Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 23:47:28 -1000 From: facade@mailcity.com Subject: Hooked Up With Your Blue Gray Eyes 1 This is a a work of fiction, and the usual disclaimer applied. This is my first story ever I wrote in English. I would like to encourage all the readers to respond what you think of my story. Thank you. Hooked Up With Your Blue Gray Eyes Chapter 1 I woke up by the phone ring. I thought I would ignore the call, but it kept ringing. I finally turned myself on bed and took the call. "Whoever this is, it'd better be good," I answered. "Did I wake you up?" the caller asked. "Good guess.... Who is this?" "It's Rob." "Rob?" "It's me, Rob. In Maui." "Rob, it's 6:00 in the morning." "Well, I thought I should catch before you go to work." "You did that all right, Rob," I told him rubbing my eyes, "What's up? I've not heard from you for ages." "Do you wanna come to Maui?" "Huh? What do you mean?" I slowly got up and sat on the bed. "Well, the business is getting bigger and I can use some help. Plus, I need your help on these computers. They are driving me crazy." "What are you talking about, Rob? What business?" I asked him because I had no idea what he was talking about. "The salon." "The salon? Can you extrapolate a little more?" "You really don't remember, do you?" "Maybe I don't. Look, Rob. You just woke me up at 6:00 in the morning. My brain doesn't jump start like your pickup does." "All right. Four years ago, when I started the salon business in Maui you visited me. I think you were living in Hong Kong back then. Remember?" he started to explain. "Ah, yeah," I was not sure, but it sounded right. "I was financially tight at the beginning, and we made a deal. You are my business partner. You invested your money in this business four years ago." "My God," the memory started to come back like flood. "So, what do you say? I can pay you whatever you are getting paid right now. I've always thought you'd want to live here." "Ah, well, can I call you back? I just can't..." "I understand. Take your time. You got my number, right?" "Yeah, it's in my address book." "OK, call me. Sorry that I woke you up." "That's all right." "Great to hear your voice." "Yeah, thanks for calling. Bye...." Well, let me tell you some background. Rob, who just woke me up at 6:00 in the morning and asked me if I wanted to work in Maui, was my ex-boyfriend. Well, my very first boyfriend to be exact. We met on the island of St. Croix in the Caribbean. I was there for two weeks after my college graduation. We were together for about two years before breaking up, but kept our friendship pretty well. I was in Hong Kong four years ago, visited him in Maui, and helped him financially. I never expected anything back. Not like this.... "Heeelloooo? Anybody home?" Jackie waved her hand in front of my eyes to get me back to reality. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?" I shook my head slightly and cleared my throat. "Never mind what I was saying. What's up with you? You are acting weird today. Did you break up with Matthew?" she asked me with excitement. She never liked Matthew, my boyfriend. "No!" I told her, "We're just fine." "Then what is it?" she asked pushing her salad plate aside and leaning forward with her both elbows on the table. Whenever she took this position, she would not let go until she'd find out what she wanted. I took a big sigh. "I got a call this morning," I started. "From your ex-boyfriend, I bet," she interrupted. "Ah, right. And he...." "He wants you back, doesn't he?" she answered all her questions herself in her own way. Since I was not in the mood of telling her that I might leave for Maui, I decided to go along with the way she spoke. "Something like that," I finished to explain. "What did you say?" with that, she sat back. I succeeded to make this interrogation as short as it could be. "Nothing, really. I told him that I would call him back," I said as matter of factory. "Does he know that you are going out with Matthew?" "Well, he doesn't know whom I am going out with, but knows I'm not available right now." "Why didn't you tell him that, then? What is this 'call you back' stuff?" she pinned me lighting a cigarette and narrowing her eyes as if she was reading my mind. "Shall we go back? We're late," I didn't know what to say, so decided to quit this conversation. "I smell troubles. You'd better watch out, Alex." And she was right. On the following weekend, I was invited to Patrick's house for dinner and gladly accepted his invitation. I met him years ago and we became good friends since. He and his boyfriend, John, were a few people I truly trusted and freely could talk about anything. On the way to their house, I called Matthew, my boyfriend, if he could join us for dinner. "Oh, honey, I gotta work this weekend. I won't be able to get off before 10:00 tonight." "Matthew, when can I get to see you? You've been busy all week this week!" I complained. "I know. I'm sorry, honey. You go ahead and enjoy the dinner with Patrick and John." "Do you want me to come by your place later?" "If you want. Or we can meet tomorrow." "That sounds good. I'll call you later, OK?" "Sure, baby. Love you." "I love you, too." I hung up my cellular phone and walked to the subway station. Patrick and