Chapter 4

 

 

 

The next morning I woke up unsure of my surroundings. The bed was way too soft to be the one in my apartment and the sounds coming from outside were swears I usually heard in my side of town.

I finally put things together and remember that I was found by Elaina, my grandmother's friend, and taken in by her. Although I wouldn't admit it to anyone, it was a blessing. I didn't know I was going to make rent this month.

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in." I said to the door.

The door opened, first a maid walked through with a cart holding breakfast I guess and then Elaina came in.

"Good morning my child." She said coming up to me and hugging me.

"Good morning to you too." I said moving over and patting the bed. "So what does the day have planned for us." I said remembering that Elaina was woman who had the day planned from morning to tonight.

"Well there is a function tonight for New York's socialites and I was invited but I need a date. So we're going to take you shopping for a tux and the necessary accessories. And then it is lunch. Then we're going to get that hair cut and back to it's original color, the black makes you look like a ..." she waved her hands and made a face clearly conveying her distaste. "Then it is dinner with and old friend. Then its time for the party." She said.

"Ok, I guess that sounds like a plan." I said. I really didn't want my hair back to it's original color because I am easy to recognize in the New York social circle, but I was not going to tell Elaina that, so I just went with the flow. I had a feeling my year of running had come to an end anyway. Which was probably for the best.

 

So the day started with Elaina taking me to store-to-store trying to find the perfect tux for me. I would have been happy with anything but she was clearly on a mission. She ended up with an Armani tux with cornflower blue straight tie because it matched my eyes she said.

Then we headed to her jewelry store and she said he said the perfect cufflinks for me. They sapphire with diamond accents on them. When we made it back home, she made me try it all on to see how it looked together. After praising herself on a job well down she decided it was time to eat lunch at the Four Seasons.

Lunch was great, she told me we was going to be at event and how everyone was going to be excited about seeing a Matthews out in social society again.

"You are ready to be out in social society again?" she asked as she looked over her teacup.

"I guess I really don't have a choice." I said smiling at her. "Truthfully, I guess it's time I came back. I have responsibilities and I need to stop running from my problem and accept who I am." I said sternly.

"That's the spirit and you will look dashing doing it." she said signaling the waiter for our bill.

 

After lunch she took me to a very upscale salon and I got the full treatment. A cut and color. They took a lot off my head but I was told this was the style for people in power, when Elaina says it, who am I to argue.

When I finally got a chance to look in the mirror it was like looking at a ghost. I couldn't help but smile when I saw myself in the mirror.

"It's been too long." I said looking in the mirror.

"Now come on," the woman who was my guide to the salon said taking my head. "You have your manicure, mud bath, and massage before your dinner reservations at 7. No time to dawdle." She said taking me by the hand and leading me into the other room.

I thought they were going just a little over board, until I had the mud bath. The mud bath changed my mind about spas.

Dinner was at a place I have never heard of or ever eaten at but I heard it was not only expensive but it was also very exclusive. I looked around and noticed that the place was full of old money. Old money can be very pretentious and quite judgmental, so this was why I was on my best behavior for once.

 "So who are we expecting for dinner." I asked Elaina as I looked over the menu.

"Just an old friend. I haven't seen him in ages and I wanted to see how he was doing." She said not looking up from menu.

I had a feeling something was being set up here but I wasn't sure what was going on. So I decided to wait for it. So while we waited we order drinks, her a glass of red wine and me a grey goose on the rocks.

Just as our drinks arrived so did out dinner guest, or I should say guests.

"Ahh there you two are." Elaina said standing and greeted our guest.

I stood out of respect but I still didn't get a good look at their faces.

"Tyler, you remember Jackson McGee and Austin Moore right?" Elaina said giving me a sly smile.

"How could I forget." I said walking over to Jackson and hugging him. "Sorry about the grief I caused." I whispered into his ear.

"Not a problem son. Without you, life has been pretty boring." He pulled away and smiled at him. "You might want to apologize to this guy though." He said pointing to Austin.

I looked at Austin and smiled at him. "Hey Texan." I said to him softly.

Austin's face crumbled as he snatched me into his arms. "If you ever do that shit again. I swear to god I will kill you myself." He whispered in my ear.

"No worries." I said rubbing his broad back. "I am done running."

Dinner was good but emotionally draining. Over dinner I went over security ideas from Jackson and my new head of security Austin. They had great ideas and I was happy to be back under their care.

Jackson also informed me that they were in the process of hiring a new staff for me. This meant a new assistant would be coming pretty shortly. When I heard that my body shivered. 

After dinner we were loaded up into caravan of black SUV's headed off. While we were in the car, I got some good news. It would seem that my best friend of my whole life and Jackson's son, got a recording contract and was about to release his second album. I didn't even know he had a first one. So after getting the release date, I decided to plan a trip to LA and give him a surprise he'll never forget.

 

Before I knew it we were pulling up in front of massive house and being ushered out of the SUV. Austin stepped out first and the Jackson. But before Jackson did, he asked if I was sure about this. I only nodded, not trusting my voice.

I took a deep breath and stepped out, the flashes of the camera were blinding. I was never able to get used to that. I started walking up the carpet when the flashes stopped. I think people were starting to recognize me.

"Tyler Matthews?" one reporter said.

I looked over at him and nodded.

"Oh my god Tyler Matthews!" he said flashing pictures and then the rest of the reporters started.

TBC

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