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Nestled near elephant seals
The views of the ocean are unreal
Such a stronghold I am to be,
That’s why everyone wants to see me.
Jason was the one who had figured out it was Hearst Castle. The famous castle in San Simeon, California that William Randolph Hearst built in the early 1900’s. It had since become a National Park and one that was visited by countless guests. We were going to be two of them.
We had gotten an early start, having left the brewery soon after we had finished our meals. Or I had left early, leaving Jason there to finish his beer once I was done eating. I knew it was rude but I hadn’t cared. I had given him some excuse about being tired and left. It wasn’t the case; I had needed some time on my own. The conversation we had at dinner was too confusing. He was too confusing.
The whole day he had been giving me looks and talking to me like he wanted to start something with me. He had gazed at me like I was the sexiest thing he had ever seen and he couldn’t wait to kiss me and take off all my clothes. I had thought we would have a few drinks and then maybe see what else would happen.
Instead, he had told me how much he valued our friendship and made it sound like he was looking for a working relationship not a physical one. Considering he could have kissed me twice while we were on China Beach and he hadn’t, I was starting to think he wasn’t interested in me. It wasn’t the direction I thought we were going and I didn’t know what to do.
He said he admired me because I would say what was on my mind, but in that instance, I was dumbfounded. I didn’t think I could tell him I wanted something more or that I thought of what it would be like to sleep with him. Not when he was saying he was only looking for a friendship. I was good at saying was on my mind when I knew it would be a favorable outcome. I wasn’t prepared to tell him exactly how I felt only for him to tell me he didn’t feel the same way. It would not only devastate me but it would ruin any sort of working relationship of friendship that we might have.
At Kevin’s funeral I could never see a way that I could work with Jason. We were too different and I thought it would only lead to disaster. Now that I had a chance to get to know him, I could see us not only working together but working well in making the show a success. We could find a way to keep Kevin’s legacy alive and make him proud of us. I had thought the sexual chemistry would add to it, but I guess I was the only one.
Maybe that was what Jason wanted, what he was most concerned with. There might be some sexual tension between us but it needed to stay just that and nothing more. He was a constant professional and would think of the show, the employees, and what his father would want above all else. Even if he was attracted to me, and I was starting to doubt he was, he would put that aside for what was best for everyone else.
It was so like him to think that way, to put the needs of the company, of the employees, even my mother over what he would want. It only made me like him more and think that he was a better guy than I ever thought. Just because I was interested in him and he wasn’t interested in me, that was my problem not his. I would have to find a way to be friends with him, to work with him, and not let my feelings for him get in the way.
If there was any awkwardness between Jason and me as we got in the car and headed down the coast, I didn’t let it affect the day or our time together. I was seeing what Kevin wanted with this little trip and would use it to get to know Jason as best as I could.
We chatted easily as he drove us down the coast, talking about our teenage years and the crazy things that we did. I was certainly more rambunctious than he was, but it was good to hear that he had been to the occasional party and even got a little drunk.
“Arrested? You?” I asked.
“It was all a misunderstanding and it was cleared up almost as soon as it happened,” Jason replied.
“Did Kevin bail you out?”
“No. I don’t know if he ever knew. Mom came and took care of it. Bailed me out, talked to the dean, had me do community service, and kept it off my record. The last thing she wanted was to have my name in the news because my dad was famous.”
“Or was she trying to keep your dad from knowing about it so he could fix it instead?”
“Probably a bit of both. It didn’t matter in the end as no one ever knew about it, or if they did, they forgot about it.”
“Oh, I don’t think I will ever forget about it,” I said with a laugh.
“Great. Now I’m regretting having told you.”
“I’m glad you did. It allowed me to see yet another side of you. One I never thought existed.”
“The criminal side of me?”
“Exactly,” I said and we both laughed.
He looked over at me and smiled and my heart jumped. I told myself he was just him being friendly. He might have flirted with me, he might have made me think that there was something there, but now I knew there wasn’t. He had made that perfectly clear.
I looked away from him and we drove in companionable silence until we got to San Simeon and to the visitor center of Hearst Castle. We weren’t sure if there was a specific tour we needed to take or if we would find what we were looking for when we walked around the grounds. If the previous clues had been any indication, it seemed that the person we needed to talk to knew we were going to be there and found us, not the other way around.
“You want to do the tour of the kitchen, don’t you?” Jason asked me as we looked which ones we could take.
“It includes the wine cellar and a look at the guest houses. I think that would be the most fun. However, you want to do the one that shows the library.”
“We could do both?” Jason suggested.