John lived in a small house on the outskirt of the city. It's an old house, but Patrick liked making and building things, so the house was pretty neat. As far as I know, all of their friends loved their house, and so did I. "Hey, sexy. Long time no see. How are you?" Patricked greeted me at the door. "Hi Patrick. As usual. How about you?" I gave him a kiss. "As always. Come on in." "Where is John?" "Oh, he should be here in any minute." "Matthew can't make it tonight. He gotta work until 10:00," I told him. "I know," he replied "What do you mean you know?" "He told me that he works on Saturdays. That's why I arranged this dinner tonight," he answered with a devilish look on his face. I followed him to the kitchen. "What is it?" "I invited someone I'd like you to meet tonight," he explained. "Oh, Patrick! How many times do I have to tell you this? I love Matthew and Matthew loves me. Why do you hate him so much?" "I don't hate him. I just...." "Just what?" "Not fond of him," he said. "Same difference. I can't believe that you are doing this to me, Patrick." "I just want you to be happy, Alex." "What do you mean you want me to be happy? I AM HAPPY!" "You only see your boyfriend once a week at most for over a year now, and you say you are happy? Not by my definition. Besides, I am not setting you up with anyone, just introducing my friends," he made his usual excuse. "Oh, Patrick, Patrick, Patrick. I don't know why I am still your friend," I gave up and ended up with smiling at him. "I don't know why I didn't make love to you when we first met. I should have done it years ago." "Knock it off, Patrick." Patrick poured some wine and handed me a glass. "So?" I asked. "So what?" "Is he cute?" "You are as devil as I am, Alex." The dinner was nice as always. The guy they invited for dinner was very handsome. His name was Casey. He was 5"11', a couple of inches taller than I was, blond hair and hazel eyes. He wore white T-shirt and a pair of jeans. They were as tight as they could be and showed that he was well built underneath them. Casey worked as a business consultant. He was very easy to talk to and a good listener. "So, Alex. What are you going to do for this upcoming holidays?" John asked. "I really haven't planned anything, but I might visit a friend of mine in Maui." "Sounds nice, but why Maui?" Patrick asked. "Well, I got a call the other day from an old friend of mine. He offered me a job there." "Oh, don't tell me you are going to leave," Patrick voted against the idea already. "I've been there a few times. Nice," Casey told me with a smile. "Well, I've not decided to take his offer. Apparently four years ago when I visited him there, I invested some money in his business. He told me that I am his business partner. I totally forgot about it until he called me. The business seems great, and he wants me to come. So, before I make any decision I wanna go and see what Maui has to offer first," I explained it to them. "That makes sense, Alex. You have a good career here. You don't wanna ruin it for something you've never seen before. Anyway, Maui sounds so nice. Maybe we should go there, Patrick," John said. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I must get going," Casey pulled his chair back and got up, "Thank you for dinner. It was very nice," he thanked the hosts. "Thanks for coming, Casey. We enjoyed having you," Patrick said. "We should get together again soon," John added. "I like that," Casey replied. "Wait, Casey. I'll walk with you," I stopped him before he got to the door. "I thought you were going to stay tonight," John protested. "Well, I told Matthew that I might drop by later tonight." "OK. Call us later," Patrick showed his disappointed look. He must have wanted to know how I thought of Casey. He just had to wait. "We can talk about Maui sometime next week," John added. "Yeah, that'll be great. OK, thanks for dinner, guys," I hugged and kissed them goodnight. Casey and I walked toward the subway station. I felt a little nervous for being with him alone. We did not talk much along the way. When we got closer to the stairs, he stopped. "Anything wrong?" I asked him. "You know.... Patrick told me about you. He told me that you have a boyfriend, but I can't help myself being attracted to you. I know it sounds crazy, but I just can't," he said straight forward. He leaned back to the wall looking down his feet. "I'm flattered, Casey. But I love Matthew," I just didn't know what else to say. "I know. Can we meet again? I mean for lunch or something? Your office is only a couple of stations away from mine," he said looking directly at my eyes. "That'll be fine with me, Casey. Call me next week," I gave him my card. "Thanks. Hey, do you wanna ride? I parked my car right around the corner." "Thank you, but I guess not. His apartment is not so far from here. I'll just take the subway," I declined his offer as kindly as possible. "All right, then. Pleasure meeting you, Alex. See you soon." "Good night, Casey." I could not believe what Casey just told me. Patrick tried to set me up several times before. They were all nice, but none of them were like Casey. I remembered that he put his hands in his front pockets. His hands were shaking. When I said that we could meet for lunch, his face with sparkling