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Cooper Crazy
(7/31/05 11:09 pm)
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Giving In - Chapter 15
“Gus, are you sleeping at our house again tonight?” Zach asked later when they were all at Company having lunch.
“No, I have to go to Chicago pretty soon and I’ll be there for awhile,” Gus answered.
“What’s Chicago?” Zach asked.
“It’s a city that’s a little far away. After I leave here, I’ll have to drive until about dinner time to get there. That’s where I work sometimes. When I’m not in Chicago, I work in Washington, DC. Do you know where that is?” Gus asked him and he shook his head. “Buzz! You got a map?” he yelled towards the bar where Buzz was pouring coffee for someone and nodded back at Gus.
A few minutes later, Buzz tossed an folded up map in front of Gus and slid into the seat beside Harley while Gus pointed out Chicago to Zach.
“And this little dot all the way over here is Washington DC,” he explained.
“That’s far away!” Zach replied.
“Yeah, it is. Too far,” Gus sighed and looked over at Harley who smiled at him.
“How long are you going to be there?” Zach asked.
“A few months. But I’m going to be here on the weekends as much as I can to spend time with you and your brother and your mom, does that sound good?”
“Yeah!” Zach nodded enthusiastically. “I like your dinosaur voices,” he added.
“Harley said you got a job at the station,” Buzz said.
“Yeah, we’re going to be partners again,” Gus nodded.
“And Franklin is okay with the two of you being uh…together too?” he asked.
“He is as long as we don’t remind him that we are,” Harley answered. “Don’t ask, don’t tell, you know.”
“I didn’t ask and I got told,” Buzz shrugged and Harley elbowed him while Gus laughed.
“Look Buzz, I get that you don’t like me, and I understand why that is. I usually don’t care if people like me or not, but I do hope that someday in the future you and I can figure out a way to get along. For Harley. You might even start to like me,” he teased.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Buzz muttered and left the table.
Harley sighed, “I’m sorry. He’ll come around.”
“I meant what I said,” he replied.
“I know you did,” she nodded, “Thank you,” she added as she looked at her watch reluctantly.
“I guess I better get going,” Gus said.
“I know,” Harley nodded as she wiped Jude’s mouth with his napkin. “Let me get someone to watch the boys and I’ll walk you out,” she said as she motioned Marina over and got her to sit with Zach and Jude for a few minutes.
Gus took Harley’s hand in his and they walked over to his rental car. He leaned up against it and pulled Harley close to him.
“I’ll try to get back this weekend, but I can’t promise anything,” he said, brushing his lips over her cheek and she nodded.
“Okay. Hey, I went my whole life without you, what’s a few weeks, right?” she said lightly but it came out as sad.
“Too long,” he said. “My flight leaves at five tomorrow. I should be in DC by nine, so I’ll call you when I get to my apartment. I’m gonna miss you,” he said as he took her face in his hands and kissed her gently.
“Me too,” she replied and they kissed again, deeper and longer this time.
“Harley?” Blake’s voice broke their kiss and they both turned to see Blake and Ross getting out of their car. “When did you get back?” she asked slowly, surprised to see her friend in such a compromising position with a man she claimed to hate.
“Yesterday, I meant to call you, but…” Harley answered. “We’ll talk inside, okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” Blake replied. “Hi Gus.”
“Hi Blake, Ross,” he gave them a nod.
“Come on honey,” Ross said, pulling Blake away by the arm.
“Nice time to ditch me! Before the interrogation,” Harley joked as she playfully hit his chest.
“Sorry. You gonna be okay?” he asked.
“Oh yeah. You know, I’ll get all the usual questions: ‘Did you sleep with him? Was he good? Are you in love?’” Harley rolled her eyes.
“And?”
“Yes, yes and yes,” she smiled and kissed him.
“I was good, huh?”
“You were amazing,” she replied. “Don’t stay away from me too long,” she added.
“I’ll do my best, I promise. I gotta go. I’ll call you when I get to the station, okay?” he asked.
