Fanfic: B&S episode 605: part 3/4
Season 6 - Episode 5 - A FRACTION TOO MUCH FRICTION
By Marea67
About: Brothers & Sisters (general)
Rate: Can’t go higher than PG-13, as this is American Television, but I may add a few ‘deleted scenes’ here and there. ;)
Disclaimer: Just escaping from reality here, not created for financial gain
Summary: It is my very own season 6, you guys! Go with it! ;) Don’t complain! If YOU can do better, post your own story! (I dare you!)
***** PART 3/4 *****
“Have you ever performed an exorcism?” Chad asks and Jason looks up from the lunch he’s having with Chad.
“A what?”
“You know, getting rid of demons, ghosts, or whatever?”
“I’m not that much into the paranormal.”
“I swear, that place is haunted. The weirdest things happen at the hotel.”
“Probably just some prankster.”
“We thought about that, but that is not possible.”
“Why not?” Jason sighs, knowing Chad isn’t letting it go.
“Alright, at first we thought the same. Things ended up on different places, so someone must have misplaced them. Something broke, it must have fallen, toppled over, not been put down right in the first place, something like that.
Tapes end up snowy, with no sound or no images? Failing equipment was our first thought. But we have too many of these things happening to us. Last week we lost an entire day of shooting, because the scenes we shot have disappeared. Looked for the tapes everywhere, nowhere to be found.”
“You think that someone is sabotaging your project?”
“Why? What purpose would it have? It’s just a movie… So, Dane had had enough and he had locks put on the door. The next day, he enters, the room looks like it’s been hit by a tornado.”
“Seriously? … Couldn’t someone else have used a key? Like someone from the hotel with a master-key?”
“No. The only ones actually having a key were Dane and Cleo. I’m sure it wasn’t Dane and I can’t imagine Cleo doing it either. Unless I’m a very bad judge of character.”
“It all sounds rather weird to me.”
“I know. Slowly people are starting to whisper about ghosts, poltergeists and demons… If only the entire floor wouldn’t give off such a negative vibe. Everyone starts to feel it now…”
“Power of suggestion.” Jason shrugs. “If you’re with a group of people, try yawning, you’ll see that soon enough a lot of others start to do the same…. Same goes with this. One mentions something and suddenly everyone gets ‘vibes’, whatever they are... Why don’t I come up to see you and have a look myself?” Jason suggests.
“Would you? I can get you clearance…”
“I’ll do it, but you’ll see, there’s nothing to be worried about.” Jason laughs.
“I hope so. I got startled last night, when I was taking off my make-up and heard footsteps in the hall.
I wondered who it was, but when I looked, there was no one there. Of course, I was tired, it’s an old building, things make noise, but I sure spooked me.” Chad confesses a bit awkwardly and Jason takes his hand.
“Don’t worry, love, I’ll protect you.”
*****
“Kitty?” Justin is surprised to see his sister on his doorstep.
“Can I come in? Kevin is at work, so is Tommy, I can’t reach Sarah and I don’t need mom tell me ‘I told me so’, though she will probably not say that...”
“Sure.” Justin opens the door and lets her in, he can see that she’s been crying. “Where’s Evan?”
“Staying with a friend until six.”
“What happened? You look upset.”
“I am upset. Seth came home and left again about 15 minutes later.”
“What?”
“He realized I was still pregnant and got so mad.”
“Oh, right…” Justin doesn’t know what to say. He can’t really blame Seth for being angry.
“You think I deserve this, don’t you?”
“Deserve? No. But I think you could have seen this coming. You lied to him.”
“I didn’t lie. I never said I wasn’t pregnant.” She insists. Justin sighs.
“No, but you never corrected his wrong assumption either. It suited you just fine that he thought that you did have an abortion. You knowing and willingly kept very important information away from him….
Remember how furious you were when Robert wanted to run for Governor. It wasn’t the fact that he wanted to run for Governor, it was the fact that he didn’t tell you about it. The same here. It’s not so much that you are pregnant, he knew how you felt about keeping the baby, it’s that you let him believe that you changed you mind and then didn’t.”
“I’m still healthy and I’m still pregnant and I’m doing fine and I feel great…. Why can’t he be happy with that?”
“I think it must have been a nasty surprise for him when he found out.”
“He wasn’t happy.” Kitty admits.
“Give him time.”
“What if he doesn’t want to come back?”
“He loves you.” Justin says, but his words sound more automatically than he intended.
