Tristan Trilogy- Story 3

CHAPTER 23

Nick was too upset to talk to Holly rationally then but he made it clear that he wanted to ‘have a few words’ with her when they got back from the studio. Holly knew that those words would be about Jerald. As soon as Nick left, with an extremely reluctant Kevin, Holly barged into Amanda and AJ’s room and began furiously bouncing the edge of the mattress, forcing Amanda awake.

“Jesus F. Christ!” Amanda complained loudly, holding on to her pillow for dear life. “What in the hell is going on! What do you want? Damn!…” She could barely open her eyes.

“I need your phone book, Amanda!” Holly panted. “Quick! Where is it?”

“Shit, Holly!” Amanda growled. “Wait a minute! Let me wake up, for God’s sake!”

“Hurry up! Where is it?” Holly began fumbling through the night stand, searching for the directory. What she found instead was a collection of toys and battery operated devices. Holly had no doubt that these things had been delivered by mail in unmarked wrappings. “What the hell is this?” she asked curiously, holding up two small glass balls that were connected by a narrow strip of leather.

“Give me those!” Amanda snapped, grabbing the ben-wah balls and throwing them back into the drawer. She slammed the drawer with a bang and glared at Holly. “What’s the big emergency! What do you need my book for?”

Holly was still staring at the drawer, momentarily distracted.

“Holly!”

“Oh…yeah… I need to make a phone call. I don’t have the number.”

“I figured that…” Amanda frowned, rolling her eyes. “Who are you calling?”

“Nevermind! Just get me the book - please?” Holly pleaded.

“Not until you tell me what’s going on! Now, sit!” Amanda commanded patting the mattress.

Holly sighed and took a seat. Amanda had always been teased about carrying an Orlando directory with her on tour, but there had been occasions where it had come in handy, especially overseas when getting information from a foreign operator was questionable at best. Very little went on that Amanda and AJ didn’t know about. They were both intensely curious people.

“Did you see the pictures in that magazine downstairs? ‘Reputations’?” Holly asked.

“See them? I bought the damn magazine. Why? What happened?”

“Kevin saw them, too.”

“Yeah. I was there when he looked at them. They were pretty brutal…”

“What was his reaction? Did he get upset?”

“No…” Amanda growled impatiently. “Why?”

“Well, Nick found Kevin passed out this morning. He was outside on the terrace. From what I’ve been able to gather, he was out for most of the night. He came back here, started drinking and called Tristan.” Holly paused and closed her eyes. “Jerald’s there with her…..”

“So?” Amanda eyed Holly curiously. She remembered Holly’s uneasiness concerning Jerald. Is this what that was all about? “I would think that Kevin would be glad that she wasn't”...

“Amanda,” Holly said softly. “….the pictures?”

“Yeah?” Amanda was silent for a moment. Then her eyes widened at the implication she was hearing. “No! Kevin doesn’t really think that…”

Holly cut her off. “Kevin said, and I quote, that ‘my brother has a hard-on for my wife…” She looked down at her fingers as she began twisting them in the hem of the sheet. Amanda waited and after a moment, Holly met her gaze. “I think he’s right…”

“Hmmm…” Amanda sighed thoughtfully. “So Kev is all fucked up over this, right?”

“I think that’s a reasonable evaluation. I think he didn’t want to leave her to begin with. I think he’s worried about her and I think that he feels like he’s a lousy husband and that he’s not doing right by her. He sees his brother there for her. I think he’s as disgusted with himself as he is mad with Jerald.”

“If what you say is true, then I doubt that.” Amanda smirked. “You said he was out last night after he saw the pictures. Do you know where he went?”

“No…”

“Do you think he was cheating on Tristan?” Amanda asked. “Did you try to read him?”

Holly began to rub her temples. Her head was starting to hurt. “Nick asked me the same thing, but I’ve really been trying to bury that talent. Sometimes it’s better not to know these things. Besides, he’d been drinking. Alcohol, drugs - anything like that- can screw up vibrations. I don’t know what to think. Nick did come out and ask Kevin if he was screwing around last night.”

“And?”

“And he wouldn’t answer… Amanda, we know that Kevin keeps things to himself. I’m surprised he said as much as he did this morning. He is fucked up - conflicted. I don’t know how else to put it. It’s like he’s starting to slide or something. He needs Tristan and she needs to get over here. I’m going to call her and tell her that, but first I’m going to call her doctor myself and see if he’ll give her the go ahead.”

“It’s still the middle of the night over there!”

