Crying out Loud

Crying Out Loud by Kelley


Chapter 1

It seemed as if Tuesday would be another ordinary day in the life of J.J. Martinez. This theory was shot to hell when at 2 p.m. a figure strode confidently into his bedroom and sharply pulled the curtains of the large window in his room to the side.

“Shit, Andi! What the hell are you doing in my house?” J.J. moaned as the sunlight crept through the hand he had thrown over his eyes in defense. Now that the curtains were pulled back and light shone throughout the room, the figure was visible. A woman with loose auburn hair, slightly tilted hazel green eyes, and a curiously turned up nose stood with her hands on her hips a smirk present on her face.

“Jean Jacques Martinez! How many times do I have to tell you to not call me by that repulsive nickname you’ve derived from Andrina. If you didn’t want me to come over and visit you, you never should have given me the keys to your house. And besides, you shouldn’t still be asleep anyway. It is 2 o’clock in the afternoon.” The woman said with a small smirk still gracing her aristocratic face. J.J. groaned heavily and sat up stiffly in his bed.

“First of all, Andi, I did not give you the keys to my house. You stole them! Second of all, I am bloody tired. I went out with Horatio last night to Arbore. And third of all, I will call you Andrina as soon as you start calling me J.J. instead of Jean Jacques.” Andrina wrinkled her nose slightly at the name Horatio and glared at her brother disapprovingly.

“Well it seems you have quite a few personal problems that are of no concern to me. What does concern me is the fact that we have a meeting with maman in New York at 4 o’clock.” Andrina smiled as J.J. swore furiously and pushed himself out of bed and hurried to pack. Minutes later he stopped packing and walked back over to Andrina.

“There is no way we are going to make it to New York from here by 4 o’clock. We’d have to take a trans-Atlantic flight.” Andrina smiled a true smile as she looked up at her brother her eyes wide and innocent.

“Well of course not. That is why I have called maman and told her that we will be arriving in two days time.” J.J. leaned down until he was directly in front of Andrina’s face and glared fiercely at her while her eyes continued twinkling innocently.

“You mean to tell me you got me out of bed for nothing?” J.J. stalked back over to his bed and flopped down swiftly pulling the covers over his head. Andrina rolled her eyes as her lips thinned into a disapproving line.

“Oh, no you don’t. You are getting out of that bed right this instant and we are going to catch a flight to New York as soon as possible. I want to have time to shop before we have to deal with Maman.” Andrina exclaimed shrilly. J.J. groaned and reluctantly got out of bed. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep now that Andrina had started screeching. Completely ignoring Andrina J.J. sauntered into his bathroom and quickly showered and dressed. When he went back to his room he noticed immediately that something was wrong. Oh no, J.J. thought as he rolled his eyes. He never should have left Andrina alone and unsupervised in his apartment. This was precisely why he never invited her over. The woman was like a child.

“Andi, where are you?” J.J. swore viciously as he searched his guest room and living room. The last stop on his frantic search was the kitchen and this was of course where he found her. For a full minute J.J. could do nothing but stare speechlessly at the site which greeted him in his highly polished state of the art kitchen. Clearing his throat with difficulty J.J. captured Andrina’s attention.

“Andi, I am trying very hard at this moment to stay calm, cool, and collected. Tell me, what is going on in my kitchen right this minute!” J.J.’s voice had ended in a fairly high crescendo by the time he spoke the last part of the sentence. Andrina gave a slightly guilty grin in J.J.’s direction while keeping her eyes wide and innocent.

“Well, since you woke up so late in the afternoon I figured that you must be hungry. So, I generously decided to cook your lunch.” J.J. glared incredulously at her.

“This, Andrina, is definitely not lunch!” J.J. exclaimed while motioning to the kitchen. Something had certainly occurred in the kitchen but it was impossible to tell if any edible food had been made. Two egg cartons littered the counter while multiple eggs graced both the floor and refuse bin in the corner of the kitchen. A jug of orange juice lay sideways next to the refrigerator while the juice dripped off the counter onto the floor. A large skillet sat on the stove producing an alarming amount of smoke which was swiftly filling the kitchen with an acrid aroma.

Taking deep breaths J.J. gritted his teeth and slowly walked back to his room.
“I expect my kitchen to be spotless by the time I come back out here. I’m going to change. Turns out I hate this shirt after all.” Andrina sighed as she stared blankly at the mess she had made. She did not want to clean that mess. Too bad she had suggested her assistant Marc-Paul stay in the manor today. Groaning she started searching for cleaning supplies in J.J.’s kitchen.

In his room J.J. decided that he certainly had enough time now to email the architectural proposal that he had finished early this morning. His supervisor, Mr. Hanover, wanted the plans as soon as possible. J.J. loved his job. It was fun designing public buildings. He always tried to make each building in his own artistic way even if the building was a post office. He considered himself an artist, even though Andrina always rolled her eyes whenever he boasted.