“Okay, please be careful. Driving and working, got it?”
“I got it. I love you.”
“I love you too, Gus,” she replied and he opened up her hand and kissed her palm then pulled her into a tight embrace that ended in a kiss.
She stepped away so he could get in his car, then watched him drive away before going back inside and facing the firing squad known as her family and friends.
When she got back inside, Blake was waiting for her at the bar and pulled her over onto the stool beside her.
“Alright, spill it, what is going on?” she asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Harley said seriously, trying to make Blake mad.
“Are you kidding me? You know exactly what I’m talking about!”
“Oh…you mean my hair? Do you like it? I wasn’t sure if I liked it up like this, but I think it’s growing on me, but it’s kind of messy because Gus was playing with it,” Harley rambled until Blake punched her playfully in her arm and she giggled. “I’m kidding! Come on.”
“You come on, what the hell is going on with you and Aitoro?” Blake asked. “I thought you hated him. Or at least you did before you want to Paris with him.”
“No, I never hated him. Well, maybe the first day I met him, but I haven’t hated him for a long time,” Harley answered and Blake looked at her doubtfully. “I didn’t! Look, I spent a lot of time making it appear that I hated him because I hated my feelings for him. I have been attracted to him for so long, Blake, even since before Jude was born, and I’ve finally dealt with those feelings.”
“So what are we talking about here? A weekend fling in Paris? A real, serious couple? What?”
“A real, serious couple,” Harley answered. “A real, serious, in love couple.”
“I don’t believe it,” Blake said and turned away from Harley.
“What do you mean you don’t believe it?”
“I don’t believe that you’re in love with Gus Aitoro. I can buy that you’re attracted to him, I can even buy that you could sleep with him and enjoy it, but love? Come on.”
“Well, I am attracted to him, and I did enjoy it, and I do love him,” Harley insisted.
“You slept with him?” Blake asked, looking back at Harley, ready for the dirt.
“You don’t believe me, you don’t get the good stuff,” Harley replied stubbornly.
“Oh come on! You have to tell me. Did you sleep with him?”
“Yes,” she answered simply.
“Harley! You have to tell me more than that! I can’t believe you go over a year without having sex and then you decide to sleep with Gus Aitoro! How was it?”
“It was…amazing.”
“Amazing?” Blake repeated, cringing. “Best sex ever?”
“Ever,” Harley nodded and Blake scoffed again.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Okay, you ask me questions and I answer them but you say you don’t believe me!” Harley replied, exasperated.
“Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that your first time with Gus Aitoro was better than all of the times with Phillip or Mallet or Josh or…”
“Okay, okay, I know the names of all of my exes, thank you. Blake, I am telling you – the best. Ever.”
“Alright fine, I believe you. Now how did it happen?” she asked.
“You’re married, I think you know how it happens,” Harley teased and Blake rolled her eyes.
“You know what I mean. How did you get from dreading this trip to being…in love,” she choked out.
“Well, it started…well, a long time ago, you already know about our first kiss. And we kissed at Marina’s welcome home party but Rick caught us and Gus left and that’s when he moved back to Washington. Anyway, the first day I was in DC last week, we were working on the case all day, I was getting caught up on everything and this case is…horrible, just really horrible and I was having a hard time with it and Gus and I shared a cab to my hotel and we talked about the case and I don’t know what happened, but we were kissing and then I asked him to come up to my room and he did, but nothing happened that night, we just slept. And the next day we had a huge fight and had a rough couple of days. But one night, we went out to dinner and he took me to this bar where they served American food and I swear Blake, I felt like I was in Texas. Anyway, we danced a little and kissed again and I freaked out because that’s what I do and then we went back to our hotel and later that night we talked and fought and kissed and then we got interrupted and had to go take care of something about the case and before we went in, I told him that I was sorry for what almost happened and that I was glad we got interrupted before we did something we would both regret.”
“Ouch,” Blake cringed.
