Chapter 16
Justin
had thought long and hard about what he could do to keep seeing Josh although
Tamara and he ‘broke up’. Justin’s solution was; he wasn’t going to tell his
father they broke up. He was going to milk it out for as long as possible and
when they would ask when Tamara was coming over again he would say she was busy
or something. If they would ask it again he would eventually tell them that
they broke up and he’d just needed some time to process it. They would go for
that he thought, this way he could probably still spend a couple of weeks with
Josh before he would have to start looking for another excuse. Maybe he could
pretend to have a job, or take a job at the deli where Josh worked but that
would come later. First he would play out this girlfriend thing, hoping it
would go according to plan but just like a lot of things in life; it didn’t
went according to plan.
***
“Dad,
I’m going to Tamara!” Justin told his father waiting till he heard the muffled
yes before leaving the house. Two weeks after Tamara and he broke up Justin was
still able to use her as a cover. His parents started to ask when she’d come
over again and he used the excuses which were stored in his brain. He did know
that it was coming closer to the time that he’d have to tell his parents they
broke up but for now he figured he could squeeze one week, maybe even two out
of this. He happily walked towards Josh’s apartment, not knowing that things
were about to change…
***
“Sweetie,
you want to come to the club?” Patricia Timberlake asked her husband, poking
her head in his office.
“Huh?”
Howard responded as he looked up, deep in thought missing his wife’s question.
“You
want to come with me to the club?” she patiently repeated her question. Howard
looked around the room, checking if there was any more work he needed to do.
“I
don’t know” he hesitated, there were a few things he needed to do still.
“Oh,
come on, you can do that later. Just a couple of hours” Patricia urged, a
little annoyed his work always came first.
“Oh
well, what the heck, let’s go” he agreed, his wife was right; it could wait.
“Where’s
Justin?” Patricia asked as they headed towards the hallway.
“He
went to see Tamara” Howard responded before calling the driver to get the car
out front.
“It’s
going good right? With Justin I mean” Patricia praised.
“Yes”
Howard nodded satisfied.
“Maybe
we’ll see him at the country club” he added as he picked up his coat and
umbrella. Patricia nodded in agreement.
“That
would be nice, it’s been a while since we saw Tamara”
Howard
nodded thoughtfully before placing his hand on the small of his wife’s back,
“Let’s
go”
***
“Hey
baby” Justin said when Josh opened the door.
“Hi”
Josh smiled just for him as they met halfway for a long kiss.
“Come
on in” Josh offered, opening the door wider so Justin could step in. Soon they
found there usual spot on the bed, just laying in each other’s loving arms.
“Here”
Justin said all of a sudden, producing a piece of paper, offering it to Josh.
He took it with a confused look in his eyes, folding it open there was a phone
number scribbled on it.
“What…?”
Josh asked but couldn’t finish his question.
“It’s
Louise’s private phone number” Justin informed his lover, knowing what Josh had
intended to ask.
“Who’s
that?” Josh asked still confused, what was he supposed to do with this phone
number?
“He’s…
sort of my nanny” Justin told him. Josh would have laughed if Justin’s tone of
voice wasn’t so serious.
“I
don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to come and see you so I asked him… if
I could give you his number… just in case…” Justin stuttered, he couldn’t
complete the sentence. He couldn’t say the words and he didn’t have to, Josh
understood anyway. Justin didn’t know why he suddenly thought of giving Josh
Louise’s phone number, it was like something was telling him to do it.
Something unconsciously, pushing him to do it now before it was too late. Josh
kissed his lover’s curls, not wanting to think of Justin’s last words; just in
case…
***
Howard
and Patricia took a seat on one of the comfortable chairs outside on the patio
with the best view. As they waited on their drinks, something on his right
caught Howard’s eye and something urged him to look in that direction. What he
saw caused his anger to boil up and suspicion washed over him; Tamara walked
towards the grass…. alone.
“Howard?”
Patricia called her absent minded husband, he didn’t respond.
“Stay
here, I have to take care of something” he said curtly before he stood with
such force the chair almost tipped over. Patricia looked at her husband and
recognized the angry gaze as she watched him storm towards the other side of
the patio, she turned her head back towards the beautiful view she had, knowing
her husband would take of whatever it was.
“Tamara”
Howard addressed her, to get her attention. The girl spun around so she was
facing the man she knew as Mr. Timberlake.
“Good
day, sir” she said politely, not knowing why he would talk to her.
“Where
is Justin?” he asked in return, forgetting to be polite, he wanted to know
where his son was.
“What
do you mean sir?” she asked in return, not understanding why she should know.
She’d last seen him two weeks ago and besides it was his son, shouldn’t he have
to know where his son was?
“Where
is Justin?” he repeated through gritted teeth, his anger boiling further,
trying to compose himself, telling himself he wasn’t angry at her.
“How
should I know?” she asked in return.
“He
said he was going to see you” Howard informed her.
“Well
he didn’t” she told him, their deal was off so she didn’t have to cover for him
anymore.
“You’re
dating him” Howard stated as if that meant she should know where he was every
second of the day. Tamara got an evil gleam in her eyes suddenly realizing
Justin was still using her as cover.
“Not
anymore,” she told him and saw Howard’s face drop.
“Wha..?”
Howard managed.
“Ask
your son, he’ll be able to tell you this much better” she told him satisfied to
get revenge of some sort, walking away before Howard got a chance to ask her
some more questions. Howard was furious now, he stormed back towards his wife.
“Come on we’re
leaving” he told her. She looked confused but without questioning followed him
to the car. Howard angrily stomped towards it, Justin would have some serious
explaining to do…
