living your dreams now,” said Jade.
“How can you say that?” asked a confused Noah.
“Well, you’re not in LA or New York but you’re still making movies,” answered Jade. “You get paid well enough at WOAK that you can afford to make short films on the side. Since you make them independently, you don’t have to worry about compromising your artistic vision.”
“But what about Luke?” asked Noah.
“Heck, Luke’s happier than he ever dreamed of being,” replied Jade. “He ended up staying in Oakdale where gets to be the loving son/brother/grandson. He’s found someone he’s madly in love with and who loves him completely without condition. He’s making a difference in the world via his foundation and his businesses.”
“He and I were supposed to live out our dreams together,” answered Noah.
“Your dreams weren’t compatible,” said Jade kindly. “You’re both happier now than you were when you were together.”
“So, you and I have talked about this? We’ve remained friends?” asked Noah.
“Well, we don’t really spend a ton of time together,” said Jade. “But you’ve always loved filmmaking more than you loved relationships so I don’t take it personally.”
“I loved Luke more than I loved filmmaking,” said an affronted Noah.
Jade looked at Noah with a twisted half-smile. “You loved Luke as much as you could but it was never with the blind devotion and ferocity with which Luke loved you. And that’s okay. Not every relationship has to be all epic and eternal for it to have been worthwhile.”
Noah suddenly couldn’t eat anymore. He handed the remains of his slice of pizza to Casey who downed it in three bites.
“Do you want to stay with me at my condo while you’re getting your sea legs, so to speak?” asked Jade. “I have the coolest condo over in Mill Town.”
“In Snyder Village?” asked Noah.
Jade laughed. “Yeah. I cannot begin to tell you how bizarre it is that so many of my neighbors are Snyders. Fortunately, I like most of them or the homespun values might be a little bit suffocating.”
“Thanks for the offer of a place to stay but I’m actually staying with Luke while I get used to the whole amnesia thing,” said Noah.
Jade looked surprised. She glanced over at Casey who held up his hands defensively. “Does Reid know that Luke is letting you stay with them?”
“It was his idea,” said Noah. “He wanted Luke to help me through this traumatic episode.”
Jade started laughing. “You and Reid staying in the same house must be comedy gold! I cannot wait until the Autumnal Harvest Feast!” Noah felt that Jades amusement at his expense wasn’t very polite.
“Are you and Andy going to Mom and Dad’s for desert after the Autumnal Harvest Feast?” asked Casey.
“Yep,” replied Jade. “We’re doing the same as you and Faith, Lien and Holden, Hope and Parker, Lily and Adam, Katie and Jacob. Dinner at the Snyder/Olivers and dessert at the Hughes.”
Noah stopped paying attention to the conversation that Casey and Jade were having. He had always tried to ‘man up’ but he was feeling kind of blue about discovering that he had somehow managed to lose the Snyders as his family and Casey and Jade as friends. Oh, and Luke as his boyfriend.
“Dude, are you okay?” asked Casey.
“Sure,” answered Noah. “But can we head back to Grimaldi Shipping? I could really use Luke right now.”
Casey and Jade exchanged glances. Casey stood up, kissed Jade on the cheek and led an emotionally exhausted Noah back to the car.
When they arrived back on Grimaldi Shipping, Luke and a beautiful brunette woman who appeared to be in her early fifties were debating a Merchant Shipping Pollution Act that Congress was currently updating. From what Noah could tell, Luke was arguing that stricter pollution standards would be beneficial to Grimaldi Shipping as the company was larger than most of it’s competitors and could afford to meet the new standards more readily. And that the more environmentally aware the company was then the more good publicity that would entail. Noah was disgusted by Luke’s cold-blooded assessment.
Luke smiled when he saw Casey and Noah. “Welcome back, guys. Noah, this is my Aunt Ellie. She’s an executive here at Grimaldi. Aunt Ellie, this is Noah Mayer. He has temporary amnesia and doesn’t remember anything from the previous seven years.”
Ellie offered her hand to Noah. “It’s interesting to finally meet you. I was recently helping Mama move some stuff out at the farmhouse and came across your wedding album. You and your bride looked so happy in the pictures.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” said Noah. “Luke, I’m really tired. Can we go home?”
Noah thought that he saw Casey roll his eyes but decided that he must have imagined it.
Luke pursed his lips and scratched his ear. “Aunt Ellie, can you handle the Green Committee meeting for me this afternoon?”
“It’s no problem for me to take the meeting for you,” said Ellie. “But Noah isn’t staying with you, is he?”
Luke shrugged. “It was actually Reid’s idea for us to help Noah while he becomes a little more comfortable with his condition.”
“Really?!?” asked Ellie. “I love your husband dearly but he’s not exactly one to be volunteering to take care of lost lambs. Unless he plans on roasting those lambs on a spit.”
“Maybe it’s the spirit of Autumnal Harvest Feast,” teased Luke. “Casey, I signed that contract you sent me and put it on your desk. I’ll see you two tomorrow for supper. Noah, we can go now.”
Noah and Luke left the office. Noah fell asleep in the car as Luke drove them home.
Amnesia and Realizations. And Maple-Glazed Turkey. - Parts 7-8
Amnesia and Realizations. And Maple-Glazed Turkey. - Parts 9-10