“I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
Justin is inclined to say that Kitty said the same about living without Robert, but that she’s doing just fine, but then he decides not to say anything. Instead he puts an arm around his sister’s shoulders, kisses her head and he whispers.
“It will be alright. He’ll be back.” And he hopes he’s right.
*****
“Can I come in?” Mateo asks and Kevin waves him in. “See what I did? Twice in one day, through the front-door.” He jokes.
“I barely recognize you anymore.” Kevin immediately replies and Mateo sits down and looks up at him.
“Have you found an answer?”
“Well, I haven’t found more relatives, that’s for sure. Your dad is not an option. He’s in prison right now.”
“What?”
“Small sentence. A couple of months, for hitting an police-officer, resisting arrest, making trouble in general, carrying a weapon and they found drugs in his car, even though he was clear himself, so it wasn’t for himself.” Mateo sighs at Kevin’s words, his mood sinking fast.
“If what your grandmother says is true and no one in your immediate circle can help you, then it may become a problem. … However, Jill, the lady who helped us to adopt, came up with an idea. Maybe you can stay with Scotty and me?”
“What?”
“I know it’s a ridiculous stretch, but we’ve already taken you in once. With this problem on your mind, you didn’t go to just anybody else, you came to me, like you had in the past, this could constitute a bond of trust between us… It’s a stretch.. I know… but if your grand-mother agrees…?”
“Why wouldn’t she?” Mateo’s face lights up.
“I don’t know how she would feel about her grandson living in a house with two gay men?” Kevin points out and he can see that Mateo hadn’t thought of that either.
“She’s grateful to you for helping us be together again.”
“That’s not quite the same…” Kevin feels obliged to remark and Mateo nods that he understands. “And… there’s another catch… I haven’t spoken to my husband yet about this either. Since you were with us last, our family has grown with a boy, a year and half old, and a girl, eleven years old.
He might feel like it would be too much to add someone to the family. It would also mean that we’d have to create some room for you, which is not impossible, but should still be done.”
“I see. What do we do now?”
“Well, I’ve asked my mother to pick up our daughter. A friend of ours is looking after our son. So I suggest I should drive you home, so I can talk to your grandmother first? If she disagrees, then there’s no point in me bringing it up with Scotty.”
“That would be awesome.” Mateo seems clearly happy. “If she says yes, what are the chances that your husband will too?”
“Depends at how good I am at convincing him…. But I still have some time to come up with arguments and contra-arguments….” Kevin winks.
*****
“Saul, you have to stop getting so worked up over Tommy.” Jonathan says, massaging Saul’s shoulders. “You’re so irritated with him. Why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he reminds of my failures, my own mistakes, Ojai Foods, keeping William’s lies from Nora….”
“You can’t blame that on Tommy.”
“I know that, Jonathan, but … I’ve never felt like a paid a price for my mistakes. Yes, people were angry, but ultimately I was forgiven… Or so I thought… But what if Tommy ruins Café 429?
I love that place as much as William loved Ojai. What if that is my punishment? To lose what I love to do and what I worked so hard for to get?”
“What is it with you and your desire to get punished for things? Do you have some fetish I should be aware about?” Jonathan asks, slightly annoyed.
“What do you mean?”
“You couldn’t pick a date for a marriage, because you felt you didn’t deserve happiness somehow, and now, you’re convinced that Tommy is some tool to bring you down. Saul, on the grand scale of life you’re nothing but a little bit of dust.
I pretty sure that God, or whoever, has better things to do with his time than to find elaborate ways to punish you for something you did and that those immediately hurt by it, have forgiven you for. Seriously, let Tommy do his job, be glad that he has a steady job and just enjoy life a bit, will you?” Jonathan makes Saul look up at him and kisses him gently.
*****
“You came.” Chad wraps his arms around Jason and holds him tightly.
“I have to admit, this place does make you feel creeped out…” Jason says and he shivers.
“I know, uncanny, isn’t it? Everyone says the same.”
“This doesn’t necessarily mean that there are ghosts, entities and demons here.”
Chad looks at Jason and smiles, glad that Jason is so level-headed.
“I know. I guess it’s just our imaginations getting away with us.”
“This place sure brings it out.” Jason admits and watches how Chad corrects his own make-up a bit.
“Don’t you have someone doing the make-up for you?”
“Yeah, but she’s busy with my co-star, this way it will be quicker. She just needs the same look I had this morning.” He grins when he sees Jason looking at him. “It must look very strange to you.”
“Yes and no. I know that you wear make-up, even when it doesn’t show, but I’ve never seen you put it on yourself.”
