Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 04:03:41 -0800
From: Stephan Phelps <dnsphelps@mcsi.net>
Subject: Michael and Jake Part One
Disclaimer: I do not know nor do I claim to know Jake Gyllenhaal, or any
other celebrities that may wander through these pages, and I do not know or
therefore mean to imply anything about their personal lives or their sexual
preferences. This is a work of fiction. The character of Michael is my
own creation, and therefore any use of him outside of this story must be
done so with my permission. If you are under 18 years of age, or are
bothered by the prospect of a homo-erotic relationship between two men,
then you better go read something else on another web-site. And now, on
with the story......
Little did I realize, but in the space of a week, I would
inherit a huge Victorian mansion from a woman that I had never met before
in my life, win a lottery jackpot worth almost a billion dollars, and meet
the love of my life, my soulmate, Jake.
I guess I should start by introducing myself. My name is
Michael Valentine O'Neill-Orsini. Yeah, I know what you're thinking,
sounds like something out of a romance novel......Well, you're partially
correct. When I was born, my mother was reading SCRUPLES by Judith Krantz,
and I had the......misfortune to be born on February 14th, so it was pretty
much a foregone conclusion which characters I was named after......
So, now that you know my name, I suppose you want to know what
I look like, right? With a name like that, it's got to be......the exact
opposite of what- ever it is you're thinking.
For one thing, I'm short for a guy. Quite short in fact.
Five-foot six to be exact. I do have a nice build though. But that's not
what grabs and holds people's attention however. It's my hair in
combination with my eyes. Red hair!! I'm talking, like, Reba McEntire red
here!! And green eyes! We're talking deep Emerald green! You put
shoulder length, flaming red hair together with emerald green eyes, and
what you get is a lethal combination in any case. Add to that the fair
complexion, and it's downright explosive!
So, that's me in a nutshell, five-six, 150 lbs., nice build,
red hair and green eyes, with a true red-head's explosive temperment too!
Let's see, what else? Oh, did I mention that I'm an actor?
I'm currently on the popular daytime soap ANOTHER LIFE where I play
identical twins Blake and Justin Lindsey. I joined the cast when I was
fifteen years old, as the "cute but shy younger brother" of the show's
"teen heart-throb". During my first two years on the show, I went through
all the usual teen-age growing pains, so that by the time I was almost
seventeen, I had the whole teenager's appearance nightmare going on. I was
short, slightly overweight, had braces, ugly glasses, and my hair defied
imagination!
Well it was no wonder that when I did finally turn seventeen,
and the opportunity to join the Foreign Exchange Program presented itself,
I grabbed onto it with both hands! So, while I went to Paris in "real
life", 'Justin' went to Paris on the show. I guess you could say that
during my year in Paris, I came out of my cocoon, and into my own as an
individual.....
I shot up six inches, shed about twenty extra pounds, let my
hair grow out, got some cool new glasses, and some contact lenses also, got
my braces off, and thanks to my host family and their four children, I some
good and healthy eating habits, as well as an exercise and workout regimen
which I still maintain to this day.
Needless to say, my family were all quite shocked when I got
off the plane, as were my producers on my first day back in the studios.
It wasn't long after my return that 'Justin' became deathly
ill, and it was determined that his only chance for survival was a bone
marrow transplant. Enter 'Blake', who sees a picture of 'Justin' in a news
paper and comes to town to claim his share of the 'family fortune'. In
time, the truth came out--Justin's older sister wasn't really his sister,
but in fact his mother, and that he and Blake, whom had been taken away at
birth, were the product of teenaged love affair with the stableboy. In the
end, Blake donated his bone marrow and saved his twin's life, Justin
survived, and so began a new chapter of ANOTHER LIFE in my life.
It was during this story line that I got together enough
courage to tell my family the truth about what I had discovered about
myself while I was in Paris.
I was gay.
Suffice it to say, they took it much better than I had
anticipated they would, and so my life continued......Eventually I told the
producers of the show, and they respected my wishes not to make it public
knowledge until I was ready to do so. It was at this time that they told
me that they had been toying with the idea for quite some time, of having
either Blake or Justin, or possibly both characters, be gay. I told them
to go for it, and in a beautifully written storyline that played out over
almost seven months, Blake and Justin finally came out, first to each
other, then to their family. It was during the six month build up to the
"big reveal" that I decided to write my story my way, in the form of an
open letter, which ran in all four Soap Opera magazines, as well as most of
the weekly magazines, and several top news papers! I was also excerpted on
several evening/entertainment shows!
The story went on to win much critical praise, as well as a
sweep of that year's Daytime Emmy's, including the first of four for yours
truely, with the opportunity for number five this year!!
About three years ago, something tragic, yet wonderful at the
same time, happened. Eric Hunter, the actor who played my "hunky older
brother" on the show, and his wife, Shelly, were on vacation in Mexico when
they were killed in a horrible car accident. During the previous couple of
years, we had had several long talks, mainly concerning their twins. It
didn't matter to them that I was gay. They knew what my home life was
like, how I was brought up, and they were well aquainted with my family,
and they had both decided that if, heaven forbid, anything should ever
happen to the both of them, they wanted me to raise their son and daughter.
Well, you guessed it. After the accident, I was given
temporary custody of their children, and then finally last year, I was
given full legal custody and was able to legally adopt them. I am very
happy to say that Ryan and Michelle Hunter-Orsini are healthy and happy and
doing just fine, which brings us up to the present.
I was now working only three days a week, Tuesdays through
Thursdays, which allowed me to have my four-day weekends free to spend with
my children, who had just turned five years old. Oh, by the way, did I
mention that I lived in New York City? Anyways, it was a Tuesday, and we
were taking a break in the middle of taping when Glenn, our Executive
Producer called me up to his office.
