Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2003 19:56:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Paul Subject: Music Shatters Ice - Part 16 DISCLAIMER: Remember this story is fiction and is not intended to imply anything about the true sexuality of the celebrities mentioned or any personal knowledge about their private lives. And if you are underage go somewhere else, this is not for you and you should wait a few years. Music Shatters Ice Music Shatters Ice - Part 16 - The Sinking Beginning I woke up on the bright Thursday morning. It was pretty quiet, except for the large amount of wind which was heard rustling through the trees outside the window. No birds chirping, no traffic noise, no sounds of engines starting to go to work, just the comforting wind. I gently got out of bed as of not to wake James. As I got out, he rolled over and grabbed the pillow. I pulled the blanket back up a little more. He must have been tired. I took a quick glance at the clock. Nine o'clock. I figured James might be up soon, so I headed to the kitchen. Once inside the kitchen, I turned on the coffee maker, the stove, got out a pan, some eggs and bacon. The phone rang, I quickly answered. It was Pete, just telling me that there was a change in plans and he would be in town soon. I made a note of what time and then hung up to take care of everything else in the kitchen. I prepped everything and began to cook. The grease splattered a little from the egg onto my bare skin. I bit my lip and quickly wiped it off. Soon enough there was smells of coffee, egg, and bacon wafting through the house. I put everything on plates and set them on the kitchen table. I then turned on the radio to a slight murmur for background noise. The meal looked pretty good, and it smelled great as well. I headed back to the stove and made sure everything was off. I dropped off the frying pan into the sink and then went to go look in the fridge. I dug around a little bit until I found what I was looking for, a small jar of blackberry jam. I palmed the jam and then took out a couple of bread slices and put themt in the toaster. A few seconds later the bread was lightly toasted and I quickly spread the jam on it, melting it to the toast just the slightest bit. putting the toast on the table I returned back to the fridge to put the jam away. From behind me I felt a pair of warm arms wrap around me. "I see that you made breakfast." He said. I merely nodded. "It smells good. How does it taste?" James asked. "Just open your mouth and take a nibble, I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Softly I felt something lashing on my eat, wetting it a little. "MMmmmm, it tastes good. When am I going to get the complete meal?" "Whenever you want it, although I hope you want to eat first." I said turning around and looking towards the my cooking." "I wouldn't dare let it go to waste." He said and released me to take a seat at the table. I walked back over to the table and took my seat. I slowly started eating and before I knew it all my food was gone. "Good food doesn't last long." James said as he handed me his plate. He was sipping his coffee as I took both plates to the sink. "What shall we do now?" James asked. "You need to dressed and get ready to go get my cousin." I said. He looked disappointed. "Why don't you come with me?" He asked. "I'm going to stay around here and try to make sure that everything is clean and taken care of. Clean the bathrooms, the living room, the kitchen, and prepare something quick for Pete to eat when he comes in. I'm probably sure he didn't have anything to eat this morning." "Oh? I can do that while you go get him." "You'd allow me to go anywhere by myself while I'm healing?" I said with a small pout in my lip. "If you put it that way, I guess not. So what information do I need?" "His airline information is on the living room table. But you won't have to drive far since he'll be coming in the Mount Pleasant Airport. Just two miles outside of town." "That'll be good. Alright, let me take a shower and get dressed." James said starting to head back towards the bedroom. "His plane gets here in an hour." "Doesn't leave me that much time to get ready. Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" "It slipped my mind." "Yeah right." He said and slipped into my bedroom. I finished cleaning up the coffee cups and any miscellanous stuff that Pete would see and would be in the way. Have to keep it looking nice right? * * * An hour and twenty minutes later, James returned from the airport with Pete. They entered the doorway where I greeted them. "Pete its great to have you in my home again." I said grabbing my cousin in a big hug. "Its good to finally be back here. It's been a few months." "Actually two years." I said. "Yeah well it looks like you haven't changed anything." "I haven't. So how was your trip up here?" I said as we walked into the living room and Pete put his stuff down near the couch. "Well I flew to Detroit after picking up some stuff down in Huntsville. Then, I took another plane from Detroit to Mount Pleasant. A small lear jet, you know my style." "Yes, I know your style. I mean how was the flight in particular. Everything went well?" "Oh yes, everything was quite the same as it always does. Just another trip for me." "Adding up all those frequent flyer eh?" "Yes, I'm