Trifecta (23 page)

Jason bit down harder, it sounded as if the man was going to take him on.

"It's an interesting life you have.  An artistic one." 

"Yes."  Jason cleared his throat.  It was what he wanted, an artistic life with the two of them.  They built it and it was tailor-made for his muse.

Victor faced him. "I need more.  You have to push it so we make a huge wave."

"More?"  He shifted his focus from Victor to his art. 

"I need everything pure and raw."  Victor leaned over the table. "Are you ready for this?" 

Was he ready for this?  Ready to be recognized?  Ready to have his art seen?  Ready to be a success?   It was only a five word question, but five words he had been waiting to hear.  His blood raced, and he inhaled trying to keep his cool.  "What do you mean?"

"Are you ready to expose your life like this?"  He picked up one of the paintings.  The three of them in bed, covered but definitely sizzling with sex. 

Once more he scanned the art in the room.  "Do you think that will do it?"

"I'm not in the business of collecting art, I'm in the business of selling it."  Victor went to him, stared right at him.  "I am asking you if you are ready for putting this on display?  Are you ready to sell your life?  Your real life with no barriers."

Art was life.  His life was art in more ways than one.  He created what he felt and an agent, one who made stars, wanted him if he only pushed his muse a little further.  He nodded.

Victor didn't move, but his jaw jutted out.  "Are they ready for this?"

Jason attempted not to blink, not even when his eyes seemed to dry out.  Both Russell's and Lauren's insecurities swirled around him, for the first time he was the solid one.  He didn't answer.

Victor raised his eyebrows and walked over to the desk.  He pulled out a file folder and held it out to him.  "I want you ready for a show in two weeks."

"I had an idea this morning."  Jason took the file and peeked inside at the contract. 

"Good.  Give me a few more options."  Victor picked up a pen.  "Fire your book publisher and give me twelve months."

Jason glanced at the pages. Though a standard contract he knew he should take it home and have Russell read it anyway.  Instead, he signed his name. 

"Leave these pieces with me."  Victor shook his hand.

He put the contract on the desk and went to the table.  "I need these two pieces back."  He returned the sketch for Lauren and the painting for Russell to his portfolio and zipped it up.

"Make sure your models stay in love and are ready."  Victor patted his back.

He nodded.  "They'll be ready."

Chapter Twenty-Two

"At least on a holiday there's no traffic."  Jason nodded as they pulled up into the circular driveway to Russell's parent’s home. 

"Yeah, I was really hoping for some closed roadways."  Russell put the car in park and squeezed the steering wheel. 

"Maybe there could have been some freak snow storm, that would have definitely shut So. Cal down."  Lauren leaned forward and put her head between the two front seats.  Today they each had their job to do.  Russell got to brood, she was perky and positive, and Jason played the comedy relief. 

"That would have been perfect."  Russell blew through his lips making them puff out.

"No.  Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair wouldn't allow it.  Not when we've been summoned there for turkey and all the fixings." Jason turned back to her.  "Did we remember everything?"

She grabbed her list.  "I have the bottle of wine in the trunk."

"My father won't like the year."  Russell mumbled.

"Then we'll drink it.  I'll swig it out of the bottle."  She put her hand on Russell's shoulder.  "I have the candle Jason made."

"It was very 1970's of me."  Jason grinned.

"They'll only pretend to like it."  Russell pushed his glasses up.

"Your parents adore me."  Jason pointed to himself.

"My parents adore money, they love my brother and they tolerate you."  Russell tilted his neck from side to side.

"I have my gourmet salt."  She reached out and rubbed his neck.  Her poor man was tight and tense. 

"Salt?"  Russell turned back to her.

"It is this awesome pink salt that cost like forty bucks.  Salt is the new vinegar."  Jason gave her a thumb up. 

"You bought my parents forty dollar salt?" 

"It is a salt collection.  The salt is from the Himalayan Mountains."  She stifled a groan.  Unlike Jason's tolerability, it didn't need to be said she wasn't his family's favorite, not since the first year Russell took her home and they saw her with her purple hair and the three piercings in each of her ears.  After she toned herself down, she went from being disdained to being invisible. "I thought it would give them a little spice."

Jason chuckled.  "I brought the vodka."

"They don't drink vodka."  Russell growled.

"That's for you."  Jason opened the door and got out.

