I’d bought Tanya a bunch of really fun organic bath bombs from one of my favorite trendy bath boutiques. Most of them had glitter in them, and all of them turned the water a fun shade of color, like pink or purple. They reminded me of bathing in a cosmic vortex.
“You just have to insist on a little ‘me time’ now and then,” I asserted. “It’s good for the soul.”
She sighed. “Ok Casey.” She said it in the exact same tone of voice that she’d said ‘Ok Casey’ when I announced that I was going to get my belly button pierced in seventh grade, when I told my family I was going to move to LA, and every Christmas and Thanksgiving that I failed to come home. ‘OK Casey’ was basically Tanya code for ‘whatever Casey’.
“How are the boys doing?” I asked, referring to our brothers. The last time I’d seen them, they had insisted on being called ‘the young men’ but that was going to happen ten minutes after never. They were permanently ‘the boys’ in our family.
“Insufferable as always,” she replied. “They’re learning how to drive. I think dad is going to give them the old truck. They’ll probably fight over it until they break it.”
I sucked in my breath in a horrified noise that made Tanya giggle. “That’s a truly terrifying thought. I’m glad I don’t have to share the roads with them. Better you than me.”
“Gee thanks, sis.” Her tone was sarcastic, but then she added. “I hardly blame you. It is a terrifying thought.” She chuckled again. “So, how’s LA?”
“I’m actually not in LA right now,” I said proudly. “I’m on a business trip, filming a television show. In the Philippines.” I hadn’t wanted to make this conversation about me, but she’d asked.
“Wow. I didn’t know you were travelling out of the country. That’s huge, Casey.” She sounded impressed.
“It’s really cool,” I told her, resisting the impulse to gush and brag too badly. “It’s so different here. Everything is different, the food, the language, the culture, the religion. But the people are really friendly. I think you’d like it.”
“I’m not so sure about that, but I’m happy for you.”
“Do you still think you might be able to come out to LA soon?”
Tanya had been talking about taking her son, Joey, to Disney, but I knew it would be easier for her to go to Florida. Still, I was holding out hope that she’d come to Anaheim and I’d be able to convince her to visit me.
“I don’t know Casey. You know we’re trying for baby two.”
I didn’t want to push her on the call. This was supposed to be a birthday celebratory call, not one of our famous arguments. So, in order to change the subject, I let something truly ridiculous slip:
“I met someone.”
“You met someone? Are you dating someone? That’s great!” Tanya’s shock was a little bit unnecessarily emphatic.
“Something like that,” I replied. “Yeah.”
“What’s her name?”
I paused. Wait, did Tanya think I was gay? It was true that I’d only dated a tiny bit in high school and then moved away and never spoken of my boyfriends with my family ever again. My sister was imaginative, and in the absence of evidence to the contrary… It was perfectly possible that she might think I batted for the other team.
“His name is David.”
Now it was Tanya’s turn to pause awkwardly.
“So, you’re…”
“Straight? Yeah. I’m straight,” I laughed. “But I appreciate you being so supportive, regardless!”
Tanya laughed too, and I could sense embarrassment and relief in her voice.
“I just lost a bet to mom.”
“Mom thinks I’m gay too?”
“No. I mean, not really. It was mostly me. She and I talked about it last Thanksgiving. You know, because you were wearing that flannel shirt and you’d cut your hair in that asymmetrical short bob…”
I bit back my laugh. “It’s called fashion.” Jeez.
“Uh-huh. Ok Casey.”
This call had been eye-opening for the both of us.
“Well anyway, I’m dating someone. Someone with a dick.”
“Is it serious?”
“Too soon to tell,” I said carefully. “I’m cautiously optimistic.”
“Can I tell mom?”
“Please don’t.”
“Ok. I won’t tell her.” She would, though. She always did. She was probably texting her right now.
“Well, I better go,” I told her, suddenly desperate to get off the phone before I dug myself a deeper grave. “Happy birthday again.”
“Thanks Casey! Love you.”
