Page 18

CHAPTER 18

OSCAR

S ix weeks with Ruby flew by way too fast. What I find most peculiar is how much I’ve grown to like him too. It’s not often that I find myself becoming as attached to one of Alka’s boyfriends as he is. In fact, I don’t know if it’s ever happened.

I’m not sure if this is a reflection on Ruby himself or maybe the environment. In life, we’re busy, as is everyone. As is the case when all people date, it means breaking your life into different parts while trying to balance all those parts in some semblance of equality. This means that, especially in the beginning, I rarely saw Alka’s boyfriends.

If they made it past the first few months, I’d meet them. We’d all spend time together here and there. If it made it past the initial first hangouts, they would become a little more frequent. We’d do things together like go to games or the movies or dinner. Not quite dates but in a manner of speaking, dates.

It rarely got beyond this point. It never made it to the level where Alka felt comfortable enough with the situation to truly begin integrating them into our life.

Sadly, the relationships never reached throuple status.

The situation with Ruby is entirely unique because we’re in an environment where we aren’t moving around the natural obstacles of our daily lives. That meant Alka had more uninterrupted time with Ruby right off the bat. It meant an accelerated time frame because they were able to spend so much time together.

That meant meeting me first. It meant me spending more time with them together. It was the perfect paradise to make everything align. I’ve always loved watching my husband fall for someone, but this time, I got to take a front-row seat and see his love for Ruby develop a little more every single day.

There’s a chance that Alka’s feelings for Ruby might have sparked mine, which might be unfortunate right this very second because it means we’re both struggling with packing and getting ready to leave in a couple hours. The dread of breaking what we’re building because we’re putting distance between us is frightening.

Our suitcases and backpacks are sitting on the bed as Alka and I go through the clothes in the basket we received from the island launder yesterday. We don’t worry about splitting them between what belongs to whom. We have individual clothing, but we also share most of our clothes. We’re similar in size, and sometimes, it’s just nice to wear my husband’s shirt or hoodie.

Primarily, we split the suitcases so that one gets the dirty laundry and the other is filled with the clean. Since we timed it right so that we’ve only worn a few days’ worth of clothing and the rest is clean, all the dirty laundry fits in one side behind the zippered divider.

There aren’t many souvenirs this time. We don’t always come home with a lot but usually a few things. There’s not much from this trip.

Yesterday evening, we stopped at the office with the photo collection and sat in front of the computer to build our books. Those were delivered today. We ordered two; one for us and one for Ruby.

Ruby’s sitting in the chair holding his book to his chest as he watches us .

“Bathroom’s cleared out,” Alka says as he drops our toiletry bags into the suitcase with the dirty laundry. His eyes rise to mine then move to Ruby’s.

“I’m going to check the living area and deck,” I tell him. I stop to kiss Ruby’s head on the way by.

He smiles. It’s a combination of bashful and happy. Of course, neither of those outshine the sadness in his eyes.

There’s nothing to pick up in the rest of the house. No socks. No extra shoes since we’ve already packed them. The added benefit of not having electronics with us is that there’s no chance of forgetting cords.

Our wallets and identification were locked in the safe within the bedroom closet, but we took those out first. They’re already safely stowed in our backpacks.

The sweep through the area is quick since there’s nothing to find. I’m already wearing my sneakers, as is Alka. I have a hoodie in my backpack for the chilly plane ride, as does Alka.

When I get back into the room, I find that the suitcase filled with our clean clothes is zipped up and on the floor. The other is still open on the bed in case I found anything. Alka is standing with Ruby, holding him in a tight embrace in front of the window overlooking the beach.

I join them, pressing my lips to the side of Ruby’s head.

“You have our numbers,” I say.

“And you have mine,” he says.

We stopped by the concierge to get pads of paper just for this purpose. Exchange of phone numbers.

“I’ll text you as soon as my phone has some charge,” Alka says. “Call when you land in Los Angeles. I’m going to need to hear your voice.”

Ruby sighs. “I will.” We’re quiet for several minutes before he adds, “This really kinda sucks.”

