Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 22:44:34 -0700 From: Stephen Phelps Subject: Flying Blind, Part One (Revised) Disclaimer: I do not know, nor do I claim to know any of the celebrities that may wander through these pages, and I do not know, or therefore mean to imply any personal knowledge of their personal lives or their sexual preferences. This story is a work of fiction, and the character of Caleb is my own creation, therefore, any use of him outside of this story must be done so by first gaining my permission. If you are under 18 years of age, or it is illegal for you to be reading this where you live, or you are bothered by the prospect of a homo-erotic relationship between one or more men, then you better go find something else to read on another website. Hey, I'm not going to go into everything all over again! if you read the latest chapter of Michael and Jake, then you're pretty much up to date on everything that's been happening. This is the "official start" of Flying Blind.....Basically, it's going to be an extended version of the sneak-peak that was posted here on Nifty about a month ago....Just a little bit more on Caleb and his family, friends, and life! I hope you enjoy it, and so, without further ado, here is part 1 of Flying Blind.... Caleb woke up to the smells of coffee brewing and bacon and eggs cooking, which could only mean one thing---Bridget was there. Bridget was practically a member of the family. At the age of sixteen, Bridget had left her home and family in Scotland, and emigrated to the United States before the end of the war, where she found immediate employment doing primarily domestic work. In 1968, she answered an advertisement from a woman looking for a housekeeper to do the household chores, thus freeing her to look after her newborn son. Bridget had met with Callie Stephens and her husband and found them to be a wonderful young couple. She reported to work the very next day, and had been with the family ever since. Five years later, Diandra was born, and Caleb came along five years after that. Michael and Diandra took their new roles of older siblings quite seriously. After Caleb was born, Bridget went to working for the Stephens family six days a week, an arrangement which suited everyone just fine. Things continued along just nicely until June of 1997, when the unthinkable happened. Caleb was on a graduation trip with his parents when there was a horrible accident. When Caleb finally woke up in the hospital, three days later, Michael was holding one hand, and Diandra the other, as they told him about the accident which had claimed the lives of their parents. The first thing Caleb asked when he had calmed down, was, when were they going to take the bandages off his eyes.....Michael excused himself, and then came back a minute later with the doctor. It seemed that the head trauma which had caused the mini-coma, had also left Caleb blind After much rehabilitation, re-training, and hard work on everyone's parts, Caleb had learned to read Braille, and do many of the things he was able to before the accident. He was even able to navigate his way around the house, and rarely, if ever, did he bump into anything.....He even had a guide dog, a female German shepherd named Sheila. Getting out of bed, Caleb made his way over to the closet and slid the doors open and slid his hands across the clothes hanging there until he found a pair of jeans and a white, long-sleeved shirt, and took both off of the hangers and draped them over his arm. Making his way back to the bed, the then felt his way around the bed to the other side and made his way over to the dresser, where he pulled out some clean socks and underwear, and then began heading toward the door. Pausing in the doorway, he turned his head to the right and said, "Come on, girl." Sheila got up from her spot on the floor, and moved to his side. Caleb was twenty-seven years old. He stood five foot eight with dark blond hair that was a bit on the long side, and pale blue eyes. He had a nice toned build which he was proud of. Heading down the hall, Caleb went into the bathroom, where he stripped down and got into the shower. After drying off when he was done, and getting dressed, he headed down the hall to the kitchen where he pulled out a barstool and sat at the breakfast bar. "Good morning, Mr. Caleb," Bridget said, setting a plate on the countertop before him. "Good morning, Bridget. Is Michael still here?" "No dear, he's already left." "Hmmm. Would it be possible to catch a ride into town later this morning with you?" "Well of course! Where did you need to go?" "I think I'll keep the details a secret for now....." "Mmmm, well, alright.....Don't tell an old woman then....." "I just needed to go to the magazine offices to talk to Harry and hammer out a few final details for my new job. You'll find out everything tonight at dinner. I assume Karen is coming over tonight?" "Yes, your brother did mention something along those lines." "Good, then I'll tell all tonight at dinner....." Caleb walked out of the