Текст книги "The Distance Between"

Автор книги: Zillah De Rigaud

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 11 страниц)

to be away from you anymore Michael. I want you to get your stuff and move in with me or I’ll come live

at your place. We’ve wasted enough time being apart from each other, what do you think?”

I thought about it for a second but this was not the time to have any doubts. “I’ll get my stuff and move

in with you. I don’t have so much junk so it’ll be easier to move things,” I said.

“You really will?”

“You sound surprised, I told you that I’m choosing you. Once I’ve told dad, it’s pointless to keep things

a secret anymore. Besides I don’t want to be away from you anymore either.” He kissed me and tousled

my hair.

“There is one thing… When I move in here, I’m going to do some serious cleaning. You’re such a pig

David,” I laughed.

“And you’re totally neurotic Michael, but that’s what I love about you. Now do you mind getting up and

making me some coffee like you always did back in New York?”

“You mean the coffee we drank in the morning while we pretended not to have given each other a handjob

the night before? Those were some awkward mornings.”

“But the nights were pretty good, even though you were too freaked-out to fuck me.”

“I’ll make up for that,” I said and got out of bed to make some coffee.

We spend the rest of the day making out, ordering pizza and then having sex again. The second time was

even better. We spend hours just kissing and teasing and David gave me the wettest, hottest blow-job that

I’d ever gotten. I almost choked on my own need as he took me in his mouth. Finally I started fucking him

again. We made it last this time, it seemed like an eternity. I’d never felt so connected with anyone during

sex. It was like I’d been broken and was finally glued back together in all the right places.

I lived the whole week in absolute bliss, waking up next to David and rushing to his place in the

evening. We decided that we would go to our parent’s place the next Sunday to tell them. I tried not to

think about that moment but to enjoy the days as they came.

Brad noticed how happy I was when I came in to the office on Monday. He caught me at the coffee

machine in the hallway. “I recon you’ve talked to David?” he asked. I dragged him to my office and

closed the door so that nobody would hear us talk.

“I talked to David… Actually we did more than talk,” I said.

“So you are finally together for real?” he asked.

“Yeah we are, we’re telling my dad and Juliette this Sunday. I’m kind of nervous about it. How do you

think my dad will react?”

“He’s probably going to be shocked, maybe angry, you know how he loves his families’ reputation.

He’s probably going to give you a speech about your reputation at the firm… But he’ll get over it

eventually.”

“I sure hope you’re right,” I said.

“Come on Michael, lighten up. You’re finally together with the guy you’ve loved for ten years. You’ve

been waiting for this for all those years, don’t let your dad ruin things.”

“You’re right. It is amazing to finally be with David and not just the sex. I’ve never been in love with

anybody but him. It’s like I’ve had a hole inside my heart that finally got fixed.”

“Good, Christine will be very glad to hear that.”

“Are you sure she’s okay with this? I haven’t spoken to her.”

“It’s a bit unconventional to know that your brother and stepbrother are getting it on, but she’s a very

open-minded women and she wants you both to be happy. And for me, it’s really none of my business who

you fuck. And we’re friends right, not just brothers-in-law or colleagues, so I want you to be happy too.”

“Thanks Brad, you don’t know how much that means to me,” I sighed as he padded my shoulder and left

the room to get some work done.

That evening on my way to David’s place, I called Glenn. I hadn’t spoken to him in a couple of weeks

and I longed to confide in him.

“I’ve got to tell you something,” I told him in a serious voice as he picked up the phone.

“Let me guess, you’ve finally gotten over your daddy issues and you’re fucking your stepbrother every

night now.”

“Yeah I am,” I said.

“Well good for you, I always thought he was smoking hot.”

I told him everything, about our big fight and me breaking David’s nose to the way it felt to fuck David for

the first time.

“I can’t believe you never actually did it before,” he said. “I thought you’d been doing him for years. In

fact all our friends think that you and David have been fucking for years.”

“I never dared to, before. I thought the world would come to an end if I finally gave in to my feelings.

We just gave each other hand-jobs in the dark and I was so embarrassed about it that I could have died,” I

laughed.

“If my brother looked like your stepbrother I might do the same,” Glenn snickered.

“So have you talked to Remi lately?” I asked.

“Yeah, I have. He’s coming to New York in May. And guess what, he’ll be staying for a couple of

months, as long as you can stay on a tourist visa. We’ve been talking on Skype for hours each week and

we want to see if we can make it work.”

“Glenn, that’s great! I never imagined you falling for a guy, but I’m really happy for you both. Remi is

such a great friend.

“You and David should come to New York when he’s here. Then we can hit the nightlife with the four

of us. I know how you and David love dancing together,” he laughed.

“We’ll come to New York, I promise.”

When I reached David’s apartment, he was waiting with dinner. A bottle of expensive champagne was

standing on the table. “Why the champagne?” I asked.

