Chapter Sixteen -- Gone to Ground
The pleasantness from the night before lingered in his bones, at odds with the findings revealed by the newspaper clipping Hudson had found inside the nightstand. The scar by Otis's left eye must have been caused by burning, but according to that old piece of news, he hadn't been at home when the house in which he lived with his mom burned down. That was quite puzzling, and Hudson couldn't make sense of it. An injury like that couldn't have come from being caught in a fire, because he had seen enough of his beautiful neighbor naked to know that, save for that scar, his skin was absolutely flawless.
Otis had asked him not to ask about the scar, and he had kept his part of the bargain. But that had been the agreement only because there had been a distance between them. Now, as temporary boyfriends -- Hudson felt the need to laugh at his own lack of creativity -- they might be required to offer more intimate confessions to seal the deal. The honesty, however, would have to work one way only. He couldn't tell Otis what he was there for. It was bad enough that he couldn't stop getting involved with the lovely young man, despite all the rules he should obey. The part of him that liked to dabble in rationalization continued its efforts to convince him that the current arrangement was the best course of action. Otis, in his innocence, accepted the idea of being temporary boyfriends, which should be enough to keep him away from the darkest of temptations.
There were so many pieces of the puzzle that he had to discover and assemble. He couldn't keep Jackie away from Otis, not as much as he wanted to, because he couldn't raise any suspicions. But he could tell his neighbor that they were boyfriends of sorts and, therefore, Otis would know better than to get entangled with that odd fellow.
Hudson stopped in front of his door. Jackie was odd, wasn't he? One hundred percent blend of stupidity and bravado, and yet he didn't seem to share the evil ways of his master. He shook his head. What he needed to do was to use Jackie as he saw fit, without a moment of hesitation. There was so much at stake.
The door handle felt cold in his hand, dragging him back to reality. He pushed the door open and stepped inside. His nostrils flared, while his gut instinct kicked in. The small rug in the hallway had a corner turned. Maybe he wasn't some housekeeping star, but something told him that he hadn't done that.
Slowly, he reached for his gun and moved toward the main room. Chances were that whoever might have been there was already gone, but Hudson wasn't in the business of taking risks.
Everything else seemed in place. The BDSM paraphernalia on the wall appeared to be untouched. The blanket thrown over the sofa was in the same state as he remembered, while his camera case lay on the chair by the tripod, as he had left it last night when he had grabbed his gun, alarmed by Otis's message.
He frowned as he inspected the case. He might have been in a hurry when he was reaching for his gun, but he had secured the fake bottom back in place by force of habit before storming out.
The fake bottom was in place, as expected, and yet Hudson felt his hackles rising. It had been put back too neatly, not like his hurried actions would have left it. It was aligned too perfectly. He ground his teeth hard. Someone had been inside his apartment and rummaged through his belongings. That someone knew about the existence of the fake bottom in his camera case now.
Calmly, Hudson walked over to the wall and grabbed a few things at random. Then, he stashed them in the hidden compartment and slammed the camera case shut. He would have to figure out another way to sneak his gun in from now on. The good news was that they hadn't found it. Otis's innocent actions had saved him a world of trouble, if not more most probably. Had the intruders been expecting to find him at home? The thought was chilling to the bone.
Whatever was happening, someone was either onto him or trying to get there. Hudson weighed the piece in his hand while thinking hard.
***
Temporary boyfriends. Now that was a new notion, and Otis simply loved to examine it from all sides. He was so glad that Hudson had made things so clear; maybe it was all part of teaching him about dating rules, and what better option to do so than by trying to have a real relationship?
He sighed dreamily and put back the clean glasses, one by one, with infinite care. It was a great thing to be capable of handling things with care. For a while, back then, he had lacked proper coordination. That good doctor had mentioned something about his not having had the opportunity to exercise all his muscles well. Physical therapy had been involved, but his grandma had told him later that he had grown into his own body properly. Sure, she'd had no idea that Otis believed himself to be too skinny for men to like him, but again, those weren't the kind of things to share with someone so much older. It was a matter of respect, he believed. Also, his grandma hadn't liked to hear him obsessing over his physical aspect. She was such a kind and gentle old lady, but any mention of that made her frown and purse her lips. Beauty is not important, Otis. Real beauty is here. And when she said that, she pressed her tiny bony hand into his chest hard, as if she wanted to make sure he wouldn't forget.
He had tried to remember. But the reactions of those around him, like he was some sort of nasty animal, made him believe more and more that those words from a long time ago had to be true. He must have been so ugly that they couldn't keep from reacting to him with unhidden disgust.
His grandma had tried to assure him that it wasn't so. This world here, it's so small, Otis, she said, cupping her hands to make him understand. It's because of the smallness of their hearts that they treat you like that.
He was far away from that small world. He was in a big city now, and here, it looked like people thought differently. People like Missy and Jackie and Utah the bartender and, most of all, Hudson.
Again, his chest rose and fell with a satisfied sigh.
"How's it hanging, partner?" Missy slapped him on the back, and this time, he wasn't taken by surprise because, in the meantime, he had learned that people did that when they were friends. However, he couldn't see himself slapping Missy back like that. Somehow, he felt that it wasn't done.
"I," he began slowly, "have a temporary boyfriend." There, it was out in the open.
"Temporary?" Missy wiggled her eyebrows and then nudged him playfully in the ribs. "Don't tell me it's your sexy neighbor. The one with the guns?"
Hudson had a gun, but that wasn't what Missy was talking about, and he knew that now. "How did you know it was him?" he expressed his disbelief.
"Come on, he put a leash on you and you get all dreamy out of the blue. Plus, you kissed him. And wasn't it because of him that you wanted advice on how to get someone to sleep with you? Clearly, the poor guy didn't stand a chance."
"A chance for what?" he inquired politely.
"To resist you, obviously." Missy pinched his cheek lightly. "You're a darling, Otis, get it? This guy is totally lucky to have you. But make sure you put that good ol' ball and chain round his leg so that he doesn't escape you."
"How do I do that?" So far, Missy's advice hadn't been too bad, and it had even spurred him on to be braver. Therefore, if she had anything else to add, he was all ears.
"I doubt it's going to be difficult for you. I mean, look at you. You're awfully pretty. And you have a heart as big as a planet. If he hasn't fallen for you yet, get ready for it. These bad boys fall the hardest."
"Really?" The thought made Otis so happy. "But he insisted that this is only temporary."
"Ha!" Missy exclaimed. "That's just his way of fooling himself into believing that he has a chance of getting out of it. Just out of curiosity, what did you tell him?"
"I told him that, when employment is involved, a temporary position transitions to a permanent one if the employee is deemed indispensable."
Missy laughed and slapped his arm with her towel. "Now that's a great argument, Otis! Yeah, make him feel like he's the one on trial."
"But I want to become indispensable to him," Otis further explained. "How do I do that?"
Missy pressed her index finger against her lips and appeared to be lost in thought for a bit. "You know what, Otis? I think the best advice I can give you is to be yourself. If this guy doesn't see you for the precious little thing that you are, then he doesn't deserve you."
"But what if being myself is too little?" A small thread of anxiety was starting to creep in.