eyes was as handsome as the Greek Gods. I would have fallen in love with him if I didn't love Matthew. When I got to Matthew's apartment building, Harold was on duty at security door. He greeted me as usual and let me in. Matthew lived on the 15th floor. He said he liked the view, but I always liked the ground. It passed mid-night. I tried not to make noise when I opened the door. I was thirsty, so went to the kitchen and pour some mineral water. Then I heard something from his bedroom. His bedroom door was open and dimmed light was coming out. I just thought he was sleeping and left the light on. I entered his bedroom. He was sleeping all right, but with someone I didn't know. "Oh my god...," I could not believe the sight. They were going at it right in front of me. Matthew was on top of the guy fucking. "Oh, shit," the guy noticed me first. "Alex!" Matthew jumped off from him and covered himself with a sheet, "I thought we were meeting tomorrow." "I said I might drop by later," I could not breathe. "You said you would call me." "I gotta get out of here," with that I left the room. "Alex! Wait!" I just stormed out of his apartment. The elevator car was right there on the 15th floor so that it did not give Matthew time to catch me waiting. I walked through the security door and said goodnight to Harold as if nothing happened. I wandered around the city, dropped by a couple of bars, and got drunk. I usually didn't drink alcohol, so it only needed a couple of drinks to take its effect on my system. Some guys came on to pick me up, but somehow I could manage to pull myself together. I just didn't remember how I did it though. Next thing I remembered was standing in front of Jackie's apartment. It was 4:00 in the morning. "Alex? What a hell are you doing here so early?" she opened the door for me, "You look awful." "Thanks, Jackie. Can I come in?" "Of course, come on in." I sank myself in the sofa in the living room, and she sat across from me leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. "Are you gonna tell me what's going on?" "Matthew was fucking someone else," I looked up the ceiling and closed my eyes. "What?" I think that woke her up all right. "He was fucking some guy when I walked in," I could not hold it any longer. My tears flooded and ran through my cheeks. Jackie moved next to me and held me in her arms. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry." I cried in her arms until I was too tired to cry any more. Jackie kept holding me even after I stopped crying, caressing my hair. I didn't know what else to do. She gave me a kiss on my forehead, and I slowly sat up straight. "So. What are you going to do?" Jackie asked. "I don't wanna think about it right now. I don't know what to think. I never thought this would happen to me," I told her. "He is an asshole. No offence, but I never liked him," she openly admitted, although I knew it for long. "Patrick is not fond of him, either," I repeated what Patrick said last evening. "Do you wanna sleep in here, Alex?" she asked. "No. I'd better be going home. My brother is supposed to come to see me." "Oh, can I come, too?" "Jackie, he is married!" "Well, it does not change the fact he is gorgeous. Can I?" "You know you are always welcome to my place. He is coming at 1:00. I should sleep a little to face the reality again." "I'm really sorry, Alex. Are you gonna be all right?" "I'll be fine. Thanks. Sorry I woke you up so early." "Hey, I'm your friend." "Thanks, and I'll see you later." She gave me a big hug before I left her apartment. The intercom kept ringing to inform me that I had a visitor. I woke up with major headache. I looked at the clock, and it was almost 12:00 noon. I pulled the sheet off from the bed and wrapped around my waist. I dragged myself out to the kitchen to answer the intercom. "Who is it?" "Hey, brother. It's me." "Come on up." Peter had a key to my apartment, so he didn't have to use the intercom. The main entrance to this townhouse complex had a security door. I started to make coffee when my brother came in. Peter was 28 years, a year older, blond hair, icy blue eyes, 6" tall, and well built. He didn't have any trouble picking up women or men with his looks, but he was now happily married with Jessie. She was pregnant and out of town to see her parents in Boston for a while. I wished I had the same features as his, but he got from our dad and I from my mom. I got jet-black straight hair and dark blue eyes. Some peole thought they were purple. "Hey, what happened to you?" Peter asked. "Hangover," I answered. "You have hangover? You don't drink, Alex." I sat on the kitchen table and drank a glass of water. Peter stood right in front of me. He took the glass and place on the table. "OK, Alex. What's wrong?" I could not lie to him. "Matthew is seeing someone else," I just didn't want to tell him how I found out. "That bastard!" "It's all right. I would have found out sooner or later. Everybody else saw it, but I didn't." "Come here," he lifted me off the table and wrapped his arms around me tightly. "You wanna talk about it?" he released me from his embrace looking into my eyes. I just shook my head no. He kissed me on the cheek. "You deserve much better than that, Alex. Do you wanna come and stay with us for awhile?" "Thanks, but