Silver Mistletoe 3/?
Oct. 4th, 2005 11:31 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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vigorliTitle- Silver Mistletoe
Author- Lunperlyn
Rating- pg-13 (will be NC-17)
Beta- the Lovely![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pita23 and the beautiful rawiyaparand. Please remember that any mistakes are my own and has nothing to do with these Lovely ladies. I am so sorry, I also had uppacrick help me. I am such a scatterbrain I forgot to mention her. I am SO sorry!
Disclaimer- If I owned these two men, trust me you would know about it, 'cause they would be kissing in public… wait the already do that…. Ok they would be fucking in public. Yeh… they haven’t done that… at least not yet.
Author’s note- PLEASE READ! I know that in the last chapter it said that Viggo and Orlando only dated for three years. I have NO IDEA what I was thinking when I wrote that part so I am making this announcement so I will not get ragged about it later. The actual time that Viggo and Orlando dated was five years. Please forgive my mistake. Thank you, Lyn
*
Orlando sat at his desk three days after Christmas reading some files that he knew he would have to deal with after the New Year, but was unable to get passed the first paragraph. His mind continued to drift back to the Christmas party. He had known that Viggo would be at the party and had even had that distinct feeling of familiarity which should have tipped him off; but he had ignored it and had once again caused his heart to be crushed under Viggo Mortensen’s boot. He was a fool to think he would ever get away from him. The important thing now was to just ignore what had happened and if he and Viggo had no contact for the next year then he would be home free and that accursed enchantment wouldn’t come true.
The phone rang and Orlando stared at it for three rings before scolding himself. “Come on Bloom. You have stared down the press more times than you can think of and now you’re afraid of picking up the phone? Get a grip, mate,” he muttered as he reached for the phone. “Hello?”
“Orlando! What are you doing at the office? It’s New Years Eve!” Sam squealed into his ear.
“Sam, in the last week I have been shocked, humiliated, hurt, and then embarrassed. The only place I can feel ok right now is here, working myself into the hospital. I don’t care if the world is coming down around me; I don’t want to be bothered.”
“Well, I can tell you haven’t seen the tabloids then?” she asked in a strange pinched voice.
“No. I haven’t seen the tabloids since I left for England,” he said wondering what in the hell could have her upset about the tabloids. She hadn’t cared about the stories when he had come out five years prior, or the rumors that had circulated in them when he had opened the company, why should anything these vampires say now upset her?
“Orlando, you need to go pick up a copy of People,” she said with a worried tone.
“No, I want to hear it from you. What is it?” he demanded. He heard her sigh loudly before speaking.
“They found out about the Christmas ball, Orli. They found pictures of the two of you from New Zealand and Lisbon. They’ve made up one hell of a story about the two of you, but they have some things right. Like how you two got together in New Zealand.”
“Bloody fucking hell!” he cursed. “How the hell did they find out?”
“Apparently one of the guests thought it was romantic how you and Viggo were getting married and leaked the story to the press.”
“Christ!” he muttered. “There go all my hopes for completely ignoring Viggo for the next year.”
“Orli, you know we didn’t do this on purpose. We wouldn’t do that to you.”
“I know, I just think that this seriously blows arse. Alright. I’m going to go home, get seriously pissed and then sleep it off. Then tomorrow I’ll try to get in touch with Viggo,” he said wearily.
“Ok. Don’t do anything stupid, ok little brother?” she said using the jab that they used when they were younger.
“I won’t, big sister,” he jabbed back. “I love you. I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up the phone and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, trying to fend off the migraine that was threatening in his skull. He grabbed three Tylenols and downed them dry. He had the distinct feeling that he was going to need a lot more by the time he was done with this whole mess. He logged on to the computer that he had been forced to learn how to use and Googled his and Viggo’s name. Sure enough, the top line was the People magazine article that they had published earlier that week. He groaned as he read the headline- “Lovers from the beginning now to marry”, picked up the phone and began to dial the number he still knew by heart.
*
Viggo sighed as he pulled Brego to a stop in front of his barn. He’d been riding for almost two hours, surveying the edge of his property making sure all of the fences were still intact after the snow storm they had had over the holiday, but now that he was back at the barn he couldn’t remember any of the ride. He ran a hand through his hair and scrunched up his eyes. All he had thought about for the past week was the look on Orlando’s face when he had taken off his mask. The look of complete shock: only to be replaced by what appeared to be distaste and anger. He couldn’t blame him though. The way that they had ended things were less than civil.
And then there was the revealing of the mistletoe. Viggo let out a sharp bark of laughter. The irony of what had happened was almost inane and insane.
Viggo felt a cold nose push against his cheek and he opened his eyes and smiled at the seemingly empathic horse. “Come on buddy, let’s get your tack off and give you a bath,” he said and led him inside.
After placing a warming blanket over Brego and feeding everyone, Viggo headed up to the house and for his studio. He had to get this feeling of complete helplessness out before it consumed him. He had felt like this once before and the only thing that had helped then was nearly working himself to death, but it had gotten him through. He knew that Orlando was not even going to think about him for the next year; for fear that they might actually get trapped into this whole tradition. He sighed again and pulled off his boots as he entered the kitchen. He turned on the coffee machine knowing that he was going to need it if he was going to work in his studio, and then trudged out of the kitchen and into the living room where he stopped dead in his tracks. There was Sean, asleep on the couch.
Viggo went over and shook his best friend awake, looking at him strangely. “Sean? What are you doing here?” he asked as his friend’s eyes focused on him.
“Viggo? Oh!” Sean said, disoriented for a few moments. He looked at his watch and his eyes got big. “Where have you been, man? I know you are a nature person but it’s been an hour and a half since I got here.”
“I was checking the fences. We had a snow storm while I was in England and I wanted to make sure that none of them were damaged,” he explained, still perplexed as to why Sean was at his house on New Years Eve instead of in Auckland.
“Were any?” Sean asked.
“What?”
“Were any of the fences damaged?” he repeated looking inquisitively at Viggo, who was staring at him with an odd expression. “You have no clue, do you?”