“I don’t give a shit…”

******************

Max was growing impatient with Kevin’s sullenness and attitude. Actually, it was his lack of attitude that Max found disturbing. Kevin didn’t seem to care if they managed to lay any tracks or not or whether the quality of those tracks was good or bad. AJ had seemed to step into the role that Kevin previously occupied, asking for repeated takes and criticizing vocals. Kevin didn’t even seem to listen to the playbacks. The group was not tight as they had been in ’98 and on top of this, Max had encountered problems with the mixer. Danny seemed to think that he was Phil Spector personified. Although Max did, indeed, want some of the group’s numbers to emulate the ‘wall of sound’ that Spector had perfected in the ‘60’s, Danny was too heavy handed and, all too often, the vocals were smothered by instruments and echo. Some tracks screamed for a light touch and simple blending but Danny was unfamiliar with this concept. More than once, Max had wished that Tristan were at the boards. He felt swamped and knew that he would probably spend many hours trying to mix tracks - hours that needed to be spent recording and revising. Max had tried to be quiet but today had been impossible. Kevin had been either silent or surly since he arrived with Nick earlier. He opened the intercom and spoke to Kevin through the glass.

“Kev, excuse me, please, but I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

Kevin turned laconically toward the glass the separated the studio from the control booth.

“What did you misunderstand, Max?”

“I thought you wanted to get back home but I can see now that you want to spend a couple more weeks in Stockholm. If something doesn’t change in a hurry, we’ll all be here until the end of August…” Then he added, “Jive isn’t going to like that much. I’m very expensive…”

Kevin’s fuse had been shortened considerably since last night. He didn’t want to explode again. He just wanted to take a pill and go to bed. He spoke softly, trying very hard to keep the anger out of his voice.

“I don’t really give a shit what Jive likes, Max.” he said matter-of-factly.

Kevin’s retort made Max angry. “Well, how about what I like, Kevin? Believe it or not, the Backstreet Boys aren’t the only group I work for…”

“Yeah, Max..” Kevin was rising from his stool. “We all know who else you work for..”

Max rose too and Howie assumed his peacemaker role, sure that a blow up was eminent.

“Now, you guys… We’ve been at this for several hours and everybody’s tired. Why don’t we get some rest… my throat’s getting a little scratchy, anyway. What say we come back tonight and finish this song. I think we do a little better in the middle of the night anyway. We have a strong second wind and stuff like that…”

The rest of the group seemed to agree. They weren’t getting anywhere as things stood now. Max stood glaring at Kevin and then threw a handful of sheet music down on the console.

“Fine…” he said disgutedly.

Kevin returned Max’s glare with one of his own and jerked his headphones from around his neck.

“Fine!” he repeated loudly and stormed out of the studio. “I’m going to bed.”

********************

Luck was eluding Holly today. Amanda convinced her to wait until three PM to make her call to Dr. Malone, assuming that his office would be open at nine AM Orlando time. The office was open, but only to schedule appointments. Dr. Malone was spending the week in the Carolina mountains. Any emergencies were being referred to another specialist. When Holly called Tristan, Jerald answered the phone. She tried to be polite and succeeded but not without effort. Tristan wasn’t home, either. She was in rehearsals for tonight’s benefit and Jerald didn’t expect her back before five. She was planning to run home, change and get back to the concert hall. Her performance was at seven.

Shit…. Kevin had barged into the villa an hour ago and went straight to his room and slammed the door. Nick had replayed the standoff between Kevin and Max at the studio and said that they were taking a break and would go back later tonight and try to get some work done. Holly tried to figure the time differences and schedules in her mind. Near as she could figure, Kevin and Tristan hadn’t spoken since his call to her in the middle of last night and wouldn’t have the chance to speak to her again until tomorrow. Holly feared he might be in a tailspin before then.

*********************

Charlie Mancuso had already snapped a roll of film of Jerald through the windows of Kevin’s house. God bless the telephoto lens…. The fence had been fairly easy to maneuver. He was disappointed that Tristan didn’t seem to be around but that frustration disappeared within an hour after his arrival at the Richardson house when Tristan came squealing through the gate just after five PM. He was doubly delighted to see that she held a copy of ‘Reputations’ in her right hand. He was happier still to see that she was obviously pregnant. As she entered the house, he positioned himself at the edge of the French doors leading to the veranda. To his surprise, a very upset Tristan headed in his direction on her way out to the back yard. Charlie had to make a dive behind a thankfully large stand of oleander. Jerald was on her heels asking her what was wrong and trying to calm her down. It looked like Charlie would be blessed with sound as well as sight.

“What’s wrong with you, Tris, honey? What the hell has happened?”

Charlie focused his lens and started snapping away, ignoring any rules of photographic composition. Tristan whirled around to face Kevin’s brother as he continued to release the shutter. The pictures would later show her to be angry and upset.

