When The Rich Son Falls

Thirteen

Growing up in the Stevens household had made Topher get used to a life with a certain level of luxury. That was how he could afford to be picky with where he would spend the night; because why should he settle for less, when he had a home built for himself that had everything he needed and wanted? That was, of course, until two days ago, when his goal had changed from being happy and comfortable to just having a place to stay.

His standards, as much as he’d like to deny it, had incredibly been lowered ever since he was practically forced out of the comfort of his own home. But he would much rather stick with his current situation than get stuck with whatever hellhole his family was about to send him to.

So, he got to work. If he wanted to stay out of his family’s and the press’s radars for much longer without ending up on the streets, he had to double his effort before his week’s stay at the hotel was up.

Topher looked down at the plate of sandwiches he was holding. It was hot, especially with a face mask on, but he was determined to do a great job and impress. He stood up tall and checked his reflection out on the tinted windows of the gym. As he was fixing his hair so that every strand was in place, he caught a glimpse of the pool behind him where James was handing out kickboards. Once James was done, he unbuttoned his beige polo shirt and proceeded to pull it off from the back.

“I should’ve worn more sunscreen,” Topher heard him say, before he descended into the pool and asked his group of kids who wanted to go first. A bunch of hands flew up, accompanied by loud and excited “Me’s”. Topher turned around to take a better look.

He had to admit that a shirtless James looked better than he thought. He wasn’t too skinny and he didn’t look half bad. It was nothing that a good bulk of protein and extra pounds of weights couldn’t fix. If James tried, Topher thought, he could actually be a Jason Todd kind of Robin from Arkham Knight, or an older Peter Parker. And with the way he was all smiles and full of energy with the kids, unlike the stiff and uptight demeanor Topher had seen him wear, he actually looked less of a robotic butler. It made sense to him then why Mandy said that James was “easy on the eyes”. He could also tell that some of the other ladies and gentlemen also thought so.

“Not bad, I guess,” Topher muttered to himself. Then as if he felt eyes on him, James turned his head and scanned the crowd until he saw Topher staring. Never been one to feel easily ashamed, Topher didn’t avert his gaze and even made a heart sign with his fingers, which made James narrow his eyes at him.

With his “target” finally looking, Topher went up to the people closest to himself and offered them sandwiches. When he looked back at James, the man’s attention had already returned to the kids. So, Topher decided to show off a little bit more and walked up to the two middle-aged women sitting close to the pool area within James’s line of sight, so that if he ever looked up, he would see Topher being an exceptional volunteer.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” Topher said, a little bit louder than needed, to make sure that James could overhear. “Would you like some sandwiches? If you’re thirsty, I can also fetch you a couple of refreshing drinks.”

“Thank you, sweetie,” the lady with short gray hair smiled at him as she and her friend took some from the plate. Then, she gave her friend a knowing look.

“Do I know you?” her friend, who was a big woman with a ponytail and sunglasses, asked Topher.

“I’m telling you, Anita, he’s that senator’s boy!” the first woman whispered a little too loudly to her.

“No, no, it can’t be,” Anita waved her off before looking up at Topher. “Can you take off your mask, son?”

Topher managed to keep calm and say, “Sorry, I can’t, it’s… part of the health regulations for serving food,” with a shrug to match his tone.

“See, Linda? Even his voice is deeper,” Anita said. After getting away with it, Topher was just gearing up to make a quick escape when she pointed at his head. “But the white on your hair…”

“Oh, it’s, uh, genetic.” Before Topher could get another word in, Anita followed up with an, “And isn’t that Stevens boy kind of fruity? He’s kissing other boys, isn’t he?” She looked at both Topher and her friend, as if expecting either of them to answer.

“I think I saw him kiss boys and girls,” Topher couldn’t help but reply. “In the news, I mean.”

“Ah,” Linda said. “Must be one of those bilingual kids nowadays.”

“Bisexual,” Topher politely corrected, biting his lower lip afterwards so he wouldn’t laugh.

“Right, bisexual. I saw that in the news once, when some protest was happening in another country for same-s*x marriage. I think that’s what the B in those letters stand for.”

“Anywho,” Anita rolled her eyes then smiled up at him. “I think you have a handsomer face than that, what’s his name was? Christopher. Right, you have kinder eyes,” she added with much conviction, making Topher unsure what to feel about literally being compared to himself. “What’s your name, son?”

Thinking fast, he responded with the first name that popped into his head. “Uh, Steve.”

“Alright, Steve,” Anita approvingly nodded before making a point to her friend. “See? His name is Steve.”

Linda seemed dubious about it at first as she frowned up at Topher and even squinted through her eyeglasses, only to sit back after a few seconds and nod agreeingly. “You know what, you’re right. Steve here is a bit shorter and thinner than that Christopher, right?”

Once more, Topher felt conflicted about what to feel about that comment, so he simply forced a chuckle.

“Not that you don’t look good, sweetie,” Linda added, her eyes moving down to his shoulders, then arms, then back to his eyes. “You must be working out regularly, huh?”

Suddenly feeling a little better with the unwarranted compliment from a stranger, Topher’s mood lit up as he bashfully replied, “Well, I try, but not recently because I’ve been too—”

“Anita! Linda!” James showed up right beside Topher, dripping wet with chlorine water as he smiled at the three of them. “I see you’ve met our new volunteer—”

“Steve,” Topher immediately supplied, much to James’s surprise.

Thankfully, he was able to jump on pretty quickly. “Right, Steve, yes.”

“You’re getting more good-looking volunteers now, Jimmy,” Anita told him. “And yet you still can’t find yourself a partner.”

James let out a chuckle that Topher could easily tell was fake. “Ah, you know I have no time for that,” James said with a smile to cover up the discomfort he clearly felt. “My heart’s already full with you guys here. My love for everyone’s already too much for me to handle.”

Topher turned to him with a look of amusement and disbelief—which James simply ignored. Mandy said he’s introverted, but at that moment with all his sweet-talk with the ladies, that didn’t seem to be the case at all.

“Well, then, get some of your love for us and give it to someone!” Linda jokingly exclaimed. “You’re always taking care of everybody, you never let yourself get taken care of,” she added, giving James a meaningful look that only made him look a bit embarrassed. Beside him, Topher stifled laughter.

“I’m a grown man, I can take care of myself,” James said before grabbing Topher’s arm. “Now, please excuse me, I need to get this volunteer because I need his help with something.”

“You know that’s not the “taking care of” that we mean!” Linda called out, chuckling with her friend as James pulled Topher towards the food stand.