I'm Your Man (37 page)

My mouth fell open. Violet's sudden death grip on my arm stopped me from cursing out loud. Obviously she was just as shocked as I was. It was supposed to be my job to choose the male models for the ads. The same ads I had yet to worry about, since we'd only just agreed on a packaging concept. I wanted to leap over the table and strangle Noreen when she said, “The best action for Taurus is a path of silence.”

“Narcissus?” Daniel barked. “Very funny, Blaine.”

“I didn't—”

“We can start the Deity ads now, to pique the public's curiosity,” Lillith spoke over me. Though I wanted to disagree, I heeded Noreen's advice and kept quiet. Lillith continued, “In addition, they'll send the message that Lillith Allure is behind you and
Secret Splendor.
In fact, we'll help offset Seaforth Chemicals' costs and buy advertising time on the network. The Deity commercials will be raw. Masculine. They'll give the press something other than your acting career and your relationship with Blaine to focus on.”

“I don't want to lie,” Daniel said. “We're not a couple, boring or otherwise, and we're not going to pretend to be. Right, Blaine?”

“I don't have to be part of a couple to be boring,” I said. “I'm just a businessman. No one cares about me. Even if they did, there's nothing to write about.”

Bonnie turned to the third man who had accompanied her and gave him a nod. He whipped a tiny spiral notebook out of his pocket, opened it, and recited, “Blaine Michael Dunhill. Lives with a massage therapist named Gavin Lewis. Frequent meetings at home with his assistant, Violet Medina. Visited by a blond female corporate type who travels between his apartment and Daniel Stephenson's. Dinner meeting at Renaissance Diner with Sheila Meyers dressed incognito. Dinner with Ethan Whitecrow at Julian's Restaurant; left Whitecrow's apartment the next morning. Last week, had a mixed fruit smoothie at his gym, bodyWorks, with an unidentified male companion. Later visited companion's apartment for an hour and a half. This morning, was at a women's hospital with a pregnant lady.”

“A pregnant lady?” Violet repeated blankly.

“You tricked with someone from our gym?” Adam asked in a surprised voice.

“I'm being followed?” I exploded.

“See how easy it is to gather information about a supposedly boring person and put a salacious spin on it?” Bonnie commented with a shrug.

“Bonnie, this is completely unacceptable,” Ethan said, shooting me an apologetic glance.

“Unbelievable,” Daniel said, looking from Ethan to me. “I'm out of here.”

“Daniel, wait,” I began, but as was his habit, he walked out without looking back.

“You've really gone too far this time,” Lillith said to Bonnie.

“Compared to Blaine's, Daniel's report is the boring one,” Bonnie answered.

“This is a complete invasion of Blaine's privacy,” Ryan said. “We ought to sue you.”

“That would certainly help matters,” Bonnie said in a tone rife with sarcasm.

“Who's pregnant?” Violet asked.

I turned to look at Adam when he said, “I didn't know about this part of the meeting, Blaine. I swear. I didn't even realize that you and Ethan were friends.”

“Friends,” I mused. “Considering today's input from you two, I'm starting to rethink that whole concept.” I turned to Violet. “Gretchen is pregnant, but it's not relevant to this discussion. Lillith, I'd like to meet with you another time to talk about the Deity line. Right now, I have other things to take care of.”

“Of course,” Lillith said with a nod. As I left the conference room, I heard her say, “I wonder how much bad karma you've racked up over this, Bonnie?”

By the time I got to the elevator, Ethan, Adam, and Violet were on my heels. I turned around and held up one hand, saying, “No more wisdom, advice, or questions out of any of you. I'm going home, getting out of this suit, and—never mind. Too many people know too much as it is.”

“I was trying to be supportive of Daniel's career,” Adam said. “And also give the two of you a reason to spend time together so you could work things out.”

“Remember what I told you once?” Ethan asked. “That avoiding people is never a good way to solve problems?”

“It's not their fault Daniel walked out,” Violet added. “Bonnie's the one who had you followed.”

