Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 16:42:17 +0000
From: Allan Brettell <cfgw2000@aol.com>
Subject: Life's Illusions - Chapter 1 - Party or Pity (Adult Relationships)

My first attempt at writing so apologies if its not so good.

It's intended course would be around 12 chapters and I have a few already
started, feedback to cfgw2000@aol.com good or bad would be appreciated.

There's very little sexual content, the story evolves as growing relationships.

The content of this story is purely a product of my imagination and has no
basis on persons living or otherwise.

Life's Illusions - Chapter 1 - Party or Pity.



Party or Pity - Chapter 1



Hurt and angry (not the physical sort of hurt but the pain was just as
real) Paul James Thorn (PJ) 25 years old today, sat in the back of the
limousine taking him to his grandfathers New York City office.

He should be home now having birthday drinks with his partner of four years
Josh (Joshua Paul Hartnett) and their close friends, before setting out for
the ballroom at the New York Woodruff (Flagship hotel in the family
business) venue for his 25th birthday party, but he'd been AWOL for the
last 8 hours.

His day had started really well being woken by Josh a little after 7am with
a fantastic birthday breakfast tray in bed including a beautiful red rose
in a crystal vase. They'd eaten and kissed their way through most of the
food before turning to more serious matters, it wasn't long before PJ and
Josh were entwined in passionate lovemaking bringing PJ to climax before he
lay back exhausted, his arms wrapped around Josh.

As PJ lay spent softly stroking Josh's firm pecs he was surprised when Josh
pulled away and headed to the bathroom, " Hey you didn't get off" turning
slightly as he entered the bathroom Josh blew him a kiss " No time now you
have a breakfast meeting in precisely 55 minutes, I'm taking an IOU which I
intend to collect tonight after the party" PJ sprang out of their super
king bed and followed Josh into the bathroom where the shower was already
running.

Grabbing Josh tenderly around the waist they kissed "Ok deal, I owe you and
I'll make sure to pay that debt with interest later, and how do you know
what meeting I have scheduled, you keeping tabs on me?" PJ was puzzled by
Josh's nervous answer and presumed Josh was arranging some surprise for his
birthday and didn't want PJ digging so he dismissed his boyfriends strange
behaviour in favour of an intimate cuddly feely fun shower.

A little over 55 minutes later after making a slight detour to a Manhattan
Jewellery Store he was in his Grandfathers office awaiting the arrival of
his Father and Grandfather (Peter Thorn and Paul James Woodruff ) looking
over the performance reports of Woodruff European Leisure and Hospitality
which Celia, his Grandfathers PA, had informed him would be the focus of
today's meeting. The reports made pretty grim reading they showed a marked
and steady fall in revenue from the European section and it took PJ no time
at all to drill down to the root of the problem, Spanish properties. He
suspected he was asked to attend this meeting because he'd dealt with a
similar problem here in the US and successfully placed this sector back
into profit.

To fill in time he dialled the number of the New York Woodruff and was put
through to the entertainment manager who paid special attention to his
requirements for a dramatic drum roll moment at his direction later that
evening when he brought out what would be a surprise for all, he would ask
Josh to join him on stage where he would go down on one knee in front of
around 200 guests and ask Josh to marry him.

Deep in thought studying the rings he'd had specially made his Grandfathers
arrival startled him and jumping up he immediately enveloped the smaller
man in a hug enjoying the feel of the hug being returned,

This was something he never did with his father, strange, but he dismissed
the thought. He'd never been really close to his father even though apart
from his college years they'd lived in the same house for 20 years first as
a family and then just the 2 of them since his Mothers death when PJ was 10
years old. Since she passed away it had been his late Grandmother (who
passed away just 2 years ago) and this man his Mothers Father who had been
his constant source of love. He knew his Grandfather tolerated his father
purely because he had married PJ's mother, even PJ had to admit his Father
had below average business sense relying on his staff to run the European
Sector he controlled and often suffering Grandfathers wrath for poor
decisions. His Grandfather had built the company into a Multi-National
Giant with divisions of Banking, Leisure, Property and stakes in many other
interests, the company, Woodruff Inc, as a whole was now a Multi Billion
Dollar Global Company and still family controlled.

