Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:07:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: Christian G. <synful_romance@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: The Gyllenhaal Encounter - Part Twenty-One

Disclaimer: I do not know or claim to know Jake Gyllenhaal and I don't
mean to imply to know any knowledge of his personal life or sexual
preferences. This is a work of FICTION and nothing more. If you're under
18 or don't like to read fan-fictions about same sex romances then DO NOT
read this story. For everyone else, sit back and enjoy.
                                      +++

Randy, Christian, and Ashley rushed about the inside of Christian's
apartment; trying to make last minute preparations before Christian got
on the plane for New Jersey that same night. It was 7:00pm and the
airplane was scheduled to leave the runway at 10:00pm roughly but
Christian wanted to be at the airport as soon as possible to get all his
bags checked in on time. If he made the plane on time, Christian would
make it to Newark at six in the morning, giving him enough time to become
reacquainted with his friends and family before the big event. Suitcases
were packed, bags were stocked, and all that was left was to pick up the
plane ticket.
"Hey Randy?" Christian called from inside the living room.
"Yeah?"
"Can you go into my room and get me my black button down shirt from my
closet, please?"
"Yeah." Randy jogged from the kitchen, where he cleaned the counter
top, and made his way down the hallway and to the door leading to
Christian's bedroom. He pushed open the tall door and stepped into the
quaint room to get the t-shirt Christian asked for. He slid apart the
closet doors and turned the high light on to clear the view. There were
hundreds of shirts hanging down from the long wooden rack and none of
them were of the description Christian had given him. Randy pushed shirt
after shirt, trying to focus on each one, but not being able to settle on
the one he searched for. After a moment of silently cursing to himself in
frustration, Randy managed to dig out the shirt and slid the doors shut.
He would've gotten out sooner but a sudden jam in the tracks made him
linger inside the closet. He watched as the door got stuck onto a dirty
pair of jeans on the closet floor and became restless. Randy picked up
the pants and went into the bathroom a few feet away to toss them into
the dirty hamper. When he was finally able to leave, Randy turned and
went for the door when he heard a slight crunching under the soles of his
shoes. Thinking he had unexpectedly murdered an innocent bug, Randy
looked at the bottom of his shoes but didn't see a thing. It wasn't
until looking at the tiled bathroom floor that he noticed something
strange laying there with his dirty shoe prints tagged onto it. He picked
up what ever he had just stepped on and looked it over. It turned out to
be a Polaroid picture of Christian and a stranger lovingly embracing and
trading warm kisses. His heart stopped. He could feel the blood drain
from his face and his palms become moist and uncomfortable.
"What the hell?" Randy whispered to himself while admiring the picture.
He examined it much more closely and saw that one of the men engraved in
the scene was Christian but who was the other man? Upon further
inspection, the smiling, pouting face became familiar and Randy realized
he was looking at Christian cheating on him right in front of his eyes.
All though the picture didn't move or act as a short film, Randy knew
exactly was going on while the photo was being taken. All the thoughts of
negativity and insecurity were no longer just thoughts. They had turned
into a cruel reality, confirming what Randy feared all along. Why would
Christian play him like that? Was Randy too dull and boring that he had
to go and look for someone more interesting?
After the blood ran back into Randy's heart, his face became warm and
his eyes were close to balling if it weren't for the sound of footsteps
coming closer.
"Randy? Did you find it?" Christian yelled as he inched closer to the
bedroom.
"Yeah." Randy's voice cracked and he felt short of breath. He cleared
his throat and slid the picture into his back pocket.
Christian appeared in the room and looked into the bright bathroom where
Randy stood like a deer in headlight, about to get run down by a speeding
car. "What are you doing in there?"
"I was---I needed to use the bathroom. I found your shirt." He hand the
shirt over and closed the bathroom door to be left alone with his
thoughts. He sat on the toilet cover for a good minute and thought about
his next move. Should he confront Christian with the picture and demand
an explanation or act as if he had seen nothing inside that bathroom? So
many thoughts ran into his head like a landslide. In the end, he decided
to go with his instinct. He flushed the toilet and opened the door to
find an empty room then walked out into the living room where Ashley
tried her hardest to close an overflowing suit case sitting on the couch.
Randy walked over to her and gave her a helping hand before whispering
"I have to talk to you."
"About what?" She replied.
"I was in Chris' room and found a^Å"
"Alright. I have my passport, toothbrush, wallet^Å What else am I
missing?" Christian cut Randy off when he walked into the room from
behind the kitchen.
"What?" Ashley added.
"Nothing, never mind."
"Looks like I'm good. I've got everything already packed and ready."
Randy watched Christian while he walked around with a smile on his face
and thought about what he'd just found in the bathroom. Did Christian
really think he could keep the affair hidden behind the stupid grin on
his face? Did he expect Randy to go on taking his bullshit and feed him
lies for as long as he thought it would last? Randy wasn't going to be
taken for an idiot. He wanted so bad to get Christian alone and pull out
the two pictures but fought his urges, proposing a drink instead.

