SPLASH ON THE SCREEN
Jack
Scribe
Part 21, HANGIN’ WITH TEN
MIKE
The rest of
the Christmas holidays sped by to an accelerated conclusion. Dave and I decided
to attend St. Paul’s Cathedral for an old-fashioned ‘O Holy Night Christmas
with Cappella
Gloriana’ Episcopal service on the night before
New Year’s Eve. It was my one night off during the week between Christmas and
New Year’s.
I bought four
tickets and invited Justin and his Grandma. However, Eunice thought it best if
we took Justin without her because she wanted to rest up for the next evening.
She and Justin were going out for an early New Year’s Eve dinner. Justin was
thrilled to spend another evening with his two, new, big ‘brothers’ before
going back to school in wintry Minnesota and the conclusion of his sophomore
year. Our parting gesture of the growing friendship with Justin was to take him
to the airport for his return flight. Justin was already planning to return to
San Diego on spring break. But the idea of spending some time with us at the
Gull Lake cabin in June…a dangling carrot…became an incentive to achieve good
grades.
Routine set
in after the first of January. Officially, my training period ended downtown
and I was in full pre-opening mode of ‘El Padre’. My weekends were free until
we ‘ramped up’ for opening and I planned on making best use of the days off.
It was just
before midnight and I was watching the ‘Tonight Show’ while Dave was finishing
studying, as the phone rang.
“Hello?”
~~~ “Mike, it’s Doug. Sorry for the late night interruption but
there was an incident up here tonight that I wanted you guys to be aware of,”
he said with a restrained urgency.
“Nothing’s
happened to Brent or you?” I was immediately into ‘alert mode’.
~~~ “Naw, we’re good. It’s Jim Weiss. He was a victim of a gay
bashing in West Hollywood tonight. No serious damage…broken leg and fractured
rib…but he’ll be in Cedars for almost a week. The good news is that they have
picked up the suspects from an accurate description that Billy Forrest gave the
sheriffs.”
“Billy was
with him? Did he get hurt?” Both Dave and I liked Billy immediately. We had met
him with Doug and Brent at a restaurant in West Hollywood last fall.
“Billy fought
them off and the pricks ran away. He’s a little shaken up but will be fine.”
What can Dave
and I do?” We weren’t as close to Jim as we were to Brent and Doug, but we
still considered him a buddy.
~~~ “If you
two could come up to L.A. this weekend, we could visit Jim in the hospital.
Maybe a group of us get together for an early dinner and drinks? There are some
neat actresses that Jim met last fall. I know they’d like to cheer him up.”
“Let me talk
with Dave. I think that he’ll be okay with the trip if we can get back early
Sunday afternoon. He’s intent on ‘acing’ his courses. How about Mark and Tom.
They might want to come up. I know Mark’s ship is in.”
~~~ “Super
idea. We’ll do dinner somewhere for a large group.”
“Where would
some hot studs and gorgeous women go on a Saturday night?” I asked with a
snicker.
~~~ “You’re
the restaurant guy. Any place you want to check out? I’m up for anything except
Italian. Mom spoiled me.”
“As a matter
of fact, I’d love to go to the new Spago. You think that we’d have any problems
getting a table on this short notice?” Spago had become the primo restaurant in
Beverly Hills.
~~~ “That’s a
great idea. Neither of us has been there but we’ll scrounge a reservation. Brent
should be able to pull a few strings. And we could do a take-out for Jim.
Whaduya think?”
“As usual,
Mr. Di Marco, brilliant idea. I’ll confirm everything tomorrow.”
~~~ “Leave me
a message on the cell. I’m sure that Mark and Tom will stay with the Feldmans’.
You’ll be with us, of course.”
“Please tell
Jim that we pray for his recovery and look forward to seeing him. Thank God
that his injuries weren’t life-threatening.”
~~~ “You bet.
Give our love to Dave.”
“Likewise to
Brent, buddy. Thanks for calling.”
I got out of
bed and padded downstairs to the den to check up on Dave. He was turning off
the computer as I entered the room.
“Hey, stud.