The company shares were split between 4 people, PJs Grandfather held 55%,
PJs Father held 12% which he inherited from his wife after her death, PJ
held 29% inherited from his Mother and Grandmother and the final 4% held by
Josh left to him by PJs Grandmother who like PJ believed Josh to be his
soulmate.

Spying the ring boxes his Grandfather asked to see them and approved the
darker gold bands with a white gold thinner band overlaid around the
centre, the inside inscribed, PJ/Josh For all Time, Soulmate's.

"You're set on doing it then?" His Grandfather asked, "Yes he's the one,
the only one" PJ replied.

Whilst awaiting the arrival of his Father PJ used the time to gather
information on today's meeting which his Father had arranged.

"It's the damn Spanish Hotels" his Grandfather told him "they've been
getting worse and worse for the last year an a half, "PJ knew Sylvio Ramos
was the head of Spanish Operations in the Leisure sector and had never
rated his performance or abilities, he viewed him as lazy and greedy with
poor people skills surrounding himself with management heavies to frighten
the staff into line, not at all PJs way of working but he was PJs fathers
problem (his father was President of All Europe Operations) PJ hadn't
gotten involved up to now.

"So why am I involved it's not my area", he asked. (PJ was President of
North American Operations)

PJ had a gut feeling he knew what was coming, when he'd taken over North
American Operations a little over a year and a half ago (which until then
had been managed by his father) there were 22 Hotels badly under performing
spread over 6 States now all but one were back into the performance area
expected of them, the one misnomer was the Washington Woodruff Hotel Resort
and this one was a work in progress where the management team had allowed
the property quality to slide badly and competitors to gain ground.

PJ had a dedicated team working alongside the Hotels Management Team to
upgrade facilities and lobby previous high profile guests to return to the
fold and it was working to plan so much so that the current plan was to
have the specialist team pull out in the next week.

"I'll let your father explain if he ever gets here" he was now 15 minutes
late something PJs Grandfather (and PJ) hated.

Just at that point Celia, PA to PJ's Grandfather buzzed through to say his
Father had been detained and we should go ahead and conduct the meeting
without him.

PJ was pissed to say the least and could see his Grandfather was equally
annoyed, he guessed his Father was ducking out of asking him to swap
continents and clean up his mess yet again, relying on his never
disappointing or refusing anything his Grandfather asked.

PJ stood up "I propose we postpone this meeting and let Daddy Dearest do
his own dirty work another time" His Grandfather was chuckling, knowing PJs
Father would be seriously annoyed that his plan had backfired. "I'm going
to play hooky today so I'm swearing you to secrecy, don't let the Chairman
of the Board find out or he might sack me" PJ said to his Grandfather, he
grinning replied " I reckon you have that old fool wrapped around your
little finger so I'm guessing you have nothing to fear on that front" PJ
hugged him again kissing him on the cheek "careful what you say about our
Chairman" PJ told him "He's no fool and I for one love him dearly" "Back at
you boy" his Grandfather told him as they walked out into the executive
lobby. "I'll see you later at the party" his Grandfather told him as he
caught the elevator down to the parking garage.

PJ decided to return home and maybe pay his recent dues to Josh, after all
it was his birthday and he liked the idea of a randy mid morning romp
before a long leisurely lunch followed by maybe a lazy afternoon romp as
well.

He had no idea his decision would wreak havoc throughout every part of his
life, nothing would ever be the same after today, his life which He
considered idyllic would be left in tatters.

As he exited the private elevator into the lobby which served the 2
penthouse apartments he mused that in the 6 years he had owned this
apartment he had never met anyone from the Investment Company that owned
the other apartment.

Entering his own apartment he had the strangest feeling but couldn't put
his finger on what was troubling him, and then it hit him, there on the
ornate side table in the entrance lobby sat a set of keys which he
immediately recognised and realised the Fire Red Ferrari parked 2 away from
his in the underground garage belonged to friends of Josh, Bill Freemantle
and his partner Dave , he didn't like them and had always refused any party
or outing where they were involved, they were creeps, leeching off and
leering at whomever they were out with and constantly regaling all and
sundry with their tales of group sex and swingers parties, but Josh had
known them a long time and it wasn't PJs nature to dictate who Josh should
or shouldn't have as friends, they must be helping Josh with something for
the party tonight, now PJ felt guilty for not going ahead with the meeting
his Father didn't attendant leaving Josh to get on with his surprise.