“I’ve got a new job. I’m going to work for Hoffman’s law firm, starting next month.”

“That’s great,” I said and hugged him tightly. “But then you are not coming back to work for dad?”

“It doesn’t seem like a good idea to go back to the firm now that we are together. The whole firm

doesn’t have to know right away.” A surge of relief went through me. I had actually been afraid that he

wanted me to tell the whole firm that we were sleeping together. That would certainly drive my dad over

the edge. If dad even wanted me to still work for him once we’d told him. We could always move to

Paris I thought. Nobody knew us there.

“Thanks for being so thoughtful,” I said and kissed him. “I’m really happy for you that you have a great

new job.” It felt so natural to hold him in my arms, to feel the warmth of his chest through his shirt, to be

able to put my hands on his ass without thinking. This was all worth it after all.

34. Confronting dad

On Sunday morning I was so nervous that I secretly threw up in the bathroom before we drove to our

parent’s place. We’d both dressed impeccably, like we were going to an official event. I could see that

David was worried too; he hadn’t slept well and kept fumbling with his hands. We didn’t talk in the car

until we drove up in front of the house.

“Well, here goes,” David said while he tried to force a smile on his face.

“I’ll do the talking,” I said and bend over to kiss him before we got out of the car.

We rang the doorbell and Justin opened the door. “Mom, Michael and David are here together,” he yelled

and then Juliette was running to the door to hug us both. She practically dragged us in to the hallway. “I’m

so glad you’ve made up,” she said and started crying

“Mom, don’t do that,” David said and he hugged her again.

We walked in to the living room and then my dad came downstairs from his study. He looked relieved to

see us both standing there.

“Before you say anything, there’s something that we need to tell you,” I said. There was a slight tremor

in my voice but I didn’t think anybody but me could hear it.

“What is it?” Juliette asked. I could see my dad’s face go pale and harden. I reached next to me and

took David’s hand in mine. His palm was clammy from anxiety. Our fingers entwined and I squeezed his

hand hard, just to be able to go through with the next sentence.

“David and I are sleeping together.”

I could see Juliette’s jaw drop. Everything was quiet for a few seconds. I looked at my dad’s face but

nothing in his expression gave away how he actually felt.

“What do you mean with ‘you’re sleeping together’,” Juliette finally stammered, hoping that she’d

misunderstood.

“It means that they’re having sex,” my dad said. Then he sighed and his body seemed to slump

forwards. He looked old and worried for a moment, but definitely not shocked.

“You knew,” I noted.

“Jesus Michael… ,” My dad said.

“You really knew?” David asked surprised.

My dad walked to his liquor cabinet. “I need a drink, do you want one as well honey?” he asked Juliette.

She nodded and my dad poured the both of them a huge glass of cognac, even if it was only just noon.

“If you knew, then why haven’t you ever said anything?” David asked quietly. My dad’s hands were

shaking as he drank from his glass.

“I just thought that you were infatuated with Michael and that you were fighting all the time because of

it. I didn’t know that the feeling was mutual. I thought that Michael couldn’t stand you because he knew

that you were in love with him.” He took another gulp from his drink. “But when Michael just said he had

something to tell us, it all made sense immediately… All that bickering between the both of you just made

sense. I knew what Michael was going to say when I looked at his face.”

“I’m sorry,” I said but my dad interrupted me. “Jeez David, I’ve been worrying about our obsession

with Michael since you were both in high school. And all this time Michael didn’t mind at all that you

were in love with him…”

“He was scared out of his mind that you would find out. Nothing ever happened between us when we

were both living at home. If it had been up to me we would have been together for years but Michael was

so afraid of losing you that we ended up frustrated and fighting all the time.”

“Is this why you were so eager to leave for Paris twice?” my dad asked me

“Yeah it basically was. I needed to escape for a while.”

My dad’s face looked all wrung out. “I have no idea what I should say or do next,” he said. He looked at

David. “I hope you know that I didn’t mean it that I was glad that you’re not my real son. That evening, I’d

had too much to drink and I thought you’d come on to Michael or something and he punched you because

of that. I thought he broke your nose because he despised your feelings. Jesus, I’m such an idiot…” He

rubbed his temples.

“I still want you to be my dad, this thing between me and Michael doesn’t change that,” David said.

“But I’ve thinking that I might take on the name of my biological dad again, to make things less weird.”

My dad put down his glass walked over to David and hugged him hard. David looked thrown-back by

surprise but then he put his arms around my dad and hugged him back.

“Are you alright Juliette?” I asked David’s mom, who was listening to the whole scene with an open

mouth.

“I think so… What are we going to tell Christine and Brad?”

“They already know. They figured it out for themselves.” I looked at my dad. “Brad doesn’t mind and

Christine doesn’t either.”

My dad’s hands were still shaking as he took another gulp from his drink. “Can I have a drink too?” David

asked.

