Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 22:44:34 -0700
From: Stephen Phelps <dnsphelps@mcsi.net>
Subject: Flying Blind, Part One (Revised)
Disclaimer: I do not know, nor do I claim to know any of the celebrities
that may wander through these pages, and I do not know, or therefore mean
to imply any personal knowledge of their personal lives or their sexual
preferences. This story is a work of fiction, and the character of Caleb
is my own creation, therefore, any use of him outside of this story must be
done so by first gaining my permission. If you are under 18 years of age,
or it is illegal for you to be reading this where you live, or you are
bothered by the prospect of a homo-erotic relationship between one or more
men, then you better go find something else to read on another website.
Hey, I'm not going to go into everything all over again! if you read the
latest chapter of Michael and Jake, then you're pretty much up to date on
everything that's been happening. This is the "official start" of Flying
Blind.....Basically, it's going to be an extended version of the sneak-peak
that was posted here on Nifty about a month ago....Just a little bit more
on Caleb and his family, friends, and life! I hope you enjoy it, and so,
without further ado, here is part 1 of Flying Blind....
Caleb woke up to the smells of coffee brewing and bacon and eggs
cooking, which could only mean one thing---Bridget was there. Bridget was
practically a member of the family. At the age of sixteen, Bridget had
left her home and family in Scotland, and emigrated to the United States
before the end of the war, where she found immediate employment doing
primarily domestic work. In 1968, she answered an advertisement from a
woman looking for a housekeeper to do the household chores, thus freeing
her to look after her newborn son. Bridget had met with Callie Stephens
and her husband and found them to be a wonderful young couple. She
reported to work the very next day, and had been with the family ever
since. Five years later, Diandra was born, and Caleb came along five years
after that. Michael and Diandra took their new roles of older siblings
quite seriously. After Caleb was born, Bridget went to working for the
Stephens family six days a week, an arrangement which suited everyone just
fine.
Things continued along just nicely until June of 1997, when the
unthinkable happened. Caleb was on a graduation trip with his parents when
there was a horrible accident. When Caleb finally woke up in the hospital,
three days later, Michael was holding one hand, and Diandra the other, as
they told him about the accident which had claimed the lives of their
parents. The first thing Caleb asked when he had calmed down, was, when
were they going to take the bandages off his eyes.....Michael excused
himself, and then came back a minute later with the doctor. It seemed that
the head trauma which had caused the mini-coma, had also left Caleb blind
After much rehabilitation, re-training, and hard work on
everyone's parts, Caleb had learned to read Braille, and do many of the
things he was able to before the accident. He was even able to navigate
his way around the house, and rarely, if ever, did he bump into
anything.....He even had a guide dog, a female German shepherd named
Sheila.
Getting out of bed, Caleb made his way over to the closet and
slid the doors open and slid his hands across the clothes hanging there
until he found a pair of jeans and a white, long-sleeved shirt, and took
both off of the hangers and draped them over his arm. Making his way back
to the bed, the then felt his way around the bed to the other side and made
his way over to the dresser, where he pulled out some clean socks and
underwear, and then began heading toward the door. Pausing in the doorway,
he turned his head to the right and said, "Come on, girl." Sheila got up
from her spot on the floor, and moved to his side.
Caleb was twenty-seven years old. He stood five foot eight with
dark blond hair that was a bit on the long side, and pale blue eyes. He
had a nice toned build which he was proud of. Heading down the hall, Caleb
went into the bathroom, where he stripped down and got into the shower.
After drying off when he was done, and getting dressed, he headed down the
hall to the kitchen where he pulled out a barstool and sat at the breakfast
bar.
"Good morning, Mr. Caleb," Bridget said, setting a plate on the
countertop before him.
"Good morning, Bridget. Is Michael still here?"
"No dear, he's already left."
"Hmmm. Would it be possible to catch a ride into town later
this morning with you?"
"Well of course! Where did you need to go?"
"I think I'll keep the details a secret for now....."
"Mmmm, well, alright.....Don't tell an old woman then....."
"I just needed to go to the magazine offices to talk to Harry
and hammer out a few final details for my new job. You'll find out
everything tonight at dinner. I assume Karen is coming over tonight?"
"Yes, your brother did mention something along those lines."
"Good, then I'll tell all tonight at dinner....."