“You know whose fault it is?” I asked. “Once again, I've made it possible for someone I love to be publicly hurt and humiliated.”

The elevator doors closed between us. I was producing enough adrenaline to run home, but I walked the thirty-plus blocks, hoping the August heat would melt my anger. I wasn't happy that Daniel had walked out, but I didn't blame him. He'd been subjected to a network weasel, Bonnie and Lillith's bickering, a homophobic attorney, and surprising revelations about his ex-boyfriend, all while a job he loved was being threatened.

I knew how he felt. I was furious at Lillith for springing her idea to use him in our Deity ads. I was even angrier that Bonnie's people had been spying on me. But most of all, I was mad at myself for being part of something that had hurt Daniel.

When I got to my building, Gavin was just coming out the door with a duffel bag that I assumed held my laundry. He smiled at me when I approached, but the smile quickly disappeared after his eyes focused on my expression.

“I'm on my way to drop off your laundry. Your shirt is soaked. If you want to go up and change, I'll wait here, then I can take that one, too.”

“No. It can wait,” I answered curtly, not wanting to unleash the rage that had only intensified on the long walk home.

“Bad day?” he asked, dropping the bag on the sidewalk.

“I don't want to talk about it.”

“Sometimes talking helps reduce tension,” he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “Damn, you are tense.”

I heard a clicking sound coming from somewhere behind me. I turned around, suspicious after what had happened at the meeting. For all I knew, Bonnie's gumshoe was following me again.

Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Pedestrians crossed the street, cabs tore up the avenue, and cars were parked bumper to bumper along the curb. An old lady stopped to clean up after her dog. Her cane tapped against the side of a small metal fence around the base of a tree, and I decided that must have been the clicking sound I'd heard.

“Gavin, have you noticed anyone following me?”

His forehead scrunched up as he thought. He was probably trying to visualize every moment we'd been in public together. “No, I haven't. Why? Is this about the photos from the wedding?”

“I just found out how un-boring I can seem to be.”

“I don't follow,” he said.

“Some of the people that Daniel works for had me followed, noting all my comings and goings. I'm furious. I don't want my private life invaded.”

“Look,” Gavin said, turning me around to quickly work my shoulders, “this thing will blow over soon, then you can go back to living the normal life you lead.”

Gavin's magic hands began to smooth out the taut muscles in my shoulders. Unfortunately that didn't alleviate the boiling in my veins. I decided a long, hard workout at the gym was called for. I winced with pain and pleasure as Gavin hit a particularly tight spot on my back.

“I'm going to the gym. If anyone calls, tell them I went to Bermuda. Alone.”

 

When I went to the office the next day, there was a buzz and crackle in the air. I wondered if the meeting with Lillith and Bonnie had generated more gossip. If so, no one was saying anything to my face.

I hastily skimmed new mock-ups from the art department and asked Violet to schedule a meeting with Lillith to resolve our ideas about the Deity line. Though I realized that Lillith and Frank had final say over how their products were presented, I still felt as if my concept had been pirated.

As I approached the office door, Barbara looked up at me and smiled. “Lillith will be ready for you in a minute.”

A few seconds later, the red light on Barbara's phone began blinking, and she ushered me into Lillith's office. The familiar dragon-headed chairs were situated in front of her ornately carved desk. Antique bookcases and shelves were littered with the same small figures of gargoyles, mystical icons, and stones. Unlike her former rooms in Baltimore, however, her new office was flooded with sunlight, causing the royal blue walls to glow. Plants were situated on stands near the windows, bringing life to the room. The new office felt more alive and inviting, leading me to believe that Lillith was happier since she'd moved to New York.

“Lillith?”

She looked up and calmly set down her pen, then motioned for me to sit across from her. She then turned to her companion, who fanned out some cards he held.

Lillith waved her hand over the cards, drew two, and put them faceup in front of me. On one card was a picture of a tall stone tower being struck by lightning, captioned
The Tower.
The other card depicted a bearded man wearing a tall hat and pointing one hand upward. It was titled
The Heirophant.
Lillith seemed pleased by whatever mystical message these cards supposedly divulged.

