August 2027: New Term, New Arrival.
There would be celebrations that evening in the Harper-Gilbert home; Mrs Harper had sat in silence and listened to all that Mike had to say, before pointing out that it was Olivia's own decision to make, but before the subject was properly broached with the girl, she would need to speak to her father to see what he thought. Mike agreed and was grateful that she was already pulling out her cellphone; she made a swift call and caught her former son-in-law with no problem at all. She explained the basics to him before handing her phone over to Mike, as he was better placed to answer any questions that the man had.
The conversation was detailed, and Mike was only too happy to tell him why he rated his daughter so highly and felt that she had a great future ahead of her in the world of dance. Of course, the subject of money was brought up and Mike was only too pleased to tell him that he would have no hesitation in recommending that she should be given a full scholarship. He was also at pains to point out that as well as her dance training, she would be given all of the usual high school education, to ensure that she was prepared for all eventualities when she finished her student years. At the end of their talk, his response was the same as Mrs Harper's had been; that the final decision rested with his daughter, but that she had his blessing…
Only then did Mike and Mrs Harper head for the dressing room, where Beats and the others had been sent to await them in the company of Olivia. The former beatboxer looked a little apprehensive as they entered, confused about what exactly was going on; his mother just had time to walk over and whisper in his ear before Mike cleared his throat and everyone fell silent. He did not waste any time, and came straight out with an offer to Olivia of a place at the City Ballet's school the following year; he explained that she would still receive her formal education whilst spending additional time being trained as a dancer and becoming a cadet in the company…
She did not keep them waiting long for an answer, and it was the one that Mike was hoping for. That evening her grandmother and siblings were there to help celebrate an achievement that they might not have anticipated, but one which set her up for the future. Of course, there was one other caveat about it all, and that was that with the long days she would have ahead of her, she would be moving into the dorms at the school. She would be close by to her uncles though, and she would still have plenty of free time to come and see them at the weekend. As a further bonus, Beats told her that her room would be kept for her, so she would always have a place to go to during the holidays.
Mike meanwhile had been a little later than he had initially expected to be in getting home, as he had to deal with an irate female recruiter from Tisch, who had been discovered by a security guard, having been locked into one of the shoe stores backstage. She was brought to see Mike, and accused Santana of having been the person to lock her in the room; he had surmised that something like this had happened, but his old friend was now long gone from the building, her mission a success. He decided to apologise to her for the problem, but explained that the lock on the door of the room in question had been faulty for a while; then he asked why she had been in the room in the first place, given that it was located in an area of the building that was strictly for staff only… With the problem defused for now, he had headed home, trying to call Santana a few times, but her line was constantly engaged…
That line was engaged not because she was ignoring Mike's calls, but because she was busy having an in-depth conversation with Ethan at first, and then because she had been called up by Trent. She was able to inform him that Lucy's second husband had also taken refuge in the United States, which came as no surprise to Trent, given that he was aware of the degree of hatred that Lucy had for their homeland. What he did not tell her was that he had taken action on his own that even Drew and Ethan were unaware of, namely placing Lucy's name on both the permanent immigration and ESTA blacklists, not to mention barring her from ever receiving a work permit…
With the name from Santana in his head, Trent resolved that he would check the files for any mention of a Dr Fergus MacAndrew, just to satisfy his own curiosity in the main, as he had few concerns about the man. The fact was that if he had been left permanently injured by being married to the woman was sign enough to him that the man would not hurt any of his friends. Then there was the undeniable fact that Ethan obviously trusted the man, or he would not have been allowed within a hundred yards of Drew and Evie…
On the morning after the City Ballet show, Sebastian found himself awake much earlier than normal, ready to head out to Dalton, where the duty of friendship was now calling him. He had explained the situation to Dave who had been entirely sympathetic to his need to be there for his friend and colleague in his hour of need. Foremost in his mind was the idea that Thad would have certain needs to be addressed, but when he let himself into Thad's apartment, it was to find Wes already present in the room, and he had even made his husband some breakfast.