After emailing the proposal J.J. surveyed himself in the mirror and decided to change into a nice light green shirt to match his green-hazel eyes. Theoretically he could wear anything in his closet and have a match as Horatio had taken him shopping, displaying an intuition regarding fashion usually only displayed in gay men. Ironically, he wasn’t gay, whereas J.J. was. Just as J.J. was nearly finished dressing his phone rang shrilly, echoing throughout the apartment. Flipping the phone open he saw the name Horatio flashing in white letters.

“Hey Horatio.” J.J. answered the phone as he struggled to find a more formal pair of shoes to match his light green tailored shirt.

“J.J. my favorite person in the whole world. What’s up, mate?” The deep voice of Horatio tunneled through the speaker of the phone.

“Nothing. Getting ready to have a perfectly “lovely” lunch with Andrina before we leave for New York.”

“Oh, right. I forgot you were leaving for New York soon. What are you going to do there? Party the night away with lithe, scantily clad, young boys?” Horatio leered through the phone. Rolling his eyes J.J. groaned inwardly. Horatio loved teasing him about finding an attractive man to settle down with. It was good natured but it really got tiring as he set J.J. up with every homosexual male Horatio knew, which surprisingly was quite a few.

“Right, tons of beautiful young boys in store for me the next few days. Especially while I am visiting my mother who does not even know that I am gay!” J.J. flopped on his bed as he continued to talk only to be interrupted by Andrina a few moments later.

“Jean-Jacques, what the hell are you doing up there? You’ve been up there an hour. I’m starving and ready to eat so you get your ass down here right now!” The whiny voice of Andrina carried smoothly up the stairs to J.J.’s ears.

“Andi, I’m talking to Horatio, I’ll be down in a second alright.” J.J. replied groaning out loud this time as he predicted the comments which were sure to come.

“Did I just hear Andrina’s whiny voice? More importantly did that skinny French bitch say that she was hungry? She’s only been hungry for the last ten years and I doubt she’ll start eating anytime soon, no less today, so she can sure as hell wait! We need to set up some plans for tomorrow when we go to New York.” J.J. rubbed his temples as he heard heavy angry footsteps rapidly stomping up the steps. Andrina may have looked as delicate as a hothouse flower, but when angered she rampaged like a thirty ton elephant.

“First off Horatio, I had no idea you were going to be in New York. Secondly, the phone is on speaker and Andi is now outside my door.” J.J. spoke into the air as he gritted his teeth painfully. Andrina had now entered the room looking like she was close to exploding. There was no one who could upset and goad her quite like Horatio for some unknown reason, and there was no topic guaranteed to incite her rage than a discussion upon her weight. The term bitch did not bother her at all because Andrina always made sure she had earned that title.

“Listen to me you filthy Greek dock worker. Never on this Earth should you dare to insult me. The next time I see you I’m going to implant my Gucci’s right up your ass! How da-”, J.J. clamped a hand around her mouth as he drug her out of his room. Closing the door he went to his bed and dug around for his cellphone. Promptly taking the phone off of speaker, he fiercely berated Horatio for calling his sister names. He hated how they always fought dirty with each other. Two of the closest people to him in his life and they couldn’t get along for two bloody seconds.

“Okay, okay. Tell dear Andrina that I am ever so terribly sorry. Now can we get back to discussing what we are going to do this weekend in New York?” Horatio insincerely apologized as J.J. shrugged and accepted. Thinking about what he wanted to do J.J. twirled a long piece of midnight black hair which hung defiantly in his face and stuck it in his mouth. He knew it was a disgustingly bad habit but when under stress he just couldn’t help himself. J.J. had only been to the States once before. He wasn’t as wealthy as Andrina and so was not quite the jetsetter she was.

“Well, maman was talking about a really nice exhibit at Agora. So, we should definitely see that. We’ll spend some time with maman as well. You have to come as well, since she adores you. She would be so upset if she knew you were in town but did not visit her.” J.J. said thoughtfully. Horatio snorted in amusement.

“Well then. I had better not tell her about the last ten times I’ve been to New York in the last six months.” J.J. rolled his eyes in exasperation then suddenly froze.

“I don’t remember you telling me about any of those trips to New York. When did you go?” Horatio cleared his throat nervously, the sound scratching loudly in J.J.’s ear.

“Ah, well, I had met this woman. Thought there might be a bit of promise in it and visited her a few times. Nothing happened so I haven’t been there in a couple of weeks. Didn’t want to tell anyone about it incase there was something to it after all. You know how the press swarms about me like sharks eying a piece of bloody meat.” J.J. glared angrily at the phone.

“So why didn’t you tell me? Did you think I’d go to the press? What the hell is wrong with you? We’ve been fucking best mates since we were eight!” J.J.’s voice rising sharply ending in a shout.

