by Mima
“Hmmm,” Jolene replied and made a face as she inched onto the street and remained silent for a few minutes. “He’s a mysterious one at times. I don’t even know where he goes or who he is with but he will not tell. And, I guess that’s fine.”
Chase didn’t reply. He bit his lower lip and looked out the window as they drove through downtown Toronto, making their way toward the office. He liked his new home and as the weeks moved forward, he was slowly starting to familiarize himself with Ontario’s capital. For some reason Chase felt more accepted than he ever had in Calgary; where he often felt like a stranger in a strange land.
“Hey, do you like it better here or in Calgary?” Chase asked and glanced at Jolene. Deep in concentration, sitting stiffly, her eyes carefully scanned everything around her.
At first, she didn’t reply then slowly tilting her head to one side, her lips curved in a similar fashion as Diego’s when he was in thought.
“I do not know,” she finally said and made a face. “It’s still very new to me. I do not like the people. I think Calgary was friendlier to me. But maybe it’s too early to say.”
“I actually find people friendlier to me here,” Chase remarked as they headed more toward the area of the city he was familiar with, close to the office. “I never really felt like I fit in Calgary.”
“You sound like Diego now!” Jolene said and let out a loud laugh. “He say ‘too many cowboys’ all the time. Diego, he don’t like cowboys. Says they have no class. He like Toronto better, he said it is more distinguish? Distinguished? Yes, that is it, distinguished. Classy, you know?”
“I feel more comfortable here. I never did in Calgary.”
“Maybe, a little too close to home, ah?” Jolene said and he could see her raise an eyebrow behind her huge sunglasses. “I once moved from my town to another city in Colombia, not far from home and I never really felt comfortable. We need distance sometimes. I think you, Chase, you needed distance too.”
He nodded upon hearing her assessment.
“I think you might be right,” He agreed as she pulled into the underground parking for their office.
“Chase, have you not noticed that I am always right,” She teased as they got out of the car and made their way to the elevator. “I miss this, you and me together like the old days. Now it’s usually you and Diego but it’s not the same. You know?”
“I feel like my time in Calgary happened so long ago,” Chase commented as they stepped into the empty elevator. “It wasn’t of course, but it feels like forever. Everything is different now. I feel like I’m on vacation from my life.”
“Cause your responsibilities, they are far away,” Jolene remarked as they arrive on their floor and walked out of the elevator. “Your little boys, do they miss you?”
Chase shrugged. “I’m not so sure but that’s nothing new, I-
Just as she opened the door, Jolene put a finger to her lips to indicate silence, as they quietly entered the office. Pointing toward the alarm, he realized that it wasn’t on. Slipping off her heels, her eyes quickly scanned the area, she seemed to hold her breath. Chase was about to step ahead to inspect the office when her hand rose to stop him. She shook her head and reached into her purse and pulled out a gun.
Stunned, Chase held his breath and stepped back.
Without thinking twice, he stayed behind her as she slowly walked down the hallway, making her way toward Diego’s office, where the door was open ajar and with one sudden move, she shoved it opened and rose the gun, her loud voice alarming even Chase.
“¿Quién coño es aquí?”
“Jesus Christ, Jolene!!” Diego shouted out in response. “Put the fucking gun away. Don’t you recognize your own brother? For fuck sakes!”
“Oh, Diego!” Jolene’s voice softened and she placed her left hand between her breasts and slowly lowered the gun. Suddenly appearing emotional, she blinked back tears as Chase reached the door to see Diego, who was white as a ghost. “I was so scared. I thought somebody broke in and was here going through your office. I only saw your head down.”
“I was wiping the coffee from the floor,” He continued to yell, his voice full of emotion as he pointed toward the brown liquid dripping from his desk. “I knocked it over and Jesus Christ, Jolene, we’re not in Colombia anymore. Put the gun away.”
She quickly did so and gave a pleading look to Chase, as if suddenly remembering he was there. “Sorry did not mean to scare you.”