Sebastian smiled at that, but his arrival meant that the angel could take his leave, stopping to kiss his husband tenderly before he headed off to start his day's work. After his departure, Thad motioned to Sebastian to take a seat on the chair that someone had moved into his bedroom overnight, then spoke to him as he ate the cereal that Wes had poured out for him. "Wes has been wonderful," he began, carefully avoiding all of the usual terms that people used in those kinds of situations, like angel and godsend. "He couldn't stay all night, for obvious reasons, but he came when I needed to get to the bathroom, which was a great relief. His presence was also enough to stop Mrs Carmichael coming over for hours; as much as I love her, she can be a bit too much at times…"
Sebastian nodded; his memory was full of how she had behaved the previous day. "She does have the ability to make you feel like a child again," he replied, "but that is only because she loves us all so much, and I would not actually have her behaving in any other way…"
"I'd still rather that her caring did not extend to my ablutions at my age," Thad said, and the other man knew exactly where he was coming from…
With his food now finished, Thad turned to the matters in hand. "Okay time to get on with the actual work of the day. I asked Wes to bring all of the necessary folders through from my study and they are over there on the chest of drawers. He did offer to have Seth come here and help me, but I gently reminded him that whilst such a kind gesture was appreciated, it would be most impractical. He can't exactly show the first arrivals up to their dorms…"
Sebastian nodded, then said, "I am guessing that the arrivals in question will all be seniors, including our current Head Warbler?"
"Yes, but there will also be four other boys, including one freshman with his junior brother. It is all detailed in the red folder over there; it contains all of the room allocations for this year, as there have been a few changes of dorm, naturally. Most of the seniors will still be in the rooms they had last year though, so that makes things a little less hectic. I am expecting the first of them, our Head Warbler and the Council Secretary, to arrive at around 10.30am; you will need to be there to greet them. You can inform them what is going on, and I would be grateful if you could bring them up to see me. It would be for the best if I was the one to tell them that they were going to be placed in charge of the dorm temporarily whilst I am indisposed…"
"Yes, I agree, that makes sense, but given the state of your health, we should limit it to the two of them."
"I would actually like to speak to our new freshman in person, just so that he can put a face to the name that he already knows, so to speak. However, I am not to be disturbed for anyone else."
Sebastian knew that Thad had a point about the freshman, so he took his decision as a good compromise in the circumstances. "Right, so if you don't need me for anything else right now, I thought that I should go and have one last check of the dorm rooms; I know that it is something that you would be doing yourself if you were not unwell. I am sure that there will be a page at the front of the red folder specifying exactly which rooms I need to check out today, and no doubt a checklist of what should be present in each room too."
Thad chuckled, but he did not nod in agreement, anxious to avoid all unnecessary movement. "Good, I shall let you get on with that, and in answer to your first question, there is nothing that I require right now…
Sebastian looked at him for a moment, then said in a stern voice, "Oh, I beg to differ; you need a bowl, some water, your toothbrush and the toothpaste… Dental hygiene is extremely important, young man!" Sebastian had said the last few words in his best impression of Mrs Carmichael's tones, which made Thad smile.
"Okay, Mom!" he replied, and that set Sebastian laughing as he made to collect the breakfast dishes, so that he could wash them in the kitchen whilst Thad was brushing his teeth…
With all of that done, he left Thad alone and headed to the dorm rooms, spending the best part of the next hour checking of everything on the checklist against the contents of the five rooms that would be in use by the end of the day. The housekeeping staff and the janitors had done their jobs well, as always, and each room was ready for occupation. He remembered his own time at the school as he walked round the rooms, currently devoid of any of the personal touches that would make them more of a home to a teenager for the best part of a year.
He also made a check of the even more important place, the dorm common room and kitchen, ensuring that everything there was in apple pie order; in particular, he ensured that the snack cupboard was well stocked, and that there were adequate drinks in the fridge. He was pleased to see that there was milk too, along with all that was needed to make tea, coffee and hot chocolate. He knew that the careful inspection he was making was just a duplication of that the staff had already done, but he knew that Thad would be just as diligent if he was able to be there.
Content with the state of the dorms, and with a little time to spare, he headed over to the school building to see that the Senior Commons was also ready for the new school session. It was just as he recalled it being on his own first day back; smelling of polish, gleaming and in fastidious order. It wouldn't stay like that, but he was happy that would be the case…
At 10.30, he was back at the door to the dorm building, awaiting the first two arrivals. The two senior Warblers looked at him with curiosity, which swiftly turned into concern when he told them why Thad was in absentia. They wanted to go to him immediately, but he insisted that they drop off their bags in their dorms first, and freshened up before he escorted them into Thad's apartment, ushering them into his bedroom…
If being put in temporary charge of the Warbler dorm phased either of the two young men, then they did not let it show in front of their housemaster; once dismissed, they spoke to Sebastian about what else was scheduled for that day, and as a result, they were both present at the door with him for the remaining arrivals. In most instances, there was concern for Thad, but then an acceptance that he could not see them as he was unwell; none of them complained that the freshman was given that right, not even his brother who was not allowed to join him.
