Duet in Blood (12 page)

“Micah, I kept your place.” He hugged me tight, then jumped back when he heard me wince. “Gee, sorry.”

“Have you been pumping iron all day?” I kidded.

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He looked embarrassed. “No, I just don’t know my own strength sometimes. Too many vitamins, maybe. Anyway,” he said, his smile returning. “Can you believe this crowd?”

“Surely not all of them are going to see the horror flick.”

“I doubt it. The new Spiderman’s on in three of the theatres.”

And there was no doubt Spiderman was the hands down winner. We giggled together

as we sat in the almost empty theatre waiting for our horror epic to start. I had a feeling this was going to be a movie we would either laugh at all the way through or leave embarrassed by our own bad taste. As it turned out it was neither, because I fell asleep after about twenty minutes of flat dialogue and no action. Roger shook me awake as the credits rolled.

“Jeez, sorry,” I muttered, rubbing my eyes. “What did I miss?”

“A really great movie! Just kidding. It was pretty bad. But you looked so cute with your mouth hanging open, I couldn’t bear to wake you.”

“Oh, great…” I looked at his smiling face. “You hungry?”

“Not really, but I’ll watch you eat if you like.”

“Share a pizza?”

“Maybe a slice.”

We made our way out of the movie house and strolled a couple of blocks in search of a slice of Italy, Roger chattering all the way. He sure was one hyperactive fella.

“We could take a cab to Ron’s restaurant,” I said when he paused for a breath. “They do a great pizza.”

“That’d be good. I hear they have some really good red wine, too.”

I chuckled. “You guys and your red wine. Is that all you ever drink?”

“Yeah, these days. I used to be a martini queen,” he said, looking like he was

remembering something. “But since my…uh, recovery…the doctors recommended red wine.

It’s good for the blood, don’t you know.”

I hailed a cab zooming towards us at breakneck speed. Amazingly, he stopped. Even more amazingly, the car speeding behind the cab didn’t rear-end him.

“So, what was wrong with you, exactly?” I asked as we sped towards Santa Monica

Boulevard.

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“A rare blood disease. I needed an almost total transfusion. Marcus and I were on vacation in Rome when I was…uh…afflicted. Without him, I would never have made it. He gave me his blood so that I would live.”

“Lucky you’re both the same type,” I remarked.

“Now we are,” he murmured.

“Pardon?”

He blinked at me. “I said, ‘yes we are’.”

No, you didn’t
, I thought.
You said, ‘Now we are’
. I decided against correcting him, but what the heck had he meant?

I changed the subject.

“Andorra…is she really a Lady?” I asked.

“A Duchess, actually. She was married to some Duke something-or-other at one time, but now she just likes to be called Andorra.” Roger grinned at me. “Only Tony gets to call her Andy.”

“She’s very beautiful,” I said. “It’s kinda hard to figure what she sees in Tony.”

Roger looked at me, his expression suddenly serious. “Looks aren’t everything, Micah.

Tony is the sweetest guy I have ever met. He and I…well, let’s just say when I was sick, he was right there for me.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled, feeling stupid. “I didn’t mean to sound so condescending. He is very nice.”

La Fortuna was quiet when we got there, the early evening crowd having long gone.

Ron and Jean-Claude were sitting together at the bar, having—guess what? You got it—red wine.

“Hi guys,” Roger sang out.

“Hey…” Ron swung his long legs off the barstool and ambled over to us, giving us both big hugs.

That’s more like it
, I thought, kissing his cheek. “You have some left over pizza in back?”

I asked. “I’m starving, and Roger would like a slice.”

Ron raised an eyebrow at him. “You would?”

“Not really,” Roger replied. “I’m just keeping Micah company. But I’ll have a glass of Pinot Noir.”

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“Comin’ up.” We joined Jean-Claude at the bar, and he greeted us in Gallic fashion with resounding kisses on both cheeks.

“How was the movie?” he asked.

“Fantastic,” Roger said with enthusiasm. “But Micah missed the whole thing. He fell asleep.”

Jean-Claude grinned at me. “That good, eh?”

“Like a beer, Micah?” Ron asked.

