17. Korben
The sun might have been shining through the cottage-style windows of Korben’s workshop, but Korben felt far from sunny himself.
It might have felt like the right thing to do at the time, but Korben was beginning to regret running away from Michael when things got tough.
‘Poo. Michael will just think I’m a silly little boy now,’ Korben said, brining Jazz in tight for a cuddle. I should have stuck around and shown him how tough I can be. Michael might not even want to be my Daddy anymore now.’
Korben let out a long sigh.
As independently minded and determined as Korben was, that didn’t mean that he never felt insecure or needed support. But as much as he was beginning to regret running out on Michael the way he did, there was still one feeling that Korben couldn’t seem to shake.
Why did Michael lie to me?
He held back on the truth for too long.
And he knew how much I hated the thought of being kept in the dark…
Korben let out a long, sad sigh.
In that moment, Korben truly felt bad. This wasn’t a situation that was going to be solved with a wave of a magic wand or a ton of positive vibes, that was for sure.
The problem with having the truth about Phillip Neal and his threat to Korben’s Kandies held back from his was that it brought back some bad memories of his law school boyfriend, Topher who would do similar things.
Except when Topher did these things, it was with the intention of belittling and controlling Korben. Of course, Korben knew that Michael didn’t tell his about Phillip Neal for any kind of sinister reason but that didn’t change the fact that it brought back some painful feelings from the past.
Korben turned away from the window and faced himself in the direction of his biggest idea board. The very thought that Phillip had sent people to break into his workshop to steal his ideas sent a shiver down Korben’s spine.
The workshop was a true safe space for Korben, the sanctuary where he felt like everything was set up just right and in a way that would always make his smile. Suddenly, Korben’s smile was nowhere to be seen. Even the sight of his trusted idea board wasn’t cheering Korben up at all.
‘Maybe I should call it a day and go back to my place,’ Korben said, his voice downbeat and lacking his typical spark.
But just as Korben was contemplating shutting the workshop down for the day, he heard a knock at the door. And even before he walked over to open the door, Korben could tell from the giggles and laughter coming from the other side exactly who it was ready and waiting to greet his…
‘It’s picnic time!’ Louie giggled, handing Korben a super-sized picnic basket that felt heavy enough to be carrying enough juice boxes and treats to last an entire year.
‘We figured you’d be here,’ Danny said, hugging Korben. ‘I hope it’s okay we came?’
‘Of course. A million times yes!’ Korben said, wrapping his arms around Danny, Louie, and Benji too.
The four Little friends jumped up and down together, and just like that Korben felt a whole heap of pressure and gloom lift off his shoulders.
It wasn’t that all of Korben’s problems had suddenly vanished into thin air. Far from it. But Korben could at least sit down now with his Little friends and experience some normality without being bogged down with any bad feelings or negative thoughts.
As the Littles tucked into their juice boxes, Korben went into his supply closet and returned with a huge sheet of paper that was big enough for all of them to draw, doodle, and sketch on.
‘Yay! I love a group doodle!’ Danny said, eagerly taking a rainbow-colored coloring crayon in his hand and beginning to draw. ‘I’m going to draw… a zebra with wings!’
‘And I’m going to do a seal with wings!’ Louie squealed.
‘And I’m going to do a tiger… with wings!’ Benji giggled.
‘I guess that means I need to do an animal with wings too!’ Korben said, eagerly taking a neon pink coloring pen and sketching out a smiling, winged elephant.
As the Littles continued to enjoy their drinks and snacks as they drew, Korben felt so grateful that he had a wonderful group of friends. Not every Little was so lucky to have a group of friends like he had, and Korben thought about how he might set up a monthly coloring club at his workshop for Littles who might want to make new friends and share their love of arts and crafts.
‘That’s a great idea,’ Louie said, upon hearing Korben explain his coloring club idea.
‘Thanks,’ Korben replied, blushing a little. ‘Okay, can I ask you all a question?’