“It does,” I agree, “but we’ll figure it out.”

Ruby nods. He pulls one of his arms out from between us and wraps it around me as well .

“We’ll get together often,” Alka promises. “Once school starts and everything is settled, we’ll plan our first visit. Okay?”

Ruby sighs again. “Yes. I think I’m going to enroll online so that frees me up for some travel, but I might need to get a job. I can’t keep spending my brother’s money. He worked hard for that.”

“We’ll pay for travel too,” I tell him. “I get that it’ll mostly be you doing a lot of the back and forth because Alka’s work is stationary. Since you’re mobile, you’ll be the one coming and going, so we’re happy to pay for that.”

“I appreciate it, but it’s not just the travel. My brother has paid for a whole lot over the last year, and I really don’t want to keep mooching off him. Again, I have no idea what I’m going to look for since it feels like a catch 22. If I want to make decent money, I need to commit and not choose a bottom of the barrel, anyone-can-do-it job, right? But that means dropping out of school, and if I do that, I’ll probably never go back. The number of people who return after they ‘take a year off’ is so slim!”

“You’ll figure it out,” Alka assures him. “And we’re happy to talk about careers and alternate careers with you. There’s a ton of shit you can do in the world.”

“I think you’re doing the right thing by trying to find your passion,” I add. “We’re fortunate to be able to do things we love, but so, so many people don’t follow their passions and their mental health suffers because of it.”

“It’s hard not to be passionate about a job where orgasms are at the heart of getting paid,” Alka teases.

Ruby laughs. I grin.

There’s a knock on the door, and Alka’s arms tighten for a minute. I kiss the side of both of their heads and release them to answer. “Zip up the last suitcase, okay?”

Alka nods, but he doesn’t move as I leave the room.

I’m not surprised that I find a bellhop or whatever the Kala-equivalent is since we ordered one. “Hello, Mr. Lennon,” he greets with a smile. “Are you ready? ”

“Yes,” I tell him. “My husband is just closing up our bag. We have someone with us who’s going to ride to the gates, if that’s okay. Will you bring him… wherever he wants to go once we leave?”

“Of course. I’d be happy to,” he says.

“Thank you. I’ll grab them and our bags. Just a minute.”

He inclines his head, and I leave him where he is to return to my guys. Alka is just setting the suitcase on the floor. Ruby’s on his feet, hugging his memory book to his chest as he watches, lip between his teeth.

I sling my backpack onto my back and take both suitcases’ handles, nudging Alka back to Ruby once he has his pack on his back as well. The bellhop is where I left him, and he takes the suitcases from me.

Alka and Ruby are behind me as we follow him out. There’s a golf cart waiting, and he sets our bags onto the back behind the rear seats. The three of us squeeze onto the back seat together.

We’re quiet as the man drives us to the front gate, carefully maneuvering around pedestrians in the way. It’s only a fifteen-minute ride or so, and far before we’re ready, the ride is over. We’re parked right outside the primary entrance where we’ll pick up our electronics and take a shuttle to the plane.

There isn’t an airport so much as something enormous with tons of planes, long security lines, and first-class lounges. It’s a small tarmac that only sees half a dozen planes a day. They’re on regular schedules, and nothing comes or goes from Kala outside of those times.

We climb out as the bellhop sets our bags on the ground. He climbs back into his cart but doesn’t pull away.

Alka and I wrap Ruby in our arms again. It’s difficult not to be overcome by emotion. We’ve spent every day together for nearly five weeks. Okay, I didn’t have all five weeks, but it feels like I did. It feels like we’ve already spent a lifetime together, and now we’re being forced in separate directions.

There aren’t any words to say, though I think, like me, both Alka and Ruby try to think of something. I can tell because they keep taking breaths like they’re going to speak before abandoning whatever it is they thought about.

“We’ll get through this time apart and be stronger for it,” I promise.

“Yeah? You really think so?” Ruby asks, his voice quiet. I don’t think I imagine it shaking a little.

