Chapter Twenty-Four - Publicity Stunt
Aidan could tell something was not quite right from the moment he set foot into the office. A couple of gossipers by the water cooler threw him strange looks while another guy quickly averted his eyes the moment he looked at him. What could have happened to warrant such a peculiar welcome from his colleagues, when, usually, they totally ignored his existence?
He didn't have time to ponder over the change in atmosphere, as the door to the big kahuna's office opened, and his much straight-laced assistant stuck her head out, scouting the perimeter and setting her eyes on Aidan.
"Aidan," she gestured for him to come closer.
He looked around and noticed how everyone was busy pretending to be working so that they did not blatantly stare. Squaring his shoulders, he walked over to his boss's assistant.
"He wants to talk to you," she said, emphasizing the first word as if there was no other 'he' she could ever mention in her life and expected the other employees to share the same feeling.
Aidan nodded shortly and followed her inside. Was the evaluation starting or something? He had expected something else, although he had never been through one of those. That might explain the strange looks.
"Spark!" His boss boomed, the moment he set foot inside.
The man wasn't big on introductions, and, in a way, Aidan was thankful for that. It brought any unpleasantness his boss wanted to bestow upon his underlings faster, and Aidan wanted to be over with so that he could return to his tasks for the day.
"Explain!" His boss added, and threw a newspaper on the desk, turned toward Aidan so that he could read the title.
Ah, so, in the end, word had gotten to his boss. Aidan was surprised only that it had taken so long. Apparently, there weren't making paparazzi like they had used to; for weeks, he had been going out in public with Heathcliff, and no one, so far, had said anything, not even online. He had teased Heathcliff over his no longer being the trashy media's darling.
Heathcliff had shrugged and smiled, saying that he was more than happy that he was left alone. Also, he had mentioned that his follower base was continually growing, so he had no reason to worry about his fame.
Aidan had expected something to transpire online first, and it was a bit strange to see a real paper publication caring so much about what a fitness guru slash influencer did in his spare time and who he was dating.
So, in a way, he was prepared. He had rehearsed this in his head numerous times, so his answer to his boss's question was direct and short. "Publicity stunt, sir."
The man looked at him over his thick-rimmed glasses, the corners of his mouth pulled down as he had just had half a grapefruit for breakfast and nothing else. "I didn't think you'd be up for such a thing."
Aidan shrugged. "It is the 21st century, sir. No one's as hung up on strict delimitations of sexual orientation anymore."
"Are you dating Heathcliff Stone?" His boss questioned, placing his hands on his desk and leaning forward, to stare at Aidan. He was standing, and he hadn't invited Aidan to take a seat, either.
"No, sir. I know well where my loyalties stand. I asked Heathcliff if he would be okay with this, and he said yes. I believe him 'dating'," he made the air quotes to emphasize his words, "works better with a family-friendly image than his usual, let's call them, indiscretions."
He could not believe he could lie like this, but there he was, standing in front of his boss, and lying through his teeth. He did have Heathcliff to blame for that. That man could convince him of anything, including that this was some great idea. Now, he really didn't know how his boss would take it. One thing was sure; he could not admit he was gay because his boss would pull him off the contract, ruining all his work, and, what was more important, his relationship with Heathcliff. How they would continue after the contract was fulfilled, he would just worry about it later.
"Very intelligent," his boss relaxed and pushed himself back to take a seat in his chair. "I looked at this picture," he tapped the newspaper's front page, showing Heathcliff holding Aidan's hand and seemingly deep in conversation as they were walking down the street somewhere, "and I almost thought it was real."
Aidan pretended to take a closer look at the newspaper. "It's not photoshopped, sir."
"I wasn't talking about that type of real," his boss said right away and scrutinized Aidan's face with sharp eyes. "I thought you would be put off by doing such a thing. Holding a man's hand, on the street, in broad daylight."
Aidan pursed his lips, feeling a small laugh coming up, completely uninvited. "It's nothing, sir. My generation is not that rigid in its views on sexuality. Holding someone's hand is just that, and nothing else."
"Good, good," his boss seemed to ponder over something, leaning back into his chair, and looking for a second at the ceiling, "as long as you're not disgusted by this, I suppose it's all for the best."
"Why would I feel disgusted, sir?" Aidan asked, feeling a slight, sickening sensation in the pit of his stomach.
His boss waved. "As long as you're loyal to the company, nothing else matters. Are you loyal to the company, Spark?"