"Come on."  She coaxed Russell out of the car.  They gathered up their gifts, or offerings, but stopped when Russell held his hand out to her.

She gave him the salt. 

"Lauren."  He put the salt under his arm and put his hand back out.

Since Vegas they overcame a lot, but this was a battle that didn't need to be won, not yet.  Maybe next year if they were in this position next year.  A sour taste rose in the back of her throat, but this wasn't about her and her needs, this was about Russell.  "See that path there."  She motioned toward the flagstone trail that led to the front door of the house.  "It's called the path of least resistance." 

"I'm sick of worrying about this."  This time he took her hand and leaned over to Jason.

Jason grabbed her other hand.  "Why don't we just let things happen?"

As they walked up to the door she held her breath.   By the time Russell rang the bell, the cold evening air coupled with the heat generating over her face made her lightheaded.

"I forgot something."  Jason let go of her and sprinted back to the car.  "I'll be right back."  

"What?"  Russell called after him.

"Happy Thanksgiving!"  Mathew Sinclair opened the door.

"Happy Thanksgiving!"  Lauren straightened up and shot Russell's brother a smile fit to grace any cosmetic dentistry advertisement.

"Come in, mother's waiting."  Mathew backed up and held his arms out to her.  "Where's Jason?"

"He forgot something in the car."  She now had the perfect excuse to extract her hand from Russell's and gave his brother a hug, sinking in, like when she stepped in mud with her good boots.  While Russell bore his resemblance to his father, Mathew looked like his mother and was more rounded and bloated versus Russell's angles and edges. 

"Well, thank you for that welcome."  He held her tighter.

She was going under, being sucked into the mire, but Russell caught her hand again and pulled her out.

"Come on."  Russell yanked her away.

"I haven't said hi to Mary and the kids."  She tried to go the opposite direction toward the billiard room where Mathew's equally puffy wife and two matching children sat like polite little statues.  They all gave her some finger wiggles.

"We are making the rounds."  He gave her another tug. 

"Maybe we're running in circles."  She glanced back, searching for Jason as she wondered how she could get her hand back before they encountered the parents, but Mathew continued to stand there with his eyebrows raised.

"He shows with his entourage in tow."  Mr. Sinclair cut them off at the pass.  "Or at least part of his entourage." 

She flashed another smile, this one a little less dental ad and a little more dental patient.  Mr. Sinclair wasn't the hugging type and she couldn't liberate herself from Russell before the man saw.

"This is for you."  Russell squeezed her hand and thrust the bottle of wine at his father.

She wanted to open her mouth to tell him to stop breaking her hand, he may want to use it later.  Instead, she bit her lip as his father only glanced at the label on the bottle and focused on their hands. 

"Not the worst year, not the best."  His father shrugged his shoulders.  "I see you have many things to catch us up with.  Good to see you, Lauren."

She got a good to see her and widened her smile, but it came out more as a grimace.  "You too." 

"Your mother is waiting for you."  Mr. Sinclair pointed, dismissing them.

Russell kept on his trek, now moving toward the kitchen. 

The first time she was here, she remembered swooning at the kitchen.  Made of marble, steel and stone it wasn't the best of the best, it was better.  The kitchen was big enough for it to have two of every major appliance and still have room for an island and a specialty pizza oven.

The first time she was here, she had dreams of helping Mrs. Sinclair in that kitchen, but when she asked she was abruptly turned down and told they had a maid. 

The first time she was here, she also had visions of playing pool with Mr. Sinclair in their billiard room.

Now after more than eight years and twice as many visits to this grand house, she settled for flanking Russell's side, a human buffer between him and his kryptonite. Every year she asked if she could help, and every year she was turned away. She still held out for the game of pool.  Well, not really.

"Russell."  Mrs. Sinclair turned, smoothed down her skirt and went toward them.

"Hello, Mother."   He let go of Lauren to give his mother a hug.

She was free!  They wouldn't make a scene.  She moved her fingers to get the blood circulating again.  In the background there was a ruckus that could only be Jason returning. 

"Lauren brought you this."  He handed his mother the salt and reclaimed her hand.

"Thank you."  His mother looked between the gift, the two of them and their hands. 

Right now Lauren was positive the smile she possessed made it appear as if she got some sort of shot in her mouth.  Her dreams of being a dental model dissolved.  "They say salt is the new vinegar."

His mother didn't say a word.

Even if his mother wouldn't speak, she still had to ask the question. "Can I help you do anything?"

