Happy World (20 page)

Rory’s skin glistened with sweat, and he looked pale. He stumbled and held his hand up. “Need a break, Charlie.”

“Bullshit. Keep going.”

“I’m not going to get sick again because of you. I need a fucking break,” Rory snarled.

Charlie whacked Rory on the thigh with his sword. “You’ll keep going until I say to stop, or I’ll have your little boy toy thrown out of the Park on his ass.”

Kyle heard the door behind him open, but ignored it. He’d often heard about people getting angry and claiming to see red, but never experienced it himself until that moment. Right then, he wanted to take that sword, shove it up Charlie’s sphincter, and give it a good twist. He stalked onto the rehearsal floor, and got between Charlie and Rory. “Leave him alone, Taylor!” He turned to Rory, still fuming. “You go sit down before you fall down. And eat something. You look terrible.”

Charlie blustered, looking surprised that Kyle would dare interrupt him. He bared his teeth at Kyle. “Are you kidding me? What do you think you’re doing? This is a closed rehearsal, asshole. Only performers are supposed to be in here, not glorified garbage men. I call the shots in here, jerk-off, and I say he needs more practice!”

“I don’t really care what you say. Rory’s health is more important than the stupid parade, or your bloated ego,” Kyle said. He sounded far more composed than he felt. Inside, he was seething.

Charlie barked out an incredulous laugh. “Why don’t you just take your little grabby claw and go back to cleaning up puke before you don’t have a job to go back to?”

“Back off, Charlie.”

Kyle jumped when Rory growled close to his ear. He was so angry with Charlie that he’d nearly forgotten Rory was there. “Didn’t I just tell you to go sit down and eat something? I’ve got this.”

“Aw, isn’t this sweet? Rory’s boy toy thinks he’s all that.” Charlie suddenly reached out and gave Kyle a hard shove that nearly knocked Kyle on his ass. “Get out. You’re through here, asshole. Done. Pack your gear, turn in your costume, and go home. You’re fired.”

“You fucker!” Rory snarled.

Kyle quickly insinuated himself between Charlie and Rory before Rory could take a swing at Charlie. In Rory’s condition, he’d probably fall over. “You can’t fire me! You’re only an Actor, the same as everyone else.”

Charlie laughed, and shoved Kyle again. “I’m Daniel-the-fucking-Dragon Slayer. I can do anything I want. My word is law around here.”

“Well, actually, no, it’s not. But mine is.”

The look on Charlie’s face was priceless when he turned around to see the source of the new voice and saw Roarke Stafford, Senior standing at the back of the rehearsal hall, along with the usual entourage of suits.

Charlie looked as if he’d been sucker-punched, although Kyle admitted the slimy little bastard tried to rally quickly. “Mr. Stafford! What a surprise. Welcome, sir. We were just working through our last rehearsal before the new parade tomorrow, but had a little trouble. It’s all taken care of, though.” He turned to glare at Kyle. “Right? You were just leaving.”

Rory stepped forward and put an arm around Kyle’s shoulders. “No, he wasn’t. But I think you may be.”

Kyle shrugged off Rory’s arm. “If you don’t go and sit down and eat something, I’m going to use your bullwhip to hogtie you, and force feed you. I told you I had this covered.”

Charlie didn’t seem to know what was going on. His confused expression was almost comical. He turned toward Mr. Stafford. “Sir, I’m really not sure what to do with these two. They’re nothing but trouble.” He pointed to Kyle and Rory, each in turn. “This one is only a Groundskeeper, but because he didn’t make the cut in the casting calls, he keeps interrupting our rehearsals and bothering our Actors. I really think he should be fired. And this one was given the part of Pierre, but quite frankly, he’s just not good enough. I think giving him the role was a mistake. He has a stand-in who will do fine in the parade tomorrow.”

Mr. Stafford walked up to them, scratching his chin. “Really? That’s too bad. I’d like to think my son would be terrific in the role of Pierre.”

Charlie turned as pale as milk. “Your... son?”

“Oh, didn’t you know? Rory is my son. And Kyle, here, is his boyfriend. Fine young man, too. Called me and asked me if I wanted to come watch the dress rehearsal for the new parade. I thought it was a great idea.”

Kyle ignored them both, grabbing Rory by the elbow and marching him off to the side. He sat Rory down in a chair and pushed a granola bar at him. “Eat.”

Rory looked flabbergasted. “You called my dad?”