it's not necessary. I'll get over it," I told him. The intercom rang again. "That must be Jackie. Can you get it? I should take a shower." "Sure," he kissed me on my forehead before he answered it. I was thinking of cooking lunch, but Peter suggested to going out. I was thankful. I wasn't sure how my cooking would turn out to be with this headache. Peter drove my car, and we went to a nice French restaurant Madison Avenue. It was very crowded, but fortunately we did not have to wait for long to be seated. The captain led us to a table at the corner by the window. Both Peter and Jackie avoided the last night event in our conversation, and Peter started to talk about visiting our parents in San Diego for Easter. "Why don't you come with us, Alex? You haven't been back there for a while," Peter asked "Ah, I might do that. I could stop over on the way back from Maui, I guess." "Maui? You going to Maui?" Jackie asked. I took a deep breath before answering. "I might move there. I got a call from my business partner the other day, and he's asked me if I want to come over. I will visit there to see how it's like and to see if I would like it there," I explained to them. "What is this business? Who is your business partner?" Jackie took the familiar position and started shooting questions. I explained them how I had gotten involved and been offered a job. "Oh, men. Maui sounds great. But I gonna miss you, brother," Peter said with a weak smile. "Me, too," Jackie took a sigh and sat back. "Guys! I've not decided to take this offer yet. I'm just going to visit a friend for Easter," I smiled. There was a knock on the window, and we all looked at outside. Casey was standing there looking at us. I gestured him to come in. "Who's that hunk?" Jackie wanted to know. "Casey. I met him last night for dinner over Patrick's last night," I answered. Peter moved closer to me and placed his arm around my shoulders. He always did this when he thought I needed to be protected. I looked at him in close distance, and he kissed me on my forehead when Casey came to our table. "Hi, Alex. How's it going?" Casey said. I stood up and shook his hand. "Great. Casey, this is a good friend of mine, Jackie, and this is my brother, Peter. This is Casey," I introduced them to each other, "Would you like to join us for lunch? We just ordered our lunch," I asked. I thought he would say yes, but on the contrary he declined. "I have the previous engagement. Otherwise, I would love to join," he seemed genuinely disappointed, "Are we still on for lunch sometime this week?" he asked. "Of course. Just call me," I smiled. "Good," he smiled me back, "It was nice meeting you, Jackie, Peter." My eyes followed his strong back until he went out of the sight. "He looks nice. Is he available?" Jackie shot first. "To you, no. He is gay," I told her caressing her hand on the table. "Oh, men. All the good looking guys are gay." "Hey, I'm not gay!" Peter protested with a grin. "Well, excuse me. All the good looking single guys," she corrected and took a sigh, "You should go out with him, Alex." "I just broke up with Matthew, Jackie. I don't need another relationship right now." "What are you going to do the rest of the day?" Peter asked. "Oh, I probably go home and do some laundry. I also need to make some plan for Maui." "Do you want me to hang out with you today?" Jackie offered. "Thanks, but I'm fine. I need to be alone." "You can come to my place for a while," Peter offered. "Jessie is coming back this afternoon, right? She needs you. Besides, I don't wanna clean up the mess you made while she was away," I teased him. He was not good at housekeeping. Peter gave me a light punch on my stomach. After lunch, I drove Peter back to his house. He kissed me on the cheek before getting off and told me to call him later. I promised to call him. Jackie moved into the passenger's seat, and I drove her to her apartment. "You have a very nice brother. I can see how much he cares about you," she said. "Yeah, I know. I love him, too." "Don't you have another brother like him?" "You should have asked my parents twenty some years ago, Jackie You know I have only one brother." "I need to get laid," Jackie confessed. "How about the guy you went out with last month?" "Oh, that pre-matured evacuator," she started laughing after a moment of silence, and I started laughing, too. I got home around 4:00. I noticed that a small red light on the phone was flushing, indicating that there were some messages. There were three messages. The first one was from my dad saying that I should come over for Easter. Peter must have already told dad about the news. The second was from John, just asking me to call him back when I could, and the third was from Matthew. "Alex, it's me, Matthew. We need to talk. Please call me." I erased all the messages and unplugged the phone. Only Patrick and Peter knew of my cellular phone number. I took a blanket out to the balcony and wrapped around me. It was a little chilly out. I lay on the deck chair. I started to cry again, bracing myself. On Monday, I asked Jane, my secretary, to hold all incoming calls and to take messages. She gave me a quizzical look, but didn't say anything. I concentrated on my work. Jane brought messages time to time. I returned calls to