Chapter 11
Will, Sonny, and Chad had spent the rest of the night going over everything for the coffee house. Until reluctantly Will had to leave and go home. Before he left Sonny asked Will if he would meet him later at the Brady Pub to meet with some of his friends who are handling the promotions for the coffee house. A part of him was screaming at him not to, doing it would be stupid and risk everything, but another part of him ached to spend as much time with Sonny as possible. So he agreed resolved to control himself.
When Will showed up the next day Sonny was already at a table with two other guys. He assumed were Dustin and Kareem. They looked like they were having a good and Will was about to turn around and leave not sure he could go through with it. But then Sonny met his and gave him a smile so happy and sincere to see him that he knew he couldn't let him down. Not Sonny. He took his seat and the introductions were made quickly.
"So Kareem and Dustin are handling the promotional campaign for the new coffee house." Sonny said
"Mmm." Will said
"To bring in some new customers. And I told them your ideas and they loved them."
"Are you sure you guys can do that before it's even open?"
"Why not? Since we started that campaign for unicorn highway we've been having to turn guys away." Kareem said.
"Unicorn highway?" Will asked confused.
"Yeah, the new gay club near the university." Dustin answered.
"Oh, yeah," Will said laughing. "Yeah, right, that makes sense."
"Ever been there?" Kareem asked.
"Uh, no." Will said with a cold shiver running down his spine.
"We'll put you on the VIP list. I promise you, you're gonna have a great time."
Kareem and Dustin giggled at the look on Will's face.
"Thanks but, you know, I got a—I have, like, a paper due on Monday and I've gotta work on that all week." Will lied badly hoping to shift the conversation away to something anything else.
"Oh, boo." Kareem pouted playfully.
"Mm, yeah, some other time then." Dustin said.
"Oh, yeah, sure." Will answered not committing to anything.
"Let's go get something to drink?" Dustin asked Kareem.
"Yeah." He answered.
"So...?" Sonny asked Will as the other two left.
"So what?"
"So what do you think about Dustin?"
"Seems like a good guy. Wait—wait, you're asking if I'M... you're asking if I'm interested in him?"
"No, no, I meant for me."
"Oh, yeah."
"We hung out last weekend and I think I wanna see him again."
"Okay, yeah, uh, totally. Yeah, go for it—I could see you two together." Will said.
"Yeah? You wanna, like, put in a couple good words for me?"
Will honestly laughed for the first time in a long time.
"Come on." Sonny said trying to sound serious.
"Okay, I will. It's gonna be a tough sell though."
"Hey, sell me."
"Seriously, okay. Dating advice—don't make any jokes because you are seriously un-funny."
"Wait, you're saying that I'm the un-funny one?"
"I'm serious."
"You're the un-funny—"
"I'm thinking of you here.'
"No you're not."
"I'm thinking of you." Will sighed knowing that Sonny would never know how true or honest he was being lately it seemed all he did was think of Sonny. It killed him that he wanted to be with someone anyone because that would mean Sonny would spend less time with him.
"All right, all right, so I'm there at this pizza place across from my parents." Dustin said telling his story with enthusiasm.
"Wait, wait, wait. You came out to your parents at a pizza place?" Sonny asked incredulously.
"Well, I figured if I did it in public they couldn't freak out. But it was a really bad idea because I was so nervous that I couldn't eat. My mother started asking me if I was sick or something."
"And you said, "No, I'm gay."" Kareem interjected.
"Mmm, pretty much, yep." They all broke into good natured laughing with smile all over their faces.
"Well, what did they do?" Will asked.
"All right, so my mom, she was, like, "Uh, no kidding.""
"Oh, so she already knew." Sonny stated.
"When I was six years old I was giving concerts as Britney Spears."
"Oh, that's a definite clue, mm-hm."
"I was, like, "Mom, why couldn't you have told me? I didn't figure it out till I was 15
"Uh, what was your dad like?" Will asked without showing too much interest.
"Oh, he was great."
"Well, my parents were good too. And them accepting this about me is one of the reasons they ended up getting back together." Sonny said proudly.
"And what about you, Will?" Kareem asked.
"Me?"
"Yeah."
"We've all told our stories. What happened when you came out to your parents?" Dustin asked intently.
"Um…." Will laughed nervously not sure what to say and afraid that they could tell.
"Come on, Will, give it up." Kareem prodded.
"Look, I'm—I'm—" Lie don't let them know the truth Will thought his thoughts frantic.
"Wait, excuse me, excuse me, I didn't get to finish talking about me." Sonny said seeing the look on Wills face. He know that Will was gay even if he didn't know. But Sonny wanted him to come out when he was ready and he didn't want Will to be pressured or scared. A part of Sonny felt compelled to protect his friend.