Caleb walked out of the offices of 'L.A. Lifestyle' magazine
and stood on the sidewalk under the building's canopy while he waited for
his cab. For the past five years, Caleb had been a copy-writer for the
weekly magazine. He usually got his copy in the form of audio tapes, which
he transcribed on the computer, and emailed back to the editors. Then
about a month ago, he had sat down and written a biographical article about
himself, which the magazine ran as a human interest story. The response
was immediate and positive, so Caleb did another 'day in the life' type
article, which also received a favorable response. Knowing that they had a
winner on their hands, the editors offered Caleb the new celebrity
interview job. Once a week, he would meet with which ever celebrity had
something coming out in the near future, and find out whatever he could.
His first interview was the following week with Adrian Brody, and he was
just a bit nervous, but he had a week to figure out what kind of meeting
format would best put both himself and the celebrities he would be
interviewing at ease.
He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of a car pulling
up to the curb, and the driver's side door opening. "You called for a
cab?"
"Yes, I did," Caleb replied, slowly moving foreword, Sheila's
leash in his left hand, his right extended out in front of him. When he
felt the open front passenger door, he turned to his left and asked, "Is it
okay if she rides in back?"
"Sure, no problem," the driver replied, opening the door.
Caleb let go of the leash and listened as Sheila hopped into the
back seat, then got in the front seat and the cabbie closed the door after
him. While the driver came back around to get in, Caleb fastened his
seat-belt. The cabbie fastened his own, and then they were pulling away
from the curb, the driver asking Caleb where he wanted to go. Caleb give
him the address of a well known real-estate agent, and they got on the
subject of the Dodgers while they drove. When they got there, the driver
told him the fare, and Caleb pulled out his wallet and took out two
twenty's, and then waited for his change, which he stuffed into his front
pocket as soon as he got out of the cab. The driver got out and came
around to let Sheila out. Caleb felt her rubbing against his left leg and
leaned down to feel for her leash.
"Here, let me give you a card," the driver said as he pressed a
card into Caleb's outstretched right hand.
"Thank you....."
"Brian."
"Thank you, Brian," Caleb said once again.
"You're welcome," Brian replied, and then Caleb turned toward
the sound of the automatic door opening.
Letting Sheila lead the way, Caleb entered the noisy lobby, and
paused a moment to get his bearings and listen for the sound of nearby
elevators. Hearing the distinct "ding", Caleb headed in that direction.
Pausing momentarily, Caleb adjusted his sunglasses and then waited for the
elevator doors to open.
"Excuse me, but could someone please tell me which floor
Baltrain Reality is on?" he asked.
"Tenth," replied a deep, masculine voice off to his right.
Caleb turned his head in that direction.
"Thanks," he said.
"No problem," replied the voice, this time from right next to
him. Caleb caught a whiff of cologne. Something nice and woodsy and
masculine, but not overpowering. "After you," the voice said once again.
"Oh, sorry," Caleb said, feeling flustered. He was tall,
whoever he was, probably about six-foot three. Caleb felt the buttons.
"Where too?" he asked.
"Twenty-one," the voice replied.
"Okay, twenty-one it is," Caleb said, pushing first '10', then
'21.'
In no time at all, the lift stopped and the voice said, "This is
you." The doors opened and Caleb walked off the elevator with not a clue
as to where he was going. "Fifth door down the hall to your right, left
hand side of the hall."
"Thank you," Caleb said over his shoulder as the doors closed.
"Anytime," he heard the stranger reply, just before the doors
closed.
Caleb turned to his right, and took Sheila's leash in his right
hand, and let her lead the way, mentally counting off steps and doors as
they went. Sure enough, the name plate on the left hand side of the door
read, in Braille, Baltrain Reality. Caleb grasped the door handle and
turned it, and entered the waiting area. Within minutes, Caleb was
ensconced in a comfortable leather chair in Alexandra Baltrain's office.
"Now, what can I do for you, Mr. Stephens?"
"Ideally, I would like to find a loft space. Something with
character. High ceilings, skylights, that sort of thing. And lots of
space."
"Good, what else?" Alexandra asked, and as they talked, Caleb
could hear her fingers flying across her keyboard.
"Hmmm.....I think I might have just the thing for you. Would
you like to go check it out?" she asked.
"If you don't mind me bringing Sheila along....."
"I've had far worse, believe me! She seems to be a nice quiet
dog."
"She is."
"Then lets go."
Alexandra Baltrain removed her purse from a desk drawer, and
crossed the office to open the door, telling her secretary that she would
be out for the rest of the day, and then they were heading out the door and
back down the hallway. They caught the elevator down to the parking garage
in the basement, climbed into her black Hummer, and they were on their way.