His mother reached forward and touched their hands.  "You know, Lauren, I could use some help with the salad.  Rosie is very busy."

"I can help?"  Every part of her wanted to check and see if maybe it did start to snow in Southern California.   

"Lauren has always wanted to cook in this kitchen.  She's a wonderful cook."  Russell moved closer to her.

"Well, come along and we'll let the men do what they do."  Mrs. Sinclair took her arm.  "Do you cook for Russell often?"

"I love cooking." 

Mrs. Sinclair leaned over and gave Russell a kiss on the cheek.  "Go find Jason, I'm sure he's drawing with the children."

Jason.  He didn't forget anything in the car.  A master of observation, he knew what would happen the moment Russell walked in holding her hand making them look like a couple when they were a trouple, or whatever word he invented. 

Russell may need to prove something, but she couldn't let him do this.  In all the years this was the first time she ever witnessed his mother kiss him. 

"Go find Jason." She spun around, stood on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the lips.

"Come along."  His mother led her away.  "How are the two of you with Jason in the house?"

She swallowed. This woman did not need any details on what she did for Russell, or Jason.  "It all works out."  For the first time in eight years she walked into the kitchen.  A couple was something to be happy about, a trouple would be a freak show, especially here.  She understood why Russell hid before. Tonight they would be a couple, and she was certain she wouldn't have to worry about this next year.

***

"How did you like the salad?"  Russell's mother put her hand on Lauren's shoulder and leaned toward him.

Russell pierced the last lettuce leaf, radish piece and cucumber wedge and shoved it into his mouth hoping he didn't have to answer his mother.  He'd been taught never to speak with his mouth full. 

"Russell." 

His mother said his name and his trained DNA forced him to turn to her.  To prove his point he continued chewing, of course with his mouth closed.  The woman draped herself over Lauren since they sat down.  Jason was relegated to the seat furthest away from them, and his brother and sister-in-law were practically seated in another state. 

"Are you enjoying your salad?"  She smiled, but her smile was never a real one, it was more like a slash of lips that had been forced to turn up in the corners under protest.

This was a seemingly benign question, there had to be a trick.

"I like how Lauren cut the vegetables.  She's very precise, probably because she works with so many doctors."  His mother nodded and patted Lauren's shoulder.

He continued to chew. The second they got home he was dipping Lauren into a hot bath.  Both of them would have to scrub her down thoroughly to ensure she was cleansed of this experience.

"Yep, Laurie is a cut above the rest."  Jason gave his mother a thumb up from across the table.

"Russell."  Somehow the octave her voice hit was exactly the same as nails sliding down a chalkboard.

If he masticated this vegetable mess anymore he wouldn't have to swallow, the liquid would slide down his throat.  He bypassed his wine glass and took more than a gulp of the vodka Jason poured earlier.  "Yes, Mother."

"You haven't said much tonight." 

He blinked and considered the possibilities of speaking.  Judgment, opinions and ultimatums were his reward for opening his mouth. "What would you like to know?"

"How's your job?"  The smile flat lined.

"Russell got a promotion."  Lauren bounced in her seat and turned to face the enemy head on.  "He's a Solution Architect now."

"What does that mean?"  His father lifted his hand.

One of the servers rushed over with two bottles of wine, the one he brought and another one. His father motioned to the one from his personal stash.

"He's the boss man now."  Jason piped in and took it upon himself to refill Russell's glass.

"He could be more than a boss."  At last his father faced him.

He could …

Those two words hung over his head every day of his life in this house and every time he returned.

He could have been on the football team if he tried harder.

He could be in his father's business if he stopped tinkering around with computers.

He could become a success with a family like his brother.

Always it came down to that he could be more.  He took another sip, well gulp, of his drink.

Lauren reached under the table and put her hand on his leg. 

"Well, maybe now that Russell is getting his life together and he has more to think about than himself, he'll come to the firm."  His mother's smile grew, threatening to break her face. 

"I don't have a law degree." Though this fact was etched in their brains, he reminded them.  When he asked to run the IT department for his father, he was told he came from a line of lawyers and he could go make his own career.  The day of their graduation Jason's parents did the congratulations and kissing for both him and Lauren, his parents left right after the ceremony to go mourn their losses. 

His father put his fork down and rubbed his chin.  "If there is one thing I learned about having a wife is they like a certain lifestyle."