Unobtainable (3 page)

“I could not help but notice you reading a Will,” she said.

“That it is,” I responded, without looking at her. “I don’t want to be rude but I’m really not interested.”

“Someone thinks quite highly of himself,” she tittered.

“Excuse me?”

She held up her left hand. “Married. Very happily. I’m simply killing time while I wait for my husband to join me.”

“I’m sorry,” I was sure to apologize quickly. “I’m having a bad day that just seems to be getting worse, let me buy you a drink to make up for my abominable behavior.”

“Why not, I’ll have a G&T and he’s paying,” she told Andrew, as he walked past. “You did not fare well in the inheritance department?”

“You could say that.”

“Look, I happen to be a lawyer, would you like a bit of free council while I‘m waiting?”

“You would do that?” I asked.

“Let me see what we have here,” she took reading glasses from her handbag, resting them on the end of her nose and started to read. “Uh huh…oh…brutal.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I take it you are the ever loving bachelor, who does not want to settle down and the talk of having a child sends you running for the hills?”

“I’m the ever loving gay grandson who doesn’t want to marry a
woman
in order to get what is rightfully his. I have worked my ass off just as hard as my brothers for that company, it’s not right that my marital status should rob me of my share.”

“I see,” she scowled, turning her attention back to the pages of the Will. “There does not seem to be limitations detailing whom you may choose to marry.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, turning my entire body to face her. She had grasped onto one hundred percent of my attention now.

“There are no stipulations that state your intended must be a
bride
, a
female
or a
woman
for that matter. Therefore you may marry whomever you please and as far as this baby provision goes, it would not hold up in court. You see, even a woman is not guaranteed she will bear a child because she happens to be in possession of a uterus, therefore you have a valid loophole. I suggest you find the man of your dreams within the next fourteen days and make it legal.”

My jaw dropped open, this woman sitting in front of me was a godsend. She was a miracle sent from the heavens to save my sorry ass. It was a stroke of luck that she came into
Chances
bar at this moment in time and sat in the seat next to me, or was it? Maybe this idea of a higher power wasn’t too farfetched…we would see.

“I could kiss you!” I said, planting a kiss on her cheek. “I owe you so much…I don’t even know your name.”

“Cassandra,” she said, grinning, handing me a business card from her tiny excuse for a handbag. “Call me if you require representation in this matter, I would be more than happy to represent you pro-bono.”

“Cassandra, I think I love you,” I gave her another kiss, the excitement exuding from my pores, this time on the mouth as someone cleared his deep brawny throat behind us.

“That’s my wife you’re kissing, buddy,” Cassandra’s husband hissed, “hands off!”

I shook his hand wildly, taking him by surprise. Jumping to my feet, and stuffing the Will into my pocket, “its okay I’m gay,” I said, with an enormous amount of pride.

I tossed several one hundred dollar bills onto the bar. “Dinner’s on me. Goodbye and thank-you for saving my life, Cassandra.”

Yep, I was being a drama queen, but it felt so good.

I raced along the sidewalk and burst through the door back at the office, taking the stairs two at a time because I was too excited to wait for the elevator. Unfortunately, everyone had gone home for the night. I took my chances and went in search of Harley, but he too had left for the day.

My news would have to keep until the morning.

~Dyson~

The next morning I was up at the crack of dawn; dressed, showered and in my office before anyone else. I had the coffee brewing, I had stopped and picked up a box of mixed donuts and left them on the lunch room table and I had payroll ready to submit.

I was stoked and feeling better than I had in days.

“Morning,” Clayton greeted me as he walked past my door and then ducked back into my office. “Piss the bed this morning?”

Clayton my second oldest brother worked in the sales department, he was also head of PR. He had my build, my hair color and eyes. In fact all we Michaels boys looked very similar, except for EJ, who was taller, brawnier and hairy like a bear. He also had a permanent scowl and rarely smiled. We joked often about his balls being trapped in a steel vice making him perpetually ugly.

I shrugged and laughed, “Good morning to you too.”

“Seriously Mr. I’m-never-on-time, what brings you in so early?”

He had the right to ask, my being here at this hour was unusual to say the least. Most, if not every morning, I sauntered into work late. But my work was always done on time and I was never late for appointments, these facts I prided myself on.

“It’s a beautiful day, besides, I received the best news last night,” I patted the Will tucked in my suit jacket pocket.

“I’m waiting,” Clayton said, sitting in the chair opposite my desk.

“I’ll tell you when EJ and Toby get here,” I said, taking the Will from my pocket and trying to slip it into my top drawer unnoticed.

“Not that fucking Will again,” Clayton whined, when he spotted the document. “How long are you going to beat that thing to death?”

“Until I get what I deserve, like the rest of you.”

“Grandpa’s Will was straight forward kid, get married or lose it. You knew how he felt about marriage making a man. It’s not like it was something new,” Clayton said, with an ever so slight air of sympathy in his tone. “All you had to do was marry Rebecca. Instead you chose to come leaping out of the closet in front of an audience of two hundred and seventy-five invited family and guests.”

