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Finally, I stepped off the chair, checked my camera roll, and said, “Okay, I think we’re done.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I got some amazing shots. I can’t wait to post them.”
I helped him out of the tub, and he removed the tail, then dried off and pulled his gym shorts on. Next, I began carefully removing the prosthetic pieces from his skin. After a few moments, I said, “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Every day this past week, you had a different excuse for not coming with me to the movie set. You seemed really excited about it at first, so I’m wondering what changed.”
He admitted, “I’ve been putting off going to the set because it’s really intimidating. I’m trying to work up my nerve though, because I really would love to watch you work.”
“Why are you intimidated?”
“Just look at the people you work with, the famous actors and that director. Hell, even your supervisor and coworkers intimidate me. They’re all successful people at the top of their game, and I just won’t fit in with them.”
I said, “If I can fit in there, so can you.”
“But you’re not a failure like me, Riley. I don’t think you realize how insanely talented you are. You’ve already come so far, and it’s just a matter of time before you land your dream job, then go on to open your own studio and become wildly successful.”
“You’re not a failure,” I insisted. “Not even close.”
“Well, I feel like one.” It broke my heart to see him so down on himself.
He ran his fingertips over his cheekbone, rubbing off some of the glue residue as I removed the final prosthetic. Then I said, “Why don’t you go ahead and take a shower? That should all come off with some soap and warm water. I’ll clean up in here.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks again for doing this, Gabriel. I really appreciate it.”
As he left the master bathroom, he said, “Thanks for including me. It was nice to feel needed.”
I hung the tail in the shower to drip-dry, and as I drained the tub I chewed my lower lip and tried to make up my mind about something. Finally, I took a business card from my wallet to look up a number, then sent a text, which said: Hi Roger, this is Riley. Will you please meet me at my job one day next week? We have some things we need to discuss.
He replied a few moments later with: Sure mate, I’ll be there on Monday at lunchtime. Can I ask what this is about?
I sighed and wrote: I need you to do what you do best—give Gabriel help he doesn’t want but actually really needs.
Roger asked: Does he know you’re contacting me?
My next message said: No, and he’s not going to like it. But I just don’t know how to help him get his lingerie company off the ground, and I’ll bet you do. He doesn’t want to involve Alastair and Sawyer, just so you know. Also, this isn’t an invitation to go nuts and take over the entire project. I just need some general advice and some contacts in the garment manufacturing industry.
He replied: I can definitely help, but he’s going to be angry when he finds out we’ve gone behind his back. Mostly with you—he expects this type of behavior from me.
Gabriel probably would be mad, but hopefully he’d forgive me when he realized I had the best of intentions. He needed that company, for his own feelings of self-worth as much as anything else. I hated going behind his back, but all I was going to do was gather some information. As long as Roger didn’t get carried away, this should be no big deal.
Chapter 7
The following Friday morning, Gabriel finally agreed to come to work with me. I was rolling back the sleeves of my royal blue button-down shirt—part of the ‘Will collection’—when he joined me in the living room, and I knew at a glance he was feeling insecure. He’d opted for a simple button-down shirt and jeans, along with a long cardigan and canvas slip-ons, all in black. The fact that he was opting not to show his feminine side to the world spoke volumes.
He was fidgety as we rode the elevator downstairs, and I held his hand as we stood under the awning over the main entrance waiting for our ride. It was a typical San Francisco morning, foggy and breezy but beautiful at the same time. The city wore the color gray well.
After a while, I said, “Before we got here, we talked about what spending time in San Francisco might do to your recovery. So, this is me checking in to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. It probably helps that I’ve spent most of my time in my own little world in that apartment, working on my sewing projects. Except for that one night when we visited our old neighborhood, it’s barely registered that we’re in the city that used to be such a struggle for me.”
