by Alan Wild
Willa showed up to help set the table once dinner was ready. The team straggled to the table, taking their places. Oliver and Noah set the food on the table, and Oliver asked, “Did anyone find anything out about the building yet?” Willa let out one of her belly laughs and said, “Good lord, you are to the point. Feed me before you make any demands of information. This bitch needs nourishment.” Oliver decided the polite thing to do was to wait until after dinner.
Ray made the announcement that Noah could go to his house tomorrow. “They are releasing it, and he can get insurance involved to clean up the mess.” Noah was quiet during dinner and only spoke when Ray made his announcement. He said, “God only knows what kind of mess I am going to find. I don’t even want to think about it.” Ray said, “Well, you can always take a loss and sell it “As-is,” you can buy a better, bigger house in Florida. When I questioned your family, they told me they wanted you to move with them. They didn’t like you all alone here in Denver.”
Oliver spoke up and said, “He isn’t alone anymore. He has me. I am sure once everyone gets to know him better, they will love him as much as I do” Noah refused to look up. He felt like everyone was looking at him. Willa said, “Sweet thing, we already know and love you. Remember, we did a background search on you. The worst thing you ever got caught doing was picking your nose in your 8th-grade science class. Now, enough about you, you all may focus on me.” She was sitting next to Noah; she reached over and squeezed his knee and gave him a wink.
Oliver, the building you are buying, was owned by a guy named Herbert Alcott. He was doing well in life, but he was a bit of an eccentric. Actually, he was diagnosed with Schizotypal personality disorder. He operated a subscription service out of the building. People would subscribe to different levels. He had a monthly subscription box for gamers, one for men’s grooming, and then the one that contained snacks for those who enjoyed marijuana.
His business was doing very well. Herbert disappeared one day. The guy left his employees to fend for themselves. The business manager said that they ran things until the money ran out. He let everyone go, and he stayed as long as he could, but he was hired by another startup.”
Ray looked around and said, “Am I the only one at the table that is wondering how she got the diagnosis? You know that thing called patient confidentiality? Please tell me you didn’t hack his medical records.” Oliver laughed and said, “We have learned not to ask” Willa smiled and said, “Normally, a girl likes to keep her secrets, but for you, Mr. Sexy Slab of man meat with a badge, I will. His manager told me when he was cleaning out his office, he found his medical records.”
“His manager said that he found letters from Herbert’s family. They were threatening to take over his business. His accountant was concerned because his money was missing. He cashed out his trust fund and cut off all contact with them. They went as far as sending certified letters. As far as his manager knows, he complied with the requests for the most part. That is until his diagnosis came back as Schizotypal personality disorder. At that point, he must have given up hope.”
Chapter 19
Oliver Thaddeus
The shrill sound of a phone ringing woke Oliver out of deep sleep. He looked at the alarm clock on his nightstand, the time 5:10 AM. Padding around the room following the sound, he discovered the music was from Noah’s phone. Taking the phone to his new boyfriend, who was still sound asleep, he saw that the caller was his sister. “Good Morning NelDean, how are you this fine morning at the early crack of ass?”
NelDean at least had the decency to sound like she was ashamed of herself for calling so early. “Sorry, I keep forgetting about the time difference. I was calling to talk to my little brother. The realization hit her, OH MY GOD, you two are shacking up. Why else would you be answering my brother’s phone at 7:00 AM?” Oliver politely told her that it was 5:10 AM in Colorado.
“So, what can I help you with? Your brother is still out cold.” Oliver headed for the kitchen in search of his morning brew. Halfway down the stairs, he remembered he was still in his underwear, and he has a house full of people staying with him. “Hey NelDean, can I call you back in a few minutes? I need coffee and to get dressed.”
Back in his bedroom, Oliver was looking for his shorts. Growling a bit, he looked under the bed. With clothes in hand, he quickly dressed. Looking over at Noah, he stared for a few long moments. He gasped with a flush of awareness then shouted, “Noah Blain, I can’t believe what a faking faker you are! You were awake the whole time. UGH!”