"Yes, completely," Aidan said with conviction that didn't come one ounce from the inside. "I thought it would work, and Heathcliff decided to play along. No one would suspect him of leading the same lifestyle as before now."
"Is he leading the same lifestyle as before, though?" his boss asked.
"I wouldn't know one hundred percent, sir. I do coach him almost every day in what he has to do to promote the product, but I can't possibly keep an eye on him twenty-four seven."
"The article says that, on occasion, a car was seen parked in front of Heathcliff Stone's house overnight. By the looks of it, it's your car. The company's car, actually, since we gave it to you to use it."
Aidan smiled thinly. He was getting good at this lying thing. "On occasion," he repeated his boss's choice of words, "I had to Uber home, as I had alcoholic drinks during the business dinners I shared with Heathcliff and some of his associates."
"Very mature of you," his boss admitted. "Keep it up, Spark. The numbers are looking up. And I'm glad that our office zero-tolerance policy toward any sort of homophobic behavior has such a good effect on you."
What zero tolerance policy? Aidan wondered. No one seemed one beer away from behaving like at a frat house hazing, but it wasn't like there had been specialized training or anything in that respect. Not that he cared for such things, but his boss's conviction that he was somehow the product of such corporate policies was rubbing him the wrong way. It was like his boss was still suspecting him of being some closeted homophobe that would instigate some gay bashing at any moment.
Maybe he wasn't gay-acting or whatever that was called, but he didn't believe in stereotypes. People who were flamboyant and fabulous had their thing and those who weren't had their thing. Aidan thought he was completely average in all respects, and couldn't understand what of his appearance or behavior would make his boss think he could have any homophobic inclinations.
"That's it, Spark." His boss surprised him by slamming his hands on the desk, as usual. Aidan was sure he would never get used to that, so he still felt startled each time the man did it. "Keep it up. I like your attitude. Don't let people tell you otherwise," he pointed a finger at him.
Aidan could not understand what his boss was trying to tell him with that. However, he nodded thoughtfully, as if he understood completely.
"Dismissed," his boss yelled at him as if Aidan was deaf.
He felt a sudden need to salute mockingly, but decided against it, eventually. So he just said goodbye and turned on his heels. He felt somewhat better that the cat was out of the bag.
He wasn't comfortable with lying, but he could understand why it served a good purpose, at the moment. Aidan had an unpleasant feeling he could not get rid of that his boss would not appreciate his being gay, even without all the Heathcliff Stone thing. The man was talking highly of zero tolerance policies and whatever, but somewhat, he seemed to be the one bothered by such things.
Aidan remembered how Heathcliff had pointed out that no one else from the company had ever interacted with him. If he were to think about it, it was pretty strange and did say something about the so-called zero-tolerance policy at The Healthy Shakers. Heathcliff Stone brought in a lot of money with the assiduous advertising he was putting in, yet not one of the higher-ups, let alone the big kahuna, had gone out of their way to meet the man who proved to be such a great asset for the company.
He shook his head as he stepped out of his boss's office.
"Gunning for that office on the corner?" someone talked next to him, taking him by surprise.
Aidan could not say he was surprised to see Penguin Pants by his side. "Why the obsession?" he asked. "And I'm not gunning for anything, FYI."
"Seriously? It looks to me like you're going out of your way to convince the boss that you would do anything," his colleague sneered. "Anything to get ahead, of course."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Aidan asked airily.
"You know very well what," Penguin Pants scoffed. "You would even stoop so low as to let people believe you're ... that, just so that you could rake in some profits."
"That?" Aidan smiled coldly as he turned toward his colleague. "I don't think I understand what you're getting at."
The young man's watery eyes darted sideways. "I won't spell it for you. I can't understand how you're not bothered by it. To expose yourself like that, with Heathcliff Stone," he added, his lips stretching like a frog's, in evident disgust.
"Ah, that." Aidan pretended to be struck by sudden understanding. "It's called being gay. You can say it. It's not a dirty word," he whispered as he leaned toward the other, and making him take a sudden step back.
Penguin Pants frowned. Aidan sighed deeply. He had never thought he would be in the closet or forced there, as times were. But it looked like some people had plenty of problems with others, still, even if not so out in the open as it must have been back in the days.
"I wasn't talking about that. I don't have a problem with that," the young man hurried to say. "It's about your attitude. Can't you compete fairly? What should I do now?" he sneered, and his shifty eyes began making rounds again. "Throw myself at Heathcliff Stone, too?"
Aidan knew he should keep silent. But the words flew out of his mouth before he could control himself. "I don't think that would work. The man has standards."