"Ooh." Kareem mocked.
Dustin's phone starts to ring, "Oops, gotta run. You coming?" He asks Kareem.
"Uh, yeah. Catch you guys later."
"Yeah, we'll see you guys later."
"See ya."
"See ya."
"I'm really sorry about that."
"Oh, no. Don't worry about it."
"I know they put you on the spot and..."
"No, they just assumed I was gay, you know, not a big deal."
"Yeah, yeah—no, yeah, it's no big deal."
"Oh what time is it?" Will asked.
"A little after 12, why do you have to go?"
"Yeah unfortunately I have a meeting with my wicked stepmother about the campaign."
"Oh okay well ill call you later about the coffeehouse."
"Thanks I appreciate." Will said. He didn't actually have to leave so early but he couldn't trust himself alone with Sonny right now. He need to clear his head and psycho stepmother was just the person to do that.
"So I have a few things I want to get straight with you. The elections around the corner, and things are heating up. And I just want to make sure that we're all on the same page." Nicole said. She did not like being excluded and if EJ was doing something stupid she needed to know so she could do damage control. Her only source of information was her do gooder stepson but she was confident he could be made to see her side with the right incentive.
"I don't know what you mean." Will lied he didn't owe her any explanation especially if his Dad didn't already tell her.
"No?" She asked.
"No. I mean, you run this whole campaign by yourself—right?—Practically. And I'm just A...lowly intern. So if you want some coffee, I could probably get you that. But otherwise I'm—I'm not sure why you're wasting your time with me."
"Oh, come on, will. We both know you do a little more than just fetch coffee."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about the posters."
"Don't get cute. I know that EJ ordered you to break into Abe's computer and steal his jobs plan. You're not a kid anymore, Will. We're not playing games. This is serious business. And the bottom line is we need to make sure that EJ wins this election, do you understand?"
"Yeah."
"Good. I also need you to understand that in order for me to make that happen, I need to know what's going on with this campaign. So whatever assignment you get—whatever it is, whoever it's from—you need to check in with me."
"Are you asking me to be your spy?"
"You catch on fast, will. You know, back when I married EJ and became your new stepmommy... I always knew you were a bright kid."
"You know what? I'm not, uh, exactly comfortable with the direction this conversation is going. Um, EJ's not only the candidate, but he's my Dad. So if you feel out of the loop about certain things maybe, uh, you should talk to him about it."
"See, very smart. However, sometimes candidates don't always look out for own their best interests, which is why they need a highly skilled team... to look out for him, to protect him."
"You do a great job of that."
"I don't think you really understand. If your Dad gives you some future assignment it could end up hurting his chances. Will, all I'm asking for you to do is just tell me what's going on in the campaign."
"Nicole—"
"I get that you're uncomfortable. So let me see if I can help you with that." She clears her throat and hands him an electronic bank statement receipt.
"What's this?"
"It's the money that I took the liberty of transferring into your account earlier today. And there's more where that came from... if I know I can count on you."
"Hello! Anybody home?" EJ asked cheerfully. Coming through the front door.
"Honey, we're in here."
"Ah."
"Hi." She said to EJ with a kiss.
"What are you two up to?"
"Oh, just giving will a few things to handle."
"Mm-hmm."
"Good. Glad you're delegating some responsibility. You work too hard. Anything important?" He asks Will.
"No, nothing critical. Just, uh, you know, deliveries and stuff like that. Just a lowly intern, remember?"
"So how is our little debate project coming along? It's time-sensitive, you know."
"Mm-hmm. And, um, my sources tell me, at the moderator's office, that—bam—it's a lock. Delivery in a few hours."
"Bam."
"Bam."
"All right."
"So, um, I have a few things to handle myself. I'll just get going, if you two are fine."
"Um, yeah, I'm more than fine. Actually, I have one or two things to talk to William about."
"All right, I'll let you get to it." She says as she leaves the room and shuts the door.
"So... William... anything to report?"
"No."
"No?"
"Well, except I won't have any trouble filling up my new car with gas... now that I'm rolling in cash."
"It went exactly as I said it would?"
"Yeah, except instead of handing me the wad of cash, she transferred the money into my bank account."
"Internet, eh? Smart girl."
"You know, it was kind of exciting. I mean, I've never been bribed before."
"Oh, look at you."
"I have a question."
"Shoot."
"How did you know that Nicole was going to ask me to report to her?"
"Once you realize what women want, William, predicting their behavior is rather straightforward."
"I'll remember that."
"She was very generous with you. You know, the funny thing is, that really tells me how much she cares. So dysfunctional, but I really love her for it."
"Speaking of dysfunctional do think this is what normal families do?"