Episode 22: Troubles in paradise
~~~Back to our sleeping angels~~~
The device went off, filling the quiet room with its strident ringing.
Josh winced, his eyes opening slowly as the persistent sound refused to stop.
Two turned to three, so it arrived to five calls when it was finally picked up.
A sleepy deep raspy voice spoke through the line, rubbing his eyes as he sat in bed again.
"Who is it?" Josh said not really looking for the ID.
At the other end of the line a stunned Ramon looked around him, he had never heard this voice before, sure it was deep, so was his brother's, yet it held a slight sultry undertone which seemed quite natural.
He replied, testing the waters: "Teo, is this you?"
Josh's eyes widened at the mention of the curled up boy's name through the phone.
He gasped, finally wide awake, realization coming at him like a train wrecking him.
Muting up the call he shook the boy awake.
"Hey, pretty boy, someone is calling you"
No matter how much he called for him the boy didn't bat an eye, if anything he snuggled up further under the duvet, mumbling some nonsense.
"Forgive me"
Josh took a deep breath pulling out the blanket from the boy's hold, who frowned up as a reaction, the older hovering over him, talking to his face to wake him up
"Your brother is calling"
Teo sat up so fast he didn't give the older man much room to get away quick enough.
He practically sent him back when their heads collided, and that wasn't the only thing crashing.
It might've been fast as Josh's body landed on the boy's side, but the warmth on his lips for a brief moment lasted even though the cold air was the one brushing his soft lips now, reminiscing the moment he stole the older's breath away.
Josh on the other hand rubbed his forehead, not really making a big deal out of it, handing the blonde's phone over.
"Unmute the call, guess it either your brother or your boyfriend"
Teo was still wrapping his head around what just happened seconds ago, now he had to mention the 'boyfriend' tag within the conversation.
He snatched off the phone from his hands, pouting, eyes squinting in a thin line judging him.
"Hush" he lifted a hand up in front of his face as he unmuted the phone.
The voice on the other end surely belonged to his concerned brother who kept babbling
"TEO! SPEAK UP! WHO IS IS THAT? WHY DID THAT MAN ANSWERED THE CALL–"
Yet he got interrupted by a cold voice, "You're going to scare him if you kept yelling on the line. Haven't you thought this could be the device's owner?"
He could hear his brother sighing audibly through the phone when another voice interrupted.
A soft, childish and slightly deep yet lively interjected the exchange, "he's right, maybe it's Captain Johnson, was it someone young?"
"I hate to agree with the kid, but he's right tho"
Teo listened to Angello trying to reason with his brother, something only he could do as they've known for almost half of each other's lives and he knew how to keep the dragon's burning fire under control.
"Ok, ok, ok! I get it, you don't need to say no more" Ramon's voice is a bit tired, expressing he gave up.
"Want me to talk instead?" Angello suggested to the concerned man.
Rustled was heard as the youthful voice followed after, but it was sure it wasn't addressed towards him, "Look, I got this corndog on the side road, say Ah!"
Then another voice cut them off, "Dear Lord, not here please… I should've packed a paper bag or some pills for nauseas"
"Shall I congratulate you then?" The youthful voice held a hint of sarcasm within which went through line as poisonous words.
"Yeah and the man on your side is the father"
A loud cough was clearly heard, it even picked Josh's interest as Teo's perplexed face remained like a statue, although he could think as one sculpted by Gods themselves.
Josh put up the speakers, when the youthful manly voice came through a bit harsh, "say that to my face again, dwarf!"
One could tell it was challenging whoever was on the receiving end.
A derisive laugh boomed through the call, "Do you want me to wash out your ears now, kid? Or do you want me to tell you how babies are made?"
"C'mere, bish!" A loud yell resounded the next moment.
"STOP! This nonsense shall stop. Angello, stop giving the wrong impression"
A loud door slamming close echoed through the line even Teo and Josh flinched.
"Oh, crap! ANGELLO! COME BACK HERE!" The phone falling on a soft surface muffled another door shutting and the whole yelling.
Low rustled came in as a gentle sniffing sound was followed by a youthful male's voice, "He'll call later… but if you can send him your GPS coordinates"
Teo hummed, not really sure how to react to the liveplay audio novel they just heard.
The boy sniffled again and cleared up his voice, "We are at the entrance of the town where the old port used to be"
"Yeah, we'll send them in a bit" this was Josh who spoke softly as Teo was shocked.
"Thank, man… glad to know you're doing well"
The young voice changed slightly, and it clicked on Josh's brain, he covered his mouth to not laugh.
"No need to worry, could you do me a favor?"
Teo's astonished expression shifted to a stiff one, glaring at the older.
"I guess… but that depends" the boy spoke a bit wary, clear in his voice.
"Don't tell my mom y'all found me"
Teo looked at him suspiciously as he seemed too familiar with the man on the other end, /Is he his friend? Maybe old friends?/
His harsh stare not sparing a single hair from the older's head as he was burning him with their intensity.
The young male reassured him a little with his little answer, "I gotchu, man! Although I might not talk for everyone as she was setting up a lawsuit against–" although at the end of his sentence he realized he almost forgot how far his mother took everything in life.
"I guessed that much. I'll solve that right away. Just make sure she doesn't find out where I am" Josh hoped Jake would help him even if it was a little bit to buy him some time to find a way to get his lawyer warned if things were to escalate.
"I will do what's within my possibilities, although she's stubborn, even about the wedding. she even picked up a date for it already, our parents agreed–" Jake refrained to speak anymore as he said more than he should.
Josh held the bridge of his nose, finally it made sense why his mother was so adamant about the party being held on a sailing ship on his birthday, it was a trap to force him into agreeing with any ludicrous plan she had under her sleeve, and most likely she used the boy's sister as a chest piece in her dirty game as his mother disliked anything which weren't within the norms.
"Thanks for the heads up man. I'll get this moving fast, hope you don't mind me getting in touch with your father."
The boy sighed, his voice a bit defeated, "i'll send ya his number so you can talk to him about it."
"You're an angel, boy! I own you one" Josh spoke out of kindness, hoping to get off the hook if he got Mr. Lee on his side.
Teo was lost, his thoughts connecting the dots and didn't like where they led him to, /How could I be such a fool! It's so obvious! How else is gonna know his mother… dang even their parents met… Someone like him would be taken already! Even their marriage is settled. Great, Teo, you choose the difficult ones… bless my luck. At least my crush is single/
Even though Teo came to a conclusion about forgetting any silly hope he might have built within his heart he still brought the other male's device close to his mouth speaking boldly without hesitation, "Tell my brother I'll be waiting here too, searching in the map, gotta go, bye"
The call went dead as the disconnecting sound echoed at the other end.
Josh didn't even have a chance to clear up any mistake with the young Lee when Teo tossed the mobile on bed after sending the coordinates.
"Hey! You almost ripped the phone," he rushed to pick up the devices on the corner of the bed.
"Don't make me go back and smash it for real!"
The blonde sput out as he got up from bed.
"Why are you so mad now?"
Josh asked as the boy walked over to the window.
"I'm not mad, I just wanna be alone!"
Teo refused to turn around, eyes looking far into the distance taking deep breaths to avoid punching the older in the guts even though there wasn't any logical reason to do so.
Josh rolled his eyes, dialing a number as he spoke, "If that's what you want then so be it. I'll be out"