Were All Animals

by Mima

  Not that Diego seemed to as much as flinch when Jolene yelled at him but instead stood with both hands in his pockets, an impish grin on his face, showing no resistance. If she had known he giggled over how late they were, almost the entire way back to the office, she would’ve been furious. Chase wasn’t about to tell her.

  Jolene’s tone went from anger to almost pleading in tone, as if she were begging him to take her seriously in her simple request. Chase couldn’t blame her because they really did have a lot of things to take care of that afternoon, therefore his time away was pressure on her to take on more tasks. He hoped she wasn’t angry with him too. Chase didn’t want to be the next person in the line of fire; even though, she was already calming before their eyes.

  “You must listen,” she suddenly switched to English and sitting back down on her chair, while Diego silently nodded.

  “You are right,” Diego graciously replied and took a step closer to her desk. “But in my defense, I was getting to know our employee and I lost track of time.”

  Chase noted that she shot him a suspicious glance. Leaning on her hand, she listened to Diego negotiate.

  “I was actually thinking that if you get your work caught up,” he started as Chase grabbed his laptop from Jolene’s desk, assuming Diego would try to calm the waters by asking Jolene to dinner. “Maybe Chase could help me with something tomorrow.”

  “No! Diego, do you not understand how far behind we are,” Jolene shot back with her original fury. “We do not have time while you take him off…God knows where, just to play. We have work to do here.”

  “Ok ok!” He replied, defensively putting his hands in the air as if to surrender. He stepped back and nodded. “I understand, but what about that dama that works for you, can she not do work too?”

  “Not as well as Chase, no.”

  Relief flowed through him after hearing these words, as Chase quietly made his way to the chair and sat down with his laptop, opening it up to continue his work, pretending that he wasn’t the subject of this conversation.

  “Ok, ok, that’s fine,” Diego shot a look in his direction and stepped back some more “I shall leave you to do your work and I will check in tomorrow, ok?”

  “Ok, yes,” Jolene curtly replied, moving her own laptop closer as Diego shot Chase a crooked smile and headed toward the door. “Adios…for now.”

  It was after he was long gone that Jolene suddenly broke the silence.

  “He is so infuriating. Now I cannot work!” Jolene complained and moved away from the computer. “I need to go for a walk.”

  Chase nodded. “Ok, I can-

  “No, you come with,” she gestured toward the door. “We stay late if we must, but right now, I need a break. The sun is shining. Let’s go out.”

  They didn’t end up walking further than the coffee shop. It was mid-afternoon by then and few were there. In fact, their usual barista was finished and met them on the way out, exchanged good-byes before exiting, shoving earbuds in her ears and walking to a nearby bus stop.

  “She is a nice girl,” Jolene gestured toward the young Spanish woman as she approached a stopped bus. “You should talk to her more.”

  Not sure of what to say, he merely shrugged.

  “She’s not crazy like your women,” Jolene made a face as they approached an awkward redheaded boy standing at the counter. “Kelsey, Maggie, your ex-wife; they all loco, you know? Latino women, we say it as it is and we yell when we want to yell.We don’t play the privileged princess on a tower like your white girls.”

  Chase smirked and nodded. She did have an interesting point.

  Ordering both their coffees, Jolene gestured to her favorite seat near the window. It was after they sat down that she brought up the topic of her brother. Chase was hoping she wouldn’t.

  “So that was an awfully long lunch today,” she commented after opening her coffee and inspecting it as if she had no trust for the new barista. Taking a sip, she made a face and jumped up to grab an extra sugar packet from a nearby table and returned. Stirring the sugar into her coffee, she didn’t miss a beat. “Did he take you somewhere nice?”

  “The place over there,” Chase gestured toward the nearby sport’s bar and felt some relief for the simple question but he had a feeling they were about to get harder.

  “Did he try to recruit you to work with him in California? Is that it?” she looked him directly in the eye, as she leaned in.

  “It did come up,” Chase replied, relieved that their conversation went in this particular direction. It might be a way of explaining any strange energy that had been in the room before Diego left. “I can’t see me going to the states, though.”

  “He will offer you a lot of money,” Jolene commented and he wondered if this was a test. Unsure of what to say, Chase decided to say nothing.

  “I do understand if you want to go,” she continued. “You need the money and you can do good there.”

  Chase still didn’t reply.

  “Well, say something,” Jolene whimpered. “You make me nervous when you don’t talk.”

  “I don’t plan to go,” Chase replied. “I didn’t even consider it.”

  “But maybe it is good for you.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, it’s something to consider, no?” Jolene commented. “I would not like to see you go but I would understand, you know?”

  “I know,” Chase felt like his stomach was churning. He had so many words, so many thoughts and anxieties bubbling up in him and yet, it was almost as if his tongue wouldn’t move. He couldn’t talk about it. When he was younger, he felt like he was always talking; mostly to Maggie about whatever troubled him, whatever was on his mind, but time had made him silent.

  “I would never stand in your way.”

  “I know.”

  “Go home tonight and think.”

  He nodded and looked down at his cup.