Everyone walked into the kitchen to get comfortable while Randy rummage
around for the hardest liquor in the house but since Christian was a
newly 20 year old he didn't have much alcohol anywhere near except for
one half bottle of Jack Daniels on top of the fridge. He pulled out three
shot glasses and filled them with to the brim with the dark liquid then
slid one glass to Ashley and the next to Christian.
"No thanks. I can't have anything to drink or else be denied boarding
if they smell it on me." Christian said.
"Should we toast to a good trip?" Ashley asked.
"No." Randy replied hastily. "Let's toast to a new start and^Å new
discoveries."
"Here, here!" Ashley lift her glass in the air and clicked it with
Randy's then threw back the drink, swallowing it with one gulp.
"Thank you guys but I have to get going. The taxi should be pulling up
soon." Christian added.
"No, it's still early. Come on, babe, one more shot."
The three spent the rest of the time in the kitchen, throwing back drink
after drink, waiting for the car to pick Christian up. It wasn't until
the phone rang that they went downstairs to meet the taxi car that would
drive Christian to the airport. Randy drank the most and was starting to
develop a slight buzz from all the alcohol he consumed. He didn't care
anymore. All he wanted to do was get drunk and forget about everything
that had gone down that night. Needless to say, Randy had just gained a
harmful and destructive habit.

Christian and Randy lift the suitcases into the back of the taxi and
slammed the door down while Ashley held onto Sargent's leash as he sat
quietly with his tongue falling over one side of his opened mouth.
Christian thought Randy had become extremely quiet and called him out.
"Are you okay?"
"Hmm? Yah, I'm fine. Well, I had a little bit too much to drink and now
I'm a little tipsy." Replied Randy.
"Yeah? Well give your keys to Ashley so she can drive you home, okay?"
"I will."
Christian pulled Randy in and kissed him on the lips. Randy took the kiss
but pulled away fast then Christian moved onto Ashley and Sargent.
"Call me when you get there." Ashley smiled.
"I will, promise."
"Good. Bye." She leaned in and wrapped her thin arms around
Christian's back and let him go soon enough for him to bid farewell to
his excited dog thrashing forward, making a dash in Christian's
direction.
"I'll see you all later." Christian said before getting into the taxi,
disappearing around the corner.

The small car with Christian inside pulled into LAX airport and dropped
him and his things off at the doors. Christian managed to get a small
cart to push his things in while heading into the building.
The airport interior was cold and bitter with men, women, and children
walking around like zombies. There was a sense of familiarity and
homeliness when walking around, seeing as many of the people inside were
casually dressed in pajama bottoms and matching tops, looking like they
were about to hop into bed. The red eye flights always brought in those
types of behaviors in people. They thought, "why get dressed up when
you're about to get into a plane and fall asleep just as soon as your
butt touches the seat?" and they were right. As people carried their
bags in one hand and a plush pillow in the other, Christian made his way
over to a long oval desk near the entrance where a row of men in women in
neat, matching uniforms all waited on the customers waiting to board
their flights. He got in line with his bag in toe and waited like
everyone else. It wasn't too long before a kind looking woman flagged
Christian down and offered a bright smile while asking, "and where are
we headed today?"
"I'm going to Newark, New Jersey," replied Christian, handing over his
passport and I.D. The woman took his things and asked him to place his
things into the small, open space beside the booth where she carefully
tied tags to each one of the suitcase grips except for the small side bag
Christian had hanging across his chest. Afterwards, she clicked her long
red nails against the keyboard in front of her and brought up the
information needed to get Christian going on time. After he signed a copy
of his ticket and let the one man move his bags over to a long conveyer
belt, he got his real ticket and stroll over to the line leading through
the metal detector. One through that, Christian had some well deserved
down time and spent most of it reading his book beside a woman and her
two unruly children. He didn't get much reading done.
                                      +++

The plane trembled as it touched down to solid land. The entire cabin
shook fro a brief second and cheers were heard through out the plane as
children were finally going to be able to run around outside.
Christian's eyes shot open, thinking the tremble was a sign of something
bad but upon looking out the small rectangular window, he saw the ground
moving fast under the plane's wheels, the white dashes painted on the
floor appearing to be a single line.
"It's about time, eh?" The smiling woman seated beside him asked.
"Yeah." Christian replied politely and stood up to wait his turn out of
the seating isles.

