Chapter Twenty-Six - The Tin Man Who Didn't Want A Heart
It was a great thing he had Taz now, as he had a reason to go out of the house, and also to go jogging. Getting back to playing sports with buddies was not yet on his list of priorities, as he was still trying to get his life in order, and adjust to the post-Aron era, as he had come to call his life now.
Taz was a great jogging partner. Adjustments to the shoebox, as he called his home now, had to be made, and the cabinets now held dog foods from various brands which Carter wanted to try to see what Taz liked best. Apparently, his puppy was not pretentious at all, and, if there was anything he needed to worry about, as the human in charge, was the risk of making Taz overweight.
So running every day in the park had to do. He had gone back to his freelancing gigs, and everything was looking up. There was one thing to take care of, and that was to give Aron the money back, for the hospital bills and everything else.
Only that Aron hadn't called yet, and Carter had to respect his best friend's choice and not be the one to call again. It had been three days, but who was counting?
"Do you know how to count, Taz?" he asked his dog.
Taz just barked as a reply. That could mean anything. He was busy petting his dog on the head, so he didn't notice someone coming from the opposite direction. For one second, he balanced on both feet but somehow managed to remain standing. The other guy wasn't so lucky, and he was now struggling to get up, while rubbing his behind.
Carter hurried to offer the guy a hand and felt his jaw beginning to drop when he saw who it was.
"Simon," he said without thinking.
Wearing a sporty getup that left little to the imagination, and complemented the guy's slim figure, Simon was right there, in flesh and blood.
"Do I know you?" Simon smiled and took Carter's hand to bring himself up.
"Oh, no, I don't think so," Carter said quickly. "I just mistook you for someone else."
"Someone else named Simon?" the guy asked, still holding Carter's hand.
"Yes."
Okay, okay, he had to make a habit of thinking before talking.
"That is so uncanny!" Simon exclaimed and his mouth stretched into a large smile. "My name is also Simon," he explained.
"Ah, that is, indeed, uncanny," Carter shook his head and tried to pry his hand away from Simon's now.
"What's your name?" the guy let go, albeit a tad reluctant.
"Ahem, it's Carter," he said after a short moment of hesitation.
"Nice meeting you, Carter," Simon smiled again. "Do you run here often?"
"No, I just took up the habit lately. And the dog," he gestured towards Taz.
The dog had assumed a good pet position, and his tongue was hanging out.
"Well, see you around, then, Carter," Simon winked at him, giving him a short once over and began jogging away.
He winked. Why did he wink?
Do you think he likes us?
Why? What makes you say that?
The wink.
No, that was just totally random.
Well, that's what you get for bumping into people.
Why do you mean by that?
I mean complications. You're an expert in that.
Ugh, shut up. It was just a small ... incident.
Yeah, and he winked.
Just stop it already.
Carter shook his head, and began running, as well, but he didn't take two steps that his phone started ringing. He was so fast to answer it that he almost dropped it.
"Hey, Aron, hi," he said breathlessly.
"Hey, buddy, how are you?"
"Just trying to get back in shape, running and stuff," he replied.
And bumping into your husband's lover.
"That's great to hear. Hey, what do you say about hanging out tonight? For drinks?"
"Great!" he exclaimed.
Oh, damn, he must have sounded desperate.
"Ah, wait, there's something," he added, looking at Taz.
How was he going to get a dog-sitter until tonight? It was unlikely that he could book someone so fast. Also, the idea of leaving Taz alone ... He still cared for his ugly curtains and he had never left Taz alone before. Three days were too short a time to decide whether his dog was all right with being on his own.
"Yes?" Aron encouraged him to speak from the other end.
"Can we go somewhere where they accept dogs?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure, I suppose. But why?" Aron questioned. "Do you have a dog? But when ..."
"Yeah, I have a dog," Carter said brightly. "His name is Taz."
"Ah, just like the dog you wanted to have when we were kids, right? Funny thing," Aron said.
"What is?" Carter asked.
"Alex's former assistant has a dog named Taz. I just happened to hear about the guy's pet one day, when I was at Alex's workplace to take him out."
Okay, he could do this, he could do this.
Try hard not to remember what happened later that night ... Aron is married.
To the wrong person.
Delusional much?
"Former assistant?" his words came out unnaturally bold.
"Yes. The guy just dropped off, just like that. It was quite strange as he seemed to get along with Alex like a charm. Which was a bit of a surprise since ... Well, you decide the place and let me know," Aron seemed to have just noticed he had a bit of a loose tongue, too.
Well, they had used to tell each other everything, and that kind of habit did die hard.
Except for a little detail, like the fact that he liked men. How could he keep that away from us?
