Disclaimer: the original disclaimer, no under-aged and sexually confused readers, no illegally restrained readers, acts of sex are done with permission.
Benjy's Boy: Chapter Thirteen
What would you think worse? Trying to create a love-triangle between two partially gay teenage boys and one straight girl, or trying to do the dirty work of an anonymous murderer with enough dirt to put you behind bars? I'd say that the murderer is much more serious and final, but the love-triangle seems like it might toy with emotions, whereas the murderer only toys with my freedom and my fear. I think I feel inclined to focus more on Jasper and his threats than my best friend Elise and closet boyfriend Benjy. I wouldn't want to be juggling too many objects at the same time, after all, wouldn't you agree?
These were the thoughts rushing through my mind as I sat in the back of a black retro-looking taxi. I'd shown the driver the adress Jasper had given me and I was being taken there, wherever it was, on the Monday morning, just before 9AM. It was after I had left Benjy's house, and what went on behind his closed door was secret. But it would be suffice to say his back door was most certainly not closed. In fact, it was invaded, triumphantly.
But I couldn't seem to focus on Benjy or what had happened only a half an hour or so ago. My mind seeme to be pondering today, pondering over this meeting with Jasper. I asked myself over and over: would I meet him? What would I say? What would he say? It was just a mystery to me.
"Here ya are, laddy," the driver noted, bringing the vehicle to a halt.
I mumbled an uncertain thank you before handing him his fee and feebly leaving the taxi.
Outside, I could see we were in Popham City somewhere. I watched the taxi drive through the suburbia of Popham, drive underneath the highways that lead to outer London, and transitioning into the cityscape of Popham. Popham was a fine area, I always thought. Close to Britain's capital, London, near the sea, it was a thriving city. Scattered in tall glass buildings and ranging across the morning blue sky, the city of Popham around me seemed almost like I was in the capital city of an entirely different country.
In front of me was a small, four or five storey-high glass building that blended in well with the structure of the city. I wandered through the revolving doors curiously, and was stopped by a smooth-looking man with a hairless head and chocolate brown skin. His eyes grimaced at me questioningly.
"I'm here to see..." I took out the information card Jasper had left me and showed it to the man. It had no name, but by the look in his face it didn't need one, and he escorted me to the lift silently. For you Americans, a lift is an elevator. He pressed the 5th floor button and slid out of the elevator as the doors enclosed around me. It shook into life and reopened on a wide corridor with a single black door at the end. I strode over to it, shaky and quivering, and knocked on it three times. On the door read 'Dr. Xandria Highborough, Therapist and Psychologist'.
The door opened, slowly. It seemed I wandered inside to meet my threatener. The room was wide and furnished in black leather sofas and glass tables with odd shaped flower vases and other such ornaments. One wall was made entirely of glass and looked out to the east, where the sun loomed over and shone blindingly throughout the skyline of the city.
"Hello, Kayden," said a very slithery and uptight voice. It wasn't Jasper, it was a woman. She lay across one sofa with a notepad on her lap. She had fiery orange hair and wore a crimson red pencil-dress with striped tights and Louboutin high-heels. I wasn't the stereotypical fashion-loving gay, I only knew her shoes were Louboutin because I bought Elise a pair for her birthday two years ago. That meant I knew how to recognize Louboutins: from the red underneath the heel, it was the Louboutin trademark. She was glamorous - everything was in the city.
"Are you Dr. Xandria?" I asked dryly.
"Yes. I am a friend of... of..." she stuttered, unable to find the right words.
"Jasper?" I asked.
"That is the name he uses for you? How... Persian. Please, Kayden, take a seat. Jasper had told me about you, but I never would have thought you were ice blond, and so... not handsome, but pretty, I suppose." She gestured out toward the black leather armchair oppposite her as she lay down on the sofa. I approached her, apprehensive, and sat.
"Where is he?"
"He should be here. Well, while we wait, let us discuss. What does he have on you?" she asked plainly.
"Murder," I replied simply. "And you?"
"Why, nothing. I'm his wife, Kayden," she announced, smiling. "I think if my husband was here, he would have us talk about your work for him, but let's not. Why don't we talk about you? I am a real therapist, you know," she suggested.
"What do you want to know?" I asked plaintitively.
"Jasper tells me you are a closet homosexual - why don't we start there?"