“Why you apologizing to him,” Diego shouted out as he rose from his chair. “I’m the one you had the gun pointed at, not him.”
“I’m sorry, Diego, you are right, I shouldn’t have done,” Jolene commented and walked into the office and Chase followed, stunned by the chain of events he had just witnessed. “I was just so scared. No one is ever here in the morning before me.”
“I came here from the airport. I figured I didn’t have time to go home and I needed to check on some things,” Diego pointed toward his MacBook pushed to the edge of his desk, away from the coffee that he was now wiping up. “Then I will go home later, take a quick shower and change…maybe get another cup of coffee.”
“Did you sleep?” She asked as she approached Diego. “The dark under your eyes. You did not sleep.”
“I slept on the plane but not much,” He looked away and glanced toward Chase. “Did you look after my lime tree, Chase?”
“Yes, I….” He glanced from Jolene to Diego and back again. “You carry a gun? Have you always carried a gun?”
“Yes,” She replied, dragging out the word, she nervously shrunk back. “I usually have a gun.”
“What if you go somewhere there’s a metal detector?”
“I leave in car.”
“In fairness, Chase, that’s not many places,” Diego calmly replied as he finished wiping up the coffee. Throwing the tissue in the trash can, he quickly pumped some Purell in his hands and sat down. “It’s good to have but not good to point at your brother.” His eyes made a sharp turn toward Jolene. “I hope you at least had the safety on.”
“Yes, of course!” Jolene replied and sat down on a nearby chair. “I sorry. I did not mean to scare either of you.”
“Especially me, right, the person you had the gun pointed at?” Diego asked, still clearly agitated by the incident. Chase sat down and didn’t say anything. Noting his reaction, Diego turned his attention back in his direction.
“See, you don’t understand, Chase,” He started to speak and Jolene took out her gun and inspected it as her brother spoke. “We come from a different country, Colombia. It’s not like Canada where you walk down the street at any given time and are relatively safe if you stay away from certain neighborhoods or certain times of the day. It wasn’t like that when we were growing up, we had to be….proactive.”
“It is true,” Jolene chimed in while putting her gun back in her purse. “I love my home country, don’t get me wrong but it can be dangerous. Not always. It’s not as bad as you make it sound here on the news or whatever but you have to be…”
“Vigilant,” Diego cut in while his hand ran down his tie. Wearing a white shirt with a few wrinkles in it, his face had a dusting of dark stubble and much to Chase’s surprise, a few gray ones were in his sideburns. His hair was slightly disheveled but still, he looked pretty polished; just not for Diego. “We are from a beautiful country but unfortunately, not the safest especially back in the day, so we look after ourselves, you know?” He shrugged and sniffed.
“Do you know how to use it?” Chase asked as he pointed toward Jolene’s purse.
“Of course, yes!” Jolene said. “I shoot well.”
“She could’ve had me between the eyes,” Diego pointed toward his forehead. “I would be dead in a second if she had shot. She’s that good.”
“Really?” Chase asked and his mouth fell open.
“I can, yes
,” Jolene nodded. “I’m a good shot.”
“I teach her,” Diego piped up. “But she’s better than me.”
“So you have a gun too?” Chase asked.
Diego nodded.
“He has more than one,” Jolene muttered as the main entrance could be heard opening.
“I have a few,” Diego said with a nod. “One can’t be too safe.”
“But you just said Canada is relatively safe,” Chase said, unsure of how he felt about this new information. “Why do you need any here?”
“You just do,” Diego replied as Sylvana stuck her head in the office and said a quick good morning before heading into the staff room, lunch bag in hand.
“You do not talk about this by the way, Chase,” Diego instructed. “It is a family thing, this information.”
“I won’t,” Chase replied. “Don’t worry.”
The two Silva’s exchanged looks and Diego quietly replied. “Here in Canada, you have guns to go out and shoot defenseless animals for sport. In Colombia, we had guns so that we don’t become the defenseless animal.”