I opened my mouth to defend myself when Clayton stood, leaning forward with both hands on my desk. “I’m not saying you didn’t do the right thing and I have no problem with you pitching for the other team, but you can’t cry about it now, what’s done is done.”

Pitching for the other team? Would it have killed him to say the word gay? I guess that was the best he could do for now. After all, I did throw a lot at my family that day. They had some adjusting to do too, at least he wasn’t pussy footing around, avoiding me or completely ignoring me all together. I was grateful that no one had disowned me, so far anyway. I hadn’t seen my parents since Saturday, coming up a week now. I wasn’t avoiding them, I was simply giving them time, allowing reality to sink in before I went to face them. It wasn’t every day that their son embarrassed them on his wedding day by announcing to the world that he was gay.

Clayton watched me shiver as a chill ran along my spine just thinking about their faces that day.

“I am
not
fucking crying,” I stood, grabbing the Will from my drawer, and circling my desk. “I made coffee, do you want some?”

Clayton followed me but didn’t say a word. He held out his favorite mug and watched as I filled it, then helped himself to a glazed donut. I filled my favorite mug, we all had a favorite, and passed on a donut, my stomach was in knots. Clay stared at me with a glint of suspicion in his eye as he devoured a second donut and cup of coffee.

“About God damned time,” Clayton said, relieved to see EJ and Tobias walk into the room. “Now spit it out Dyson, I have important work to do.”

“What’s up, shit for brains?” Tobias asked, stirring powdered creamer into his coffee and passing the dirty spoon to EJ.

Tobias was head of advertising. He had a strange sense of humor, which had something to do with the advertising game. His personality couldn’t be described other than saying he was quick witted and derisive. We were all well accustomed to his sarcastic style and contemptible mouth, which was always one step ahead of his brain.

“Can we at least sit?” I asked, watching the scowl on EJ’s brow deepen, as if it could get any deeper without denting his skull.

“Tick Tock Kid,” EJ said, tossing the spoon into the sink and taking a sip of his strong black coffee. “We ain’t got all day here.”

Kid
.

My brothers never let me forget for one minute that I was the baby of the family, nor did they let me forget that I was the low man on the totem pole at this company. It frustrated me beyond words, at times I almost felt like they knew it and fed off it like a pack of hungry wolves.

“Fine,” I looked to each of them to make sure I had their absolute attention. “I have thirteen days and counting to get married. I still have time.”

“No shit Pontiac,” Tobias, the arrogant little prick laughed. “But I’m pretty sure it’s going to take a lot longer than that to convince some woman to marry a gay man. How are you going to pull it off? And where are you getting your information?”

“Well smart ass,” I glared at Tobias. “My lawyer pointed out last night that I can marry whomever I please.”

I slapped my copy of the Will on the table and heard a lengthy collective groan from my brothers. It would have been comical if I weren’t so determined to prove how serious I was.

“You have your own lawyer now?” EJ scowled. “I’ll be damned, the kid might be growing a pair.”

“What’s the plan then, Romeo?” Clayton asked, elbowing EJ who wasn’t very impressed with the blow to his ribs.

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll let you know when and where, and you better all be there to witness it.”

“Tell you what…I have a deal for you,” EJ spoke up, “you find a bride, sorry groom, and you can get married right in my backyard. I’ll take care of everything from the minister, right down to the cutlery. Deal?”

Yes it would have sounded like a crazy offer to just anyone, but if you ever had the opportunity to step into EJ’s backyard you would have jumped at the proposal too. It was massive, with a green expanse of carefully groomed Kentucky blue grass and borders housing the most beautiful highbred roses and exquisite blooms from around the world. It would be the perfect location for the ceremony to take place. I had to take a minute to mentally control myself, so as not to jump up and down like a cheerleader gone wild.

EJ offered me his hand, he even had a trifling smile on his face as I reluctantly placed my hand in his and shook without saying a word. I was dubious, but determined to show them all.

“It’s settled then, Saturday the seventeenth at five pm,” EJ said, pointing his large finger at Clayton and Tobias. “We’ll all be there, right boys? Suits and ties and don’t forget a gift for the happy couple.”

They agreed with a groan, no one generally said no to EJ.

“But,” EJ snapped, eyeing me.

I knew it, this was why I was so ambiguous. With EJ there was always a but.

“I don’t want to see or hear another fucking thing about that God damned Will, am I clearly understood? Get that fucking thing out of my sight, it’s been a fucking pain up my ass for months now. And…on July eighteenth married or not we will burn that fucker and bury the ashes in a shallow unmarked grave. Once it’s a pile of unrecognizable ashes a few feet under, then I’ll be a very happy man.”

“Pfft…” Tobias puffed. “I can’t wait to see that day, the day Mr. Edward James Michaels is elated…you gotta make this happen kid, I’ll even help you find a guy. We’ll circuit every gay bar from here to Canada if we have to!”

