Upside Down [mxm] [editing]

Chapter 10

Vacations were the worst.  Or, more accurately, reality was the worst once the vacation was finally over. When you were away from the ins and outs of everyday life it was easy to think and say things that would often be drowned out by the never ending press of responsibility and adulthood.  This was why people professed that as soon as they got home they would quit their job and sell their house and move to the islands.  This was why people said that they would leave their husbands or finally peek their head out of the closet. 

Again, as he had a decade ago, Alex had every intention of hiring that PR firm and making a plan for how his sexuality was going to roll out.  He'd known, and he and Julian had discussed it at great length during their stay in Breckinridge, that it would be a six month to year long campaign, all depending on what the political clime was like at the time.  And it wasn't as though leaving Dick was something which Julian could be do overnight. Alex and Julian were in love, and were happy to be together, but the reality of their lives made the fairytale much less whirlwind and much more mundane.

All of this added up to the fact that Alex had hardly seen Julian in the past two weeks since they'd gotten back.  There'd been plenty of text messages, late night phone conversations, and one very rushed encounter in a bathroom stall at the Met. The opera, not the museum. Alex had been there with his brunette beard, Julian had been attending with Dick, and once Alex spotted Julian across the crowd at intermission, they both knew what needed to be done.  Namely each other in a very unsanitary place that neither of them gave a damn about. 

Since then?  Nothing.  Just the endless waiting that unrealistic expectations tended to bring.  And work, taking a week off to go skiing with his - whatever Julian was - had really backlogged a lot of the things Alex needed to get done.  That first year in office as an important one, and if he didn't start following up on the promises he made, there was no way his political career was going to survive the scandal.

Of course, with the scandal Alex was bringing - gay and a home wrecker - no PR firm may be able to save his political career. 

He'd taken to eating tums in giant handfuls, and downed a bunch of the supposedly fruit-flavored chalky things as the town-car he was riding in turned onto 61st Street. "Where am I going again?"  He asked around the antacids in his mouth.

"Donor's house, Edward Richardson.  For god knows what reason he shelled out a ridiculous amount of money to be the highest bidder on our 'lunch with the AG' auction.   It was supposed to be at Le Bernardin, but apparently he wanted to cook for you."   Alex could almost hear Sebastian's eyes rolling through the speaker phone.   "I'm pretty sure he's not a murderer, just looking for some tax breaks for his outdoor equipment company.  I could be wrong though.  Good luck."

Things between them hadn't been great since Alex had stood Sebastian up a few months back.  The paperwork which had been signed before they slept together was supposed to have prevented any issues, but jealousy appeared to be immune to legally binding contracts.  Seb hadn't done anything stupid, rather than ask a few times who it was - taking a guess here and there, but Alex wondered how much longer their professional relationship could last now that their extracurricular one was over. He also wondered just how big of a liability Sebastian was going to wind up being. 

At that thought another handful of tums went in, Alex leaning up to catch sight of himself in the rear-view and straighten his tie just as the driver pulled up in front of the house.  As usual Alex looked dashing, dressed sharply in a slim-fitted wool suit of dark ocean blue, a color which accentuated his tan, his hair and his eyes, but that he'd bought because the color reminded him so much of Julian.  Checking his teeth in the back passenger window's reflection and getting a thumbs up from the driver, Alex pulled himself into politician mode, ready to not be poisoned by some culinary constituent, and bounded up the steps of the brownstone to rap at the front door.

Oh shit.

Several things happened very quickly in that moment, the kind where time seemed to slow as the particles of the universe fell into place.  All at once Alex became aware of the fact that Sebastian had figured out just who Alex was sleeping with, that this brownstone was in fact Julian's brownstone, and that somehow Dick's nickname came from his last name, Richardson, instead of his first, Edward.

Son of a ...

The door swung open and Dick was standing there, grinning and welcoming as he ushered Alex inside of his home.  As seemed to be the norm when Alex interacted with Dick, the other man was speaking, giving the history of the house and the remodeling efforts they they'd gone through - this stone was important from Italy, and the mirrors in the front hall had to be made by hand in France - and all Alex could hear was the pounding of his own heart.  Sebastian was so very, very fired, that is if Alex didn't kill him first.

Nodding along and pretending like he was paying attention, Alex's mind raced. Did Dick know?  He wasn't acting like he did, in fact he was droning on so much about the architecture of the place Alex had no idea what Julian had seen in him.  He was attractive enough, Alex guessed, but he was quite a bit older than the both of them, and short.  It must have been nice for Julian to have been taller than someone for once.

Good god, Julian.  Did he know?  How could he not have told Alex that this lunch was happening?  Was there a reason he hadn't said anything?  Was this all some sort of horrible trap?

Alex's mind was spiraling and the breaks weren't about to be applied anytime soon.  Dick had just led them both into the second floor sitting room, and the entire place was covered in pictures of Julian.  Unable to control himself, Alex drifted towards a picture of Julian and Edward/Dick kissing.  They were both wearing tuxes and it was very obviously their wedding day.  An invisible knife wrenched in Alex's gut.  On the bookshelf next to it were pictures of Dick and Julian with the children, first as newborn and then as toddlers, on vacation at the beach, on Christmas.  Alex was a man who could fake his way through anything if it meant a vote, but he really doubted his ability to fake his way through this.

"He's quite the looker, isn't he?"  Dick walked amiably over to stand behind Alex and gaze at the same picture.  "I've often wondered how I lucked out and ended up with a man as loving, dedicated and handsome as he is."   A hand rested on Alex's shoulder and the blonde was pretty sure he was about to piss himself from the awkward tension of this whole moment.  "That's actually why I wanted to have lunch with you."  Releasing Alex's shoulder, Dick strode over to the couch and sat down, gesturing for Alex to do the same.

"Oh?"  Being speechless was never something which had plagued Alex, but then and there he thought it would be best if he listened instead of spoke.

"Yes."  Dick replied with a broad smile, nodding his head reassuringly as he patted the seat next to him on the sofa like some old Queen who had hard candy or Poppers in his pocket.  "Julian's birthday is coming up in a couple months and I want to do something spectacular.  I reasoned that since you'd know one another for so long, well that you might have some deliciously embarrassing stories to share with me about my husband, but also that you could help me plan something he wouldn't expect."  All at once concern rushed in to take hostage of Dick's features.  "I hope you don't consider this wasting your time."  Thick brows knit together as he looked to Alex for reassurance.

"No, no not at all."  Alex knew for certain now that he was going to vomit everywhere.  He was relieved that Dick didn't seem to know anything, but also broken-hearted at the kindness this man was displaying.  Dick obviously loved Julian very much, causing Alex to wonder just how much Julian loved Dick.  The good doctor had never needed to be a gold digger, and his heart had always been so full and ready to love.  Was it possible that Alex was destroying this family and Julian's happiness for purely selfish reasons?  "I'd love to help you come up with something,"Alex cleared his throat, "Something that'll surprise Julian more than anything else."