“Honestly? No. I haven’t been able to concentrate since I came back from England. I’ve been spending hours upon hours in my studio and all I can make is something that has to do with him. Last night I made a painting that focused on a brown color: the same color brown as his eyes. The day before that, it was the mutant tie he always used to wear. I swear Sean it’s worse than it was when we broke up!”
“Then you are going to hate to see what I came to show you. I knew you wouldn’t know about it, since you lock yourself here in the middle of nowhere, with no TV, a stereo that doesn’t pick up any stations, and a computer you only use about once a week,” Sean complained and Viggo looked at him like he had lost his mind.
“Sean, I have always had all of those things and it never bothered you before, why should it now?” he asked as he heard the coffee pot ding from the kitchen. “Do you want some coffee? I just put some on.”
“You and your coffee. No, thank you. But I’m trying to tell you something, Viggo. Maybe you should invest in something… like an answering machine. I know you have one on your cell but you rarely check it, unless you’re out of town. But here,” he said as he held out a magazine for Viggo to take. Viggo took it and looked at the cover. There was the picture from the premier of “Lord of the Rings” where he and Orlando had been photographed kissing. The headline read- “Lovers from the beginning now to marry.”
Viggo paled at the sight and gaped at the magazine.
“You have got to be kidding me. Christ almighty!”
“You have to read the article. It’s insane and most of it is false, but they know about the silver mistletoe tradition, Viggo. They’re saying the two of you have been planning this for months, and the mistletoe just confirms it,” Sean said a hint of worry lacing his voice.
Viggo yanked it open and looked over the article. “Oh god…” he whispered horrified. “It’s fine… we’ll just tell everyone that there has been a misunderstanding and the tradition has made a mistake on our part,” Viggo rationalized, trying to calm himself.
“Vig, you know it doesn’t work that way. The press will shove you together until you break, and you know as well as I do, that’s not good for your exhibits or your acting. Not to mention what it’ll do to Orli’s company. The press has been trying to catch him with someone for years and now that they think they’ve struck gold, they aren’t going to let it go. Vig, I know you don’t want to talk to him, especially since the break-up, but you have to,” Sean said as he looked pityingly at his friend of twelve years.
“I know. But you know my reasons for not talking to Orli.”
“Yeh… you don’t want him to know the truth about why you broke up with him.”
Sean said as Viggo glared at him. “Listen Viggo, I’ve been your friend long enough to know what goes on in that brain of yours; just like you know what’s going on in mine. You know how to stop me when I start to get to far with someone and you know how to tell me that I messed up without having me get all defensive. Now look: you and Orli may not be on the best of terms right now, but at least you aren’t like most exes in Hollywood. The two of you need to get together and talk about this. You are going to have to do something to front for the paparazzi, cause right now your gallery and Orli’s business is in great peril.”
“I know.” Viggo said defeated. “I’ll call him in the morning. It’s too late to do so now. It’s nearly ten; he’s probably out celebrating the New Year.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Sean muttered but realized that he probably wasn’t going to be able to get much more out of his friend at the moment. “Fine. Karl and I are spending the night in the cottage. We’ll see you in the morning. That is ok with you, right?” he asked as he headed towards the door.
“Of course it is. I meant what I said, Sean. Either of you are welcome here whenever you please. I’ll call…” Viggo started but was cut off by the phone. “Who on earth?” he muttered as he turned towards the kitchen.
“It’s probably Henry wishing you a happy New Year,” Sean said as he followed Viggo into the kitchen. Viggo laughed.
“Probably not; he hasn’t called to wish me a Happy New Year in about ten years. Hello?”
“Viggo? Viggo, is that you?” a male voice came over the line and all the blood rushed out of Viggo’s face. After a few moments, both Sean and the speaker on the phone started to voice their concern.
“Viggo, what’s the matter? Who is it?” Sean dueled with the speaker who started asking, “Hello? Is anyone there? Viggo? Henry?” Viggo suddenly snapped out of the shock that held him.
“I’m sorry. This is Viggo,” he replied as he motioned that he was ok to Sean.
“Viggo? God, you had me scared for a minute there: I thought I’d dialed the wrong number and some drunk picked up. It’s Orli… I mean, it’s Orlando. Um… do you have a few minutes?” Orlando asked as Viggo transferred the phone to the other hand and grabbed a pen and paper, writing to a worried Sean who stood looking as if he were ready to grab the phone and kill whoever was on the other end.
“Yeah… I have a few minutes. What’s the matter? Is everyone ok?” Viggo asked suddenly afraid that something had happened to someone in Orlando’s family and he was looking for Sean or Karl.
“Orli’s on the line?” Sean whispered as he finished reading the note. “And he wants to talk?” Viggo nodded and then went back to listening to Orlando.
“No. Everyone is fine. Viggo, I don’t know if you have seen the headlines for the rag mags, but I think you need to get on your computer.
“What? Oh. Yes, I’ve seen them. Sean came up earlier and showed me,” Viggo said. He heard a huff from the other end of the line and prepared for the worst. Orlando ALWAYS huffed before letting loose his temper.
“And it didn’t occur to you to call me? You do know this is going to affect us both, right? The press is going to kill us. Viggo, this may be the end to your career. Not to mention what it’s going to do for the company,” Orlando exclaimed, panic filling his voice.
“Orlando, calm down. When I said earlier, I meant about 20 minutes ago. I thought you would have been out celebrating, so I decided I would call you tomorrow.”
“Actually, I was hoping to talk to you in person. I think it would be better that way. Are you going to be out here anytime soon?” Orlando asked as Viggo’s eyes got big. Orlando actually wanted to see him? When they had broken up, Orlando had left with only a small suitcase and then sent movers to get the rest of his affairs. If anything had been left behind after that, he sent a letter describing exactly what he was missing and included a check so Viggo could send it to him, where ever he might have been at the moment.
“Um…yeh! I’ll be in LA next week to spend some time with Henry before he goes back to class. We could meet up there.”
“Great. Call me when you get here and we’ll set something up, ok?” Orlando said before saying goodbye and hanging up. Viggo stared at the phone not believing how much Orlando had changed. Six years earlier, he would never have been so demanding and to the point when nervous about something, and Viggo knew he was nervous; he still had the tremor in his voice that only his good friends could detect.