“Yeah, he was mad, and then we got separated and Gus got shot and I went crazy, I mean, like when I saw him laying there bleeding, everything just got so clear to me. No matter how angry I was at him for whatever reason, I just wanted him to be okay, I wanted to have the chance to tell him how I really felt about him,” she continued until Blake interrupted her.
“He was shot? My god, were you okay?”
“Yeah, I was fine, I mean physically. But emotionally, I was a mess. Gus was unconscious for hours and I just was going crazy. I was so relieved when he woke up. Thank god he was fine.”
“So then what happened?” Blake asked, finally getting into the story.
“Then…we went out for dinner, which was the first time other than the bar and we talk about us and some stuff that was between us and by the time we got back to the hotel, I was telling him that I loved him!”
“Were you drunk?”
“No! Well, I had a few glasses of wine, but that’s now why I said it. I said it because I meant it. I don’t know if it’s ‘this is going to last forever’ love or even ‘let’s get married’ love but it’s something and I’m ready to find out what it is. But Gus is going to DC for a month or two to finish up some cases there then he’s moving back here,” Harley explained.
“This is crazy, I mean you realize that, right?”
“I know. It’s fast and I’m jumping head first, but I don’t care because the past few days have been amazing Blake.”
“Well, that’s great sweetie, but what about all the other stuff? Like his obsession with the Santos family? His arrogance, his rudeness, his messiness, shall I go on?”
“No, you’ve said enough. The messiness, I can deal with. I’m not exactly the world’s best housekeeper either. And I know he’s rude and arrogant, but he’s not like that wit me.”
“Maybe that’s because he’s trying to get you into bed,” Blake suggested.
“Blake, he could have any woman that he wants to sleep with him, but he’s different with me, I’m the only one who sees the real Gus.”
“Are you sure it’s the real one?”
“Yes. Being arrogant and rude is his defense so that people can’t get too close. Every one in his life that he has loved has been taken from him. First, his mom when he was so young and then his dad and since then, he hasn’t let anyone into his life until now.”
“So why you?” Blake asked.
“Why not me?” Harley asked, a bit offended.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I just have a hard time believeing that the Gus you know is really Gus, you know?”
“Fine. But will you just trust me? I mean it’s not like I gave into his first advance. I’ve been rejecting him for months and I finally let myself deal with my feelings for him. I didn’t fall in love with the Gus that you all know. I fell in love with the Gus who sat on my couch and told me how it felt to watch his father die. And the man who recited a poem to Jude to get him to stop crying. Although the Gus who talks back to people who irritate him and says exactly what’s on his mind is very refreshing compared to most of the men in this town.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, like Phillip who is so worried about the Spaulding name and the company and always has to look perfect and attend perfect dinner parties with a perfect wife on his Armani-clad arm. Everyone in this town is so worried about what other people say and Gus doesn’t care. If you don’t like him, that’s your problem. If you don’t like what he has to say, maybe it’s because it rings a little too true for you, you know?”
“And the Santos thing?”
“We’re working on it. Together. He has made a lot of progress with that. You have no idea.”
“And how are the boys handling his?”
“You mean the baby and toddler or the father and brother?” Harley laughed.
“All of them,” Blake shrugged.
“Zach and Jude adore him. Zach loves that he has someone new to play with and they get along great. Frank and Dad aren’t exactly thrilled. Dad’s trying, Frank really isn’t though. I’m hoping those two work it out for themselves.”
“So he’s going to be gone for two months? How is that going to work?”
“He’s going to come back as much as possible and I’ll probably go out there some. We’ll make it work,” Harley shrugged.
“And while you’re here and he’s there, is there an understanding about seeing other people?” Blake asked.
“No. Why would there be? We don’t want to see other people.”
“Oh, alright. There’s just this guy that works with Ross that I was going to see if you want to go out with.”
“No, I don’t,” Harley shook her head, annoyed.
“Okay, well if you change your mind, he’s available.”
“I have to go,” Harley said and got off her stool to go say goodbye to the boys.
