Upside Down [mxm] [editing]

Chapter 16

The flash was bright, unexpected, and followed quickly by another. 

Alex felt like he'd been hit, the rush of luminescence striking out like a blow before vanishing and leaving all three of them drenched once more in the deep shadows that almost-darkness brought.  Under his hand Julian had tensed, those surgeon's fingers curling sharp and unyielding into the breadth of Alex's left bicep.  

Panic should have been seeping in, after all, it was practically rolling off of Julian in waves, but Alex remained completely in control.  It was as though the world around him had slowed down, the neurotransmitters in his brain responding to the sudden rush of adrenaline, fight or flight instinct kicking in.  Julian made to speak, but Alex shushed him, putting everything back where it belonged and zipping him back up. 

"I've got this.  Just do me a favor and head off the dock the other way."  Julian's face had been mostly obscured, tucked as he was in the crook of Alex's neck, safe behind the solid line of his jaw.  "Sorry about your jacket."  Alex could almost feel the confused look on Julian's feature, but he had to wipe his hand somewhere before heading over to deal with the photog.

Once he had taken Julian's elbow to physically turn the other man, making a sharp tsk noise as the dark-headed doctor tilted his chin to look back, Alex finally set to taking care of himself.  The paparazzo or whoever was still there, and Alex needed to speak to him.  There was no undoing this moment, but damage control was always possible. 

Doing his best to surreptitiously adjust his own swiftly fading arousal, Alex cleared his throat and ran his fingers (other hand) through his hair.  "Good evening."  He said, finally, approaching the unknown man with a steady and purposeful stride. 

"Dude, if you're gonna try and take the camera it won't work.   They upload automatically." 

Alex held his hands up in surrender and shook his head, closing the space between them, but remaining a respectable distance away.  "No. I'm not going to try and take the camera."

"Oh."  The photographer shrugged, snapping another quick picture of Alex all rosy-cheeked and disheveled before allowing the camera to drop and hang by its strap.  "So what are you going to do then?" 

"I just want to talk rights." 

That made the cameraman puff up indignantly.  "I have every right to take those photos." 

"Not those rights."  Alex was annoyed and impatient and it was beginning to show.  At the end of the dock, he heard Julian drop and slide, and it took everything for him not to look back and see if he was okay.  "Just the rights to the photos.  What you're going to do with them."

"I'm going to pay my rent with them. That's what I'm going to do."

"Makes perfect sense.  It's how you make your living, no one can fault you for that."  Alex was sliding into politician mode.  Calm, cool, and collected as he tried to figure out what the hell he was doing. "But let's start with him.  You get him in any of those?"

The cameraman narrowed his eyes and then shook his head.  "No. Not really. I mean, I got what you were doing to him."  He laughed a disgusting laugh and Alex really did want to beat the shit out of him at that moment.

"What does 'not really' mean?"  The words were said through clenched teeth. "May I look?"

Drumming his fingers on the camera, the photographer thought for a moment and then shrugged. "Sure. I guess." 

"Thank you."  Stepping forward, Alex looked over his shoulder as he flipped dutifully through the dozen or so photos.  They were damning, and career and family ruining, but just Alex's.  Not Julian's. 

"So that brunette of yours is gonna be pretty ticked when she finds out about this, huh?" 

"She's my sister."  Alex commented nonchalantly, before reaching out to tap on the view screen. "You can almost see his profile there.  Could I get you to delete that one?" 

"Oooh. So you're like gay, gay." 

"Yes. Exactly.  Gay, gay."   He was getting testier by the moment. "So can you delete that one?"

"I voted for you."

Holy shit, Alex never got into fights because he didn't like to risk getting hurt, but he was about to change that for this guy. "Thank you.  I appreciate your faith in my ability."

"I probably wouldn't've if I knew."  He gestured to the loading dock as if that explained everything.

"Hence my giving handjobs in the back alley."

"Yeah, you probably shouldn't have done that."

Alex was going to beat the shit of him.  He was already going to lose his job. Why not add criminal charges to it?  Maybe his dad could even be the arresting officer.

The cameraman looked at the picture and then back to Alex, before offering another shrug.  "I think I can ditch it, you're out of focus anyway."

"Great."  That was one thing handled.  Julian's identity was protected.  Alex would not be at fault for the destruction of his family. "Now one more thing". Alex reached into his blazer pocket to remove his wallet and a pen.

"You can't buy them from me, man.  The royalties from this is gonna be insane."

"No."  Once more Alex shook his head. "I'm going to make a deal with you."

The cameraman looked dubious, but Alex pressed forward nonetheless.

Using a nearby wall he jotted something down on the back of his business card. "This is my personal cell phone number."

"Uh, I don't swing that way."

Good god.  Just breathe Alex. Breathe.  "No.  Trust me, you're not my type."  The little dig wasn't necessary or helpful, but Alex needed it nonetheless.  "We're going to make a trade.  You are going to hold those pictures for a week so I can get some sort of PR in place."

"I'm going to do what?"  He laughed, incredulous.

"You're going to wait a week."  Alex pressed forward, offering over his business card. "And in return, I'll give you and your publication my first interview."

Whatever the cameraman had expected, this wasn't it, as much was evident in his features.  Tentatively he reached forward and took the proffered piece of paper before inspecting it, turning it over in his hands as he thought.

It was only then that Alex turned to look where Julian had gone.  The dark-haired doctor was nowhere to be seen, and for that Alex was grateful. A first look interview was his only bargaining chip. He needed that week to get his office in order, to get his resignation in order.

His resignation.  Alex couldn't even begin to think about that.

"Alright."  He nodded, tucking Alex's business card into his camera bag.  "But if you try and beat me to the punch..."

Alex shook his head before interrupting that particular train of thought. "There'd be no point in it. I need the time."   There were projects to wrap up and hand off, family that needed to be told.  A speech that needed to be written.

His resignation.

"Okay then."  He looked so smug.  Alex hated him beyond hating. "I'll give you a call to set something up."

"You do that." 

Turning the photographer moved to the fire door, holding it open for Alex. "You coming?"  He snickered, and Alex's disgust for him grew.

"No.  Thank you.  I'm going to leave this way."

"Makes sense.  Makes sense."  Bobbing his head in nod he slipped through the door. 

Alex slid down the nearest wall, coming to rest on the cold and unforgiving concrete, cradling his head in his hands.  What had just happened?  What had he just done?   More importantly, what had he just lost?