“Trust me. I’ve had to learn. I don’t mind make-up, l learned how to use it and, more importantly, when NOT to use any. In this movie and with the lights we have here, I don’t need that much. So, what do you think, so far?”
“Everyone is nervous, jumpy, I just wonder how much of the ghost-stories are true and how much of it is ‘vivid imagination’.”
“Good question.” Chad replies, when the door opens and a young lady sticks her head in.
“Chad, Dane wants to see you.”
“I’ll be right back.” Chad says to Jason and he leaves the room. The door remains wide open waiting for Chad’s return. Jason sits down, picks up the script and starts to read, until a knock catches his attention. The door slams closed with a loud bang and Jason jumps up.
“Hey!” He yells, more startled by the loud bang than anything else. He rushes over to the door and tries to open it. He turns the knob, but the door doesn’t open. His heart starts to beat faster and he suddenly feels cold. He pulls at the door again. He feels a brief tug at his neck and he realizes that his necklace, with a little golden cross on it, falls to the floor. He lets go of the door and picks it up.
Lights flicker and the door unlocks. Jason carefully opens the door. When he looks around, everyone seems to be about their normal routine. The young women who just called Chad, walks up to him.
“Can I get you some coffee?” She asks.
Jason nods, though he’d prefer something stronger.
“Somebody just locked me in Chad’s dressing-room.” He says confused and a bit angry.
“Impossible. There’s no lock on the door.” She starts to laugh and points at the door and Jason can see for himself that there’s no way the door can be locked.
*****
When Kevin enters the street where Mateo lives, the first thing he sees is the ambulance halfway the street.
“That looks like our house.” Mateo says worriedly and Kevin parks his car. They quickly walk over to the house.
“That’s my grandmother!” Mateo watches how his grandmother gets carried away on a stretcher. “What happened?”
“I went to bring your grandmother some chicken-soup and I found her at the bottom of the stairs.” A woman says to Mateo.
“Our next door neighbor.” Mateo introduces her to Kevin.
“Excuse me, this is her grandson. How bad is it?” Kevin asks the paramedic.
“First indication is a broken hip. We’ll know more in the hospital.” The paramedic replies and he turns to Mateo. “Drive with us?” He asks. Mateo turns to Kevin, unsure what to do.
“I’ll follow the ambulance.” Kevin replies and Mateo climbs in the ambulance to be with his grandmother. Back in his car, Kevin immediately dials Jill’s number.
“Jill, it’s Kevin Walker. I need your help.” He says.
*****
“Luc! Such a lovely night for an exhibition. I can’t wait to see you latest paintings!” Some woman talks to Luc and Luc is pretty sure he met her before someplace, but he can’t remember her name. And usually he’s very good at remembering women, knowing that they appreciate it to be remembered, especially when they are the ones holding the cheque-book or credit-card.
“I’m so glad you came to see them. You look amazing tonight.” Luc replies, placing a kiss on her hand, which makes her giggle.
“Oh, silly! Of course I want to see them. Can I walk with you?” She asks and Luc offers her his arm.
Hannah? Tilly? Bernadette? Luc picks his brain to remember. Jane? Anne? Jacqueline? Somehow he feels it is important to remember. Why isn’t Sarah here yet? She was supposed to have been here half an hour ago. Sarah would know the name of this woman… Gloria? Marguerite? Samantha?
“Ingrid! You found tonight’s star!” Another woman walks up to them. Of course, Ingrid Hamilton! Now he remembers, she bought several of his paintings last time.
“Have you already made a choice?”
“No, I haven’t had a good look at them yet, because I was waiting for Luc…” Ingrid replies.
They enter the large hall where several of Luc’s paintings are on display. He talks to Ingrid about the paintings, their meaning, what he tried to express. Occasionally they get spoken to by other guests, but in general they walk through the exhibition together. Luc is too excited to notice that Ingrid becomes more and more quiet.
“If you will excuse me, Ingrid, I have to make a phone-call.” Luc apologizes. Sarah is now an hour late. Ingrid nods, that it is alright with her and Luc searches for a quiet spot to talk to Sarah. It takes a while for her to pick up the phone and Luc starts to get worried. Like all Walkers, Sarah always carries her phone with her.
“Hi, Luc….” Sarah starts.
“Are you stuck in traffic? I’ve been waiting for more than an hour. It has long started, people ask where you are, … You can’t leave me alone like this on such an important night.”
