Is He Or Isn't He? (20 page)

“I think we've struck out,” Paige said.

“Check under his mattress. There's got to be a magazine under there.”

“Is that where you hide yours?”

“I'm not admitting that I buy those types of magazines, but if I did, I'd be much more clever with my hiding space. I'd never stick a magazine under my mattress.”

Paige lifted the mattress and took a peek. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Anthony gasped. “Not even an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog?”

“Nada. Zip.” Paige dropped the mattress and made sure the sheets were tucked back in and the bedspread was smooth. “It looks like this mission is a failure.”

“We've got to get answers before our party!” Anthony insisted. “There's no way I'm locking lips with Felix again. No way! And you know he's going to want to.”

“I think the two of you make a cute couple,” Paige teased.

“That's not funny!”

“Where's your sense of humor?”

“I left it downstairs.” Anthony checked the time on his watch. “We'd better get out of here.”

“Should we check his computer before we go? Maybe we can see what websites he's visited.”

“Good idea, but he probably has a password.” Anthony sighed. “I guess we've struck out. So much for my bright idea.”

Anthony and Paige were making their way back to the first floor when a voice called out to them.

“Hey! You two! What are you doing up there?”

Anthony and Paige froze in their tracks.

“Oh no! We're caught,” Paige whispered. “What do we do? What do we do?”

“Don't panic.” Anthony turned around with a smile, facing an older woman with a teased silver bouffant and wearing a black-and-white maid's uniform. “Hi. We're here to help with tonight's party. The agency sent us. The front door was open so we let ourselves in.”

“Finally! Follow me.”

“Lead the way,” Anthony said.

“Anthony, what are you doing?” Paige hissed.

“You don't want to get arrested, do you?”

“No!”

“Then just do what I do and we should be fine.”

They arrived in the laundry room where the maid pointed out a pile of wrinkled tablecloths and linen napkins on an ironing board. There had to be at least a hundred napkins.

“Those need to be ironed for tonight's party,” the maid instructed.

Anthony nodded his head. “Right. Ironed.”

“Call me when you're done.”

Anthony saluted the maid. “Will do!”

The maid turned to Paige. “You come with me.”

Paige widened her eyes at Anthony who indicated with his that she should do whatever the maid told her. After shooting Anthony a dark look, Paige left the laundry room.

After they left, Anthony inspected the tablecloths and pile of napkins. Okay, this shouldn't be too hard. Just turn on the iron and rub it back and forth over the fabric. Piece of cake.

Anthony turned on the iron and ran it over a tablecloth. He expected the wrinkles to disappear but they didn't. Hmm. Maybe the setting needed to be higher. Anthony turned the knob and tried again. Still nothing. He tried to remember what his family's maid, Wanda, did when she was ironing. Sometimes she had a bottle of water that she spritzed on the clothes she was ironing.

Anthony left the iron face down on the tablecloth and went to look for a spray bottle. When he got back to the ironing board, he could see wisps of black smoke wafting off the
tablecloth. Uh-oh. Not a good sign.

Anthony removed the iron to find a scorched triangle in the middle of the tablecloth. Yikes!

He rolled the tablecloth up into a ball, trying to decide what he should do with it. Finally, he tossed it into the dryer. Beginner's mistake. He'd do better with the next one.

Six scorched tablecloths and twenty scorched napkins later, Anthony still hadn't figured out the art of ironing. Deciding it was better to quit while he was ahead, he turned off the iron and went in search of Paige. He found her in the kitchen where she was sitting in front of a chopping block.

“Paige! Psst!”

Paige looked up from the pile of onions she was chopping, her eyes all wet and teary.

“Anthony!” she sobbed.

He grabbed her by the hand. “Come on! Let's get out of here. We weren't raised for this kind of work. We've lived in the lap of luxury for far too long!”

 

Thirty minutes later they were at the Frosted Cupcake sipping hot chocolates. Anthony was gazing at a photo of Max that Paige had taken on their weekend in the Hamptons.

“We have to ask him,” Paige said. “What else can we do? Every plan we've come up with has failed.”

“But it's going to mess everything up.”

“Wouldn't you rather know?”

“Yes. No. I don't know!”

“Who's that a picture of?” Roger asked while dropping off some extra marshmallows for their cocoa.

“Our crush,” Anthony said.

“
Our
crush?”

“We don't know if he's gay or straight,” Paige explained.

“And you both like him.”

“Uh-huh,” Anthony said.

Roger plucked the picture from Anthony's hand and stared at it. “Well, you both have good taste. He's cute.”

“You think?” Anthony asked.

“Yep. Just make sure he's not a player like your last boyfriend.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn't know how to tell you at the time and then when you broke up with him, I figured, well, what was the point? But Ian used to drop in here a lot without you. And it wasn't just for the cupcakes.”

