Disclaimer: I do not know, nor do I claim to know Jake Gyllenhaal, or any other celebrity's that may wander through these pages, and I do not know or therefore mean to imply any knowledge of their personal lives or their sexual preferences. This is a work of fiction, and the character of Michael is my own creation, so any use of him outside of this story can only be done by first gaining my permission. If you are under 18 years of age, or it is illegal for you to be reading this where you live, or you are bothered by the prospect of a homo-erotic relationship between two men, then you had better go and find something else to read on another website.
Hey everyone, I'm back! Sorry it's taken me awhile to get a new chapter posted! It's been a hectic couple of months, starting pretty much the day after chapter 6 was posted. First, my computer decided to give up the ghost and take everything contained therein along with it! Thankfully I was able to get a few important things rescued, like my Outlook Express email address book and my old documents and photo's! Well, obviously, I've gotten a new computer! Second, work has been extremely busy, as anyone in retail will tell you, what with one "Back to School" sale after another....And Finally, I had a new character/story that were just begging to be told, so I wrote his introduction and it's been posted for several weeks now. His name is Caleb, and his story is called Flying Blind, also in the Celebrity section. Have no fear, Caleb's story will continue....Now that I've written a little bit about him, he's allowing me to get back to Michael and Jake. Before I get onto the story, I have to take a minute to say "Thank You" to Avy and Christopher, once again. I seriously doubt that I would have gotten this chapter out were it not for their continued moral support (translation: constant nagging!). All kidding aside, thanks guys! You're the best! And now, without further ado, on with the story.....
Michael's POV
"Well, that's a relief off my mind," I said to Maggie as we waited for our cabs outside the lawyer's offices. After he had sufficiently recovered from shock, Marshall Williams got right down to business. We were going to go up to Albany next Monday and get things squared away regarding my lottery winnings. After I had the ticket officially verified and received my first check, minus any taxes, I was going to be paying a visit to a mid-town investment firm. The firm that Marshall recommended just so happened to be the firm that was handling my parents' investment portfolio, so that made me feel more comfortable right away.
"I imagine so. Now you can concentrate on other things," Maggie replied.
"Yup. Start planning for the future and start working on my house," I said with a smile.
"I can't wait!" Maggie said, looking just like a giddy teenager in that exact moment.
"You and Peter are still coming to the studios tomorrow afternoon, right?" I asked, holding open the door of the taxi for her as she climbed into the back of the waiting cab.
"Absolutely! I want him to see the house and grounds and everything!"
"Cool, I'll see you both tomorrow then," I said, closing the door. The window went down a second later.
"Don't forget to bring the sketches!" Maggie reminded me.
"I won't. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
And then Maggie was giving her address to the driver and the cab was pulling away from the curb. Mine arrived a minute later.
My cell phone rang from its place on the coffee table. I was sitting on the sofa between Ryan and Michelle as they took turns reading aloud. I reached over and picked it up, checking the caller ID, and smiling when I recognized Jake's number. I flipped it open immediately.
"Hi," I said softly.
"Can you talk?" he asked.
"Yeah. So how did things go with your folks? Maggie told me what was going on."
"I'm sorry about that.....I should have told you myself what I was planning," he apologized.
"No problem....."
"Anyways, I sat down and had a good long talk with my folks....."
"And?"
"They want to meet you when you come out for the Emmy's next month. Mom's a huge fan, by the way."
"Hmmm."
"What?"
"That's how I got involved with your family to begin with, sort of."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, Maggie showed up outside the studio one day last week, after we were done taping for the day, and asked me for my autograph. Hard to believe how much my life has changed in my life in the last week....."
"For the better, I hope?" Jake asked.
"Definitely! So tell me, how did it go, really?"
"It went a lot better than I thought it would. I didn't mention Paul.....They don't need to know about that. I told them about what had been on my mind for a while, about meeting Maggie for lunch and then meeting you and the kids. Of course mom knew right away who you were. They asked all the usual questions, and then my dad finished by telling me to be 'careful'."
