Chapter 24: High Points and Low Points

After coming out to my gang at the office, and the suggestion from Mary about getting married somewhere that gays would be welcomed, I knew that I needed to do some research, and then have a long chat with Dani to see if she was on the same page. First, though, I knew that the biggest obstacle in my future path was the matter of my parents.

I decided that ‘divide and conquer’ was probably going to be the best approach. I also knew that there were likely going to be some rough times ahead for me, but it was something that had to be done. Ironically, I remembered words that my father had always drilled into us, namely that part of being an adult was having to do things that you really didn’t want to do. ‘Yeah, Daddy, I’m going to do this, but you’re really not going to want to hear it.’

I had been sitting at my desk and staring at the phone for what seemed like an hour, but was in reality only about ten minutes. I finally swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and picked up the phone to call my brother at his work. He actually answered right away. That surprised me, as he was often in a meeting or seeing a client, and it usually took a few rounds of telephone tag before we could connect with each other.

When he realized it was me, he laughed and said, “Ah, it’s the ugly step-sister. What brings you out of your cave and into the sunshine?”

I chuckled at the name he always called me. He had tried to convince me that I was adopted when we were kids, something that made our mother ground him for a week, but he continued calling me that, or referring to me as ‘the foundling’ the whole time we were growing up. He usually did it in private, mainly to avoid the wrath of our mother, and did it to try to get my goat. I had my own pet names for him, and sent one of those down the phone line.

“Yes, you Jersey shore greaseball, it’s me. How have you been?”

“I’ve been good, contrary to popular opinion. Have you heard nasty things about me?”

“Not lately. My police scanner hasn’t turned up your name recently, so you must actually be staying out of any serious trouble.”

“Actually, saying that reminds me—I’ve been meaning to call you. Our company has started an internal campaign against harassment and they’ve been putting up posters of a woman who looks like she went ten rounds with Muhammad Ali. It’s the strangest thing, but the woman in the posters keeps reminding me of you. Have you seen any of these posters? You deal with HR issues, don’t you?”

I started laughing out loud at his question. It took me a moment before I could actually answer him. “Oh, you better believe I’ve seen those posters. My company is the one behind them.”

“Why does the woman in them look so much like you? Was it actually a picture of you that got Photoshopped to alter the appearance and add all the bruises?”

I laughed again at his question. “No Photoshop work, no alteration of her appearance. That’s actually me in the picture, in all my bruised and colourful glory.”

I could hear the sharp intake of breath at the other end of the phone. After a pause, he asked, “What the hell happened? Did you get beaten up? I’ll kill the bastard, whoever it was!”

“Easy there, lizard brain. Nobody beat me up. I got thrown from a horse. The horse got spooked by a snake and reared up and I kind of went for a short flight with a hard landing. I got a bunch of bruises and a few cracked ribs out of it, but I’m totally fine now. I knew the company wanted to start a campaign about sexual harassment and domestic abuse, so when all the bruises came out, I thought it might be an idea to get some photos taken and that we could maybe use them. My boss worked with a designer to come up with the posters, and they’ve been selling like crazy ever since. I guess you might say I’ve become a little famous.”

“Wow! That’s quite the story. And I think you’re more than a little famous. I’ve been seeing those posters popping up in all kinds of places. They’re even in the coffee shop across from my building, because there’s a women’s shelter somewhere in the neighbourhood.”

“I think I actually know the shelter you’re talking about. We’ve developed a lecture series that we’ve been delivering in various companies to help them extend their HR teams to deal with all forms of abuse. It’s become a really successful part of the consulting work we do, and it’s all done by the team I head up.”

“You’re really coming up in the world. Good for you!” I could hear him taking a sip from his coffee, and then he came back to ask, “So, why did you call? Just to gloat about being famous, or was there something else.”

‘Well, here it was. The moment of truth.’ “Actually, something else. I need your help to deal with a bit of a situation.”

“Sure thing. What’s up?”

“I think it would be better if we did it in person. How’s your schedule this week? Could we do lunch or even dinner one day this week?”