“Spill it, Roger.”

“A lot of gay guys come here. You know that. Ian knew it, too. He'd flirt with them. Exchange phone numbers. That sort of thing.”

“I knew it!” Anthony exclaimed. “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! He was cheating on me way before P-Town!”

“You were right about him all along,” Paige said.

“How could I have such lousy taste in a boyfriend?” Anthony moaned.

Roger gave the picture of Max back to Anthony. “Not really. I mean, you broke things off with him. You went with your instincts.”

“Don't worry, Anthony,” Paige said. “You'll find your Mr. Right. Eventually.”

“Eventually could be five years from now. I want eventually to be today!”

“Why do you want eventually to be today?” Colleen asked, walking up to the table.

“Boyfriend issues,” Paige explained.

Colleen slipped into the armchair opposite Paige.

“What can I get for you?” Roger asked.

“I'll have a cup of peppermint tea. By the way, I love your vest. So colorful! Where did you buy it?”

“I made it,” Roger said, looking down at the colorful vertical stripes of his vest.

After Roger left to get Colleen's order, she reached into her gold python Gucci clutch and pulled out a flyer.

“Who would have thought a straight boy could be so stylish?”

“Maybe you should make a play for Roger,” Paige suggested.

Colleen rolled her eyes. “I come here a lot. I know the score. Roger likes them stick thin. That ain't me!” Colleen passed over the flyer. “If you two are still looking for boyfriends, this may be the answer to your problems.”

Anthony picked up the flyer. “What is it?”

“Peppington is having a Bachelor Auction in two weeks. It's for charity. The girls are going to bid on the guys. There's a list of who's participating on the back of the flyer.”

Anthony scrolled down the list. “Yes! Max is on it!” he exclaimed excitedly, his eyes lighting up.

“So?” Paige asked.

“This is it, Paige! Our final plan.”

“Oh, no,” Paige groaned, covering her ears. “I thought we were finished with plans.”

“We are after this one. Just listen to me. Are you listening?”

Paige reluctantly dropped her hands from her ears. “I'm listening.”

“We're going to go to this auction and you're going to bid on Max. Then after you win him and you're out on a romantic date with him, you're going to tell him how you feel.”

“And then?”

“And then he'll give you an answer.”

Paige snapped her fingers. “Just like that?”

“Just like that!”

“In case you've forgotten, we haven't gotten an answer out of him so far,” Paige reminded Anthony.

“This time we will.”

“And that will be because…?”

“He's going to have to be honest with you. After all, you'll have won him!”

“It sounds like it could work,” Colleen said.

“What do you say, Paige?” Anthony asked. “One last time?”

Paige sighed. “If it wasn't for charity, I'd say no, but since it is…”

“Excellent!” Anthony proclaimed, raising his mug of hot chocolate. “Let the bidding begin!”

T
he moment Anthony had been waiting for had finally arrived.

It was time for the kiss.

He'd brushed his teeth, flossed, gargled with mouthwash twice and chewed half a pack of Dentyne so his breath would be minty-fresh.

He and Max were going to go through his screenplay from beginning to end, acting out every scene, and then they were going to start filming next week. The first scene Anthony planned to film was the kiss, which took place in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. When Max asked him why he was shooting the scenes out of order, Anthony explained he wanted to film as many exterior shots as possible while the weather was still good. He also told him that this was the way many directors shot their movies,
which was true. He certainly didn't want Max to think he had any ulterior motives for wanting to shoot the kiss first!

The doorbell rang and Anthony hurried from his bedroom, only to stop in his tracks when he saw Paolo heading for the front door.

“What are you doing here?” he wailed.

“I live here, remember?”

“But only on weekends!”

“Check your calendar. Today's Friday. That's part of the weekend.”

“But not until after five! It's only three thirty.”

Paolo folded his arms over his chest. “Okay, what's going on? Why don't you want me around? What are you plotting that I shouldn't know about? Or do I not want to ask?”

“I'm not plotting anything!”

“Then why don't you want me here?”

The doorbell rang again.

“Max and I are rehearsing
Not All Italian Boys Are Straight
in the living room.”

“And that affects me how?”

“I don't want an audience.”

“That's a twist. You usually love having an audience.”

“Not today.”

“What's the big secret?”

“Paolo,
please
,” Anthony begged, as the doorbell rang a third time.

“Tell me why you don't want me around,” Paolo insisted. “Otherwise I'm not going anywhere.”

Argh! Today of all days Paolo decides to be more annoying than usual!

“I don't want to make Max uncomfortable,” Anthony admitted. “We're going to kiss for the first time and I don't want anyone watching.”

“Oh…”

“Yes!
Oh…
It needs to just be me and Max. Now leave. Vanish. Vamoose!”

“Fine. I'll go where you always banish me. My bedroom. Satisfied?”

