by T L Bradford
I’ve made it a point to stay over at her place whenever I can, that way I don’t have to run into Noah and Kai. I see Kai’s car in the driveway on occasions, and there have been a few times when it’s been there overnight.
I’m moving on though. Word of Sarita and I dating has hit the Internet. There are pictures of us making out all over town. Media outlets follow us around and take constant pictures. We are becoming the new “It Couple.” It freaks me out in a way, but at least I know I have a great girlfriend to come home to at the end of the day.
Sarita turns over and looks up at me with her wide green eyes. “Good morning.” She cups her hand on my cheek and brings her lips up to meet mine. I greedily devour her lips. “What’s the plan for today?”
“I don’t know; I thought maybe I should just camp out here for a while.”
“Maybe we can make a pillow fort in the living room,” she teases.
“That’s my girl!” I roll her underneath me and kiss her silly.
“Am I…your, girl?”
“Well, I know we haven’t made anything official yet, but yeah, sweetie, you’re my girl.” Sarita is never one to play games, so I cut to the chase to eliminate any reservations she may be having about us.
“I don’t mean to pressure you or anything. I’ve been jerked around by a lot of guys. I needed to know if you were for real or not.”
“Do you doubt my feelings for you are real?” I question her.
“It’s not that; it’s just tough, being the girl who has to follow #JAX.”
“First of all, what Noah and I had, has nothing at all to do with the desire I have for you, okay? So, get that out of your head. Second, you’ve become so special and precious to me. I am proud that you’d have me as your man. And third, see points number one through two.”
She smiles and lifts her arms around my neck. “My mom knows we’re dating and insists the family meet you.”
“Wow, really?”
“Really. It’s a pretty big deal in my family. Just know, this is important, so I had to be sure.”
“So…what all does she know about me?” I’m cautious in asking.
“Not that, okay, so don’t worry.”
“Okay,” I’m relieved.
“Friday then, for dinner?”
“Sure, thing.”
“Chloe, what the fuck am I going to do? I have to meet her parents on Friday. I feel like I’m 17 again.”
She’s laughing it up on her end. “And to think just a few months ago, we were having a conversation about how this scenario would not happen in like a million years.”
“Shut up, Chloe, not now! They’re going to spot the stank of shame and bad credit on me in a second. What if they ask me how in the hell I’m supposed to support their daughter? Huh? The only contribution I can make to this arrangement are my superior genetics!”
“Bwahhhaaaaa!” She is cackling into the phone.
“You are literally no help whatsoever. Bye.”
“Sorry! No! No! Don’t hang up! Look, dude, you have to be yourself, you’re not a good enough liar to pull off anything else. Be your usual charming, charismatic self, and go with it.”
“You think that’ll be enough?” I question.
“No, but at least you might get a funny story out of it!” She cackles again.
“I hate you sometimes, Chloe.”
“I love you too, twinsie.”
Friday arrives, and I’m admittedly feeling the pressure. I’ve changed my outfit no less than five times. Sarita said it would be dinner out on the backyard lanai, so I should keep it casual. I decide on a navy-blue polo and some khakis. I got my haircut yesterday, so I’m sporting a David Beckham type style, with sides closely shaved and a longer top. Just as I’m about to leave the room, Sarita enters.
“Damn boy, you clean up nice!”
“Ya, think?” I grab her around the waist and spin her around.
“Oh no, we’re not starting anything right now. If we leave in the next five minutes, we’ll manage to be fashionably late.”
“You owe me later,” I whisper, kissing down her neck.
We pull up to her parent’s house, which is in the Holmby Hills section of LA, a very exclusive and luxurious neighborhood. I feel panic setting in as we drive up the circular driveway to their home. Thank god Sarita is driving because I doubt my Honda would be a welcome sight in this place. The house is three stories, pure white and very modern looking. It’s not mansion huge, but it must have at least four to five bedrooms.