“I’m so sorry, Luc. I was just about to leave when I had call from Gabe’s school.”
“His school?”
“Gabe collapsed on the field during football-training.”
“How come?”
“I’m in the hospital now, trying to find out.” Sarah replies. “It would seem exhaustion and dehydration would be the primary cause, but they are giving him a full check-up.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Luc tries to be friendly. It’s not like he cannot understand and, of course, Gabe’s health is more important than an exhibition, but still…..
“I will try to join as soon as I can, but .. at this moment I don’t know how long it will take.”
“Forget about the exhibition. Gabe is more important.” Luc tries to be generous, tries to be understanding, but he can’t help feeling bitterly disappointed.
After saying goodbye and wishing that Gabe will be alright, he joins the party again. He tries to find Ingrid again, but she seems to have left early. He makes some small-talk here and there, but somehow the thrill is gone and he’s no longer having fun and he can’t remember the last time he was this glad to finally be allowed to go home.
*****
Scotty carefully opens the door to Daniel’s room. It’s in the middle of the night and Scotty is happy that he’s finally home. As usual he had checked on Olivia first, giving her loving kiss, that never seems to wake her and after that there’s Daniel to say goodnight to, before joining Kevin.
This time however, Scotty can see something else by the light of the little nightlight. He turns on a bigger light. There’s an air-mattress on the floor and it takes Scotty a few seconds to recognize the young man who’s sleeping there. Scotty is surprised, but then remembers that Kevin had tried to reach him several times that night.
He checks quickly on Daniel, who’s in a deep sleep and then he has another look at Mateo. He picks up the sheet and covers Mateo up a bit more. Mateo opens his eyes, still half asleep, he smiles when he recognizes Scotty, but goes back to sleep almost immediately and Scotty quietly leaves the room to find Kevin.
Entering the bedroom, Scotty is greeted by a sleeping Kevin, asleep with all his work still around him. He had obviously tried to stay awake until Scotty came home.
“Hey, babe.” Scotty whispers and he kisses Kevin’s lips. Kevin slowly opens his eyes and sighs.
“You’re home.” He notices.
“Good assessment of the situation.” Scotty winks. “Can you now please explain to me why Mateo is asleep in Daniel’s room? The short version, please, I’m exhausted.” Scotty demands and he starts to undress.
“He came to me this morning, asking for my help…. With something…” Kevin gets distracted when Scotty takes off his t-shirt, his eyes hungrily take in every inch of Scotty’s chest… “Ahm… he… We found a solution. Jill came up with an idea, so I asked him to come back to my office and…”
Scotty starts to unbutton his pants and Kevin follows every movement of the long fingers. “The… The .. He.. Mateo agreed with my plan. We wanted to talk to his grandmother first, but when we got there ….You are aware of the fact that you’re distracting me, aren’t you?”
Scotty can’t help but smile. He had noticed Kevin’s inability to stay focused on the story and he could nearly feel Kevin help him get undressed. He slides under the cover and helps Kevin to remove some of the papers that were still on the bed.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t very well go to bed with my all my clothes on.” Scotty apologizes.
“No. I get that… Anyhow, when we came to Mateo’s house, we found that his grandmother had fallen down the stairs.”
“Is she alright?”
“I guess so, but she’ll need to recuperate and she has to stay in the hospital.”
“Where will Mateo stay in the meantime?” Scotty asks, remembering how the boy would use to sleep on the street.
“Well, that ‘s the point. The father is not an option..”
“No. I get that.”
“With his grandmother in hospital, there’s no one to take care of him. We’ve quickly asked around, but people either can’t or won’t take him in.”
“That’s awful. Poor kid.” Scotty shakes his head.
“I spoke to Jill and she suggested that…. Maybe he could stay with us…?”
“Just tonight, right? … Or … do you have other plans?”
“It would be for a longer period of time… Several weeks?”
“Kevin,….”
“I know, it will be difficult, but not impossible and I don’t want him in a home.”
“All I wanted to say was, that I’m too tired right now to think. He’s asleep and has a roof over his head for tonight, can we discuss this further in the morning, because my brains have already gone to bed and they are waiting for the rest of me?” Kevin smiles over Scotty’s words and opens his arms, so Scotty can be close to him.
“I didn’t mean to go behind your back…” Kevin apologizes in the darkness. “I just wanted to talk to Mateo and his grandmother first, before I would get you all worked up over something that one or neither of them would approve of.”
“I know, baby, just go to sleep…. Please.” Scotty insists and he kisses Kevin’s lips.