currently up to 3400 miles." "Oh, I forgot to tell you, James and myself have cleaned out the guest room for you to use." "Thank you, I guess I'll put my suitcase in there." He said gripping his suitcase and heading towards the guest bedroom. "So how was he?" I asked James once he left the room. "Ok, um, he seems like an average guy. Average for a politician I mean." "That may be what you see, but he's still my cousin and that's the way I see him. Did you have any trouble finding him." "Nah with that suit and sophisticated look to him, he was pretty easy to spot. But the thing was that he came over to me, so he found me instead of me finding him." "Well he does have spies out." "Spies? What do you mean?" "Well when a congressman asks questions, he usually gets answers." "Oh I see." Pete came back in. "Hey Jace, is there a way that I can get more blankets for my bed?" "Sure." I went to get the blankets while I heard Pete and James talking behind me. "So what are the plans for the rest of the day?" Pete asked. "Well Jace said he wanted you to eat something before anything else was done." "I am a small bit hungry." "Jace what did you get for Pete?" "I made a small salad for him." I said reaching up and pulling out certain blankets. "Its in the fridge." "Ok." I took two blankets, one thin and one thick and took them to the guest room. I first took the thin one out and layed it on the bed, followed by the thick one. "This should be enough warmth for him." I said and came back to join the others in the breakfast area. It seemed both were chatting up a storm when I walked in on their conversation. "So what are you two talking about?" I asked sitting down. "We were finishing a conversation that we started on the way back from the airport." James said giving me a careful glance. "What about?" "I was telling James about you. A deeper side of you. You know, that side of you that was facing off against Harvard and the aggression took control." I knew it all too well and I didn't want James to see that side of me. "Pete told me all about what happened during that second game of the series." James said expecting an answer. "I don't wish to discuss it." I said simply. "Well I think James deserves to know." Pete said giving a nod to James. "I don't want to tell him anything about it, because its not the type of person I am." "Jace don't lie, its the type of person you've always been." "And what type of person has he always been?" James asked wanting to know more and turning to Pete knowing that I wasn't about to divulge anything. "For as much as Jace is compassionate, he has another side which is just as dark that would do anything to win." "Pete stop." I said calmly wanting him to stop telling James the worst side of me. Sides that would possibly hurt him. "Pete has an obsession. Power, fame, ambition. Drive. Anything to make it to reach the top and achieve his goals. A by any means necessary attitude that would use anyone or anything to get there." "Is this what Venus referred to his bad boy streak?" James asked. "Yes, I see Venus gave you forewarning." Pete said nodding his head in the affirmative. "Actually she just told me it existed, she didn't say anything about it." "So all the things she said were true? I mean knowing all those people from Detroit to Wyoming?" "Yes, I commented." I said knowing it had all come out. There was one question that I knew James was eager to ask, but I didn't want to hear it. "Jace, is that the only reason that you agreed to be with me? To use my fame to heighten yourself. And to gain popularity, money and anything else you could out of me?" He asked with a straight face. "James, you don't understand." Peter said shaking his head. "No, I want to hear it from Jace." James said rather loudly starting to stand up. "Sit down and shut up." My cousin ordered sternly. "Why?" "Because you don't know the other half. Jace does not use family and loved ones. Just business associate and anyone else." "So what am I? Am I his boyfriend or am I a business associate?" James said. At that point I went to the kitchen, took out a coffee cup from the cabinet and filled it full of fresh coffee. "I'll be outside if anyone wants me." I said and took off throught the living room. "You are his boyfriend and don't you forget about it." I heard Peter tell James before I shut the back door. Now outside sitting in the lawn chair, looking at the back lawn. I thought about putting a pool in and having a pool party at the end of every season or something when the temperature rises. I realize that my mind is trying to drift to think of something else. Perhaps this is the beginning of where the cracks in the relationship first start to appear. I guess this was to be expected though. I continued to sip my coffee, pretending to be interested in my yard. I knew I wasn't going to go back inside to that James could confront me again. I was not in the mood to deal with him. I heard the door close behind me. "I'm going to take a short nap. I'll be up in a while. Thanks for the salad." "Alright, when you get back up we'll go out somewhere." "Sure thing." Peter said and left me alone in the backyard. I felt cold as the wind picked up violently and started to howl through the neighborhood. My coffee once hot, was now cold and undrinkable. I poured it out on the lawn and headed back indoors. James was