Sonny watched Will walk out the door of the club shaking his head. He turned back to the bar and picked up the damp cloth to wipe the bar down. He though back over the long twisted road they had travelled together. There had been a time when he had thought that he and Will would never be able to have a conversation again without his heart breaking into a million pieces, but he was read glad they were able to put all the bad behind them and at least regain their friendship. Despite all that had gone wrong in their relationship, Sonny knew Will was a good man and he was happy to have him in his life, in any capacity.
"Hey handsome… Whatcha thinking about?" Brian asked as he dropped onto a stool at the bar.
Sonny was startled out of his musings. "Hey!" he said leaning across the bar and accepting Brian's kiss. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just headed over to the hospital for clinical and I wanted to stop by and see you since we missed each other this morning." Brian answered.
"I'm glad you did." Sonny answered honestly.
"Was that Will I just saw leaving?" Brian asked.
"Yeah he stopped by between classes for coffee." Sonny answered.
"Just coffee?" Brian asked casually. "Or to see you and get coffee?"
"Don't start that again…" Sonny groaned. "There is no need for all this suspicion, Will and I are friends and there is nothing going on between us."
"Oh, I know there isn't. I trust you." Brian said, "But I also know that Will would change that if he could."
"Well he can't, that ship sailed long ago. Will knows that and he respects that I am with you now." Sonny said, getting angry.
Brian held his hands up…. "Okay okay…" he said. "I know this is a touchy subject for you. Besides Will is seeing Neil right?" he said, changing the focus of the conversation.
"Umm no." Sonny answered. "Remember I told you weeks ago that they called it quits."
"Yeah, I remember that you said that, but they have done that before and they always go back." Brian said.
"Well, not this time… at least I don't think so. Will seems to have made up his mind to move on. You know Neil is a party-er and Will is trying to concentrate on being a good dad, especially after everything with Gabi." Sonny explained.
"Yeah I could see that putting a screeching halt to the partying days." Brian said, "Anyway I gotta go before I am late, Don't wait up for me, I don't know what time I will be home."
"Alright well have a good night at work then." Sonny said, "Love you."
"Love you more." Brian said, as he walked off.
Sonny chucked, and turned to the cash register. He gathered up all of the paperwork and receipts, and headed toward the office. "T.. I am going to work on the books, if you need anything call me."
"Sure thing boss man." T answered.
Once he was in the office with the door closed his thoughts once again turned to Will. If he was honest he had thought about Will a lot in those first few months with Brian. He had always thought that he would be the one to bring happiness and stability into Will's life. They had been so happy, then the truth had come out at Gabi's almost wedding about Will being Arianna's father. That news had driven a huge wedge between them, and it had taken months and months to even have a normal conversation that didn't turn into an argument. By the time they had worked through the hard feelings. Sonny had been with Brian for a little over a year, and he loved Brian, Maybe not as much as he had loved Will. He knew that he may not ever love anyone again the way he had loved Will, but he did love Brian. He wanted Will to be happy, even though it hurt. He wondered if seeing Will in a happy and healthy relationship was what it was going to take for him to let go of that last shred of hope that was hidden deep within his heart. Hopefully that would happen sooner, rather than later.
Finally he pushed thoughts of Will from his mind and picked up his pen. He was about halfway through the books when there was a knock on his office door. "Yes, come in." He called.
T popped his head around the door. "Boss there is someone here asking for you." He said.
"Who is it?" Sonny asked.
"Not sure." T said. "He looks vaguely familiar but I know I have never seen him around here before. But I will tell you one thing…. He is hot as hell." He said teasingly.
Sonny's eyes widened. "WOW T, you had better be careful, I may get the wrong idea about you."
"Hey!" T said. "There's no need to get excited… I don't usually pay much attention, but I am not blind."
Sonny noticed. "Fair enough." He said. "Come on, I guess we had better not keep Adonis waiting."
Sonny followed T back to the bar. But nothing could have prepared him for the person that was waiting for him at the bar.
"Paul?" He asked, watching the other man turn around.
Sonny was not prepared for the barrage of feelings that washed over him. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
"Hey Sonny." Paul said.
Sonny moved stiffly to hug Paul. "I haven't heard from you in a very long time."
Paul blushed. "I know… can we go somewhere to talk?" he asked when he noticed the bar tender standing there gawking at them.
Sonny glanced at T. "Oh Sure." He said. "We can talk in my office, come on." He said as he grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels and two glasses. He led the way back to his office.