“Make sure you stay there,” Anthony said as the doorbell rang again. Was it his imagination or did the ring sound impatient? Oh, no! Maybe Max thought no one was home and was getting ready to leave.

“I'll be right there!” Anthony called out, shooting daggers at his brother.
“Go!
” he insisted.

“I'm going. I'm going. But first I want you to answer a question for me.”

“
Now?
”

“You've been rehearsing this screenplay for weeks and
today's
the first time you and Max are going to rehearse the kissing scene?” Paolo shook his head. “I know you don't want to hear this, but I think Max is telling you something, baby bro.”

Anthony covered his ears with his hands. “That's right. I don't want to hear it and I don't have time to explain things to you. Why must you
always
be the voice of gloom and doom?”

“Because I'm your big brother and because I care?”

“Well I don't want you to care today!” Anthony snapped. “Just keep your theories to yourself and go to your room!”

Paolo held his hands up in surrender. “I'm gone.”

Once Paolo was out of sight, Anthony took a deep breath,
trying to calm down before opening the front door. Sometimes his brother made him so angry! Did he think he was that stupid? That naïve? Of course he had been wondering why Max didn't want to do the kissing scene. But the wondering was over. Today was the day.

“Sorry it took me so long,” he said, opening the front door.

Max smiled at him, his cheeks red from the brisk October air and his hair tousled from the wind. He looked
so
adorable! It was all Anthony could do to stop himself from running his fingers through Max's hair, smoothing it back into place.

“I thought maybe you'd forgotten we were supposed to rehearse.”

Forget? How could I forget? I wasn't able to sleep a wink last night. I've been up since six o'clock this morning counting down the hours!

After taking Max's coat and hanging it in the front closet, Anthony led Max into the living room.

“So, are you ready to get started?” he asked, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach and keep his voice steady. He was so nervous! What if this turned out to be a disaster? What if when they finally reached the kissing scene and it was time to kiss, Max pushed him away and told him he couldn't do it. That the idea of kissing another guy was revolting to him and even though he thought he could do it, he really couldn't and he was dropping out of the project. The movie wouldn't get made! His admissions packet for UCLA would be incomplete because there wasn't time to get another actor to play Michael. He
wouldn't get into the college of his choice!

He felt a hand shaking him. “Huh? What?”

“You spaced out,” Max said.

Anthony blushed. “Sorry. I was thinking about the script.”

“I'm ready to start whenever you are.”

They started from the first page and the dialogue flowed smoothly as they remembered all their lines. They were no longer Anthony and Max, but Dominick and Michael. After forty-five minutes, they finally got to the kissing scene.

Lips, don't fail me now!
Anthony prayed as he closed the distance between himself and Max. They were sitting on the couch, which, when they were filming in Washington Square Park, would be a park bench. The one thing that Ian had told him more than once when they were together was that he was a great kisser. Ian might have lied about everything else, but Anthony was pretty sure he'd been telling the truth about that. Ian had
loved
kissing him.

Anthony wrapped his arms around Max's shoulders, pulling him close. It felt so good having his arms around him! He wished he could press his head against Max's chest and just cuddle with him. But that wasn't in the script. Rats! Was there time for a rewrite? Maybe he could work it in. Until then, though, there was only the kiss.

Anthony gazed into Max's eyes, hoping he could see inside him. Hoping he could see that the feelings reflected in his eyes weren't Dominick's feelings for Michael, but his own feelings for Max.

And taking those feelings, using them to give him strength, to show Max that he cared about him, Anthony
leaned in and pressed his lips to Max's.

It was a soft, gentle kiss. Tentative. Exploring. Then, as his lips pressed against Max's, deepening the kiss and giving him a taste of what he'd been denied for so many weeks, it became bolder. Hungrier. He wanted more. Much more. He moved his hands from Max's shoulders and cradled his head as his kiss turned into an open-mouthed one.

At first, Max stiffened when Anthony's lips locked with his. There was no mistaking the body language. The tension in his muscles. He wasn't enjoying the kiss. He didn't like it.

“I know you don't want to hear this, but I think Max is telling you something, baby bro.”

Why was he hearing his brother's voice?

Get out of my head, Paolo. Now! Out!

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. If he was aware of Max's discomfort, then it was going to come across on camera. And that wasn't good because Max's character was gay and what gay guy didn't like kissing another guy? Max's character was supposed to be enjoying this.

But then something happened as Anthony's kiss changed and became bolder.

Max started to relax. The stiffness and tension left his arms. He sort of melted into Anthony's embrace, wrapping his own arms around Anthony's shoulders, pulling him close and deepening their kiss with an open-mouthed one of his own.

Anthony was stunned.

Max was kissing him back!!!

