Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
J oe
Leslie texted Joe once a day for the next few days just to make a connection, but they didn’t connect for a conversation.
Joe hadn’t known what to make of their bizarre conversation and knew he needed to be patient with Leslie.
Then came the most bizarre text Leslie had ever sent him in over fifteen years.
Do you have a couple of days off for the holidays?
Yes, dear. Even dancers get holidays off. I have Christmas Day through New Year’s Eve. Why?
Prepare to be liberated.
Joe should have known that Leslie’s cryptic text would turn into a fiasco.
Randy and Sandy showed up at the rehearsal space—Joe had no idea how they found out where he was—dressed in black suits and sunglasses, with earpieces in.
“I missed the memo where Men In Black 5000 was filming here,” Joe said to them, shooing them into the hall to not disturb the group that was performing at the time,
“We’re under orders to collect the package and transport on a private charter flight in T-minus thirty minutes.”
Joe’s eyes flared. “You’re kidding, right? I’m not done for another hour.”
They looked at each other, their freaky twin synchronized moves making them seem more like the creepy guys in The Matrix . Nah, he thought. Men in Black was probably more their speed.
“Well make yourself done.”
“Yeah,” Sandy chimed in. “We’re under orders.”
Joe rolled his eyes. It really was no big deal.
His routines had already been rehearsed.
He was just hanging around to provide moral support, and there was the issue that he had nothing to do.
Literally nothing. He’d already shipped out the few Christmas gifts he had for friends and co-workers before leaving Ayre Valley.
He was going to be eating Chinese food with Arthur on Christmas Day since Arthur’s main squeeze was away working, and neither felt like cooking.
Then he planned on going to a friend’s studio the rest of the week off to work on choreography for his second-semester classes.
“I need to grab my things—”
“You don’t need to bring anything with you.”
“My suitcase is at the hotel, though—”
“We’ve already retrieved it.”
“What the… Okay, you guys are starting to freak me out. What the hell is going on?”
Sandy lowered his glasses and smiled. “Sorry,” he stage-whispered. “We’re just having some fun. We talked to your manager and he helped us out. We already packed up your stuff.”
Randy cleared his throat and frowned. “No more stalling. We’re taking you to our boss. You have a lot to answer for, Twinkle Toes.”
“Not really,” Sandy whispered as he led Joe out the door. “Just play along, he doesn’t get to have fun like this much in Iowa. Just go with it.”
Joe shook his head and pulled his zip-up hoodie a little tighter around him in the chilly air.
Out front of the soundstage where they’d been rehearsing was a long black limousine. Randy opened the door and held his hand to his ear. “The package has been acquired,” he said, presumably to someone.
Joe climbed in the backseat, suddenly aware that he was a sweaty mess and wasn’t wearing proper shoes. “Guys, really, can we go back to the hotel first?”
“Sorry, Joe,” Agnes said with a little wave. “I gave birth to them, but please don’t hold me responsible for their behavior.”
She held out her arms for a hug and Joe winced. “I’m really, really sweaty.”
She gestured for him to come on. “You know all four of my sons played football? And my husband?”
Randy and Sandy slid in and sat across from Joe and Agnes. Randy knocked on the window and the limousine pulled away from the curb with a lurch, nearly sending Joe sprawling.
Joe accepted a glass of champagne. “It’s not drugged, is it? Do I get to know where we’re going?”
“Oh,” Sandy said. “Here. This will give you a clue.”
He pulled two elaborate leis out of a brown paper bag and placed one over Agnes’s head and one over Joe’s.
“He did go to Hawaii,” Agnes said with a laugh. “Oh good, I’m so ready to be in a warm place. I always forget how cold it actually gets back home.” She turned to Joe, who was so glad for the fragrant lei that was hopefully covering up any unpleasant smells.
Joe’s heart fluttered at the mention of Hawaii.
Things would likely have been very different in his life if he’d not chickened out on meeting Leslie there ten years earlier, and Joe had often wondered what would have happened.
Would it have been too soon and they would’ve merely hung out, talked about what they wanted, and still went their separate ways?
Or, maybe Joe would have been as swept away as he was in Iowa and he would have jumped at the chance to have Leslie in his life.
But Joe was a different man now. Ten years ago, he was chasing the next big thing. He hadn’t been seriously injured yet. He hadn’t thought about his career’s expiration date. And he still thought dancing was the only thing he was good at.
Now he knew the truth.
