Beachcomber
Chapter 4
The big day arrived and David turned up to collect his son.
"I'm not going with you Dad, Hal has his car here, he will take me home."
"Very well, your mother will be waiting for you, I have to go into the office if you don't want transport."
"Hal will take me to his home. I'm not coming back to the house to live without Hal."
David was furious, he didn't expect confrontation this early. His approach was to sound as degrading as possible in his comment about Hal.
"And how will your washed up model boyfriend support the two of you?"
"I'm going to get a job and so is Hal."
With that, Coogan picked up his bag and started to walk out with Hal.
"What about your education Coogan?"
"I guess that's going on hold, Dad, my priorities have changed. Hal first, everything else will have to take its course."
David couldn't believe the steel in the voice of this happy go lucky boy of only a few months ago. He had nothing else to say so he left, wondering what he was going to tell his wife. For the first time in his life he took the coward's way out, he `phoned and left a message.
Rosemary Brough was furious when she picked up the message, she immediately instituted a search to find out about the apartment complex Hal lived in and was delighted to find that it was a mix of owned and rental properties. She took a three month lease on the property closest to Hal's that was available. She packed enough clothes for a long stay, mainly to frighten her husband back to his senses because she was sure she would be back in the house within a week. She told Hattie, their live in maid to do the same.
Between them they packed as many of Coogan's clothes and personal things as they thought he might need and put them in his car. Rosemary contacted a car service to have the car picked up and delivered to Hal's apartment complex.
"The master will be fending for himself until he comes to his senses Hattie, so you'll be having an easy time of it until he does. We only have two bedrooms to look after."
Both women were grinning, Hattie knew her mistress so well.
Rosemary left a letter for David telling him she would be returning at the same time as her son and his lover, he would have to decide when that was going to be.
By lunchtime Rosemary was settled in, she sent Hattie out to do some shopping and walked to Hal's apartment. Hal answered the door and nearly fell over with shock, he did however manage to gasp out a, "Come in Mrs. Brough, this is a surprise."
Coogan jumped up when he heard Hal.
"Mum, what are you doing here?"
Rosemary tried to look serious and failed miserably, "I presume it is alright to visit my son and take him and his boyfriend out to lunch." Then she grinned.
"Oh yes Mum." and then Coogan threw himself into his mother's arms. "It's ok with you then that I am going to live with Hal?"
"Of course it is Darling, I have come to realise how much you love him. It would be so silly to try to keep you apart. I'm sure your father will realise that when he gets tired of living in an empty house."
Coogan's turn to look surprised. "Have you left dad then? Where are you going to live?"
"Oh, Hattie and I have just taken a flat in this block. We'll be able to see lots of each other."
Both young men nearly fell over with shock.
"Oh crikey Mum, dad is going to go ballistic, does he know yet?"
Rosemary laughed, "No Darling he left me a message that you were staying with Hal so I left him a message that I was staying away as well, but he doesn't know where. He is bound to come to see you so you make sure you don't tell him. If he wants to talk to me he can call my cell."
Hal was still in shock as they left the apartment for lunch. They were sat in a comfortable upmarket restaurant when Rosemary started to quiz Hal about his intentions.
"I have already been interviewed for two different management positions. I think I have a good chance of one. Not a lot of money to start with, but my Harvard degree does carry a lot of weight. I also have a few new modelling bookings so if they come good and the job is offered Coogan will be going back to school."
Rosemary was surprised, she had no idea Hal was an MBA, David had omitted to tell her.
"I know Coogan is your boyfriend Hal, but he is my son, so I think you should let me take care of the finances involved in keeping him in full time education. I have organised a car service to pick up his car and deliver it to your apartment block. Most of his clothes and personal things are packed in it, but of course, I still hope his father will come to his senses quite quickly and we will all be able to go home."
Hal realised this was one very switched on and independent lady. Lunch was a success and by the time they got back to the apartment Coogan and Hal had a car to unpack and Rosemary left them with no doubt about what Coogan was to do the next day.
