The prior day was incredibly stressful for Freddy and Michael. In addition to Freddy changing into Buddy at an important political function and back into his human self in public, his nude state was on the front page of the local news websites. To make matters worse, the police showed up just as they got home, along with a horde of reporters. This gave Freddy a split second window to run into the house undetected in order to change into something presentable.
“So you ignore our previous calls about the brick thrown at our window and the people stalking Freddy” Michael sternly said to one of the responding officers “but you decide to come here for this?”
“We’re just doing our jobs, sir” the officer responded.
“Well, you can come in and look wherever you need to, because the dog is not here. While you’re at it, you should give the photos of the brick thrown into our house to your precinct commander, so we can at least claim the money from our insurance company. We’ve had to fix this out of pocket, so it’d be nice to get some compensation for what we pay for.”
The officers ignored Michael’s comments, as they went into the house. Standing outside of his home were cameras and news reporters, looking to receive comment on Freddy’s disappearance. When the police searched the house, they turned up no evidence that any dog had ever been in the hour. No doggy smell, no shed fur, nothing. After looking for any other incriminating items, which did not turn up, the officers headed out to report back to their commander.
“Take the photos and file a report!” Michael exclaimed, as the officers left the house.
“Not our problem” one of the officers replied.
“It is your problem because—“
The officers got in their police car and drove out of the driveway, followed by reporters. Seeing a mob of reporters rushing towards his door, Michael slammed it shut and let out a loud shriek.
“Argh!” Michael yelled, turning away and crawling into a ball on the floor. “Freddy! I can’t take this shit anymore!”
Freddy tried to comfort Michael for the remainder of the evening, but it did not work. Just twenty four hours later, Freddy and Michael sat together on the couch, as they discussed the wave of negative publicity that went on non stop that morning.
“I can’t take this anymore” Michael groaned, as his communication device kept ringing off the hook. “This like the thirtieth call I’ve gotten this hour. I can’t take it anymore.”
“Shut the calling feature off” Freddy suggested. “It’s not going to do you any good to keep stressing out about this.”
Michael turned off the calling feature, as his home screen showed headlines of Freddy nude in public.
“This is incredibly embarrassing for me” Michael said. “Everyone in town has seen your behind today.”
“You think it’s embarrassing for you?” Freddy responded curtly. “What about for me? Everyone has seen my behind. From now on, whenever I go out into public, all anyone will think about is that photo.”
“Fortunately, most of our neighbors think it’s fake. The instant polling online today said that most people think the pictures were manipulated, which is a good sign at least.”
“That’s good and at least a testimony to my ability to convincingly lie.”
“That’s not a good attribute.”
“It is a politician’s attribute, however.”
“I thought your whole campaign was about challenging the political establishment, not winning office and then just acting like everyone else does.”
“You’ve got to admit, Michael. We’re lucky I was able to mitigate the damage from this. It could have been a hell of a lot worse.”
“The worst of it isn’t over yet. Your polling numbers went up this week, but those were taken before all this happened. In that same poll, your approval rating is almost 50% negative. And from a personal standpoint, I had to have my mother pick Evan up from school today so he wouldn’t be subjected to any more questions from reporters about seeing his father’s ass on the internet. Everyone in his school is making fun of him about it, Freddy. Saying his dad is a pervert and a sex addict and nicknaming you Freddy the Fuck Boy.”
“Jesus, kids can be so cruel…and so vulgar at such a young age. Aren’t they all eleven and twelve? Aren’t they a little young to be using language like that?”
“Freddy, kids find out about these things at a younger and younger age. But that’s beside the point. Evan can’t take this anymore and neither can we. If you’re to have any chance of salvaging your reputation, let alone winning the race, we’ve got a lot of work on our hands to try to move past this, with not a lot of people around to help us.”
“We’d have more help if we had more money.”
“Like anyone is going to give us any money after all that transpired yesterday.”
“Speaking of which, did you ever call Diya like I asked you to?”
“I couldn’t reach her.”
Freddy looked at Michael, who shamefully began to look down in his lap.
“You didn’t, Michael. Admit it.”
“Freddy.”
“Just say you didn’t call her.”
“Fine. I didn’t call her.”
“Why not, Michael? Diya has a lot of money and a donation from her could make a big difference in helping me out in this race.”
“I’m not sure where to even reach her, Freddy. She’s a rich and busy billionaire now. I haven’t spoken to her in a long time. I wouldn’t even know where to reach her, even if I wanted to. Besides, we didn’t exactly part ways on the best of terms.”