“This happened, Jerald!" Tristan shouted, waving the magazine in front of him. Kevin said he’d seen some pictures in this… this… rag! They upset him! This is what was wrong with him last night!”

Tristan handed the magazine to Jerald and he continued to try and calm her by putting his arm around her shoulder and leading her away from Charlie’s position to a bench under a nearby tree. The distance could be closed by his lens but the sound was now gone. That was okay. The shots would still be quite usable. Jerald making himself at home in his brothers house, Jerald following Tristan out of the door, Tristan being upset and holding a copy of the magazine, Jerald putting his arm around her and bending down to her face, the two of them sharing the bench and finally, Jerald hugging her and rubbing her back. Charlie knew that Jerald was trying to be the voice of reason and suspected that his embrace was anything but sexual but the readers would never know that. These snaps would be screaming with misleading captions.

After a few moments, Tristan pulled herself away from Jerald and ran back into the house. Charlie was sure he got a shot of her pulling away and hoped that it would look as if Jerald was making an unwelcome advance. Just before she disappeared inside, Jerald had called to her, saying that he would drive and soon after entered the house himself. Charlie left the confines of the yard and went to his rental car, reloaded his camera and waited to follow the couple to their unknown destination.

After an hour, the front door opened and Jerald came outside, dressed quite nicely in a light gray suit. He held the door for Tristan who followed wearing and off the shoulder, vee-neck dress with capped sleeves. It boasted a back-on-black embroidered chevron design and featured an very low cut vee-shaped back. Charlie had to look twice. The dress disguised Tristan’s pregnancy quite well.

He followed the navy Suburban into downtown Orlando to the Symphony Hall where Charlie spotted the marquee which featured Tristan’s name as featured performer for the evening’s event. ‘Sold Out’ in red letters had been added to the sign. That’s where Charlie temporarily lost sight of his prey. Tristan and Jerald pulled up to he front door amid a flurry of photographers and a valet whisked the Suburban away. Charlie watched for a moment, noting Tristan’s plastered on smile. Jerald expertly whisked her through the doors and they disappeared.

Charlie stopped his rental and waved to one of the uniformed young men who had been hired to park cars for the evening.

“Any chance I can get a spot near that navy Suburban that you parked a few minutes ago?” he asked, waving a twenty dollar bill in the young man’s face for encouragement. “I want to be able to drive it out myself.”

********************

Despite having swallowed the blue and black capsule half an hour earlier, Kevin was having a difficult time going to sleep. He glanced at the clock. 4:30 PM. It would be 10:30 in the morning in Orlando. What is she doing today? Oh, I forgot. She has a recital tonight. She didn’t tell me it had sold out. I had to hear that from Mason. Jerald will be taking her, I’m sure. More pictures… More pictures of her and Jerald together than of her and me… She’s doing fine without me there. Just fine….

Kevin finally fell into a fitful sleep punctuated by disturbing images and events. Nick shook him awake at ten o’clock, in time to shower and to eat something before they went into the studio once again. He noticed that the guys were all keeping their distance. When he went downstairs, he glanced at his watch. 10:30 here, 4:30 in Orlando. Almost showtime…

The recording went almost without incident. Max and Kevin tiptoed around each other for most of the session. They took a break at two AM and, again, Kevin checked the time. It was eight PM in Florida. She must be finished. Kevin wondered if Jerald would take Tristan out to dinner or maybe they would go to some planned post-benefit party. He wondered if she was having fun. He wondered if she missed him. He wondered how much he had upset her last night and why she hadn’t tried to call him back.

The recording session broke up at four in the morning and, once again, Kevin returned to the villa. He was too tired to be edgy and too melancholy to be tense. He’d had nothing to say on the way back to the house and had answered questions with shrugs and grunts. They should have been home a week ago, yet he was the only one who seemed to mind the delay. He decided to call Tristan. It wasn’t too late in Orlando - only 10:30. She should be home by now. Kevin picked up the phone beside the bed and started dialing. He shouldn’t have screamed at her when he called night before last but how could she not see what was happening? Kevin’s biggest fear was that Tristan had seen what was happening and didn’t care. His worry was that she was enjoying Jerald’s attention. His nightmare was that she could feel safe with another man - his very own brother. Any hope of mollification and reassurance drifted further away with each unanswered ring of the phone. No one picked up and the answering machine had been turned off. He couldn’t even leave a message.

*******************

Jerald was waiting for Tristan backstage when her performance was finished. She’d agreed to one encore and received three curtain calls before she could finally make her escape. Charlie was waiting backstage as well. All he’d had to say to gain access was ‘I’m with Ms. Mallory.’