"I will let you have a letter to take to school with you tomorrow Coogan, explaining your absence and then I want you to promise me you will study hard to get back up to speed."
Hal jumped in then. "He will Mrs. Brough, and I'll help him with his assignments."
Rosemary smiled at this man that she was already beginning to like. He was intelligent and witty, well brought up and not at all what she expected a gay man to be like, particularly one who was a model.
"I think you had better start calling me Rosemary, Hal, and if you intend being around for a long time you might like to try Mum."
Both young men were more than happy with that and spent the remainder of the day unpacking all of Coogan's clothes into the closets in the second bedroom.
"You won't be sleeping here Little Man, but this will be your room so you will have space to keep everything."
No problem, and Coogan soon got into the routine of showering and everything else in Hal's bathroom but going through to his own room to dress and gather up his school things. The room also had his computer installed and became a study dressing room. Hal was much more switched on than even Coogan thought and he was soon back up to speed with his classmates. They, of course were weirded out by the fact that he now lived in an apartment in town, they thought with his mother, so none of them said anything but nearly all thought, `Oh, oh, another marriage on the rocks.'
David meanwhile smashed up half of the bedroom where Rosemary had left the letter. He was almost beside himself with rage that his wife would take Coogan's side.
`Damn her, let her sweat it out in some grotty little place until she comes to her senses,' was his attitude.
That thinking lasted a week. All his business entertainment had been with a wife beside him, and mostly at their home because it was such a magnificent house it always created the right impression. Now however there was no one to organise the dinners and cocktail parties, so, it was outside venues that soon lost their lustre.
David had to organise nothing in the house, so it was a shock to his system when he had no clean shirts or boxers to wear for work. The laundry basket was brimming over with his dirty stuff that Rosemary would have cleared and Hattie would have washed and ironed. He tried to engage new staff who proved unreliable and sloppy because they had been given no ground rules to operate under. None of the professional services he employed were a patch on Rosemary, also his bed seemed very empty at nights. Worst of all, the boy he had thrown out was a source of fun and contentment to him when he was home. He realised that Coogan was everything he could have asked for in a son. He fitted in perfectly to David's business world but could easily slip back into the natural role of a growing young man. Was he different because he was gay? Of course he wasn't, if what he had read recently was true, Coogan had always been gay, he had been born that way and nothing could change it. Yes he could choose to hide it and probably be miserable, or he could do what he had done. On that basis he was lucky. The man he had found to be his partner was from the right background, he was intelligent and more than a little presentable. In fact, David had to admit, Hal would have graced any of his offices as a young executive. His MBA was from a prestigious college and he soon found out that the senior executive of the company he was now working for was very impressed with his performance. The comment made at a meeting of company execs attended by David and Hal's boss elicited the comment.
"I was a little dubious employing an international model to a responsible junior executive position but Hal Brooks is a gem. I'm going to do everything I can to keep him in my company David."
That didn't sit well with David for two reasons. Firstly the man was a faggot and his son's partner, and secondly, he hated the thought that he may have passed up the chance to take on a young executive with all the right attributes and a first class degree in business management.
Easter came and went, David was getting more miserable by the day. That misery started to affect his work and the crunch came early in the summer. Talented and promising executives started to resign. Those resignations soon affected the bottom line in his business empire and that was when he came to his senses.
`All I have to do is get my head round the fact that my son is gay and my life will return to normal'. That thought had taken a long time to formulate in the brain of a self-made billionaire, but once it had he used the brains that he had to start rectifying the problem.
"Good afternoon, Hal Brooks residence, Coogan Brough speaking."
"I could do with a personal assistant who answered my phones like that Son. How are you?"
Coogan nearly fell over when he realised whose voice it was.
"I'm very well, Sir, how may I help you?"
That hurt. Coogan had never called him anything but dad.
"I wondered if you would have dinner with me tonight. I think we need to talk."
"I'm sorry, Sir, Hal and I have already made plans for dinner this evening."
David was struggling now. "Well could you break them and have dinner with me instead?"