“Of course I did. Somebody had to take care of you. You certainly weren’t doing it for yourself.”

“I’m not a little kid who needs help with a bully at school, Kyle.”

“Never said you were. You’re not eating.” He unwrapped the granola bar and stuck it in Rory’s mouth before Rory could say anything else, then turned around to watch the show.

For the first time in the years Kyle knew him, Charlie seemed at a loss for words. He was pale, his eyes darting back and forth between Rory and Mr. Stafford. He was obviously trying to figure a way out of the mess he’d made, and wondered how much of the rehearsal Mr. Stafford had watched.

Mr. Stafford cleared his throat. His expression was no longer one of benign amusement. “I was standing back there for quite a while, and what I saw really disturbed me. You kept a fellow employee from taking a break when he obviously really needed one for medical reasons. You threatened another employee with termination, which you had no right to do, and physically assaulted him. This behavior is grounds for immediate dismissal.” He snapped his fingers, and a pair of suits strode up from the back of the room. “Escort Mr. Taylor to his locker. Get his costume and his ID, and see him off property. As of now, he is no longer employed by Happy World.”

Charlie’ s mouth popped open. “I’m Daniel the Dragon Slayer! You can’t do this!”

“Oh, but I can, and I did. You have an understudy. I’m sure he’ll do fine in the parade,” Mr. Stafford said, tossing Charlie’s words back in Charlie’s face. He turned to his men. “Get him out of here before I decide to press charges.”

They practically had to drag Charlie out of the room, but Kyle barely noticed. He focused his attention on Rory. “Your color is coming back. You know, I should be mad at you.”

“Mad at me? You called my dad!”

“Damn straight, and I’d do it again. You promised me you would take care of yourself, but you weren’t. You were letting Charlie run you into the ground again, and I wasn’t going to stand by and watch you collapse. I knew I couldn’t do anything about Charlie personally, but I knew somebody who could.”

Mr. Stafford joined them. “That’s right, and don’t think I’m not upset with you for not telling me about this yourself, Rory. I know that you didn’t want to use your influence with me, but I couldn’t understand why you didn’t file a complaint against this Taylor person. When Kyle told me the whole story, I knew I had to step in, and not just because you’re my son. I don’t expect any of my employees to have to put with such nonsense.”

Rory smirked. “Yeah, I guess there’ll be a few hundred employees who’ll be sending you thank-you notes over this. Charlie was a royal pain in the ass to everybody.”

“Use your head next time, son.” Mr. Stafford smiled at Rory, then patted Kyle on the shoulder. “He’s a good man, Rory. A keeper. Don’t screw it up with him.”

Rory grinned at Kyle. “Oh, I don’t plan on it, Dad.”

Kyle blushed, but couldn’t help smiling. Things had turned out better than he’d ever dreamed. He only hoped Rory wasn’t too angry with him for going over Rory’s head. He peeled open another granola bar for something to look at besides Rory and Mr. Stafford, trying to control his emotions. A keeper. How about that? More than anything, Kyle knew he wanted Rory to keep him.

Mr. Stafford glanced at his wristwatch. “I have to run. I have a meeting this afternoon. I hope to see you both for dinner next week. How about Friday night at Martinique?”

“We’ll be there, dad.” Rory hugged his dad goodbye, and Kyle shook his hand.

“Take care of my boy, Kyle.”

“I will, sir.”

After Mr. Stafford left, Kyle glanced around the room. Every Actor in the place had been watching the scene unfold. “Guess your secret’s out, huh?”

“Yeah, thanks to a certain busybody who couldn’t keep his mouth shut.”

“You’re mad at me, huh?”

Kyle felt a wealth of relief wash through him when Rory grinned. “Nah. Guess I need somebody to look after me now and then.” Rory laughed. “Boy, I thought you were going to rip Charlie a new one there for a minute.”

“If your dad hadn’t shown up when he did, I would’ve.”

“My hero.”

Someone cleared their throat, and they turned to see the choreographer, Joanna, standing next to them. “Sorry to interrupt, guys, but we have a parade to put on tomorrow, and we’re going to have to pull in Charlie’s understudy to do it.” She grinned. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you. Do you think you can do it, Rory? I can call in your understudy, if not.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine. I just needed to eat a little something. I’m good now,” Rory replied. He gave Kyle’s hand a squeeze and looked at him. “Gotta get back to work, hon. Meet you after my shift?”

Kyle nodded. “You bet. You know that dessert I served you the other day?”

