Money Can Buy You Love. And Glitter. Chapter 55
Rating: This chapter is R.
Ship:: Adam/Kris
Story begins here: Chapter 1: Meet cute in coffee shop
Click HERE and scroll down to find links to all the chapters of this story.
Notes:
1. Kris mentions a "gigantor mum corsage" in this chapter. He's talking about the homecoming mum corsage, which seems to be mostly a tradition in Texas. To see what he's referencing, Google the phrase "Texas Homecoming Mum"
2. Emmaline talks about Heat Miser and Snow Miser, which are from The Year Without A Santa Claus. It's worth watching for this scene.
3. Kris takes Adam to the restaurant Serendipity 3 (or III) in Manhattan. It's a real place, featured in the John Cuzak movie, Serendipity. Their website is: http://www.serendipity3.com/main.htm
Chapter 55: Stubborn Serendipity
"Surprised by paparazzi as they returned from a very private vacation..." Ryan Seacrest smiled and nodded at his co-host Giuliana Rancic on the set of E! News. "Adam Lambert and his long-time partner, Kris Allen, fielded questions not only about Lambert's detainment in -- of all places -- the Lambert St. Louis Airport -- but about the Supreme Court ruling against Proposition 8, making same-sex marriage legal in California."
"Surprised?" Lane scoffed as they watched the program on the tv in Geoffrey's office while waiting for Adam to arrive. "Jacob had alerted the media!"
Geoffrey lifted his tea cup to his lips, then blew on the hot water. "Ryan likes to promulgate the fiction that publicists don't alert the media so that it seems like they have a serendipitous scoop or they're hard-working journalists. Instead of being mouthpieces for pr machines."
"Indeed, Ry." Giuliana nodded. "The two men -- tanned and appearing rested after a vacation in a still-undisclosed location -- laughed about the situation in St. Louis, but were much more serious in answering questions about gay marriage in California. As you'll see in this this clip, both men shook their heads when asked if their own wedding is now imminent. But given how long they've been one of the most stable gay couples in Hollywood, we can only wonder. And keep our eyes and ears peeled for any extremely large purchases of white glitter!"
"White glitter. As if." Adam smirked as he stood in the doorway with Hannah and nodded at the tv screen in front of Lane and Geoffrey that was playing video of him and Kris from LAX. Kris was trying to hide behind Adam and yet answer the questions. Emmaline handled the paps better than Kris. "That would be soooo obvious."
"And you're not into anything obvious at all, are you?" Hannah teased, giving Adam a gentle push into the office.
"Aren't you Miss Eager Beaver?" Adam asked as he walked over to the table and picked up a cup and poured himself some tea. "Why? Why did I have to rush over for an emergency meeting?" He froze with the cup half-way to his lips. "Oh no. Are there naked pictures of us on vacation?"
"No!" Lane answered instantly, seeing the panic in Adam's eyes. "No, no. This is good."
"This is big, Adam," Hannah told him, sitting down and jiggling her leg. "Really big."
"That's what Kris said several times a day on vacation." Adam smirked as the other three groaned. "What? He did!"
"I'm sure. Kris did say that the bananas the host delivered were remarkably huge," Lane commented with a responding smirk of her own.
"The man in the yellow hat. I honest to god thought I was in some Curious George book..." Adam began.
"Fascinating." Hannah glared at Adam. "Can we get on with this?"
"With what? What's the big secret?"
Geoffrey smiled, put his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. "Do you remember -- all those years ago -- when you were scheduled to be on ABC's Rockin' New Year's Eve and they cancelled after the AMAs?"
"Oh, vaguely." Adam rolled his eyes and impatiently gestured with his hand in a rolling motion. "What now? Isn't all that backlash over?"
"Oh, it's over. In fact --" Geoffrey grinned. "Let's start with the back story. The teen queen of the moment had to cancel that gig, as you may have heard."
Adam nodded. "That chick in your stable who was singing about saving it for the right guy and just announced her pregnancy?"