some of my clients. Sure enough, I found messages from Matthew and just tossed them away. There was a message from Mr. Reynolds. The name was unfamiliar to me, but the message said it was urgent, so I dialed the number. After three rings, my call was answered. "Casey Reynolds." "Hey, Casey. It's Alex," I was relieved hearing a familiar voice from the other end. "Hi, Alex. Thanks for returning my call," I could feel excitement in his voice. "Well, I wasn't sure who Mr. Reynolds was, but it said it was urgent." "Sorry. Occupational hazard. I always go by my last name when it comes to business. How about lunch?" "Is it time already?" I looked at my watch, "Yeah, sure. Where?" "Can you meet me at Ritz Carlton?" "Isn't it a little expensive for lunch?" "It's on me, Alex. I can meet you in ten minutes." "That's fine, but you are not buying. We go Dutch." When I got there, Casey was waiting for me in front of the restaurant. He looked different in suits. He wore dark blue double suits. His blond hair was well combed. He looked worried looking at his watch time to time, but smiled when he found me coming to his way. "Hi. Thanks for coming out," he shook my hand. "My pleasure, Casey." "I hope I didn't disrupt your work." "You didn't. I need to eat anyway," I smiled. "Good. Have you been here?" Casey asked as we entered the restaurant. "A few times for dinner, but never for lunch." "I use here for business lunch. The company has an account here." The waiter came to greet us and led us to the table. Casey ordered their lunch special, and I ordered salad and soup. "You are not hungry?" "I lost some appetite for the past few days," I told him spreading the white linen napkin on my lap, "I think it's because of the seasonal change," I made up some excuse. "Have you decided if you are going to Maui for Easter?" "Yeah, I made the arrangement on internet last night." "Is your brother going with you?" "No, he and his wife will be visiting my parents in San Diego. Why?" I asked him quizzically. "Tell me something, Alex. Does your brother hate me for some reason?" "I don't find any reason for him to hate you. Why?" "Well, yesterday when we met at the French cafe, I felt it in his stare," he said looking at his hands on the table. "Is that why you didn't join us?" I read his mind. "Yeah, I didn't feel comfortable. Jackie seemed all right though," he answered honestly. "I'm sorry. He tends to overprotect me sometime," I apologized and took a sigh. "Protect you from what? Me?" he seemed a bit surprise. "Yeah." "Did you tell him what I said to you the other night?" "No, that's not it. I've never told anyone about you. Jackie thinks you are a hunk," I grinned. "Then why?" he wanted to know. I took a deep breath before answering his question. "I found out that Matthew was cheating on me the other night." "Oh god...," Casey took my hand to his lips and kissed, "I'm so sorry, Alex." The waiter brought our dishes, but Casey didn't let go of my hand. "Are you OK?" "Well, it could be better. I'll be fine. Let's eat," he finally released my hand. "Alex?" I heard a familiar voice and frowned. Casey turned back to see who was calling my name. I took time to wipe my lips with the napkin and slowly looked up to face the asshole. "Hello, Matthew. What a surprise to see you here," I greeted him. "I've been trying calling you. Can we talk please?" Matthew stepped forward, and now was standing right besides me. "Matthew, I'm having lunch with Casey now. Casey, this is Matthew. Matthew, this is Casey." "Nice to meet you, Matthew," Casey stood up and shook hands with him. I knew that he did it just to be polite. Matthew didn't say anything to Casey. "Alex, we need to talk. Please?" "With all respect, I don't think it's good time to talk," Casey said politely. "What a hell you think you are?" Matthew raised his voice. "Matthew!" I immediately stopped him, "I'll call you tonight. I promise." With that, he left our table without saying anything more. Casey finally sat down and held my hand. He looked into my eyes as if to see if I was all right. "Thanks, Casey. Sorry about...him...." "No. He doesn't bother me at all, Alex." The rest of our lunch went a little awkward, but Casey entertained me with jokes. I could forget about what had happened before. When we promised to meet again for lunch, he quickly kissed me on the cheek. "I'll call you." I stood there seeing him until he disappeared into the crowded street. I disconnected myself from the outside world for the rest of the day to concentrate on my project. Jane again brought some messages, but I didn't bother reading them. It was pretty late when I got home. I sank in the sofa and started to dial Matthew's number. It kept ringing, but no answer. He finally answered when I almost gave up. "Hi, Alex. Ah, it's not really a good time to talk right now. Can I call you back?" I picked up what was going on immediately. "You know what, Matthew? I'll take the entire load off from your shoulders. Just forget about the whole thing. We never met. You don't know me, and I don't know you. Don't even bother trying to reach me anymore," I was amazed how calm I was when I said it. "But Alex..." "Good night, Matthew," I hang up. To be continued.... Please send your comments and suggestions to facade@mailcity.com Thank you.