“Yeah sure, help yourself,” my dad answered and he poured himself a second another one too. David

handed me a glass of cognac as well. It was my dad’s finest cognac and the bottle was already half empty.

“So what should we do now?” my dad asked. His gaze was blank as he looked at Juliette.

“Well I’ve made a roast and Christine and Brad will be here any minute now. I think that we should just

have dinner,” she stammered.

“That’s probably the best idea,” my dad said. “I don’t feel like making a big scene out of this in front of

the twins.”

I hadn’t even thought about Jack and Justin. They were almost fifteen now and I wondered how they would

react if they found out.

“Are you coming back to the firm?” my dad asked David.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. I don’t want there to be gossip about Michael and me at work. We want

to keep things pretty low-key, not everybody at the firm needs to know right away. And besides, it wasn’t

really that much fun for me to work with the two of you.”

“Then what are you going to do? Are you going to be alright with finding a new job?”

“I’m starting at Hoffman’s next month. I know that they are kind of our competitors but they made me a

very generous offer and I could become full partner within a couple of years. Things weren’t really

working out for me at our firm anyway. It’ll be good for me to do my job without half the family watching

over my shoulder.”

“That’s great. It’s an excellent firm, I know the guys there very well,” my dad said quietly.

“Do you really want me to still work for you?” I asked. “You don’t have to answer right away."

“You are staying with the firm whether you want to or not. Who else is going to take over when I

retire,” my dad replied sternly.

The doorbell rang and Juliette let Christine and Brad in. They could immediately tell by the strange

atmosphere in the room that something was the matter.

“We told them,” I said.

“Oh Michael…good for you,” Christine exclaimed. “I hope that things will finally work out for the two

of you.” She gave us both a big hug and padded dad on the back. “It’s going to be alright dad,” she tried to

reassure him.

We sat down to have dinner and Juliette called the twins downstairs. They stumbled down the stairs

and rushed in to the dining room.

“So did you finally tell them?” Justin casually asked as he forked a potato out of the pan. He elbowed

Jack, who gave him a wicked little smile.

“Tell them what?” I asked.

“No need to pretend, we’re not stupid,” Justin said.

“We caught you kissing on the couch at Christmas when we were trying to sneak in to the kitchen to get

some more cake. You were so busy that you didn’t hear us,” Jack grinned.

“Jeez, you saw us and you didn’t say anything?” David replied.

“We didn’t want dad to kill you both,” Justin answered with a smile.

I looked over at dad, who was obviously feeling very uncomfortable.

“David and I were having a very difficult time with this. I know this whole thing might be weird, but

it’s important that you realize that we were very unhappy and this is the only way for us. And David and I

are not related to each other by blood…but that doesn’t mean that we don’t still want to be a part of our

family. We’re still your brothers, that doesn’t change.”

“We were just worried that you would both leave for Paris and that we would never see you again,”

Jack said.

“Or that dad would go crazy and shoot you both,” Justin complemented him with a smile.

“That’s quite enough!” my dad said. “I’m not shooting anyone. We’re not making a big scene out of this.

This whole situation has caused enough misery and stress. We are still a family and we’ll see the coming

months how we’ll work this out. So please start eating before it gets cold, your mom hasn’t worked her

ass off in the kitchen for nothing.”

We all started eating. It was quiet for a couple of minutes, but the mood at the table seemed lighter

already. After five minutes Jack and Justin started talking and then Brad and Christine fell in. By the time

we reached the desert, it seemed like nothing had really changed, except that I could squeeze David’s

hand at the table without feeling weird about it.

Epilogue – Finally together

We met up with Glenn and Remi in May and we had a great time with them in New York. Remi was

very excited to finally meet David. He told me he’d never seen me so happy when we went out dancing at

our favorite club. Finally I dared to kiss David for real on the dance floor, when he was sweaty from

dancing and looking beautiful. Glenn gave me a thumbs-up when he saw us. He and Remi were very much

in love and it was adorable to see him look at his French boyfriend with dark puppy-eyes. We left them

after a week of great fun and promised to come back to New York soon.

Two months later Christine and Brad got married. My dad threw them a huge wedding party. The

ceremony was outside and while the sun was shining and all the guests sat down on their white seats,

Christine strutted down the aisle on my dad’s arm. She looked amazing, in a perfect light-blue satin dress

that made her resemble Cinderella. There was even a shiny little tiara on her head, like the one she’d

worn when dad had married Juliette. Brad wore a dark-blue suit with a tie that matched Christine’s dress.

Our whole family was sitting on the front row and I could feel the warmth of David’s shoulder against

mine, while Christine and Brad said ‘I do’.

In the afternoon we toasted the newly wed couple with champagne and the photographer wanted to make

some pictures of the bride and groom with their family. Everybody posed next to Christine and Brad and

when the photographer started snapping pictures, I pulled David over to me and kissed him. If my dad

noticed, he didn’t say anything…

End