A short time later, they were pulling into another parking
garage.
"Now, this building is actually one of the older buildings in
the down town area. A lot of these older buildings are being cleaned up
and fixed up and converted to residential loft spaces. This building, like
most others, has retail and restaurant space on the first two floors, and
residential units on floors three through fifteen. Everything in this
building is spoken for except for the top floor. The freight elevator is
brand new. and is only accessible from the parking garage, which by the way
has a security guard twenty-four hours a day. If a person is not on a
resident's pre-approved list, they're not going to get in...." And with
that they entered the freight elevator and Alexandra pushed the button for
the top floor.
When they reached the top floor, Caleb asked, "How do I open
this thing?"
"May I?" Alexandra asked.
"Sure," Caleb replied, than felt her take his hands and guide
them through opening and closing the gates and then opening them back up
again by himself. The elevator had the old-fashioned kind of gates where
the bottom part automatically came up and went down when one opened and
closed the top half. Caleb gave it a few more tries until he was certain
he was comfortable with where toe top gate was, as far as reaching up to
pull it down.
"The gates also have an automatic locking mechanism so that they
can't be opened while the lift is moving. It won't dis-engage until the
elevator comes to a complete stop. And the keypad is Braille equipped."
"Very nice," Caleb murmured.
"Okay, now for the space itself....Rumor has it that the space
was at one time, the design and office-show room of a well known
designer.The interior measures two-hundred-fifteen feet by one-hundred
feet, so that way then the space is divided up, each unit has a space
one-hundred feet by one-hundred feet, with a fourteen-foot hallway in
between. The ceilings are twenty feet, and they do have skylights.
There's also private roof access....."
"What if I were interested in the entire space?" Caleb asked.
"Well, sure......Okay....."Alexandra said, clearly not
anticipating this.
Caleb began walking around the space. "Tell me more....Are
there a lot of windows?"
"Yes. There's about fifteen feet between each one, and each
window measures ten feet wide by fifteen feet tall....There are hardwood
floors throughout....."
"You know what? I think I've heard enough....Let's go back to
your office and talk some figures....."
That night as Bridget was putting the finishing touches on a
salad, Michael and Caleb were out by the grill.
Michael was thirty-seven years old, and he stood five-foot ten,
with black hair and dark brown eyes. He was a lawyer in the entertainment
industry.
Bridget and Karen had just come out on the patio. Caleb decided
that it was now or never.
"Now that the ladies are present, I'd like to make a toast and
an announcement. First, to Michael and Karen.....I'm very happy for the
two of you. When you first started seeing my big brother, my first thought
was, 'he's not good enough for her.' "
"Ha-ha, very funny, little brother," Michael said. "Just for
that, Sheila gets your steak!"
"However, it didn't take me long to realize what a perfect fit
you two are for each other, and now I don't think I could imagine what our
little family would be like without you. I'm proud and honored that you're
going to be my sister-in-law. Welcome to the family."
"Aaww, that's so sweet, thank you Caleb." Karen said as she
gave him a hug. Karen was thirty-five years old, and she stood five-foot
five with long black hair that fell past her shoulders, and luminous blue
eyes. Caleb wasn't totally sure, as he only had Bridget's word and his own
sense of touch to go on, but he was almost positive that if this were 1938
instead of 2006, Karen Hart would most definitely have given Vivien Leigh a
run for her money for the role of Scarlett O'Hara!
"And now for my announcement. You guys can now safely set a
date without having to worry about me."
"What?" Michael exclaimed.
"Come on Michael, I may be blind, but I'm not stupid! I know
that you and Karen have put off getting married out of some misguided sense
of duty, or something, but I'm telling you, you don't have to put it off
any longer."
"And just why is that, little brother?"
"Because, I'm moving out!"
Well, there you have it! Part 1! Let me know what y'all think.
I can be reached by email at dnsphelps@mcsi.net or on yahoo and msn
messengers under the same name, twains_fan_03, and on AIM under the new
name GuyOregon8. Feedback is encouraged and welcomed. If you haven't
checked it out yet, I suggest
http://groups.msn.com/TheGyllenhaalChronicles/ It's run by Avy, who many of
you know as the author of Jake's Cowboy, here on Nifty. Go check it out!
There's a lot there to see! Anyways, thank you for reading, and I hope to
hear from y'all soon,
Stephen