Regrets and Heartaches

Regrets and Heartaches 30

Written by: J.P.G.

{Regrets and Heartaches is pure fiction. As I am writing this story, I am above the age of 21. If you want a story with lots of sex, look elsewhere. This is a love story. Seeing, as it is a love story, sex is in there, but it is in realistic balance in the characters' lives.

Any similarity to any real events, names, or life events is purely accidental. If you are a underage, (according to your state laws as a minor), if this literature is offensive to you or to anyone around your viewing area, or it is illegal for you to view such content where you are reading it, stop reading the story.

This story cannot be distributed in any way, shape or form without my expressed consent.}

Story Written by: J.P.G.

Edited By: "Daddy" Rick

I have a home page for you to see what the characters look like or what the places look like. If you want to walk in their shoes, please go to: http://jacobmillertex.com/ Story Written by: J.P.G.

Chapter 30

As they left, Joey saw them and couldn't help but worry. He started to get a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach that Aaron's father and brothers were up to no good. So he walked over to the entrance and when he looked out and didn't see them anywhere, he started to worry even more. When he ran out, he got a total surprise.

Standing there by Aaron's car was Aaron and his father engulfed in each other's arms. He couldn't see Aaron's face, but he was sure that he had tears rolling his face just like his father. A lot was said and was resolved that broke down a lot barriers that were in their way of becoming a close knit family. Now with what Joey is seeing, nothing is going to keep this family from coming together and becoming the family Aaron had talked about he had.

Not wanting to be caught, Joey walked back into the hotel. He went looking for the guys and found them in the room where the pool table was. Leaning against the door, Joey looked on with delight on how happy everyone was. He has never seen them all at once with smiles on their faces and laughter in the air.

The rest of the evening the guys spent in the pool room splitting into different teams. None of them left to watch their normal TV shows. They were all tied into the game and didn't want to leave. Plus they were having more fun playing pool than they would be sitting in front of the television watching their crappy old shows.

Joey and Caleb were the first to leave and go up to their room. As they sat there waiting for the elevator, Franseca passed by. When Joey called out good evening to her, she politely said `good evening', but didn't make eye contact with him. He couldn't believe it. As far as he knew, he never did her any wrong and stated so huffing and puffing to Caleb as they got on the elevator.

"Come on Joey, you shouldn't be surprised that she did that." Joey looked at Caleb with daggers in his eyes. "Your fights with Alex, her son, you had to know it would have eventually gotten back to her. By the looks of it, it has and that shouldn't be a big surprise nor should her taking his side, even if he was wrong, which in my opinion he wasn't."

"You got to be kidding me Caleb!" Joey angrily snarled. "You of all people should be taking my side if not for any other reason than you are my boyfriend. It is right up there like you just said about his mother taking his side even if he is wrong. Even if I was wrong, you should be taking my side on the whole thing, not his!"

"Look, the issue between you and Alex, Jacob and the others happened before you and I even met. I don't want to get in the middle of this. With that said, you took what I just said wrong. Out in public in front those guys, or anyone for that matter, I will always support you and have your back. Even if you are wrong, I will swear up and down you are right. But in private, I will voice my opinion on the issue and lay straight out to you what I really think."

The elevator door opened and both Joey and Caleb went quiet. There was no reason for them to do so, but they didn't want to continue the conversation they were having until they were in the privacy of their own penthouse. When they did walk in, the conversation picked up right where they left off but this time neither was yelling.

By the time they had changed into their running pants and t-shirts, they had moved onto another peaceful conversation. The rest of the night they spent in each other's arms on the couch watching television. When neither of them could keep their eyes open anymore, they went off to bed and didn't wake up again until the alarm clock went off.

In downtown El Paso, Chief Falster pulled another all-nighter. Once the dust settled on his first day, he had been working on filling the two top level positions on his staff, the two assistant chief of police positions that became vacant after he terminated the old ones. He wanted to make sure whoever he selected would help him clean up the department.

Whenever he had spare time, he went through the files that his secretary had given him, but not one had caught his eye. However, out of respect to their service, he gave them interviews, which confirmed his original thought about them. Not one of them was what he was looking for to be his right and left hand in the department. The more and more he went through the files and had the interviews, the more he realized that he was going to have to go outside the department to get the right people for all the leadership positions that are open.

That was until he pulled off the top of the pile of records the record of his next appointment, Detective Paublo Alvarez, a twenty one year veteran of the department, who grew quickly in rank. He has several citations, but along with that there were several write ups from the former chief of police. That is what interested Chief Falster the most, the write ups.

By the looks of it, Alvarez wasn't a yes sir no sir kind of guy. He follow the letter of the law, and no matter who was breaking it, he had no problem laying it down. He had caught several close personal friends of the former chief on the take, and when asked to drop the case by then Chief Carnes, he didn't. He continued going after the bad officers and that got him demoted to the lowest level a detective could be at.

Everything Falster saw in the record he loved until he got the background check that was just done on him. He dropped the rest of the record except the background check to read over several times to make sure he was reading it right. He made a mental note to ask about what concerned him on the background check with the detective. Falster picked up the record and put the background check in back in the back of the file.

Just as he closed off the file, his intercom went off letting him know that his next appointment was already here. He informed his secretary to get him a cup of coffee or anything else that Detective Alvarez wanted drink as she showed him in. Before he could hang up his receiver completely, the door opened and the detective walked in extending his arm saying good morning.

