Larry Sandoval was at his wit's end, miserable, unhappy, feeling like an animal trapped, living in a gilded cage, desperate to leave his troubled marriage when one night, quite by chance, after he finally gets the courage to leave his husband, he me...
"What do you mean it's going to take a couple weeks?! This makes no sense! If their papers have expired and they're in the country illegally what's the hold up?"
"These things take time, Manny," replied Manny's friend and longtime attorney, Cyrus Rosenthal. "I'm working on it."
Manny was sitting at his desk having been on the phone and online taking care of a multitude of business matters since early that Monday morning. He was on the phone speaking to his New York-based attorney, who to Manny, was proving to be useless in getting Miguel and Pedro released from custody by the INS when he heard a knock on his door.
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A/N: This is a picture of Cyrus Rosenthal, Manny's longtime friend and attorney. You'll see more of Cyrus in upcoming chapters. Is Cyrus a good guy or a bad guy...? 🤔
"Dammit!" he exclaimed. "Then work harder, Cyrus! I need them here!" Manny sighed. "Look, I have another call!" Manny all but shouted to his attorney over the phone. "I gotta go. Call me in a couple days with an update. And I'm expecting good news, Cyrus. Try harder! Otherwise, what am I paying you for?!" He then abruptly ended his call.
The knock at Manny's door came again. He sighed roughly. "Yeah?!" The goon who usually escorted the servant to Larry's room, Diego, opened the door to Manny's office and stuck his head through.
Manny looked up, anger and frustration etched on his face. "Yeah, Diego, what is it?"
"It's Larry, Manny."
"Larry? What about him?"
"He's asking to speak with you."
Manny stared at his henchman, his brow furrowed. "He asked to speak with me?"
The man shrugged. "Yeah."
"Did he say what about?"
"No, just said to tell you he wanted to speak with you. You want me to tell him you'll come by?"
"No. I'll take care of it. Thanks." Then Manny watched as the man retreated, closing the door gently behind him. Manny fell back against the large leather swivel chair he sat at, his mind pondering what it was Larry wanted to speak to him about. He considered making him wait. With the kind of day he was having he wasn't in the mood for any additional flack, least of all from Larry.
But curiosity was getting the better of him. He could use a break. Manny looked at his watch. Lunch was almost over. He got up from his desk and decided to head to the room Larry had been occupying since he arrived at the Villa.
With slow strides, Manny headed up the wide, open hallway that led to Larry's bedroom. He removed his key from his pocket and inserted it in the lock. He slowly opened the door to find Larry and Sofia, lounging in chairs next to the bed, their lunch plates near empty, the TV on but the volume was on mute.