“I love you, too. Bye.”
My family thought I was crazy, possibly gay, and definitely much too liberal. They accepted me though, probably more than I accepted them. I shook my head as I hung up the phone. Introducing someone as different as David to my family, if the time ever came, was going to be a challenge. Then again, maybe not. David always seemed to surprise me. Sometimes all I could do was smile and nod.
16
David
“You’re in Manila?” My uncle’s miniature face frowned. “Why?”
I sincerely considered closing the laptop and pretending like the connection had gone out but couldn’t quite bring myself to do it.
“I’m filming a new show,” I told him, keeping my expression as neutral as possible. “We needed to go to the Philippines. So here I am.”
“A new show? Are you sure that’s a wise decision?” Uncle Alexander Durant II, son of the recently departed patriarch, and president of one of the most valuable companies on the planet, leveled me with his most disapproving look. It was a look that made CEO’s wet themselves, world leaders second guess themselves, and waiters faint.
I yawned.
“Wise or not, here I am. So, I won’t be able to make the board meeting tomorrow. Nathan said he’d fill in for me. I’ll be at the next one for him.”
The rules dictated that no more than one member of the board ever be absent. This wasn’t my turn to take off, but I couldn’t very well be in two places at once.
My uncle harrumphed as if I had massively inconvenienced him. I held out hope for about ten seconds that this would be the end of our interaction, but then he lifted up an envelope.
“This is your first legal bill in the Anders suit,” he said. His expression shifted from disappointment to something shrewder. “It’s just the three hundred-thousand-dollar retainer, most of which has already been burned through. Don’t you worry though; I’ll take care of it for you.”
I resisted the urge to let my annoyance show on my face, but my entire body tensed up. My fingernails, already as short as I could cut them, dug into my palms painfully.
“I appreciate the faith that Durant Industries is showing in me.” It killed me to take the money, but I had little choice. My restaurants and other ventures turned a healthy profit, but they also required a lot of operating capital. I couldn’t just suck out all the cash and expect everything to be alright. The alternative was to obtain a loan somewhere else, of course, but that would be foolish, and I would have to explicitly put my businesses up as collateral. Hence, I was taking money from Durant Industries. Which was basically taking money from my uncle.
“Yes, about that,” Alexander was saying, “I’m hoping that you’ll pay that faith back at the next board meeting. I want to discuss the prospect of expanding our petrochemical operations again. As you know, both your brother and our CEO are firmly against it. They’re chasing the quixotic dream of renewable energy. I’m all for diversification, but not at the cost of stability.”
Bile rose in the back of my throat. I’d thought it would take him longer to begin manipulating me to adhere to his agenda in the board votes, but apparently that was expecting too much of Alexander. He was already turning the screw. All he’d need to do in order to ruin me was attach strings to the money he was loaning me.
“What about Nicholas?” I asked, hedging for time. I was also thin
king that my cousin, with his new political aspirations, would still swing the vote negative even if I sided with Alexander.
“Nicholas needs to win over the Philadelphia blue collar workers,” Alexander said. “Plus, Durant Industries is financing his campaign. He does owe us some allegiance.”
My uncle was now apparently using the royal ‘we’. He was smiling like he’d already won.
“What’s the specific vote about? I’m not well informed.” I was still hedging, hoping that there was some way to avoid my uncle’s trap. He scoffed at me.
“Do you need to be? I’m not asking you to be well informed. I’m asking for your support.” He raised an eyebrow at me, clearly expecting a reply. He wanted a commitment from me that I was in his pocket.
I was deep in thought, formulating my strategy. It was because of my concentration that I didn’t notice Casey approaching from behind.
“Hi David! Do you want to go grab some dinner?” She bent down and kissed me on the cheek before noticing that I was on a video call. “Oh shit. I didn’t realize you were on Skype. Sorry.” She tried to back away and get off the camera, but I wrapped an arm around her waist. Her rescue was incredibly well-timed. There was no way I’d let her escape now.
