Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
W ell, that could certainly have gone better, Charlie thought to himself as he walked into the hotel and went up to the front desk. Of course, I can’t really blame the guy. From his point of view I’m just another arrogant celebrity who cut and ran as soon as I could and never looked back. If I was in his shoes, I’d hate me.
Charlie had wanted to tell Jared about all of the times that he’d tried to start various projects in one part of the state or another, only to be stymied by either recalcitrant leaders reluctant to be seen taking money or joining up with a gay celebrity, no matter how famous or successful they were. Or about all of the times that a project had fallen through because a bunch of protesters showed up, and Sheri, bless her heart, had said that it was just too damaging to his brand to be associated with it.
“Remember, Charlie,” she’d said. “Your fanbase is Midwest moms. They don’t want their golden boy to get caught up in a lot of drama. They don’t care that you’re gay. Just don’t make a big deal out of it.”
She’d made sure that all of those efforts, and all of Charlie’s snarky comments about them in interviews, were swept safely under the rug and that the only image anyone saw of Charlie Garrett was one that had been carefully curated and approved by the executives of the Romance Network and by Sheri herself. These days it really took some digging to get to some of his more indiscrete moments, and Sheri and the other powers-that-be kept him on a very tight leash.
But, of course, he hadn’t said any of that to Jared, had he? Instead, he’d just sat there and let him say those things, and now here they were. It was a frustrating position to be in, but he was used to it by now. Or as used to it as he was likely to be.
He walked up to the front desk, hoping in a distant way that the receptionist wouldn’t recognize him and that he could enjoy a moment of anonymity. Unfortunately that hope was immediately dashed, and he wasn’t surprised at this, either. It was just the way his day was going.
“Oh my God!” she said with that southern West Virginia twang that immediately made him feel at home. “You’re Charlie Garrett. They said that you were going to be arriving sometime today, but I had no idea it was going to be while I was on shift.” There was such transparent joy in her face that he couldn’t bring himself to feel aggrieved, not even when she asked for a selfie (even though, as she confided to him, that was against the hotel rules).
Fortunately, she didn’t belabor the whole thing, for which he was grateful. He was already quite tired, and he really just wanted to get into his room as quickly as possible, so that he could have a little bit of peace and quiet before the real chaos started. The Mountain State Queer Film Festival was only slated to take place during the weekend, and he knew that he was going to be busy almost the entire time.
It would have been nice to have some time to explore Huntington and the surrounding area, but when he’d proposed this to Sheri, she’d let him know in no uncertain terms that he must not go off on his own for any reason. Doing so would only risk things going off the rails, and that was to be avoided at all costs.
“Remember,” she’d said, “this whole festival is a chance for you to burnish your reputation and take the next step forward. Focus on that and nothing else.”
All of this was how he found himself in his room, scrolling aimlessly on his phone. He thought about sending an update out on Instagram or TikTok, but resisted the urge. He knew all too well that anything like that had to get Sheri’s approval before it went live. Since he’d already managed to alienate his handler for this whole adventure, the last thing he needed was to piss her off, too.
Charlie had to admit, though, that his handler was very attractive, which wasn’t something that he’d expected. On the surface he looked like your typical country boy–with his plain white T-shirt, tight jeans, and boots–but he also had something classy and even a little nerdy about him, too. Maybe it was his chilly attitude, or maybe it was the way that his shoulders and thighs threatened to burst out of those same T-shirt and jeans but something made Charlie’s heart beat a little faster.
You just think that because he reminds you of all of the hot guys you went to high school with but didn’t have the guts to approach. That was definitely true, but back then he’d been plain old Charlie Slaughter and not Charlie Garrett, jewel in the crown of the Romance Network.
You shouldn’t even be thinking about him in that way at all, he reminded himself. You’re here to do a job, so let it go at that. The fewer entanglements you get into while you’re here, the better.
Charlie laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. He slipped down into sleep much faster than he’d expected.
Suddenly his phone buzzed, waking him up. Seeing that it was Sheri, he swallowed a groan. He was sure she was going to give him a hard time, even though he had no idea what he could have possibly done wrong.
Sure enough, as soon as he answered it she was letting him have it.