It’s not often that I get a visit from a sexy guy in briefs at midnight.” Dave
stood up and we slid into a well-practiced embrace. “Who called?” he asked
quietly into my ear.
I gave him a
rundown of my conversation with Doug and tentative plans for the weekend as we
walked up the stairs to the bedroom.
“As long as I
get back to San Diego by noon, I’m on. I’ve got a study group at the library
all afternoon Sunday.”
“Great. I
don’t have to be at the construction site this weekend. Let’s plan on leaving
Saturday morning so we can spend some quality time with Doug and Brent. Some
quiet partying with Jim at the hospital should pump him up.”
“Such fucking
hate in this world. Thank God that Jim didn’t suffer serious damage,” Dave said
as he pulled off his tee and gym shorts. “Sounds like Billy really came through
for his friend.” He winked and walked into the bathroom. I removed my briefs.
‘One less step,’ I concluded, ‘for later.’
“Jim was
lucky not to have been alone,” I replied, with a louder voice, to talk over the
brushing and running water. “But I’m not so sure that it was a good idea to
take shortcuts at night and be prey to the asshole, Neanderthal, bigoted
red-necks of the world.” I got into bed and kept the covers down for Dave’s
arrival. I mischievously lay with my legs spread wide as I stroked my cock.
“That’s a
mouthful, Mr. Cole.” Dave, buff as the day we met, joined me. “Speaking of
mouthfuls…” Dave got into bed and rotated so that our cocks were within each
other’s hungry lips. He cupped my balls as his tongue started lapping around my
dickhead. Without an original thought at this point, I copied his moves.
“I think that
a little improvising is in order,” Dave said as he wetted his fingers with
saliva. He took my cock into his mouth while tentatively probing at my back
door. I wiggled a little and relaxed to receive his well-practiced digits.
“Oh, fuck,” I
mumbled as he entered me. My immediate reflex was to take Davey completely,
until my nose was nuzzled in his pubes. While rolling his nuts around his sac,
I started serious long-strokes. Dave was more concentrated on my cockhead has
he attacked my ‘nut’ with an eager finger. However, we were equally effective
in our goal to give each other the maximum pleasure of love.
“Urghh,” was
all Dave uttered as his balls tightened up. He felt my sphincter tighten at the
same time. Euphoria of ecstasy flowed over our bodies as hot, creamy spunk shot
away, simultaneously.
“When did I
last say ‘I love you’?” Dave asked when his breathing was under control.
“Maybe a
half-hour ago. I never get tired hearing that, lover.”
*****
BRENT
“Okay, babe,
how many are we going to be for dinner tomorrow night?” I said, yawning. It was
5:30 a.m. on Friday in the kitchen. Doug was getting ready for his day at the
studio. The ‘suits’ in the executive office wanted a different ending and Doug
was directing the unit handling the re-shoots. I planned on studying after he
left.
“Billy
confirmed that the gals from our clubbing night are coming. Karen Devine is
bringing her lover.
“The medical
student?” I asked.
“Yes. And I
understand that she is really gorgeous. Kind of a-Halley Berry-meets Angela
Bassett-look. Then, there’s Brenda Silvia and Sissy Spencer from Billy’s show.
So, that’s five, including Billy. The San Diego guys, Tom Feldman, and us are
another five. Mark Connelly can’t make it because of the weekend watch on the
Kennedy.”
“In the
Navy,” I sang, from the Village People’s song. “Goddamn watches. We gotta make
sure that we get together with Tom and Mark soon.”
“Absolutely.
Maybe we can go down to San Diego next month?”
“Yeah. Before
Mike opens the restaurant. That would be great. Okay, back to dinner. I’ll make
sure that Sam Barron’s office confirms the reservation for ten people at 6:30
p.m.” Sam, as usual, moved mountains for the table. “He said that Spago would
put us in the side room because of the size of the group.” I wasn’t concerned
about the pecking order of sitting in the ‘A’ room. There was enough young
celebrity name horsepower in our group to make things work just fine.
“This will be
fun. Best of all is taking the party to Jim afterwards,” Doug said.
“You’re sure
we won’t be getting any flack from the hospital?”
