Page 118 of Rhymes with Metaphor
“Whatever hold you have over Joel,” said Juliet, “whatever kick you’re getting from taking advantage of him, needs to stop.For Joel’s sake, you need to let him go.”
“You’re here for Joel’s sake, are you?”said Reg sceptically.
“You do realize how young he is?”
“And how much younger was he when you and your mother decided his future for him?”
“He’s lost his scholarship because of you.”
“That was entirely his idea.”
“He’s being childish.”
“He wasn’t allowed to be childish when he was a child,” said Reg.“So let him make up for it now.He’s not the main character in your family’s drama.He’s been told all his life what he was supposed to do, and he had the misfortune of being good at it.But what he’s good at makes him unhappy.”
“He was doing well before he met you,” said Juliet.
“He wasn’t.He was sick—and not just physically—with the amount of pressure you put on him.I was the first person who ever asked him what he wanted to be and then listened.You can blame me for that if you like, but I don’t regret it.”
Juliet stared at the wall over Reg’s shoulder with heightened interest.He glanced back and saw the sketch of Joel he’d made, smiling at him with pure affection and happiness.
“I can’t ‘let him go’ as you put it,” said Reg, “because I’m not keeping him here.He’s free to leave whenever he likes.”
“There are other holds to have over someone than physical ones,” said Juliet.
“He stays because he’s happy here.And I do care about him, which is why I’m giving him the opportunity to discover who he is—something you and your mother should have done a long time ago.”
He would have pitied Juliet if he hadn’t had to spend months helping Joel heal from the damage his family’s expectations had done.
But then Reg, unlike Joel, was in the privileged position of not having to give a fuck about Juliet or her mother’s opinion.If he’d still been friends with Martin, he might care a little, but he wasn’t friends with Martin anymore.
Juliet was still looking at the sketch of Joel.
“If you love him, listen to him,” said Reg.
Juliet’s expression softened.She reached into her bag and pulled out a hand-knitted blue scarf.“He left this behind when he moved out.Can you give it to him?”
“Yes.”
Juliet went to the door.“Give him my love,” she said and let herself out.
When Reg collected Joel for lunch, he told him what had happened and gave Joel the scarf Juliet had left.Joel accepted it without comment, but he put the scarf on.
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Joel spent six daysrecording the novel.Vic was so pleased with his work, he asked Joel to do his short story collection next and recommended him to one of his author friends, who in turn recommended him to another friend who’d self-published a three-volume epic fantasy series and needed a narrator.So, one job followed quickly on the next, and Joel was either sprawled on the settee in Reg’s loft making notes on a manuscript or off at the studio making another recording.
Joel accepted all of the work he was offered, and he spent long days recording and evenings sacked out on the settee beside Reg, exhausted.
“You’re overextending yourself again,” said Reg, stroking the hair off his forehead.“Like you did when I first met you.”
“I don’t want to talk.I’ve been talking all day.”
Reg pulled Joel down so his head rested in his lap.He cupped the back of Joel’s head and undid his trousers.Joel had put on a gratifying amount of weight since he’d gotten involved with Reg.His belly, once so hollow Reg could slide his hand into Joel’s trousers easily, had filled in enough that Reg had to unbuckle, unbutton, and unzip him to get access.
“Too tired to come,” Joel whispered.
“You don’t have to come.Just enjoy it.Does that feel good?”