Sarita looks radiant in her light, oatmeal colored sweater dress. As we approach, I see a guy, maybe in his early to mid 30s in the doorway. He is very tall and handsome. My first thought is that her parents brought him over to woo Sarita away from my sorry ass until I hear her squeal, “Daniel!” She jumps into his arms, and they embrace.
“Josh! This is my brother Daniel!” Oh yeah, I think to myself, Long Duk Dong. Oh shit! I hope I didn’t say that out loud!
“Hi Daniel, Sarita has mentioned you; it’s nice to meet you finally.”
He gives me a quick up and down look — no doubt assessing the goods. I guess what I had to offer on the surface looks okay because he comes over and gives me a smile and a hearty handshake.
“Josh, nice to meet you. Love your work on the show.” I’ve been wondering how her family would handle me dating her, knowing that I have a job where I’m required to make out with a man regularly.
I try to appear unphased. “That’s great; we all work hard, you know.”
Coming up behind Daniel is the woman I assume is her mother. She is Caucasian with ash blond colored hair and the deepest green eyes imaginable. It’s evident where Sarita got her startling eye color from. She greets me warmly. As we enter the house, we all remove our shoes and enter the large living room. Carlotta, Sarita’s mother, offers me a drink and brings me a tall frosty glass of fresh strawberry lemonade.
The house is immaculate, all clean lines and surfaces. We sit on the comfy white sofas that have a perfect view of the hills from the back side of the house. There is a fireplace that is taller than me. The décor of the house is simple, with cherry blossom accents. As I look around to admire the level of detail that went into designing the space, I hear a deep voice come from the stairwell.
It’s Dr. Chan. He is slightly shorter than me with sunglasses on the top of his head and slicked back greying hair. I raise from the couch to greet him. He has an intimidating presence. I offer a firm handshake. He accepts my hand and nearly crushes it in a way that is imperceptible to anyone else but me. He must know about my role on the show and wants to test my manhood.
“Joshua Hill, right? Nice to meet you, son,” he says with a knowing grin. I grin back tightly, thinking I’m going to require a hand brace when I walk out of here. We make small talk, mostly Sarita and her mother discussing some new charity event that her mother is involved in. All the while, I feel the eyes of Dr. Chan peering into my side. I move my eyes over briefly to see if it’s just my imagination or not. It’s not. He is outright challenging me and not looking away. I feel myself start to sweat.
About this time, we all go outside to the lanai in preparation for the meal. Slippers await us by the doors as we walk outside. We take seats out by their garden gazebo.
As the grill is burning, so is his grilling of me.
I can see where Sarita gets her bluntness from because Dr. Chan jumps right in and addresses the elephant on the lanai.
“You play a queer on TV. I heard you might have been dating your co-star. Is that true?” Damn! Right out of the gate. I’m not prepared to talk about this on a first meeting, so I fumble with my words.
“Well, you know the tabloids are always trying to make a story out of nothing…”
“Out with it, boy, did you or did you not date your co-star?” I feel Sarita’s hand on mine under the table, and she squeezes gently. Her look conveys I should tell the truth, so I do just that.
“Yes, sir, yes I did,”
I say with conviction.
“You still have anything going with the boy?”
“No, Dr. Chan. We’ve been broken up for several months. He’s seeing someone else.”
“Are you tested?”
“Dad! What the fuck!” Sarita yells.
“Yes, sir, every couple of months, I’m on PrEP as well.” I put it all out there. I figure if Sarita is going to give me a chance to be with her, I’ll take the blows that come with my past actions.
He still has his eye on me when Daniel jumps into the mix.
“Sarita is a special lady. I think you know that. She should take precedence over any other person you have in your life.” Sarita grabs her head and buries her face in her hands in embarrassment.
“I promise to do my very best to make her happy. I care for your sister very much.” All prior mirth in his expression and tone leave in an instant.
