He nods shakily.
Fourteen minutes later we walk across the hotel lobby toward the fancy French restaurant on the other side with our fingers laced together. “Just so I know what I’m getting into, they know you’re gay?”
“Since I was sixteen.”
“And nobody is uncomfortable with it?”
“Are you kidding? My mother acted like she won the lottery.” Axel chuckles, his mouth tipping up in a grin that’s whimsical and not a common feature for him. “She’s a rock groupie, liberal, free-love, flower child. Having a gay kid gives her street cred. And my dad is bi.”
“Really?” I don’t know why that shocks me.
Axel nods. “Oh yeah. I mean, he’s madly in love with my mom but before my mom, he was dating a screenwriter named Micah. And before that an actress. And before that an actor. He didn’t even blink when I came out.”
“Cool.” I have heard so many horror stories for gay kids coming out to their families. I’m glad Axel didn’t live one.
We enter the restaurant and before the host can bring us to the table, a girl with long dark hair and dark eyes just like Axel's pops up from a round table by the window. She waves, blood-red nails flashing, and a smile much less inhibited than Axel's normal smile is plastered on her pretty face. Axel takes a breath and seems to hold it as he guides me toward her.
“Hi! I’m Cordelia. Or Cordy if you’re family. Or Delia if it’s work. You must be my new brother-in-law!” she chirps and pushes Axel to the side so she can hug me.
I chuckle and hug her back. “Technically it was a commitment ceremony and not a legal marriage. The media keep getting it wrong.”
"Well, whatever it was, giving your parents a heads up Axel Jericho Maximus Walsh Hemming, would have been a good idea," a woman from the other side of the table says. With the same dark hair and high cheekbones, but much lighter eyes and slightly darker skin, she must be his mother. She's gorgeous and elegant in a bohemian way. She stands and levels those piercing eyes at me. "I was so flipped out I couldn't meditate for a week."
“I’m sorry for the anxiety, and lack of meditation,” I say before Axel can apologize. I reach across the table with my hand. “I’m Gabriel. Nice to meet you.”
“I know who you are. You’re gorgeous and naughty. My two favorite things.”
“Mom!” Axel groans.
“Yes, Rosebud, love. Don’t scare the man,” Dominic Hemming stands up and now I’m shaking his hand. He’s a very tall, very fit man with Axel’s pale complexion and dimpled chin. He smiles at me and it’s as reserved and guarded as his son’s. “Let’s sit and order. I’m fighting a losing battle with jet lag and I’m sure Gabriel has to have an early night.”
I nod and Axel and I sit. The meal goes really well. Axel wasn't kidding, his family is a lot but for me, it's a bit of a dream. I grew up alone. An only child with one parent. My dad only had one sibling, a brother who disowned him when he came out as gay. My grandparents died before I was born so this larger, tight-knit family is fascinating and attractive. By the time we’re enjoying coffees, I’m exhausted but glad I made the sacrifice and came. Especially when his dad mentions Eric and Axel’s hand, which I have been holding under the table, goes limp.
“Dom, honey, not now.” Rosebud, who has admitted her real name is Sharon but she hasn’t used it since she was seventeen, shoots her husband a glare that only a wife can pull off.
And like a long-married husband, he ignores it. “I want to formally apologize for hiring that twat, Axel.”
I squeeze his hand because Axel isn’t saying anything. He also isn’t looking at me, or anything but the remnants of his cappuccino. “I take it, it didn’t work out?”
“No. The bastard charged me half a million and then didn’t deliver any real traction,” Dominic rants. “A couple of blog interviews with the stars. And some Facebook ads, where he spelled the name of the movie wrong. Sure he fixed it as soon as I called him screaming but—”
“You shouldn’t have to tell a public relations firm how to spell the name of the movie,” Axel interjects, sounding annoyed.
"Anyway, I am suing him. But in the meantime I need someone to stop the bleeding," Dominic tells his son. "The festival circuit is coming up. I need to get this film into Cannes, but with no buzz, I don't see that happening."
“I have a few names I can call who might be able to work with you,” Axel says.
Cordy flicks her brother with her napkin. “He wants you to work with him you dopey koala!”
“Me? No.”
“Why? Do you have another job?” Dominic demands.
Axel’s eyes flash to me. Finally. He looks so absurdly uncomfortable. And then he drops my hand, which he was barely holding anyway, and pushes his chair back. “You’re right. Gabe has to rest for tomorrow and I’m sure your jetlag is all-consuming at this point. Let’s pick this up in the morning.”
“Sure. That should give you some more time to figure out how to avoid working with me,” Dominic snaps, and I’m suddenly wondering what the hell I’m missing and then Axel stands up.
“Avoid working with you? You didn’t ask me to work with you. You just hired my ex and never even told me. I had to read about it in Variety,” Axel retorts heatedly.