Viggo hung up the phone and Sean put a hand on his shoulder. “You ok?” he asked as he turned his friend to face him.
“You didn’t tell me he had changed so much. God… he was a regular wild fire just now.” Viggo said as he turned pained eyes to Sean.
“He’s always been a ‘wild fire’ when faced with something he doesn’t like Viggo. You know that. It isn’t that Orlando has changed so much as he’s probably feeling a little trapped right now, and you know that Orli doesn’t like to be trapped. Look how he and Kate ended up: when she threatened to expose him for being gay, he retaliated by coming out himself. When it comes to this, though, I think he’s going to shove up and deal for a few months. I don’t think that either of you have much of a choice.” Sean said and headed towards the door. Slipping on his shoes, he opened the door, letting a cold draft enter the room, “You’re going to see Henry tomorrow, anyway. Go see Orlando and talk. Go somewhere public if you don’t want to feel uncomfortable. You two are going to have to deal with this.” He said then turned and walked out of the house, closing the door behind him.
Viggo sighed for what seemed like the one hundredth time that night. Sean was being the typical Sean Viggo knew and loved; he just wished he would say things he wanted to hear, for his sake. But the world didn’t work like that, and on other hand, he was glad that Sean did shove it all in his face.
*
Orlando sat down at a table in the back of the cafe where he and Viggo had agreed to meet. He really didn’t want to be here, but given the circumstances, he didn’t think he had much of a choice. The waiter came by the table and he ordered a cup of coffee. He would have preferred tea, but American tea was horrible, so coffee would have to do at the moment.
Orlando didn’t have to wait long before Viggo joined him. He smiled politely as the older man sat down. The waiter came back and took Viggo’s order, quickly returning with the two drinks.
“So, how is Henry?” Orlando asked as Viggo took a drink.
Viggo nodded and swallowed. “He’s good. His classes should be over soon and he will be graduating. He may have three job offerings waiting for him when he does.”
“That’s great. I’m glad that he’s doing so well.”
“I’ll let him know you asked.”
“So… what do you think we should do about this?” Orlando asked hesitating at first, but then getting right to the point.
“Um…I really…” Viggo began but was cut off by a voice behind him.
“Is the lucky couple planning their wedding?” They both looked up to see a reporter from the local newspaper grinning with a cat-who-got-the-cream smile. “May I get the first statement from the happy couple? Perhaps a full interview? What about it, guys?”
Orlando glared up at the man and shook his head. “No you may not. This is a private conversation, and we would appreciate it if you would leave.”
“Now don’t be like that. Everyone already knows that the two of you are getting married; why not let me give your take on it. How you got together, when you are planning to have the wedding, whom you are inviting. Was the Mistletoe planned or was that a pleasant surprise?” the reported rushed through before Viggo rolled his eyes and cut him off.
“We are having a private lunch that has nothing to do with you. Please leave us alone.”
“Now, this is a public place, why in the world do I have to leave? I can sit at the table next to you, record everything you both say, and you can’t do anything about it because you are having a conversation in pubic, for the public to hear.” Orlando scowled at the reporter’s smirk, desperately wanting to wipe if off his face.
“You are absolutely right.” Viggo said irritated. “Come on, Orlando. Let’s go.” He threw a ten on the table before grabbing Orlando’s hand and leading him out the door. The reporter began to follow, but when they both got into a taxi, he relinquished and let them go.
Viggo gave the address of his house and turned to Orlando. “I know you wanted to meet somewhere public, but with that little incident, I think it would be better if we went to my house and spoke there,” he explained.
“I understand. It’s not a problem. As long as we talk about this, I don’t think it matters where we are.” Orlando said
The ride to Viggo’s house was uneventful, and the awkward silence as they entered the house was worse.
“Um…I’m going to use the restroom.” Orlando said trying to get to a private place to calm himself. As soon as he entered the house he had been assaulted by memories of the life that he and Viggo had shared. Nothing had changed much: the furniture had been moved around, but other than, that it was all the same.
“Sure. The bathroom is down the hall…” he started, used to giving directions, but stopped when he remembered that Orlando would not need them. He had, after all, lived here with Viggo for nearly four years.
“I know where it is. Thanks though.” Orlando said with a smile as he took off his coat. He thought back to the first time that he’d been to Viggo’s home and getting the same description of where the bathroom was.
“Ok. I’m going to make some tea, ok?” Viggo said as he took the other man’s jacket and hung it up next to his own. He felt a pang of familiarity.
“Great. I’ll be right back.” Orlando said and disappeared down the hallway.
Viggo sighed, took off his shoes and made his way into the kitchen. He pulled out the tea pot that Sean had given them for their three year anniversary. On the bottom was a message that Sean had engraved: “You made it to the third year. That’s longer than any of my marriages. You have to make it now!” The message always made Viggo smile when he thought about it. Sean was now married for nearly eight years and he and Karl were adopting a little girl and boy from India. It helped that Karl gave Sean some leeway when it came to fidelity, but Sean was dedicated to Karl and to his knowledge had only strayed once in the entire time that he and Karl had been together. The time it had happened, Sean immediately went to Karl, explaining what had happened and begged him to forgive him, which he had done immediately.
Viggo pulled out the green tea that he knew Orlando liked and set it out while the water was being heated. Then he rummaged around in the cabinets until he found the cookies that he knew Henry stashed in there and in the refrigerator he found a vegetable tray that the housekeeper must have bought when he told her he was coming into town for a week or two.
“Thanks,” Orlando said as he entered the room and walked over to the island in the middle of the kitchen.
“No problem. The tea should be done in a few minutes; there are cookies and veggies if you want some.”
“Great,” Orlando said as he grabbed a carrot. He began to munch on it as he came over to look at the tea that was sitting out. “Hey, that’s the tea we found in Japan when we were there.”
“Yeah, you drank it so much that I became hooked on it too. I drink it all the time now.”
“At least it’s better than the mud you call coffee.” Orlando teased, and then tensed as he thought about how easily they had fallen back into the habit of joking with each other. Viggo sensed Orlando’s discomfort and turned away to busy himself with the tea pot. Orlando spied it and smiled in remembrance. “You still have that? God, I would have thought you’d have gotten rid of it.”