“Just the fact that Sarita would bring you here to meet us tells me you are different from the others; she’s no fool. And I won’t have you make one of her.”
“Never.” Sweat is now beading on my forehead, in my armpits and oddly enough, rolling down my crack.
His extreme dark expression gives way to a brighter mood. Secure he’s made his point, he’s ready to move on.
Carlotta, ever the perfect Hollywood hostess, moves the conversation away from my issues and onto a lighter set of questions.
“So, Josh, Sarita tells me you are interested in screenwriting? Have you written anything I might know?”
“Certainly, I studied Literature in college and focused on writing after my accident. And no, I’ve written several, and a few I think have definite prospects, but for now, none have made it to the big screen. I’m hopeful someday, though.”
“Accident?” Of course, Dr. Chan would pick up on that.
“Yes, I had a career-ending football injury in college. Otherwise, I probably would be playing professional ball.”
“Torn ACL?”
“No, my right knee shattered. It was a freak accident. I was lucky to keep my leg, so I have no regrets.” Nothing else about me this evening had seemed to intrigue him until this information.
“How did it heal? You have any issues?”
“Fine, I only have a few light scars from the surgeries. I had tons of therapy, which I got right away.”
“That’s a pretty nasty area to need surgery given the level of movement in the area. Mind if I see their job?” I look up at Sarita and note her encouraging look. I lift my pant leg and show him the scars from the old pins.
“They did a shit job,” is all he would say. He looks closely at my leg and feels the scarred tissue, rotating my knee, this way and that. “How long were you in therapy?”
“I was in the hospital for several months; then when I had healed enough, they started me right away. I would say it was probably just over two years.”
“Therapy is very hard work, especially after an injury such as that. You must have been dedicated. There is no limp detectable.”
“Yes, sir, every day without fail.”
“You lost your dream to play professional ball?”
“Yes, but I kept it all in stride. I had a fall back if the football dream didn’t work out.”
“Your actual degree is in Classical Literature?”
“Yes, Dr. Chan.”
“So, you’re not a dumb jock then.”
“No, sir, I am not.”
Seemingly satisfied with my answers, he finally sits back in his chair and takes a sip of his drink. “How do you take your meat? Rare, medium, or done?” At first, I wonder if this is a weird gay test or something until I realize he’s talking about the grilled food.
“Actually, I’m vegetarian so…”
I see a real smile light up his face. “I’ve tried to impart in both my kids the dietary benefits of vegetarianism, but they never listen. It will lengthen your life by several years and keep your appearance young and healthy. Why do you think I look like such a stud?” he laughs at his own joke.
Looks like I made it through round one.
“You have done the impossible,” Sarita says.
“What’s that?” I say, pulling her down to the couch to straddle my thighs.
“You were able to impress my father. And he hates everyone.”
“I’m glad you didn’t tell me that before I met him.”
“Of course not, I have to lull poor unsuspecting souls into my lair, then release my family on them.”
“I think it was my Josh Hill charm that won him over.”
“You are so full of it. I saw you nearly chuck it when he asked you about Noah.”
“Oh my god, right!?! I nearly shit a brick.” We both laugh until I place my hand on her lower back and bring her toward me. “Are you ready to make good on what you owe me?” I ask her salaciously.
“Consider it paid in full.” I pick up her tiny form and bring her back to the bedroom, ready to do just that.
That night after we make love, Sarita is quieter than usual. I ask her if anything is wrong, and she says no. She stares into my eyes and pushes the hair back from my forehead, letting the blond wisps fall back into my eyes.
“No one has ever made a claim like that for me before.” She goes quiet.
“That’s a shame. If they knew what they were missing, they’d be pretty pissed.”
“You’re the only one who says things like that to me, Josh. You always make me feel like I’m the most special person in the room.”
“You are.”
“I love you, Josh. I know it’s too soon to say it, but it’s what I was feeling at this moment. You don’t have to say it back. I just wanted you to know.”
