Something Different (14 page)
James came with a long, shuddering groan. Michael, who never put his hand in his mouth anymore, emitted his usual cry, probably loud enough to be heard on the dining room floor. It didn't matter. They'd paid through the nose for a substandard dinner. The least Gardenia could offer them was ten minutes of actual pleasure.
When they finally emerged from the stall, decent to face the world and generally composed, the men's room was empty. James rose up on his toes, put his arms around Michael's neck and kissed him gently.
"I really do," he whispered.
"What?"
"Love you. I hope—hope everything turns out okay between you and your kids. I don't want you to lose anything more because of me. Not just money. Anything."
Michael stared at James. It was rather like learning how Edward had viewed him for all those years. The potential for human beings to misunderstand one another was apparently limitless. Michael cupped the other man's face in his hands.
"James. You've never cost me a thing. Everything I have is because of you." Michael kissed his lips. "Now let's go home.
Epilogue
Michael's first attempts at writing fiction were unfortunate. His later ones were more technically proficient but uninvolving. With each story he got a little better, gained a little more confidence, but writing fiction was nothing like constructing a textbook. There were no absolutes in fiction, no certain way to deliver what was needed. So it was no surprise most technical writers considered novel writing a gateway to madness.
Michael's most recent effort had been turned down by every publisher, large and small. The only thing left was to self-publish, as many were doing these days, or let the book languish on his hard drive and start something new. Most of his writer friends advised the latter. Only one advised, "Fuck it. Self-publish." And that was Germanotti, best-selling author of
The Francis Fish Experience
, soon to be a major motion picture.
It turned out that seventeen years of cyber-slacking and phoning it in at the company had given Germanotti sufficient time and material to finish his novel. And a major publishing house had snapped it up, optioning both the TV and cinema rights before the book was a month old.
The Francis Fish Experience
was a comic stream-of-consciousness story narrated by a middle-aged, suburban Englishman. It detailed his cold wife, scheming kids and soulless workplace in humorous yet heartfelt prose. In the course of the novel, Francis's work mate Betty met a tattooed, pierced lesbian, fell in love with her and upended her stale, dissatisfying life. Many readers found Betty's subplot the most affecting part of the novel. Germanotti didn't deny he derived everything in the book from his own life. He even signed Michael's copy with, "To Michael. You'll always be Betty to me."
"I'll never finish this," James complained from the sofa. He was on his tablet, working through his homework from The Open University. He stood to graduate this term, but the workload made him cranky. Plus, their weekend had been torpedoed by Frannie's wedding. It wasn't that they resented the invitation, far from it, but the rehearsal and ceremony had taken half of Friday and all of Saturday.
"Shouldn't have spent so much time on the PlayStation with Edward." Michael peeked to see if the hint had sunk in. It hadn't. The console and controllers remained strewn across the floor. They would stay there until Michael himself put them away.
Then again, he was probably foolish to begrudge a little untidiness. Edward's fondness for James pleased Michael to no end. Viv might never warm up—as the therapist was wont to say, Michael could ask for forgiveness, but he couldn't set a timeline. Four years hadn't been long enough for Viv; maybe forty wouldn't do it. But in fairness, Viv didn't care much for Frannie's husband either, and Louis was charm himself.
Louis Bourg hailed from a village thirty kilometers from Paris. Sixty-two years old and widowed, he operated a highly successful vineyard, putting Michael's pretensions of financial security in the shade. Frannie only went out with Louis that first time because of his wealth. She'd felt certain a short, balding, pot-bellied man could do nothing for her, no matter how much he was worth on paper. But Louis lived, breathed and spoke romance fluently. He liked dashing here and there in his convertible, taking mini-breaks in Europe, visiting obscure castles and hearing their ghost stories. During Frannie's third date with Louis, he got down on one knee and proposed. When she accepted, he ordered champagne for the entire restaurant, toasted her extravagantly, shooed away the lounge pianist and serenaded Frannie himself.
Michael enjoyed seeing Frannie with Louis, who was gentle, charming and utterly impervious to her controlling tendencies. When she shouted, he laughed. When she reminded him of her ironclad plans, he pleaded amnesia. Louis was just the sort of man Frannie needed. He was warm toward everyone, including Michael and James. In fact, for Michael, one of the more surreal moments after the wedding had been sitting at a rose-strewn table with James, Louis and Frannie. James and Louis had fallen deep into conversation and it had been difficult for Michael and Frannie to keep their own discussion on track—Edward's university plans—while watching their respective husbands flirt with one another.
"Hey." James slid his arms around Michael from behind. "Are you going to stare at your manuscript all night?"
"It's ready for upload. If I hit enter, the e-book will be live in forty-eight hours."
"So what are you waiting for? Take Bob's advice. Put it out there."
Michael lifted his face for a kiss. He had no idea where this particular story arose from. The setting—the Greek Isles—came from a vacation he and James had taken two years before. Yet the main character—a grandmother from Manchester—seemed channeled from somewhere unfathomable. Michael suspected he'd never write his own story, not even heavily fictionalized. But somehow while writing about a woman who walked out on her husband, stopped returning her deadbeat son's calls and used her life savings for a one-way trip to a foreign country, Michael felt glimmers of his personal truth come through. After writing and revising the book he'd agonized over highbrow titles—
Nomad
, perhaps, or
Vagabond Life
. Neither seemed right and it was James who suggested the final title,
Granny Does A Runner
.
"Go on," James prodded. "It's perfect."
It wasn't, as Michael very well knew. But James, who would probably never read extensively for pleasure, devoured everything Michael wrote. Each time he finished reading a new piece, James gave his sincere, honest opinion—it was flawless.
Smiling, Michael lifted James's hand to his lips. There were over a hundred places he could go to drum up serious literary criticism. It was nice to have a fan at home.
"Fuck it," Michael grinned, and hit enter.
The End
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank the talented and remarkably kind Rebecca Emin for her assistance with the second edition. All correct references to modern English life belong to her. All errors, alas, are mine. Check out Rebecca's blog and her novels here:
ramblingsofarustywriter.blogspot.com.
About the Author
Orphaned at birth, T. Baggins was raised by wolves until age fourteen, when the pack moved on one night without a forwarding address. Returning to human society, Ms. Baggins taught herself to read and write by studying fan fiction. Cutting her teeth on Kirk/Spock (Star Trek: The Original Series, baby!) she soon began slashing rock stars and X-Men. Despite a lifetime spent in the southern U.S., T. Baggins considers herself a citizen of the cosmos and a freethinker, which is good, because no one has offered so much as a penny for her thoughts. In her spare time she enjoys blogging at
Shades of Gay
, emptying gin bottles and tweeting into the void as
@therealtbaggins.
More From the Author
I’m T. Baggins, author of m/m romance. I hope if you enjoyed reading this book, you’ll return to Amazon and leave a review. I also hope you’ll join my mailing list by going
here
. I’ll only email you when I have a new book out, or if I’m doing a sale or giveaway. I promise never to give your email address to others or fill your inbox with spam.
You can also catch up with me on Facebook
here
and occasionally on Twitter as @therealtbaggins.
My other books include
Protection
(Nominated for Book of the Year 2012 by the Goodreads M/M/ Romance Group),
Fifteen Shades of (Gay for Pay)
, and
Soulless
. I hope you’ll give them a look.
Cheers!
T. Baggins
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