A Match for Santana
A surprise of a very different nature was awaiting Nick and Jeff. Sebastian had not felt that it was necessary to mention the thinly veiled threat that Santana had made to him on the Sunday evening when he saw the two boys at the diner. Therefore, as they woke up on Monday morning, they remained blissfully unaware that there was danger ahead. That all changed completely the moment that Mike left for a shift at the diner. He was no sooner out of the door than there was a sharp knock upon it, and without it being answered, it slid open, and Santana stepped in. Her arrival caused Nick and Jeff to pull apart from the deep kiss they had been enjoying with a sigh. They had been hoping for a few hours of private couple time as the second anniversary of their couple status approached.
"So, how are my two favourite married Warblers this fine May morning?" said Santana as she stepped into the living room, smiling broadly. That fact alone filled Nick with a slight dread, but before either he or Jeff could say a word in reply, she continued. "I was just wondering when you were going to say thank you to me for what I did for you on Friday?"
Nick turned to look at Jeff, and on seeing that he had as little idea as he had as to what she was talking about, he replied "What you did on Friday? I don't understand…"
"Well," Santana said as she took a seat on the arm of the couch by Jeff, "do you remember when you two lovebirds left here on Friday for your exams? You left first Nick, and then Jeff slept in, and had to rush out? Well when he did, he left the front door open a little way, and by the time that I stepped out of the door to head to my exam, young Caleb was at the top of the stairs, looking very interested in heading down them."
Jeff gasped, and went bright red. "Oh goodness, I didn't even realise… Thank you so, so much Santana for bringing him back in!"
"Oh, it was no problem, Jeff, not for that little cutie. We've all grown so fond of him. The thing is though, when I came in, there was a folder lying out on that table, and as I walked past, I couldn't help but notice what was in it… I guessed where it was meant to be hidden by the fact that the drawer was still pulled out, so I put it back for you."
Jeff had gone as white as a sheet; Nick turned to him, and mouthed the words "Not the folder!" - when Jeff nodded, he went as white as his husband.
"All that I can say is that Wes was a massive surprise; Sebastian not so much. I know now that Nick is a very lucky man, but then again, so are you Jeff - you really are very evenly matched! I could say more, but I guess what I really want to know is - how come only Cooper and I are absent from your collection of Warbler nudes?"
Nick whimpered, feeling that at any moment the entire world was going to collapse in on him - and that he wouldn't mind if it did. This was everything that they had dreaded since the first day that he had posed for Jeff. If only he had woken him up when he left; made sure he was out of bed; insisted that he had sorted everything out the previous night. But it was too late now - it had happened, and he knew that Jeff would blame himself for it all.
"Yeah, it is an omission Santana, but now that we are all out of school for the summer, I am sure that we can find the time to remedy that. So, when are you free to pose next week?"
Nick turned round to stare wide eyed at his husband. He did not believe that he had actually heard him right…
"Actually, Jeff, I'm not saying that I want…" began Santana.
"No, Santana, I insist! You as an honorary Warbler must join with the others in sitting for me! I've drawn several woman at school now, so there should be no issue. Just one thing - when I am here at home, I like to dress in the same way as my subject. When I did all of those drawings, I was as naked as they were. Isn't that true Nicky?" Nick nodded, still barely able to believe all that he was actually hearing. It was as if the world had gone mad…
Santana was by now looking distinctly uncomfortable, and had gone a lovely shade of red. She glanced at her watch, and said "Actually, look at the time! I need to go. We can talk about this some other time…" She got up and nearly dashed for the front door. As it slammed shut behind her, Jeff looked at a bewildered Nick, and then burst out laughing.
Nick looked at his husband with shock. For him, everything that had just happened had been worse than coming face to face with Dracula, and now Jeff was just laughing like a madman. At that moment though, Caleb trotted into the room, having been woken from his slumbers by Jeff's laughter, and jumped up on to Nick's lap, demanding his attention. As he stroked the kitten gently, Jeff's laughter died down, and Nick turned to his husband and said "What on earth was all that about Jeff? Are you telling me that you would actually draw her?"
"Never in a million years, Nicky. I would find having to do that ten times worse than drawing those women for school! I decided to gamble on the fact that for all of her in your face attitude, she would never agree to do it anyway - and by some lucky chance, I was right!"
Nick finally smiled at that, but couldn't resist saying "Well, it is either that or she just doesn't want to see you naked…"
"There is that possibility, I have to admit. Obviously she is not as much of an admirer of my natural beauty as you, my love."
"This is true…but the fact remains that she now knows about your whole portfolio of naked Warbler drawings, and someone is going to have to break the news to them all. I can't imagine that any of them will hate you, as you are just too lovable, but it might freak them all out, and they might shout at you for a while." Nick sighed, as Jeff nodded, his eyes downcast. He put an arm around him, and pulled him close. "I guess that we will need to start with Mike and Sam; then move on to Sebastian and Dave, as they are all in contact with her on a regular basis. I will go and make a quick call to the diner to warn Mike and Sam; then we had best go and see Sebastian and tell him face to face."