Sonny opened the door and waited for Paul to walk in first then he followed and closed the door behind him. Sonny went to his desk and poured them each a drink. "So how have you been?" he asked as he handed Paul a glass across the desk.
"Pretty Good…. Until recently." Paul answered.
"What do you mean?" Sonny asked.
"I threw my arm out, that's what I am doing here, I had to have surgery." Paul said. "The doctors pretty much told me that my rotator cuff is gone."
"Will you still be able to play?" Sonny asked.
Paul shook his head, "No not professionally." He said. "I can't pitch anymore."
"Oh Wow." Sonny said. "I'm really sorry to hear that."
Paul shrugged. "I was pretty torn up about it for a while." He said honestly. "But I am working through it."
"That's really great man." Sonny said. "I know how much baseball meant to you."
"Yeah, it was my whole life unfortunately." Paul said, "I gave up a lot to have the career that I have had."
"Yeah, you did." Sonny agreed, knowing instantly what Paul was talking about, or more accurately who he was talking about. "Maybe you could coach, be a pitching coach or something, it would be a shame for all of that talent to go to waste. He said.
"Maybe one day, I may consider something like that." Paul agreed. "I actually thought about being a commentator or something…. But right now I have other things on my mind." He finished as he raised his glass to his lips and swallowed some of the amber liquid. He looked at Sonny, waiting to see him reaction.
"So what brings you here, to the small town of Salem?" Sonny asked.
Paul gave him a slow sexy smile. "Well, I need a quiet place to rest and recover, and figure out what direction I want to take my life in next, and this seemed like the perfect place, especially after I found out you were here."
Sonny gave him a wry grin. "You always were a ridiculous flirt." He said nervously.
"Sonny…." Paul said leaning forward. "I am here for you, it's that simple."
Sonny took a deep breath. "Paul, that part of my life is over. I am with someone." He said holding up his hand, showing Paul his engagement ring. "Brian and I are getting married in just a couple of months."
Paul glanced at the ring, and then his eyes collided with Sonny's again. "Are you sure that's what you want?" he asked, "Because I am just not sure it is."
"Of course I am sure it is what I want." Sonny bit out. "You of all people know that I have always wanted to get married, and maybe even start a family. Don't you remember that?"
"What I remember is that you wanted to marry me… you asked me to marry you." Paul said. "Do you remember that?"
"Of course I remember." Sonny snapped. "I all but begged you to marry me, and you did what you always did, you chose baseball over me."
"Sonny, be reasonable, I was not putting baseball before you. You have to realize what it was like for me." Paul said.
Sonny stood, "No." He said, "We are not going through this same old song and dance again. You see it and chasing your dream, I see it as destroying mine. We will never agree about it, and there is no need to discuss it again. I gave you the life you wanted, I left."
"That wasn't what I wanted, and you know it." Paul argued.
"I could not live life in the closet anymore. I wanted someone that was proud of me, who loved me enough to show me off, not hide me away in a motel room." Sonny spat out. Dredging up the past was making him bitter.
"But it wouldn't be that way anymore." Paul said. "Baseball was important to me, it was my dream and my life…. But now I see what I was missing all of those years and I want another chance."
"That may be true." Sonny said. "But you only see me now because you can't play baseball anymore… not because all of the sudden you decided that you can't live without me. Don't you dare try to make this into something that it isn't."
Paul was taken aback by the anger in Sonny's voice. He realized that he may need to come at Sonny from a different angle. What he needed to do was make Sonny remember what it was like to love him."
"Just think about what I said." Paul said getting up.
"No…" Sonny said. "This conversation is OVER." He stressed.
"Fine…" Paul said, "But I am not going anywhere. So I guess I will see you around." He said as he opened the door and strolled out.
Sonny slumped back down into the chair, all of the fight going out of him as soon as Paul was out of sight. Why did he have to come back now? Just when things were starting to feel right, and what was he going to do about it?
He laid his head back against the chair…. NOTHING… he answered his own question that was what he was going to do about it. He knew that Paul could be stubborn when he wanted to, and it seemed like he was determined to take a trip down memory lane. He would just have to show him just how much he loved Brian. Then maybe he would get the hint and leave them town.
He pushed himself out of the chair and gathered his things. He strode toward the door. "T, I am leaving you stay and lock up, see you tomorrow." He said hurriedly, before walking out the door. He was not in the mood for one of T's interrogations.
"Night." T called behind him,