*****
End of part 3/4
**** COMMERCIAL BREAK*****
By Marea67
About: Brothers & Sisters (general)
Rate: Can’t go higher than PG-13, as this is American Television, but I may add a few ‘deleted scenes’ here and there. ;)
Disclaimer: Just escaping from reality here, not created for financial gain
Summary: It is my very own season 6, you guys! Go with it! ;) Don’t complain! If YOU can do better, post your own story! (I dare you!)
***** PART 3/4 *****
“Have you ever performed an exorcism?” Chad asks and Jason looks up from the lunch he’s having with Chad.
“A what?”
“You know, getting rid of demons, ghosts, or whatever?”
“I’m not that much into the paranormal.”
“I swear, that place is haunted. The weirdest things happen at the hotel.”
“Probably just some prankster.”
“We thought about that, but that is not possible.”
“Why not?” Jason sighs, knowing Chad isn’t letting it go.
“Alright, at first we thought the same. Things ended up on different places, so someone must have misplaced them. Something broke, it must have fallen, toppled over, not been put down right in the first place, something like that.
Tapes end up snowy, with no sound or no images? Failing equipment was our first thought. But we have too many of these things happening to us. Last week we lost an entire day of shooting, because the scenes we shot have disappeared. Looked for the tapes everywhere, nowhere to be found.”
“You think that someone is sabotaging your project?”
“Why? What purpose would it have? It’s just a movie… So, Dane had had enough and he had locks put on the door. The next day, he enters, the room looks like it’s been hit by a tornado.”
“Seriously? … Couldn’t someone else have used a key? Like someone from the hotel with a master-key?”
“No. The only ones actually having a key were Dane and Cleo. I’m sure it wasn’t Dane and I can’t imagine Cleo doing it either. Unless I’m a very bad judge of character.”
“It all sounds rather weird to me.”
“I know. Slowly people are starting to whisper about ghosts, poltergeists and demons… If only the entire floor wouldn’t give off such a negative vibe. Everyone starts to feel it now…”
“Power of suggestion.” Jason shrugs. “If you’re with a group of people, try yawning, you’ll see that soon enough a lot of others start to do the same…. Same goes with this. One mentions something and suddenly everyone gets ‘vibes’, whatever they are... Why don’t I come up to see you and have a look myself?” Jason suggests.
“Would you? I can get you clearance…”
“I’ll do it, but you’ll see, there’s nothing to be worried about.” Jason laughs.
“I hope so. I got startled last night, when I was taking off my make-up and heard footsteps in the hall.
I wondered who it was, but when I looked, there was no one there. Of course, I was tired, it’s an old building, things make noise, but I sure spooked me.” Chad confesses a bit awkwardly and Jason takes his hand.
“Don’t worry, love, I’ll protect you.”
*****
“Kitty?” Justin is surprised to see his sister on his doorstep.
“Can I come in? Kevin is at work, so is Tommy, I can’t reach Sarah and I don’t need mom tell me ‘I told me so’, though she will probably not say that...”
“Sure.” Justin opens the door and lets her in, he can see that she’s been crying. “Where’s Evan?”
“Staying with a friend until six.”
“What happened? You look upset.”
“I am upset. Seth came home and left again about 15 minutes later.”
“What?”
“He realized I was still pregnant and got so mad.”
“Oh, right…” Justin doesn’t know what to say. He can’t really blame Seth for being angry.
“You think I deserve this, don’t you?”
“Deserve? No. But I think you could have seen this coming. You lied to him.”
“I didn’t lie. I never said I wasn’t pregnant.” She insists. Justin sighs.
“No, but you never corrected his wrong assumption either. It suited you just fine that he thought that you did have an abortion. You knowing and willingly kept very important information away from him….
Remember how furious you were when Robert wanted to run for Governor. It wasn’t the fact that he wanted to run for Governor, it was the fact that he didn’t tell you about it. The same here. It’s not so much that you are pregnant, he knew how you felt about keeping the baby, it’s that you let him believe that you changed you mind and then didn’t.”
“I’m still healthy and I’m still pregnant and I’m doing fine and I feel great…. Why can’t he be happy with that?”
“I think it must have been a nasty surprise for him when he found out.”
“He wasn’t happy.” Kitty admits.
“Give him time.”
“What if he doesn’t want to come back?”
“He loves you.” Justin says, but his words sound more automatically than he intended.
“I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
Justin is inclined to say that Kitty said the same about living without Robert, but that she’s doing just fine, but then he decides not to say anything. Instead he puts an arm around his sister’s shoulders, kisses her head and he whispers.
