Eli wrapped him up in his arms and it took a lot of the fear from him. To know he was scared helped, as messed up as that was.
“Let’s not think about that right now. You have contacts to introduce me to, I have to get some better clothes for the party.”
“Right,” he said, then took out his phone to call the man that would be the best with that chore.
“Mark Riggio, personal shopper.”
“Mark! It’s Lee Madison.”
“Oh, Senator! Wonderful to hear from you. What can I do for you?”
“I have an assistant who, through no fault of his own, came to the family’s beach house unprepared. My mother is giving a summer party.”
“Say no more. I’ll bring over a few things and we’ll set him right.”
He gave Eli a thumb’s up and told Mark, “That’s great. See you soon.”
“Who is that?”
“Mark. He is a personal shopper for the rich masses up here. He’s got excellent taste and will be here soon with everything you’re going to need for the weekend.”
“So, Pretty Woman,” he sighed. “I do love that movie.”
“Too bad there’s not a piano here. I’d fuck you on it.”
Eli grabbed him again and kissed him lusciously, enough to send him away on a cloud of happiness.
When he met his father in the kitchen, he looked frazzled. “Dad? What’s wrong?”
“Oh, your mother. She has me in here to ready the staff for the party this afternoon and the staff isn’t here. She’s got them all doing other things.”
“Then it’s not time to ready them. Sit with me, have a glass of tea.”
“You’re a savior, son.”
He groaned as he sat at the round table there, leaning back on the rattan backed chair. “Oh, this is nice. I don’t believe I’ve taken a load off all day.”
“Good,” Lee said to him, pouring their tea into tall glasses. “Why the party? For the hell of it?”
“Yes. And to get you here and try to get you to fall for someone. You know your mother wants grandchildren.”
Lee laughed but it was starting to not be funny anymore. For five years or so, they were nagging at him about marriage and kids. Mostly it was for people to see him settled.
“I know, Dad. The longer I go without a wife, the more chance there is that I’ll be involved in some scandal.”
“It’s true, whether it’s real or conceived by someone on the other side of the aisle. If you’re too powerful, any chance of moving up the ladder, well…”
Lee sat the glasses down before he joined his father at the table. “Dad…I’m not sure I’ll ever want to get married.”
He thought he’d see shock or disapproval, but his father laughed it off and confessed, “I was the same way. I loved playing the field. Once you find that special girl, son, it’ll change.”
It was right there, he could feel it, taste the words on his tongue. More than anything, he wanted to tell his father that he was gay. There would never be a special girl, not for him. Friends, sure, but never a love.
Instead, the conversation turned. “I heard about the new directions the party is pointing. Good.”
“New directions?”
“Get everything out at once. Get rid of the department of education, get cuts to the entitlements, all of it, and all of it hidden in the blast of the things those whining idiots on the other side will be protesting. Plus, we might just push through some nice laws against those faggots. All those protections, it’s ludicrous.”