Nick lifted Caleb off his lap, and placed him on Jeff's, then headed into the bedroom to get his phone. Jeff for his part sat there quietly, gently stroking his little friend, and as he heard Nick's voice on the phone in the next room, he whispered to him "I am such an idiot, Caleb! If I had been more careful, been more organised, all this could have been avoided. Still, it could have been a lot worse - I could have lost you, and that would have broken my heart…"
Across the landing, Santana sat on the couch, catching her breath. It wasn't very often that someone got the better of her, and she had a sneaking admiration for the way that Jeff just had. She had no intention whatsoever of letting him draw her in the way that he had drawn his classmates and friends; she would have no problem posing for him one day though, with both of them properly dressed. She did feel a little bit guilty about the whole way that she had handled the situation, if she was honest. She really should not have gone through the whole portfolio; once she had seen what was lying on the top, she should have left it well alone; instead, she had given in to temptation, and she was ashamed of that. Still, those Warbler boys were pretty fit…
Her mind wandered to the other secret that she knew - Flint's double life as a gay bar stripper with Beats. Secrets had a habit of slipping out when people least expected them to; and someone else would eventually get curious, go searching on Google for images of Beats, and discover, as she had, that there were now two Preppy Boys. 'If I was Wes,' she thought, 'I would be trying to convince him to come clean this summer. After all, his Warbler brothers have no issue with Beats being a stripper, so why would they have one with Flint doing it too? Yeah, Wes, if you can hear me, you really need to set the ball rolling on this one!' After all, Trent and Rory would surely be having a bachelor party, and after the success of Sam's performance at Nick and Jeff's, someone might just suggest that they all take a trip to Princeton…
The other thing that was playing on her mind was what exactly was going on with Cooper. There was something going on, and she was totally sure of it. He had been whispering with Sebastian for half the previous night - and she was certain that both Grace and Sam were in on it too. It was less than two weeks to his big night; his official commencement full time in the role of Charlie Price. She had a hunch that it was all connected to that. Was it a coincidence that Sebastian's French friend was suddenly in town at exactly the same time? They could tell her as often as they liked that the whole thing had been planned for months, but she did not buy that story for a single minute. After all, if it had all been planned, wouldn't they all have been warned about his impending arrival, so that they would be more prepared? Instead, there had not been a single word uttered… 'Just why have you invited Blaine's doppelganger here, Sebastian? And how is it tied to Cooper, because my Mexican third eye is telling me that it is!' A quick glance at the clock on the wall told her that she needed to get ready for work. She could keep trying to fathom out what the link was whilst she was ribbing Sam and Mike about those wonderful portraits….
Meanwhile, in her office in downtown Manhattan, Grace Duval was waiting for the arrival of an envelope. It had been three months since she had made her way to the Probate Court of Middlesex County in East Cambridge, within a short distance of Harvard, and the spot where the life of Wes Montgomery had ended, and had stood there to represent the interests of those Warblers that had been named in his Last Will and Testament, and had graduated from Dalton. She had been joined in that position by the lawyer for Dalton Academy, there to represent both the interests of the school, and those young men that made up the current group of Warblers; and by a close friend of Carmen Tibideaux, more or less retired now, but happy to represent the interests of NYADA for no charge. The three of them had talked on the telephone beforehand, but this was the first time they had met. Across from them sat Mrs Montgomery, and her lawyers. She had objected to virtually every part of his Will, and those objections had only been intensified by the actions of her niece Michelle since his demise. Her case had been quite simple; he had not been in a fit state to write said Will, and indeed, she thought that it was very suspicious that such a young man had even possessed such a detailed document.
The case had been heated, with angry words exchanged on all sides. Mrs Montgomery had tried to demand that all those named in the Will should be in the court so that they could cross-examined. The judge had decided that this was an unreasonable request given that all of them were students at one level or another, and their education would be disrupted by having to come and sit in a court in Massachusetts. There had been argument after argument, but the evidence had been given, and that had seemed to be an end; a decision was promised for mid-March. It had been given, in favour of allowing the Will to stand. Mrs Montgomery had promptly demanded an appeal, even threatening to go to the federal courts if necessary. The case had been put up for review, and it was decided that it should be reviewed out of state. So the Will was placed before the Surrogate's Court in Manhattan, much to the dissatisfaction of Wes' mother, who had requested it to be sent to a court in Illinois. It had almost gone there, until an angelic word in her ear had caused her to do some digging. The fact that the probate judge in that particular court was a cousin of Mr Montgomery made for a great conflict of interest, and Grace had argued that it would potentially lead to a biased decision being made. It was no surprise to anyone that Grace Duval now came close to Michelle Lau in Mrs Montgomery's hate list.
There was a knock on the door, and an eager intern appeared, an envelope clutched tightly in his hand. He handed it to Grace, and she motioned to him to take a seat - she knew that he would be as eager as her to find out what was contained inside, having followed the case with her since the beginning. She pulled out the pile of pages, and skipped straight to the last one, which would give the verdict. She smiled broadly as she read the words 'decision upheld' in bold letters. There would be no further room for appeal; the Will would have to be honoured, and paid out in full. She wanted that done swiftly - the deadline that she had was the end of term at Dalton. The cheques had to be handed out by graduation day. She just hoped that this would be an end to it and that Mrs Montgomery would let the matter rest. Somehow, she didn't think that she would…