offices of 'L.A. Lifestyle' magazine and stood on the sidewalk under the building's canopy while he waited for his cab. For the past five years, Caleb had been a copy-writer for the weekly magazine. He usually got his copy in the form of audio tapes, which he transcribed on the computer, and emailed back to the editors. Then about a month ago, he had sat down and written a biographical article about himself, which the magazine ran as a human interest story. The response was immediate and positive, so Caleb did another 'day in the life' type article, which also received a favorable response. Knowing that they had a winner on their hands, the editors offered Caleb the new celebrity interview job. Once a week, he would meet with which ever celebrity had something coming out in the near future, and find out whatever he could. His first interview was the following week with Adrian Brody, and he was just a bit nervous, but he had a week to figure out what kind of meeting format would best put both himself and the celebrities he would be interviewing at ease. He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of a car pulling up to the curb, and the driver's side door opening. "You called for a cab?" "Yes, I did," Caleb replied, slowly moving foreword, Sheila's leash in his left hand, his right extended out in front of him. When he felt the open front passenger door, he turned to his left and asked, "Is it okay if she rides in back?" "Sure, no problem," the driver replied, opening the door. Caleb let go of the leash and listened as Sheila hopped into the back seat, then got in the front seat and the cabbie closed the door after him. While the driver came back around to get in, Caleb fastened his seat-belt. The cabbie fastened his own, and then they were pulling away from the curb, the driver asking Caleb where he wanted to go. Caleb give him the address of a well known real-estate agent, and they got on the subject of the Dodgers while they drove. When they got there, the driver told him the fare, and Caleb pulled out his wallet and took out two twenty's, and then waited for his change, which he stuffed into his front pocket as soon as he got out of the cab. The driver got out and came around to let Sheila out. Caleb felt her rubbing against his left leg and leaned down to feel for her leash. "Here, let me give you a card," the driver said as he pressed a card into Caleb's outstretched right hand. "Thank you....." "Brian." "Thank you, Brian," Caleb said once again. "You're welcome," Brian replied, and then Caleb turned toward the sound of the automatic door opening. Letting Sheila lead the way, Caleb entered the noisy lobby, and paused a moment to get his bearings and listen for the sound of nearby elevators. Hearing the distinct "ding", Caleb headed in that direction. Pausing momentarily, Caleb adjusted his sunglasses and then waited for the elevator doors to open. "Excuse me, but could someone please tell me which floor Baltrain Reality is on?" he asked. "Tenth," replied a deep, masculine voice off to his right. Caleb turned his head in that direction. "Thanks," he said. "No problem," replied the voice, this time from right next to him. Caleb caught a whiff of cologne. Something nice and woodsy and masculine, but not overpowering. "After you," the voice said once again. "Oh, sorry," Caleb said, feeling flustered. He was tall, whoever he was, probably about six-foot three. Caleb felt the buttons. "Where too?" he asked. "Twenty-one," the voice replied. "Okay, twenty-one it is," Caleb said, pushing first '10', then '21.' In no time at all, the lift stopped and the voice said, "This is you." The doors opened and Caleb walked off the elevator with not a clue as to where he was going. "Fifth door down the hall to your right, left hand side of the hall." "Thank you," Caleb said over his shoulder as the doors closed. "Anytime," he heard the stranger reply, just before the doors closed. Caleb turned to his right, and took Sheila's leash in his right hand, and let her lead the way, mentally counting off steps and doors as they went. Sure enough, the name plate on the left hand side of the door read, in Braille, Baltrain Reality. Caleb grasped the door handle and turned it, and entered the waiting area. Within minutes, Caleb was ensconced in a comfortable leather chair in Alexandra Baltrain's office. "Now, what can I do for you, Mr. Stephens?" "Ideally, I would like to find a loft space. Something with character. High ceilings, skylights, that sort of thing. And lots of space." "Good, what else?" Alexandra asked, and as they talked, Caleb could hear her fingers flying across her keyboard. "Hmmm.....I think I might have just the thing for you. Would you like to go check it out?" she asked. "If you don't mind me bringing Sheila along....." "I've had far worse, believe me! She seems to be a nice quiet dog." "She is." "Then lets go." Alexandra Baltrain removed her purse from a desk drawer, and crossed the office to open the door, telling her secretary that she would be out for the rest of the day, and then they