"Hi Glenn, what's up?" I asked, noticing two men in business
suits standing near Glenn's desk. I took a seat in one of the two chairs
facing the desk. I noticed the strange looks I kept getting from the two
men, and it was making me feel a bit weird! It was completely
understandable though, seeing how I was dressed; tight fitting blue jeans,
a white wife beater, and a long sleeved blue cotton chambray shirt tied
around my hips. I was wearing my glasses, and my hair was pulled back in a
ponytail. I was also barefoot. My clothes had several splashes of
brightly colored paint on them. We were in the middle of taping, after
all, and 'Blake' was in his studio painting. The small emerald stud in my
left ear was my own. For my scenes as 'Justin', I wore more conservative
clothing, and a short wig.
"We're in the middle of taping," I explained. "So, Glenn,
what's up?
"Michael, this is John Hartford and Marshall Williams," Glenn
said, making introductions.
"Gentlemen," I said, standing up to shake hands with each of
them before John Hartford handed me a business card which read "Hartford,
Taggart, and Williams, Attorney's Specializing in Estate Law"
"Estate Law? Does this have something to do with my children?"
I asked, fear beginning to to rise up in my chest.
"No Mr. Orsini, it's nothing like that. We represent the
Estate of the late Kathryn Hayes-- Stratton Donato Van Dyke del Portago."
"Oh yeah, I remember seeing the obituary in the paper, but what
does any of this have to do with me?" I asked, feeling confused.
"You've been named as a beneficiary, and your presence is
required at the reading of her will," said Marshall Williams.
"Um, okay," I said looking askance at Glenn, who nodded his
head.
"Very good then, we'll see you at 10:00 on Friday morning at
our offices. The address is there on the card. Good day, Mr. Orsini."
"Yeah, thanks," I said distractedly, shaking hands again as
they left. "Okay," I said, looking at Glenn. "Well, I guess I'll head
back down to the set," I said, putting the card in the pocket of the jeans
I was wearing.
When I was done taping for the day, I headed down to my
dressing room. I actually had a pretty decent sized dressing room. It had
it's own full bathroom complete with a sink, toilet, and a shower stall.
The dressing room itself had the requisite make-up counter and lighted
mirrors, which had picture of family, friends, and cast members that were
taken at various event, taped up all around the outer edges. There was
also a large comfortable sofa along one wall, and an enormous bookcase
which contained a small yet nice sized plasma tv, and a nice audio/visual
set-up, on the opposite wall. In one corner by the make-up counter was a
refrigerator/freezer that had a microwave sitting on top. The whole set-up
stood just over six feet tall. In the other corner stood a rather bushy
looking artificial Ficus tree which I had draped several strings of clear
Christmas lights on. It stood eight feet tall. On the floor was a
beautiful rug which I had "liberated" from the props room a couple of years
ago. All in all, it was a relaxing and comfortable space, and it was no
wonder that at any given time through- out the day, at least one, if not
more of my co-stars could be found hanging out there.
I reached into one of the front pockets of the jeans I had been
wearing, pulled out the business card I had been given and set it on the
counter before stripping out of the rest of my clothes and heading into the
bathroom to take a nice relaxing shower.
Upon leaving the studio, we were besieged by autograph seekers.
I had my pen ready, and didn't have long to wait. "Hi," I said with a
smile as I took the book that was being offered. "Who should I make it out
to?" I asked the pretty young woman with the dark hair and sun-glasses.
"Maggie," she said. "Maggie Gyllenhaal."
"Okay," I said, then did a double take, my mouth dropping open,
eyes widening in surprise.
"Thanks Michael," she said, taking back her book. "Seriously,
I am your biggest fan, and I hope thet the producers get you a boyfriend on
the show, and right quick!" And then she was gone!
After signing a few more autographs, I headed for home, which
was still at my parents.
Stopping at the local grocery, I picked up a few necessities,
and then went through the check out. On my way out, I stopped to see what
the lottery was up to. $950,000,000.00! Holy Shit!! I dug ten dollars
out of my wallet and bought a ticket. It certainly couldn't hurt
anything!!
I couldn't believe it! I absolutely could not believe it!! I
had gone to the lawyers offices for the reading of the will, not knowing
what to expect. I had never in a million years expected what I had
gotten!! Kathryn Hayes had left me her house! The contents were to be
divided up amongst the family members, but the house and property had been
left to me, a complete stranger! Good grief, what in hell was I going to
do with a house? I decided to go by the studios to share the news of my
new windfall with my fellow castmates.
When I got there, they were taking a short break during
blocking on the set, and pouring over that mornings paper.
"Hey Michael, did you hear?" Chantal Stafford, my 'Mother' on
the show asked the minute she saw me.
"Hear what?" I wanted to know.
"It's in today's paper! The winning ticket for the Lucky 7
Mega-Millions was sold right here in the city! And there still hasn't been
anyone to come foreward to claim it yet!"
"Really? Oh hey, that reminds me, I haven't checked my ticket
yet, hang on." I took out my wallet and removed my ticket. "Okay, what're
the numbers?
"9--13--18--26--34--48--56!"
"Oh my go------!" I slumped down on the sofa right there on
the set! This wasn't possible! This couldn't be happening to me, not
twice in on day!
"Michael, what's wrong?"
"I--I've got all seven numbers!"
"Yeah, right! Let me see that ticket!" Mark Hathoway said,
snatching the ticket out of my suddenly lifeless fingers. His smile faded
and he looked at me with dawning realization
"Jesus Orsini! You just hit the Fucking Jackpot!!
Well, that's it for part one! Let me know what you all think!
Feedback is encouraged and welcomed. You can email me at
dnsphelps@mcsi.net or find me on yahoo. My chat ID is twains_fan_03