"Good morning Detective Alvarez, it is a pleasure to meet you." Falster said as he shook Alvarez's hand and then pointed to the seats. "I have been looking at your jacket and let me tell I'm impressed by everything you have done in the short period of time you have been part of the department. The most recent case you closed, wow!"

"Thank you sir, I was just doing my job in all of those cases." The secretary walked in with the coffee, handed each of them their coffee and then left. "I don't think you remember, but we have met already." Falster looked at Alvarez with a confused look on his face. "That doesn't matter, you probably don't remember who you met yesterday with all the stuff that is on your plate. I don't wish the job you have right now on my worst enemy!"

That lightened the mood, causing both of the guys to laugh. "Trust me I don't wish this job on MY worst enemy either. I sort of knew what I was stepping into, but at the same time I really didn't have all the facts. I was told this department needed to be cleaned up when the Mayor came to hire me. But he never went into detail how dirty it was or how far the corruption went."

"Sir I don't even think he knew at the time he was interviewing candidates for your job. If he did, it would have been foolish of him to inform you because you probably would have said `hell no' to the job right off the bat." Both men laughed again. "On a serious note the only way this department would have been cleaned up is by bringing in an outsider like you. The Mayor did the right thing when he decided to bring you in, and that isn't me kissing your ass, sir."

"I hope not!" Falster picked up his right side and patted his right butt cheek. "I have had enough ass kissing this last week to last me a life time. I need people to speak up when they have an opinion or I'm doing wrong. These `yes sir', `no sir' kind of guys the old chief of police had around him I have no use for. That is why I couldn't wait for this interview because by what I have read in your record. You are not one of those guys."

"No sir, I am not, but at the same time I won't make anyone look like a fool. If a person is wrong, I won't bring it up and confront that person and state that he or she is doing wrong in front of others. I always have done that in private, one on one."

"That I like Detective, I really do like that." Falster picked up Alvarez's file and started going through it with him. Every question Falster asked Alvarez, he liked the answer he got back. The closer he got to the questions he wanted to ask about what he found on his background, the more he was nervous about it. He was afraid the answers he might disqualify this guy not only from the position of assistant police chief, but any higher command than he has.

Placing the folder back down with it open to the background check, Falster looked up at Alvarez who was looking down at his file. He saw where it was opened at and knew what was coming next. Looking back at the new chief of police, he leaned forward and prepared for the question with the rehearsed answer he and his wife worked on for this interview.

"Detective Alvarez there is one thing that really concerns me about your file. As you know, whenever you are being looked at for a higher position, a new background check is done. Even if you are just being considered, the background check is done." Alvarez nodded his head. "Well one was done on you and there wasn't a surprise in there until the end."

Falster pulled out the page in question and handed it to Alvarez. Alvarez looked it over and was knocked off his feet seeing what was highlighted on the page. He didn't expect that question at all. He thought that Falster was going to have a problem with another item on his background like the former police did, but he is past that page.

"Looking up at the police chief who was looking straight into his eyes. "Sir I was never asked about my family background before. I thought I had escaped it to tell you the truth." Falster just stared at him, not letting him off the hook. "My last name might be a clue, but I think the only reason no one really looked into it is because we live in a border town where there is a lot of Alvarez's, Garcia's and Fernandez's."

"Detective, I agree with you that no one would have caught it unless they ran a complete background check on you like I have here. The normal background check is just a credit check and to see if you have any criminal record. However when you are being looked at for a position like assistant chief of police, the background check is a lot deeper than that. We look at more than just criminal past and your credit. We look at your entire family."

"I see that now and seeing that, I will understand that if you pull my name out of consideration for the assistant chief of police position."

"No sir I'm not going to do that. So far you are the only one in the department I feel warrants the promotion, but I need you to explain to me about your family background. I need to hear how you were able to escape what the other males in your family were unable to escape. As far as I know, there is only one other male that escaped the gang, but it took that person almost going to prison to change is path."

"Well it is pretty simple sir. My mother, Katarina was Grandpa Alex Garcia's eldest sister. When she saw what the business my father was in and him being a member of Garcia's gang, she did everything in her power to ensure I never got involved. She went as far as divorcing my father and moving us out of his house so he couldn't bring me up in the ways of the gang. She went through hell to keep me from falling into it, but she was successful. She was a wonderful mother. I miss her terribly. She died about two years ago from breast cancer. Sir, I am not on the other side of the law but rather on the right side putting people away like my father."

"So the man that is sitting the prison that I used to be the captain of the guards and then the warden of is your grandfather?" Alvarez nodded his head. "Wow, I mean WOW! I never thought I would ever meet another person that accomplished what your cousin Alex did. You both succeeded doing that due to your strong mothers who weren't about to let their sons go down the wrong path."

Alvarez nodded his head, but wasn't yet able to breathe in a sigh of relief yet because he had no idea where the Chief was going with it all. He has heard about his cousin and how he got away from the gang life, like he did. And no matter how much he wanted to meet the young Garcia, he stayed away for the fear he might be looked at differently.

"I know there is no need to ask this question, but I have to. If you are given the position you are being interviewed for, will you execute it to the fullest of the law, or will you allow your family's ways interfere in you doing your job?" Alvarez was about to answer when Falster raised his hand to stop him. "Before you answer, I want you to really think about the question. Your family may have tried to reach out to you in the past to influence an investigation, but if you're promoted and the word gets to them that you are assistant chief of police, they are going to reach out a lot more. The pressure is going to be intense from them for you to help out changing the course of an investigation sooner or later. So with that said, can you execute any office you get?"