"Yes, that one!" Hannah exclaimed impatiently. "They dropped her which was breaking the signed contract, so Geoffrey negotiated and--"
"I will tell him!" Geoffrey interrupted. "In lieu of me suing their asses off, they're asking you to appear this year! And they gave you twice the number of songs they were giving her! Plus--"
"WHAT?" Adam squawked. "They want me on Rockin' New Year's Eve?"
"They do!" Hannah clapped her hands in excitement, then flushed as she saw Lane's amused gaze. "It feels sweet to me, so I can imagine what it feels like to you."
"Good things come to those who wait," Lane said primly, then burst out laughing when Adam gave her a derisive snort.
"And who have a balls to the walls manager," Adam noted, smiling at Geoffrey, remembering how furious Geoffrey had been at that cancellation. "I know you've always vowed you'd get me back on that show."
"I did. I made a promise and with the help of a little bad luck for someone else, I keep my promises," Geoffrey said in a rush, more interested in the happiness of delayed gratification on Adam's face. "Good, you're as excited as I'd hoped you'd be."
"Why wouldn't I be? The stars aligned to right the situation and you took advantage of it."
Hannah nodded. "We were a little concerned you might be mad that you weren't their first choice?"
"All that matters in the end is... the end. I got the gig." Adam shrugged. "I'm gonna show them."
"Good. But I'm going to bloody well warn you." Pointing his finger at Adam, Geoffrey shook his head. "Let's avoid...shenanigans. And the glambulge. Play nice."
"Play nice? Well, fuck my life. You just sucked all the fun out of the gig entirely!"
"I'm sure you'll find a way to subvert the entire tradition of the show without anyone being the wiser," Hannah noted with a wry smile.
Lane wrinkled her nose in confusion. "What would the entire tradition of the show be, might I inquire?"
"The ball dropping is the key to the night. And yes, Adam..." Geoffrey smiled again. "You get to hit the buzzer and drop the ball."
"No fucking way!" Adam laughed. "They're actually going to let me near a really big ball going down and a microphone?"
"Uh-oh." The other three said in unison while Adam grinned.
"How many songs?" Adam asked and they settled down to hammer out the details. An hour later, he stood and stretched. "So, we're done for now. Lane, are you coming with me now or..."
"I have to finish up some details on the scheduling with Hannah and I'll meet you this afternoon?" Lane asked.
"Sounds good." Adam looked at the three people most crucial to his music career and important in his actual life. He said gratefully, "I want to thank you three for being maybe the only three people in the fucking world who haven't asked when Kris and I are going to get married."
"Of course not!" Geoffrey held up his hands. "I'm not a meddler."
"I would never!" Hannah shook her head. "You know I have no interest in your personal life."
"I'm in no hurry to plan an Adam Lambert wedding." Lane shuddered. "Especially if it involves anything called dump cake."
Adam stared at each one of them in turn. "Is this the game, Tell Two Lies and One Truth?"
"It's not geocaching, I'm just using the GPS on my phone to find the address! You're gonna love it. Have I ever steered you wrong?" Kris laughed after they'd exited the cab and were standing on the corner. The cab had made much better time in Manhattan traffic than he'd expected and they had time to kill before their reservation.
"Do you honestly want me to answer that with a recitation of the questions the TSA agents asked? In real time?" Adam retorted. "Starting with the one about the pink dildo?"
"Okay. So one time. Sheesh." Kris rolled his eyes. "If you weren't lollygagging--"
"Lollygagging? That sounds like a sex act." Leering down at Kris, Adam added, "Involving a lollypop, your throat and my dick."
"You hope, but it's not. It's--"
"And then again, you lost your gag reflex years ago."
"Yeah and lollygagging is a term meaning dawdling."
"Dawdling. Sounds like another sex act."
Giggling, Kris bumped his shoulder into Adam's arm. "If you hurry up right now, I'll both lollygag and dawdle you tomorrow night before the show. Just like always."
"Ah. And who says we aren't traditional?" Adam scoffed. "We are."
"We are!" Kris agreed. "Other people have gigantor mum corsages and Labor Day parades and Shrove Tuesday pancake breakfasts and we have time alone in the green room before a show."
"I don't even know what a mum corsage is, but I like our traditions better. Way better than pancakes. And where are we going?" Adam asked, laughing as Kris pulled him down the sidewalk. "I hope it's not too far. It's freezing!" He wrapped the scarf more carefully around his neck.