“Of course I didn’t. Sean gave it to us; I couldn’t get rid of it.” Viggo said, stunned that Orlando would think that he would get rid of the one present that he and Orlando both enjoyed very much when they were together. “Why wouldn’t he? You were the one who said you didn’t love him after five years. You were the one who pushed him away and didn’t ‘want him around’ anymore. Why wouldn’t he think you would get rid of something that would remind you of the time you spent together?” a treacherous voice in his mind asked. He physically shook off the thought and Orlando looked at him questioningly.
“You ok?” he asked then cursed himself. Why did he care? They weren’t dating anymore.
“Yeh. I’m a little cold. I haven’t been here in a few months and I forgot to ask Lucinda to turn up the heat when I called her last week.”
“Ah. Ok.” Orlando said.
They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence once again, which was broken a few moments later by the tea kettle whistling. Breathing a sigh of relief, Viggo pulled it off the stove, poured two cups and put it back down on a cool burner. He put two teabags in the cups and handed one to Orlando. He opened the fridge and pulled out the honey and said, “We can go into living room if you like.”
“That’s fine.” Orlando said as he unconsciously took a sip of his tea and grimaced.
Viggo smiled at it and handed him the honey as they left the room.
“Thanks.” Orlando murmured amazed that Viggo still remembered how he took his tea.
“So….um” Viggo started after they had settled in armchairs across the coffee table from each other. “What…. I mean,” Viggo tried again but failed. He couldn’t seem to get the words that he needed to say out. ‘What are we going to do about this’ just seemed to want to choke him. He knew what he wanted but he wasn’t going to get it. He had messed up that chance years before.
“What are we going to do about the press and this situation?” Orlando asked in a quiet but firm voice.
“I’m not sure, but we can’t just hide,” Viggo said relieved that he didn’t have to say it.
“I refuse to hide, not address it maybe, but I won’t hide. I have far too much to do.” Orlando said firmly and Viggo smiled inwardly. At least he had learned that hiding from the press was overrated.
“Well, Sean made a good point when he and I were talking. My exhibit can’t afford bad press at the moment, and god knows that your investors won’t want it. We really only have one choice.”
“Viggo, I don’t plan on lying to my friends and family by making up a farce about how we’re so in love. Let me tell you something that you may have forgotten: we aren’t.”
“I haven’t forgotten and I’m not saying to lie to everyone. I’m just saying that we need to make the press think that they have everything pegged. Just for now.”
“So you’re suggesting that we tell Mom, Sam, Henry, Exene, the fellowship, and whoever else we need to that we are not having a relationship, but to everyone else we are?” Orlando asked a skeptical look on his face.
“Basically, yeah.” Viggo said and Orlando rubbed his eyes for a moment.
“You know… now that I think about it that has got to be the most insane, incredulous thing that I’ve ever heard,” he said and Viggo’s heart lurched. He wasn’t going to agree to it. Viggo didn’t know why he was so surprised considering what he had done to Orlando in the past.
“But,” Orlando continued, “It might just work.” Viggo looked up at Orlando who had an amused look on his face. “What? You thought I’d refuse? You said it yourself; neither one of us can afford it. What with your show coming up, and me with about three huge deals I’m about to make with Nigeria, Cambodia, and Brazil. Now… how are we going to pull this off?” he asked as he leaned forward a bit.
“Well… we can’t pull this charade off forever,” Viggo commented, trying to set what needed to be done if they were going to do this.
“Of course. We already proved that we can’t be together,” Orlando pointed out and Viggo raised an eyebrow at him. “What? It’s the truth.”
“Yes, I know. I was thinking about this on the flight down. What if we posed as this perfect couple for a few months, long enough to make it believable, and then broke up with the excuse that we don’t work together, that we thought that we were good together but we aren’t quite right for each other?” Viggo said a little stung that Orlando had made the comment he had.
“Isn’t that what you told me when we did break up?” Orlando asked, also stung when he heard the speech that Viggo had made to him in its simplest form.
“Yes. That’s what I thought would be best. I mean it would probably be best to keep to the truth, that way we don’t have to come up with as many lies.” Viggo said sheepishly.
“So, we’re saying that we have been dating for five years and had never even thought about marriage until this came along? I mean, that’s almost the truth, too.” Orlando pointed out.
Viggo gave a small laugh before gesturing for Orlando’s cup. “Why don’t I get us more tea, and then we can talk about this in detail?” he said, and Orlando looked down at his cup in surprise. He hadn’t even realized that he was finished with it.
“Ok,” he said returning the smile Viggo was giving him.
As Viggo left, Orlando closed his eyes and dug the heels of his hands into them. He was never going to get through this night. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a non-serrated plastic knife.
*
Three hours and many cups of tea later, the two had seemingly come to a mutual agreement on how they were going to proceed with their situation. They had actually gotten along like old times: catching up on what the other had missed in the last six years, surprising each other on how they reminisced on old times without getting depressed or feeling guilty.
“I should be going.” Orlando murmured after looking at his watch, astonished at how much time had gone by.
“Yeh.” Viggo said as they got up and went to the door.
“Listen, next week is a winter ball for the company. Technically it’s a Christmas ball, but we have it after the New Year so those who aren’t Christian don’t feel like they aren’t invited or are offended. If you like, we can make an appearance together. Sort of put the press on the track we want. I have to go, if you like you can come, but you don’t have to. I know you don’t like the formal stuff.” Orlando said after putting his shoes back on and grabbing his jacket.
“I’d love to come. Tell me when and where, and I’ll be there. But please, no mistletoe.”
“I promise there will be none. I’ll send you a formal invitation by the end of the week.” Orlando said with a smile.
“I look forward to it.” Viggo returned the smile.
“I’ll talk to you later then. Thank you for the tea and for the plans.” Orlando said, placing a quick kiss on Viggo’s lips before dashing out the door.
