Somewhere Else
Chapter 14 - Too Long
Pacey was watching TV when there was a knock from the bathroom door. He chose to ignore it at first, until Frank yelled out, “I know at least one of you is in there.”
He relented, answering the door and letting Frank in. “What do you need?”
“Some of your time, if ya don’t mind. I know we haven’t been on the best of terms.”
“Stop smooth-talking and get on with the proposal.”
“I wanted to apologize for what went down regarding Lisette. I can’t imagine how you must have felt…”
“I’m not interested in your apology. I’m waiting for you to get to the point. The reason you suddenly gained a conscience.”
Frank confessed, “Maybe it wasn’t worth the trouble.”
Pacey chuckled, “Lisette dumped you, didn’t she?”
“Yeah. She found someone more refined.” Frank rolled his eyes. “That girl’s so screwed up.”
“If you’re looking for sympathy, you’ve come to the wrong place.”
Frank shook his head. “I can’t say I’m heartbroken. If I had to listen to her drone on and on about herself one more time, I would’ve done the dumping.”
Pacey couldn’t resist a smile. “She can get pretty self-absorbed. I didn’t realize how bad she could be until that night.”
“I wish I hadn’t listened to Abby Morgan. Like she knows the first thing about relationships anyway. Too bad I didn’t realize that until I finally met Dream Guy.”
“Dream Guy? Don’t tell me she has a boyfriend.”
Frank cracked up, “Not exactly. She’s been pining after this guy for a couple years, even though she’d deny it if you ever asked. She was mad at him for connecting with the threesome but it was also obvious she fucking wanted him so bad. So one night, we ran into him, waiting for the bus. I have to think he dismissed her advances because she hasn’t said a word about him since.”
As he thought back to freshman year, Pacey began to laugh, startling Frank. “I know it’s so wrong that I’m enjoying this story. Especially if Dream Guy is who I think you mean and you ran into him when I think you did. I feel sorry for him for the timing but…” Rather than immediately tell him, he asked, “Did Abby disclose to you why nothing ever happened between them?”
He pondered that question, harking back to their previous conversations. “No. I assumed it was because he had taste.”
Pacey grinned, “In my unbiased opinion, I’d say befriending ‘the threesome’ was better than Abby. But, until about a month ago, Charlie was also Jack’s boyfriend.”
“What?” Frank yelped, then let a smile slip out. “No wonder Abby’s love life is so fucked up. Man, that’s classic!”
The phone ringing interrupted them. Pacey answered, “Hell has frozen over so I can take your call.”
Jen laughed, “Nice to talk to you too, Pacey.”
“I told you I’d be home, sweet thing. How you doing?”
“Fine as always. I thought about doing something bizarre today.”
Pacey replied in a sultry voice, “Say no more. I can get rid of my guest in two minutes, then you can do whatever you want to me.”
Frank interrupted, “Is that Joey?”
Pacey covered the mouthpiece, shaking his head. “No, my mistress, Jen.”
Jen replied, “It’s not an emergency. It’s only a survey for a psych class. The bizarre thing is that I’m doing it on time. Call me later.”
“Later,” Pacey replied, then hung up on her.
“A mistress, eh?” Frank snickered.
“Yeah, it would be news to me, Joey, her and her fiancé. Sorry there’s no real dirt there.”
“Other than the fact that you’re now dating that chick Joey Potter. How’s that possible? Were you two hiding in linen closets the whole time?”
Pacey looked at a photo of him with Joey tacked on the dresser. It pained him to acknowledge this but there was no choice. “Let’s just say that Abby is a better matchmaker when she’s not trying to be one. While her motives were suspect, it was, ultimately, the push I needed to reunite with Joey.”
“That may be true but I’d rather not get caught in any more of her schemes.” Frank checked out the photo. “Not bad.”
“Frank…” Pacey warned.
Frank held up his arms to surrender. “I met her. No way could I handle that.” He explained, “I only meant that I was surprised you two look, well, good together.”
* * * * *
Joey was lounging on the couch in the afternoon when the phone rang. Normally, she wasn’t home in the afternoon but a class had been cancelled and she was savoring every minute of her early day. She dragged the phone by the cord over to the couch before picking it up. “Hello?”
Dawson replied, caught off guard by her voice. “Hi, Jo. How have you been?”
Joey sat up immediately. She had chosen to ignore the persistent presence of the phone number, as Pacey insisted. So hearing his voice was rather surprising. “Doing well. Been busy.”
“Yeah, me too. I’ve been working intensely on Out of Tune while keeping up with classes.”
Joey couldn’t seem to remember that title from anywhere. “Is this another film?”
“No, same film, different title. The original title, One Big Hit, sounded too much like a drug flick. I talked to Todd and he said he’d help sell it when he wraps up his current movie, which would be in at the end of the month. So far he likes where it’s heading, development-wise and is interested in doing work on the project.”