Rather than startle them he dropped his keys on the same side table and
headed to the kitchen to get a coffee then headed into the lounge where he
noticed Josh's tracks pants and white tee on the sofa along with what
looked to be 2 other shirts a tee and a white button up, calling out Josh's
name he heard a mad scrambling sound from the bedroom, as PJ walked through
the lounge Josh came from the hallway which led to the master bedroom suite
looking like he'd spent a night in a whore house, he had on only his D&G
almost transparent white bikini briefs, he looked shocked and agitated,
causing PJ to suppress a giggle, at a guess PJ would have said Josh was
embarrassed being caught having a sly mid morning pull, after all PJ had
left him blue balled earlier, but he wouldn't, would he? not with two of
his closest friends here, and PJ was sure they were here.

It was a surreal situation, PJ's usually alert mind seemed to be
struggling, having great difficulty making 1+1 add up to 2 and almost
before the conclusion registered the tears started coursing down his
cheeks. He could hear someone saying "No please no, please it can't be" It
was PJ himself groaning out those words, he pushed past Josh and there in
the bedroom his worst fears were confirmed, Bill shirtless pulling up his
pants, Dave stark naked frantically grabbing for his pants

PJ turned to Josh as Bill approached them, "Why?" Was all he could manage
as the wracking sobs engulfed him, he tried to push back past Josh to get
away from this nightmare but Josh and Bill both had hold of him, ignoring
pleas from both of them to wait, he punched Bill hard in the face twice
enjoying the resounding crunch as Bills nose erupted in a fountain of
blood, pushing Josh roughly aside he heard and saw Bill's nose spurt blood
in every direction as he fell backwards into a side table smashing it,
scattering pictures and ornaments, just then he felt an arm round his
throat choking him and dragging him backwards, pushing back with all his
considerable might he propelled himself and what could only be Dave into
the mirrored doors of a closet hearing the doors smash and a scream from
Dave as his naked back was cut by broken glass.

Dave released his choke hold and fell to the floor groaning as Josh crossed
the room towards them, PJ saw red and landed a punch to the side of Josh's
jaw and a second jab caught Josh to the side of his nose propelling him
backwards into a bedside table sending both Josh and a crystal lamp
smashing to the floor with blood now pouring from Josh's nose as well.

Looking around the room he saw Bill on the floor almost unconscious and
groaning with blood pouring from his shattered nose, Dave lying half in
half out of the shattered closet with visible cuts to his back and shoulder
and Josh, his Josh, until now his soulmate or so he'd thought also lying
there bleeding.

"This was why you were acting strange this morning why you didn't want to
get off with me?, you wanted to save yourself for these scumbags, you think
so little of me, of our life you'd throw it all away for shit like this" He
said, pointing at Bill and Dave.

Josh was sitting huddled arms around his knees sobbing, "You have 15
minutes to be dressed and out of here, after that I'll have security remove
you dressed or not".

PJ walked out of the bedroom across the lounge and into the kitchen where
he took a beer from the chiller not remembering what had happened to his
coffee, he wished he could wind back to earlier before all this happened
but realised that just meant Josh would still be doing this but behind his
back. He heard the front door slam and assumed they had left then a few
moments later a noise of someone clearing up in the bedroom, he stormed
towards the bedroom fists balled ready to do serious harm to someone but
found Josh alone crying as he gathered up broken items into a trash bin
from the bathroom. "What are you doing, I asked you to leave or are you
deaf now as well as devoid of morels?".

Josh turned to him still crying "PJ please, we need to talk".

PJ saw red and before he knew it he was screaming at Josh with tears
flooding from his eyes, "Talk, you think talking will resolve this, are you
fucking mad, how the hell is talking going to help us now, you trashed
everything Josh, me, us, our life together, just for a fuck with those 2
slime balls, well I hope it was worth it because there is no more us now
get what you need together and make sure you're gone before I get back".