"I don't think so, I never have dinner without Hal unless he is away overnight and I wouldn't even consider standing mum up for a dinner date."
David noticed the tremor in Coogan's voice. The boy was obviously struggling to keep it all together. He remembered how often his son had told him how much he loved him. It must have hurt to be rejected by his father when they had shared so much.
You're the best dad in the world.' How often had Coogan said that to him, and how often had he replied, Well I have to be don't I, because I have the best son in the world.' Yes, right, such a fantastic son that the first time he doesn't conform I reject him.
"I'm sorry Coogan, I'm really sorry. Why don't you talk to your boyfriend and give me a call when you are both free for dinner. My personal cell hasn't changed."
He hung up then and sat shaking. Rejection by his wife, rejection by his son, they couldn't both be wrong could they?
When Hal arrived home he could see immediately something was wrong. He gathered Coogan into his arms and started to stroke him.
"What is it Little Man, what's wrong?"
"Dad called, he wants to take us out to dinner. At first he just said me but when I rejected him he changed it to both of us, and asked me to talk to you."
"Whatever you want to do Lover, you call the shots. He's your dad. Before you book anything, know that the first week of your holidays we are flying out to see my parents. They want to meet this young man that has made me so happy."
Coogan had tears in his eyes as he replied. "Why can't my Dad be like yours? He is always so nice to me on the phone, I know I am going to love him."
They left any decision until they had talked to Rosemary. Her answer was what Hal would have expected.
"He's your father Coogan. He loved you very much until this all came out. Give him a chance, it must have been a shock to him. I'm sure he is beginning to realise what he has lost. Go and have dinner with him, take Hal along with you. David is going to have to accept him if he wants to mend the bridges he has destroyed by his rejection."
Of course it made sense, Coogan had missed his father, their relationship had been the envy of many of his school friends. Always happy to be around each other, it was only his great love for Hal that had stopped him falling into a depression when he thought about the break.
Another week passed and unbeknown to Coogan and Hal, Rosemary had got involved, realising that David was fighting a demon in his brain. She talked to him and arranged to have dinner with him on neutral territory.
The atmosphere was tense as they sat down to dinner in a little bistro that neither of them normally frequented.
"Thank you for coming David, I think we both realise that this situation is hurting everyone so it's good we are going to talk."
David was so used to controlling everything around him, but now he was tongue tied. Rosemary was a beautiful woman that he had loved from the moment they had met. The one word that always came to mind when he looked at her was, vivacious, and as she got older it appeared to be more and more appropriate. He wasn't looking for a trophy wife when he married her, or a trophy son when Coogan was born, but that was how they looked. He knew he needed to put things right, but his anathema towards faggots was proving difficult to bury.
"You have the ability to make four unhappy people happy again David. You just have to want it as much as the other three do. I love you as much as I have ever loved you, and I know Coogan would be in a deep depression if it were not for Hal, but don't expect that to last. If you continue on your present path you will lose your son forever. The day I know that has happened I will file for divorce. You can't destroy our family and expect me to forgive you."
David knew Rosemary was speaking the truth. That realisation made him shrivel up inside. He could see his whole life imploding. His companies already were because of his loss of drive, how long before it all blew up in his face and he lost everything. He nodded his head, and in a voice shaking with emotion he answered his wife.
"I know my Darling, I just don't appear able to get it right now. Coogan called me Sir, and rejected my invitation to dinner. He must hate me."
"Stop pitying yourself David, it doesn't become you, and your son still loves you but he has your steel. He loves Hal, fiercely, you will drive him even further away unless you make friends with his lover."
David cringed, he still wasn't sure he could, he still had lingering ambitions that he would be able to pull Coogan out of this relationship.
Dinner finished and Rosemary delivered the coup de grace.
"I won't do this with you again David. The next time you see me is when I move back into the house to resume my place as your wife, or in the divorce court where I will seek the maximum settlement the law allows, and that will be based on the value of your companies when I left, not the pathetic entities that they are rapidly becoming."