And now, dammit, he was ready to face Leslie with all that he was, with all that he had, and he prayed it was enough.
“Joe? Are you okay?”
“Huh? Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking of the last time I was in Hawaii.”
Agnes smiled and patted his knee. “He’s going to be so glad to see you.”
“I hope so.”
They flew a private jet out of LAX to Maui and there were more surprises on the plane. More champagne, Joe’s things, a bathroom with enough room for him to get cleaned up, thankfully, and a new suit, compliments of Leslie.
“How the hell did he know my size?”
“Apparently your manager is very knowledgeable about such things,” Sandy said. “And he can be bought.”
Joe scoffed. “Good to know.”
A black Escalade met them at the airport. Joe had his third glass of champagne, or was it his fourth, at the urging of the brothers. Thankfully, there had been a boatload of snacks on the flight because Joe hadn’t eaten anything since he’d had his morning smoothie.
“You’re such a lightweight,” Sandy joked as they climbed into the limo and Joe hit his head.
“Always have been.” But he was also nervous.
Could he and Leslie get past what had happened?
The radio silence had been so painful, so awful.
For the first time in the fifteen years since they’d met, he’d felt completely abandoned.
He’d been hurt, maybe a little angry, but mostly he’d been able to channel it into solidifying his plans so that if Leslie came around, they could move forward together. The alternative to that was unbearable.
It was dark outside as they drove up a winding road and Joe was glad the driver was a local because there had been some hairy turns.
Randy had led them in singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and Joe wondered whether he’d ever actually learned the words, but he kept up with them.
Somehow. Agnes held his hand, Randy and Sandy entertained them, and Joe was almost calm by the time they pulled up to a, well, a mansion lit up by floodlights.
“Leslie’s working on getting this place all solared out because he wants to give back to the power grid. One of our companies deals with solar,” Sandy was saying, but Joe was captivated by the figure standing at the edge of the driveway.
Joe pushed Sandy out of the way and staggered over to Leslie, who stood next to one of the solar lights, also dressed in a suit.
Joe hesitated only a brief moment before he threw his arms around a surprised Leslie and squeezed him for all he was worth.
It was probably much less force than Leslie had experienced in his NFL days, but it nearly knocked him over.
“Twinkle Toes ain’t too twinkly once you get booze in him,” Randy said. He shook his head at Joe, who wouldn’t let go of Leslie, and accepted a handshake from his brother. Sandy also got a handshake, and Agnes a kiss on the cheek, and then they were left alone.
“I’m not letting go of you,” Joe said, his face smushed against Leslie’s chest. He smelled so good, like the Awapuhi body stuff he had all over his room back in Iowa. Joe was totally going to buy some when he was here so that if Leslie sent him away, at least he’d always have his scent.
“I’m not going to send you away,” Leslie said, trying to lift Joe’s chin to look up at him. “Joe—”
“No, not yet. I’m drunk. Don’t say anything, just hold me. You can scold me, yell at me, argue with me, whatever, in the morning when I’m in charge of myself again. Just…hold me, dammit, so the world will stop spinning.”
Leslie chuckled and squeezed Joe back. “Can we walk? I want to show you something. ”
“We can try. Yes, we can.”
They managed to walk down a sandy path together, Joe’s arms still clutching Leslie tightly.
“I can’t believe you sent your brothers to kidnap me,” Joe said. “The Dance Machine producers were going to call security when they grabbed me.”
“Did they pull that Matrix shit?” Leslie let his head fall back and he laughed.
“I was thinking more like Men in Black . I was waiting for the flashy thingie.”
Leslie rubbed his back and Joe felt those stomach flutterings like he had back in August. Whoa .
So much had happened since then. It had been exciting and fun…
and then scary and wonderful…and then awful.
And now he was holding onto Leslie for dear life in Hawaii and he wasn’t sure if these flutterings were nerves, the alcohol, or…
“What do you think?”
Leslie gently removed Joe’s arms and turned him around.
“Oh, Leslie!”
A breathtakingly beautiful private beach illuminated by a full moon over calm waters. It was a picture out of a magazine, like National Geographic . It was pure magic. He wanted to weep, he—
“Babe, why are you crying?”
Joe’s lower lip fluttered as he sucked in a breath.
“Why are you so fucking perfect, Leslie? Why? Why do you show me such beauty and then you show me this beach and you’re so beautiful.”
“And why did I allow my brothers to ply you with champagne? Come here.”