"I don't really even know where to start." Will said fidgeting.
"Tell me about your daughter." Paul suggested.
"Arianna Grace." Will said. "She is the best part of my life." He gushed. "I wasn't sure how I was going to raise a child alone, but I think I am doing okay. At least I hope I am."
"So you aren't with her mom?" Paul asked.
"Gabi?" Will asked, "No… I used to be." He said offhandedly. "Gabi and I were a couple for our senior year of high school and the first part of college. I loved her, in fact I still love her, just not like a boyfriend is supposed to love his girlfriend. She was more like my best friend. I had suspected that I was gay for a long time, but I was terrified that my family would not accept me, that they would turn their back on me, so I tried my hardest to ignore that part of myself and be just what she needed. I was doing okay with it, until this new guy moved to town. We became friends pretty fast and I developed a huge crush on him. It really threw me for a loop. I became more and more withdrawn over time and eventually Gabi started asking questions. She wanted to know why I never wanted to be alone with her, why I didn't kiss her. She even asked why we had been together for so long and we had never had sex. I didn't have a good answer for any of those questions, so I sat her down and told her the truth. We broke up, while somehow managing to stay friends, and my crush on my friend continued to get worse. Then there was an explosion in town and he found me, and I guess he was crushing on me too, because when he found me and saw I was safe, he kissed me, out of the blue. I had never kissed a man before and I freaked out. I went running back to Gabi, I was scared and confused. I thought we could just give it one more shot. She was going through something of her own that day, she had been turned down but the guy that she was trying to date. She was convinced something was wrong with her…. I felt responsible for that in a way, so while we were comforting each other, one thing led to another, and we ended up having sex that night, and that is how Arianna was conceived."
"WOW" Paul said. "That's quite a story, what happened next?"
"The next morning we realized that we had made a huge mistake." Will said. "I apologized and took off. A couple days later, I went to see my friend, the one I was crushing on, to apologize, but he wouldn't hear it. He apologized for misreading my signals and I thought I had ruined everything, but we eventually worked it out and got on the same page. He was there for me when I came out, he encouraged me, and hetaught me so much about myself that I didn't know. He was amazing."
"So you are with your friend then." Paul said.
"Ummmm no." Will said. "It didn't work out."
"Why not?" Paul asked. "What could have happened to tear you apart after all of that?"
"Well that's another long story and I really don't want to bore you with the gory details." Will said.
"I'm not bored at all, and I wouldn't ask if I didn't really want to know." Paul said.
"UUUUGHHHH" Will groaned. "I don't want to tell you all about my dirty laundry."
"Hey, I have made mistakes, so no judgment here." Paul said.
"Fine." Will said. "I will give you the short version." He looked down at the table, suddenly finding his napkin very interesting, and he began to talk. "Just around the time that things were on an even keel with me and my new boyfriend, in fact it was the night that he and I were …. Umm…. intimate for the first time, Gabi came beating on the door, she was crying and upset and when I went to talk to her, she told me she was pregnant with Arianna. I panicked; I didn't want to jeopardize the happiness that was finally mine, So I kept it a secret. I let her convince me to let her and her new boyfriend raise my baby as their own. The longer it went on the more I regretted my decision, her boyfriend was an asshole and a homophobe and I knew that if I went through with that, he would raise my kid to be just like him. My boyfriend knew something was wrong and he asked me more than once to please just tell him what was going on , but I didn't want to lose him sooo…. I kept it to myself. It was getting closer and closer to the time to the time that the baby would be born and she was going to put his name on the birth certificate as the father. I didn't know what to do, so I stood up at their wedding and announced that the baby was mine. Needless to say the whole town was shocked… but Sonny was furious when he found out I had been lying to him for months. We broke up and he wouldn't even talk to me for months."
"Wait…." Paul said, "So Sonny was the friend that moved to town, you and Sonny were a couple?" he asked.
Will nodded. "Yeah, it took forever for us to get back to a place where we could even have a conversation without it ending with an argument." He said. "By the time he forgave me he was already with Brian, that's his fiancé. That really hurt, but I accepted their relationship, I figured it would be better to have Sonny as a friend than not at all." Will explained. "So that's pretty much it, the whole sordid story."
"Wow." Paul said again. "I can't believe what you have been through."
"I can't believe that I told you all that, I have no idea why I did it." Will said.
"Maybe, it means you are comfortable with me. Paul said.
Will thought about that for a minute…. "Maybe" he agreed.
"So just to be clear…. You aren't dating anyone right now, right?" Paul asked.
Will chuckled. "Right, there is absolutely no one in my life, other than my daughter."
"Alright, then how would you like to go out to dinner with me?" Paul asked.
Will gaped at him, "You mean after that whole crazy mess I just described to you, you are asking me on a date?"
"Sure… why not?" Paul asked. "All that stuff you told me is in the past right?"
"Yeah…" Will answered.
"Good… then have dinner with me on Saturday night." Paul urged.
"Okay!" Will said grinning at him.
"So…. Do you wanna talk about it?" Brian asked.
"Talk about what?" Sonny asked absently.
"About whatever is bothering you." Brian answered. "You have been moody for a few days."
"Nothing is bothering me." Sonny insisted, "I am just tired, I guess."
"Okay." Brian said, dropping the subject for the moment. "So the weekend coming up is going to be my last weekend off, for God only knows how long. Do you maybe want to do something special?" he asked. "We could even go out of town for the weekend if you want."
"I can't." Sonny said. "There is no one to watch the club."