“Harley, I didn’t mean anything…” Blake started but Harley ignored her and kissed her boys before she left and went back to work.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Do you want another beer?” Frank asked as he got up and started into the kitchen after he had dinner with Harley and the boys that night.
“No thanks,” she replied and he left the room.
“So what’s up? You’re quiet tonight,” he said when he came back and sat beside her on the couch.
“It’s nothing,” she answered.
“Sis, I know when you’re lying to me. What’s wrong?” he asked again.
“Why don’t you like Gus?” she finally asked.
Frank sighed, “Do we really have to talk about him?”
“Yes, Frank. He’s in my life so we have to talk about him.”
“He’s…he’s Aitoro, Harley. I’m afraid that he is going to hurt you and he’s rude and inconsiderate and…”
“Okay. I’ve heard all of that before. But do you think that I’m stupid? Do you think I’m some teenage girl who is blinded by lust?”
“Of course not, but he’s not right for you,” Frank argued.
“Why not? What is it about him that makes him not right for me? Because he treats me good and loves me and my children?”
“Because he has a lot of baggage.”
“So do I, who do you know that doesn’t, Frank? I know about Gus’s baggage, we’re dealing with it and we’re dealing with my baggage, that’s what couples do. They make it work in spite of their pasts. That’s all I want. I just want a chance to make this work without dealing with criticism from my family and friends.”
“Blake doesn’t like him either, huh?” he asked and Harley glared at him as they heard the doorbell ring.
She got up to answer it, and saw Blake on the other side when she opened the door.
“Hi,” Blake said sheepishly. “Got a minute?”
“That depends,” Harley shrugged and Blake stepped into the house.
“I just wanted to apologize for earlier today. I was really hard on you and I’m sorry. I’m glad that you’re happy with Gus, really. Because you deserve to be happy,” she apologized.
“Do you really mean that?” Harley asked.
“I really do,” she nodded.
“Thank you,” Harley replied and Blake pulled her into a hug.
“You know I’ll kill him if he hurts you though, right?”
“I know,” Harley smiled.
“Are we okay?” Blake asked.
“Yeah, we’re okay.”
“Good. I’m sorry I interrupted.”
“No, it’s fine. I was just going though round two of our conversation earlier with Frank,” Harley sighed as the phone rang.
“You’re popular tonight,” Frank said as he reached over and answered the phone.
“Hold on,” he said and passed the phone to Harley. “It’s Gus.”
“Thanks,” Harley said and took the phone with her over to the steps where she sat down to talk to Gus. “Hey,” she finally answered.
“Hi. Sorry I interrupted your night with Frank,” he apologized.
“No, it’s fine. I’m glad you called. What are you up to?”
“Just got back to my hotel. No word on who the Americans were working for yet,” he replied.
“We’ll find them,” she assured him. “Can I call you back later? Blake is here too.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Go spend the evening with them, I’ll call you tomorrow when I get to DC.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I’ve had you all week. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you.”
“I love you too. Good night,” she replied and hung up.
“Alright, stop talking about me now,” she said as she went back into the living room.
“We were just talking about how happy we are that you are happy,” Blake said.
“Yeah right.”
“We mean it,” she assured her.
“Well, I hope that you do. Look, I don’t want to be rude, but could we do this some other time? I’m really tired and I’m not in the mood to fight about this anymore.”
“Sure, we’ll leave you alone,” Blake said and motioned for Frank to leave with her.
“Are you okay?” Frank asked Harley.
“Yes, I’m just tired,” she replied and kissed his cheek. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
“Alright. Good night,” he said and followed Blake out of the house.
Harley locked the door behind them and climbed up the stairs. She checked on the boys, then went into her own bedroom and got ready for bed. As she crawled into the bed, her hand ran over a piece of paper and she pulled back the covers to reveal a t-shirt Gus left behind and a note addressed to her. She smiled as she opened up the note and read it.
Just something to remind you of me while I’m gone. I can’t wait to be back in your arms. I miss you already.
Love,
Gus
“I miss you too,” she said quietly and buried herself under the covers, clinging to his shirt.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
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