“It’s worth a shot, Michael. What do we got to lose?”
“What I’ve got to lose is my emotional stability that has kept me from totally blowing a gasket on you.”
“Michael, I know you’re nervous about trying to reach out to her, but it’s important that you at least make the effort. I’m sure if you could get in touch with her, that she’d at least hear you out, even if she ends up saying no.”
“I don’t know if I can do it, Freddy.”
“I’ll help you. Get out your communication device.”
Michael pulled out his communication device and turned back on the calling feature.
“Now find the last contact information you have for Diya” Freddy continued.
Michael searched through his archive of contacts, until he found the last number he had on record for Diya.
“Call her” Freddy insisted.
“I can’t do it. I’m too nervous.”
“I’ll be right here next to you the whole time. Now push the call button.”
Freddy gently held Michael’s hand, as he pleadingly looked into his husband’s eyes. Sighing, Michael pushed the button and the call began to connect. After eight rings, Michael was ready to give up.
“The number obviously doesn’t work” Michael said. “Let’s hang up now and—“
“Michael?” a voice on the other line asked.
Freddy smirked, as Michael began to feel a sense of fear wash over him.
“Yuh, yuh, yes” Michael stuttered out in reply.
“Oh my god, I thought I’d never hear from you again.”
“Is, is, is this Diya?”
“It most certainly is” Diya responded.
“But how? I thought you would have deleted this number by now.”
“In an effort to preserve my privacy, I forwarded all of my previous home, business and cell phone numbers to this device. That way, no one else would ever have access to them. It cost a pretty penny to buy them back from some people, but I can do almost anything with my money and access. But enough about that, how are you? How are things going with you?”
“Eh, could be better. Listen, Diya. I wanted to meet with you to talk about something in person.”
A silence was heard on the other end of the line. Michael thought for sure that he pushed too far, too fast, but Diya replied a short moment later.
“I’m really busy this month with my work and all that stuff. My calendar is pretty full. I have one open slot for lunch next Wednesday between 12 and 1 if you can make it. Normally, I use it as my one meal alone for the month, but for you, I’m willing to sacrifice that.”
Freddy beamed, as Michael hesitated to respond.
“Michael” Diya asked. “Are you still there?”
“Huh” Michael blurted out. “Oh, yes, I’m still here. Wednesday works great.”
“Can I ask what this meeting is going to be about?”
Freddy looked at Michael and shook his head no.
“I don’t feel comfortable talking about it on an un-secure line” Michael responded. “It requires being away from electronic devices or anything that could capture us discussing this.”
“Oh…..” Diya responded, drawing out the word in her voice. “Yeah, no I get it and I totally agree. If it needs privacy, this isn’t the best means to talk about this, though maybe you’d like to send it via secure messenger?”
“It requires a bit of a heart to heart chat.”
“Oh.....ok. Yeah, next Wednesday at 12. See you then. When you get here….you know where here is, right?”
“Yeah, the whole world knows where there is, Diya.”
“Right. So when you get here, tell the receptionist at the front desk that the codeword is wildflower. They’ll know what to do from there. See you next week, Michael.”
“You too, Diya.”
Diya hung up the call, as Michael looked up at Freddy with a nervous expression on his face.
“See” Freddy said, trying to be assuring “I told you it would work out.”
“I don’t think this is such a good idea” Michael responded. “I don’t know how she’s going to take to me coming to her and essentially begging for money.”
“It doesn’t hurt to ask. The worst she can say is no.”
“I think she thinks I want to reconcile with her, but I don’t. That’s the only reason I think she agreed to meet with me.”
“Well be honest with her and tell her the truth. If she says no, then at least we can say we tried. What’s the worst she can say?”
“I guess. Still, I’m nervous about it. I haven’t seen her in so long and we didn’t exactly part ways on the best of terms.”
Freddy leaned in and kissed Michael on his neck.
“It’ll be ok, Michael.”
Michael sighed, as Freddy continued to kiss him all over his neck and face.
“I love you, Michael. Thank you for doing this for me. It means a lot to me.”
“Don’t sweat it” Michael replied quietly. “I love you too, Freddy.”
Freddy lifted Michael up and carried him into their bedroom. From there, they made love, something that Freddy had longed for and Michael found surprisingly satisfying, considering his mood. After a glow washed over them, Michael got showered and dressed to pick up his son Evan from his mother’s house. When he arrived, his mother was already waiting for him, with Evan standing next to her in the open doorway.