“Sounds mysterious. I’m kind of jammed up today, but tomorrow’s pretty clear. I’ve got a meeting in the morning that won’t last more than an hour, and then I’m clear the rest of the day, so we can do lunch and if it drags on it’s no big deal.”

We settled on a restaurant, and a time, and agreed to update each other if plans suddenly had to change. As we ended our conversation, he asked, “So, no hints as to what we’re going to talk about, other than your new-found fame?”

“Nope, not until tomorrow. It’s very important to me, and I’ll explain it all to you tomorrow. Take care, and I’ll see you then.”

The next day I stopped by Ken’s office to let him know that I might be late getting back from lunch. When I explained the reason, he smiled a little ruefully, and said, “Take all the time you need. I know how hard it was coming out to my family, and they were nothing if not supportive when I told them. I know it might not go as well for your situation, but you know that everyone here has your back. I think your staff has spread the word about your new-found status all around the company so you’re definitely classed as one of the in crowd now.” He was chuckling as he said it, and his attitude reminded me of how much I liked working for him, and in this company.

I couldn’t help it when I said, “As crazy as it sounds, I think getting fired from my old job was the best thing that ever happened to me. It led to me coming here, and meeting my bride-to-be, and falling in love. And even working for you isn’t as bad as I thought it might be.” I was laughing when I added the last part, and Ken started laughing as well, knowing I meant only good things between us.

I felt like there was a bounce in my step as I entered the restaurant where I was meeting my brother. I could see him in a corner booth as soon as I walked in, and I smiled at the hostess as I pointed to him. “I’m joining that ugly guy in the corner.”

She gave me a quizzical look. “He’s pretty cute, and I’d go out with him if you want to dump him.”

I grinned at her, and said, “Go for it. I wouldn’t go out with him for any amount of money. I grew up with him, so I know all of his bad habits.” At her frown I added, “He’s my brother, but don’t let that stop you. I think he actually turned into a human being after he grew up.”

When I got to where he was sitting, he actually got up and gave me a hug. “It’s good to see you, Kelli. We should do this more often.”

I kissed him on the cheek, then sat down. “After we talk, you may or may not want to have anything to do with me.”

“Now you’re getting all mysterious again. Is this serious enough that we should get a drink?”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea.” Just then a waitress approached our table to deliver menus, so I ordered a glass of wine and Todd ordered a vodka drink.

When the drinks had been delivered, I asked the waitress to give us a few minutes. She smiled and left, then I took a sip of my wine and looked Todd straight in the eye. He didn’t say anything, letting me decide how to forge ahead, but he did lift one eyebrow as he watched me closely.

I took a deep breath, then, as calmly as I could, said, “Here’s the big mystery—I’m getting married.”

He smiled widely, and lifted his glass in a toast. “First, congratulations!” We clinked glasses, then he added, “But I sense there’s something more to it than that. Is your future husband behind bars, or something? Are you marrying an axe murderer as the old movie title goes?”

“Actually, nothing quite that sinister, but just as shocking.” ‘Here it comes.’ “My future husband is actually my future wife. I’m in love with a woman, and we’re getting married.” I held up my left hand to show him my ring, and waited for his reaction.

For along moment, he didn’t say anything, just took a large gulp of his drink. He finally set it back down on the table, then reached across to take my hand in both of his. “I think I can now see why we’re having lunch. You’ve obviously just come out to me, and you want an ally when you present all of this to Mom and Dad.”

I could feel my breath whooshing out of me, and hadn’t even realized I had been holding it. I couldn’t speak. He seemed to be just accepting this at face value, and I nodded in response to his question.

“Before I forget, I’m glad you’ve found someone, and I’m happy for you. I know it must have been difficult, given that you are the ugly step-sister and didn’t get my natural genetic good looks, brains, and talent.”

I burst out laughing as he finished his remark, and I could see the shit-eating grin on his face. In that instant I knew that all was right between him and me, and that he would support me as I moved forward in my relationship with Dani. “You dumb shmuck. You’re still the same smarmy, greasy older brother you were when we were younger, and don’t ever change! You still won’t convince me that I was adopted, and you know Mom will wallop you with the wooden spoon if you say that in her presence. I love you, Todd, as much as we fought when we were kids, I’ll always want you in my life.”