Covering his face with Oliver’s pillow, Noah laughs uncontrollably. He was shaking the bed with his laughter. Launching his body onto the bed, he straddled Noah and grabbed his arms, pinning them down, so he had limited ability to move. “Oh, you think this is funny, do you? Well, paybacks are a bitch! Why were you faking sleep?” Noah gained control of his laughter and said, “I woke when you got out of the bed. Once you answered my phone, I knew it had to be my sister. It is too damn early in the morning to deal with her. So, I just told myself close your eyes and go back to sleep.”
“Humph, well, Mr. Faking Faker, just for that, you get to make coffee. I am only calling your sister back because I told her I would, and I am a man of my word.” Oliver leaned over and kissed Noah on his forehead and Jumped off the bed. Padding down to the kitchen, Noah turned and asked, “What if I don’t know how to use your coffee maker?” Oliver just pointed to the kitchen and told him, “You will figure it out.”
Pulling up his contacts and calling NelDean, Oliver was expecting the expressive woman to be boisterous. She grimaced with sadness, “Hello, Ollie, thank you for returning my call.” Concern growing in the back of his mind, panic crept in, and he asked, “What’s wrong NelDean?”
“We found our grandmother’s journals; she lived such a difficult life. I wish we read this back when she was alive. She always exuded a meanness. Instead of being a hateful and mean person, she was really just hurting. She was emotionally and physically abused. I avoided any interaction with her.”
“NelDean, you can’t blame yourself for not understanding your grandmother’s state of mind. People who are hurting usually build up the biggest walls. Even if you were to understand what she was feeling, how could you get past her barriers?” Oliver said, “I am sorry you have to go through that. Did you find anything else?” She whistled and said, “Good lord, she had more jewelry than everyone in our family combined. She had all of her jewels packed up and taped securely. I have no idea what the value would be today. We are still sorting through the boxes.”
“How is your mom doing? I am sure, going through her mom’s belongings isn't easy.” Asked Oliver. Her tone changed again, this time it was one of concern “She is struggling, she cried while we read some of the letters and journal entries. When we moved my mom, if we had known that these boxes were my grandmother’s, we would have left them for her.” Oliver asked if she found anything on Salvatore Petrelli. “Nothing yet, sorry. We still have several boxes to open though, one is heavy too.”
Disconnecting the call, Oliver thought that it would be a just reward to call her back and pass the phone to Noah. He put his phone in his pocket, padded over to Noah and began to frisk him. “Umm, what are you doing?” Noah asked. “Funny, I should ask you the same thing.” Oliver began to explain his frustration. “Noah, sugar tits, why do you think the cellular phone companies call their product a “Mobile phone?” Turning several shades of red, he tried to come up with a valid excuse but fell short. Noah settled with, “But it's charging” Oliver poured himself a coffee and said, “I am going to shower.”
With an exasperated look, Noah said, “Wait, what did my sister say?” Flashing his pearly whites, Oliver said, “If you answered your phone, you would know.” Noah stood there flabbergasted; he had never had anyone speak to him like Oliver just did. The smile grew on Noah’s face, he decided that he liked it, a lot. He finished his cup of joe and ran up the stairs with a fluttering feeling building in the pit o
f his stomach. He needed to be in Oliver’s personal space, and the thought excited him.
Leaning against the sink in the master bathroom, Noah waited for Oliver to finish his shower. As he stepped out of the shower with the towel over his face, drying his hair, instant goosebumps along with a tingling in his toes consumed him as he jumped out of his skin. “Jesus Christ, Noah, I didn’t hear you come in. You scared the shit out of me.” The smile on Noah’s face grew even bigger, and he began to giggle.
“What are you laughing about?” Oliver pulled the man into his embrace and whispered in his ear. “What’s so funny, sugar tits?” Noah admitted that he really didn’t know. “No one has ever talked to me like that.” Smiling, Oliver said, “You are a goofball, I love that about you.” He grabbed his clothes and began dressing. Before he could pull his shirt on, his phone buzzed. Reading the text, Oliver sighed. “I swear, we are all in the same house, yet they send me a text. Good news though, The DNA test results are in. Do you want to shower before we have the big reveal?” Opting for the shower first, Noah gathered his clothes and jumped in.