watching television, or at least I thought it was James. I couldn't really tell. But looking at his eyes, I couldn't see that soft seafoam green anymore. Now I saw the jagged jade or perhaps bloodstone with the tiny broken capillaries broken seeping tiny identifiable drops of blood which drew a veiny discourse though to his iris. I wondered if I was seeing Lance, the alter ego so to speak, for this surely didn't look like my boyfriend. If you could still call him that. I headed towards the kitchen to put the cup in the sink, when he called me over. "Jace, for the next few days after Peter leaves, I'm going to be sleeping in the guest room." "Oh." Was all I could say. "Is there anything you're going to need?" I quickly interjected. "No." He said simply. * * * Dinner time had come quickly. Peter had been sleeping for the past five hours while myself and Lance were watching television to pass the time. The pizza that Lance and myself had ordered should have been arriving soon, and I hoped that Pete wouldn't mind. Things during the sleeping hours had been very quiet, the conversation between Lance and me were virtually non existant. His answers to my questions were very brief, two words at a maximum. The door buzzed and immediately I went to answer it. "Hey Jace, how are you?" Chris said leading himself and Justin into the house. "Eh, I'm ok I guess." I responded. "Hi Lance." Justin said heading into the living room where Lance was. "Hello Justin." Lance commented. "We just stopped by to see how you two were doing." Chris said and then took a seat on the couch. "Oh everything's alright here. Pete's in the room sleeping and were're just watching tv." I said. The door buzzed again and again I got up to answer it. Finally it was the pizza. I paid the delivery boy and brought in the meal and slid it on the table. I opened it up and got several plates out. Going back in the living room, I told Lance that the pizza had arrived. After that I went to take up Pete. Going into his room, I started to shake him a little. "C'mon Pete time to get up. Dinner's here." He groaned a little and rubbed his eyes. "Sure I'll be there in a minute. What did you get?" "I just ordered a simple pizza." "Ok. Be out in a sec." I returned to see everyone at the table picking apart the pizza. "So how have you guys been spending time at Terry's place?" I asked. "Not bad, I enjoy hanging out with them at their place where they're more relaxed." "Yeah kind of like zoo animals." I commented. "That's a good similarity." Chris said smiling ripping into the pizza. Pete came out and took one of the few remaining seats. "So how is everyone?" Pete asked referring to Chris and Justin. "Oh we're fine. You?" Justin responded as Chris was mumbling something with his mouth full. "Guys don't eat too much. This was to be for Jace, me, and Pete. You know our dinner." Lance said. "Don't worry about it. I should have expected guests like always." I said. I took two pieces and ate them quickly. "Why did you guys come over?" Lance asked. "We wanted to know if you and Jace were free to go out with us on Saturday night?" Chris asked. "Well I had plans already made." I lied. "Oh you did?" Lance asked. "Yes, I just haven't told them to you yet. I'll tell you later. I can't tell you just yet though." "I see." Justin said starting to get up. "We better get going Chris or we'll be late." "Where are you guys heading?" Pete asked. "We're just going out to a movie." Justin replied. "Its going to start in a few minutes. I almost forgot." Chris said getting up quickly. "C'mon Justin, we need to get going or we're going to miss the beginning." Chris and Justin left rather quickly and I had to wonder why. Pete was finishing his slice, and Lance had put his plate in the sink. and was now going back into the living room. I went after him. "You wouldn't happen to know why they left so quickly?" I asked him. "They had to go to a movie." He said not taking his eyes off of the tv." "I don't believe that. Tell me the truth." "I told them what happened earlier." He said. "And what did they say?" "They said we have to handle our own problems." "Are our problems really that bad?" I asked. "I don't know, but I know I need to think about it." He replied. "I don't really think its actually that bad. But I do think it sort of caught me unexpectedly on how everything came out about you. I mean I just didn't want to believe it and I'm not sure I do. But I just have to think it all out." "I'll let you think for a while then." I said. I grabbed my phone and headed to the bedroom and shut the door. I dialed a number. "Hello this is 801 Franklin, how may I help you?" The voice said. "I would like to make reservations for two for Saturday night at seven o'clock." I said. "I'm sorry sir, but we..." "I'll pay an extra two hundred dollars if you can get us reservations." "Ah yes, we've just had a cancellation, would you like to make the reservation." I smiled. "Yes I would." "Who is the party under?" "The Jace Taylor party." "The Jace Taylor party now has reservations for two at seven o'clock on Saturday night, is this correct sir." "Yes it is. Thank you." "No thank you sir. Good bye." "Bye." I hung up the phone and went back into the living room where Pete and Lance were. For the rest of the night we watched tv, read books, and lounged around. Just relaxing in a slothful