Rory’s smiled grew wider as he nodded.

“Good. You’re gonna get a double helping tonight.” He smiled at Joanna and left, with the sound of Rory’s laughter still ringing in his ears and warming his heart.

Epilogue

Six months later

Rory shoved his way out of the crowd that surrounded the call sheet in the break room. He knew it. He knew it! Oh man, this was so great.

The tunnel that led to the Freedom’s Fair area of the Park was a long and steep one with a short staircase at the end. Rory took the steps two at a time and burst out of the door that was covered in faux brick, ending up right behind Fort Freedom. He looked around wildly for the reason behind his mad dash, but Kyle was nowhere in sight.

The fastest way to find him would be to climb up, so Rory did. The fort had easy-to-access rope ladders and Rory scaled one of them, climbing hand over hand until he reached the top of the structure. From there he could see most of Freedom’s Fair.

Late winter in Happy World was considered an off-peak time, luckily. Guests still wandered here and there through the Park, but the crowds were nothing compared to the summer season. It only took Rory a moment to spot Kyle behind a wide brick planter, broom in hand.

He shimmied back down the ladder and made a beeline for the planter. Kyle was trying very gingerly to use his claw to grab a paper napkin from the flower bed without pulling out the delicate blossoms at the same time.

“Hi!” Rory zoomed up and stood very close, close enough to get hit with Kyle’s elbow when he jerked back, startled.

“Hey, hi,” Kyle laughed. “Jeeze, you scared me. What are you doing here? You’re off today! And you invited me over later. Are you trying to get out of cooking me dinner? You better not be.” Kyle scowled.

“No, no. I’ll cook, I promise.” His new apartment had a small but functional kitchen, and Rory was learning to do more than just boil water for spaghetti. “I need to tell you something!”

Kyle reached out again and attempted to retrieve the napkin from the flowers. “So, tell me.”

Rory danced from foot to foot, unable to keep still. “Guess what just got posted backstage?”

Kyle froze for a fraction of a second, so quick it was almost undetectable. “I don’t want to know.” He managed to grab the napkin, finally, and shoved it into his dustpan. Then he glanced up at Rory. “I’m serious. Don’t tell me.”

“Aw, man.” Rory deflated at once and sank down onto the nearest bench. “Then let’s go look together! The call sheets got posted!” They’d been pretty quick this time, too. Auditions had only taken place four days ago.

“I’m working. I can’t leave my position.” Kyle still got that faint, lecturing tone in his voice whenever he rattled off one of Happy World’s rules, despite the fact that he’d had the future owner of Happy World’s cock in his mouth just last night. Rory thought that was kind of endearing. Frustrating, but endearing.

“Oh, fine.” Rory huffed out an irritated breath and stood up again. “When’s your break? I’ll wait.”

“Three hours. I just got here an hour ago.”

Rory sighed. “God. Okay, I’ll come back.” He rolled his eyes and stood up. “See you in three hours.” Kyle and his rules, Christ. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Rory wandered down the path in the direction of the turkey leg food cart. He was starving.

He was nearly out of range when he heard Kyle calling his name. “Rory. Rory!”

Rory turned and looked back. He took his hands out of his jacket pockets and raised them, palms up, in a silent question. If Kyle dared to quote again from Happy World’s handbook, Rory was going to kill him.

Kyle stood in the middle of the path, a tortured expression on his face. “Did I make it?” he finally asked, clearly unable to wait a moment longer.

Rory tried to hold back the grin, but it broke through anyway. “You sure as hell did. I told you that you’d make a great Prince Erik!” He made his way back down the cobblestone road to Kyle. “I told you!”

The broom and dustpan dropped to the ground with a clatter. Kyle flung his arms around Rory with enough force to knock Rory off balance, but luckily there was a bench behind them to steady him. “Holy shit!” Kyle cried, and Rory burst out laughing.

“You’re in costume,” he admonished. “No profanity while on stage!”

“Shut up.” Kyle continued to squeeze Rory tight, despite the odd looks they were starting to receive from guests.

Not that Rory had ever really cared about the rules here, but the absolute last thing he wanted now was Kyle getting in trouble before he’d even had a chance to put on Prince Erik’s crown. Rory gently detached himself from Kyle’s bear hug and dropped a quick kiss on his cheek. “We’ll celebrate later,” he promised. “God, I’m so proud of you.”

And he was, too. Kyle had come so far in the short time Rory had known him, and if truth be told, Rory had come a long way as well.