"I don't need to think about the question because I know the answer. Without question I can and will execute any position I might get in the police force. I know that might be hard to believe, but it is the truth." Alvarez could see in Falster's eyes that he believed him. "As you said, they have reached out to me in the past, but not once did I take their calls or even talk to anyone in my family that was part of that life. That includes my cousin Alex. Even now that he has turned his life around I haven't opened communications with him."

Falster liked everything he heard from Alvarez except one thing, Alvarez's unwillingness to open communications with his cousin. Just like this detective, his cousin was able to walk away from the family business and change his life. Now that he is on the right track, he shouldn't be judged by his family's actions. However, no matter how much he wanted to voice his opinion on that, he kept his mouth shut on the topic.

"Detective Alvarez I really enjoyed this time we have spent together." Falster got up from his seat. "I need to complete my other interviews for this position before making my decision, but between you and me, I really think I found the right man to fill one of the open assistant chief of police positions." Falster winked at Alvarez as they shook hands. "Give me to the end of the week and you will hear from me where things stand as far as filling the open positions."

"Thank you for letting me interview for the assistant police chief position, sir. I know I haven't got a lot of time with the department to interview for this position and you are taking a big chance considering me." Alvarez spoke as he and Falster walked to the door. "And once again I'm thankful. If you do decide to give me a chance in any higher position, I promise you I won't let you down."

Falster reassured Alvarez that he knew that as they walked out of the office. Just then reality hit Alvarez. He saw the commanders that were sitting in the outer office waiting for their turn to interview as he had. Right there and then he knew he was out of his league and there was no way he was going to get any of the open positions. Maybe one of the ones that are left vacant when the person is promoted to a higher position, but not the ones currently open.

Meanwhile back at the school with Joey and the guys were breaking for lunch. The morning went by faster than any of them imagined it would. It was Thursday, the day after hump day, which normally drags on worse for some of them than hump day itself. However not this Thursday morning; it flew by. Before they knew it, it was lunch time and they were all sitting and talking about what happened over the weekend still.

Joey had enough of that topic, so when he was done eating, he got up and walked out to a side of the school where normally no one hangs out. He debated with himself on the way if he should go to the ROTC building, but when he reached the door, he decided that he wanted to take what was left of his lunch break to be alone with just his thoughts.

While Joey was making his way out of the building, Aaron snuck away from the table to meet up with Chris in the hallway. When they saw each other, big grins started to form. By the time they reached each other, the grins were from ear to ear. Neither of them said a word at first. It wasn't that they didn't want to speak with each other. It was because they had no idea what to say.

Finally after a few minutes of just standing there in silence looking at each other, Chris broke the silence. "Um, why don't we go up to the fourth floor back staircase and sit there." Aaron shook his head. "We can talk about anything, or just sit there in silence. I really don't care as long as we are together. Believe it or not, that is all I want."

Still Aaron was unable to say the words that were racing through his mind. He had a lot to say, but the words didn't leave his lips no matter how hard he tried. So with a big smile on his face, he nodded his head and started to walk with Chris to the back staircase. Mid way there, Chris reached out and gently took hold of Aaron's hand. At first, Aaron jumped, but when he realized what was going on, he reached out and took Chris' hand. They held onto each other the rest of the way.

When they reached the back staircase, they reluctantly let go of each other's hands, but when they sat down, they reached out for each other's hands at the same time. Not saying a word, they just sat there looking straight ahead. Aaron wanted to say a lot to the guy he is hoping could be his boyfriend, but was way too afraid to. He didn't want to trip up on his words and lose whatever chance he might have with Chris.

"I know this is still a long ways down the line..." Chris broke the silence once again, "but do you think there will be ever a time that we will be able to tell our friends that we are thinking about going out?" Aaron just stared at Chris. "Let me correct that please. Do you think in the near future that we can tell our friends that we are going out together? I really want to tell the world that I have a totally incredible boyfriend!"

Chris slowly leaned in. As he got closer to Aaron's face, he took his free hand and placed it under Aaron's chin and held it in place as he finished moving in. When their lips touched, Aaron had no idea what to do. All he knew was he was feeling things that he never felt before. One of which was a growing in his midsection that he only got when he looked at a guy that he liked. The other was sparks flying! Sparks that he has never felt before in his life!

The two boys held the kiss no matter who passed by. They were in their own world and didn't hear the things that were said, and even if they did hear, they wouldn't have cared. At that very moment all they cared about was being there in each other's arms, kissing like they are doing. Nothing or no one was going to destroy the moment.

What seemed like hours to both Chris and Aaron, which was only minutes, they reluctantly broke the kiss. Slowly they set back against the back stairs and once again just stared out into the distance. Little by little, Aaron moved his hand towards Chris', and when he felt his hand, he took hold and intertwined his fingers with Chris'. For the rest of the lunch hour they sat there holding each other's hands, letting their heart beats do the talking to the other.

The rest of the day flew by just like the morning, fast. Joey and the guys made their way back to the hotel. Along the way, Joey dropped off those that didn't live at the hotel with him like he has done since they started going to El Paso High. When they arrived at each stop Joey watched as each one made their way into their house. He couldn't help being thankful on that only one of his friends got hurt last weekend. If anymore of his friends would have gotten hurt, he wouldn't be able to get up in the morning. Their parents have entrusted their safety to him.