"I'm not a homosexual," I replied bitterly. "Jasper did not tell you that I am in love with two people, a boy and a girl? If you're a therapist, how would you solve this problem, Xandria?"
"Well, I would tell you to stay within the law and follow your heart. I would say that eventually it will end in a decision of one or the other," she replied truthfully.
"What would you do, if you loved two people equally?"
"Kayden, I love no one. The less you love, the less you hurt when you lose them. My marriage to... Jasper is not one forged in love, it is one forged in mutual benefits. If I were in your position I would deny both lovers and let them move on. But that is me, and I am rather a stone-hearted woman. Whereas you, I am told, have a large heart. While it is said that large hearts are harder to break, they bleed heavier than smaller hearts."
"Xandria, you aren't the boys' therapist, so stop it with your hatred of the world," a voice boomed. It was Jasper's.
He stood in the doorway, cloaked in a grey trench coat and an even greyer suit underneath. If truth be told, Jasper looked like the Tenth Doctor from Doctor Who, except in grey. He had black coal hair that was pushed up, spiky, but not brusquely so. His eyes were black, too, and he had a shadow of stubble across his chin and jaw. He was handsome.
"Jasper," I whispered.
"Why did you tell the boy your name was Jasper, for god's sake?" Xandria whined. "What a foul name."
"It was temporary, Xandria. I'll tell him when I trust the bastard," he said, rudely. "But let's get down to business."
"Fine," I started. "What do you need me to do at the Park Popham Hotel?"
"It's simple, really. The owners owe me money, and I need you to teach them a lesson."
"How will I do that?"
"I would usually say burn the building or kill that insufferable manager they have, but you're new so we'll start simple. The owners owe me, so they will pay what they owe," Jasper said daringly.
"The owners have a safe, somewhere in the manager's office," Xandria spoke. "You'll need to get into the office, find the safe, and unlock it the next time you are there."
"How? Won't the owners be there? Besides, I don't have the key."
"Steal it from the manager, Mister Mauling. The owners are in London at this time anyway, so all you need to do is steal the manager's key. Then you sneak into the office and the rest is easy."
"But the safe - won't it have a passcode or fingerprint?" I asked.
"That is where I can help," Xandria spoke. "The passcode is the date the two owners married eachother - 4th of May, 1999."
"How did you find that out?" I asked. The woman only winked back at me.
"My wife has her ways, Kayden. Remember this: 4th of the 5th, 99," Jasper sounded. "All you need to do now is get the key and open the safe. Then, take out everything and stuff it into this bag of luggage. You're a bellboy, so carrying luggage won't raise suspicions," Jasper twined. "Then carry it outside and hand it to Xandria. Then you quit and leave." After Jasper had finished, he scurried out of the room without saying another word.
"Seems easy enough," I sighed.
"Listen, Kayden, my husband and I are two different people. He is cruel, whereas I am helpful. I am a real therapist, so if there is anything troubling you, arrange an appointment. Patient confidentiality is sacred to me, so Jasper doesn't need to know anything you tell me."
"Why would you help me?"
"Well, from what I can tell, you're a troubled little kid, and you need someone to show you the way."
"Thanks, Xandria," I spoke, standing from the armchair. The entire time, she was lying across her sofa with a notebook on her lap, but when I stood she raised herself to the floor.
"I mean it, Kayden," she said. Then, and quite surprisingly, she pulled me in for a hug. And, whispering in my ear, she mumbled, "Jasper is a cold man, especially now that he is threatening children. I will try and find the evidence he has on you, and destroy it." Then she pulled away and smiled, handing him a torn page from her notebook. It had a phone number scribbled across.
"What's this?" I asked.
"My private number, in case you ever need someone proffesional to talk to."
I left the glass building then, and returned to my home in the suburbs of Popham. I was glad I had made an ally, but could she really find the evidence? I didn't know. Immediately, I decided I liked Xandria Highborough, Therapist and Psychologist. I may just phone her sometime.
Tuesday was going to be a rough day. I'd not only rob a major hotel, but I'd see Elise and tell her of the love-triangle I wanted to establish.
Something was bound to go wrong, right?
Benjy's Boy: Chapter Thirteen
Thanks for reading, contact me at this email. Part Fourteen will be out next week.