“It will be alright. He’ll be back.” And he hopes he’s right.
*****
“Can I come in?” Mateo asks and Kevin waves him in. “See what I did? Twice in one day, through the front-door.” He jokes.
“I barely recognize you anymore.” Kevin immediately replies and Mateo sits down and looks up at him.
“Have you found an answer?”
“Well, I haven’t found more relatives, that’s for sure. Your dad is not an option. He’s in prison right now.”
“What?”
“Small sentence. A couple of months, for hitting an police-officer, resisting arrest, making trouble in general, carrying a weapon and they found drugs in his car, even though he was clear himself, so it wasn’t for himself.” Mateo sighs at Kevin’s words, his mood sinking fast.
“If what your grandmother says is true and no one in your immediate circle can help you, then it may become a problem. … However, Jill, the lady who helped us to adopt, came up with an idea. Maybe you can stay with Scotty and me?”
“What?”
“I know it’s a ridiculous stretch, but we’ve already taken you in once. With this problem on your mind, you didn’t go to just anybody else, you came to me, like you had in the past, this could constitute a bond of trust between us… It’s a stretch.. I know… but if your grand-mother agrees…?”
“Why wouldn’t she?” Mateo’s face lights up.
“I don’t know how she would feel about her grandson living in a house with two gay men?” Kevin points out and he can see that Mateo hadn’t thought of that either.
“She’s grateful to you for helping us be together again.”
“That’s not quite the same…” Kevin feels obliged to remark and Mateo nods that he understands. “And… there’s another catch… I haven’t spoken to my husband yet about this either. Since you were with us last, our family has grown with a boy, a year and half old, and a girl, eleven years old.
He might feel like it would be too much to add someone to the family. It would also mean that we’d have to create some room for you, which is not impossible, but should still be done.”
“I see. What do we do now?”
“Well, I’ve asked my mother to pick up our daughter. A friend of ours is looking after our son. So I suggest I should drive you home, so I can talk to your grandmother first? If she disagrees, then there’s no point in me bringing it up with Scotty.”
“That would be awesome.” Mateo seems clearly happy. “If she says yes, what are the chances that your husband will too?”
“Depends at how good I am at convincing him…. But I still have some time to come up with arguments and contra-arguments….” Kevin winks.
*****
“Saul, you have to stop getting so worked up over Tommy.” Jonathan says, massaging Saul’s shoulders. “You’re so irritated with him. Why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he reminds of my failures, my own mistakes, Ojai Foods, keeping William’s lies from Nora….”
“You can’t blame that on Tommy.”
“I know that, Jonathan, but … I’ve never felt like a paid a price for my mistakes. Yes, people were angry, but ultimately I was forgiven… Or so I thought… But what if Tommy ruins Café 429?
I love that place as much as William loved Ojai. What if that is my punishment? To lose what I love to do and what I worked so hard for to get?”
“What is it with you and your desire to get punished for things? Do you have some fetish I should be aware about?” Jonathan asks, slightly annoyed.
“What do you mean?”
“You couldn’t pick a date for a marriage, because you felt you didn’t deserve happiness somehow, and now, you’re convinced that Tommy is some tool to bring you down. Saul, on the grand scale of life you’re nothing but a little bit of dust.
I pretty sure that God, or whoever, has better things to do with his time than to find elaborate ways to punish you for something you did and that those immediately hurt by it, have forgiven you for. Seriously, let Tommy do his job, be glad that he has a steady job and just enjoy life a bit, will you?” Jonathan makes Saul look up at him and kisses him gently.
*****
“You came.” Chad wraps his arms around Jason and holds him tightly.
“I have to admit, this place does make you feel creeped out…” Jason says and he shivers.
“I know, uncanny, isn’t it? Everyone says the same.”
“This doesn’t necessarily mean that there are ghosts, entities and demons here.”
Chad looks at Jason and smiles, glad that Jason is so level-headed.
“I know. I guess it’s just our imaginations getting away with us.”
“This place sure brings it out.” Jason admits and watches how Chad corrects his own make-up a bit.
“Don’t you have someone doing the make-up for you?”
“Yeah, but she’s busy with my co-star, this way it will be quicker. She just needs the same look I had this morning.” He grins when he sees Jason looking at him. “It must look very strange to you.”
“Yes and no. I know that you wear make-up, even when it doesn’t show, but I’ve never seen you put it on yourself.”