"I know, I got pretty much the same speech from my folks," I said.
"So, how are things really going?" Jake asked.
"Okay. I met with the lawyers today. We're going to go up to Albany next Monday to get my lottery ticket validated and everything. It turns out that the investment firm that they recommended to handle things for me financially also handles my parents' financial portfolio."
"Well that's a good thing."
"And I already have a possible tenant for the third floor space of my house, and I haven't even started to do any formal work yet."
"Really? Who?"
"Peter and Maggie."
"My Peter and Maggie?"
"Yup, the very same! I don't think she'd going to take 'no' for an answer!"
"It's better to give in now and admit defeat. Believe me, I know."
"I kind of came to that same conclusion myself."
"So what else?"
"What? Oh. Let's see....The family is going to descend like a bunch of vulture's on Friday. There was a token attempt to contest the will, but the rest of the family managed to nip it in the bud."
"Oh?"
"I'll tell you about it when you get back here."
"Okay....."
"Listen, I really hate to cut this short, but it's my reading time with the kids before they go to bed....."
"Oh....."
"I was wondering if I could call you back in.....say, an hour?"
He let out a breath, and I could hear the smile in his voice when he said, "Yeah, that would be great!"
"Good, then I'll talk to you later?"
"Yup, in an hour....."
"Bye Jake."
"Bye."
I closed the phone and put it back on the table, feeling quite a bit better than I had before it had rang.
Another twenty minutes of reading, and I got the kids ready for bed. After getting them settled for the night, I went in search of my dad. As usual, he was in his office at his drafting table.
"Hey," I said walking into the room.
"Hey yourself. Come see what your old man found."
I walked over to the desk to see a rather old looking set of floor plans spread out.
"What's this?"
"It's the original architectural plans for your house."
"Really? Cool!" We spent the next thirty minutes or so looking them over and brain- storming. I also asked him about he and my mom's investments, and he offered to go down to the office with me on Friday afternoon, after I got done at the house.
"Thanks dad."
"Anytime, son."
I headed out of the room and went down the hall to my own room, picking up my phone on the way. Getting comfortable, I dialed Jake's number and waited.
The alarm went off all to early at 5:30 the next morning and I got up and went in to shower. After drying off and getting dressed, I went into the kids' rooms and gave them each a kiss good-bye, a whispered, "Have a good day at school," and then went out into the kitchen to get something to eat before leaving for the studio. I had an idea that I wanted to discuss with Glenn, and I wanted to do it today, before I lost my nerve.....
Arriving at the studios, I immediately went up to Glenn's office, and knocked on the door.
"Michael, what brings you in so early?"
"I had an idea I wanted to pitch, and I wanted to do it before I chickened out....."
"Okay, have a seat," Glenn said as I approached his desk. "Now, what's your idea?" he asked once we were both sitting down.
"Well.....I had a thought.....What if Blake and Justin were driving home late one night. It's raining, Blake has had too much to drink, Justin hasn't, so he's driving. They're talking about their lives and how much they've changed over the past few years since discovering that they were brothers....."
"Go on."
"It could actually be the night of their Birthday's, since that's coming up soon....."
"Uh-huh."
"Anyways, Justin is driving Blake home from the party when this car comes from out of nowhere, maybe loses traction on the wet pavement approaching an intersection or something."
"Michael, are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Glenn asked.
"That depends, what do you think I'm suggesting?"
"Possibly killing off one or both of your characters? Do you want to leave the show?"
"What? No! God no!! I was thinking more along the lines of Justin needing major reconstructive plastic surgery due to the fact that their car gets hid broadside on the driver's side. You know, flying broken glass, twisted wreckage, the whole bit!"
"Hmmm."