“With our
early dinner reservations, we’ll be at Cedars by 9:00 p.m. The PR department is
handling everything, including the back entrance.”
“They’ll let us bring in all that food?” I
asked.
“Spago is
taking care of that. They’re going to pack up every frigging dessert that will
travel,” Doug answered. “I’ve got the hospital’s okay for our little party and
they didn’t say anything about not having a little adult beverage.” We both
grinned at the idea to smuggle champagne into Cedars-Sinai, using one of the
food baskets.
“Gotta make
sure that the nurses have a separate ‘care package’ of desserts.”
Good idea.
I’ll call the restaurant from the studio,” Doug said as he leaned in for a
kiss. “Bye, babe.”
*****
The dinner was a huge success. Sam,
unexpectedly, picked up the entire tab at Spago, including our take-out. I
rationalized that this was good business for Sam Barron and Creative Artists
Management. In the group were five clients: four rising actors and one hot,
soon-to-be director. Karen had switched over to CAM the first of the year.
As we were departing through the main
dining room – the ‘A’ Room – I heard my name called. Turning, I saw T.J.
Feldman wave. I smiled instantly and walked over to his table with Karen, Doug
and his son, Tom. The rest of the group had already made it to the foyer.
“Hi, T.J. I guess the Feldman clan is
really working the room tonight?” I said with a laugh. T.J. stood and we warmly
shook hands.
“Dad, I didn’t know Mom and you were
going to be here tonight.” Tom moved in and gave T.J. a hug before leaning over
to kiss his beautiful mother.
“Have you met Karen Divine, T.J.?” I
asked.
“Actually, Karen has just signed to do a
picture at Warner’s,” T.J. said to the group. “Karen, I really look forward to
your film starting. You did a very wise thing when you moved over to CAM.”
“Mr. Feldman, don’t I know it. I’m very
happy to meet you and will do everything to live up to your expectations.”
“I know you will. By the way, I approve
of you and Brad showing up once in a while for some photo ops. It’s good for
your careers and the business.”
“T.J., Karen and I have become good
friends. We’re ready to help out each other.” T.J. and I were tuned in on
keeping sexual orientation quiet.
Karen just smiled as we said goodbye and
moved toward the foyer to re-join our group. I stopped at one other table to
say ‘hi’ to another senior CAM agent and his party. There were a couple of
slightly familiar faces. When we were introduced, I smiled but drew blank
memory recognition of the names. ‘Prolly execs from a studio,’ I reasoned. They
had that hungry, ready-to-pounce and curry favor look toward me; actor who was
becoming a walking profit center.
I chuckled to myself when I saw Doug
speaking with another group. They were ‘major player’ producers out with their
significant others. It was pretty obvious that two of the men were together as
a couple. I was proud that Doug was successfully navigating these professional,
shark-infested waters.
“There’s one guy who wants to talk to me
about a project over at Fox later this year,” Doug said as he caught up with
me.
“That’s super, buddy. Your name’s
getting around town,” I said with an admiring smile.
“Hopefully, not from the men’s room
walls in the park,” Doug replied with a wink.
Karen took my arm as we departed the
restaurant. Seeing Tom’s Bimmer sedan and my SUV curbside, I nodded to Doug as
he walked swiftly to the SUV. He got into the driver’s seat while Karen and I
mingled for a few minutes with the paparazzi. The others were in the vehicles,
patiently waiting. They had ‘worked the cameras’ moments earlier. I gave
everyone a big smile and faux-salute as Karen and I got in the Explorer. Tom
and Doug pulled out in tandem for the short ride to the hospital.
As arranged, our vehicles were allowed
entry into the sub-level garage and a staff member met our party at the
entrance.
“Mr. Williams, I’m Sean Fitzgerald from
the public affairs office.” An attractive, smiling twenty-something man in an
open shirt, blazer and gray slacks stepped up and offered his hand as I got out
of the Explorer. An I.D. was clipped on his breast pocket.
“Hi, Sean. It’s Brad, please.” I helped
Karen out of the seat and opened the rear door. When everyone from both
vehicles was at the entrance, I introduced the entire crew. Sean was very
professional but obviously quite pleased to be meeting this group of several
recognizable faces.