The airport in New Jersey wasn't much different than LAX. Of course, it
was a bit smaller but other than that, the people were the same and the
overall structure seemed similar. After doing the obvious necessities
inside the place, Christian walked outside and greeted the dark and
gloomy place he considered his real home. There were several taxi cabs
lined up outside the airport with their drivers having a quick cigarette
against the hood of the car. Christian asked if one of them would take
him into his old neighborhood, one agreed and the two got going.
The sky was still dark and the sun was nowhere to be seen yet there was
still a strange beauty that was painted across the navy blue sky. The
road was still wet from the light shower the day before. The wind, even
more harsh there, was blowing the small droplets of water down over the
cars windshields the faster they moved. Christian was about to fall
asleep again when the driver said, "where here" in a sort of raspy,
deep voice. Christian looked out the window and to his surprise they were
at his childhood home where his mom lay sleeping inside. Everything out
front still looked as it did when he reside in that red brick wall house.
The purple pansy's his mom loved were still laying in their beds next to
the decaying wall and the water hose still tangled and unmanaged.
Christian stepped out from the car and took his suitcases from the trunk
of the auto and paid the fare before walking up to the front door to
signal his arrival. The doorbell sounded from inside the house but there
was no sudden answer. It rang again and still nothing. It wasn't until
the third time when the door creaked open and Jennifer, Christian's
mother, appeared in the doorway with a weary and tired face.
"Hi, mom." Christian started. "Did I wake you?"
"Yeah, come on. It's freezing outside and you with out a sweater."
It felt good to hear his mom's voice up close and personal once again.
Her worry for his wellbeing made Christian feel loved like the way she
only made him feel. The house was dark and cold, just like he remembered,
and the walls were covered in tacky wallpaper accented by the little
figurines stacked inside a glass casing behind the dining room table. The
living room smelled like fruity candles set around the small television
and round couch in the middle of the room. Christian was eager to see how
his old bedroom was holding up through out the years he's been sleeping
somewhere else. He managed to get some time to himself and took a quick
nap before the sun came up.
                                      +++

Back in Los Angeles, Ashley and Randy did some laundry together, making
time pass faster than normal. The sound of the washer engulfed any form
of conversation between he two but they managed by folding clothes
instead. It wasn't until the washers stopped that they were able to put
a word in.
"I was watching TV last night and they were talking about some award
show and that guy you and Christian was on it. Jake." Randy started.
"Oh, yeah?" Ashley added next. "What were they saying?"
"Just talking about some movie. Hey, you don't know if he and Christian
have crossed paths since, do you?"
Ashley became nervous. She didn't want to reveal anything to Randy that
Christian had to instead and only replied, "no. I don't think so."
Randy came out from behind the folding table and set the Polaroid on the
stack of clothes Ashley was busy folding. "Did you know?" He asked.
Ashley took the picture between her small fingers and looked them over.
"I---Yes, I knew." She said.
"How could you not tell me?"
"Because, I don't know. I thought it was something you two had to talk
about."
"Well you should've brought it up. I'm sure Chris had no desire to
talk about it any time soon."
"I didn't want to butt into your business."
"If Chris calls you, don't mention the fact that I have these."
Ashley's face froze and she answered, "No, I don't want to be put into
the middle of anything."
"C'mon Ashley. You did it for him now do it for me." Ashley sighed and
looked at the picture a second time before agreeing to do what Randy
asked of her. She was put into a situation she didn't want anything to
do with but still, she was there. There was nothing she could do except
keep quiet once again.
                                      +++

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed this part of the story. I left out
some parts where we get to meet Christian's sister Marcy and get to know
his mom more along with a whole section talking about his younger sister
Mel and the trouble she's been in ever since running away from home. The
story was getting too long and slow so I took those parts out. Have a
nice day!
E-mail: synful_romance@sbcglobal.net