As soon as they arrived at the hotel, Joey went right into a meeting. He has been looking for someone to be in charge of the social workers. He couldn't, nor could Helen since neither of them had any expertise about that part of the shelter. There was no doubt in his mind that he couldn't even pretend that he knew, because the social workers that were already working at the shelter would see right through him. So instead of looking like a fool, he decided to hire a head social worker who would report Helen and no one else.

There was only one name on the list, Sally, but he wasn't going to let Sally know that when he sits down to interview her for the position. Learning from his past experiences, Joey knew that if he were to tell her that her name was the only one on the list, she might think she has the run of the place. He was doubtful that she would, but Joey wasn't willing to take that chance!

Bringing him out of his thoughts was the very person he was thinking about. As he walked into his office at the hotel, he found Sally already waiting for their meeting. Putting on a smile on his face, Joey greeted Sally and asked her to give him a few minutes to settle in. She had no objection and sat back down while Joey walked into his office.

After hanging up his jacket, Joey called up to see if his mother could come down and join him in the meeting. When he explained to her what position he was interviewing her for, Helen told Joey that she would be right in. It wasn't even five minutes later when joey heard a knock on his office door and then his mother's face popping in.

As he got up from his desk that he rarely sits behind, he waved Helen in. They met half way and started to talk about the meeting they were about to have. After setting down what they wanted in a head social worker, Helen took a seat while Joey walked over to the door and asked Sally to come on in. With any hesitation, she got up and joined Joey and Helen in the office.

"First let me thank you for coming in for the interview." Joey softly spoke as he shook Sally's hand. Sally then turned and acknowledged Helen and shook her hand. "I'm pretty sure you have had a several job offers since you left your last job and you held back to see how this interview goes. For that I'm thankful and hope that if either of us decides this place isn't a good fit for you that you didn't lose a good job holding out for this interview."

"Joey, Helen, I'm the one that should be thanking you for this interview. Yes I have had a couple offers since I quit my last job, but they weren't a perfect fit for me. I know there is no job that is a perfect fit, but I would like to get as close as possible.

With that said, I think this place might be just that job. I have heard about this place and I have read a couple of articles on what you are trying to do here. Besides being a shelter for the gay youth that has nowhere else to go in this city, this place is going to have a few other programs as well. Programs that are going to need a good staff of social workers in order for the programs to actually work and turn out good kids and even adults perhaps in the future."

Joey looked at Helen not believing his ears. He had no idea that the place he started actually had gotten any press. Now here he is sitting here finding out for the first time not only have they gotten press, but several articles have been written about the place he has kicked started; a place just a few months ago he didn't think wouldn't ever come together.

"You're right as far as all the programs that we want to start here Sally, and that they are going to need good social workers. Besides the teens that have been thrown out on the streets just because they're gay, we are going to have a floor for a program my father Judge Evans has started that is going to give juvenile offenders a second chance. We are also going to have a battered women's shelter here and take in other teenagers from the ages of thirteen to seventeen who are in the system. Growing up bouncing around from one foster home to another isn't good for anyone, no matter their age."

Joey moved to the edge of his seat. "With that said, I have heard the rumors about why you are no longer with your last job. I don't want to really get into that because I really don't care about most of it except one thing. The one thing that concerns me is that somehow you lost track of a kid that was already broken, one kid of all kids that needed special treatment.

I understand that your intentions were in the right place and you trusted the person that you assigned the case to, but you didn't follow up. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming you for what happened to Davey. That blame is where it should be and no one else."

Helen interrupted Joey. "What I think Joey is trying to get at is that here we can't ever let anyone, no matter what program the person is in, fall through the cracks. No matter where they are in their recovery, they must be monitored as if they just entered the program. That is the primary function for the position that we are interviewing you for here today. No matter how much you trust the social workers that are under you, you must check on each of their cases to make sure they are doing what you have set out for them to do."

"Helen, there is no need for you tell me that because I know. I made the mistake of trusting someone that didn't deserve my trust in the past. There is no way I'm going to make that same mistake twice, not even if I have known the person for many of years. When it comes to the position you are interviewing me for, and if I get the job, I will follow up with each of my social workers on each of their cases. If they don't like that, they can leave. The door swings both ways." All three of them laughed at what Sally said.

After that, they started to relax and were able to talk with each other without walking on eggs. Joey and Helen took turns going over what was going to be expected from their head social worker. Sally had no problem with any of it. In fact, she liked everything that Joey and Helen had to say and what they were asking of the person that was going to be in that position.

"Now Sally, this last part you might not like, but there is no wiggle room on it. If you are offered the position and you take it, you must continue to live here in the hotel. You must be available at all times for what comes up in the department you are being hired to manage." Joey's voice went from casual to serious within seconds.

"I'm not saying that you are not allowed to have a life or leave the hotel to live your life. No, what I'm saying is that if you do, you must have your beeper on and that you answer any beeps you get from us. If you are out somewhere and you are needed back here, you must return. Now there is an exception to that. If you are on vacation or out sick, you won't be expected to come in. Whomever you name as your second would respond in your absence."

