Heir for Hire

by Jerry Cole

  He stopped talking when he saw the look on his sister’s face.

  “Since I’ve had a friend like that,” Basil continued, licking his lower lip. He wasn’t sure why he had to hide this from his sister. All he was sure of was that he did. The last thing he wanted to do was field Sage’s questions. He knew she wouldn’t hold back, especially because she knew he was upset about something. His sister was almost too caring sometimes and while he mostly really appreciated it, right then it scared him.

  “How long ago did Phil move away?”

  “Almost eight years now,” Basil said, grateful that was what she was going to instead of Trevor. “I think his wife is pregnant.”

  “Aw,” Sage said. “That’s wonderful. Do you still talk to him?”

  “No,” Basil replied. “Not since he moved. I tried to write him a couple of times, but he didn’t write back.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “It’s fine,” Basil said, shrugging. “It’s weird because everyone says you meet all these friends for life when you go to college. I did make some friends I still talk to, but I never met anyone I thought would be a friend for the rest of my life. The only one who I thought might still be part of my life after I graduated was Katie and everyone knows how that worked out.”

  Sage was in the middle of chewing when Basil finished talking, and he waited until she swallowed. She waved her fork in front of her face when she spoke, emphasizing her words with the movement of her hands. “You had nothing to do with that,” she said. “That was all on Katie.”

  Basil shook his head. “I don’t know, Sage,” he said. “Honestly, I wasn’t a good boyfriend. I was pretty self-absorbed and she wanted to be something, y’know, else.”

  “She still shouldn’t have cheated on you,” Sage said.

  Basil nodded. “Yeah, I know,” he said. “But I mean, can you really blame her? I expected her to be a stay-at-home mom for our future children. I expected her to take the Walker name. I always told her I wasn’t the same as my parents, no matter what, I would stand up for her, but when push came to shove, she knew she was never going to be my priority. Honestly, as far as I’m concerned, Katie never did anything wrong.”

  Sage raised her eyebrows. “Except sit on another guy’s dick.”

  Basil laughed. “Right, but we could have talked about that way before,” he said. “Before we got to the point where that felt like it was something she had to do, y’know.”

  “Yes,” Sage said. “Communication would have probably helped. Still, she should have talked to you before she felt compelled to do that.”

  “Well, I think if we had been able to talk to each other, maybe she wouldn’t have been compelled to that in the first place,” Basil said. “Anyway, I don’t like to think about it too much. There’s nothing I can change about the past.”

  “Right,” Sage said. “You can only manage the present. In the present, you’re going to come out as gay to our parents even though you’re actually straight. Because you hope that means they’re going to leave you the fuck alone.”

  Basil shook his head. “Do you think they’re not going to?”

  “Back off? I don’t know,” Sage said, shrugging. “I mean, it’s worth a try, right?”

  “I guess,” Basil said. “But you did say this was a bad idea, right?”

  “It is a bad idea,” Sage replied. “You should come out without Trevor there. You don’t know what their reaction is going to be. What if they reject Trevor?”

  Basil sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “So, what? That is what Trevor signed up for,” he said.

  “This is what he signed up for?”

  “I’m sure he didn’t think the job would only ever be pleasant,” Basil said. “You…you don’t think so, right?”

  “I don’t really know what he expected,” she replied. “I think maybe he expected it to be fun.”

  Basil swallowed. “Has he said anything to you? Y’know, about it being fun.”

  “No,” Sage replied. She took a sip of her Coke and spoke again. “In fact, he’s been uncharacteristically quiet about it. I haven’t asked him anything because I figure he’ll talk to me about it when he’s ready.”

  Basil sighed. “Do you think he’ll talk to you about it soon?”

  “I don’t know,” Sage replied. “We haven’t really been able to talk to each other that much. Even though he’s supposed to be a lot less busy, I think he’s actually at home less nowadays. He keeps telling me about all these auditions he’s been to and it’s kind of great, but it’s also kind of weird.”

  “It’s me,” Basil said, biting his lower lip. “This is all my fault. I was the one who made it weird.”

  “You did make it a little weird,” Sage said. “But it will make a funny story one day. You know, when you have a wife and a bunch of children, right?”

  “Right,” Basil said, licking his lips. “So, listen, do you want dessert?”

  ***

  Once Basil was done having dinner with his sister, he got in his car, and went home. He went into his apartment and lay down on the sofa. There were a few books piled up on the coffee table in front of him. He had read all of them, but it had been a long time ago. He grabbed the one at the top, a famous horror novel that had come out around twenty years ago and had become something of a phenomenon after it had been released. Basil loved it when it had first come out, it had become one of his favorite books, yet he struggled to remember what it was even about. He picked the book up, grabbed it and flipped it open, but he could hardly concentrate on the words in the page.

  Ever since he had spoken to his sister, things only felt like they had gotten weirder. Especially because all he had managed to think about was Trevor.