"Wimpy California boy!" Kris teased, pretending to look at the GPS on his phone.
"First of all, consider yourself lucky that I'm doing any kind of geocaching with you again. And secondly, Manhattan is really cold in December," Adam protested.
"Should've thought of that before you agreed to be on that Rockin' New Year's Eve show."
"Oh, no way was I going to turn that down. And no way would Geoffrey have let me," Adam reminded him. "After all that shit after the AMAs, it's sweeeeeet justice to have them ask me to appear."
"It only took, what? Seven years?"
"Guess I must've broken a mirror." Adam smiled as Kris' obvious eagerness for this little side trip. "But that's not true. My luck was turning around when I met you that day."
"You say that all the time," Kris said softly, then his face cleared as he looked ahead.
"Yes, that it was serendipity."
"Exactly!" Kris pointed. "There!"
"Where?"
"There!" Once again tugging Adam's hand, Kris laughed. "The restaurant. You know, like from the movie?"
"Serendipity Three?" Adam read the sign. "That's a real place?"
"It is!" Kris jumped up and down on the balls of his feet. "They serve ice cream. And actual food, but I thought you'd be most interested in the ice cream."
"Well, then. 'Lay on, MacDuff'!"
"I thought it was lead on, MacDuff?" Kris as they walked down the steps to the front door of the restaurant. Oh shit, there were way more people than he'd expected. Lane had warned him that the place might be crowded with tourists in town for New Year's Eve. Crap. He might have to change the game plan. Well, that was okay. Adam would still like the place. And the idea. He'd just execute later. Maybe on New Year's Day over coffee. Yeah, that was a better idea actually. So he wasn't going to chicken out, the way Geoffrey had accused him of doing with that other plan before. He'd just changed his mind. People were allowed to change their minds.
"Nope. That's what people think the line is, but it's not." Looking around the gift shop at the front of the restaurant, Adam smiled as he picked up a chocolate scented candle.
"And you're very smug about the fact that you know the real line, aren't you?" Kris teased, watching Adam poke around the little shop.
"I like knowing what's real and what's not. Even if I pretend I don't. Keeps that line between sane and crazy nice and thick."
"Well, I like how thick your--"
"Gentleman?" The hostess asked. "How can I help you?"
"We have a reservation?" Kris held out a card.
The hostess read it and smiled. "Of course, of course. Give me a moment." She stepped back and spoke softly into her mouthpiece, then gestured towards the stairs. "Follow me upstairs, if you please."
Kris looked up at Adam and winked. "Lane set it up." And Lane was going to be so disappointed that he wasn't going to follow through on their plans, but he couldn't. Not with how crowded it was. He didn't want witnesses.
"This looks like an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. Slightly on acid."
"It is an ice cream parlor. With real food. But they're famous for frozen hot chocolate." Kris offered as they went up the stairs. "Which is kinda like ice cream."
"I don't want kinda like. I want the real thing." Adam squeezed Kris' shoulder as they sat down.
"Don't pout." Kris wagged his finger at Adam. "Although... it is kinda cute when you pout."
"So I've been told." Adam winked as Kris glared at him.
"Don't even try making me jealous," Kris ordered. "It's ridiculous."
Adam complained with another pout, "You could pretend to get jealous."
"I think you should," the hostess agreed. "Everyone likes to think they're worth getting jealous over."
"See? Told ya." Adam smiled smugly.
Kris stared, then sighed. "Whoever said New Yorkers are unfriendly has never actually spent time in New York. Y'all are more free with opinions than Pearline. And less likely to pull snakes out of a cooler."
"Ookaaaay..." The hostess looked helplessly at Adam. "Is he jiving me?"
"No. Sadly, no. By the way, aren't we getting some of those ridiculously huge menus?" Adam asked the hostess. "Kris here likes things huge."
"Adammmm!" Kris giggled, then choked.
"Kris here has set up a treat that's off-menu," the hostess told him with a grin.
"Right here? Where everyone can see us?" Adam gasped and put his hand over his heart. He looked under the table. "Well, Kris is small, but I think even he would have trouble fitting under there and there is no tablecloth to hide him..."