Viggo watched Orlando run down the walk, with a completely stunned look forming on his face
*A.N. Finally done. More soon I promise, T've just been sick and VERY buisy with school. *MUWA*
Author- Lunperlyn
Rating- pg-13 (will be NC-17)
Beta- the Lovely
pita23 and the beautiful rawiyaparand. Please remember that any mistakes are my own and has nothing to do with these Lovely ladies. I am so sorry, I also had uppacrick help me. I am such a scatterbrain I forgot to mention her. I am SO sorry! Disclaimer- If I owned these two men, trust me you would know about it, 'cause they would be kissing in public… wait the already do that…. Ok they would be fucking in public. Yeh… they haven’t done that… at least not yet.
Author’s note- PLEASE READ! I know that in the last chapter it said that Viggo and Orlando only dated for three years. I have NO IDEA what I was thinking when I wrote that part so I am making this announcement so I will not get ragged about it later. The actual time that Viggo and Orlando dated was five years. Please forgive my mistake. Thank you, Lyn
*
Orlando sat at his desk three days after Christmas reading some files that he knew he would have to deal with after the New Year, but was unable to get passed the first paragraph. His mind continued to drift back to the Christmas party. He had known that Viggo would be at the party and had even had that distinct feeling of familiarity which should have tipped him off; but he had ignored it and had once again caused his heart to be crushed under Viggo Mortensen’s boot. He was a fool to think he would ever get away from him. The important thing now was to just ignore what had happened and if he and Viggo had no contact for the next year then he would be home free and that accursed enchantment wouldn’t come true.
The phone rang and Orlando stared at it for three rings before scolding himself. “Come on Bloom. You have stared down the press more times than you can think of and now you’re afraid of picking up the phone? Get a grip, mate,” he muttered as he reached for the phone. “Hello?”
“Orlando! What are you doing at the office? It’s New Years Eve!” Sam squealed into his ear.
“Sam, in the last week I have been shocked, humiliated, hurt, and then embarrassed. The only place I can feel ok right now is here, working myself into the hospital. I don’t care if the world is coming down around me; I don’t want to be bothered.”
“Well, I can tell you haven’t seen the tabloids then?” she asked in a strange pinched voice.
“No. I haven’t seen the tabloids since I left for England,” he said wondering what in the hell could have her upset about the tabloids. She hadn’t cared about the stories when he had come out five years prior, or the rumors that had circulated in them when he had opened the company, why should anything these vampires say now upset her?
“Orlando, you need to go pick up a copy of People,” she said with a worried tone.
“No, I want to hear it from you. What is it?” he demanded. He heard her sigh loudly before speaking.
“They found out about the Christmas ball, Orli. They found pictures of the two of you from New Zealand and Lisbon. They’ve made up one hell of a story about the two of you, but they have some things right. Like how you two got together in New Zealand.”
“Bloody fucking hell!” he cursed. “How the hell did they find out?”
“Apparently one of the guests thought it was romantic how you and Viggo were getting married and leaked the story to the press.”
“Christ!” he muttered. “There go all my hopes for completely ignoring Viggo for the next year.”
“Orli, you know we didn’t do this on purpose. We wouldn’t do that to you.”
“I know, I just think that this seriously blows arse. Alright. I’m going to go home, get seriously pissed and then sleep it off. Then tomorrow I’ll try to get in touch with Viggo,” he said wearily.
“Ok. Don’t do anything stupid, ok little brother?” she said using the jab that they used when they were younger.
“I won’t, big sister,” he jabbed back. “I love you. I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up the phone and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, trying to fend off the migraine that was threatening in his skull. He grabbed three Tylenols and downed them dry. He had the distinct feeling that he was going to need a lot more by the time he was done with this whole mess. He logged on to the computer that he had been forced to learn how to use and Googled his and Viggo’s name. Sure enough, the top line was the People magazine article that they had published earlier that week. He groaned as he read the headline- “Lovers from the beginning now to marry”, picked up the phone and began to dial the number he still knew by heart.
*
Viggo sighed as he pulled Brego to a stop in front of his barn. He’d been riding for almost two hours, surveying the edge of his property making sure all of the fences were still intact after the snow storm they had had over the holiday, but now that he was back at the barn he couldn’t remember any of the ride. He ran a hand through his hair and scrunched up his eyes. All he had thought about for the past week was the look on Orlando’s face when he had taken off his mask. The look of complete shock: only to be replaced by what appeared to be distaste and anger. He couldn’t blame him though. The way that they had ended things were less than civil.
And then there was the revealing of the mistletoe. Viggo let out a sharp bark of laughter. The irony of what had happened was almost inane and insane.
Viggo felt a cold nose push against his cheek and he opened his eyes and smiled at the seemingly empathic horse. “Come on buddy, let’s get your tack off and give you a bath,” he said and led him inside.
After placing a warming blanket over Brego and feeding everyone, Viggo headed up to the house and for his studio. He had to get this feeling of complete helplessness out before it consumed him. He had felt like this once before and the only thing that had helped then was nearly working himself to death, but it had gotten him through. He knew that Orlando was not even going to think about him for the next year; for fear that they might actually get trapped into this whole tradition. He sighed again and pulled off his boots as he entered the kitchen. He turned on the coffee machine knowing that he was going to need it if he was going to work in his studio, and then trudged out of the kitchen and into the living room where he stopped dead in his tracks. There was Sean, asleep on the couch.
Viggo went over and shook his best friend awake, looking at him strangely. “Sean? What are you doing here?” he asked as his friend’s eyes focused on him.
“Viggo? Oh!” Sean said, disoriented for a few moments. He looked at his watch and his eyes got big. “Where have you been, man? I know you are a nature person but it’s been an hour and a half since I got here.”
“I was checking the fences. We had a snow storm while I was in England and I wanted to make sure that none of them were damaged,” he explained, still perplexed as to why Sean was at his house on New Years Eve instead of in Auckland.
“Were any?” Sean asked.
“What?”
“Were any of the fences damaged?” he repeated looking inquisitively at Viggo, who was staring at him with an odd expression. “You have no clue, do you?”
“Honestly? No. I haven’t been able to concentrate since I came back from England. I’ve been spending hours upon hours in my studio and all I can make is something that has to do with him. Last night I made a painting that focused on a brown color: the same color brown as his eyes. The day before that, it was the mutant tie he always used to wear. I swear Sean it’s worse than it was when we broke up!”