“Now, don’t go getting all sentimental on me. You realize I’m going to have to meet this fiancée of yours, if for no other reason than to tell her about all your horrible habits.”

I chuckled and said, “You’d better be nice to her when you do meet. She was trained as a bodyguard so she could probably take you with one hand tied behind her back.”

“So, who is this person who stole my little siter’s heart, and how did you meet?”

Feeling like a huge weight had been lifted, I smiled at Todd and told him about Dani, or at least the abridged version. “Her name is Dani, and we met the day I got fired from my job. My car broke down outside the club she manages, and she introduced herself when I went in to find some help and to have a drink. Her boss arranged to fix my car, and things just kind of went from there. We’ve been nearly inseparable since then.”

The waitress was kind of hovering near our table, so we both quickly ordered something and went back to our conversation. “Sounds interesting. Obviously, I do need to meet this woman. Of course, that also begs the big question—when did you realize you were gay? The first time you and she kissed?”

“I’ve been asked that question a few times, and I still don’t really know the answer. Growing up, I always thought of myself as straight, and you know I had boyfriends. I know you didn’t think too highly of some of them, but I did manage to keep my virginity until I was in college. I didn’t have much of a sex life as I never really seemed to be into it. Maybe I really was gay all along, and didn’t fully realize it until I met Dani. With her, it just seemed so right, although I keep telling people that I’m not really gay, I just love this wonderful woman who makes me have sex with her.” I held up a hand and said, “And no, I’m not being coerced. I really do love her, and sex between us is completely consensual, and a hell of a lot of fun.”

“She hasn’t forced you into anything?”

“No, definitely not.” ‘Well, maybe that first time.’ “Dani tends to be a lot more serious than me, and I tend to be the nutcase in the relationship, so I say things like that to get her to lighten up. It gets me in trouble, but she knows I’m only doing it to get her goat and make her laugh. She had a really rough childhood, so things were pretty bad for her. She was actually in juvenile detention when she got rescued by the woman who is now her boss. Eve, that’s her name, taught her how to be a good person and she made sure that Dani got a solid education and got a good footing in life. Both Eve and Dani are amazing people and I’d do anything for them.”

The waitress arrived with our lunches, so we had started to dig in when Todd hit me with, “Sounds like you really got lucky. Has she maybe got a sister?”

I started laughing and was glad he hadn’t said it while I had a mouthful of my wine. “Not a chance, so you’re out of luck. As I said, Eve rescued her from juvenile detention. Her parents were killed in a car crash and her foster parent situation didn’t go well. The system stuck her in juvie and she spent most of her time there getting abused and beaten up. It was just luck that Eve found her there and decided to foster her and then take care of her. The bond between Dani and Eve is unbelievably strong. Dani is convinced that she would have been dead if not for Eve.”

I paused for a minute, thinking of my own bond to Eve. I took a sip of my wine, and added, “Eve has also done some amazing things for me, so I’d pretty much do anything for her. I think it’s another reason why Dani and I are so close.”

“If it’s all that you say it is, then I’m really glad for you. For the two of you.” He was smiling as he spoke, and then added, “You do realize I’m going to have to meet this woman and pass my own judgement.”

“I’m sure we can arrange that. But you’ll have to promise to be nice or she’s likely to beat you up.”

“Oh yeah, the bodyguard thing. How did that come about?”

“That was Eve’s doing. Dani was in pretty bad shape physically when Eve first found her, mainly because of crappy prison food and no exercise. Eve is an excellent cook, so Dani immediately started eating better, and Eve made her exercise and work out. She has a small farm with horses, so Dani got put to work looking after the horses, and riding, and running in the fields.” ‘Yeah, naked, or riding while sitting on a dildo.’

“Eve decided she needed to be taught how to defend herself, mainly because she saw her getting beaten up at juvie. The self-defence kind of turned into martial arts, and Dani turned out to be very good at it. Eve got her the extra bodyguard training mainly because she was concerned about getting attacked because she was gay. I’ve seen Dani in action once or twice, and she really is a force to be reckoned with. I always feel safe when I’m with her, and I know she’d never let anything bad happen to me.” ‘The occasional spanking or whipping notwithstanding.’