The three other Littles nodded and immediately stopped what they were doing to give Korben their complete attention.
‘I still want Michael to be my Forever Daddy,’ Korben said. ‘But I don’t know what I’ll do if Korben’s Kandies is taken under by Phillip Neal. If that happened, I don’t know how I’d be able to look at Michael and not remember all the pain that Korben’s Kandies no longer existing would cause me. I know that there’s no real answer now, but I just had to say it out loud, you know?’
‘I know exactly what you mean,’ Louie said. ‘Even when there isn’t an answer, sometimes it helps just to let the words come out. I know that we can’t do anything about Korben’s Kandies, but I promise you that we’ll always be here for you.’
With that, Korben and his friends took their stuffies and had the biggest, snuggest cuddle possible.
Korben might not have found any answers, but he did feel loved by his Little friends and that in itself was worth more than anything money could buy.
After a long snuggle and then finishing off the animal sketches, Korben’s friends eventually left the workshop.
While Korben certainly felt better for having seen his friends, he couldn’t shake the overall feeling that all still was not right in his life. Korben hated the fact that he and Michael had fallen out, and he also couldn’t forget that his business was very much under threat from Phillip Neal.
In a moment of impulsiveness, Korben picked up his iPad and began to type out a message to his mother. They spoke fairly regularly, but Korben tended not to ever get too deep with his mom given the strain that dropping out of a legal career had caused between them.
With Korben’s mom having had such a distinguished legal career, Korben always knew that not following this path himself would cause friction. The fact that Korben dropped the law for making candy somehow made it even worse in his mom’s eyes, and there was no denying that they hadn’t been as close in recent times.
But even taking this into account, Korben found himself typing away in the hope that his mother would receive the message and perhaps offer at least some comfort…
Mom, I know it’s been a minute since we talked. I met someone. I think he’s pretty special. Well, I don’t think – I know he is. But that’s not why I’m messaging today. Urgh. I don’t know how to say it, but my business is under threat. It sucks. I don’t know how I’d cope if I had to start again from scratch. I’ve put so many hours into this, working late and night and at weekends too. I know that you worked super-hard in your career too. And I accept that making candy isn’t the same as working in the law, but I truly give it everything I’ve got. I’d love for you to come to the workshop and see what I’ve built for myself. Well, if I still have a workshop once all of this is through. *Sigh* I don’t even know what I’m expecting by writing you like this. I think I just wanted to vent to my mom, you know like the old days? Anyway, I love you Mom. Me XoXoXoXoXo
Korben hit send on the email and felt a weight lift off his shoulders. Even though he didn’t expect a response any time soon, Korben was glad to have shared his problem with his mom.
Back in high school, Korben’s mom would always make time to talk about the week over brunch every Sunday. It was Korben’s favorite time of the week and he sorely missed it.
‘Maybe me and Mom will have a Sunday brunch again one day…’ Korben mused.
Then, out of the blue, there was a knock on his workshop door. Surely it wasn’t the Littles coming back for more fun?
As Korben approached the workshop door, he felt his heart miss a beat.
Could it be him?
I’d do anything to make it happen.
If I just open the door and see Michael’s face looking back at me…
And Korben’s wish was very much granted as he pulled the door open and saw Michael staring back at his, a look of love in his eyes.
‘Korben, I’m sorry for not telling you about Phillip sooner,’ Michael said. ‘And I’ll explain more about that later. But right now, we have something to do. And it needs doing right this second. I’ve got a plan that’s going to get Phillip Neal out of our lives for good. And I’m going to need you to play your part to.
‘Squee!’ Korben trilled, his mind racing and his heart thumping. ‘Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!’
With that, Korben shut the workshop door behind his and ran with Michael toward his sportscar. Whatever Michael had in mind, Korben was sure that he would explain on the way.
But whatever the outcome of Michael’s plan was, Korben knew that he had something very important that he needed to say to Michael later that day…