Part 4 (1/2)
He took George by the arm and led him away, stopping to wink at the secretary, who looked at him with a mixture of disgust and admiration.
Orville's office was buried in a twisting maze of door-lined, fluorescent-lit corridors, where busy soft ones talked on telephones and clattered on keyboards.
He led George through his door, into an office as big as George's cabin.
Orville paced and talked. ”Did I say I was glad you came? I'm glad you came.
Now, let's talk about Bill. Bill's happy. He's got what he wants. A son. He doesn't have to take care of Joe. It's good for him.”
He paused and looked at George. George nodded.
”OK. There's a problem, though. You want a son, too, only Bill won't allow it.”
It didn't need any comment, so George kept quiet.
”My thinking is, Bill's so busy with Tom, he wouldn't really notice if you were there or not. You're an adult, you can take care of yourself. Do you see where I'm going with this?”
George a.s.sumed it was a rhetorical question.
”Right. What I'm thinking is, there's no reason that both of you shouldn't have your own son. This is Pleasure Island, after all. No one should be sad on Pleasure Island. You've worked hard and well for us for a long time here. We can take care of you.”
George felt an uncomfortable sensation in his stomach, a knot of guilt like rising vomit.
”I thought about having another cabin built in the woods, but that's no good. I think that you and Bill need your own s.p.a.ce. So let me bounce my current thought off you: we'll put you up in the new Monster's Arms, that's the hotel we're building for HorrorZone. It's way ahead of schedule, almost finished now.
There's a penthouse suite that you can take for as long as you like. It's only temporary, just until you and Bill have had some time to raise up your sons.
Then, we'll get the whole family together back at the cabin.”
The guilt rose higher, choking George.
”Don't worry about eating, either. I've briefed the house chef on your tastes, and he'll send up three squares every day; everything a growing boy needs.” He flashed a grin.
”And forget about Bill. I'll smooth things over with him. He'll see that it's for the best.”
Finally, George had something to say. ”What about Joe?”
Orville had been almost dancing as he spoke, enchanted with his own words. He pulled up short when George spoke. ”What about him?”
”I want to live with him again,” George said.
”He's gone, you know that.” Orville pointed his fingers alongside his ears.
”Hee-haw, hee-haw. The monthly ferry will take him to the mainland tomorrow.”
”I don't care about that,” George said. ”I want him there.”
Orville said, ”I don't think that's such a good idea, George. You're going away to concentrate on _you_ -- Joe's a handful, even now. I don't want you distracted.”
George said, ”I want Joe.”
Orville stared at him. George set his face into a blank mask. Finally, Orville said, ”If that's what you want, that's what you'll get.”