"Where's Chad?" Brian asked. "I saw him at the hospital, so I know he is in town."
"I don't know, I haven't seen him in a couple days." Sonny said. "Besides I have a large order coming in on Friday and I need to be there to make sure it is taken care of."
"Sonny, that's the beauty of being an owner of the business, delegate the responsibility and assign someone to be there in your place." Brian said. "I really want to spend this weekend concentrating on me and you."
Sonny looked up, "I will see what I can do." He relented. He felt guilty; he knew that he had been cranky and moody the last few days. He had been snappy and short tempered with everyone lately and it was all Paul's fault.
Brian fell silent and Sonny allowed his mind to wander back to Monday night…..
Sonny put the money for the opening shift into the till on the register and closed the drawer. He flipped the light switch above the bar off and was headed for the door to lock up when he realized that he had left his Ipad on the desk in his office. He went back there and picked it up. When he made it back into the bar he was startled to see Will standing there in the middle of the room.
"Will, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I came to see you." Will said. "We never got to finish our conversation the other day, and I wanted to see you anyway."
"Oh." Sonny said, surprised at the butterflies that suddenly took flight in his stomach."Yeah, I tried to call you the other night."
"Sorry, I saw you called but it was pretty late… soooo what did you want to talk about the other day when we went for that walk?" Will asked.
"Oh it was nothing in particular." Sonny said, "I really just wanted to check on you. I know how hard you have been working and how busy things are with Arianna, and you and Neil broke up, I guess I have been worried about you."
"Oh." Will said, "I was sure you were trying to tell me something."
"I don't think so." Sonny lied. "If I was, I don't remember what it was about."
"Oh… well." Will said, "Neil and I are done this time… for sure, no going back. But Guess what." He said excitedly.
"What?" Sonny asked, dreading the answer. Will's eyes were practically dancing with excitement.
"I have a date Saturday night." Will announced.
"No way, with who?" Sonny asked, fearing that he already knew the answer.
"Paul." Will said, smiling from ear to ear.
"The guy I introduced you to the other day in the square?" Sonny asked, "Paul Narita?"
Will nodded wildly, "Yes!" he confirmed. "We had a long lunch the other day, when I was interviewing him for the piece I am writing about the baseball camp for the paper. We really got along and he asked me out."
"Uhhh Will, " Sonny said rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't think that is such a good idea."
"Why?" Will asked "He seems like a really great guy, and he is completely gorgeous."
"Will, he is a celebrity, and you know they can be stuck up, not to mention they use people." Sonny cautioned him. "Paul Narita is someone who is used to getting his way."
"I don't think Paul is like that." Will argued. "We talked for a long time and he told me about his life and losing the love of his life over baseball and I told him a little about my life and how I lost someone really special because of mistakes I made. I think we may have a lot in common."
"Maybe even more that you know." Sonny muttered under his breath. He looked up at Will, "I really don't think you should do this." He said.
"Thanks for being worried about me, but I got this, I know what I am doing!"
"EARTH TO SONNY! HELLO…..HELLO…" Brian said snapping his fingers in front of Sonny's face. "What are you thinking about?" He asked, open hostility coloring his words.
Sonny coiled back from the anger in Brian's voice. "What? I'm sorry." He said.
"I have been sitting here talking to you for fifteen minutes about places we could go, or things we could do and you haven't heard a word that I have said. Brian accused.
"I'm sorry." Sonny said, "Tell me again, I'm listening."
"No…." Brian spat out, "Not until you tell me what has you so bent out of shape."
Sonny pushed the thoughts of Will out of his mind. "It's nothing, really."
Brian looked at Sonny for a few minutes before he decided what to say. He knew that whatever was bothering Sonny, had to have something to do with Will Horton. "You heard from Will lately?" he finally asked. "I haven't heard you mention him all week."
Sonny's eyes clouded over. "No, I haven't talked to him in a few days." He answered.
"That what's bothering you?" Brian asked snidely.
Sonny looked at him, surprised. "What? No, don't be ridiculous." Sonny said, it's just a situation going on at the club." He lied.
"What has Will been up to?" Brian pushed a little further.
"How would I know, I just said that I haven't talked to him in a few days." Sonny answered.
"Did you two have an argument?" Brian asked.
"No, he is busy getting ready for his big date, I'm sure." Sonny snapped.
"Ahhh" Brian thought, "Now we are getting somewhere." He waited a beat… "Who is his date with, He giving Neil yet another chance?" he asked.
"No, He's fucking going out with Paul Narita…" Sonny said, looking up at Brian.
Brian's eyes narrowed at him. "You are jealous." He said, finally understanding Sonny's moodiness.
"You're crazy." Sonny said. All the while, wondering if it was true in the back of his mind.
"NO!" Brian all but screamed. "I'm not crazy, I'm right…"
"It isn't anything like that." Sonny yelled back, "Paul is just not right for Will."
"And who is?" Brian asked. "Neil was never good enough….. you freak out whenever I offer to introduce him to any of my other available friends, and now Paul…. A MAJOR LEAGUE FUCKING BALL PLAYER is not good enough….. That's just the thing isn't it Sonny … no one will ever been good enough…. Well that is no one but you.."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Sonny asked.
"Figure it out." Brian said, snatching his coat off of the hanger and slamming out of the apartment.
Sonny went over and dropped onto the couch. Brian was wrong, he wasn't jealous…. He couldn't be jealous. He and Will were friends. He just wants to see him happy with the right person. That person, just doesn't happen to be his ex, that's all.