“Then you are going to hate to see what I came to show you. I knew you wouldn’t know about it, since you lock yourself here in the middle of nowhere, with no TV, a stereo that doesn’t pick up any stations, and a computer you only use about once a week,” Sean complained and Viggo looked at him like he had lost his mind.
“Sean, I have always had all of those things and it never bothered you before, why should it now?” he asked as he heard the coffee pot ding from the kitchen. “Do you want some coffee? I just put some on.”
“You and your coffee. No, thank you. But I’m trying to tell you something, Viggo. Maybe you should invest in something… like an answering machine. I know you have one on your cell but you rarely check it, unless you’re out of town. But here,” he said as he held out a magazine for Viggo to take. Viggo took it and looked at the cover. There was the picture from the premier of “Lord of the Rings” where he and Orlando had been photographed kissing. The headline read- “Lovers from the beginning now to marry.”
Viggo paled at the sight and gaped at the magazine.
“You have got to be kidding me. Christ almighty!”
“You have to read the article. It’s insane and most of it is false, but they know about the silver mistletoe tradition, Viggo. They’re saying the two of you have been planning this for months, and the mistletoe just confirms it,” Sean said a hint of worry lacing his voice.
Viggo yanked it open and looked over the article. “Oh god…” he whispered horrified. “It’s fine… we’ll just tell everyone that there has been a misunderstanding and the tradition has made a mistake on our part,” Viggo rationalized, trying to calm himself.
“Vig, you know it doesn’t work that way. The press will shove you together until you break, and you know as well as I do, that’s not good for your exhibits or your acting. Not to mention what it’ll do to Orli’s company. The press has been trying to catch him with someone for years and now that they think they’ve struck gold, they aren’t going to let it go. Vig, I know you don’t want to talk to him, especially since the break-up, but you have to,” Sean said as he looked pityingly at his friend of twelve years.
“I know. But you know my reasons for not talking to Orli.”
“Yeh… you don’t want him to know the truth about why you broke up with him.”
Sean said as Viggo glared at him. “Listen Viggo, I’ve been your friend long enough to know what goes on in that brain of yours; just like you know what’s going on in mine. You know how to stop me when I start to get to far with someone and you know how to tell me that I messed up without having me get all defensive. Now look: you and Orli may not be on the best of terms right now, but at least you aren’t like most exes in Hollywood. The two of you need to get together and talk about this. You are going to have to do something to front for the paparazzi, cause right now your gallery and Orli’s business is in great peril.”
“I know.” Viggo said defeated. “I’ll call him in the morning. It’s too late to do so now. It’s nearly ten; he’s probably out celebrating the New Year.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Sean muttered but realized that he probably wasn’t going to be able to get much more out of his friend at the moment. “Fine. Karl and I are spending the night in the cottage. We’ll see you in the morning. That is ok with you, right?” he asked as he headed towards the door.
“Of course it is. I meant what I said, Sean. Either of you are welcome here whenever you please. I’ll call…” Viggo started but was cut off by the phone. “Who on earth?” he muttered as he turned towards the kitchen.
“It’s probably Henry wishing you a happy New Year,” Sean said as he followed Viggo into the kitchen. Viggo laughed.
“Probably not; he hasn’t called to wish me a Happy New Year in about ten years. Hello?”
“Viggo? Viggo, is that you?” a male voice came over the line and all the blood rushed out of Viggo’s face. After a few moments, both Sean and the speaker on the phone started to voice their concern.
“Viggo, what’s the matter? Who is it?” Sean dueled with the speaker who started asking, “Hello? Is anyone there? Viggo? Henry?” Viggo suddenly snapped out of the shock that held him.
“I’m sorry. This is Viggo,” he replied as he motioned that he was ok to Sean.
“Viggo? God, you had me scared for a minute there: I thought I’d dialed the wrong number and some drunk picked up. It’s Orli… I mean, it’s Orlando. Um… do you have a few minutes?” Orlando asked as Viggo transferred the phone to the other hand and grabbed a pen and paper, writing to a worried Sean who stood looking as if he were ready to grab the phone and kill whoever was on the other end.
“Yeah… I have a few minutes. What’s the matter? Is everyone ok?” Viggo asked suddenly afraid that something had happened to someone in Orlando’s family and he was looking for Sean or Karl.
“Orli’s on the line?” Sean whispered as he finished reading the note. “And he wants to talk?” Viggo nodded and then went back to listening to Orlando.
“No. Everyone is fine. Viggo, I don’t know if you have seen the headlines for the rag mags, but I think you need to get on your computer.
“What? Oh. Yes, I’ve seen them. Sean came up earlier and showed me,” Viggo said. He heard a huff from the other end of the line and prepared for the worst. Orlando ALWAYS huffed before letting loose his temper.
“And it didn’t occur to you to call me? You do know this is going to affect us both, right? The press is going to kill us. Viggo, this may be the end to your career. Not to mention what it’s going to do for the company,” Orlando exclaimed, panic filling his voice.
“Orlando, calm down. When I said earlier, I meant about 20 minutes ago. I thought you would have been out celebrating, so I decided I would call you tomorrow.”
“Actually, I was hoping to talk to you in person. I think it would be better that way. Are you going to be out here anytime soon?” Orlando asked as Viggo’s eyes got big. Orlando actually wanted to see him? When they had broken up, Orlando had left with only a small suitcase and then sent movers to get the rest of his affairs. If anything had been left behind after that, he sent a letter describing exactly what he was missing and included a check so Viggo could send it to him, where ever he might have been at the moment.
“Um…yeh! I’ll be in LA next week to spend some time with Henry before he goes back to class. We could meet up there.”
“Great. Call me when you get here and we’ll set something up, ok?” Orlando said before saying goodbye and hanging up. Viggo stared at the phone not believing how much Orlando had changed. Six years earlier, he would never have been so demanding and to the point when nervous about something, and Viggo knew he was nervous; he still had the tremor in his voice that only his good friends could detect.
Viggo hung up the phone and Sean put a hand on his shoulder. “You ok?” he asked as he turned his friend to face him.
“You didn’t tell me he had changed so much. God… he was a regular wild fire just now.” Viggo said as he turned pained eyes to Sean.