That last comment made David fully aware of his precarious position. He knew his companies were in trouble. He needed his old enthusiasm and the support of his wife to reverse the trend.
Meanwhile, Hal was going from strength to strength, both in his job and in his modelling career, which had taken off again. He was juggling the two, puting in extra hours on the job to make up for his absences while shooting. His boss allowed it because he was so good. Coogan was happy enough to be still performing at his academics, with help from Hal of course.
Nothing changed for another few months, summer was approaching and Coogan thought about how much fun he had the previous summer beachcombing and finding his new lover. He was sad at the thought that his mother's life had changed for the worse because of him. While Hal was at work one day after school Coogan went to sit with his mother for a while.
"I'm sorry Mum, I've changed your life for the worse because of my love for Hal. I wish there was some way I could make it up to you."
Rosemary shook her head. "You have nothing to apologise for Coogan, you can't live your life to please everybody else. You have found true love with Hal, never apologise for that. I thought I had the same with your father, but now that I have seen his prejudice towards you I wonder if I shouldn't sever the bond now."
"Oh Mum, that is so final, please give dad more time, I'm sure he'll come round. He always showed me so much love, I can't believe that has all gone."
Rosemary was so surprised that this boy would have so much compassion for a father that had put him through hell instead of trying to understand and accept him.
"We'll see Darling, when you give up on your father I'll file for divorce. I have to tell you that your father's companies are in trouble and I have made it worse by pulling all my personal investments out. I will give it another year at the most before I go to court to get the house, even if there is nothing else left. That house is us. I designed it, oversaw the building of it and carried out all the interior design and furnishing. Your father should be living in an apartment, not you and me."
Coogan was surprised on all accounts. He didn't realise that his mother was independently wealthy, or that she was responsible for their lovely home.
Nothing very much changed with David for the next few months. Rosemary started working on a design concept that would see her start a company and take it to a full stock market listing in less than three years. Hal went from strength to strength in his management role and Coogan was on track for a full academic scholarship.
Coogan entered his final year of high school with no worries apart from his relationship with his father. He tried to do something about it unbeknown to his mother or Hal. He found out a time when Hal was going to be away for a couple of nights and called David.
"Hi Dad, how are you?"
David was surprised to hear Coogan's voice and wondered what was coming next.
"Hello Coogan, to what do I owe this call?"
"I'd like to come to see you. I think we need to talk before events make our separation irreversible." "I don't know that we have much to talk about while you are living with that man."
Coogan was disappointed but continued to try.
"Please Dad. No one is happy with the present situation, you probably least of all judging by the state of your companies."
Very much on the defensive, David almost snarled at Coogan.
"What do you mean?"
"Dad, I can read the papers and I watch movement on the stock market. I know that several of your companies are in trouble. It has to be because you have lost focus."
David knew Coogan was right but resented his son telling him what was wrong, so he continued his march to ruin.
"Until you get out of that disgusting relationship I don't think we have anything more to talk about."
With that he hung up. Coogan ran to his mother's apartment and dissolved in gut wrenching sobs as he told his mother the gist of the conversation.
"It's no good Mum, he won't budge. I can't give up Hal, but if I don't I think dad will ruin himself."
"Darling, he is a grown man capable of making rational decisions. If the path he is on now suits him, I'm afraid there is little we can do. I guess I need to look after our interests now."
Coogan was worried about where this was leading but didn't want to ask his mother.
The action started very soon after that conversation and Coogan saw his mother embroiled in a nasty divorce case. It all came to a head as Coogan entered his final year. The case took several days to hear, most of it from Rosemary's lawyer showing that at the time of the separation the family was worth three times its present value. The judge awarded Rosemary the house, provided Coogan was going to live there as well, that was a done deal. He also awarded her substantial monetary assets, which David couldn't pay, so the settlement was for companies he owned instead of the money. If he got his act together David could still make millions. But if he continued on his present path he would be bankrupt in a year.
Rosemary took immediate control of the companies involved and called a business meeting of the present management of all of them, with Hal to sit in on it.