“Please.” I grabbed the bottle and gulped down about half. What I’d just seen had unnerved me—Jean-Claude’s teeth.

When he’d grinned, I could’ve sworn I saw the tips of two very sharp teeth—almost like fangs. I chanced another look as he smiled at Ron. Nothing there. Must have been my imagination. What was I thinking anyway? That he was a vampire or something? That would mean that Ron would be too—and Roger, maybe.

Wait, Roger said he’d needed a total blood transfusion. But that would mean Marcus was one too.
No way. Not that gorgeous guy. No way! And what about Joseph? Their best friend?

Oh, for Pete’s sake Micah, cut it out! But, then there’s that aversion to strong sunlight. His eyes, he’d
said—

“Micah!” Ron was looking at me like I had grown another head. “Here’s your pizza.

Where the heck were you then?”

I flushed, feeling foolish. “Sorry. Daydreaming a bit, I guess.”

“Well!” Roger gave me an arched eyebrow look. “You mean our scintillating

conversation is boring you?” He patted the barstool next to him. “Come sit here, and I’ll watch you eat.”

“Don’t you want a slice?” I asked him.

“Uh, uh. I ate before the show.”

The last of the diners were making for the door, so Ron went over to do his ‘thank you for coming’ thing. I took another quick glance Jean-Claude’s way. He was staring at me with those, oh so beautiful, midnight blue eyes, only they had narrowed as if he suspected me of something. I shivered involuntarily and bit down hard into my pizza. Ron came back and stood behind me. I jumped as I felt his hands on the back of my neck.

“Relax,” he murmured, massaging my shoulders. “You’re so tense tonight.”

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“He’s missing Joseph,” Roger said.

“Are you?” Jean-Claude asked, his voice low and quiet.

I nodded. “I missed his call yesterday, but he left me a message saying he’d be back at the end of the week.” I swallowed the rest of my beer. “I can’t wait to see him again.”

“That’s good. Joseph is a very sweet man.” Jean-Claude’s eyes were kinder now. “You will be very good together.”

“Thank you.” I found myself thinking what a jerk I was, and what a nice guy he was—

like all of them, caring and compassionate. What on earth had I been thinking earlier? “I think I’m really lucky,” I said, smiling at him. “Meeting Joseph has also brought some very special people into my life.”

Joseph called me early next morning. “Hi,” I cried, happy to hear his voice. “Are you on your way back?”

His husky laughter made me tingle. “Not yet, but I will see you tomorrow, as planned.”

“Can I meet you at the airport?”

“Thank you, Micah, that is a very sweet offer, but Marcus is sending a limo for me. I have to meet with him as soon as I arrive—a business deal I’m negotiating for him—but it should not take too long. I should be at your apartment around seven, if that’s all right?”

“It certainly is. I can’t wait to see you.”

“I understand you and Roger went to the movies.”

“Yeah…” I chuckled. “I slept right through the dumb thing, but we had a nice time. We caught up with Ron and Jean-Claude later at Ron’s restaurant.”

“That’s nice. How did Roger seem to you?”

“A bit hyper but okay, really.”

“Good. He’s gradually getting better.”

“He told me Marcus saved his life, giving him blood. An then, Joseph…he said

something strange.”

“Oh, yes?”

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“Yeah, when I said it was lucky they were both the same blood type, he said, ‘Now we are’. What d’you suppose he meant by that?”

“A slip of the tongue, I expect,” Joseph replied, after a moment. “Or perhaps he meant they are now joined in blood, making them even closer than before.”

“Mmm…could be. And of course, you would find the romantic thing to say,” I teased him.

“But, of course,” he chuckled. “Just as I will find many romantic things to say to you when we are alone together again.”

“I can’t wait for tomorrow night.”

“Nor I. We will make it a very special night, Micah.”

I felt my toes curl with anticipation. “Oh, yeah…”

“I must go now,” he said. “You have a wonderful day—and I will see you tomorrow

evening.
Au revoir, mon cher
Micah.”

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Joseph’s call put me in the greatest of moods for the rest of the day. I was even nice to Jesse at work, although he didn’t seem to notice—a total space cadet. However, the day took a decided downturn when I came home from work.

Robert was waiting for me outside my apartment building.