  “Do you not like my brother?” her voice suddenly held a vulnerable tone that he hadn’t expected. He looked up and he noted that her eyes carried the same intensity as earlier. “I know some do not like…”

  “No, no, Diego’s cool,” Chase felt an alarm going off in his brain. She was sniffing a little too close to something he didn’t really want to talk about but deep down, he already knew Jolene had figured it out. She always did. She was too smart not to know.

  “Did he make a pass at you?”

  Chase felt his eyes expand in size, his mouth opened but no words came out, his heart suddenly pounding in his ears. “Ahh…I…”

  “He make a pass at you,” Jolene nodded as if Chase had admitted something, when in fact, he continued to have a puzzled look on his face. “He likes boys.”

  Chase couldn’t speak.

  “He always likes boys,” she spoke nonchalantly. “He flirts with girls. In high school, he had a girlfriend for years but he likes boys,” She hesitated and took a drink of her coffee and glanced at a stunned Chase. “He would like you. I can tell how he was looking at you. He like you a lot.”

  “I..”

  “I know, Chase, you do not have to hide it from me,” Jolene took a deep breath and shook her head. “My brother, he is what you call, gay? What a weird word. I thought ‘gay’ meant happy, you know, but you English have so many meanings for words.”

  Chase still struggled to talk. He nodded instead.

  “So what happened?” Jolene asked as she relaxed in her seat as if the elephant had left the room. “Did he ask you on a date? Did he kiss you? Did he propose?” she let out a laugh. “He does that sometimes, being the romantic, but he, he will never marry, but in the moment, sometimes, he proposes.”

  “No, he didn’t propose,” Chase finally found his voice. “He-

  “Kiss you?” Jolene finished, raising a single eyebrow. “He likes being impulsive.”

 
; “Yes,” Chase agreed, feeling slightly embarrassed. “He kissed me.”

  “I know, I knew the minute he saw you that he would try,” Jolene shook her head and her face was full of worry. “Please, do no sue us for sexual harassment. My brother, he would never do this if it was an employee in the California location.”

  “It’s, you know, I wouldn’t do that,” Chase stumbled with his words. He was still stunned by the kiss; he hadn’t seen it coming, had no idea that Diego was gay and was surprised by the gentleness of his lips and in the moment, he was stunned and yet, intrigued. Was he gay? No, that definitely couldn’t be it. Could it?

  “Good, because I swear, it will not happen again,” she was insistent. “I will talk to him-

  “No, no,” Chase put his hand up in the air. “I don’t want you to talk to him. I don’t want him to know that I told you. I just, I feel weird-

  “I will not say,” Jolene agreed. “But don’t be embarrassed or feel weird, Chase. It is just my brother. He does these things you know?” She appeared to struggle with words. “I do not know how to explain. He likes the boys and I accept, but at the same time, he likes to try to convince men who like women that they should like men too, you know? I don’t get.”

  Chase shrugged and silently recalled Diego’s final comment to him, just as they were returning to Jolene’s office. “I will give you the best blow job of your life.”

  It was a little awkward. It would’ve been awkward regardless of who said it to him. It just wasn’t one of those casual comments someone made, as you held the door open for someone on the way back to work, after an extended lunch.

  Then again, it had been a while, so he assumed that’s why it made him feel a little aroused? Intrigued?

  Oh my God! Am I gay?

  The last thing he wanted was for Jolene to have any indication that these thoughts were going through his head. He didn’t want her to know that Diego had every intention of reaching out to Chase again, probably to check back to see if his proposition was something that had an appeal.

  “I guess, it’s a challenge?” Chase suggested, unsure of what else to say. He was taking big gulps of his coffee, awkward with the conversation and hoping it would end.

  “I suppose,” Jolene replied, pouting her lips, she played with a strand of hair. “I suppose that makes a lot of sense.”

  She dropped the topic. Unfortunately, it didn’t escape Chase, instead following him around the rest of the day, until he was home alone that night. He briefly considered looking up some gay porn to see if it excited him but immediately knowing that it wouldn’t. He dropped the idea of being gay. Wouldn’t that be a huge clue if he were? He finally decided he was just flattered by the attention; how intrigued Diego appeared to be with him, his inclination to encourage more alcohol in Chases’ glass and perhaps, he recognized a vulnerability in him, after asking about his recent dating life. Maybe it was that final fact that alerted Diego’s senses the most.

  It was kind of a repeated theme in his life. The women in his life often seemed to see him as a challenge for some reason or another and when he rejected them or showed any inclination to say no, their advances increased rather than faded away. In a way, Diego reminded him of Kelsey and her pursuit to get him in bed. Then again, she was successful in the end.

  It was a power thing with Kelsey. Once she had him, she was done. She never tried again. Perhaps Diego was the same. It was a challenge. He clearly liked a challenge and feeling powerful was the essence of his life. Money, looks, charisma, these were advantages that a man like him had and in seemed as if he used them to his advantage. Maybe there was something to learn here, Chase decided. Maybe confidence was the biggest key of all. Then again, maybe faking it was a reasonable substitute as well.

  Then again, he was a guy, so he probably would know how to give Chase the best blow job of his life. That fact hadn’t gone unnoticed.