The hot pulsating water washed over his skin. He enjoyed the refreshing scent of Oliver’s body wash that reminded him of sunshine, citrus, and pure joy. A thought came to Noah “This body wash smells like Oliver. He tried to think of a time in his life when he was this happy. Drawing a blank, he decided to take a deep breath. Water shot up his nose, and he began a fit of coughing. Stepping out of the shower and drying off, Noah had the feeling he was being watched. Padding to his clothes to get dressed, he jumped when Oliver was sitting on a chair, quietly, staring at him with a goofy smile.
“What are you smiling about? Let me guess, you saw the water go up my nose, yes?” Oliver’s smile widened, and he laughed, “You have to admit that was funny. I was sitting here thinking how beautiful you are. Noah Blain, you make me happy.” He couldn’t ignore the fluttering feeling in his stomach and the tingling sensation taking over his body. He let out an awkward giggle, “I was just trying to think of a time in my life when I was this happy.” Oliver asked, “So when have you been this happy?” Noah smiled and said, “I haven’t ever been this happy until I met you.”
Sitting at the table with his hands folded together on top of a sealed manila envelope, Darian waited patiently for the men to arrive. As they stepped into the room, Darian said, “I am glad you two love birds decided to join me. I thought you would be more excited to find out the results.”
Oliver assured him, “We are very excited.” Darian asked if Noah would like the honors of opening the envelope. “I don’t know what to expect, I think you should open it.”
Pulling a pocketknife out of his jacket, Darian opened the sealed mailer. Taking a moment to study the results, he began to explain the results “We ran the DNA test because we wanted to see if the blood collected belonged to one of your family members. I am not sure if we should be happy or not. It is negative. You are not related. That means we are dealing with Sal and someone else.”
Noah smiled politely and said, “That was non-eventful. It was like watching the ball drop on New Year's Eve. I always want that crystal ball to crash and shatter, but it never happens.” Both Oliver and Darian began laughing. Noah continued, “So, is that all we learned? Does it show any health concerns?”
Darian smiled, “We didn’t use that type of DNA test. I am sure if we needed to, we could get medical results. If you want more in-depth information, you can do one of those at-home DNA tests.” Oliver smiled at Noah and asked, “Haven’t they cloned a sheep using DNA? Why don’t we clone him so we can have two Noah’s that can leave their mobile phone plugged in and forgotten?
“Oh, now you are a comedian on top of being Mr. Hunky?” Noah looks to Darian. “Can you believe that he took my phone and programmed his contact number under Mr. Hunky?” Darian laughed, “Somehow, this does not surprise me. I worked at a law firm doing investigations, and Mr. Hunky here was working for the opposing plaintiffs. He used his charm on me to look at my evidence so he can compare notes. The guy is smooth!”
Darian explained that while he was out, he stopped for breakfast. “I hid it so the guys wouldn’t eat it all before anyone else could get some. I picked up 2 boxes of bagels and 2 dozen doughnuts from that new bakery down the street on Tower. It is great to see a small business in this area. I didn’t think that it would be possible for little shops to survive, given the cost of commercial property rent.” Oliver smiled and thanked him for breakfast. Making his way to the food, he placed his hand on Darian’s shoulder and said, “I hate to break it to you, but that is a major corporation. I can’t see how a small business would be able to make rent in this area, you are right. The corporations found that by changing their business model to look and feel like a small business, they convince the public that they are a small business. I read an article about the deception. They even give the store Managers stock options so they can support the lie by placing “Owner” behind their name on the door and on business cards.”
Darian shook his head in disgust. Oliver said, “Thank you, though, it was really kind of you.”
Placing the food on the counter so everyone could dig in, Noah tore napkins and put them by the food. Oliver set plates by the food as well. Noah asked, “Why don’t we just use napkins? It's easy, simple, and no one has to do the dishes. Plus, its only bagels and doughnuts.”