  The way Trevor looked at him when they were at the beach, the way Trevor kissed him. The way Trevor’s lips felt against his own, their kisses soft and long. The way Trevor put his arm around Basil and held him close when Basil had off-handedly mentioned he was cold. The way his aftershave and his cologne smelled, the way he laughed, and even the way his eyes lit up when he smiled. All of those things made him feel some way about Trevor. He just wasn’t sure which way it was.

  He liked it. He liked Trevor. He thought about it a lot and realized that was the case. He didn’t know what it meant for him, his sexuality, or for how he saw himself. All he knew was that he liked Trevor a lot. The reason he had been so nervous before any of his pretend dates with Trevor was because he had been so eager to make a good impression. He wanted Trevor to want to spend time with him too.

  He was pretty sure he wasn’t gay. Or even bi or anything like that. Coming out to his parents, even with Trevor there, would still be a ruse. This was just a part of himself he hadn’t allowed himself to explore, he thought, and Trevor was the easiest and most obvious introduction to it.

  It was also obvious Trevor liked him. Basil didn’t really understand why, because as far as he was concerned, he wasn’t that likable, even as a pretend boyfriend. He was probably an even worse boss, being so wishy-washy and unsure of what he wanted to do. Even when they had clearly defined boundaries, things had still gone wrong. Both on their first and second dates.

  Sage had been right. He really needed to get it out of the way as quickly as he could, otherwise he would get in too deep, and he wasn’t sure how he was going to get out of it.

  Maybe he would tell Trevor to cut down on the dates. They didn’t have to see each other every week, once every couple of weeks would be enough. That way, at least Trevor would get to have a life, too. Basil knew he was paying Trevor and he was being compensated handsomely for his time, but it still felt sort of wrong to stop him from seeing other guys.

  He shook his head. That had been part of the contract and for good reason. His feelings for Trevor shouldn’t—couldn’t—interfere with his business sense. He was just doing what he had to do, he reminded himself. Whatever his feelings for Trevor, whatever he was discovering about himself, that was all extraneou
s to what he was trying to do, and by definition, less important.

  He put the book back on the coffee table and closed his eyes. He was just going to have to do what he had set out to do in the first place and then everything would fall into place. He was moderately sure of it, in any case.

  ***

  Basil managed to get out of the last few Sunday brunches by claiming he was hung over, busy, or sick, but he had run out of excuses and his parents were expecting him at the next one. He hadn’t really hung out with them since they had sold him the idea of going out with Jennifer Burton, partly because he didn’t want to be questioned about it and partly because he just resented them for it. He was pretty sure anything could happen that might send him over the edge and he would get into a verbal altercation with his parents, something that hadn’t happened since he was a teenager.

  Still, traditions were traditions. So, he was sitting in their back garden while the wait staff finished cleaning up their food, refilling their coffees, and listening to the two of them make pleasant conversation about the weather. He wondered when they were going to bring up the photos on social media, the terrible date with Jennifer Burton, or literally anything about Trevor. They kept talking to each other, and sometimes they involved Basil when they asked him what he thought of a current event or a viral video everyone had seen.

  Basil wasn’t sure why that wasn’t making him feel any better at all. He guessed he thought if they asked it might be easier. Then again, he had been dreading this for weeks, and he built it up in his head to be so bad that he was relieved it seemed to be so easy. It did feel unresolved, and he knew it would until he introduced Trevor to his parents.

  He opened his mouth to say something when his mother put her coffee cup down. “So,” she said. “Are you going to tell us what happened with the Burton girl?”

  “Nothing happened with the Burton girl,” Basil replied. He took a big sip of coffee and hoped they wouldn’t ask him any more questions. He looked down and tried to find something else to put in his mouth so he wouldn’t have to answer the follow-up which he was moderately certain was going to come, but he had finished all his food.

  “You looked like you had seen a ghost that time we ran into her at the supermarket,” his mother said. She turned to his dad. “Oh, you should have seen it. It was so funny, as if shopping at the supermarket with your mother was the same thing as cheating.”

  “Nothing happened,” Basil said. “I don’t know, guys. She wasn’t very fun, okay? That’s all. That’s literally everything that happened.”

  His father raised his eyebrows, incredulity obvious in his expression. “That’s why you reacted like that to running into her?”

  “No,” Basil said. “That’s not why I reacted like that to running into her. I just…I don’t know. It was a little bit awkward and I didn’t really want to socialize with her. I think she thought the date went a lot better than it went.”

  “You disagreed,” his dad said. He wiped his chin with a white cloth napkin, then his perfectly trimmed mustache. “You didn’t have as much fun.”

  “Right,” Basil replied. “It wasn’t as much fun as I had hoped it would be.”

  His parents exchanged a look Basil had a hard time deciphering. He wasn’t sure if it was concern, disappointment, or a mixture of both. It was probably the latter.

  “You’re not getting any younger,” his mother said. “Neither are we.”

  “Yeah,” Basil replied. “I’m aware. It’s not like I’m getting that old, though. I don’t even have a girlfriend and the two of you are already pushing hardcore for me to have children.”

  “The Walker fortune needs an heir,” his father stated simply. “Now, if you were courting with someone…

  “So, for instance, if you were still with Katie,” Basil’s mother interjected.