Calm down, Anthony. Calm down. This does
NOT
mean anything. Max is not kissing you. It's Michael. Michael is kissing you back. And you're not Anthony, you're Dominick. This
is a scene from your movie. It's not real. Keep reminding yourself of that. It's
NOT
real!!!

But real stars fell in love every day from working together, he stubbornly reminded himself.

Why couldn't it happen to them?

Why couldn't this kiss be real?

The kiss had to be real.

Max wouldn't be kissing him this way if it wasn't.

Finally, he had the proof he'd been waiting for!

Max was gay!

And maybe this was the moment Max had been waiting for as well.

Maybe Max
did
feel something for him and this was his way of telling him!

Anthony could have gone on and on kissing Max, but they had to get through the rest of the screenplay. Now wasn't the time to find out if Max had feelings for him. Anthony broke their kiss and pulled away from Max, giving him a sly smile as he delivered his next line.

“For someone who's never kissed a guy,” he said, “you sure knew what you were doing.”

 

The rest of the rehearsal went well. They even went through the screenplay a
second
time, including the kissing scene. Anthony almost pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming when Max suggested the second run-through.

“Just to make sure we've got it knocked. Are you game?”

What was he going to say? No? Of course not!

And when they kissed again, there was no hesitancy on Max's part. His lips met Anthony's when they were supposed
to and melded with his in a kiss that was sweet, magical and perfect.

This can't be acting. It just can't. It's too good not to be real.

When they finished rehearsing, Max gave Anthony a high-five, telling him he couldn't wait to start filming the next week. As Anthony walked him to the front door, he wondered if the next time they kissed—in front of the camera—would be the last time they kissed. Or could it be the beginning of something else?

Ten minutes after Max left the apartment, Paige showed up to find out how the rehearsal had gone.

“Break it to me gently,” she said, taking off her scarf and tossing it on the couch.

“We kissed,” Anthony said. “
Twice
.”

“Twice?” She stopped unzipping her jacket. “But there's only one kiss in the screenplay.”

“We went through it twice. The second time at
his
suggestion.” Anthony shrugged. “What can I say? These lips are addictive!”

“I will not be jealous, I will not be jealous,” Paige began chanting.

“You got a kiss from him,” Anthony said as he went to hang Paige's jacket and scarf.

“But he meant to kiss me on the cheek!” Paige reminded. “That's almost brotherly.”

“Speaking of brothers,” Anthony scowled as Paolo entered the living room, “mine almost ruined things!”

“I kept my end of the bargain. I stayed in my bedroom when Lover Boy was here. Now he's gone.” Paolo flopped down on the couch and aimed the remote control at the TV.
“Did you get to kiss him?”

Anthony stuck his tongue out at Paolo. “Yes, I did.”

Paolo looked away from the TV. “But you know you were just acting, right? That the kiss wasn't real.”

“I thought that at first,” Anthony said and then turned to Paige. “But when he suggested we do it a second time, I don't know, Paige, I think he was trying to tell me something.”

“Tell you what?” she asked.

“That he likes me.”

“Then why wouldn't he say it?” Paolo asked.

“Because he's afraid.”

“Of what?”

“I think he might be closeted.”

“And I think you need a reality check,” Paolo said.

“
What
are you doing here?!” Anthony screamed. “Last time I checked, this was a private conversation between Paige and me.”

“Fine. I'll butt out. But here's a news flash, Ants. Max wasn't kissing you. He was kissing Dominick.”

“Maybe the first time we kissed. But not the second,” Anthony insisted. “He wanted to kiss me again. I know he did. Why else would he have suggested we do it again?”

“Practice makes perfect?”

“Oh, go back to your stupid TV show!”

Paolo sighed. “The two of you have wasted enough time on this joker. I'll bet he even knows what's going on and is getting his jollies by jerking you both around.”

“Max wouldn't do that!” Anthony exclaimed.

“How do you know?”

“I just do!”

“You don't even know if he's gay or straight!” Paolo shouted. “Trust me, if he was gay and he was interested in you, he'd be finding a way to make the first move.”

“He did. Today! When he kissed me a second time.”

Paolo ignored Anthony's comment. “As for you, Paige, what I said to Ants also applies to you. If Max was interested, he'd have already made a move. And if Max
is
straight and he's not interested in you, then he's nuts.”

“Thank you, Dear Abby,” Anthony sneered.

Paolo shut off the TV and angrily tossed the remote onto the coffee table.

Anthony's eyes widened. “Temper, temper, Pow.”

“I'm outta here. The two of you don't want to listen to a word I have to say? Fine. Keep making fools of yourself over this guy. I just don't want to see you both get hurt. That's all. Excuse me for caring.”

After Paolo left the room, Anthony raised an eyebrow at Paige and smirked. He hadn't thought it was possible, but what he had just seen had confirmed his suspicions.