“Bye grandma” Evan said, as he walked towards Michael’s car.
“Bye sweetie” Michael’s mother replied. “Tell Michael to come up here for a minute, please.”
“Ok. Dad, grandma wants to talk to you.”
“Oh lord” Michael replied, watching his son enter through the passenger side, as he got out of the car and headed up the steps of his childhood home.
Michael’s mother still lived in the house that Michael spent his teenage years in. It felt like home to her and she had no intention of leaving. Plus, when Freddy and Michael bought a house on a nearby street, it made Michael’s mother more inclined to stay put. Michael’s mother was already getting older, approaching her seventies. However, she had no intention to move to a smaller place; not for the foreseeable future, anyway. Her desire to stay close to her grandson would pay off in dividends later on.
Nervously approaching the front door, Michael went in for a hug and kiss.
“How are you holding up, Michael?” his mother asked.
Michael sighed and gave his mother an honest answer.
“Not great. Freddy put a lot of pressure on me to try to reach out to Diya. Shockingly, she picked up at the old number I had on file. Anyways, we set a date to meet up, but I’m nervous she’s going to be mad when she finds out that all I’m there for is to ask her for money for Freddy’s campaign.”
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, it probably won’t go great. However, if she doesn’t have security forcibly toss you out or psychically assault you yourself, you should consider yourself pretty lucky.”
“Freddy is such a stubborn donkey sometimes, mom.”
“Well, sometimes, so are you…and I am too…and your father was as well. You should be used to it by now. You come from a long line of stubborn stock.”
“I guess you never truly get used to it.”
“Michael, I’ve been thinking. Maybe you should let me look after Evan for a while. With all the attention you guys have been getting from the press, maybe it’d be a good idea to shield him from all of that until this passes over.”
“I can’t put that kind of burden on you, mom. You’re much older now and it’s a lot to take on having to parent a kid, even for a short period of time.”
“It’s no trouble at all, really. Evan is such a sweet boy. He kind of reminds me of you at that age, except sweeter—“
“Hey! I resent that.”
“But also not as smart.”
Michael smirked, as he and his mother embraced in a warm hug.
“Just think it over, ok?” his mother asked. “I don’t like driving at night to drop Evan off, so if you’re going to leave him here late, then you should consider it as an overnight visit. Really, though, considering how often I’ve been watching him these days, you might as well just leave him here for the duration of Freddy’s campaign. Whether it ends in November or sooner than that, I can handle it. Hopefully, it’s sooner….mostly for your sake.”
“I wish it would end sooner too, mom” Michael replied “but you know how Freddy is.”
“The offer still stands if it becomes too much for you to handle. Love you, Michael.”
“Love you too, mom.”
Michael gave his mother one last kiss, before he made his way back to his car.
“I love you, Evan!” Michael’s mother yelled out, as Michael got in the car and Evan waved to his grandma.
When Michael and Evan got home, Freddy came down to give his son a warm hug and kisses on the forehead.
“Welcome home” Freddy said, beaming with a proud smile.
“I’m not happy today, papa” Evan replied with a sadness in his tone.
“What’s wrong, Evan?”
“You know what’s wrong, papa. Everyone in school made fun of me today. They called me a pervert’s son, a freak and a butt boy with a butt dad.”
“Kids can be cruel sometimes. Don’t let them get you down.”
“Papa, was that really your naked body in the photos online?”
Freddy paused for a moment, as he stared as his solemn son.
“They were” Michael interjected. “He changed into a dog in public and then must have changed back when I wasn’t around. That’s why your papa was running towards me naked.”
“I missed it again?” Evan asked, with a frustration in his voice. “Ugh. How come I never get to see it?”
“You cheered up fast” Freddy sarcastically mumbled.
“I’d feel a lot better if I got to see it. At least once, papa. That’s all I ask.”
“Let’s get you to bed” Michael said, as he ushered his son up the stairs.
Evan groaned, as Michael brought him up to get ready for bed. Exhausted, Freddy sat down and began to ruminate in his thoughts. His campaign had caused a lot of stress for his husband and son. He loved them very much and hated to see them so unhappy. He had considered dropping out of the race multiple times and almost did so again yesterday. However, he didn’t go through with this thought.
Freddy was determined to see this race through to the end. He hoped to continue using his voice and his platform to shine a spotlight on the issues he was campaigning on. His words would have greater meaning behind them when an unexpected visitor showed up at his front door the next morning.
At the front door the next day was….