Alexander stared at Casey like he’d never seen a creature quite like her. Her vivid blond-and-pink hair and sleeve tattoo of fairies riding seahorses were clearly visible over the video call. She was dressed mostly in black otherwise, wearing a long, sheer tunic and patterned leggings. Beneath the filmy tunic, she had on a tight, lavender crop top. Her pierced navel was visible just beneath it.
“Don’t apologize,” I told her. “We were just finishing up. This is my uncle, Alexander. Alexander, this is my… this is Casey,” I finished weakly. My Casey? Christ, that was not smooth whatsoever.
Casey didn’t seem to notice my awkwardness. She was too lost in her own embarrassment. She looked at me, then at Alexander through the camera, then back at me. My uncle was Casey’s polar opposite. He was staid, conservative, and serious. Too serious, actually. He was a real stick in the mud most of the time.
“Hi,” she said, waving at Alexander dubiously.
“Hello,” my uncle said back. He was still staring at Casey with just as much interest and confusion as she was aiming at him. In fact, he was looking at her like she was a mythical creature suddenly made flesh. I knew it wasn’t her appearance that confused and shocked him, at least not specifically. It was her very presence. I would never subject a woman I liked to my family unless I was serious about her. Over the past year I’d been so focused on the production of Out to Lunch that I hadn’t dated, period, let alone dated seriously. “It’s nice to meet you, Casey…”
“Morgan. Casey Morgan,” she replied. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“What are the good dinner options tonight in LA?” he asked Casey, obviously testing to see if I’d been lying about being abroad and needing to miss the board meeting. Oblivious to his reasons, Casey cocked her head to the side and looked at me before replying. I shrugged.
“I’m partial to In-n-Out Burger,” she replied with a big smile, “but since we’re in the Philippines right now, I’m not sure we’ll be able to find that. Our local crew member says there’s a really good traditional Filipino place just down the street though.”
Alexander harrumphed again, apparently convinced that I was indeed unable to attend tomorrow’s meeting.
“Well you kids have fun,” he said. “David, think about what I said about the petrochemicals vote at the next board meeting. Since I’m chairing this meeting, I’ll just go ahead and push the vote to the next agenda.”
I made a noncommittal noise, and we wrapped up the call. Neither one had gotten what we wanted, but at least I had delayed the inevitable. Once Alexander was safely disconnected, I turned to Casey who was watching me with wide eyes. She looked like she half expected me to be angry with her for interrupting my conversation with my uncle. The truth couldn’t be more different.
“I owe you one,” I told her seriously. “Thank you.”
“Huh?” Casey looked totally perplexed. A little frown line was visible between her eyebrows.
“You just saved me from what was going to be a very long, deeply unpleasant conversation with my uncle.” I shook my head in frustration.
Her lips curled upwards, and the frown line disappeared. “I didn’t do anything but interrupt and say hello, but still…you’re welcome?”
I grinned and pulled her onto the chair with me. She felt amazing in my arms and fit perfectly in my lap. Her slender arms wrapped around my neck and she settled against me with a small sigh. Casey fidgeted a little bit and the feeling of her round ass grinding up against my cock gave me an idea. More than an idea, actually. A need.
“Why don’t we just get room service? I think I feel like staying in tonight.”
17
Casey
The bus ride up to the ferry was long and uncomfortable. I managed not to throw up this morning, which felt like a true achievement as we bumped, jolted, and jostled along the rolling hills to the north of Manila. Daphne, who discovered that she got motion sickness easily on buses, looked fairly green throughout the journey. She was leaning against the window with tightly closed eyes. I felt a small thrill of victory that it wasn’t me getting sick this time.
Curtis was good to his word, he arranged the trip for us with a minimum of confusion. It was funny to watch him speak Tagalog. I spoke a bit of Spanish, just enough to get in trouble, and every now and then a word would stand out to me from the mix as obviously Latin. Then as soon as he’d said it, Curtis would be making noises I couldn’t even hope to replicate. The sheer existence of Filipino Tagalog, a mixture of a number of different tongues that was becoming increasingly distinct as the Philippine nation developed, was fascinating. It melded all the different languages together harmoniously, but unevenly, like a patchwork quilt of sound.