Oliver smiled and said, “Sugar tits, this is a fine dining establishment. We don’t use Hamburger Helper, and we don’t eat off of Napkins. We use plates! Noah giggled and asked, “How about paper plates? “Nope! We only use paper plates at picnics or BBQ’s” Noah’s smile was growing. He found something to give Oliver a hard time about. “How about foam plates? Plastic utensils? Plastic straws? Ooh, I know, I have recycled TV tray containers we can use.” With a scowl, Oliver asked, “Are you serious right now?” Noah just smiled, said, “Nope,” and walked away. Leaving Oliver standing in the kitchen alone, smiling and confused.
Noah didn’t realize how hungry he had been until he had devoured a doughnut, his second bagel, and was going back for a third. Oliver smiled, patted Noah on his tummy, and said, “I like it when you eat.” The team was spread out today, some people got comfortable on the sofa while others worked in the theatre. Noah sat down on the loveseat in Oliver’s room to work. He wanted to work on the website for Oliver. Just as he was designing the layout, he made a mental note to ask Oliver the name of his agency. He wanted to secure the domain name and find a good hosting site. With his phone in hand, sending a text to Mr. Hunky,
“What are you calling your agency? Mr. Hunky, the investigation Monkey?”
Oliver smiled from the bed and said, “Hello, I am sitting right here,” Noah giggled and said, “I know! I wanted you to see that I had my phone on me.”
Noah said, “I do need to know what you are calling your business so I can secure the domain.”
Oliver gave it some thought and said, “How about Thaddaeus & Blain investigation services?”
With the realization of Oliver, including him on the name, Noah said, “This is your Opportunity. I thought you just wanted me to occupy one of your offices.” Oliver padded over to the loveseat and moved Noah’s stuff so he could sit and said, “I am an all-in kind of guy.” Noah gave it some thought and asked, “Do you need money? I don’t mind giving you whatever you need.”
Oliver gave Noah the side-eye and said, “If you remember right, it was only a few days ago that I had more money than you. Okay, so you may have had more money than I do, but you didn’t know about it. So, Sugar Tits, I don’t need a loan, but thank you.” Scratching his head, Noah said, “I didn’t say anything about a loan. I said I don’t mind giving you the money.” Oliver said, “No, thanks, I am good.” He got up and began to walk away. Noah forcefully yelled, “STOP RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!” Oliver slowly turned around and said, “Excuse me? What is this about?
Noah smiled and said, “A name, we need a name. The one you gave me is kind, th
oughtful, and it shows how amazingly sweet you are. It is too long and hard to remember. I need something short and to the point.”
“Oliver said how about the pi guys? Noah stared at Oliver for a moment and asked, “Are you serious? That would translate to the pig-uys. I don’t think so.” Oliver asked, “Well, what do you think it should be named?” Noah typed in some ideas and said, “Denver Detective's dot com is taken. How about 5280 Investigations? Oliver lit up and, with excitement, said, “Holy Shit! That’s it. That is brilliant.” He rushed over to Noah, placing his face in his hands and said, “Thank you! That is a great name.”
Sitting back down, Oliver said, “Oh, and by the way, I love it when you use your commanding voice with me.” Grabbing Noah’s hand, he said, “I do have to admit when you told me “Stop right where you are” I had to take a deep breath, pause and remind myself that you are not Anthony.” Noah dropped his chin in shame and said, “I am sorry, I don’t ever want to remind you of him.” Oliver squeezed Noah’s hand and said, “No, you don’t, I need to work on trust. Once you got me back on track, I realized that you were keeping me focused. That is hard to do.”
Just as they were about to kiss, that same shrieking telephone ring that woke Oliver went off. “You really need a different ring tone,” Noah answered his call. It was Ray giving him the news his house has been released. “Thank you for letting me know. Do I need to do anything before going into the house?” Ray said, “No, just make sure it is still available for the FBI to walk through if they need to.” Disconnecting the call, Noah sighed and said, “He really does not like me.”