“He’s always been a ‘wild fire’ when faced with something he doesn’t like Viggo. You know that. It isn’t that Orlando has changed so much as he’s probably feeling a little trapped right now, and you know that Orli doesn’t like to be trapped. Look how he and Kate ended up: when she threatened to expose him for being gay, he retaliated by coming out himself. When it comes to this, though, I think he’s going to shove up and deal for a few months. I don’t think that either of you have much of a choice.” Sean said and headed towards the door. Slipping on his shoes, he opened the door, letting a cold draft enter the room, “You’re going to see Henry tomorrow, anyway. Go see Orlando and talk. Go somewhere public if you don’t want to feel uncomfortable. You two are going to have to deal with this.” He said then turned and walked out of the house, closing the door behind him.
Viggo sighed for what seemed like the one hundredth time that night. Sean was being the typical Sean Viggo knew and loved; he just wished he would say things he wanted to hear, for his sake. But the world didn’t work like that, and on other hand, he was glad that Sean did shove it all in his face.
*
Orlando sat down at a table in the back of the cafe where he and Viggo had agreed to meet. He really didn’t want to be here, but given the circumstances, he didn’t think he had much of a choice. The waiter came by the table and he ordered a cup of coffee. He would have preferred tea, but American tea was horrible, so coffee would have to do at the moment.
Orlando didn’t have to wait long before Viggo joined him. He smiled politely as the older man sat down. The waiter came back and took Viggo’s order, quickly returning with the two drinks.
“So, how is Henry?” Orlando asked as Viggo took a drink.
Viggo nodded and swallowed. “He’s good. His classes should be over soon and he will be graduating. He may have three job offerings waiting for him when he does.”
“That’s great. I’m glad that he’s doing so well.”
“I’ll let him know you asked.”
“So… what do you think we should do about this?” Orlando asked hesitating at first, but then getting right to the point.
“Um…I really…” Viggo began but was cut off by a voice behind him.
“Is the lucky couple planning their wedding?” They both looked up to see a reporter from the local newspaper grinning with a cat-who-got-the-cream smile. “May I get the first statement from the happy couple? Perhaps a full interview? What about it, guys?”
Orlando glared up at the man and shook his head. “No you may not. This is a private conversation, and we would appreciate it if you would leave.”
“Now don’t be like that. Everyone already knows that the two of you are getting married; why not let me give your take on it. How you got together, when you are planning to have the wedding, whom you are inviting. Was the Mistletoe planned or was that a pleasant surprise?” the reported rushed through before Viggo rolled his eyes and cut him off.
“We are having a private lunch that has nothing to do with you. Please leave us alone.”
“Now, this is a public place, why in the world do I have to leave? I can sit at the table next to you, record everything you both say, and you can’t do anything about it because you are having a conversation in pubic, for the public to hear.” Orlando scowled at the reporter’s smirk, desperately wanting to wipe if off his face.
“You are absolutely right.” Viggo said irritated. “Come on, Orlando. Let’s go.” He threw a ten on the table before grabbing Orlando’s hand and leading him out the door. The reporter began to follow, but when they both got into a taxi, he relinquished and let them go.
Viggo gave the address of his house and turned to Orlando. “I know you wanted to meet somewhere public, but with that little incident, I think it would be better if we went to my house and spoke there,” he explained.
“I understand. It’s not a problem. As long as we talk about this, I don’t think it matters where we are.” Orlando said
The ride to Viggo’s house was uneventful, and the awkward silence as they entered the house was worse.
“Um…I’m going to use the restroom.” Orlando said trying to get to a private place to calm himself. As soon as he entered the house he had been assaulted by memories of the life that he and Viggo had shared. Nothing had changed much: the furniture had been moved around, but other than, that it was all the same.
“Sure. The bathroom is down the hall…” he started, used to giving directions, but stopped when he remembered that Orlando would not need them. He had, after all, lived here with Viggo for nearly four years.
“I know where it is. Thanks though.” Orlando said with a smile as he took off his coat. He thought back to the first time that he’d been to Viggo’s home and getting the same description of where the bathroom was.
“Ok. I’m going to make some tea, ok?” Viggo said as he took the other man’s jacket and hung it up next to his own. He felt a pang of familiarity.
“Great. I’ll be right back.” Orlando said and disappeared down the hallway.
Viggo sighed, took off his shoes and made his way into the kitchen. He pulled out the tea pot that Sean had given them for their three year anniversary. On the bottom was a message that Sean had engraved: “You made it to the third year. That’s longer than any of my marriages. You have to make it now!” The message always made Viggo smile when he thought about it. Sean was now married for nearly eight years and he and Karl were adopting a little girl and boy from India. It helped that Karl gave Sean some leeway when it came to fidelity, but Sean was dedicated to Karl and to his knowledge had only strayed once in the entire time that he and Karl had been together. The time it had happened, Sean immediately went to Karl, explaining what had happened and begged him to forgive him, which he had done immediately.
Viggo pulled out the green tea that he knew Orlando liked and set it out while the water was being heated. Then he rummaged around in the cabinets until he found the cookies that he knew Henry stashed in there and in the refrigerator he found a vegetable tray that the housekeeper must have bought when he told her he was coming into town for a week or two.
“Thanks,” Orlando said as he entered the room and walked over to the island in the middle of the kitchen.
“No problem. The tea should be done in a few minutes; there are cookies and veggies if you want some.”
“Great,” Orlando said as he grabbed a carrot. He began to munch on it as he came over to look at the tea that was sitting out. “Hey, that’s the tea we found in Japan when we were there.”
“Yeah, you drank it so much that I became hooked on it too. I drink it all the time now.”
“At least it’s better than the mud you call coffee.” Orlando teased, and then tensed as he thought about how easily they had fallen back into the habit of joking with each other. Viggo sensed Orlando’s discomfort and turned away to busy himself with the tea pot. Orlando spied it and smiled in remembrance. “You still have that? God, I would have thought you’d have gotten rid of it.”