“Looks like Jim Weiss is going to have
quite a party,” Sean said with a laugh. “I commandeered a cart over there to
help out bringing up the party food.” He pointed to a flatbed handcart. I
appreciated his helpful, warm approach.
“Sean, if you would wheel the cart to
the rear of the SUV I’ll load the goodies,” Doug said. Sean nodded, retrieved
the cart and joined Doug.
“Mr. Forrest – Billy – would you take
the group up to Jim’s room?” Sean asked.
“Absolutely. Ladies, guys, follow me.”
Billy waved everyone to follow him to the passenger elevator.
“If you don’t mind, Doug, why don’t you
and Brad come with me up the service elevator with the food?”
“Yeah, good plan,” I said. After
stacking all the food boxes on the cart, we wheeled the cargo over to a side
entrance and the service elevator.
“You guys really have a lot of stuff for
a small group.”
“It’s really more about
morale-building,” Doug answered. “We just wanted to show the flag for our
friend. And we’ve got some goodies for the staff.” The elevator door opened and
we all comfortably got inside with the box-laden cart. Sean touched the floor
button and the door closed.
“The staff will appreciate the snacks.
Doug, if you don’t mind me nosing in, this is a pretty diverse group. How do
you all know each other?”
“No problem, Sean. Brent and I – umm,
sorry, Brad is this guy’s professional name – and two of the other guys were
all in the Navy, together with Jim. Mike and Dave are our closest friends.
Billy is a childhood friend of my younger brother and Tom is the son of someone
at work.”
Turning to me, Sean said, “If you don’t
mind, I’ll call you Brent, then. I promise I won’t gush, but I gotta tell you
I’m a big fan.” He smiled and gave a slight shrug of his body. “I was really
impressed what you did on TV the night Jim was brought into emergency.”
“As Doug said, we’re friends. That gay
bashing bullshit really got to me,” I replied, a little too sternly. “Sorry, I
need to lighten up.” Sean smiled when I touched his shoulder.
“Well, we really appreciated it,” Sean
answered.
“We?” I said with a slightly raised
eyebrow.
“Umm. My partner. He’s actually a doctor
doing his residency here at Cedars. He’s ‘out’ so I’m not telling any family
secrets.”
“Terrific. Sounds like you married
well,” Doug said with a chuckle.
“Five years,” Sean said, beaming.
“Congratulations. I hope we meet him,
sometime,” I offered.
“Actually, he’s on duty tonight. Howard
would love meeting you guys.” The elevator door opened and we rolled out the
cart into a service hallway. Sean led us through a double door and to the
reception desk.
“Ladies, the Marines have landed,” Sean
said to the three nurses on duty.
“I’ll take these Marines, any day,” one
of the nurses replied, with a big grin.
“Well, maybe a care package of desserts
from Spago will be better.” I took one of the gift-wrapped boxes – one without
the champagne – and set it on the reception counter edge.
“Oh, Mr. Williams, that’s very kind. On
behalf of everyone on duty, a big ‘thanks’.”
“We’ll have a lot of leftovers that will
be available for whoever would like a snack later.” I nodded as Doug and I
followed Sean down the corridor to Jim’s room.
“We took out a spare bed from the room
and put in a rolling table from the cafeteria. You can arrange the food and
whatever else on the table.” Sean winked at the last part of his statement.
“Maybe you and Dr. Howard can come in
for a little ‘whatever else’?” Doug asked.
“Officially, it’s Dr. Howard Bragman and
unfortunately we are both on duty. I’ll make sure that Howie comes in to say
hello, however.
“Great. And if you don’t mind, I’ll wrap
up some ‘whatever else’ for you to take home?” I said.
“Super. We’d like that.” The three of us
grabbed the remaining boxes and brought them into the room. There, amongst
friends, was our buddy, Jim, beaming from ear to ear. We said “hi” to everyone
and placed the boxes on the table.
“Doug, Brent, wow. This is a terrific
surprise,” Jim said loudly. The group parted, allowing us to come close to his
bed. Although sitting stiffly, his leg was now lying on the bed. ‘The dude is
mending,’ I judged.