“Trust me. I’ve had to learn. I don’t mind make-up, l learned how to use it and, more importantly, when NOT to use any. In this movie and with the lights we have here, I don’t need that much. So, what do you think, so far?”
“Everyone is nervous, jumpy, I just wonder how much of the ghost-stories are true and how much of it is ‘vivid imagination’.”
“Good question.” Chad replies, when the door opens and a young lady sticks her head in.
“Chad, Dane wants to see you.”
“I’ll be right back.” Chad says to Jason and he leaves the room. The door remains wide open waiting for Chad’s return. Jason sits down, picks up the script and starts to read, until a knock catches his attention. The door slams closed with a loud bang and Jason jumps up.
“Hey!” He yells, more startled by the loud bang than anything else. He rushes over to the door and tries to open it. He turns the knob, but the door doesn’t open. His heart starts to beat faster and he suddenly feels cold. He pulls at the door again. He feels a brief tug at his neck and he realizes that his necklace, with a little golden cross on it, falls to the floor. He lets go of the door and picks it up.
Lights flicker and the door unlocks. Jason carefully opens the door. When he looks around, everyone seems to be about their normal routine. The young women who just called Chad, walks up to him.
“Can I get you some coffee?” She asks.
Jason nods, though he’d prefer something stronger.
“Somebody just locked me in Chad’s dressing-room.” He says confused and a bit angry.
“Impossible. There’s no lock on the door.” She starts to laugh and points at the door and Jason can see for himself that there’s no way the door can be locked.
*****
When Kevin enters the street where Mateo lives, the first thing he sees is the ambulance halfway the street.
“That looks like our house.” Mateo says worriedly and Kevin parks his car. They quickly walk over to the house.
“That’s my grandmother!” Mateo watches how his grandmother gets carried away on a stretcher. “What happened?”
“I went to bring your grandmother some chicken-soup and I found her at the bottom of the stairs.” A woman says to Mateo.
“Our next door neighbor.” Mateo introduces her to Kevin.
“Excuse me, this is her grandson. How bad is it?” Kevin asks the paramedic.
“First indication is a broken hip. We’ll know more in the hospital.” The paramedic replies and he turns to Mateo. “Drive with us?” He asks. Mateo turns to Kevin, unsure what to do.
“I’ll follow the ambulance.” Kevin replies and Mateo climbs in the ambulance to be with his grandmother. Back in his car, Kevin immediately dials Jill’s number.
“Jill, it’s Kevin Walker. I need your help.” He says.
*****
“Luc! Such a lovely night for an exhibition. I can’t wait to see you latest paintings!” Some woman talks to Luc and Luc is pretty sure he met her before someplace, but he can’t remember her name. And usually he’s very good at remembering women, knowing that they appreciate it to be remembered, especially when they are the ones holding the cheque-book or credit-card.
“I’m so glad you came to see them. You look amazing tonight.” Luc replies, placing a kiss on her hand, which makes her giggle.
“Oh, silly! Of course I want to see them. Can I walk with you?” She asks and Luc offers her his arm.
Hannah? Tilly? Bernadette? Luc picks his brain to remember. Jane? Anne? Jacqueline? Somehow he feels it is important to remember. Why isn’t Sarah here yet? She was supposed to have been here half an hour ago. Sarah would know the name of this woman… Gloria? Marguerite? Samantha?
“Ingrid! You found tonight’s star!” Another woman walks up to them. Of course, Ingrid Hamilton! Now he remembers, she bought several of his paintings last time.
“Have you already made a choice?”
“No, I haven’t had a good look at them yet, because I was waiting for Luc…” Ingrid replies.
They enter the large hall where several of Luc’s paintings are on display. He talks to Ingrid about the paintings, their meaning, what he tried to express. Occasionally they get spoken to by other guests, but in general they walk through the exhibition together. Luc is too excited to notice that Ingrid becomes more and more quiet.
“If you will excuse me, Ingrid, I have to make a phone-call.” Luc apologizes. Sarah is now an hour late. Ingrid nods, that it is alright with her and Luc searches for a quiet spot to talk to Sarah. It takes a while for her to pick up the phone and Luc starts to get worried. Like all Walkers, Sarah always carries her phone with her.
“Hi, Luc….” Sarah starts.
“Are you stuck in traffic? I’ve been waiting for more than an hour. It has long started, people ask where you are, … You can’t leave me alone like this on such an important night.”
“I’m so sorry, Luc. I was just about to leave when I had call from Gabe’s school.”
“His school?”