  Feeling slightly aroused, he decided to turn on some porn; with women. Girl on girl. After a few brief moments, he quickly realized that his fears of being gay were unjust.

  Diego returned the next day. This time, he arrived when Jolene was out and while Chase finished up on some of his work he didn’t have time for the day before, after his extended lunch.

  Much to his surprise, Diego wasn’t flirting but approached him in a completely different manner.

  “You should be behind that desk,” he pointed toward Jolene’s chair. “Not leaning over a laptop on a pathetic, cheap Walmart chair. I get you the best chair, your own desk, whatever you need.”

  “What?”

  “Come work for me, I get you whatever you need.”

  “But I-

  “I won’t flirt with you or offer you blow jobs, I promise,” he let out a giggle and sat behind Jolene’s desk. “Ok, that’s not true but I do want you as my assistant. I’ve been thinking of expanding our office in Canada. That’s why I’m here. Jolene doesn’t know yet. Consider it kind of a back door offer, no pun intended.” He let out a little laugh and Chase felt his face warm up. “I offer you more than this. Right now, you’re Jolene’s errand boy and that’s fine, that’s a start but in my family, we believe that you either are moving up or you’re dying. Chase, you don’t want to be dying at this job.”

  Gesturing around the dingy, little office, his attention returned to Chase, “I did some investigating this week and I think there are better places to go. I like Vancouver, near the water. I like Montreal, the culture. I like Toronto, but this city,” he made a face. “I don’t like it. Too many cowboys. It’s all about oil. Not my thing.”

  “You don’t like oil?” Chase had never heard that statement before, especially with all the jobs in that area; although, not as many now.

  “No, oil, fossil fuels, they’re dying, you know?” Diego made a face and laughed. “They’re like the VCR of energy. Sure, you can still plug a tape in and they still work but eventually you won’t be able to find a VCR anywhere and even if you do, the tapes will snap. It’s the same with oil. It pollutes, it’s bad. People are killing for it. People are dying for it. No one ever died from a girl on girl party.”

  With that, he let out a little grin.

  Chase laughed and nodded. “Not usually.”

  “The point is that I’m not appreciative of this state..er, province…” He smirked and scratched his chin. He was clearly freshly shaved, his hair styled in a popular cut for men and the smell of cologne was vague but noticeable.

  “I must take my sister to dinner tonight and talk to her. I think we might have to work out a few things. I want to expand. Men parties maybe, I think we’re making a killing here and it’s time to look at other options. What do you think, Chase?”

  “I think the male parties would be more popular,” Chase spoke honestly. “I think there’s nothing wrong with heterosexual parties too, same idea. Exclusivity.”

  “See Chase, this is why I like you,” Diego said, his eyes watching him carefully. “I think you and I may have a bright future together.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  We often drift a long way from where we started. To do anything else, would not be to live. It’s those who stay stagnant for years, always the same job, same house, same town, same city, same boring routine and life, that never truly live. Locked in fear of the unknown, they go to great lengths to avoid breaking away from what made them feel safe and comfortable. His dad was that kind of person and he died having never taken any chances, never wanting to vacation in exotic countries, never wanting to question his beliefs but rather stay stagnant.

  Chase was scared every day. He chose to ignore it. The voices of doubt slowly faded and the fears of impending doom became softer as time moved forward. A new confidence formed, assuring him that he had been through many things in his young life and he would be through much more but his strength would always help him find the way through. Something somewhere was looking
after him. He wasn’t sure what or how but he knew it was there.

  Jolene and Diego would have their talk about the future. It would be communicated to him that they would be moving their office to a more reasonable location. Diego was thinking Toronto saying it was central and although Jolene originally turned her nose up at the idea, having had an unpleasant experience while working there, she eventually saw his point; it was more central and since the majority of their business was in eastern Canada in the latter months, it would make more sense to cut travel time and expenses.

  Nothing was written in stone yet. Diego insisted that he had some other meetings coming up and might find a more reasonable location. He had suggested that Vancouver would be a more pleasant city to live in but Jolene quickly disputed the idea, saying that the rent would be too high and it would increase travel time for the majority of their events, scattered throughout the country. Chase said nothing. They were the bosses and whatever they decided would be the answer. He would follow them. He would adjust. Everything would be ok.

  Diego’s vision was to expand their business to general party planning, with ‘private’ parties, which is how he classified what they were currently doing, as a part of their business as opposed to the entire thing. He insisted that they had to move forward.

  “You got to spring ahead, strike the iron when it’s hot, isn’t that right, Chase?” Diego attempted to pull him back into the conversation. Before he had a chance to answer, he continued. “I want our main office here in Canada. Jolene, you will run things, Chase will be my assistant and we’ll hire some more staff to do the daily odds and ends. We will get a second website for our more conservative parties but we must be known for our discreteness. That’s key. People with money like things to be quiet.”

  “We need more people,” he continued and one glance at Jolene told Chase that she was nervous. A visionary, her brother was not one to figure out small details and would hate to do so, he was the man who came up with the ideas, then allowed someone else figure out the rest. Chase suspected that Jolene would carry most of the weight.