were heading out the door and back down the hallway. They caught the elevator down to the parking garage in the basement, climbed into her black Hummer, and they were on their way. A short time later, they were pulling into another parking garage. "Now, this building is actually one of the older buildings in the down town area. A lot of these older buildings are being cleaned up and fixed up and converted to residential loft spaces. This building, like most others, has retail and restaurant space on the first two floors, and residential units on floors three through fifteen. Everything in this building is spoken for except for the top floor. The freight elevator is brand new. and is only accessible from the parking garage, which by the way has a security guard twenty-four hours a day. If a person is not on a resident's pre-approved list, they're not going to get in...." And with that they entered the freight elevator and Alexandra pushed the button for the top floor. When they reached the top floor, Caleb asked, "How do I open this thing?" "May I?" Alexandra asked. "Sure," Caleb replied, than felt her take his hands and guide them through opening and closing the gates and then opening them back up again by himself. The elevator had the old-fashioned kind of gates where the bottom part automatically came up and went down when one opened and closed the top half. Caleb gave it a few more tries until he was certain he was comfortable with where toe top gate was, as far as reaching up to pull it down. "The gates also have an automatic locking mechanism so that they can't be opened while the lift is moving. It won't dis-engage until the elevator comes to a complete stop. And the keypad is Braille equipped." "Very nice," Caleb murmured. "Okay, now for the space itself....Rumor has it that the space was at one time, the design and office-show room of a well known designer.The interior measures two-hundred-fifteen feet by one-hundred feet, so that way then the space is divided up, each unit has a space one-hundred feet by one-hundred feet, with a fourteen-foot hallway in between. The ceilings are twenty feet, and they do have skylights. There's also private roof access....." "What if I were interested in the entire space?" Caleb asked. "Well, sure......Okay....."Alexandra said, clearly not anticipating this. Caleb began walking around the space. "Tell me more....Are there a lot of windows?" "Yes. There's about fifteen feet between each one, and each window measures ten feet wide by fifteen feet tall....There are hardwood floors throughout....." "You know what? I think I've heard enough....Let's go back to your office and talk some figures....." That night as Bridget was putting the finishing touches on a salad, Michael and Caleb were out by the grill. Michael was thirty-seven years old, and he stood five-foot ten, with black hair and dark brown eyes. He was a lawyer in the entertainment industry. Bridget and Karen had just come out on the patio. Caleb decided that it was now or never. "Now that the ladies are present, I'd like to make a toast and an announcement. First, to Michael and Karen.....I'm very happy for the two of you. When you first started seeing my big brother, my first thought was, 'he's not good enough for her.' " "Ha-ha, very funny, little brother," Michael said. "Just for that, Sheila gets your steak!" "However, it didn't take me long to realize what a perfect fit you two are for each other, and now I don't think I could imagine what our little family would be like without you. I'm proud and honored that you're going to be my sister-in-law. Welcome to the family." "Aaww, that's so sweet, thank you Caleb." Karen said as she gave him a hug. Karen was thirty-five years old, and she stood five-foot five with long black hair that fell past her shoulders, and luminous blue eyes. Caleb wasn't totally sure, as he only had Bridget's word and his own sense of touch to go on, but he was almost positive that if this were 1938 instead of 2006, Karen Hart would most definitely have given Vivien Leigh a run for her money for the role of Scarlett O'Hara! "And now for my announcement. You guys can now safely set a date without having to worry about me." "What?" Michael exclaimed. "Come on Michael, I may be blind, but I'm not stupid! I know that you and Karen have put off getting married out of some misguided sense of duty, or something, but I'm telling you, you don't have to put it off any longer." "And just why is that, little brother?" "Because, I'm moving out!" Well, there you have it! Part 1! Let me know what y'all think. I can be reached by email at dnsphelps@mcsi.net or on yahoo and msn messengers under the same name, twains_fan_03, and on AIM under the new name GuyOregon8. Feedback is encouraged and welcomed. If you haven't checked it out yet, I suggest http://groups.msn.com/TheGyllenhaalChronicles/ It's run by Avy, who many of you know as the author of Jake's Cowboy, here on Nifty. Go check it out! There's a lot there to see! Anyways, thank you for reading, and I hope to hear from y'all soon, Stephen