There was, in fact, only one thorn in Sebastian's side that day, and that was the mother of the sole sophomore that was arriving that day. She demanded the chance to speak to Thad, as she had concerns about issues she perceived as existing in the dorms. Her son was rolling his eyes and looking at Sebastian apologetically the entire time, and that gave him the courage to stand his ground and not allow her anywhere near Thad. He did however wish that he had summoned Mrs Carmichael over to join him for this one, as she would have dealt with her with ease. All he was able to do was listen and take notes to pass on to Thad at once, his acting skills to the fore; inside, he was screaming at her to shut up…
By the time that 4pm came around, Sebastian was feeling exhausted, and he once again wondered just how Thad did this every day. Mrs Carmichael had arrived just moments earlier and was in the process of gathering up the boys, rather as a mother hen rounded up her chicks, to escort them all across to the refectory for a welcome dinner, which was being proceeded by a tour of the school, as there had been a few changes to the classrooms and the layout of the building that even the returning students would need to know about. After she left with them all in tow, Sebastian returned to Thad's apartment, finding the Head Warbler listening to classical music with one of his new history texts in his hands.
Thad took one look at Sebastian and said, "You look like you should head for home." It was framed in the form of an order, and that did make Sebastian smile.
"As you command, Head Warbler," he replied. "Is there anything that I can do for you before I head off?"
"I guess that a trip to the bathroom would be advisable, even if I am not currently feeling any real urgency to use the facilities. It will save Wes from having to come," he replied. Sebastian nodded and assisted his friend to the smallest room in his apartment, waiting patiently outside whilst he completed his task. Then he escorted him back to his bed and saw that he was comfortable once more. "Our newest arrival seems to have promise," Thad commented as Sebastian tucked him in. "I asked him to sing for me and his voice was pitch perfect. You will be seeing him at auditions next week. I take it that you have no concerns about anything that you witnessed today?"
"No, everything is good, so hopefully you will be able to get a good night's rest. What do we have in store for tomorrow?"
"There are only two more boys arriving tomorrow, and they will not be here until the afternoon, so you can come in a little later if you wish."
Sebastian shook his head, and replied, "Nope, I will be here at the same time, just in case an issue has emerged overnight. I have also promised those already here a group bonding activity in the morning; we are going to make cookies…"
Thad chuckled, then said, "Things have changed a lot since we were students here when you think about it. Back then, the only things that we ever cooked in the kitchen were microwave popcorn, toast and pop tarts… All the ingredients for making a healthy batch of chocolate chip cookies should be there…"
"I have already checked that, and also know to advise them about the rules concerning the use of nuts in anything that they bake for general consumption…"
"Good man!" said Thad with a grin. "Now, shoo, because you will need a good night's rest after today." Sebastian nodded, but he knew that in reality, he could only think about his bed after his own work and family duties had been attended to…
In the end, Thad would remain more or less bedbound until Friday, when he was finally able to move around again without excruciating pain in his lower back. He still was advised to take it easy for a while, and so the arrangement he had made with the two senior boys to take charge of the dorm remained in place for another week at least. Principal Lefevre had also tried to make him take the first few days of the new term off his teaching duties, but he refused to do so, pointing out that he could easily teach the classes he had scheduled from the chair behind his desk; the modern computer technology that was fitted in every Dalton classroom meant that he could write on his tablet and have it come up on the screen behind him. She agreed if he promised to stick to that method of teaching alone and promised also to remain in his classroom for the entire school day. She knew better than to try and argue with him over anything else, as he had a strong work ethic. In any case, she had a soft spot for him, ever since that day at the start of his senior year when he had been one of the Warblers that had serenaded her in the corridor with Uptown Girl…
She organised that his lunch would also be brought to the classroom, and furthermore insisted that one of the boys from his house would walk with him to and from the school each day; for that task she had the Deputy Head Warbler in mind, as he was intending to go to medical school when he graduated…
The boy in question agreed, but he hid something from both the Principal and Thad. When he had returned on Wednesday and heard what was wrong with his housemaster, he had taken careful note of the symptoms that he was suffering from, hearing more by accidentally eavesdropping on Sebastian and Mrs Carmichael… He had then consulted his own medical textbook and then headed to the school library to look at the ones there too. He found the worst-case scenario quite quickly, but he did not repeat what he had discovered to anyone, knowing that it would be relatively pointless. In any case, he was sure that a doctor would have checked out the Head Warbler, and no-one informed him otherwise…
Thad's evenings that week had been enlivened by a series of Zoom calls, firstly one from David and his children, where he managed to conceal the fact that he was in pain from his best friend, and then one from Trent, who had an update for him on the Mexican situation, where all was now resolved as it should have been. Unlike David, Trent had not been so easily fooled by talk of being in bed because he was tired; he guessed Thad was in pain, but he said nothing, knowing that it would be denied. Had he had the spare time, he would have headed to Dalton at once, but the pressures of work precluded it. He said nothing, ensuring that other than Sebastian, none of the bird brotherhood knew how ill their leader had been…
As the week came to an end, a couple of events were being prepared for in the West Village. On Saturday, Joan Crawford would arrive, and thankfully the guest apartment had been available for the duration of her stay. Jeff and Drew had both met the lady at the start of the year and had filled in the other residents of the street with their limited knowledge of the lady with the famous name.