"Adammmm!" Kris looked up as the hostess dissolved into her own giggle fit, then straightened up to motion a waiter with a tray over. "Okay, here we go. It's a backwards dinner. We're starting with dessert. And then we'll end with dessert too, because the rules don't apply to us, nosirreebob!"
"I like the way you think, Kris Allen." Adam sat up straight as the waiter set down a parfait glass with a flourish, then smiled as he detailed the sundae beginning with the mint chocolate chip ice cream.
"All your favorites in one sundae!" Kris explained as the waiter and hostess left them alone. Finally. Running his thumb against the edge of the box in his pocket, Kris debated, then left it in his pocket. Too many people. "Dig in. And don't say one word about the calories or fat. You've been rehearsing and exercising so much since Geoffrey got you this gig that you've lost weight. Eat up."
"If..." Adam wiped his mouth with the napkin. "If you'd stop lecturing me for a moment and pay actual attention, you might've noticed I was the one eating my ice cream, while yours is untouched and melting."
"Oh." Kris looked down at Adam's parfait glass. How had he managed to eat that much while Kris didn't notice. Whoa. Guess nerves made you ignore the obvious. He shoved his spoon into his own sundae and moaned. "Awesome sauce. And I mean the sauce is awesome." Kris grinned.
"I thought you said my sauce was awesome?" Adam winked again. "So we're having dessert first?"
"Because life is short, so enjoy the good stuff."
"Agreed." Adam nodded and resolved that at least for tonight, he wouldn't worry about the calories and fat content. Or at least he wouldn't say anything and ruin the treat Kris had set up for them. Keeping his voice low so no one else in the crowded restaurant would hear, he asked, "So, why this special date? Any reason?"
Patting the small box in his pocket, Kris smiled. It could and would wait. He wasn't chickening out, he was just being prudent. Adam had so much going on in the next day and a half, he shouldn't be distracted. And Kris liked his privacy any way. Yeah, the coffee on New Year's Day sounded like a better plan with every passing minute. "I just wanted to take you out because... well, a lot of reasons. First of all, I want to thank you for not stuffing my mother into a closet and leaving her there when you flew her out for Christmas last week."
"Mama, you gotta stop hounding Adam about gettin' married," Kris implored, pulling his mother away from the bright lights of the Christmas tree and the flushed hue on Adam's face. "You're makin' him crazy."
"Well, he told me that when gay marriage was legal, he was gonna to marry you. So it's legal and I'm wonderin' when's the wedding!" Kim said, putting her hands on her hips. "I need to buy a new dress."
"It'll happen. The wedding and your new dress. But the more you push and poke at Adam, the more he'll resist. It's his nature."
"Typical man!" Kim huffed. "What's the good of bein' gay if he's just gonna act like a typical man? I ask you!"
"Ha. I'm not like that!"
"You're stubborn as a mule." Kim glared. "You get an idea in your head and you won't let go even when it's actually gone. You hold onto nothing sometimes. Stubborn is as stubborn does. And you're stubborn, son."
"Am not." Kris glared back. "And for the record, we will get married. But let it happen, Mama. Just... let it happen."
"Unlike you, I'm not good at waiting for life to happen around me." Kim sniffed. "Why don't you ask him?"
"Why don't I..." Kris blinked, then smiled.
"Grammy Kim!" Emmaline shrieked, up to them. "And Dadakiss! Come back over here! UncaBrad and Auntie Allison are gonna do Heat Miser and Snow Miser for us!"
"Well, now, here we come!" Kim agreed. She pointed at her son. "Hurry up. Life can pass by all too fast now, hear me?"
"Your mother..." Adam bit down hard on a chocolate chip. "She means well. But you didn't need to do all this to apologize. I know what it's like to have meddlers in my life. You've met Geoffrey, haven't you?"
"Kinda." Kris smiled and reached over the table to take Adam's hand. He squeezed it. "But that's not the only reason I wanted us to take time out for lunch today. Tonight and tomorrow are gonna be crazy busy getting ready for the show. And I wanted a chance for the two of us to celebrate the gig and well, us. The way you always talk about the universe putting us in the same place at the same time..." Kris nodded at the sign of the restaurant. "You think it was the stars aligning and all, but--"
"It was. Don't spoil it for me by being all rational."