manner. * * * Friday night had come quickly, I felt like I had a nervous tick. The team was on the road and I wasn't with them to give them immediate guidance. My body knew that it shouldn't be here it should be with the rest of the team. It felt worthless just being at home and sitting around the house. I could tell that James recognized my tension and he spoke while we were putting out the dishes and forks. "You know that you can't do anything from here. You have one more week of this." "I know." I said looking over at Pete watching CNN. He was looking for anything political. "Are you ready for dinner?" James asked Pete who turned his head. "Yeah, I'm ready." He said getting up off the couch and started towards the table. James and Pete sat down while I went to the oven to get the baked tiny bitesize ham and cheese turnovers. I remember Maple Leaf Farms used to make excellent ham and cheese turnovers, but for some reason discontinued the line. Even though they discontinued it, they still had one of my favorites, cordon bleu. So being discontinued I tried to make the turnovers myself. "What's holding that food up?" James asked. "Oh nothing." I said taking the turnovers and putting them on a serving tray and putting them in the middle of the table. Going back in the kitchen I brought back out several 3 liters of Sprite and Pepsi. I put them on the table with three glasses. "Anything else?" Pete asked. "Yeah I have some cheese melting in the microwave to go on top of the fries that are sitting on the stove." I said sitting down. "What no Coke?" James asked. "Not in this house." Pete replied. James merely looked at Pete expecting a further answer. I cleared my throat to get Pete's attention back to James. "Oh, well. Jace has always had this problem with Coke. It disrupts his stomach. Pepsi on the other hand is fine. I think its psychological, but I have no other reason for it." Pete gave a long look at James. "You know," Pete began, "Lance was telling me how much he would like to come down to be with you for Christmas." "Why? Wouldn't you want to be with your own family?" I asked. "Well I really would like to be with you." "So you don't want to spend time with your family?" "I see them all the time." He said. "Um hmmmm. So Pete now its time for serious discussion." "Oh really?" He asked innocently. "Definately. Mr. Taylor," I said standing up and walking around the table, "It has come to the attention of this individual that you are no longer single. Is this correct?" "Yes." He said as I put my hand on his shoulder. "Is is also correct that we will meet him during Christmas?" "Yes." "Would you please describe him to this courtroom?" I said heading back over to my seat and shoving my mouth full of food. "Hmmm well he has straggly dirty blondish hair. Um...has a great voice. Has an average body, and has a job." "That's all? What's he do for a living?" James asked. "He's a grunt in the entertainment industry." "Oh." I said not understanding what a 'grunt' was. "I see." James said. "So how'd you meet him?" "We met at a function several months ago, and over time we've gotten to know each other real well." "So the Taylor cousins have met men and their boyfriends are going to meet as well." I said grinning. "I bet my boyfriend is better than yours." I commented looking at James. "Oh really?" James said next to me. "Absolutely, yeah you're almost the perfect boyfriend." I said turning my attention back to Pete. "What do you mean almost perfect?" James asked. "You don't know how to skate." I replied. "Oh." Was all that James said. Pete was studying my face before he spoke. "My boyfriend can match yours every step of the way, and I might be able to say he's a little better." Pete said looking into my eyes. I could tell Pete was serious and this made me uncomfortable. Pete had gone into politician mode, which was very dangerous. "I believe you're bluffing." I told him. "You know me better than that Jace." Pete replied. He was right, I did know him better than that, but I was curious. "Yeah, but I'm still willing to take you up on that offer. James is the boyfriend and I don't think you could match him. I think you maybe just have a touch of jealousy, that you couldn't get someone with the calibur of sweetness of my boyfriend." Pete grinned at me, "Nah, I'd still say that we're evenly matched at least." "We'll see, we'll see." I said, but I knew I was screwed. "Don't worry, I'll protect you from his evil boyfriend." James said standing up and puffing out his chest. "Hmmm, don't be so sure about that." Pete said continuing to grin. "You're both whipped." We finished our meal playfully sniping at each other like two dogs over a bone. James on the other hand was just watching us ready for the final cease-fire. * * * Pete left Saturday morning at ten o'clock. I could tell that he didn't really want to leave but work was work. Before he left he told us that he would meet us down when we got togther for the Christmas get together. As he left, I knew I had to turn my attention to getting my boyfriend back to his old self. That would take a little bit of work and luck. * * * Our Saturday lunch was quiet and unintrusive. Quiet in that neither of us said hardly a word to each other. I was beginning to wonder if my plan would work. It seemed the turkey sandwich with potato chips and Dr. Peppers could have gone better. The worst part of the meal had to have been when I told him that Coach wanted me to take over the team when he retired. I thought that this was great news to share with Lance, but apparently he really didn't feel like caring. 