“Wow. That’s so exciting!” Joey exclaimed. “I have to admit, I’m shocked but…wow…you’re really becoming a filmmaker. It’s just that the script you sent me…”
“That was a rather primitive version. It was tedious and it felt like it was written by someone who knew nothing about music.”
“Todd said that yet still wants to work with you?” Joey said incredulously. “Honesty isn’t exactly a virtue I thought existed in Hollywood.”
“My co-writer said that. He’s never set foot in Hollywood so that may still be true.”
“How…”
“A friend of a friend,” Dawson said quickly, not yet ready to have this conversation with Joey. He backed out of it by assuring, “Soon, I’ll be in New York, signing papers and showing off to you.”
Showing off. That’s one way to phrase it. Joey kidded, “Is that a threat or a promise?”
“With any luck, both.” Dawson checked his watch. “Damn, I almost forgot about my meeting with Todd. See you soon.”
“Bye.” Dawson waited for Joey to hang up first, then set the phone down. He looked at the most recent copy of the Out of Tune script sitting on his desk and let out a wide smile. He hoped he’d be able to keep Joey in the dark just a little bit longer.
* * * * *
The next day, the door to the apartment swung open, Jen yelling out, “Charlie!” No answer. She dropped her bags to the ground, not even shutting the door, and stomped toward his bedroom. Charlie was still asleep. Jen barked out, “Get your lazy ass out of bed this instant!”
Charlie squinted, adjusting to the sunlight then to an annoyed Jen Lindley standing at the foot of his bed. “What is your problem?” He checked the alarm clock, which read 10:02 am. Joey had already left for classes but he hadn’t overslept. Why Jen was in the apartment now was a mystery.
“You. I refuse watching you treat your friends like trash. I’ve decided to do something about it.”
“How did you get in anyway?” Charlie asked, not really able to process what Jen said this early in the day.
“Joey loaned me her key. Now, I repeat, get up and get dressed so I may work my magic.”
“Do you think you can just order me around, like you do your fiancée?” Nonetheless, he made an effort to move out from under the covers.
Jen realized she hadn’t directly dealt with Charlie since the breakup. The humor that was normally evident in a remark like that was gone, replaced by the feeling of a dagger piercing through. She hoped this plan would work; if not, Joey, in particular, wouldn’t be able to tolerate. She opted for a different tactic, speaking this time in a softer tone, “I thought it was the only way to wake you.”
She was thankful the strategy paid off as Charlie admitted, “That’s basically true.” He walked over to the dresser, pulling out a black Grease T-shirt from one drawer and a dark blue sweater from another. “So, seriously, what’s the deal? You wanted to see my fine self first thing in the morning?” He looked over his shoulder at Jen, giving a knowing glance, before jerking off the faded T-shirt he’d slept in.
Jen couldn’t help but laugh despite herself before answering, “We’re all a little concerned about the way you’ve been acting…”
“I know you’re studying to be a shrink or something…” He tugged on the shirt he’d changed into. “I don’t need your help.”
“I didn’t say it’d be me. I brought along a special guest. That’s why I need you to get dressed.”
“Which will happen much quicker without your presence. I’m not exactly comfortable with you watching me change. I’ll meet you in the living room.”
“Oh, ok. I’ll give you five minutes, then I’m barging in.” Jen exited the room, realizing he couldn’t escape her anyway.
Four minutes and fifty-eight seconds later, Jen had one hand on the doorknob when Charlie surprised her by opening the door. He whispered, “Sorry to ruin your fantasy.”
“What one is that?” Jen circled around him, distracting him from the living room.
“The one where you finally see the goods. I thought maybe that was the reason you surprised me.”
“You cocky bast…” Jen bit back the remark, knowing her guest wouldn’t want to be privy to this conversation, “That’s preposterous!”
“Yet true. Face it, Jen, you’re one of those ladies who are hot for pretty gay boys. Not that I blame you.”
“Not now!” Jen declared firmly.
This caught the attention of the guest, who said, “Buon giorno.”
Charlie turned around immediately, not believing he recognized the voice correctly. Upon seeing Rita there, he stammered out, “Mom? I…how did you…why…”
Jen filled him in, “There’s something I need to tell you. The lady I supposedly stalked? It turned out to be her.”
“So you’ve known…”
“We were at Angelino’s Ristorante the night I proposed to Drue. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that.” She glanced from Charlie to Rita, feeling weird to be in the middle of this surprise. “I’m going to rummage through Joey’s closet.” She didn’t wait for a reply before making her escape.
Charlie crossed his arms over his chest, stoically asking, “What brings you here?”
Rita was taken by surprise by the question. “I just found out your address.”
“Try again.”
“I just got up the courage to come here.”