"I think we should offer Mark the role of Justin....He knows both parts inside and out. And he and I already work well together. He's a great actor, and I think he deserves a chance to show how good he really is. Plus it would be a great opportunity to take the characters and actually play them together at the same time, and storyline development....I mean think about it....Here are two young men, who, for the past seven years, have always been comfortable in the knowledge that they were identical to one another in each and every way, and suddenly that is all taken away in a single instant, by a twist of fate.....And if you put us right next to each other, we actually look like we could be fraternal twins at least.....I really think it could work....."
"You've given me some really good ideas here today, Michael. Let me think it over and run it by the network exec's."
"Okay, cool.....I guess I'll head down to hair and make-up. And Glenn? Thanks for listening....."
"Anytime."
By the time we were through with hair and make-up, and dry rehearsals, and blocking, and technical meetings, it was time for lunch. I went down to my dressing room with Chantal and Mark Coleman, my body double, and came to a halt just inside the door. Sitting there on the coffee table was a vase full of vivid, blood-red roses. A secret smile stole over my features.
"Hmmm, I think our Mikey has a secret admirer, and if the smile on his face is any indication, he knows who it is!" Chantal sing-songed.
"Oh hush up!" I said, blushing. I started to reach for the card, but Chantal beat me to it.
"Oh! What's this? 'To Michael'! No signature?" she teased.
"Give me that!" I said snatching the card from her fingers. I looked at it. She was right, there was no signature. I grabbed my back-pack and took out my phone and speed dialed Jake.
"Hey!" he said. It sounded like he was someplace very crowded. "What's up?"
"They really are quite beautiful, but you really shouldn't have....."
"What's quite beautiful, and what shouldn't I have?"
"The roses! Come on Jake....."
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about, but I didn't send you any roses!"
I stood there, brow furrowed, phone to my ear, staring at the card in my hand.
"Okay, if you didn't send me two dozen perfect long stemmed roses, then who did?" I asked him.
"I don't know, but it sure as hell wasn't me. Maybe it was Maggie?"
"Oh, duh! Of course!" I said, suddenly feeling stupid.
"Okay, if that's all, I really need to get off of here."
"Where are you at anyways?"
"The airport, I'm coming back."
"Oh.....Will I see you tonight?"
"No, not if I miss my flight!"
"Okay, I get the hint, I'll see you later, bye!"
"Bye!"
I hit "end" and then scrolled down to Maggie's number and hit "dial."
"Hello?"
"Maggie? It's Michael. I just wanted to say thank you for the roses. They're beautiful!"
"I didn't send any roses, maybe it was Jake?"
"I just got off the phone with him, and he said he didn't send them either!"
"Is someone else trying to make time with my brother's boyfriend?" Maggie asked jokingly.
"I'm not sure what to think.....If you didn't send them and Jake didn't send them, then who did?" I asked, turning to look at the roses on the table.....It was beginning to look like I had a mystery admirer on my hands after all!
I walked out of the studio later that afternoon to find the usual fans requesting photo's and autographs, and smiled warmly as I began signing whatever people wanted signed, within reason, of course. I spotted Peter at the back of the crowd, but Maggie was nowhere to be seen. When I was done, he came over.
"You handle the whole 'celebrity' thing quite well," he commented.
"I do my best," I replied. "So, since you're here, I'm assuming Maggie told you about the trip by the house yesterday?"
"In great detail."
"Where is she anyways? I thought for sure she would be here to twist both of our arms over this....." I asked. Peter just laughed.
"She's finishing up shooting a movie with Oliver Stone. She said she would come by the house with the dogs when she's done, if that's okay," Peter replied.
"No problem."
"Cool."
"So, you wanna go check it out?" I asked, referring to the house.
"Sure," he replied.
"Let's go then," I said, and then followed as Peter led the way to a black Lexus that was parked nearby.
Peter's POV
Twenty-five minutes later, we were standing on the sidewalk in front of Michael's house, the Lexus parked at the curb right in front of the gate.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Michael asked as we stood looking through the bars of the tall wrought-iron fence that surrounded the property.