“Calm the fuck down! You’re still my best mate you idiot. I just, well, I don’t know. I really wanted it to work with her. I just kind of forgot everyone else. I’m really sorry, mate. I’ll tell you all about her on the plane to New York.” Sighing, J.J. tried to control the angry words which wanted to be screamed into the speaker of his phone. Horatio was so selfish sometimes. It was often easy to forget that he really was a spoiled only child of a family worth a couple billion dollars.

In public Horatio preened under the guise of the elite, carefree, male socialite who partied hard and drank like a fish he portrayed to the world. In private however, it was often a very different story. He was conscientious of his friends and those he considered his family. In that respect he reminded J.J. of Andrina. Andrina Corinne Partiel to the public was snobbish, rude, and utterly French. She was still utterly French in private but she was rarely snobbish or rude to most people. Horatio was one of the people who brought out the absolute worst in her and J.J. endeavored to keep them away from each other at all times. It seemed that this was not going to be possible for the next couple of weeks as Horatio was coming to New York with them.

“Okay, okay. I forgive you. Just remember that there are people out here who do love you and want to know what’s going on with you.” Mildly placated J.J. promised Horatio he would call him back when they were ready to go and hung up. Sighing again J.J. frowned. He seemed to be doing a lot of sighing lately. He was getting slightly bored with his life. He went to work, dealt with a troublemaking Andrina, and a philandering Horatio then came home at night to lie in his bed alone. Sure there was the occasional warm body to fill his time but they were few and far in-between. Some of this was his fault he duly noted as he had a bit of trouble trusting people at time. A side effect of having the parents that he had. Oh well, he thought, moving from his bed to his door, there was no use being negative. In his book it was always better to smile than to frown.

Opening the door to room J.J. glanced around timidly expecting to find a angry Andrina storming through his apartment. Seeing that it was safe J.J. slipped out of his room and walked towards the stairs. Still not seeing Andrina anywhere he began to get a tad worried. Where was she? J.J. checked the kitchen. She wasn’t there. He checked the bathroom next to the kitchen. There was no response. Moving to the living room J.J. stood shocked in the doorway. Andrina was not ranting and raving and destroying his property as he had suspected but rather she sat calmly in the large leather chair J.J. had situated close to a wall bookcase. Puzzled at the abnormal behavior Andrina was displaying J.J. tentatively entered his living room. Glancing up Andrina greeted him with a tight smile. She had long ago given up on trying to force J.J. to abandon his friendship with Horatio. They were just too close. She also did not blame him for whatever horrible new thing Horatio said to her as their fight did not really include him.

“Ah, Andi. How are you?” J.J. asked nervously. Andrina gave him a mock scathing look as she tilted up her nose imperiously.

“It is Andrina, Jean Jacques, and I am perfectly fine.” J.J. gave a relieved smile at Andrina, which she returned. Flopping into the black leather chair opposite Andrina’s J.J. gave her a serious look.

“All princess behavior aside, are you really okay? Horatio was a lot more vicious than usual.” Andrina sighed thoughtfully and casually pulled her long auburn hair into a pert ponytail.

“I suppose so. I expect no better from Horatio Adrastos after all. In any event I will be happy as hell not to have to be exposed to his disgusting self for a month at least. Also, I am excited to see mother. She said she had something important to tell us. But you wouldn’t know anything about that would you, seeing as how you rarely speak with her.” J.J. grimaced at Andrina’s tone. It seemed she was alright after all if she had the wherewithal to comment about his relationship with their mother.

“Andi, I really, really don’t want to get into this with you right now. I will go and visit with her but do not expect old wounds to completely heal. You know as well as I do that some things are unforgivable.” Andrina stared at the floor in contemplation as J.J. replied. Sighing she stood up from the black leather chair and perched on the chair J.J. was sitting in.

“I do know that J.J. I also know that you can’t hang onto this forever. You don’t want to actually end up the same as Maman do you? Don’t let the inadequacies of others rule your entire life.” J.J. took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

“I know what you say is true, but it is awfully easy for you to say isn’t it ‘princess’?” Andrina looked saddened at his words but knew that now was not the time to say anymore on the subject. Accepting the ‘princess’ jibe as a sign to back off Andrina put on a smile and leapt off of the smooth leather chair pulling J.J. along with her.

“Let’s get ready for our trip. I just can’t wait! Just imagine a month full of shopping, fine restaurants, and clubs. We are going to have so much fun. Besides you really need a vacation! First, we need to get you packed. Where is the luggage I gave you? Probably in your master closet, right?” As Andrina chattered on J.J. led the way to his bedroom, dreading the moment when Andrina found out that Horatio was coming on this trip with them, she apparently hadn’t heard the part where Horatio said he was coming after all. One thing was for certain, this would be his most exciting vacation ever.