Hi guys here is chapter 44. I hope you still like the way the story is going. I know that the next chapters will be out a bit sooner that the time gap until this one. Have fun with it. For other stories check my website at www.geocities.com/timsfunplace.
[In the meantime, Alexei reached the door of Brad and Andy's room]
He knocked on the door and waited, trying to be as patient as he could. When he didn't hear a thing, he knocked again.
"Yea, yea, we're coming." He heard some snickering in the background but, before he could knock again, the door opened.
"Hi, Alexei."
"Hi, Brad."
"I told you, Andy, they'd all be waiting for us, but you just didn't want to listen to me, did you?"
"Oh, I listened ... but there was just too much going on, and I wasn't going to let this chance pass by."
"Hi, Alexei," Andy said as we walked out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel.
"OK, it seems I caught you at a bad time, guys."
"Well, not a bad time ... but you could have stayed away a bit longer," Andy answered.
"OK, guys. I don't think we need to go into details, you know."
"Are you afraid they might shock you?"
"I can see you're in a good mood, guys, but I don't have time for a lot of chit chat."
That last sentence sure got their attention as they both looked at him. "Something the matter, Alexei?"
"Well, you could say that. Francis is now on his way to the hospital, so we're not going out clubbing tonight."
'Wow! What happened?" they both said at the same time.
"I don't know if you know the whole story with Francis and his parents?"
"Oh, damn! Not again!"
"Shit, yea. You know them, Brad. Of course, I forgot about that."
"What happened, Alexei? Is he alright? And where is Nick?"
"Well, you knew that Francis's mom was here. They went upstairs and talked ... well, Francis and his mom did ... Nick went to tell you we'd be a bit late. Then it seems Francis's dad found out where his mom was and he went to their room. Then he forced his way in but luckily Francis was able to call Reception and he left the line open when his father barged in. But Security and the coach came too late to stop Francis's father from punching him on his face."
"Oh, shit! I knew that he'd do that one day. You should have seen how they responded when they found out about us!"
"Yea, I guess so ... but I hoped his mom would have been more careful about this all. Well to conclude ... the doctor wanted to make sure that no internal damage was done to his head, so Francis has been taken to the hospital for some tests."
"Good. Do you know which hospital so we can join them?"
"No, I'm not sure, but Reception will know. I'll go first to see where the others are and tell them about the change in plans and then we can all go out."
"Where is his father now, Alexei?"
"A cop came and took him away, I assume to jail ... but his mom road with Francis to the hospital and the coach is on his way there, too."
"Well, you'd better go and tell the rest. We'll meet you downstairs in about 10."
"Yea, sounds good. So, do you have any idea where Nick is?"
"Nick isn't with Francis?"
"No, he doesn't even know what happened yet. He left to give Francis and his mom some time to talk and he was going to tell you guys that they'd be a bit late. I had hoped he was with you."
"No, we haven't seen him. Did you check if he was with Peter and Andrew?"
"They were next on my list, guys, but I'm not sure which room they have. Do you know?".
"Oh, I think they're four doors down this corridor."
"OK. Well, I'll see you in about 10 minutes downstairs."
Alexei left their room and went down the corridor. He checked to see if it was the 4th door and knocked on it. Again he waited, but there was no sound from within. He knocked again. When he didn't hear anything, he decided he'd better go look in on James and David because they might have seen him.
He walked back to his own room which was on the same floor as Brad and Andy's and Peter and Andrew's. Then he'd go down one floor again to get David and tell someone from the hotel staff what had happened so they'd know the coach wasn't going to be around tonight to supervise.
He walked into their room and looked to see where James was. His eyes stopped at the bed as there, lying in his white briefs, was James. He could hear him snore softly.
Wow! What a sight, he thought. Now, if he only could ... no, there was no time. He'd better wake him up. He walked slowly towards James and sat on the side of the bed.
He moved a bit forward with one hand going to the bulge that was in James's briefs and the other towards James's face. He then put his hand on James's bulge and, the moment he did that, James let out a soft moan and a smile appeared on his face. It was very tempting to tease him further but Alexei knew there was not a lot of time.
He slowly got closer to James and kissed him on the cheek. When that didn't have the desired effect, he kissed him on the lips. This time he felt that, slowly, his kiss was returned. "Hi," Alexei said gently as he moved back from James's lips.
"Hi! Are you going to join me? We still had some unfinished business from before we got interrupted."
"Oh, I know, James! It was tempting, seeing you sleeping like that. You looked like an angel to me."
"Ah! The others are ready to leave?"
"Well, not exactly. Something has come up, so we're not going to go clubbing after all."
As it had gotten the attention of Andy and Brad, these words had the same effect on James.
"What happened? Is everybody OK?"
"Yea, well, sort of. They're taking Francis to the hospital to make sure he's fine."