PJ stormed out of the apartment almost falling into the elevator stabbing
frantically at buttons to shut the doors, he needed to be away from here,
he didn't care how badly Josh was hurt, he couldn't see, his eyes were
blurred with tears he just wanted to go back in time to not see or know
what his mind refused to accept, his Josh, his soul mate, the love of his
life the one he would die for, fucking around whilst PJ worked and PJ so
stupid so blind he didn't know. How could he be so fucking stupid, how had
he not seen this, how many times had they laughed about his stupidity, how
many more of his friends knew about this whilst PJ was blissfully ignorant?
He just shut down.

PJ didn't know how he got there or even where he was but he became aware of
someone wiping his face with a freezing cold cloth. As his vision cleared
he saw Billy, CEO of Fielding Presidential Hotels, PJs best friend and
partner in crime since age 5 when they met on their first day of school, 2
terrified 1st termer.

Billy was crying looking down at PJ. "PJ mate, for fuck sake tell me what's
wrong you're scaring me"

Over the next hour between bouts of both rage and sobbing he told Billy
what he'd found returning to his apartment that morning, by the time he'd
finished he felt numb, all cried out as Billy hugged him tight rocking
slowly back and forth until PJ drifted off into a restless sleep.

When he awoke Julia, Billy's girlfriend was leaning over him placing a
steaming mug of coffee on the side table. PJ sipped at the coffee and
grimaced, it was heavy with sugar and he didn't take sweetened drinks,
Julia saw his expression and cut off the protests with "stow it buster you
need the sweetness to replace some of that lost energy now drink" she told
him that Billy had shared his problems with her which she knew would be
alright because she was almost PJs sister they'd been friends so long.

Billy came into the lounge talking on his phone, breaking off he spoke to
PJ "All hell is breaking loose, no one has been able to contact you for
over 8 hours, I have your Grandfather on hold and he's worried sick but I
haven't told him anything except that you're upset and safe, he wants to
talk to you" PJ took the phone from him and could hear the concern and
relief in his Grandfathers voice as he spoke, PJ told him he'd gotten a
really bad shock earlier and needed to see him but he didn't want to talk
on the phone, he asked about the party and PJ told him he wouldn't be
there, right now he didn't want to be around anyone except his
Grandfather. His Grandfather mentioned that Josh was worried and had been
searching for him, PJ replied harshly "Oh I bet he has, well he's top of
the list of people I don't ever want to see again" PJ could tell his
Grandfather was shocked, he asked if PJ had his car, which PJ honestly
didn't know, he didn't remember how he got here so his Grandfather
suggested he would have his driver pick PJ up, he was already on standby to
take his Grandfather to the Woodruff for the party.

And so here he was in the back of his Grandfathers Limo heading to his
Grandfathers New York office knowing he would have to pour out all the
sordid details but confident Gramps would help him sort this mess, he was
PJs rock and always had been.

Paul James Woodruff sat across from his grandson in the lounge area of his
large office looking stunned with tears running down his cheeks, "I'm so
sorry PJ, right now I want to take him out and flog him publicly".

PJ had calmed down some since telling his Grandfather everything, more than
that he felt cold it could be happening to someone else, he felt nothing,
he asked his Grandfather to do something for him that he knew he wanted so
badly, to help him escape, to leave this nightmare behind.

His Grandfather was alarmed and upset thinking PJ was going to leave both
him and the business but he calmed down when PJ outlined what he wanted.

PJ told him no one could object to what he would be asking (meaning his
Father) because it was what they had been meant to discuss that morning had
his Farther bothered to turn up for their meeting.

PJ wanted to head up the European Division but would report only to his
Grandfather no one else, he wanted Carte Blanche Authority to reshape,
remodel, hire and fire as he saw fit, he wanted a 10% increase in the
Spanish Operating Budget for a period of 12 calendar months from the
beginning of next month because he knew that's where the main problem was
not around the other European Countries, he wanted his specialist team on
the ground in Spain in the next 48 hours, and going forward they would be
his staff alone, no one else would have use of them as had been the case in
the past.

