Disclaimer: I do not know nor do I claim to know Jake Gyllenhaal, or any other celebrities that may wander through these pages, and I do not know or therefore mean to imply anything about their personal lives or their sexual preferences. This is a work of fiction. The character of Michael is my own creation, and therefore any use of him outside of this story must be done so with my permission. If you are under 18 years of age, or are bothered by the prospect of a homo-erotic relationship between two men, then you better go read something else on another web-site. And now, on with the story......
Little did I realize, but in the space of a week, I would inherit a huge Victorian mansion from a woman that I had never met before in my life, win a lottery jackpot worth almost a billion dollars, and meet the love of my life, my soulmate, Jake.
I guess I should start by introducing myself. My name is Michael Valentine O'Neill-Orsini. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, sounds like something out of a romance novel......Well, you're partially correct. When I was born, my mother was reading SCRUPLES by Judith Krantz, and I had the......misfortune to be born on February 14th, so it was pretty much a foregone conclusion which characters I was named after......
So, now that you know my name, I suppose you want to know what I look like, right? With a name like that, it's got to be......the exact opposite of what- ever it is you're thinking.
For one thing, I'm short for a guy. Quite short in fact. Five-foot six to be exact. I do have a nice build though. But that's not what grabs and holds people's attention however. It's my hair in combination with my eyes. Red hair!! I'm talking, like, Reba McEntire red here!! And green eyes! We're talking deep Emerald green! You put shoulder length, flaming red hair together with emerald green eyes, and what you get is a lethal combination in any case. Add to that the fair complexion, and it's downright explosive!
So, that's me in a nutshell, five-six, 150 lbs., nice build, red hair and green eyes, with a true red-head's explosive temperment too!
Let's see, what else? Oh, did I mention that I'm an actor? I'm currently on the popular daytime soap ANOTHER LIFE where I play identical twins Blake and Justin Lindsey. I joined the cast when I was fifteen years old, as the "cute but shy younger brother" of the show's "teen heart-throb". During my first two years on the show, I went through all the usual teen-age growing pains, so that by the time I was almost seventeen, I had the whole teenager's appearance nightmare going on. I was short, slightly overweight, had braces, ugly glasses, and my hair defied imagination!
Well it was no wonder that when I did finally turn seventeen, and the opportunity to join the Foreign Exchange Program presented itself, I grabbed onto it with both hands! So, while I went to Paris in "real life", 'Justin' went to Paris on the show. I guess you could say that during my year in Paris, I came out of my cocoon, and into my own as an individual.....
I shot up six inches, shed about twenty extra pounds, let my hair grow out, got some cool new glasses, and some contact lenses also, got my braces off, and thanks to my host family and their four children, I some good and healthy eating habits, as well as an exercise and workout regimen which I still maintain to this day.
Needless to say, my family were all quite shocked when I got off the plane, as were my producers on my first day back in the studios.
It wasn't long after my return that 'Justin' became deathly ill, and it was determined that his only chance for survival was a bone marrow transplant. Enter 'Blake', who sees a picture of 'Justin' in a news paper and comes to town to claim his share of the 'family fortune'. In time, the truth came out--Justin's older sister wasn't really his sister, but in fact his mother, and that he and Blake, whom had been taken away at birth, were the product of teenaged love affair with the stableboy. In the end, Blake donated his bone marrow and saved his twin's life, Justin survived, and so began a new chapter of ANOTHER LIFE in my life.
It was during this story line that I got together enough courage to tell my family the truth about what I had discovered about myself while I was in Paris.
I was gay.
Suffice it to say, they took it much better than I had anticipated they would, and so my life continued......Eventually I told the producers of the show, and they respected my wishes not to make it public knowledge until I was ready to do so. It was at this time that they told me that they had been toying with the idea for quite some time, of having either Blake or Justin, or possibly both characters, be gay. I told them to go for it, and in a beautifully written storyline that played out over almost seven months, Blake and Justin finally came out, first to each other, then to their family. It was during the six month build up to the "big reveal" that I decided to write my story my way, in the form of an open letter, which ran in all four Soap Opera magazines, as well as most of the weekly magazines, and several top news papers! I was also excerpted on several evening/entertainment shows!
The story went on to win much critical praise, as well as a sweep of that year's Daytime Emmy's, including the first of four for yours truely, with the opportunity for number five this year!!
About three years ago, something tragic, yet wonderful at the same time, happened. Eric Hunter, the actor who played my "hunky older brother" on the show, and his wife, Shelly, were on vacation in Mexico when they were killed in a horrible car accident. During the previous couple of years, we had had several long talks, mainly concerning their twins. It didn't matter to them that I was gay. They knew what my home life was like, how I was brought up, and they were well aquainted with my family, and they had both decided that if, heaven forbid, anything should ever happen to the both of them, they wanted me to raise their son and daughter.
Well, you guessed it. After the accident, I was given temporary custody of their children, and then finally last year, I was given full legal custody and was able to legally adopt them. I am very happy to say that Ryan and Michelle Hunter-Orsini are healthy and happy and doing just fine, which brings us up to the present.
I was now working only three days a week, Tuesdays through Thursdays, which allowed me to have my four-day weekends free to spend with my children, who had just turned five years old. Oh, by the way, did I mention that I lived in New York City? Anyways, it was a Tuesday, and we were taking a break in the middle of taping when Glenn, our Executive Producer called me up to his office.
