-HINDLEY-
“Hey, Hindley, how’s it going?” Matt’s voice rang through my phone.
I sat behind my desk at work, twisting the phone cord in my fingers, glad he couldn’t see me. “Good, Matt, how are you?”
“I’m doing well. Hey, I wanted to apologize again for my actions the last time we were together.”
“Please, don’t worry about it. I did warn you about the margaritas though.” I laughed.
He joined in.
I felt the tension between us ease.
“Yes, you did.”
We were reaching a new phase in our relationship, one of platonic friendship. I could hear it in his voice.
“I wanted to let you know the commercial’s almost done. I’ve seen a rough cut and it looks awesome.”
“Oh, that’s great. I can’t wait to see it.”
“Rory is amazing.”
Yes, he is.
I’d left California two days ago and I was still reeling from the revelation of Rory’s story about his childhood and his sister, Shelly. I was committed now more than ever to protect Rory, no matter the cost. There was absolutely no way I could let his secret get out. He’d endured too much. For once in his life, someone was going to protect him.
“Hey, listen, Matt, I need a favor.”
“Anything.”
“I’m trying to get a commercial deal for Axel Pretorius.”
“With Sonora Water?”
The doubt in his voice didn’t surprise me. “With anyone.”
“You haven’t found anyone yet?”
“No. And I’m pretty desperate.” I fell back in my chair with a sigh.
“Why?”
“His team is hell bent on getting a commercial to air during the X Games.”
“That’s a little over three weeks away. You couldn’t even get the films into editing in that amount of time.”
“I know. Tell me I’m not totally screwed?” My voice resounded with the desperation I felt.
“Okay, I won’t tell you. But you know you are, right?”
I nodded.
“I can talk to the guys in marketing, if you want me to,” he said.
“Really? That would be awesome. You’d do that for me?”
“Of course I would, Hindley.”
There was an awkward pause and I feared he’d say that he’d do anything for me, but thankfully he said nothing.
“How’s Rory?” he asked.
How’s Rory? He’d been through the wringer, had a shit childhood, and a pretty fucked up adulthood too. But if I had anything to do with it, the rest of his life would be much happier.
“He’s good.” Or at least I planned to make him feel good.
“When are you getting into Miami?” Matt’s words broke through my thoughts.
“Luis and I will fly in Friday. Our meeting with Humberto is scheduled for Saturday after the skating tournament. Are you still good with that?”
I’d approached Matt with the idea of signing Humberto Sullivan as a possible spokesperson for Sonora Water as well. Matt wanted to meet Humberto in person so I figured why not get them together while we were in Miami for Rory’s skateboard tournament?
“Saturday evening sounds good. Do you have a place already picked out?” he asked.
“There’s an amazing Cuban restaurant in the hotel we’re staying at. Have you ever eaten Cuban food?”
“Nope, can’t say that I have. Don’t see a lot of Cubans where I’m from,” he teased.
I laughed out loud and choked on my drink. “I almost spit water all over my keyboard.”
“I hope that’s Sonora Water you’re spitting out.” He chuckled.
Actually, it was. “Of course it is. The entire fridge in my house and the law firm is stocked with it, thanks to my good friends in your PR department.”
We both laughed.
“So, I’ll call you on Saturday and let you know what time, okay?” I said.
“Actually, I’m coming in Friday evening. I want to see our boy in action.”
Our boy. Thoughts of my conversation with Rory before we left California raced through my mind. Somewhere in the midst of our sexcapades over the weekend, I’d agreed to move in with him after the X Games.
“Rory’s the new face of Sonora Water and I’m hoping he’ll get tagged in a ton of photos while displaying our logo,” Matt said, interrupting my thoughts of Rory.
“I can promise you he will.”
“I’ll see ya in Miami, Hindley.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then. And let me know about Axel, okay?”
“Sure thing.”
“Thanks, Matt.”
“Anytime. Bye, Hindley.”
“Bye, Matt.”
I put the phone back in its cradle, feeling as hopeless and as desperate as I did when Axel first gave me his ultimatum. Commercial or confession? I prayed Matt would be able to pull a miracle out of his ass and get me a deal before my perfect future with Rory came crashing down.