I could feel the emotion of my last couple of statements starting to get to me, so I took another swallow of my wine and a couple of deep breaths before I spoke again. I reached across the table to take one of Todd’s hands in mine. “Now, we come to the big moment. Will you help me deal with Mom and Dad? I’m not too worried about Mom—I think she will accept me, but Dad scares me.”

I felt Todd squeeze my hand as he looked me in the eye. “I’ll be there for you, all the way. You’re my sister, and as much I’ve tormented you all these years, I love you and I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

I couldn’t help the tear I felt rolling down my face, and I squeezed his hand really hard because I didn’t feel I could speak. I spent the next minute just looking into his eyes, and then finally took a breath and asked, “So, how should we do this? Deal with Mom and Dad?”

He thought for a moment, then said, “Well, we could always take them out to dinner. There’s a chance they wouldn’t make a scene if we were in public.”

I considered what he was saying, then shook my head. “Remember, this is Dad we’re talking about. The guy who never cared who was listening when he made some stupid or racist remark. We’ve both heard him rant about immigrants or people who weren’t Christians or anything else. I really can’t see him being bothered by being out in public when he hears his daughter is a lesbian. I know Mom wouldn’t want to make any kind of scene, but I can’t see that applying to Dad.”

Todd slowly shook his head, then grinned a little ruefully. “Yeah, you’re probably totally right. Best not to do it in public.” After a moment he said, “However, on the off chance that he does accept it, we could always suggest going out to dinner afterwards to celebrate.”

I barked a short laugh. “You and I both know there’s not much chance of that, but I won’t fault your optimism.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know, but like they say—there’s always hope, and miracles may happen.”

“So, when should we do this? Obviously, it probably needs to happen fairly quickly so Dani and I can get on with the wedding planning.”

“How about this weekend? We know it has to be a bit of a road trip, since it’s about a two-hour drive to get there. We also know they won’t be going anywhere, so we don’t have to give them much warning.” I was nodding in agreement as he spoke. “Why don’t we shoot for Saturday? We could drive up there, maybe grab some lunch, then hit their place. If it all works out, we go out for dinner, then drive back. If it blows up, we head back right after and maybe grab dinner back here.”

“Yeah, Saturday would be better than Sunday. After all, we can’t interfere with the usual three-hour church service on Sunday.”

“Too true. Okay, I’ll pick you up at your place about 10:00 on Saturday. Sound like a plan?”

“Yeah, that will work.” I stood up and reached a hand to Todd, hauling him to his feet. I impulsively hugged him tightly, and said, “Thank you for this. I love you for how well you’re accepting my new situation.”

He hugged me back, then kissed me on the cheek. “Anytime. I don’t care if you are just the ugly step-sister. You’re my ugly step-sister and no one else gets to torment you.”

The laugh that bubbled up out of me made me feel like the world was once again on an even keel. I stepped back and squeezed his shoulders. “For that, I’ll even tell you that the hostess thinks you’re cute and wants to date you. She objected when I said I was joining the ugly guy in the corner booth.”

He smirked at me and said, “I guess I deserved that.” He took a look at his watch, then said, “I need to get back to the office. I’ll grab the bill so you can head out. Lunch can be on you on Saturday.”

“Thanks, Todd. I’ll see you Saturday.” I was feeling good as I headed back to work, although I was still not looking forward to what might happen on Saturday.

When I told Dani about our plans, I was a little surprised when she said, “I’m going with you on Saturday.” When she saw my expression, she quickly added, “I won’t go into your parents, because I understand that might make things worse, but I want to be there for you afterward, in case it goes really badly. I want to be able to hold you and comfort you if necessary.”

I stepped into her embrace, then leaned back and asked, “Are you sure? You know I’d love for you to be there, but do you really want to get that close to what might be a meltdown?”

“Definitely. Besides, it will give me a chance to get to know your brother, and look on the bright side—if it actually goes really well with your parents, then we can get together and they can meet me.”

“I never would have pegged you for such an optimist, but I do love you for trying to help me out.”

She kissed me, then said, “Chin up. Let’s see what Saturday brings.”