Sally thought about what Joey just said for a couple of minutes. There were pros and cons to what he was asking. The pros are that she will have free room and board. The money that she would normally have spent on rent and food, she could save. However the cons bothered her. She isn't one hundred percent for sure that she could hold a position that demanded so much of her time. Even though right now she doesn't have much of a private life, but she is hoping that will change as she settles in to her new city and learns the ins and outs of the place.

Both Joey and Helen saw that Sally was hesitating to agree to the condition Joey had laid out. However, they were not going to bend on it. They both agreed before they started the interview that they were going to hold to everything they have decided even if that means that they lose their first choice for the position they need to fill.

All of a sudden, Sally broke the silence startling Joey and Helen. "Okay I have no problem with that condition as long as neither of you have no problem if I were to bring someone home to my room when we start dating, because I do plan to start dating again." Joey and Helen looked at each other. They never thought of that. "The reason I'm asking this is because I won't have any other place to go. I won't pay for a hotel or even keep an apartment for that if that ever comes up. It will be a waste of money in my opinion."

Not expecting that to come up, Joey and Helen didn't answer Sally right away, which got Sally worrying that she might have over stepped. Neither Joey nor Helen had a problem with her request. They were just taken aback with a question that they didn't expect.

"Joey and Helen, I'm not saying that I'm going to be bringing someone here anytime soon. In fact I don't think that is going to happen any time in the near future," Sally said with a reassuring voice. "It's just one day I do plan to start dating, and when that day comes, I don't want to be like a high school kid sneaking in my date in the back door or the window."

Joey started to laugh as he imagined Sally pulling in a guy into the window late at night both of them middle age acting like teens. That would be a funny scene to see if it would happen. Helen just stared at Joey, wanting to be let into his private joke, but Joey couldn't catch his breath long enough to tell either of the ladies what he was laughing at.

It took a few minutes, Joey did get control of his laughing and was able to tell the ladies what he was laughing at. Once they were let into his private joke, they started to laugh as well. It took the mood in the room from being heavy to being light that let them move on with the interview. After asking a few more questions of Sally, Joey and Helen turned the floor over to Sally to ask any questions that she might have come up with.

The few questions that she did have, Joey or Helen answered in a fast order. When she ran out of her questions, Joey discussed what the pay was, which Sally more than liked. It was more than she thought was going to be offered, and more so after being told that she was going to have to live at the hotel. She thought that her room and board was going to be subtracted from her pay but it wasn't. She confirmed it by a follow up questions.

Once they got through the detail of her pay and the rest of the do's and don'ts, Joey offered her the job and she accepted without hesitation. Joey and Helen were pleased with their new hire and knew that they chose the right person for the job. Joey thanked Sally for coming, welcomed her aboard.. Helen walked along with Sally as they left Joey's office. Joey stayed back and went over the paperwork that was left for him to look over.

When he finally got through all the paperwork, it was after nine and he had had it. He was beat and just wanted to take a relaxing shower and then hit the hay. At the same time, he really wanted to spend some alone time with Caleb, but just didn't have the strength. When he explained that to Caleb when he walked into the penthouse, Caleb more than understood. He helped Joey get ready for the next day before they settled in for the night.

Friday was a very uncomfortable day for everyone from the hotel. When the announcement was made that Jacob had lost his bid for student council president, it sucked the air out of every one of the guys in the hotel. Then when all the students walked out and protested the outcome of the election, the guys thought things went from bad to worse.

Joey knows Jacob better than anyone with the possible exception of Dewayne. He knows that this kind of situation is making Jacob very uncomfortable, so he went looking for him through the crowd, but he didn't find him anywhere. After fifteen minutes looking for his friend, Joey reluctantly gave up and went looking for Caleb and the others, which he found quickly.

It took Principal Michaels longer than he thought it would to get control of the situation and get the students back into the building. Once he did, the mood was somber which caused the rest of the day to drag on. Joey has always hated Fridays, because it always is the day that drags on no matter what is going on. Having the school up in arms with the result of the election is making things worse for all those that just wanted the day to end and to start their weekends.

Meanwhile back at the hotel Sally was getting to know everyone. She spent the morning getting to know all the social workers that were working at the shelter, and then she started going over the records of the kids that were there. She started with the records of the kids that were sentenced to the probation floor. Those, in her mind, are the high risk kids and need to be carefully watched in ensure they didn't fall back into their old ways.

As she went through the records, she put two of them to the side, Garrett and Jake's. There was something there she didn't like, but couldn't put her finger on it at the moment. It took every ounce of restraint she had not to prejudge Garrett, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hold back the anger. The kid and his friends took Davey's innocence. He will never get that back and more than likely will suffer nightmares of that day for years to come.

Commotion coming outside in the parking lot brought Sally out of her thoughts and back to the present. She got up from her desk and walked over to the window to see what was going on. Outside was the two she was thinking about horsing around with each other. At first it looked innocent, but the more she stood there watching, the more she was able to see that it wasn't innocent. There was something going on between the two boys and whatever it is isn't good.

She stepped away from the window for just a few seconds, but when she returned, the boys were nowhere to be seen. Sally scrambled around looking for them, but she couldn't find them anywhere outside her window. Quickly she turned around and walked out of her office on a mission to find Garrett and Jake and get to the bottom of what is going.

First she looked where she last saw the boys, but again they were nowhere outside. After checking the entire parking lot, she walked back in headed to the elevators. When she got there she realized that she had left her badge in her office. Pissed with herself for doing that, she stomped back to her office, got her badge and went back to the elevators.