"Um, yeah....." I replied, awestruck. "That's putting it mildly!"
Michael chuckled in understanding. "I think one of the first things that went through my mind when I recovered from seeing it the first time, other than how big it was, was, 'this place would look so cool decorated for Halloween!' "
I jerked my attention from the house to look at Michael, who returned my look with a shit-eating grin.
"Well, can't you just picture it? I mean, doesn't this place look just like every haunted house you ever dreamed or fantasized about when you were growing up?"
I turned back to look at the house once more, and found I could indeed picture it, fake cobwebs, carved pumpkins, and all.....
"Come on, let's go inside so you can see it before Maggie gets here," he said with a wry smile as he took out the keys to unlock the gate, and we passed through and headed up the walkway to the porch.
I could see why Maggie wanted this space.....Once some of the walls came down and the space was opened up, it would be phenomenal.
"So, any more ideas for this place?" I asked.
"Yes, actually.....I've been giving serious thought to converting all the fireplaces to gas...."
"That's probably a good idea."
"And my dad, who's an architect, somehow managed to come up with the original floor plans for this place, too!"
"Right on!"
"Yup, I can hardly wait to get started on things around here!" Michael said excitedly.
"So, tell me more about what you're planning for this place," I suggested, and he did, explaining what he had in mind as we went from floor to floor, often showing me sketches that he had done, as well. We were interrupted when his phone rang. He took it out and smiled when he saw the caller ID.
"Hey, where are you? Okay, we'll be right out!" he said, then closed his phone.
"Maggie?"
"Maggie.....So I assume Jake told the two of you about Sunday morning?"
"Yeah.....So what, now you and Paul are suddenly best buddies?"
"I've always been a firm believer in the old saying, 'keep your friends close, and your enemies closer'." That caught me off guard and I burst into laughter as we walked out the front door. Maggie looked up, and the dogs started barking.
When we got down to the gate, Michael unlocked it and Maggie came in with the dogs, asking "What?"
"Oh yeah, he's definitely going to keep Jake on his toes....."
"Listen, there may or may not be any romantic feelings on Jake's part, but I've always thought of sex as a major step in any relationship, not just something that you jump into because it happens to feel good at that particular moment.....And despite what he said, I'm not sure what Jake's feelings are for Paul, or vice-versa.....You can't have a 'no strings attached' relationship, not even a sexual one, without some kind of strings.....So, yes, if that means that Paul Walker and I are going to become new 'best buddies,' then so be it!" Michael said.
"So? What did you think of the space?" Maggie asked in an effort to ease some of the tension that had suddenly sprung up. We were walking under the weeping willow's down toward the river, the dogs sniffing, and stopping to "water" something on occasion.
"Pretty nice. Once some of the walls come down and the space gets opened up, it's going to be great," I told her as we walked. "So, what else have you got planned?" I asked Michael as we continued our way around the property.
"Well, since you asked," he began, and then continued to outline his plans for the huge old house.....
Third Person POV
He sat at his computer, typing, scanning in photo's, downloading pictures from memory cards and arranging things until he was satisfied, then he exited the program and waited several minutes before he logged onto the website, Red_Angel.com. The counter listed him as visitor number one to the site. He looked at the various area's, checking out all the pictures, and was quite satisfied with his work, pleased that the site would be very innocuous and not draw any un-wanted attention. As long as he kept the photo content limited to ones that any paparazzi could have taken, and publicity shots, he was fine. When he was done, he logged off of his computer and went to watch that day's TIVO'd episode........
Jake's POV
I fastened my safety-belt as the plane began its final approach in to JFK International Airport. I had called Maggie earlier and she had been more than happy to provide me with Michael's parents address. Now all I needed to do was wait for the plane to land, grab my carry-on, get off the plane, and out of the terminal to catch a cab into the city and surprise my man.....