“What do these cards mean to you, Blaine?” she asked.

Although I was impatient to talk about the Deity line, I decided to humor her. “I wish I could tell you,” I said, thinking,
But then I'd have to kill you,
and added aloud, “but I don't read tarot cards.”

She gave me a piercing look that made me wonder if she could read my mind. “But you have a mind for analyzing visual representations. That
is
what advertising is all about. Give it a try; you'll be surprised how simple it is.”

I took in the details of the finely rendered cards. “This one,” I said, pointing at
The Tower,
“would seem to represent some kind of trouble, as the man who's falling has lost his crown. Furthermore, it looks like this trouble was caused from an outside, uncontrollable source, as represented by lightning striking the top of the building.”

I looked up at Lillith. She widened her eyes as if to say,
Go on.

“This card”—I pointed to
The Heirophant
—“reminds me of Renaissance-era paintings of popes. The vertical design exudes power. The pope, historically, is a figure of wisdom.”

“Now,” Lillith interrupted, “what do you suppose this means in relation to our situation?”

I laughed and sat back in my chair, realizing that I'd played right into her hands. I felt myself calming down as I thought about it. “To put it bluntly, a wise figure has emerged during a time of crisis.”

She didn't elaborate or embellish my final reading and waved her card reader out of the office. “Now, let's talk about the Deity line.”

I opened my portfolio to the first three sketches that I'd received from the art department. My brief glance at them prior to the meeting hadn't prepared me for how similar the artist's rendering of Narcissus was to Daniel. In the ad, a blond man was looking into a pool of water shaped like a bottle of cologne. His feet seemed to be growing out of the ground, and his face had a dreamy, faraway look. It reminded me of Daniel when he would get lost in thought while sitting in his garden.

As I flipped through the sketches, Lillith's face brightened. “Let's continue on this course. Daniel is perfect for the Narcissus ad. I want to see more ideas.”

“I'll have them for you within the week,” I said.

Later, after fleshing out more concepts for the Deity line, I left the office and headed for the gym. One good thing about being stressed was that it fueled my workouts and forced me to push myself.

When I'd finished an extended routine of cardio and weight training, I felt like my limbs were made of spaghetti. I was also starving. As I pulled my phone from the pocket in my gym bag to let Gavin know I was on my way home, I glanced at two men who were standing at the juice bar. They were whispering to each other and making it perfectly obvious they were talking about me. I overheard the skinny one say, “It is him. It's Blaine Dunhill.”

I pretended to look at my cell phone, but watched the two men from the corner of my eye. The taller man, who looked like he ate steroids for breakfast, pulled a newspaper from the counter of the juice bar and looked from the page to me then back again. I heard him say, “You're right. It's him.” When he dropped the newspaper, I could see the banner.

I bolted from the gym without calling Gavin, running to a newsstand to shuffle through papers until I found a copy of the
Manhattan Star-Gazette.
I flipped through the pages until I found what I was looking for. The newest “Lo-Down” featured the headline
REAL LIFE GAY SOAP OPERA
:
IS ANGUS'S BEAU A CHEAT
? Below it were photos of me with Gavin. The first one was a close-up shot of me with my mouth open and eyes closed in what could be perceived as ecstasy. The angle distorted the distance between Gavin and me. It looked like he was holding me close to his body, with his hands on my shoulders. In the second photo, I was looking behind me at Gavin and smiling. Again, the angle distorted the truth. It looked as if we were about to kiss.

I crumpled the paper in my hand when I saw my name mentioned in the first sentence. All the tension I'd worked out was back in my muscles, tightening my body from head to toe.

“You gonna pay for that, buddy?” the cashier asked.

I dug into my pockets, pulled out two quarters, and slammed them down on the counter. I then stormed away from the newsstand. As I was crossing the street, my cell phone piped up, and I checked Caller I.D.