“Get to fucking work, Toby,” EJ growled. “Let’s
all
get to work, okay?”

I left my brothers to hash out the details, deciding to step out into the hallway before all the hot air threatened to suffocate me when I immediately noticed Harley my sexy god standing with his back turned to me. I fought to  suppress my fantasy of walking over and caressing that perfect ass of his, palming each cheek while I talked dirty into his ear, before I could totally root myself in my fantasy however, he closed the filing cabinet drawer and swiftly turned, catching me gawking, as usual. There was a tiny hint of a smile at the corner of his delicious mouth, as delicious as I could imagine it being without ever having a taste. God I wanted a taste so bad.

“Dyson,” Harley said, casually with a nod.

I was such a moron that I stood there staring while he walked away. I slapped my palm to my forehead and rolled my eyes. Harley must have thought I had lost my ever-loving mind.

Sitting at my desk, my concentration fixed on my computer screen, I got the feeling I was being watched and peered over the rim of my glasses to the door. There stood Harley Cooper in all his glory. Fuck he was beautiful with his back against the doors frame, one foot propped up and his arms crossed over his large chest.

“Can I help you?” I managed to ask without falling to my knees, although that wasn’t a bad idea. I cleared my throat.

“I have a problem with my paycheck? You told me to drop by today so you could fix it?”

“That’s right I did, what seems to be the problem?” I asked, as he sauntered towards me with his hands in his pockets.

A pair of tan slacks and a crisp white button down shirt, never looked so good. With his dark blond bedroom hair shaved short at the sides with the longer top finger combed over his left brow and his carefully groomed almost-not-there beard and mustache, he was hard to ignore. He was perfection personified. Harley’s striking eyes smiled even when his lips chose not too and they were the most vibrant blue I had ever seen. I seriously had to get a grip or he was about to know exactly what he did to me. I adjusted my position and gestured to the seat in front of my desk.

“What seems to be the issue?” I asked, quite proud of myself for not openly drooling and completing a whole sentence without stumbling over my tongue.

“I was supposed to receive my holiday pay on this cheque and I didn’t.”

“Have a seat while I pull up your file.”

“Mind if we share the screen?” Harley asked. “I’d like to see too. Maybe I can learn something about accounting.”

“Uh, sure…bring your chair around to this side, I’ll scoot over,” I said, directing him to sit at my right side, since I was left handed and needed to control the mouse.

“Not too far,” Harley said, stopping my chair with his hand. “I’m afraid my vanity doesn’t want me to admit I need glasses.”

“I hear you,” I said, wiggling my heavy black framed glasses with my finger behind my ear and laughing.

“On you they look good,” Harley said, smiling. “You suit that nerdy look.”

“Excuse me?” I said, taken aback, not sure whether to feel insulted or not.

Was Harley honestly calling me a nerd? Was he making fun of me? Accountants were known as the brainy, boring, wimpy guys getting sand kicked in their faces by the muscle bound gigantors who often walked away the victor. It was a well-known fact that couldn’t be more wrong in my case. I worked hard at maintaining my build.

“I mean you look really smart with them on,” Harley tried to correct himself, he was failing. It was hard to hold anything Harley said against him, although the thought of my hard body pressed against his was a very yummy notion.

“As opposed to when I take them off and I look like a dumb ass?” I joked, turning in time to catch him checking me out. He had definitely been check out the goods.

“Urgh…that’s not what I meant, I’m really fucking this up,” Harley said, brushing his hand through his hair, managing to make it look even better and releasing the scent of shampoo into the air. “All I meant was that I don’t have a face for glasses. I have this long skinny baby face thing going on, especially if I shave, it’s as if I’m back in grade school.”

“I think glasses would make your eyes pop even more than they do,” I said, taking my glasses from my face and handing them to Harley. “Give them a try, I bet you won’t look half bad.”

Harley put them on and looked at me with a rascally grin on his face and a naughty leer in his gorgeous eyes. He was magnificent, nerdy glasses and all.

“We better get a move on. I wouldn’t want to hold you up if you have lunch plans, making adjustments can sometimes take a while with this new program I’m trying to get used to.”

“It all depends on what
you’re
doing for lunch,” Harley said, while I typed away.

“Me?” I asked, as I input a few figures to my calculator from the screen.

“Yeah, you find me my holiday pay and I’ll treat you to lunch to say thanks.”

“No need to do that, it’s my job. Besides, it looks like I’m the culprit that fucked you out of your holiday pay in the first place,” I laughed, but it was true.

“In that case you should say yes out of sheer guilt alone.”

We laughed and Harley nudged my shoulder, “Lunch sounds great, I missed breakfast.” I wasn’t going to tell him why, he probably figured it was because of my tardiness as usual.

Harley was sitting so close I could hear each breath he took, I could smell the mint from his gum and whatever cologne he was wearing. It smelled underpowered compared to most cologne that entered a room a few minutes before the man wearing it. On Harley it was a fresh, clean scent.