“Of course I didn’t. Sean gave it to us; I couldn’t get rid of it.” Viggo said, stunned that Orlando would think that he would get rid of the one present that he and Orlando both enjoyed very much when they were together. “Why wouldn’t he? You were the one who said you didn’t love him after five years. You were the one who pushed him away and didn’t ‘want him around’ anymore. Why wouldn’t he think you would get rid of something that would remind you of the time you spent together?” a treacherous voice in his mind asked. He physically shook off the thought and Orlando looked at him questioningly.
“You ok?” he asked then cursed himself. Why did he care? They weren’t dating anymore.
“Yeh. I’m a little cold. I haven’t been here in a few months and I forgot to ask Lucinda to turn up the heat when I called her last week.”
“Ah. Ok.” Orlando said.
They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence once again, which was broken a few moments later by the tea kettle whistling. Breathing a sigh of relief, Viggo pulled it off the stove, poured two cups and put it back down on a cool burner. He put two teabags in the cups and handed one to Orlando. He opened the fridge and pulled out the honey and said, “We can go into living room if you like.”
“That’s fine.” Orlando said as he unconsciously took a sip of his tea and grimaced.
Viggo smiled at it and handed him the honey as they left the room.
“Thanks.” Orlando murmured amazed that Viggo still remembered how he took his tea.
“So….um” Viggo started after they had settled in armchairs across the coffee table from each other. “What…. I mean,” Viggo tried again but failed. He couldn’t seem to get the words that he needed to say out. ‘What are we going to do about this’ just seemed to want to choke him. He knew what he wanted but he wasn’t going to get it. He had messed up that chance years before.
“What are we going to do about the press and this situation?” Orlando asked in a quiet but firm voice.
“I’m not sure, but we can’t just hide,” Viggo said relieved that he didn’t have to say it.
“I refuse to hide, not address it maybe, but I won’t hide. I have far too much to do.” Orlando said firmly and Viggo smiled inwardly. At least he had learned that hiding from the press was overrated.
“Well, Sean made a good point when he and I were talking. My exhibit can’t afford bad press at the moment, and god knows that your investors won’t want it. We really only have one choice.”
“Viggo, I don’t plan on lying to my friends and family by making up a farce about how we’re so in love. Let me tell you something that you may have forgotten: we aren’t.”
“I haven’t forgotten and I’m not saying to lie to everyone. I’m just saying that we need to make the press think that they have everything pegged. Just for now.”
“So you’re suggesting that we tell Mom, Sam, Henry, Exene, the fellowship, and whoever else we need to that we are not having a relationship, but to everyone else we are?” Orlando asked a skeptical look on his face.
“Basically, yeah.” Viggo said and Orlando rubbed his eyes for a moment.
“You know… now that I think about it that has got to be the most insane, incredulous thing that I’ve ever heard,” he said and Viggo’s heart lurched. He wasn’t going to agree to it. Viggo didn’t know why he was so surprised considering what he had done to Orlando in the past.
“But,” Orlando continued, “It might just work.” Viggo looked up at Orlando who had an amused look on his face. “What? You thought I’d refuse? You said it yourself; neither one of us can afford it. What with your show coming up, and me with about three huge deals I’m about to make with Nigeria, Cambodia, and Brazil. Now… how are we going to pull this off?” he asked as he leaned forward a bit.
“Well… we can’t pull this charade off forever,” Viggo commented, trying to set what needed to be done if they were going to do this.
“Of course. We already proved that we can’t be together,” Orlando pointed out and Viggo raised an eyebrow at him. “What? It’s the truth.”
“Yes, I know. I was thinking about this on the flight down. What if we posed as this perfect couple for a few months, long enough to make it believable, and then broke up with the excuse that we don’t work together, that we thought that we were good together but we aren’t quite right for each other?” Viggo said a little stung that Orlando had made the comment he had.
“Isn’t that what you told me when we did break up?” Orlando asked, also stung when he heard the speech that Viggo had made to him in its simplest form.
“Yes. That’s what I thought would be best. I mean it would probably be best to keep to the truth, that way we don’t have to come up with as many lies.” Viggo said sheepishly.
“So, we’re saying that we have been dating for five years and had never even thought about marriage until this came along? I mean, that’s almost the truth, too.” Orlando pointed out.
Viggo gave a small laugh before gesturing for Orlando’s cup. “Why don’t I get us more tea, and then we can talk about this in detail?” he said, and Orlando looked down at his cup in surprise. He hadn’t even realized that he was finished with it.
“Ok,” he said returning the smile Viggo was giving him.
As Viggo left, Orlando closed his eyes and dug the heels of his hands into them. He was never going to get through this night. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a non-serrated plastic knife.
*
Three hours and many cups of tea later, the two had seemingly come to a mutual agreement on how they were going to proceed with their situation. They had actually gotten along like old times: catching up on what the other had missed in the last six years, surprising each other on how they reminisced on old times without getting depressed or feeling guilty.
“I should be going.” Orlando murmured after looking at his watch, astonished at how much time had gone by.
“Yeh.” Viggo said as they got up and went to the door.
“Listen, next week is a winter ball for the company. Technically it’s a Christmas ball, but we have it after the New Year so those who aren’t Christian don’t feel like they aren’t invited or are offended. If you like, we can make an appearance together. Sort of put the press on the track we want. I have to go, if you like you can come, but you don’t have to. I know you don’t like the formal stuff.” Orlando said after putting his shoes back on and grabbing his jacket.
“I’d love to come. Tell me when and where, and I’ll be there. But please, no mistletoe.”
“I promise there will be none. I’ll send you a formal invitation by the end of the week.” Orlando said with a smile.
“I look forward to it.” Viggo returned the smile.
“I’ll talk to you later then. Thank you for the tea and for the plans.” Orlando said, placing a quick kiss on Viggo’s lips before dashing out the door.
Viggo watched Orlando run down the walk, with a completely stunned look forming on his face
*A.N. Finally done. More soon I promise, T've just been sick and VERY buisy with school. *MUWA*
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Date: 2005-10-11 07:01 am (UTC)DO you have them tagged ? In your memories are 3 other fics, not this one I was looking ;)
Having links to previous chapters is a MUST in my books as a reader...you might be missing others by not having them and that would be a shame :)
Or if you have them in some other community like MIrrormere or VOLA ???