  “Right. Then I don’t think either one of us would be in so much of a rush. But you’re not even seeing anyone. All you’re doing is…well, son, what are you doing exactly?”

  Basil shook his head. He was pretty sure all the color drained from his face because of how furious he was. He wasn’t sure why he was angry, all he knew was this was the angriest he had ever been at his father, who was sitting there in front of him with a napkin still in his hand, pretending nothing was wrong. It was the sort of thing that hadn’t happened since Basil was a teenager.

  He had hated it back then and he hated it now.

  He shook his head as he breathed deeply, trying his best not to lose control. “I’m doing my best, Dad,” he said. “I’m trying to learn the ropes at work. You’re not giving me enough time.”

  His father shook his head. “You don’t need to be the best at work. That’s what Rose is for.”

  Basil looked down at his lap. Rose had been his father’s second-in-command ever since he started working there. When his father died, Basil would become CEO of the company, Rose would become executive VP, and Rose would run the company while Basil got to enjoy all the benefits of it. When Rose passed, it was her daughter who would take over.

  Basil asked his father to teach him the ins and outs of the business, but his father was either too busy or just couldn’t be bothered with it, because he never did. Basil still wanted to work—at least enough so he was actually valuable wherever he was working. He had never been given that opportunity and he was moderately sure it was too late to ask for it.

  “You can be good at work,” his dad said when he saw his expression. “You’re already good. You just don’t have to be the best. We already have people who have us covered on that front. That has been my legacy in the workplace. My legacy in the world is just, if not more, important.”

  Basil scoffed. “Basically, I’m good as long as I breed,” he said to his empty plate.

  “That’s a very crude way to state your elderly parents’ desire to have grandchildren,” his father said.

  Basil shook his head again. “Elderly? Please. You guys can’t even get senior citizen discounts,” he said. “You’re both under fifty.”

  “Yes,” his dad said. “We would like to see our grandchildren before we are too old to play with them. Forgive us if that’s a crime.”

  “It’s not a crime,” Basil said. “I’m just…I’m not interested in Jennifer Burton like that, okay?”

  His parents exchanged another look which he caught from the corner of his eye. He really wanted to look for his phone and use it as a shield from this terrible conversation, but he knew that would only make things worse. His parents had always been strict about when he could use his phone and they instilled in him that using it during dinner was incredibly rude, but he would have been happy to be a little rude then.

  “May I be excuse—”

  “Sit down, son,” his dad said. Basil furrowed his brow as he regarded his father, who was watching him with curiosity. He didn’t think there was any animosity in the way his father was staring at him, but he couldn’t be sure. Not until he spoke. It had been years since his dad had addressed him like that, though, and that made him nervous.

  He nodded and sat back down. “What’s going on?”

  “Your mother and I heard a rumor going around,” he said. “We talked about this a lot because we didn’t know whether we should ask you about it.”

  Basil tried to swallow down the knot in his throat. “Talk to me about what?”

  “Well, we were hoping you would be the one to tell us,” his mother said. “Look, we love you very much, okay? Whatever…whatever is going on in your life, nothing is going to change that.”

  Basil cocked his head. He was holding on to the handles of the patio chair so hard his hand was almost completely white. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mom.”

  “There are other ways,” his father said. “You don’t have to…we don’t expect you to breed with a woman. You can have children however you want.”

  He laughed. He couldn’t help himself, even when he saw the disbelief in their faces. “I’m sorry,”
he said. “I just…I guess I hadn’t expected you guys to go to that, out of all things.”

  “Look, we’re just saying,” his mother said, “we want you to be true to yourself. That’s all.”

  “Okay,” Basil replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m gonna go now.”

  “You sure—”

  “Yes, Mom. I’m sure there’s nothing I want to tell you, okay?”

  “Okay,” she replied. “But we’re both here for you. No matter what.”

  Basil didn’t say anything. He got up, turned away, and walked toward his apartment without turning back to look at them.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Trevor stared at his phone as he tried to make sense of what Basil just told him. In theory, he understood it perfectly. They were supposed to go on a date somewhere in Basil’s town, near the Walker mansion then they would spend the night there. When Trevor reacted with concern, Basil reassured him he had his own space inside the mansion, a private apartment his parents didn’t have access to.

  Of course, staying over was strictly for the benefit of Basil’s parents. Trevor knew that, intellectually. He just hadn’t been able to really process it.

  “Please,” Basil had said. “It would mean the world to me.”

  “I don’t know,” Trevor had replied, his voice quiet and calm as he spoke on the phone as his heart did flips inside his chest. “This is not a good idea. This is not how people normally come out.”

  Basil had been quiet for a minute, as if to take in what Trevor was saying. “None of this is exactly how people do anything,” Basil had said.

  “Yeah, but Basil,” Trevor had replied, a little more obviously agitated this time. “This is how people get hurt. Your family is rich and powerful. What if they want to hurt me?”

  “Why would they want to hurt you?” Basil replied. “I mean, they’re a little crazy, but they’re not going to want to hurt you. If anything, they’ll want to get to know you better.”