"Hi Glenn, what's up?" I asked, noticing two men in business suits standing near Glenn's desk. I took a seat in one of the two chairs facing the desk. I noticed the strange looks I kept getting from the two men, and it was making me feel a bit weird! It was completely understandable though, seeing how I was dressed; tight fitting blue jeans, a white wife beater, and a long sleeved blue cotton chambray shirt tied around my hips. I was wearing my glasses, and my hair was pulled back in a ponytail. I was also barefoot. My clothes had several splashes of brightly colored paint on them. We were in the middle of taping, after all, and 'Blake' was in his studio painting. The small emerald stud in my left ear was my own. For my scenes as 'Justin', I wore more conservative clothing, and a short wig.
"We're in the middle of taping," I explained. "So, Glenn, what's up?
"Michael, this is John Hartford and Marshall Williams," Glenn said, making introductions.
"Gentlemen," I said, standing up to shake hands with each of them before John Hartford handed me a business card which read "Hartford, Taggart, and Williams, Attorney's Specializing in Estate Law"
"Estate Law? Does this have something to do with my children?" I asked, fear beginning to to rise up in my chest.
"No Mr. Orsini, it's nothing like that. We represent the Estate of the late Kathryn Hayes-- Stratton Donato Van Dyke del Portago."
"Oh yeah, I remember seeing the obituary in the paper, but what does any of this have to do with me?" I asked, feeling confused.
"You've been named as a beneficiary, and your presence is required at the reading of her will," said Marshall Williams.
"Um, okay," I said looking askance at Glenn, who nodded his head.
"Very good then, we'll see you at 10:00 on Friday morning at our offices. The address is there on the card. Good day, Mr. Orsini."
"Yeah, thanks," I said distractedly, shaking hands again as they left. "Okay," I said, looking at Glenn. "Well, I guess I'll head back down to the set," I said, putting the card in the pocket of the jeans I was wearing.
When I was done taping for the day, I headed down to my dressing room. I actually had a pretty decent sized dressing room. It had it's own full bathroom complete with a sink, toilet, and a shower stall. The dressing room itself had the requisite make-up counter and lighted mirrors, which had picture of family, friends, and cast members that were taken at various event, taped up all around the outer edges. There was also a large comfortable sofa along one wall, and an enormous bookcase which contained a small yet nice sized plasma tv, and a nice audio/visual set-up, on the opposite wall. In one corner by the make-up counter was a refrigerator/freezer that had a microwave sitting on top. The whole set-up stood just over six feet tall. In the other corner stood a rather bushy looking artificial Ficus tree which I had draped several strings of clear Christmas lights on. It stood eight feet tall. On the floor was a beautiful rug which I had "liberated" from the props room a couple of years ago. All in all, it was a relaxing and comfortable space, and it was no wonder that at any given time through- out the day, at least one, if not more of my co-stars could be found hanging out there.
I reached into one of the front pockets of the jeans I had been wearing, pulled out the business card I had been given and set it on the counter before stripping out of the rest of my clothes and heading into the bathroom to take a nice relaxing shower.
Upon leaving the studio, we were besieged by autograph seekers. I had my pen ready, and didn't have long to wait. "Hi," I said with a smile as I took the book that was being offered. "Who should I make it out to?" I asked the pretty young woman with the dark hair and sun-glasses.
"Maggie," she said. "Maggie Gyllenhaal."
"Okay," I said, then did a double take, my mouth dropping open, eyes widening in surprise.
"Thanks Michael," she said, taking back her book. "Seriously, I am your biggest fan, and I hope thet the producers get you a boyfriend on the show, and right quick!" And then she was gone!
After signing a few more autographs, I headed for home, which was still at my parents.
Stopping at the local grocery, I picked up a few necessities, and then went through the check out. On my way out, I stopped to see what the lottery was up to. $950,000,000.00! Holy Shit!! I dug ten dollars out of my wallet and bought a ticket. It certainly couldn't hurt anything!!
I couldn't believe it! I absolutely could not believe it!! I had gone to the lawyers offices for the reading of the will, not knowing what to expect. I had never in a million years expected what I had gotten!! Kathryn Hayes had left me her house! The contents were to be divided up amongst the family members, but the house and property had been left to me, a complete stranger! Good grief, what in hell was I going to do with a house? I decided to go by the studios to share the news of my new windfall with my fellow castmates.
When I got there, they were taking a short break during blocking on the set, and pouring over that mornings paper.
"Hey Michael, did you hear?" Chantal Stafford, my 'Mother' on the show asked the minute she saw me.
"Hear what?" I wanted to know.
"It's in today's paper! The winning ticket for the Lucky 7 Mega-Millions was sold right here in the city! And there still hasn't been anyone to come foreward to claim it yet!"
"Really? Oh hey, that reminds me, I haven't checked my ticket yet, hang on." I took out my wallet and removed my ticket. "Okay, what're the numbers?
"9--13--18--26--34--48--56!"
"Oh my go------!" I slumped down on the sofa right there on the set! This wasn't possible! This couldn't be happening to me, not twice in on day!
"Michael, what's wrong?"
"I--I've got all seven numbers!"
"Yeah, right! Let me see that ticket!" Mark Hathoway said, snatching the ticket out of my suddenly lifeless fingers. His smile faded and he looked at me with dawning realization
"Jesus Orsini! You just hit the Fucking Jackpot!!
Well, that's it for part one! Let me know what you all think! Feedback is encouraged and welcomed. You can email me at dnsphelps@mcsi.net or find me on yahoo. My chat ID is twains_fan_03