'I'm sure you'll do an alright job' was the only thing that he said not really put a heartfelt emotion into giving his blessing that it was a great opportunity for me to have to be the actual head coach on a full time basis. Maybe it would have gotten him to speak more if instead the turkey was honey glazed ham. I don't know, but dinner was my breaking point to see what he would say. If he liked it or not. I was placing my chips that he would. After all, he likes it when I surprise him, I hope. * * * >From the moment we arrived in 801 Franklin, I could tell that I had gotten my James back. He was all smiling, although earlier it had been Hell trying to get him into a suit when he kept wondering where we were going. Finally he loosened up enough to give me the benefit of the doubt, and I led him into a wonderful night, and expensive, and an enjoyably high class atmosphere. At the end of dinner, James looked like a bloated catfish. He had downed quail and sweetbreads that was comprised of herb roasted french quail and crispy veal sweetbreads served with yellowfoot chanterelles, brandy rich broth, creamy white grits and sautéed fresh spinach. I on the other hand had New Zealand King Salmon grilled and rubbed with three olive tapenade served with grilled vegetable ratatouille, grilled radicchio and red wine sauce. For wine we had Moet & Chandon White Star Epernay wine from 1935. By the end of the night, James was beaming a wide grin and I think that he overdid it with the wine a little. I had no idea that a '35 Moet and Chandon could do this to him. He was happy and couldn't stop talking about how well I planned this and was right to keep it a surprise. How much he loved it. He went on and on and on. He looked so fantastic at the beginning of the night, but after all that wine he looked like a million dollars. I helped him out of the restaurant and into the car. Arriving back home, I threw him in bed and he passed out. While he was out I managed to strip him and get him back onto the pillow. I managed to rip the clothing off myself and slid into bed. My James was back, all be it a little on the tipsy side. * * * Sunday morning had come quickly, nine to be specific, and I was ok with the result of the weekend's games, but it could have gone better. A come from behind tie and a overtime victory. Something looked wrong, but I haven't placed a finger on it yet. Just by looking at the scores and the box score doesn't really help. I just have to keep remembering that it could have been worse. I entered my office at the arena to see papers where I last left them. With this past weekend gone, I knew that I had one more weekend off I had to deal with and it was a home series which slightly agitated me. I had to be sitting on the sidelines while my team was without me next to me on the ice. I can only hope they'd do well, but that's still at the end of the week. The real reason I had come into the office was to find some recruiting paperwork I had shoved somewhere. There were five recruits I needed to call on the phone and speak to them about when they could come down to take a look at the arena and the surrounding area, as well as the school. Looking into the top desk drawer, I looked through several folders and eventually found some pieces of recruits phone numbers. "Ok, here's three of them, now where's the other two?" I said outloud looking through a few more files in the drawer and then looking on the desk again, rifling through what looked to be scrap paper. I knew coach couldn't have taken the information, because he left that up to me. That and besides coach sometimes had moments where his mind went blank. Yeah, I know as I watch him, that I may be watching his last few years in the sport of hockey. Retirement was just around the corner for him, and I knew it was something he didn't really want to accept. It would be a sad day for the program when he would leave, and everyone knew it. I found the information on the bench before my desk hidden underneath other paper. I grabbed it and added it to my collection. Taking a quick glance at my inbox, I saw other recruitment information. It seemed that the scouts found some more players for me to call, that is they deem good enough. I grabbed the paperwork and headed out of my office to the arena center. Getting into the main part of the arena, the ice was shimmering and all was quiet. The maintenance workers were no where to be seen. I walked to the bench and took a seat on the wall. It was nice when the arena was quiet, it allowed for free thinking time. Now of which it seemed I didn't have anymore. Getting up from my sitting position, I had enough of listening to the emptiness of the arena. I went back and locked up the locker room and headed back out to my car. It would be a few more hours before the team would come back in from St. Cloud. "Get everything you need?" James said from the driver's seat as I got in the car. "Yeah I got my paperwork. We can leave." "Where are we headed?" "Let's go home. I'll make something special for you." I commented as we started to drive off. >>>>>>>>>>>>>> naupres@yahoo.com