Before he had a chance to respond, the door to the staff room could be heard opening and Sylvana stuck her head in again. “There’s a pair of shoes by the door. Are they yours, Jolene?”
“Ah, yes, they are mine,” Jolene said with a little laugh, jumping up from her seat. “My feet, they hurt, you know?”
Chase glanced back at Diego, who, in turn, winked at him.
CHAPTER NINE
It wasn’t a surprise that Diego didn’t listen to Sylvana’s advice to focus on their original format and hold off on parties for gay men. Rather than taking a slow, comfortable journey with their new business, he instead continued to gamble and expand Diego and Jolene Inc. with fierce determination. It made everyone nervous but regardless of how much backlash he got in their regular meetings, he refused to listen. He thought the company had to be proactive and unless they were running full speed ahead, they were sinking.
“People want companies that are always expanding, always reaching for the stars and aren’t afraid to take chances, that is the way of the world Sylvana,” Diego walked around the boardroom and spoke excitedly, his hands dancing in the air, his eyes wide open and full of vigor, the excitement of a child and yet, the dark secrets of a man. Diego didn’t seem to care that he was constantly undermining Sylvana’s opinions and in fact, it almost seemed as if he thrived on it. “You have to get out of your comfortable, safe, little world.”
Her face turned crimson and she didn’t respond. Fortunately, Benjamin calmly jumped in.
“I think what she means, Diego, is that people get nervous when companies are moving too fast. They prefer a more conservative approach to business,” He spoke calmly, leaning back in his chair, his fingers tapped the armrest and he gave a slight shrug and continued. “I know that it’s not your vision and I understand what you’re saying too but maybe we have to meet in the middle here. As much as we would love to expand quickly, we’re still a very new company and we should be cautious. We also have a lot of expenses.”
“Exactly, that’s why we need to make more money,” Diego replied, his eyes full of fire as he waved his arms in the air. “Why am I the only person who sees this? We can’t afford to be overly cautious right now, we have to go full steam ahead.”
Everyone looked at Jolene as if she were the only hope of talking sense into Diego but she didn’t appear to be listening. Instead, she was reading something on her laptop. Chase was probably the next person Benjamin, Sylvana and Beverly glanced toward; something he ignored. Although he saw everyone’s point of view, he wasn’t quite sure what the answer was in this case and therefore, didn’t add anything to the conversation.
It wasn’t until after the meeting ended and they were alone that a sense of insecurity moved in and Diego asked his opinion.
“You, do you think I’m crazy?” Diego suddenly looked defeated, exhausted as he slumped over his desk. A rare vulnerability filled his voice and for the first time, Chase felt concerned about his job and the company in general. Without responding at first, he rose from his chair and closed the nearby door before walking toward Diego’s desk. He noted that the larger than life character from the meeting earlier now resembled one of his children at the end of the day, as they struggled to keep awake, frustrated and depressed.
“Is this about the meeting earlier?” Chase quietly asked as he sat across from Diego, who’s dark eyes appeared gloomy. He leaned against his hand, an untouched cup of coffee sat beside him and papers were all over his desk.
A knock at the door interrupted before Diego could reply, as his face tightened up and he muttered, “The door is fucking closed for a reason.” He didn’t attempt to hide his aggravation and called out, “What?”
The door opened and Deborah stuck her head in. “There’s a man here to see you. Jesse? He said he spoke to you recently?”
This seemed to bring Diego back to life as he automatically sat up straighter in his chair, his face full of light again. “Tell him I will be right out in a moment. Thanks, Deborah.”
She beamed and closed the door.
“I got a meeting with this guy, he could be the answer,” Diego jumped up and grabbed his suit jacket and rushed past Chase. “He used to work with our competition for the gay men parties, the company Jolene mentioned once? He can tell us what we need to do to win Toronto over and once we have Toronto, we can get any city.”