"Yeah, sure, and I also want to sort out the money thing, too," Carter spoke.
"Don't worry about it," Aron cut him short. "The least I could do for you. After all these years as friends."
C'mon, c'mon, don't get emotional, man, don't ...
"Thanks a lot, man," Carter mumbled. "For everything."
Aron could not know what that meant. Was he ever to know? Carter had to admit, all stupid hopes aside, that even without Alex, Aron could do much better than him, a homophobic ex-friend who ...
"No sweat, buddy. I'm so glad you called. I was going to call you anyway, after letting you cool down a little, but it was nice coming from you."
"You were? But why?"
"I told you. I will always be your friend."
Nothing was supposed to make him happier. What would Aron think if he blurted out, out of the blue, that he wanted something else? Something more?
"I ... want us to be friends again, too," he spoke, trying hard to ignore the knot in his throat.
"Missed you, buddy," Aron said, his voice serious. "I won't let you this time around. Two years ... That's enough time, don't you think?"
"Yeah," Carter spoke softly. "It is."
Like a hole in his life, in the fabric of time, and somewhere deep inside his soul, all in one. And, by contrast, the several days spent with Aron, as his husband, had been the total opposite. Only that Aron could never know, and was still in love with that douchebag, and after all the effort of keeping the two together, it seemed as if he was insane to try considering breaking them up now.
But he needed to. Somehow. Without making Aron think he was still a homophobic piece of shit and just trying to slander Alex's reputation.
"Carter? Still there?" Aron called for him playfully.
"Yes, I'll send a message with the place," he spoke.
"Good. And let me know again sometime where you go when you go away like this. You used to tell me all the time."
Aron remembered. The imaginary tales he had told as a kid, even into their late teens, with only Aron as his audience. Of places that never were, populated by creatures that could have never existed.
Aron was right. He was the only one who understood him completely. But now, he needed to keep hidden from his best friend the only thing Aron could not know. Because, simply put, he was coming too late to this party. Aron's teenage crush had faded away, the man's affection maturing in what he was feeling now for his husband, not a trace of that childish sentiment left. And to some extent, he understood why Aron was putting up with Alex. Aron had had the image of the perfect marriage in front of him all his life, in his parents. He could not just let go of Alex unless he really found out about the cheating.
And Carter could not just tell him, without proof. And even with proof, he was afraid that Aron was just going to think wrong of him and not believe a word. After something like that, the guy was just going to trust his husband blindly.
"I'm getting used to your silence again. I assume this is a good sign," Aron joked, waking him up from his reverie.
"Ah, sorry, just ... Let's just meet, I can barely wait to really catch up this time," Carter came back to his senses.
Just seeing Aron was going to be good. And he had to think of a way to prove Alex's cheating, and free Aron from that poisonous marriage. It wasn't going to be easy. Especially with Alex all aware of what Carter knew.
***
He could not just believe his eyes. Preferring to get busy with the glass, he tried to focus on some joke Aron was saying. Why on earth was Alex there, too?
Apparently, Aron was really bent on making all three of them friends, and it was painful to fake being friendly towards that snake. Especially since Alex was nonchalantly exposing a totally different personality right now.
Anyone who didn't know the guy could swear he was the kindest, most considerate husband in the universe at the moment. Laughing at his husband's jokes, leaning against Aron and touching him lightly, in a very domestic and affectionate manner, maybe a little too often, Alex seemed indeed able to play the marriage bliss part like it was his biggest role.
"Another round, guys?" Aron gestured toward the table and got to his feet. "I'll go get the drinks from the bar, getting the waiter's attention seems a bit too much right now."
"Just water for me, honey," Alex called sweetly.
Carter could see himself lunging over the table and strangling the asshole. So that was how he was ensnaring Aron! Fuck. This was going to be hard. He could not strangle Alex and then say his hands slipped or something.
"What are you doing here?" he hissed, the moment Aron was out of earshot.
Alex's sweet facade vanished in thin air. His green eyes narrowed.
"What do you think? That I'll let you waltz into Aron's life and steal him away from me? No way."
"And do you think I'll let you ruin his life? You don't love him!" Carter pointed out.
"Maybe, but as I told you, he's mine," Alex shrugged. "So if I have to keep him happy for a while until he forgets all about you, so be it."
"Forget about me? Hello. I'm his best friend," Carter replied.
"Not you, as how you are now, silly," Alex grimaced. "All the things you did with him while I was away, I need to undo them carefully. And that means that I need to show him the real version of his husband that could make him happy. Hence my presence here. As a loving husband, I need to support my man in his efforts to get back with his old friend. But really? What's with all the dogs outside on the patio?"