My arm tightens around him. “With everything in me,” I assure him. “This isn’t goodbye. I promise.”

Ruby nods and takes a step back. There are tears in his eyes that are reflected in mine and Alka’s. Alka kisses him. It’s sweet and sad and breaks my heart. Then I get to experience the emotions I witnessed for myself when I kiss Ruby.

“Soon,” I swear. “We’ll count down the days, Ruby.”

He nods and wipes his eyes. “Okay.”

Before I change my mind and cancel our flight, I take my husband’s hand and the handles to our suitcases in my other hand and lead him toward the gate. He looks back, waves, and faces forward again.

“This was always going to be hard, but it feels like my heart is in a juicer,” Alka mutters.

“I’m going to make you the same promise. Soon. I swear.”

He nods. “I know,” he whispers. “But now feels really awful.”

It does. I don’t argue that at all.

We make it through check-out quickly, keeping our bracelets long enough for our BioScan-locked boxes to be retrieved which requires our fingerprints to open. Then they’re removed from our wrist with a little device that looks like it cuts them in two.

I drop my phone into my pocket and put my watch on my wrist even though it’s dead. It’s too bad there isn’t a service that will charge both before we pick them up. I understand why there’s not—it defeats the purpose of a securely locked box that protects our belongings. You simply can’t have both.

We’re silent on the shuttle and don’t speak through the tiny security line. As soon as we’re on the small plane, we plug in our phones to charge. Our hands rarely unclasp unless necessary. In a way, I think we’re clinging to each other for more than comfort.

It’s a good ten minutes before either of our phones have enough juice to turn on. Alka immediately fishes out Ruby’s phone number and programs it into his phone before sending a text.

It’s three simple words. We miss you.

He flinches. “I’m not sure those are the words he should see first.”

“Why?”

“Because I think he’s already going to be sad. Will it make him sadder?”

“Maybe. But I think it’ll also assure him that we’re missing him as much as he’s missing us. It’s mutual.”

Alka sighs. “Three days of silence is going to suck,” he mutters as he opens his emails. I try not to look at the number of unread in his inbox. It’s astronomical.

As mine will be. I don’t even bother. That’s a tomorrow Oscar problem. Not today.

My head on his shoulder, I absently watch as he clicks through work emails. He opens one from his assistant coach, Harper.

Revision. This is the final roster. I added one more late transfer. He was endorsed by Gabe Zanderman! I figured if a pro player will take the time to give this guy his praise, he’s worth the change.

Alka doesn’t open the attachment. He sends over a quick:

Thank you. On my way home. I’ll give you a call tomorrow.

It takes him most of the flight to get through the work emails. I’m glad for the distraction even though they have nothing to do with me and aren’t incredibly entertaining.

Once through the airport and in the car to drive home, Alka starts responding to text messages. We’re quiet as we drive. The music is on but barely loud enough to hear. It’s little more than elevator music right now.

“Declan wants to get together before school starts,” he says. “He also invites us to a birthday party—one of Vulcan’s kids.”

I smile. We hang out with Declan somewhat regularly, and since he shares a… uh… life, I suppose is the most accurate word, with his boyfriend, who also works on campus, his twin, his twin’s husband, their best friend, and their best friend’s boyfriend, who also happens to be a dean on campus, and said dean’s bestie Vulcan and Vulcan’s big family of four boyfriends and three kids… Yeah, I don’t remember where I’m going with this.

Oh right. Vulcan’s kid’s birthday. So that’s how we know a man named Vulcan and why we’re being invited to his kid’s birthday party.

However, I was friends with Vulcan’s family before he was a part of it. One of his men is a man named Zvi who’s also a content creator—Collin Fox. We collab sometimes, though before the Declan connection, I’d never interacted with the rest of his family.

“Think we can get Ruby up here for that?” Alka asks, a smile touching his lips.

I smile too. “We’ll see what we can do.”

“I need us to make our first plans with him ASAP. I need something in the calendar to look forward to. I’m going to go crazy otherwise.”

I nod. That I completely understand.