He kept at a discreet distance and began shooting again. When Tristan or Jerald cast a wary glance in his direction, he simply pointed the camera elsewhere, making it look like he was documenting the entire benefit and not focusing on it’s principal performer and her brother-in-law.

He watched Jerald pull her into a congratulatory embrace, which seemed to last just a little too long. Tristan pulled away with effort. She looked nervous and serious.

“I’m going to make a call, Jerald. I’ll be right back.”

“Now? What about the party? People will be expecting to see you..”

“I’ll be right back. It won’t take a minute..”

With that she had hurried off, leaving Jerald to mix with stage personnel and orchestra members all by himself. She was back a few minutes later.

“Are you ready?” Jerald asked, taking her arm.

“I can only stay for half an hour..” she answered, fumbling through her bag.

Jerald stopped, forcing her to do likewise. “What do you mean? People want to see you, Tris..”

Jerald ran his hand up and down Tristan’s arm as he waited for her reply. Tristan glanced down at Jerald’s hand lingering on her arm and, for a fleeting moment, a look of confusion spread across her face. Then she looked into his face, as if studying him.

“I..I want you to take me to the airport, Jerald. I just called and made a reservation. There’s flight leaving for Sweden in ninety minutes.” Jerald was already shaking his head. “I’m going to be on it…”

“No, Tris. You can’t do that. You’re not suppose to travel, remember?” Jerald’s hands had moved up to her shoulders, holding her steadfastly. “Kevin wants you to stay here - safe.” When she began to protest, Jerald chuckled and pulled her into a hug. “He’ll be back soon, hon. I’ll just be his temporary replacement. He’d want me to look out for you…”

“I am going, Jerald. I’m flying to Sweden - tonight.”

Jerald still held Tristan against him. Charlie could hear the light tone of his opposition but saw alarm and disappointment etched on his face. He continued to take his pictures.

“No, Tris. You have to stay here. With me.” Jerald whispered into her hair. “I’ll take care of you - and the babies, too.”

Tristan stiffened and suddenly Kevin’s words and anger made sense. She knew that Jerald was fond of her, but she never thought…. She closed her eyes, feeling both stupid and ashamed.

“Get you hands off my ass, Jerald…”

Shit! God damn it! Motherfucker! Charlie had been reloading his camera and had missed Jerald's pass….

Jerald’s eyes flew open as if he had been shot. He discovered that, indeed, his hands were cupping Tristan’s backside and he was pressing her against him. An unconscious move. He hadn’t realized what he was doing… I was doing what I’ve been wanting to do… Christ… I’m fucked…

Jerald jerked himself back, stammering. “Tris!…I…I’m sorry! I didn’t mean..”

“Please, Jerald…” Tristan interrupted. Her voice was soft, low and without anger. “I have to go. I don’t want us to speak of this again. Okay?” She took a few steps and then hesitated, turning back to him. “I’ll catch a cab to the airport…”

Jerald cast his eyes to the floor. There was no need to add insult to injury by denying that he had made an overt pass. “I’ll pack my things and move out tonight.”

“No. I don’t want you to do that. I want you to stay at the house. I want you to be there when we come home. It’s important.” Tristan argued, walking back to him. “You’re Kevin’s brother…”

Jerald put his hands in his pockets and tried hard to look her in the eye. The final outcome of all of this would be in her hands. “Are you gonna tell Kev?”

“For what purpose? What would I say, Jerald?”

“You could say that his brother is attracted to his wife…”

Tristan took Jerald’s hand and gave him a gentle smile. “I think he already knows that.”

The whole episode had upset Tristan a great deal. She didn’t want anybody to be hurt or feel awkward but she also knew that those feelings would be unavoidable. She felt her best course would be to act as casually about this as possible, however difficult that may be. As long as she seemed affected by all of this, it would be impossible to move forward. A sibling relationship lasted longer than any other and could never be dissolved. Kevin and Jerald were both very much into ‘family’ and it was a quality she admired and missed in her own life. She would avoid doing or saying anything that would damage their relationship. Kevin loved his brother. Kevin loved her. He should never be put into a position where he would have to choose. If she had to lie, she would.

But right now, she had other things on her mind. She had heard Kevin’s tone grow increasingly bleak over the last few weeks and she knew he was holding back - trying to be strong and confident. His last call was altogether different. He needed her.

Email Grace

"Circling" is a work of fiction.
The characters and events portrayed are fictitious.
Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.

Copyright ©2000
All Rights Reserved
No part of this text may be copied or reprinted
without the author's permission.

  Direct linking to stories on this site without permission is prohibited and considered copyright infringement

~BEST VIEWED ON 800 X 600 SCREEN RESOLUTION~

Fiction by Grace