“Hi, Robert.” I tried to sound as nonchalant as I could. What the heck did he want?

“Hi…” He looked at me for so long without saying anything that I started to wonder if he’d forgotten who I was.

“Robert, what’s wrong?”

“Micah. I…I want to come back.” He looked like he was about to burst into tears at any moment.

I stared at him in complete shock. The words I had once longed to hear him say clanged in my head like the bells of doom.

“C…come back?” I stuttered. “No…no you can’t.”

“What?”

“I’m seeing someone else. I told you that.”

His tear-filled eyes turned hostile. “Is he living with you?”

“No, he’s out of town until tomorrow night.”

“Okay, let’s go inside and talk about this.”

“No. I don’t want to talk about it, Robert. You walked out on me for someone else. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you, but that’s not my fault. You made a choice. Now you have to live with it.”

“Micah, for God’s sake, do we have to talk about this on the sidewalk? At least have the decency to ask me in so the whole world doesn’t have to hear you humiliate me.”

“I am not trying to humiliate you. I just don’t want to discuss this anymore.”

“So, all that time we spent together means nothing to you?” he rasped.

I gazed at the face that at one time I had adored above all else. Once, I had loved this man more than I had loved anyone. Without him, I had considered myself less than whole—

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nothing more than a cipher. How crazy was that? I stared at his puffy eyes and scowling expression and realised with astounding clarity that where there had been love, now there wasn’t even
like
.

“Robert,” I said evenly. “The time we spent together means as much to me as it did to you on the night you walked out on me. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” I stepped back as my upstairs neighbour, Rhonda, came down the steps from the front door.

Now I might have forgotten to mention that Rhonda is a six-four, built-like-a-stevedore, black drag queen. Usually he’s decked out in designer chic and skyscraper high heels. This night though, he was modestly attired in a pair of very tight jeans and a tee shirt that ended just below his massive pecs, showing off a six-pack under satin mocha skin.

“You bastard!” Robert screamed at me, ignoring Rhonda’s considerable presence. “How could you do this to me?’

“Ooooh…” Rhonda’s eyes did a three-sixty-degree roll as he stared at Robert. “Did someone get a taste of his own medicine?”

“Shut up, you queen,” Robert yelled at him. “Mind your own fucking business.”

“Honey, it is very much my business.” Rhonda fixed Robert with a look of disdain only a true queen can carry off.

“When you flounced outta here, you broke this child’s heart—and I was there to pick up the pieces and make sure he didn’t commit suicide…although why he would want to over a piece o’ shit like you was beyond me. He was well rid of you, and I told him just that.

He didn’t believe me at the time, but thank Jesus he has seen the light. Now he has a very fine new beau—a hot looker and a real gentleman who puts the likes of you to shame.”

Rhonda looked over at me. “Was he plannin’ on movin’ back in, honey?”

Robert’s face was the colour of eggplant. “I said, mind your own fucking business, bitch!”

“And you mind your manners, shit head.” Rhonda turned back to me. “Well?”

I shrugged, quite enjoying the moment. “He wants to, but I said no.”

“Good for you, honey.” Rhonda waved a dismissive hand at Robert. “So go, ass

wipe…and bother us no more.”

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Robert snarled and reached for me, ready to punch the living daylights out of me—but instead he ran into Rhonda’s solid frame as he put himself between my onetime boyfriend and me.

“Oof…” Robert staggered back, a look of shock on his face.

“Honey…” Rhonda drew himself up to his totally impressive and intimidating height.

“If you don’t want that usually pretty, but right now not-so-hot face of yours, to meet the sidewalk, I would rethink what you have in mind at the moment. Go away, Robert,” he growled, “and don’t come back.”

For a second, I thought Robert was going to lose all reason and launch himself at Rhonda. Then, I guess the thought of Rhonda’s massive fist connecting with his jaw gave Robert pause. With a final glare of hatred at me, he spun on his heel and flounced off at a rate of knots, Rhonda’s raucous laughter ringing in his ears.

“Thanks, Rhonda,” I said, hugging his huge body.

He patted me on my head. “There, there, honey. You got to see the real Robert, and now you can wipe him from your mind like the worthless piece of…yeah…that he is.