“What did I tell you about taking selfies with people who haven’t been vetted yet?” she snapped. “I specifically said to leave all of that to me, and what did you do? You went and got a selfie with the first person you ran into that wasn’t that redneck who picked you up at the airport. Honestly, Charlie, why do you even keep me on your payroll if you’re just going to ignore everything I have to say?”
He let her go on for several more minutes like this, until she finally ran out of steam.
“Are you done?”
“Yes, for now,” she said. It was the same pattern that they always got into. He would do something that she didn’t like, she would give him an endless hard time about it, he would apologize, and then the cycle would repeat. It was charming, in its own way, if also a bit irritating.
“Good,” he said. “So what else do you have planned for me while I’m here? I really don’t want to stay holed up in my hotel room for the entire trip.”
“I guess that depends on you. Do you think you can stay out of trouble if I schedule you a ride around town with your handler later tonight?”
He looked out the window. It was still rather early in the morning, and he hated the thought of staying in his room for several more hours until Sheri decided that it was okay for him to come out.
“Can we bump it up a few hours? I haven’t been to Huntington before, and I’d like to explore town a bit before all of the craziness starts.”
Charlie didn’t mention that he thought the handler hated him. He’d deal with that in a bit.
There was a pause on the other end of the line as Sheri thought about it.
“Okay, fine. You can go out on the town for the day, but I want you back in your hotel room by eleven tonight. Sharp. Is that clear?” They both knew that was hardly enough time to really get an evening going, but Charlie knew that this was the best he was going to get.
“Yes, mom,” he said sulkily.
“Don’t pout,” she said, sounding uncomfortably like his actual mother. “And you should call her, you know. She hasn’t heard from you in a couple of weeks, and she’s been sending me vaguely passive aggressive text messages. I know I’ve said this before, Charlie, but I don’t know why you bothered moving her out to California if you weren’t going to spend more time with her. You might as well have left her here.”
“I’ll try,” he said. “Um…I think I forgot to get my handler’s number. Do you have it?”
Sheri sighed. “Yes, I have it. I’ll give him a call and tell him to be there in fifteen minutes.”
He’s going to just love that, Charlie thought. As if he didn’t hate me enough already.
“If that’s everything for now, I’m going to leave you to your own devices,” she said. “Remember. Behave yourself.”
Before Charlie could say anything in response the phone beeped to tell him she’d hung up.
Fifteen minutes wasn’t that much time, so he just did a routine check to make sure that he didn’t look too rumpled from the flight, popped a couple of Altoids in his mouth, and made his way back downstairs. Someone upstairs must have been looking out for him, because he managed to get to the lobby without being seen by anyone. Even the fangirl at the front desk just gave him a knowing wink as he stepped through the revolving door.
And then the mob hit him.
There were the reporters, of course, and they were joined by at least a couple of hundred fans–many of them middle-aged women–and they swarmed him as soon as he stepped outside into the midday sunshine. No matter how many times this happened, and it happened a lot, he’d never really gotten used to it. Every time he found himself looking out at all of those faces looking rapturously at him he’d feel his heart start to beat faster and faster, his palms would get sweaty, and little spots would dance in his vision.
Calm down, Charlie, he said over and over. You can get through this just like you always have.
Suddenly an ugly voice broke through the crowd.
“Go back to California with the rest of the sinners, faggot!”
All of a sudden the adoring crowd turned as one, everyone looking either angry or horrified. For his part, Charlie’s anxiety had suddenly turned into the scalding anger that he knew too well, the part of himself that he worked very hard to keep buried so that it didn’t get him into trouble.
Don’t do it, Charlie, he thought. Don’t pick a fight with this asshole, because it’s just going to get you into trouble that you can’t afford.
Then the crowd parted to reveal the guy who’d shouted the slur, and whatever inclination Charlie might have had to be restrained flew right out the window. He’d half-expected the guy to be some kind of redneck but, to his surprise, he was dressed in a pair of khakis and a dress shirt and tie. A pair of brown loafers completed the whole getup, and the sign he was carrying–with the words “Go back to Sodom and Gomorrah” on it–was just the icing on the cake.
I’m surprised that he doesn’t have a whole gaggle of religious bigots behind him, he thought.