“Hey, Casey,” Trevor said from behind me. I craned my neck around to look at him. I was sitting next to David, curled happily up under his arm while we shared a pair of headphones listen to music.
“What’s up Trevor?” I asked, removing my single earbud.
“When we get to the ferry, you may want these,” he replied, handing me a pair of wrist bands.
“What are they?” I asked him. David had turned around to watch our interaction with interest.
“They’re pressure point treatments for motion sickness. I gave some to Daphne and Curtis too.”
The wrist bands were a stretchy grey fabric, sort-of like a particularly drab scrunchie, but with a white button sticking out on the interior of each. When I put them on my arms, the button pressed into my skin gently.
“How to they work?”
“You’ve got a pressure point on your wrist, on the interior of your arm right in between the two big tendons,” he showed me on his own wrist where he was already wearing a matching pair. “When the button presses down on the point, it’s supposed to help with the feeling of motion sickness. You can press down on the button extra if you start feeling woozy.”
I wasn’t sure if I would get seasick on the long boat voyage over to Nico, but I didn’t really want to take any chances. I’d been sick enough lately. For once, Trevor’s obsession with gadgets looked like it would be helpful (unlike his translation app, which had just gotten us all laughed at when he tried to hail our group a taxi earlier). Despite his weirdness, Trevor could be nice sometimes. I grinned at him.
“Thanks,” I said, genuinely.
“You’re welcome,” Trevor replied. “I hope they work. I get really seasick. Even on paddleboats and canoes.” He looked apprehensive, but also oddly eager. I got the feeling that this was the adventure of a lifetime for Trevor. He was taking pictures of literally everything, and I’d even caught him livestreaming once or twice. His internet buddies must be so impressed.
“Did you get me a pair too?” David asked Trevor rudely, raising an eyebrow at hi
m.
Trevor rolled his eyes and returned to his manga. Their pissing contest was beginning to get a bit old. They’d been bickering all morning.
“He’s got a crush on you,” David whispered in my ear. I raised an eyebrow at him and he nodded knowingly. “Most definitely,” he added.
I was pretty sure Trevor had a waifu unless that tattoo on his arm of ‘Kagome’ was ironic. It hadn’t sounded ironic when he’d explained how she was his divine soulmate. Perhaps there was trouble in fictional marriage paradise, although I didn’t see how there could be.
“Are you jealous of Trevor?” I whispered back teasingly. The idea was ridiculous.
“Intensely.” He nuzzled my neck, catching my earlobe between his teeth and nibbling on it. I giggled and shivered against the goosebumps and he drew away with a satisfied look on his handsome face. I shook my head at him indulgently and kissed him.
Considering that I’d never even opened the door to my own hotel room in Manila, David didn’t have anything to worry about. The more I got of him, the more I wanted. It had been so long since I’d slept next to someone that I’d forgotten how nice it was to wake up with company. There’s something about the comforting warmth and smell of having a man in my bed that made mornings, usually my least favorite time of day, pretty damn wonderful. The fact that he didn’t snore was also a big bonus.
By the time we reached the northern coast of Luzon, it was well past midday. The bus ride had taken a lot longer than I expected. We then had to carry all of our gear in the tropical heat through the small village to the pier. The ‘ferry’ was not at all what I expected. As the little boat pulled up, Curtis raised the camera to record David, elbowing Trevor to lower down the boom mic. This was a perfect candid shot. David was sitting on a tiny bench and absently singing to himself in front of the shimmering cobalt water:
“Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale/A tale of a fateful trip/That started from this tropic port/Aboard this tiny ship/The mate was a mighty sailing man/The skipper brave and sure/Five passengers set sail that day/For a three hour tour, a three hour tour...”
Lost and Found (Scions of Sin Book 4) Page 10