Lawrence had the early shift at work on the day of her arrival, which meant that Adam would be heading to the airport on his own; he would be back at home before she was due to arrive in the street though, so he could have everything ready to welcome her as long as there were no emergency cases that delayed his departure from the hospital. Nick had promised them one of his cakes as a centrepiece for her welcome to the street; Adam had asked him to make something that was totally American, so he had decided to make a Boston Cream Pie. He had originally considered making a Lane Cake, but he was not sure if Joan approved of alcohol in cakes…
Then on Sunday, most of the residents of the street had been invited to attend another significant event, something that none of them had ever seen in person before, and that was the partnership ceremony of Seth's cousin Barnaby and his two partners. They had been to many weddings before, but it would be new to watch him 'marry' both Clyde and Audra. Adam had been invited, and he was a little tempted to take his grandmother along with him, just to see how she would react to such a thing…
Adam spent half of the morning on Saturday cleaning the guest suite, even though it was already spotless. He had woken up that morning to find a message on his phone from his mother to say that she had delivered Joan to the airport, and they had discovered on their arrival at the check-in desk that she had been upgraded. When his grandmother had queried it, she discovered that it had been done at the expense of the television company that produced the show that had made Adam famous around the world. He had for his part sent them a message to thank them and had received a response directly from Ms Kudrow, who told him it was a pleasure. She thought that doing it would be a boon to him and his grandmother, as the extra staff on duty would ensure that there were no issues, such as boarding the wrong plane, on what was Joan's first long haul flight.
He took a short break after cleaning to grab a sandwich, then headed for the subway station at the junction of 8th Avenue and 14th Street, from which he could catch the 'A' train directly to the airport, more or less. He was leaving very early, but he needed to be there in good time. He achieved that goal, arriving well before the flight from Heathrow was due to touch down. He toyed with the idea of approaching one of the airline staff on duty to see if they could arrange for his grandmother to be escorted to him, but there was the perpetual issue that he would be recognised by someone the moment that he took off the dark glasses that he was wearing…
In the end he downloaded the airline's app and used it to send a message to them; he was shocked when he received an almost immediate response to say that a member of staff had already been allocated to escort Mrs Crawford through the process of immigration and then out to package claim and arrivals. He suspected then that his mother might have sorted all that out at Heathrow, and he was grateful to her. He waited as the flight status eventually changed to landed, and then he did not have much longer to wait before he heard a familiar voice, talking loudly about her favourite grandson. He suddenly wished that he had prepared a sign with her name on it to hold up and have the other people waiting stare at the star name written upon it…
It took them a while in the end to leave the airport, as his grandmother had insisted that he pose with the young lady that had pushed her in a wheelchair, that was totally unnecessary in Adam's opinion, through the airport. To do that, he had to remove his glasses, and that precipitated a queue of other people that recognised him and wanted to have a selfie with him. Eventually they made good their escape, and he pushed his grandmother out to the full-blown limo that he had hired to take them to the West Village…
As soon as she saw it, Joan had shaken her head in disapproval at the expense, but as they sped away from the airport, cocooned in the luxury of the back, she remarked, "It appears that the film star treatment is continuing…"
Adam smiled, and said, "Well, isn't that what Joan Crawford deserves?"
"Don't you start with that; I got a look at the check-in desk when I gave them my name. Can I also just say that I didn't approve of the upgrade at all, at least at first. I must admit that I did later in the flight when I saw what economy was actually like…"
"Well, if you do want to express your disapproval, then you will need to have a conversation with Ms Kudrow," Adam replied.