Even though that little voice in the back of his head kept screaming at him not to give this asshole any encouragement by engaging with him, he knew that he was too far gone. He’d put up with guys like this his whole life, and now that he had the privilege and the money and the status, he’d be damned if he’d let him say that kind of stuff and get away with it.
Not while I’m in West Virginia, he thought. I let assholes like this get in my way too many other times, but not this time.
Just as he started to walk toward him, though, conscious all the while of the eyes of his fans and reporters locked on his every move, he heard the sound of an engine roaring and tires squealing, and then Jared was there, his hand resting gently on his arm.
“This guy isn’t worth it,” he whispered, somehow both urgent and reassuring. “Trust me. I’ve seen him at events like this, and he’s trying to get you to do something stupid. Don’t give in.”
Something about Jared’s calming tone seemed to bring Charlie back to himself, and he gave himself a little shake, thinking about how close he’d come to doing something colossally stupid.
“How did you know what I was getting ready to do?”
Jared gave him a level look. “ I could see that you were about to deck the guy, and the last thing I want is for the festival to have to bail you out of jail.”
Suddenly the brief feeling of euphoria that Charlie had felt at Jared potentially doing something to help him for his own sake evaporated. He should have known that he’d only been thinking about the festival and its well-being.
So much for that, he thought bitterly.
When Charlie didn’t make any move to go to Jared’s truck, the other man started guiding him, one hand on the small of his back. Even just that little bit of a touch was enough to send a flood of warmth through Charlie's body, reminding him that it had been way too long since anyone had touched him in a romantic way.
“I’m not an invalid,” he snapped under his breath.
“Then stop acting like one,” Jared snapped back. “I’m supposed to show you around the city, and that’s what I’m going to do, whether you like it or not.”
“You’re really pushy and obnoxious, you know that?”
“Yeah, well, you’ve let fame go to your head, so I guess we’re even.”
They continued bickering like this as they made their way to Jared’s truck, and all the while the gathered fans and reporters just kept looking at them and clicking their phones and the bigot kept shouting at them and waving his sign.
I can just imagine what Sheri is going to say about this, Charlie thought dismally. She told me not to get into trouble, and the first thing I do when I walk outside the hotel is almost get into a fistfight with someone.
As he got into Jared’s truck, he started to wonder whether it was a good idea to have come to this festival at all, or whether he should have just stayed out in LA. It might have been at least a little bit easier if Jared had shown any signs of warming up to him, but if anything he looked even more hostile. As he started the truck back up he kept his eyes fixed straight ahead of him, staring at the road as he drove around town.
After about ten minutes of this, Charlie decided to try to ease the tension a bit.
“You know, if your job is to show me around and let me see the sights of your fair city, the least you could do is, you know, actually talk to me.”
Jared just grunted and kept staring out the window.
Charlie sighed, but he was also starting to feel a bit annoyed about this whole thing.
“Thank you for coming back to get me,” he tried. “Sheri said she was going to get in touch with you.” He thought briefly about pushing Jared to try to get him to say more about why he didn’t like him but decided against it. He’d probably get around to doing so in his own time, anyway.
Just then Jared sighed.
“I guess you’re right,” he said. “I know that you haven’t been here before, and that kind of surprises me. I mean, it’s the second largest city in the state, after all. And I know you’ve been to Charleston and Morgantown. So what gives?”
Charlie debated for a moment about just how much to tell Jared about his past and why it was that he’d avoided many parts of the state.
Well, if you want him to warm up to you, you’re going to have to open up at least a little bit. Even now, Charlie still wasn’t quite sure why it was that he was so invested in getting Jared to pay more attention to him. Maybe it was because there was something about him that went beyond appearances. Or maybe it was just the fact that by this point Charlie was so used to being adored by anyone he came into contact with that meeting with such hostility, particularly from someone who should have been starstruck, made him want to impress him all the more. Or maybe it was the opposite, and it was actually refreshing to have someone not be impressed.
Or maybe you’re just horny, he thought.
Whatever the case, he was going to get underneath that hard carapace to the sensitive guy he thought he could see beneath it.
Taking a deep breath, he decided to reveal at least a little bit about his life. Not a whole lot, of course, just enough to get Jared to see him as a person rather than as some sort of entitled prick who’d forgotten about his roots.
You’re going to get yourself in trouble, he thought. But what the hell. Here goes.