“Sarita, I—” I begin, but instead, she grabs my head and kisses me with such passion, the rest of the world disappears.
It’s 6:30 AM, and we’re already running late. This time it’s me who doesn’t have their game together. My character, Max, is starting a new storyline today, so I need to get to my fitting and the table read with some new characters. I’ve lost my script notes, and I’m freaking out.
“Josh, we don’t have time; we’ve gotta go!” Sarita admonishes me.
“But I had all my notes on it, shit!”
“You know if you had your things here, it would be so much easier; then we wouldn’t be rushing every day.”
“What?” I’m rummaging through the bag by the couch which I’ve been keeping my things in.
“I said if you had your things here, it would be easier,” she pokes her head around the wall and smiles.
“Are you asking me to move in here?”
“I think so, what? Do you think it’s too soon? I mean, you practically live here anyway. Unless you still want to stay at Noah’s?”
“No, sweetie, it’s not that at all. I just know you have your own life, and I didn’t want to impose.”
“Josh, I would love to have you move in here with me.”
“Well, okay, then…let’s do it.”
“Great! It’s so exciting!” She runs over and wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me. Something catches her eye. “Your notes are in the side pocket of your bag. Now let’s go!”
It is great, right? Now all I have to do is tell Noah.
Chapter 41
Noah
I’m so grateful to be on the final leg of our day-long nightmare. Kai and I boarded our flight to New York at 6 AM. We had a four-hour delay in Houston because of problems with the landing gear. Now we are circling LaGuardia for what feels like the 50th time, waiting for them to defrost the runway. A prior flight skidded off the runway and into the side brush. I am not handling it well.
Kai got to experience a Noah Sinclair panic attack in full force. I nearly lost my mind on the flight into Houston. The flight attendants told us there was an issue with the landing gear and that we had to brace for possible impact. I don’t remember much after that. When I became lucid again, we had landed, and they were putting us on another f
light to continue our journey. I was ready to head back to LA, but Kai convinced me to soldier on.
The pilot comes on to tell us we will finally be able to descend in about 15 minutes. Kai figured out the only way to get me on this flight was to have me near unconscious again. So, yes, I am drunk. I get the side-eye from everyone else on the flight as they depart the plane. Kai and I are last to get off the flight.
To his credit, he is very patient with me. I don’t stumble or make a fool of myself. I’m simply numb. We are in New York because Kai has an audition. He thought it would be a good opportunity for me to see where he lived and meet his mom at the same time. I sober up considerably on the Uber ride from the airport to his mom’s place, which is a way out of the city. I’m worn out and feeling the effects of the day.
At some point, Kai jumps from the front seat into the back with me. He lets me lean against him until I eventually fall asleep. I don’t know how long later; we arrive at his mother’s house. It’s a humble brown brick house with several rose bushes in the front.
When I walk out of the Uber, I am engulfed by a hug from Monica, Kai’s mother. She is a tiny lady, maybe 5’3” with long plaits of black and grey hair with ribbons of blue and purple throughout. Her mocha skin glows healthy, and whiskey-colored eyes are full of life.
“Noah! Oh, sweetheart, I’m so pleased to meet you finally!” I look over to Kai, who gives me a shrug. He’s mentioned me more than once to her. It makes me feel all warm inside.
“Happy to meet you, too, Kai always has such wonderful things to say about you.”
“Oh, he’s just a momma’s boy. Come on over here and give your mom some sugar.” Kai saunters over and gets the same bear hug treatment from his mother. “Now come on inside. Let’s get you both out of this cold weather and get some warm food into you.”
“I warned you; she likes to feed,” Kai says.
“Bring it on. I like to eat.”
The house smells of what I think is pot roast, potatoes and veggies. It turns out I’m right. Also laid out on the table is freshly baked from scratch cornbread, a casserole of sweet potatoes and sweet Jesus, a perfect southern peach cobbler. I have died and gone to heaven.