“I see. You use my friends as the go-between instead of my sister. After all, why would you want any of them to speak to me?”
“That’s not it! Jennifer is a very sweet young lady who I’m happy to have met. Same with Josephina, I mean Joey, and their respective boyfriends. Lovely bunch.”
He snapped, “You could say we’re one happy dysfunctional family.”
Rita flinched at the words, maintaining, “I am trying my best…”
“Yeah, I’ve seen evidence of that over the past five and a half years.”
She took a deep breath before informing him, “I convinced your father to see a certain Broadway musical.”
Charlie did a double take at the news, then gathered himself enough to realize there was only one way that was possible, “You mean you tricked him.”
Rita admitted sheepishly, “So maybe I didn’t give a reason until after we set foot in the theater. Once he recognized Jen, I had to explain. Given that, I was rather stunned by his reaction.”
“Running out?”
“No. Bragging to the regular patrons of the restaurant.”
“Yet if he actually saw me, he’d give the silent treatment.” Charlie sat down on the couch, passing by her.
She couldn’t deny that was, most likely, still true. “He doesn’t know what to do. Same as myself.”
Charlie countered, “So far, your solutions have included an exorcism, bringing Jen as my date for Christmas dinners, and asking Nick’s hooker ex-girlfriend about her friends. You’ll pardon me if I didn’t jump for joy over any of those suggestions. Hey, you’ll be happy to know I got a marriage proposal recently. Abby Morgan. Who cares if I can barely stomach being in the same room as her? She’d be perfect in your eyes.”
Rita interrupted in a stern, motherly tone, “Charles Luciano…” She faintly recognized the girl's name, probably from information transmitted from one of her daughters, but knew the objective was to piss her off.
Charlie talked over her reprimand, “But see, that wouldn’t work because either I wouldn’t be able to hide who I really am any longer or Abby will have sucked my soul dry. By then, I’d be one of those creepy middle-aged guys who drives a red convertible and yearns for high-school boys. I would forget that I didn’t need any of your fucking help the first time and be even more miserable. If your answer involves saying that I’d be better off if I wasn’t gay, then you could just leave right now.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? That way, you could inflict the same pain your father did. Besides, I’d say you’ve already cornered the market on being miserable without following my advice,” Rita spat out, sitting down on the couch next to him. Charlie turned away from her, focusing on the front door. “I don’t profess that I understand why some people are the way they are. However, I have been around enough to know about love. Forty-one years around the same man is enough evidence of that. It’s not worth getting angry at the world. You can’t close off everyone.” She dug through her pocketbook until she found a photo. “I asked Jen for a picture of you with Jack. I wanted to try to comprehend. I may be foolish but I’m not a blind bat yet.”
Rita held out the photo, which Charlie accepted but refused to look at. Jen peeked out from Joey’s bedroom, ordering, “Would you just do it?” She closed the door shut again.
This time, Charlie did as told. The photo was taken when they visited Pacey at his job on the dock. Right before it was shot, he and Jack had gotten into an argument over something rather trivial. After leaving Pacey, the two had snuck onto one of the other boats and had one of their more adventurous evenings together. A security guard caught Charlie the next morning, which bought Jack time to escape; eventually he talked his way down to a warning about trespassing.
As pleasant as the memory was, Charlie couldn’t help but feel that he shouldn’t think that way. That Jack had turned his back on him and there was no reason Charlie should be so weak as to let a goofy picture change his opinion.
He set the photo down on the space between them on the couch. Charlie said softly, “Normally, when there’s a problem, I’m able to talk to Jack. Even during times when we weren’t dating, we could still talk. He never seriously lied to me before this. I had no idea how much Jack was hurt by my not being around until I overheard him talking to someone else. That probably hurts more than anything else, even more than him kissing another guy.” He let out a choked laugh. “I wonder if it’s because I always seemed to be pulled between being the selfish brat who’s driven to be successful and the romantic who wanted our relationship to work out. Maybe the two don’t coexist and never will.”
Rita wrapped an arm around him, resting her hand on his shoulder. Her instinct was to protect him, even though she still had trouble grasping some of the concepts. “I’m sorry, dear.”
“I know my life disgusts you so don’t pretend otherwise,” Charlie snapped, as if knowing what part she had concentrated on. He coiled up on the couch, resuming in a more reflective tone, “You’re going to hate me for saying this. I hate him for wrecking everything we built over the past three years. The problem is I miss him immensely. I loved Jack so much yet it turned out it wasn’t enough.” His eyes began to water as he continued, “It never has been for any of the people I’ve deeply cared about.”
Rather than answer that, Rita drew Charlie over to face her. He rested his head on her shoulder and began to cry. Rita wrapped her arms around him, thankful she finally did what intuition had been telling her for years.
Chapter 15 - Dinner Night
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