Not letting the elevator doors open all the way, Sally squeezed through and made her way down the hallway looking for the boy's room. Constantly looking down at the room assignment sheets, she walked right past the room that she was looking for. The only reason she realized that she had passed their room was that she heard their voices coming from behind her.

Stopping in her tracks, she looked at the room number on the number that she was standing in front of. See that it was a higher number than the one she was looking for, she turned and followed the voices that she heard. The voices brought her straight to Garrett and Jake's room. She stood there at the door at first debating with herself to knock or not, but decided to just walk in to catch the boys by surprise, but the one that got the surprise was her.

The two boys were half naked having sex on one of the beds in the room. She froze in the middle of the room, not knowing if she should turn and walk out or stop what was going on. Not ever being confronted with this kind of situation in the past, she had no idea what to do. However before she could decide what to do, Jake noticed her and quickly got off of Garrett and pulled up his pants. Garrett rolled over onto his back, with what looked like tears falling from his eyes trying to pull up his pants as quickly as he could.

Sally looked over at Jake and saw that he was the aggressor and Garrett didn't want what was happening to him. With mixed emotions, Sally didn't know rather to separate the two or let Jake have at it with Garrett. It is sweet justice that Garrett is getting back some of what he did to Davey, but then her humanity side set in. She couldn't keep from feeling sorry for Garrett because no person should be forced to do something that he or she doesn't want to do, no matter who the person is and what the person has done in their past.

Looking down at the records in her hand to make sure she got the name right, she spoke in an authority voice. "Jake you will remove yourself from this room so Garrett and I can talk." Jake didn't move an inch. "Jake, DO NOT test me on my first day here. Remove yourself from this room immediately! Go down the hallway and wait for me at the elevator. Don't move an inch until I get there. If you do or if you speak with anyone, you will be going back to jail tonight!"

Hearing the words `going back to jail' got Jake's attention. Giving Sally a dirty look as he passed her, Jake made his way out of the room and down the hall to the elevator. Sally followed him as far as the door, stopped, closed it and turned around. She stood there at the entrance of the room looking at the kid that she has hated ever since she heard his name. Her heart started to go out to him seeing him there trying to hide his hurt and embarrassment.

Not knowing what to say, Sally looked down at Garrett's record and quickly scanned it again to make sure she had her facts straight before opening her mouth. Once she was satisfied that she had pretty much everything memorized that she needed, she turned her attention back to Garrett who had already straightened himself up the best as he could.

"Garrett my name is Ms. Hughes. I'm in charge of all the social workers here." Sally spoke in a soft, but reassuring voice. "Do you need to see a doctor?" Garrett quickly shook his head no. "If at any time in our conversation you start to feel ill and need to see a doctor, please let me know and I will make sure you do, okay?"

Garrett nodded his head, but not making eye contact with Sally. She hesitated for a few seconds on walking to him, but only for a few seconds. Putting one foot in front of the other, she made her way to the young kid that wasn't standing, but wasn't sitting on the bed that he was being forced to have sex on. He was leaning against the mattresses, looking down at the floor.

"Garrett I know what was going on in here is going to be hard for you to talk about. I won't force you to talk about something that you aren't ready or unwilling to. But with that said, I can't have any of you living in an environment that makes you uncomfortable. If I were to do that, I need to hand over my license today and change professions."

Sally didn't get any response from Garrett. He just kept staring down at the floor. "Well with what I saw when I walked in here, I don't need you to say anything. Even if the sex was consensual, I can't have that going on. You guys know the rules, which one is to not have sex while you are in this building and on probation. So I'm going to have to assign you guys different rooms."

"Mrs. Hughes I know who you are and you of course know who I am." Garrett pointed to his file that Sally was holding. "Why do you care about me? If I was you, I'd be enjoying every minute of this because of what I did to Davey. Life is a bitch and a person always gets back what they did, but ten times worse."

"You know who I am, but you don't know how I think or act. What you did was wrong, yes, but do you deserve what is happening to you right now? No. No one, no matter what type of person that person is or what he or she did, deserves what I saw happening in here when I walked in. I know you can't say anything to me, the code between you guys, but I hope one day soon you will be willing to break that code and open up.

Until that day arrives, I need to do everything in my power to keep you safe." Hesitantly Sally reached over and softly patted Garrett on his back to console him. "With what I saw going on in here when I walked in, I believe Jake is the one in the wrong. So I'm going to leave it up to you if you want to keep this room, or be the one moving out of it."

Garrett looked around the room trying to decide what he wanted. He knew for sure that he didn't want to share rooms with Jake anymore, but didn't know for sure if he wanted to be the one moving out since he would take him time to pack up his things. However when he looked at the bed that he was leaning against, the answer he was looking for found him.

In a soft voice, almost a whisper, Garrett asked to be the one to get the new room. "Give me a few minutes Garrett and I will get it done. While I'm getting your new room assignment and talking to Jake, you pack your things. Until you move into your new room, I won't allow Jake back up on this floor." Garrett looked at Sally with a concerned look on his face. "I wish I could move him to another floor, but there is only one floor for you guys. But I will see what I can do."

Sally patted Garrett on his shoulders once again before walking towards the door. She stopped midway between the bed and the door and turned around. "I have only one question. I know it's going to be hard for you to answer, so let me say this first before I ask the question. Whatever the answer is to the question I'm going to ask, you won't lose any respect from me or anyone at this hotel for that matter." Sally paused for a moment to let what she just said sink in. "Again I don't judge. Do you think you are gay Garrett?"