Chase opened his mouth to say something but it was too late. Diego was already out of the office, his voice could be heard booming down the hallway. “Jesse! You finally made it! Let’s go out for a cup of coffee and conversation.”
By the time Chase got to the doorway, the two were already gone, the main entrance closed. He stood with his own thoughts for a moment just as Jolene walked out of the staff room with a raised eyebrow as if to ask him what was going on.
“Some guy was here to see Diego and he rushed out,” Chase commented and saw her roll her eyes. “I mean, you know, to talk about the parties he wants to have for gay men.”
Moving close to Chase, she muttered, “The only gay man party he’s probably interested in right now is his own. Did you see the man he left with?”
Chase shook his head and she ushered him back into Diego’s office and closed the door. “I didn’t have a chance. By the time I got to the hallway, they were already gone.”
“I just bet.” Jolene retorted. “He will be gone for the afternoon. I will drive you home.”
“What?” Chase was confused by her comment. “I think it was just a meeting, Jolene. It’s not….”
“I think you are wrong,” Jolene said with a shrug. “I love my brother but he’s impulsive. He doesn’t think normal sometimes, he just jumps from idea to idea, boy to boy and that’s what is going on here. He will try to seduce this man, get his answers, it’s how he is.”
Chase remained silent but wasn’t sure Jolene was right. He had lived at Diego’s place for over a month and hadn’t seen that side of him. In fact, Diego’s life seemed quite tame compared to what he would’ve expected.
“I don’t know, Jolene, things are pretty normal at the condo,” Chase commented, feeling the need to defend Diego in this matter. Perhaps she was speaking of how her brother once was but maybe it was no longer relevant. “Other than going away on the weekends…”
“Exactly,” Jolene said as she leaned up against his desk. “You have no idea but you probably don’t want to know. Trust me. I was his roommate at one time. He lived a very…adventurous lifestyle. I used to worry that he was a little too…how do you say? You know, when a person sleep around a lot?”
“Promiscuous?” Chase quietly asked, almost as if Diego was going to come charging through the door any minute, his dark eyes glaring at both in accusation. “I don’t know. I don’t want to say, Jolene. I haven’t seen that side o
f him so I don’t know.”
“You do not see that side because he does not want you to,” Jolene pointed out. “Diego, he has a thing for you and I know you do not want to hear but it’s true. He’s not going to do anything to give you a bad impression. He will be a saint around you. He will charm you and do anything he can to get you to…you know.”
“I don’t think so,” Chase said and laughed self-consciously. “It’s really normal, there’s nothing going on and he doesn’t try anything.”
“Yet!” Jolene said, her eyes widened and she raised her finger in the air. “I think it’s important you move.”
Chase opened his mouth to respond but instead let out a sigh.
“Chase, trust me please,” Jolene spoke with a pleading tone. “I do not know where he goes or what he does when he’s away on weekends. I know it is not good. If it’s not something with the boys he dates then it’s something…it’s something you don’t want to get in the middle of, that is all I say.”
Chase studied her face. “Jolene is there something that I need to know here?” He asked and she hesitated for a long time before responding and when she did, it was to shake her head while her eyes suggested otherwise. He studied her face in silence and nodded.
“Ok, I will make more of an effort this week. I promise.”
“Good.”
It wasn’t until after she left that he felt guilty. He wasn’t being completely honest with her. As much as he wanted his own place, Chase didn’t look forward to living alone again. His months in an empty apartment in Calgary were unbearable to him; the silence was crippling as depression crushed him. It was hard enough now when Diego was away and he was alone but there was some comfort to the fact that it was only a short time. He wondered what made him so reliant on having company. There was a time when he lived for those few quiet moment, free of his family, free from the women he had affairs with, free from clients at both the gym and nightclub he worked for in Hennessey. He loved those silent moments in his secret place, a small room behind Bud’s bar, where he could be alone with his thoughts. Now, he didn’t want to listen to his thoughts. They were unbearable.
