Mr Artist!!

Dads know it all...

Miguel Endrizzi

I never expected to find Romero at the doorstep of our beach house with a box of chocolates and flowers. Neither did I expect him to coax me like a fucking baby when he saw me clinging to Dad, shaking like a leaf. Nor do I expect him to remember the things I like. Looks like I was wrong earlier. I need to apologize. I took the guy wrong when all he did was care for me when he could've easily thrown me out and gotten rid of me.

The lunch was a fun affair. Everyone loves the food and that was enough to put a hundred volts smile on my face. We got to know a lot about Nishan and Romero and Dad made his aim to embarrass Ev. I was planning to talk to Romero after lunch was over but Dad took both, Nishan and Romero for a walk. Looks like the talking will have to wait.

                     🎨🎨🎨🎨

Nishan Lewis

So far, the day was going well. I mean, Everett hasn't tried to kick me, hit me, strangle me, or even utter one of those colorful profanities for me. His father seemed to enjoy my company. And right now we were taking a walk by the seaside, watching the sunset. Usually watching the sunset is something romantic but right now it was more of a fatherly environment. I like it.

"It's beautiful here. Right?" Steve's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. He was looking alternatively between Rome and me as if asking our opinion. We nodded in agreement. There was no questioning in the beauty of the scene before us.

"You know... I know that you're not my son's boyfriend, Nishan..." said Steve breaking the calming silence that prevailed. I could help the feelings of horror, fear, and discomfort that clenched my heart. Was he going to ask me to disappear from Everett's life? Was he going to accuse me of intending to hurt Everett? I hardened my heart and waited for the onslaught of colorful obscenities that would follow but none came. Instead, he sighed and continued,

"And I even know that... Romero was the one responsible for the panic attack Miguel had recently. That there's some kind of misunderstanding between you two. And that you like my boy. I'm I right Romero?" I wanted to laugh at the look of horror that flashed on my best friend's face but couldn't... maybe cause I had the same look plastered on my face. And before we could utter a single word of apology for fooling the old guy, he raised his hand in a stopping motion. Looks like he has more to speak before he decides to push us for lying.

"Don't worry... I won't tell any of you to back off... I didn't tell you this to get you off my sons. I told you this just so you know you aren't good at lying... neither those two are.." he chuckled. At this moment he looked like a fond father who caught his children lying about some mischief they did.

"It was never our intention to lie to you, Mr.Rodriguez. It's just the situation made us do that." I said scratching the back of my neck and Romero hummed in agreement. It was kind of awkward apologizing when all along he knew we were lying. Nevertheless, it was important to apologize.

"I know... Everett is a hard nut to crack. He's just a conceited idiot who's always confused about what he wants in his love life..." said Steve giving me a small smile. He then turned to face Romero and continued.

"And my boy Miguel... he's a wounded soul. A sweet but wounded soul. He deserves all the love in the world but deems himself unworthy of it...So yeah... both my boys are a hard nut to crack." He gave a fond chuckle at the end of his statement and then with a tired sigh began to admire the sunset. The calming silence prevailed once again only to be broken by my friend Romero.

"When I first met Mig...I scared him away... I was an asshole to him and believe me, Everett nearly killed us for it..." he chuckled, reminding me of the time when we met Everett Rodriguez, the badass lawyer, threatening to cut off our pee-pee! Oh god! That day we looked like two scared wet kittens, cowering and flinching while Ev continued to curse us. Steve gave Romero a curious gaze as if asking to continue. Taking a deep breath he started once again.

"And after the misunderstanding was clear...I met him for the second time... It was nice meeting him... knowing him... he looked so hyped to show me his works... And then the panic attack episode happened. I felt a lot closer to him after caring for him those three days... and then he just ran away. I don't know what made him run... I thought maybe he didn't want anything to do with me... and so I respected his wishes and stayed away, even if it physically hurt me..." I shivered remembering that time. It was one of the darkest weeks for the entire company.

"...and then when I saw him at that lunch meeting, I couldn't control myself... I mean I promised I won't try to meet him but if fate made us meet then I won't let go... And that's the reason why I was here. I don't know what I feel about Miguel but I'm sure it's more than a mere fling... All I want now is to stay with him..." It was the first time that my best friend had openly talked to someone else besides Dominic and me about his feelings. It felt good to see my emotionally cut-off friend show some emotions.

"What about you Mr.Cop? Wanna tell me your reason?" said Steve, snapping me out of my thoughts. I think I'm daydreaming a lot today. Seeing the expectant look in both, Steve and Romero's eyes, I started with a sigh,

"My story is not so eventful like Rome here... It was simple... I fell for Everett when I saw him for the first time, stomping our way looking as cute as a chipmunk with his cheeks puffed in anger, threatening to castrate us and cursing up a storm..." We couldn't help the laughter that bubbled. Everett looked like a devil incarnate that day.

"And after that I even made Romero do that cliché apology just so that Everett won't be mad at me for his best friend... Every time I met Everett since then I tried to flirt with him just so he would notice me, think about me... and his reactions were so cute every time I did anything remotely romantic. He would curse me, argue with me, even hit me... but I love every single bit of his reactions. I know all this is just a mask to hide his soft, sweetheart and I plan to break through those walls and make him fall for me...  As for what I did today... it was just in the heat of the moment. You called me his boyfriend so I thought why not help him with that condition you had put forth.... so, that's that." I finished and waited for Steve's opinion. I know I was in for some more ass-kicking but bring it on if it meant I could have Everett's heart.

But all I heard was laughter, a knee smacking, eye tearing laughter.

"Oh heavens! You are just like me!" chuckle Steve increasing the level of my confusion.

"I-I don't understand..." Steve recovered from his laughing fit and took a deep breath before starting,

"Everett is just like his mother... Tatiana was a hard-headed, stubborn woman..." The love he had for his wife was clear through the tone of his voice.

"She liked spending time with me... we went on dates, did everything but still she refused to be anything other than casual acquaintance... It was frustrating. And then... I did something like you did... I introduced myself as her boyfriend. Her family was overjoyed but Tati... she had me on gunpoint... typical Spanish mafia..." The last statement shocked me to no end. Was I dealing with a Spanish mafia heir?

"Wait! Spanish mafia?!" exclaimed Rome, making Steve chuckle once again. But what was there to laugh at?

"Yeah... the Rodriguez family... It was me who changed the last name as Tati had to maintain the 'glorious Rodriguez' line as she called it..." Steve talked about it like some child's play but it wasn't.  The Rodriguez family wasn't someone you could mess with.

"So after being held at gunpoint what did you do?" I  couldn't help but ask. I need to know what to do if Everett decided to hold me at gunpoint someday. Not that I can't handle it, I'm a cop for fuck's sake!

"I kissed her. I knew she wouldn't shoot me cause if wanted to, she would have done it the moment I said I was her boyfriend and not wait for me to stand in front of her. I knew she loved me... I knew she wanted to be with me but she feared for my life... But I didn't care for that shit... as long as I was with her even being dead the very next day was worth it. So yeah... it's gonna be a whole another level of hard work for you my boy..." he finished patting my shoulder. Of course, I'm in for any level of hard work if I need to woo Ev.

"Now all I wanna say is... All the best. My sons are a tough nut to crack but it will be all worth it at the end of the day. And I'm gonna help you guys in it." And this made my day. The father of the guy I like was gonna help me woo his son... It's fucking awesome!

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