Garrett stood straight up and looked straight at Sally with his manly face, but he quickly folded when he saw the look he was getting from Sally. "Um, I really don't know ma'am." Leaning back against the bed and starting to rub his right foot on his left leg. "I mean I know I'm not gay, and not even bi. I guess I'm lost right now, trying different things."

"That is fine, try different things, but do it the right way. Don't ever get put back into the position you were in when I walked in here. I don't know you personally, but with what I have read in your record, you are a better person than that. You have just been dealt an ugly hand from your mother to what is going on right now in your life. Just don't make things worse on yourself by allowing yourself to get punished this way because you hate yourself and what you have done. Start to forgive yourself, and allow yourself to move on. That is the only way you are going to overcome everything that you have been through in your life already."

Sally waited for a few minutes for a response from Garrett, but when she saw she wasn't going to get one, she turned and left the room. When she reached the elevator, she found Jake sitting down on the floor with his head between his legs. In a commanding voice, Sally called for him, causing him to jump up. Not saying a word, they both walked into the elevator and went down to the first floor where Sally's office is.

Once they were in here office, she closed the door, asked him to take a seat as she walked around and sat in her seat behind her desk. "I don't know what really is going on between you and Garrett, but with what I saw when I walked into your room, I don't need you or him to say anything. As I told Garrett, even if the sex was consensual, you guys can't be doing it. I don't believe the sex was consensual by the look on Garrett's face when he turned around.

With that said, I instructed Garrett to pack his things and be ready to move out of your twos room. He will be assigned another room on your floor and you two are not allowed in each other's room. If I find out that either of you as much as stand by the others door, I will go to Judge Evans and have your probation revoked. Is that understood?"

Jake nodded his head with an arrogant look on his face that was pissing off Sally. "You'd better wipe that look off your face right this second or I will go to Judge Evans and have you revoked today. Don't test me in this matter, because if you do, you will find out how much pull I have on whether you stay in the program or go back and serve out your time in jail."

That got Jake to wipe off the arrogant look on his face. Sally picked up the phone and asked whoever was on the other end that she needed a new room for Garrett. By what Jake was hearing, whoever she was talking to didn't like her request, but eventually folded. Once she got what she wanted. Sally hung up the phone and turned her attention back to Jake.

"There isn't a doubt in my mind that you were forcing yourself on Garrett earlier. There is also no doubt in my mind that you have done this several times already to Garrett. With that said, it will stop this minute. If I see you near him, say goodbye to this place and hello to four grey walls, a metal table, toilet and bed because you will be going back up to jail with no second chance to get back in this program."

Knowing that she wasn't going to get the answer that she wanted, she didn't let Jake say a word to her. She instructed him to leave her office and sit in the seats outside until she came for him. He tried to say something as he left the office, but once again Sally stopped him before he was able to get a complete sentence out.

As Sally was dealing with Jake, Joey and the others had just walked into the hotel no wiser to what was going on down the hall from where they were. Joey and Caleb headed up to their penthouse to spend the night together, hopefully with no interruptions from anyone. The other guys separated in their normal groups that they hung out in and went their separate directions.

No matter how hard or what the guys did, they couldn't relax and forget about what had happened over the past week. Even when Joey and Caleb tried to have a romantic evening, just the two of them, the events of the last week kept popping back to the forefront. Finally after repeatedly trying to force themselves to have fun, the guys gave up and went to their rooms to turn in for the evening. Joey and Caleb gave up trying to have a romantic evening together and just sat down in front of the television in each other's arms.

Saturday morning when everyone went down for breakfast, Joey noticed everyone in a downer mood. He thought that it was just Caleb and him that had an off night, but now he sees that everyone else had as bad of night as he and Caleb did, if not worse.

Thinking that as the day wore on, things were going to get better, but that wasn't the case. By noon, Joey threw in the towel and gathered all the guys were with him in Alamogordo in the lobby. At first they thought they were in trouble, but when they saw that there weren't any adults around, they knew differently. Still knowing that, as each second passed and not being told why they were summoned down to the lobby, they started to worry again.

Until the last person walked in, Joey didn't say word because he didn't want to repeat himself. When he saw that everyone was there, he only said once sentence to them, or should be said a few words, `grab your coats, we are going out'. Nothing more was said, which got the guys wondering even more what Joey was planning.

Not asking any questions, they did as they were told. They all went up to their rooms, grabbed their coats, and those that were not dressed to go out, got dressed and went back down and met up with others in the parking lot, where they waited for Joey. He and Caleb were the last to arrive, but once they did, Joey said only a few words once again, `get into the truck', before getting in himself and unlocking the doors for the others to get in.

Joey didn't answer any questions that were asked of him as the guys got in. Once they all did get in, he told them that he was going to take them somewhere that would take their minds off of the things that is going on in their lives right now. Nothing else was said. He pulled out of the parking lot and got onto the eastbound freeway.

TO BE CONTINUED...

WRITER'S CORNER:

{Welcome back one and all to another chapter of `Regrets and Heartaches'. I know it has been a while since a chapter to this saga has been posted, and for that I'm sorry. There are a lot of things going on right now personally that is causing a delay on me getting out chapters to you guys to read. I'm hoping to correct what is going on soon, but I have been hoping that for a while now and things are not going as planned.