"Damn! What happened?"
"Well, it seems his father found out he and his mom were here, so he came to butt in."
"And Nick? How is he?"
"Lost," Alexei said with concern, more or less the way he felt about not being able to find Nick so far.
"Yea, I guess I'd feel that way if something happened to you, Alexei."
"Oh, but Nick doesn't know what happened. He left Francis to tell us all that they'd be a bit late but, so far, I have no idea where he is. He hasn't been to see Brad or Andy and he hasn't been here. Peter and Andrew are not in their room, so I hope he's either with David or hanging around downstairs."
"Well, I'll get dressed and see you downstairs in a moment, then."
'Yea, let's do that. There's no time to waste."
"Good. You'll go see David now?"
"Yea." He kissed James and started to walk towards the door. Just before he reached it, he turned around.
"Oh, and you're definitely up for more later, James. You've left me with an image in my mind that will last a long time."
He closed the door and walked to the elevator. The more he though about it, the more he got a feeling that something wasn't right. Why had Nick not shown up anywhere?
He knocked on David's door, which after some delay, opened a little. David peered through the narrow gap. He clearly wasn't happy about being interrupted.
"Oops, wrong timing again, I guess?"
"Hi, Alexei. Well, a bit, yea."
"So that means that Kathy came back to you?"
"Yes, but you can come in if you want. I think she'll be decent by now."
"OK ... but does that mean that Nick isn't with you?"
"He'd better not be," David said, grinning. "The idea of him hiding in here somewhere, spying on us, is just a bit too much, Alexei."
"Damn! Where is he then?"
"What is going on, Alexei? I think you'd better come in."
He saw that Kathy wasn't around, so she must have gone into the bathroom while we talked at the door.
"You'd better sit down, David. Francis's father found them."
"What! Where are they? Are they OK? That bastard!!! How?"
"Wow! Take it easy David." I wanted to continue but at that point Kathy came out of the bathroom. "What is going on, guys?" she asked.
"Francis's dad was here, Kathy."
"Damn! How are the guys coping with that?"
"Well, I don't think that Nick knows and Francis ... well, he found out the hard way."
"What?"
"Yea, he broke into their room while Francis was talking with his mom and Nick was out to tell everyone we'd be going out later."
"Oh, shit! So what happened?"
Alexei told them what had happened so far.
"And Nick doesn't know yet?"
"No, David. I've seen everyone now and I haven't found him yet. Peter and Andrew were not on their room, so they might be somewhere downstairs."
"Shit! Well, we'd better go and find him and then get to the hospital." He'd turned around and started to get his clothes to get dressed. After he dropped his towel and got his briefs on, he turned around and said, "You know, Alexei, I'd hoped that this would be over for them, that today was the start of a good year. They deserve it, the both of them, you know?"
"Yea, you're right. Well maybe Francis will be OK and Nick could just be downstairs."
When David was dressed, he and Kathy made their way out of the door with Alexei to the elevator.
While they stood in the elevator, Alexei said, "The others should be there by now. I told them to meet me downstairs at Reception."
They came into the lobby. Alexei noticed that James was talking with his mom and that Andy and Brad were on the other side. It wasn't clear why they didn't want to be seen with the others, so David walked toward them and Alexei went to talk to James and his mom.
"Hey, guys! Why aren't you with James and his mom?" David asked.
"Well, there was a reporter down there a moment ago and we didn't want to be too obvious."
"Well, he seems to be gone now or is he still around?"
"Yea, he left after James's mom talked with him."
"Oh, so you know about James's mom then?"
"Yes, when James came downstairs, it was way too obvious who it was."
"Well, let's go over to them and see if we can find Nick."
"Alexei didn't find him?" Brad asked.
"No, not yet."
They walked towards Alexei, James and his mom.
"So all he wanted to know was who'd been arrested and if it had anything to do with the ambulance that was at the door."
"Yea. He came back when he found out they were waiting for one of the gymnasts ... but he wasn't able to see who as, by then, they'd moved the ambulance into the garage."
"Good! So now we're all here ... well, almost. Has any of you seen Nick?"
Silence. "And Andrew or Peter?"
No response again. "Well, we'd better check the stores, the restaurant and bar to see if he's there." You could hear the disappointment and worry in his voice.
"We'll stay here and see if he turns up. We'll also check at Reception," David said.
We all spread out, checking the ground floor. Alexei got back from the restaurant pretty quickly as he'd already known there wouldn't be a lot of people around anymore.
He walked towards David who just left Reception.
"Let's sit here," he said as they moved over to the lounge area.
"Where is he, Alexei? And where are Peter and Andrew?"
"Well, they might have run into each other ... or Peter and Andrew might have gone out. But still the fact that Nick is not here is starting to worry me, David."
"You don't think that Francis's dad got to him before he went upto the room, do you?"
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