“Jim, you’re looking 200% better,” Doug
said as he placed his hand lightly on Jim’s shoulder.
“I’m probably going to get out of here
in a few days. But right now it definitely looks like party time.”
“Within reason,” Sean said. “Listen,
have a good time. I suggest you close the door so the noise doesn’t travel.
It’s a little after 9:00 p.m. I’d appreciate it if you could wrap it up at 9:45
p.m. ‘Them’s’ the rules, guys.” Sean smiled and waved.
“Got it. Sean, be sure and bring back
Dr. Bragman,” I said. He nodded and left.
Everyone was busy chatting with Jim.
Mike decided to go into ‘restaurant manager mode’ by unpacking and arranging
the food, champagne, plates, plastic glasses, forks and napkins. He popped the
first bottle open and drew restrained applause as he filled a few glasses.
“Okay, buddy, here’s some bubbly. The
big question is, what kind of dessert are you into?” Mike asked.
“Well, that’s a little personal,” Jim
said with a wink as the group laughed. “Actually, anything with chocolate would
be great.”
“Your wish, sir.” Mike proceeded to
produce a full plate of various chocolate desserts. It was then each man and
woman for themselves. More champagne was popped. For the next half hour, the
friendly banter was light and inclusive. The group stood or sat around Jim’s
bed. At one point I spotted a small tear of happiness on Jim’s cheek.
Nearing the agreed time to wrap it up,
the door opened and Sean reappeared with a tall, handsome, dark-haired man in a
white jacket. “Guys, I wanted to introduce you to my friend, Dr. Howard
Bragman.”
“Or, Howie, as I really like to be known
by friends. And from what Sean has told me, we have a roomful of friends.” The
two walked in and Howie immediately shook hands with everyone.
“Howie has been great to me this week,”
Jim said. “He’s a terrific doc. However, one thing, Doctor. I’d really
appreciate you warming your hands before removing my catheter.” The entire room
broke up with laughter and Howie’s face turned a little red.
“I’ll put that idea into the suggestion
box,” Howie said with a smile. “In the meantime, let me add my thanks for
coming over tonight. Brent – I’ve been informed that friends call you that –
could I speak to you for a sec, outside?”
“Sure. Doug, you guys okay getting
things cleaned up?” I asked.
“No problem.”
“Jim, I’ll be back to say goodbye.” He
gave me a ‘thumbs up’ as I left the room.
“I’ve got a special patient that could
use a little cheering up. I was wondering if you and your friends would mind
stopping by his room, just for a few minutes?”
“Howie, if it’ll help, we’d be happy to
say ‘hi’. Who’s the patient?”
“Young guy, 15 years old, who was
admitted earlier this week. Basically, his rectum was torn badly when he was
raped. The surgery was successful and he’s going to be fine, but he’s pretty
bummed out.” I didn’t comment on his choice of words.
“Wow, raping a minor. What kind of
animal would do that?” I asked.
“An unforgiving father who couldn’t
accept his son admitting he is gay. The father walked in on the kid and his
friend while they were exploring each other’s bodies.”
“Holy fuck,” I said, like a ton of
bricks had hit me. I felt a little faint as my heart started beating, rapidly.
By instinct, I leaned into Howie for support.
“Hey, Brent, you okay?” he asked, as he
steadied me. His arm wrapped around my shoulder was almost therapeutic.
“Umm, yeah. I’ll be fine.” I took a deep
breath and stood up, tall. I felt blood returning to my face. “Can we sit down
and talk, just for a minute?”
“Let’s go over to the reception lounge.”
Howie led me to a small room just off the nurses’ station. We sat down and I
looked into his concerned eyes.
“Howie, I’m going to trust you not to
repeat what I’m about to say.”
“I’m first a doctor. I also hope that we
can become friends later. You can trust me,” Howie said as he placed his hand
over mine.
“Doc, I was never abused, but I know the
feeling of being rejected by a father because he didn’t approve of his son
being gay.” I paused and let that sink in.
TO BE CONTINUED