Enough of my excuses for not getting out my chapters like I usually do. This one is done and out, so let's talk about it before I bore you guys to the point that gets you turned off and you close your browser. However, before I get into the meat of the chapter, I need to clear a couple things up that I have written in this chapter that might have you confused.

Right now the time line of this story is about three to four days behind the others. So a few things are appearing in this chapter that you already know about. With that said, I didn't spend a lot of time in the plots I'm speaking about. I wrote about them so you the reader know where we are in the timeline, but quickly got out of it.

The other thing you guys probably saw in this chapter is characters from `Rebirth' being folded into this story. I went into great detail on the reason of that in my writer's corner in chapter fifty eight of `Beneath the Mask'. There is no need for me to bore you guys by going over that again. If you haven't read the writer's corner in that chapter, and are wondering why there are characters from `Rebirth' in this story, please go on over and read that corner.

Now back to the characters I have brought over, I know the way I'm writing them wasn't the way Trevor was writing them in his story. As of this chapter, the characters will start to fold into this story or my others stories and I won't rewrite or copy what he had written in his story. They might go a different direction that he intended them to go, but I have a different vision on where I want to take them and how each plot is going to unfold.

So if you follow my stories and Trevor's, you need to understand that they are now separate. They might have characters with the same names, but they as of now are not the same characters. Trevor is a great author and has his vision on where he wants to take his stories, which I wish him the best of luck there and on everything he does. However, `Rebirth' was born out of my characters, with a few of its own when it started, so it should be brought back into my stories. More so since they are my vision and I wrote the beginning of the first chapter of `Rebirth'.

Enough with that! Let me get off of my soap box and get back to the actual summation of the chapter that you just read. A lot happened in the few days this chapter went through in the timeline. First we got a little background information of what Falster was thinking before he promotes Alvarez to assistant chief of police.

I know you guys didn't expect that twist I put in this chapter as far as Alvarez being Alex's cousin. There is a lot more to come as far as that plot and you will need to tune into this story and `Beneath the Mask' saga to see how it unfolds. Will Detective Alvarez open up the lines of communication with Alex, his cousin? If he does, how will Alex react? Forget Alex. How will Franseca react when a member of her late husband's family comes in to the picture?

We are starting to see the relationship between Chris and Aaron developing. It is going to be slow, and you guys can't blame them for taking it slow. Chris has had several bad relationships, and don't get me started with Aaron. You guys know what happened to him in earlier chapters in this saga, so you can't blame him on wanting to take it slow.

Joey and Helen hired Sally to be in charge of all the social workers in the shelter. That is a very good move if you ask me. They need a head for every department in their shelter so nothing slips through the cracks. Plus like Joey was thinking, he couldn't be in charge of them since he had no idea what they actually did.

Sally's first day at work was rough to say the least. After meeting her staff and everyone else at the hotel, she had to deal with a major issue between Jake and Garrett. For those that are not familiar with `Rebirth', Garrett was the ring leader of the group that attacked Davey in the restroom. Little by little I will unfold in this saga what Garrett has gone through in his life so you guys don't have to go back to `Rebirth' and reread it again. But let me warn you, don't skip over those parts if you already know the outcome because I might change a lot of the things that Trevor wrote about the characters. I already have in my mind what I'm going to do with each of the characters, and let me tell you it isn't anywhere near where Trevor took them.

Now the ending of the chapter! Where do you guys think Joey is taking the guys out to forget, for at least a little while, about what happened in the last week. I got the idea of this plot from a friend this evening. He reminded me about something I did in high school and after high school that I never wrote in the story while we were eating dinner. I know you guys are going to love it, and won't be able to guess what it is since I never wrote about it in any of my sagas.

There is so much going on in this saga. I can keep writing, but I won't. You guys are going to need to tune in to the next chapter to see what is going on. More plots are going to open and old ones will be closed. This story, like my others, will keep you on your toes. Do not miss what is coming up in the chapters to come.

I do not want to say too much more and spoil the future chapters to come, so I won't. I warn you though! Do not skip a chapter, or you will be lost. There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacobmillertex@aol.com, Thanks!}

EDITOR'S CORNER:

Greetings Everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter with all the new twists and turns showing up. Something tells me that JPG melding the characters from "Rebirth" into this saga is going to really be loaded with intrigue.

JPG covered most of the highlights so I won't be boring and repeat them. The one situation I am curious about is the exact nature of the relationship between Garrett and Jake. Something tells me that Sally touched a real nerve with her questions about Garrett's history and what factors are playing into his behaviors. And Jake, is he just a natural jerk or what? A bully perhaps?

I'm going to watch these two characters and see what pans out and what deep secrets are revealed. Something tells me that Sally won't rest until she gets to the underlying truths.

Talk about complicated, the Alvarez / Garcia family tree is that for sure. Detective Alvarez was fully aware of his familial connection to the infamous Garcia gang family but was successful in not being sucked into the gang life and business. He has been keenly aware that he needs to maintain total separation from the Garcia family to avoid any glint of impropriety that could affect his job performance and career path. Now that the facts are known, will he make contact with his cousin Alex or just continue to maintain the separation?

We now have two characters with the Alvarez last name in the JPG Sagas; Alex and Pablo (Paul). Is there any connection between those two? With JPG's evil mind I won't even venture a guess.

Until Next Time,

"Daddy" Rick