"I..." Kris shook his head. "But I guess... My point is that you can make serendipity happen, you know?"
Opening his mouth to argue, Adam shoved another spoonful of ice cream inside instead. A wise man knew when to shut the fuck up and when to talk. Shutting the fuck up was his best option given the reality that Kris liked to plan their couple activities. He had gone to so much trouble to set up the vacation, wanting it to be perfect, and it had been aside from that contretemps at the Lambert St. Louis Airport. Swallowing the ice cream, Adam nodded. "You can make wonderful moments happen. And you have, Kris. Thanks. For everything."
"Thank you, sweetie. My life...since I met you my life was been wonderful. I just want you to know that." Seeing the sincerity and the love in Adam's eyes as he nodded and whispered, 'Me too', Kris swallowed against the thickness in his throat and touched the box again. It was a good moment, but he looked down as he sensed people keying into who they were, looking whispering. Adam was ignoring it,but ... still. No privacy. Maybe after the show.
"So, guys, what are the rituals you all have before a show?" Ryan asked the next night in the large and thankfully heated tent in Times Square, rocking back and forth on his heels. He had to yell to be heard over the noise of the New Year's Eve revelers outside. "Most performers have them."
"Not us." Tommy shook his head.
"Nope, not us," Isaac agreed. He and Tommy looked at each other and burst out laughing. They looked in the general direction of Adam's trailer and then laughed again.
"Am I missing something?" Ryan asked, turning to Lane when Tommy and Isaac kept giggling together.
"Not at all. Don't be ridiculous!" Lane snapped, then smiled brightly when Ryan looked at her in shock. She had to distract Ryan away from focusing on Adam and Kris' whereabouts before the show. "Of course, I don't mean you, Ryan. I meant the two village idiots over there."
"Of course, you did." Ryan rolled his eyes. He had tried to hire her away from Adam for years and had never gotten more than an incredulous arch of an eyebrow from her. "I know you barely tolerate my presence."
"You are utterly ridiculous." Lane shrugged. Speaking of ridiculous, why had Kris carried a big basket of lollypops into Adam's trailer tonight? Eh, she didn't want to know. "It's that inferiority complex short men often seem to carry around with them like so much rubbish that needs to go into the bin that is making you believe that."
"Yes, short man syndrome is a problem." Geoffrey smiled as he strode into the prepping area.
Ryan glared. "I don't have short man syndrome!"
"Excellent." Lane tapped his shoulder. "That means you've accepted the fact that your dick is indeed smaller than average. It's always good when people accept reality." She smiled, then moved to the table of food.
"What did she just say?" Ryan asked as everyone else laughed around him. "She honestly didn't talk about my--"
"Cock. Give it to me..." Kris ordered, stifling a giggle as Adam backed away.
"Can't. There's seriously like a million people right outside these walls." Adam pointed at the thin trailer walls.
"That's why I'm here. Doin' my job. You can't have a glambulge tonight..." Kris walked toward Adam with his hands outstretched. "I'm just here to do a pubic service."
"Don't you mean public service?" Adam hid his grin. If there was one truth in this world it was that Kris always got aggressively horny when they were getting ready for a show. He didn't think that he'd ever gone on stage without getting a little sumthin sumthin from Kris ever since they'd gotten together. They did have great traditions. And it was a great way to ring in a new year...
"Nope." Kris grinned. He saw the minute Adam decided getting a blow job in the trailer was a great idea. Well, the minute his brain decided. His cock had been on board ever since Kris had shooed the make up artist out of the trailer and finished applying glitter to Adam's collarbone. Bone. Speaking of which. "I mean pubic. As in show me your--"
"Can't. I have white pants on!" Adam argued, putting his hand over his crotch. "They'll show any stains."
"No stains. I'll lick you up, nice and clean..." Kris slowly swiped his tongue over his bottom lip watching Adam's eyes darken. Aha! Had him. He pounced.
TBC ------> Chapter 56.1: The Glittery Ball Drops