It was early evening, and as I made my way up and out of the boarding ramp, I saw Peter standing there waiting with everyone else, and felt a huge smile come over my face. As soon as I cleared the boarding area, Peter enveloped me in a quick, brotherly hug, and we were on our way.
"How did it go?" he asked.
"It went okay. Mom and dad really listened.....They didn't pass judgment on me, and they want to meet him next month when he comes out to LA for the Daytime Emmy's Before I left, dad gave me a box of condoms....." I said, blushing. Peter just laughed.
"So, where're we headed, hotshot, or do I need to ask?" Peter wanted to know, once we were out of the terminal and headed toward the short-term parking area.
"I think you already know the answer to that," I replied.
Before long, we were in Peter's Lexus and heading back into the city. Then we were in front of an older, multi-storied apartment building, and Peter was stopping the car. I turned to open the door, and was pleasantly surprised to see a doorman approaching to do it for me. I turned back to Peter.
"Don't wait up....."
Peter chuckled and I got out of the car, carry-on slung over my shoulder, and headed for the double front doors of the entrance.
Before I knew it, I found myself exiting the elevator and walking down the hall. I stopped and faced the door, mentally counting to ten before knocking. The door was opened several seconds later by a rather tall, slender, striking looking red haired woman who could only be Michael's mother. It certainly was easy to see where Michael got his coloring from! All except for her eyes.
Her hair was cut short, barely brushing the collar of her sweater in the back. Wispy bangs with blonde hi-lites brushed her forehead in the front. She wore a pair of dangly earrings, and her feet beneath a pair of jeans were bare. She wore a coral colored lip gloss and mascara. She didn't need anything else. She was quite simply the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life......
"Mrs. Orsini?"
"It's Winthrop, actually. Orsini was my maiden name. Won't you come in, Mr. Gyllenhaal?"
"Jake, please."
"Madeline, but my friends and family call me Maddie. Please, come in."
I entered Michael's parents' home, and found myself in a tastefully decorated, high-ceilinged apartment. Sitting on the sofa was Michael's father. Even sitting, I could tell he was tall, easily taller than me by several inches. He had salt and pepper hair that was a bit on the longish side, a long straight nose, and a strong jaw-line. And green eyes. Here was the other piece of the equation. He wore jeans, a faded blue work shirt, and well worn cowboy boots. Like father, like son, I thought to myself.
"Michael! You have a visitor!" Madeline Winthrop called out as she joined her husband on the sofa.
Several seconds later, a door opened down the hall across the room, and I could hear the sound of muffled foot-steps approaching. And then, he was there, and before I even knew what to expect, my carry-on was on the floor by my feet, and he was literally running across the room and jumping into my arms, legs wrapped around my waist, arms around my neck. We looked into each others eyes for what seemed like forever, but in reality, it was just a few seconds.
"God, Gyllenhaal, I thought you would never get back," he murmured quietly, and then we were in a full-blown, all-out kiss........
Well, there it is, part 7, at long last.....You will probably notice the change in the last name of Michael's family, from Peterson to Winthrop.....I decided to do this after a reader said that the name Peterson "creeped them out". Once I started to think back on all the news worthy events of the past couple of years, it kind of had the same effect on me, so henceforth, Michael's family's last name will be Winthrop.....Now, I'm going to issue a challenge to any and all artists.....I want to know what YOU think Michael looks like.....I'm looking for sketches-- pen, pencil, color, black and white.....Let me see what you come up with. Avy, who many of you know as the author of Jake's Cowboy, has said that if there is enough response, we will start posting your entries on the Gyllenhaal Chronicles website, so lets see what y'all can come up with! My email address remains the same, dnsphelps@mcsi.net I now have three IM's. yahoo and msn are the same--twains_fan_03, but AIM has changed. It is now GuyOregon8, so let me hear from you, and remember to write the authors of your favorite stories! We crave the feedback!
Thanks,
Stephen