PJ was adamant he wanted no involvement in anything that remotely involved
Josh.

His Grandfather raised only one point, would PJ attend board meetings where
he would have to be in the company of Josh, PJ told him he wouldn't attend
in person but would participate by video conference which his Grandfather
was ok with.  One of PJs first acts after taking his place on the board had
been to convince his Grandfather that video conferencing was an effective
modern tool for companies of their size and so they had long since departed
from the practice of dragging people from all around the world to be half
asleep around 1 table, it was counter productive and costly so board
meetings tended to rotate around the globe and the nearest Managers to the
venue would attend in person whilst those further away would video
conference giving a mix of attendees at each meeting.

PJs Grandfather agreed to all of his requests and called in Celia his PA
and dictated what was effectively PJs Appointment Directive commencing as
of midnight tonight including all of the conditions PJ had requested, he
asked Celia to get it down to their legal guys for scrutiny and have it
back to him in 2 hours during which time he would be taking PJ out to
dinner.

As they left the office his Grandfathers mobile rang and he looked angry
when he saw the caller ID, he answered with a sharpe "What!".

PJ was stunned, he'd never seen his Grandfather this angry or openly
hostile and then he realised his Grandfather must be talking to Josh.

"So you expect him to turn up and pretend everything's fine for your
benefit so you can save face?, well let me explain something in simple
terms, he won't be attending your party, he's going out for dinner with
someone who's loved him like a son since the day he was born and still
does, someone who would rather lose a limb than hurt him, something you
failed miserably at you pathetic piece of shit now get your useless ass to
reception and make sure they charge every last cent of that party cost to
you personally and remember I'll be checking on that , and Josh, don't ring
me again unless you want me to come over there and push that phone publicly
down your throat, be in my office tomorrow 9am", at that he cut the
connection.

He was visibly shaking and stood there in silence, PJ put his arm around
him "Come on Gramps" something he hadn't called him for a long time but was
his name for him in the years he was growing up, "Salvage a little of this
day for me, let me have a pleasant dinner with the one member of this
family I love more than anyone else on this earth" and so it was settled
they went out to dinner just the 2 of them and to make it even more special
his Grandfather took PJ to the Fielding Presidential, Billy's Flagship
hotel in New York.

He must have had Celia call ahead because to PJs surprise they were greeted
by none other than Mr William Fielding (Billy) himself and on his arm
Julia, they were led to a prime table in the centre raised executive
dinning enclave prompting considerable interest throughout the dinning
room, after all it was common knowledge that there was a massively
expensive party in full swing at the New York Woodruff which was being
hosted by Josh Hartnett, PJs lover of 4 years, in honour of PJs birthday
and here was PJ choosing to snub that party which signalled a pretty
significant rift in both the ranks at Woodruff and in PJ and Josh's private
life.

As we were about to order Celia arrived and I asked her to join us, she
argued but as Gramps pointed out, I wanted to be surrounded by people who
loved me tonight so she gained automatic entry and he was right.

During the meal I realised in a few hours I would be flying away, across
the Atlantic in Gramps private jet, leaving behind these people I loved and
right now I was so hurt and confused I didn't know if I'd ever return.

After dinner, in Gramps office we finalised my contract and I took a few
minutes to send an email to Josh.



Oh Josh

This is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life.

I want to ask why, why you would hurt me so badly but I don't want to know
the answer because that would probably hurt even more, to know that the
person I thought was my soulmate the one I loved and would have given my
life for, the one I'd planned to ask to marry me didn't love me at all.  It
would be so much easier if I could convince myself I didn't love you, but I
can't . I'll always love you Josh but I can't forgive you.

By the time you read this I will be gone from the States and I doubt I'll
ever return.

The locks and entry codes for my apartment will be changed at midday
tomorrow so if you want to take anything, anything at all, do it before
then.

I doubt I could ever face going back there, it would always remind me of
the heartbreak I had to face there, of losing you, of losing us, so
tomorrow the realty agent will list it for sale.

Goodbye Josh.



PJ



TBC