"I don't think that will be necessary. I managed to sleep for part of the flight, after I had enjoyed my four-course meal, which was just perfect by the way. I didn't wake up until just before they started to serve afternoon tea. My steward was also very attentive, making sure that I had everything I could want, so we really must send in a compliment about him to his…"
Joan stopped and jumped up in her seat, which startled Adam no end, before she calmed down and sat quietly once more. "I am sorry, I just looked out the window, saw we were driving on the right and had a momentary panic. Then my brain kicked in and reminded me that we were in a country where they drive on the wrong side of the road…"
Adam stifled a laugh, given that all of his American friends felt the exact same thing when they were in England. He had asked the driver to take the fastest route into the city, so he did not need to contend with the reaction to the first sight of the iconic skyscrapers at the tip of Manhattan; he did however have to explain to his grandmother why there was what she described as a smoking chimney in the middle of the road on 14th Street, something that had her shaking her head in disbelief…
When they arrived in the West Village street, Joan stood in silence on the sidewalk, taking in everything around her as her grandson thanked the driver and gave him a tip, something he did discretely as his grandmother would not understand that readily. He was fully prepared to tell her he was paying him had she asked, just to avoid an awkward conversation. Then the front door to the building in which he had his apartment opened and Lawrence was coming down the steps to greet her, all smiles. He could sense that she was busily judging all that she could see around her, so he said very little. Then, as the limo departed and Adam joined them, she spoke. "You appear to live on the set of a sitcom…"
The two men looked at each other and smiled. "It does seem that way at times," Lawrence replied. "We are just exceptionally lucky to have the right friends. Of course, they did use an exterior shot of a building only a few blocks from here in the sitcom that made Ms Kudrow a household name…"
Joan nodded, then allowed Adam to take her arm. "Okay, enough gazing at the street; come in and I will show you the guest suite that you will be staying in whilst you are here. Our benevolent and generous landlord keeps a small apartment empty to accommodate any visitors that we all might have; essentially you will have your own flat for the time you are here," he said.
Joan nodded, happier with the proper British word for an apartment. Then Lawrence spoke up again. "Once we have you settled, we will be having a spot of afternoon tea, albeit with an American twist. Our neighbour Nick is an excellent baker, and he has sent a cake as a welcome gift; it certainly looks absolutely delicious."
"Yes, you told me about him; he is married to the artist that I met at the Lying in State. He was on such friendly terms with the late Queen and is a friend of the Princess of Wales too; of course, he is also an official Coronation artist. I would like to meet both of them at some point for a longer conversation."
Adam nodded and suspected that she was wanting to ask a lot of probing questions. He knew that she was aware of the fact that Jeff was their landlord, and indeed owned a large part of the street; he guessed she wanted to know exactly how that had happened…
"It seems a shame that he has gone to all of that trouble and is not going to be able to enjoy it; you should ask him to join us for tea. It would be nice to talk to him and his husband in a more private setting," Joan said with a thoughtful look.
"I'm afraid that they have a prior engagement this afternoon and will be uptown right now at the home of Nick's sister," replied Lawrence.
Adam nodded, but he knew his grandmother well enough to spot that her suggestion was down to a desire to ask the Sterling-Duvals a lot of personal questions. He said nothing, but convinced Lawrence to head upstairs to prepare some sandwiches. Once they were alone, he turned to his grandmother with his arms folded. "I hope that you haven't flown all of this way just so you can interrogate my friends and neighbours…"
"As if I would!" replied Joan in a scandalised tone.
"You would," her grandson responded. "Okay, what would you like to know about Nick and Jeff? Maybe I already know it and can tell you…"
"Well, now that I have actually seen this street properly, I would like to know how an artist, even a successful one like Mr Sterling-Duval, came about owning so much prime property in this city. He must have been the richest boy at that school of theirs!"
Adam sighed, and then gave his grandmother the short version of how it had all come about. She listened in silence, her eyes widening as he went on; once he had finished, she remained quiet for a minute, then said, "How any father could try and kill his own child! Putting him in an orphanage at such a young age, just because he liked art, was bad enough, but then allowing his brother to try and destroy him through blackmail, and then when that boy died, trying to finish the task yourself…"
"It is a subject that is never mentioned in public around here; we all know, but the truth is unspoken. Please, for my sake and your own, do not bring the topic up in conversation with them."
"I won't, nor will I mention what happened at their school."
"Good," responded Adam. He thought for a moment, and then added, "By the way, just to give you the information, the richest boy at Dalton at their time actually lives on this street too. Ethan is the sole heir to a little business called Mackenzie Inc, and is the current chair of a charitable organisation known as the Mackenzie Trust."
"I have heard of it," replied Joan, her eyes wide. "It is an example of philanthropy at its finest from a firm that is worth billions…"
"Yeah, and all that will be Ethan's one day. Somehow, he is a level-headed and perfectly normal man…" replied Adam. The conversation over, he escorted Joan upstairs for tea…