“Gabe collapsed on the field during football-training.”
“How come?”
“I’m in the hospital now, trying to find out.” Sarah replies. “It would seem exhaustion and dehydration would be the primary cause, but they are giving him a full check-up.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Luc tries to be friendly. It’s not like he cannot understand and, of course, Gabe’s health is more important than an exhibition, but still…..
“I will try to join as soon as I can, but .. at this moment I don’t know how long it will take.”
“Forget about the exhibition. Gabe is more important.” Luc tries to be generous, tries to be understanding, but he can’t help feeling bitterly disappointed.
After saying goodbye and wishing that Gabe will be alright, he joins the party again. He tries to find Ingrid again, but she seems to have left early. He makes some small-talk here and there, but somehow the thrill is gone and he’s no longer having fun and he can’t remember the last time he was this glad to finally be allowed to go home.
*****
Scotty carefully opens the door to Daniel’s room. It’s in the middle of the night and Scotty is happy that he’s finally home. As usual he had checked on Olivia first, giving her loving kiss, that never seems to wake her and after that there’s Daniel to say goodnight to, before joining Kevin.
This time however, Scotty can see something else by the light of the little nightlight. He turns on a bigger light. There’s an air-mattress on the floor and it takes Scotty a few seconds to recognize the young man who’s sleeping there. Scotty is surprised, but then remembers that Kevin had tried to reach him several times that night.
He checks quickly on Daniel, who’s in a deep sleep and then he has another look at Mateo. He picks up the sheet and covers Mateo up a bit more. Mateo opens his eyes, still half asleep, he smiles when he recognizes Scotty, but goes back to sleep almost immediately and Scotty quietly leaves the room to find Kevin.
Entering the bedroom, Scotty is greeted by a sleeping Kevin, asleep with all his work still around him. He had obviously tried to stay awake until Scotty came home.
“Hey, babe.” Scotty whispers and he kisses Kevin’s lips. Kevin slowly opens his eyes and sighs.
“You’re home.” He notices.
“Good assessment of the situation.” Scotty winks. “Can you now please explain to me why Mateo is asleep in Daniel’s room? The short version, please, I’m exhausted.” Scotty demands and he starts to undress.
“He came to me this morning, asking for my help…. With something…” Kevin gets distracted when Scotty takes off his t-shirt, his eyes hungrily take in every inch of Scotty’s chest… “Ahm… he… We found a solution. Jill came up with an idea, so I asked him to come back to my office and…”
Scotty starts to unbutton his pants and Kevin follows every movement of the long fingers. “The… The .. He.. Mateo agreed with my plan. We wanted to talk to his grandmother first, but when we got there ….You are aware of the fact that you’re distracting me, aren’t you?”
Scotty can’t help but smile. He had noticed Kevin’s inability to stay focused on the story and he could nearly feel Kevin help him get undressed. He slides under the cover and helps Kevin to remove some of the papers that were still on the bed.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t very well go to bed with my all my clothes on.” Scotty apologizes.
“No. I get that… Anyhow, when we came to Mateo’s house, we found that his grandmother had fallen down the stairs.”
“Is she alright?”
“I guess so, but she’ll need to recuperate and she has to stay in the hospital.”
“Where will Mateo stay in the meantime?” Scotty asks, remembering how the boy would use to sleep on the street.
“Well, that ‘s the point. The father is not an option..”
“No. I get that.”
“With his grandmother in hospital, there’s no one to take care of him. We’ve quickly asked around, but people either can’t or won’t take him in.”
“That’s awful. Poor kid.” Scotty shakes his head.
“I spoke to Jill and she suggested that…. Maybe he could stay with us…?”
“Just tonight, right? … Or … do you have other plans?”
“It would be for a longer period of time… Several weeks?”
“Kevin,….”
“I know, it will be difficult, but not impossible and I don’t want him in a home.”
“All I wanted to say was, that I’m too tired right now to think. He’s asleep and has a roof over his head for tonight, can we discuss this further in the morning, because my brains have already gone to bed and they are waiting for the rest of me?” Kevin smiles over Scotty’s words and opens his arms, so Scotty can be close to him.
“I didn’t mean to go behind your back…” Kevin apologizes in the darkness. “I just wanted to talk to Mateo and his grandmother first, before I would get you all worked up over something that one or neither of them would approve of.”
“I know, baby, just go to sleep…. Please.” Scotty insists and he kisses Kevin’s lips.
*****
End of part 3/4
**** COMMERCIAL BREAK*****