I’m finally revisiting the characters from The River City Chronicles nine years after their original timeline. I’ll be running the series weekly here on my blog, and then will release it in book form at the end of the run. Hope you enjoy catching up with all your faves and all their new secrets!
Today, Marcos finally spills his big secret to Dave, and hopes for the best…
< Read Chapter 40
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Chapter Forty
Balloon
Marcos dropped his head and pulled on his hair with one hand, stifling a groan. He was alone in his office, paying the bills, while Dave made a grocery run to Trader Joe’s.
The cable bill was going up again. Maybe it was time to cut the cord, like so many of their friends had done.
But it wasn’t just cable. Their adjustable-rate mortgage, which had seemed like a genius move just a couple years earlier, was biting them in the ass.
The newspaper was upwards of $1,000 a year. Why do we still get the paper?
He knew why. Dave loved reading it. Devoured every last page, every morning. Though with his macular degeneration… At least that’s one expense we’ll be able to get rid of soon.
Marcos sighed. That was dark, even for him.
Inflation too had taken its toll on their budget, and with less and less money coming in, things were quickly heading toward a crisis point. Now they’d need to pay for Dave’s medical bills for his macular degeneration…
And then there was his biggest mistake of all.
Dave had figured out that Marcos was looking for a job. But he still didn’t know what Marcos had done. The one really bad thing. The thing he’d done to save them both. Which would ruin everything if he didn’t figure a way out. The business loan.
His financial advisor had warned him against doing it. “It’ll come back to haunt you.”
“I can handle it. We need the cash now.” It had seemed like a safe bet, working with a real finance company, not some shady internet firm. It had promised twenty-thousand up front, with a credit line he could draw on as needed. When he’d taken it out in late 2019, it was the perfect solution. He’d been certain he could use the capital to turn things around.
Then Covid had hit, and they’d burned through all the money in a year. He’d applied for and gotten a couple no-interest, forgivable business assistance loans from the government, and between the loan and the Covid assistance, things had been all right for a while.
But their business had never returned to normal—the old normal, which wasn’t great, but was enough. Then the coming of Generative AI had eaten even further into their margins.
He logged into the financial firm’s website, hoping against hope that something had changed. That he’d been wrong about the amount.
Or maybe there was a workaround for the balloon payment that was due in just over a week.
Dammit. There it was in black and white.
$43,257.44.
He found the terms link and read through them for the hundredth time in a week, desperately looking for something—anything—that he’d missed. As he scanned through the never-ending lines of text, sweat broke out on his brow, and his knee began to bounce, his toe tapping the wooden floor like a piston.
Once again, there was nothing.
“They had those Marcona almonds you like, with the olive oil and rosemary. I got two.” Dave’s voice at the door shocked him.
He slammed his laptop closed, then closed his eyes. “Thank you.”
“Everything okay? You’re acting like you just got caught watching porn.”
Marcos turned in his chair. “It’s fine.”
Dave had a half-smile on, his eyebrow raised. “You know you’re supposed to share the good stuff.”
Marcos managed a chuckle. “It’s not porn. I promise.”
Dave leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I know. Looked more like a bank statement. Banker porn?” He grinned. “Come on and help me put things away.”
Marcos nodded, relieved. “I’ll be right there.”
“Suit yourself.” Dave retreated down the hall.
Marcos reopened the laptop and closed the offending window. The time had come to admit his failure. He felt sick to his stomach.
“He’ll understand.”
Marcos straightened up and looked around, his eyes settling on the pesky figure who stood in the door frame where Dave had just been. The ghost who simply refused to leave. “Oh, you think so? I thought you were on your way to the pearly gates?”
Brad smirked. “Once I’ve finished setting things right here.” His eyes grew misty. “I miss Sam. I’d give anything to be able to share our troubles again. Look, you still have Dave. Don’t let him find this out on his own. He loves you, Marcos. Let him in.”
Marcos nodded. “I know. I have to. I kept hoping—”
“There was a way out?”
He sighed. “We’re burning through money. I should take those almonds back.” He didn’t need them. He didn’t deserve them. Not after what he’d done.
Brad’s eyes twinkled. “It’s only money.”
Marcos snorted. “Easy for you to say.”
“Maybe.” Brad’s gaze met his own, his brown eyes kind. “But it’s true. It can only divide you if you let it.”
“Yeah. I suppose so.” How often had they told each other they’d be okay even if they ended up living in a cardboard box? As long as they had each other. He might find out if it was true soon enough. “I miss you, man…”
But Brad was already gone.
With a heavy sigh, Marcos got up and headed to the kitchen.
Dave had already emptied out all the bags, and was proceeding to put things away in the pantry and the refrigerator. He flashed Marcos a welcoming smile. “I got one of those pot pies you like… the refrigerated ones, not the kind from the frozen case. Thought we could have it with a salad—”
Marcos gently took the pie from his husband and put it on the counter, screwing up his courage. “Dave, we need to talk.”
His husband frowned. “Look, if you don’t like it, I can take it back. But the last time we tried it, you seemed to—”
“It’s not that. Come sit with me for a minute.” His pulse was racing. He led Dave to the table where they’d passed so many meals together.
“What is it? Marcos, you’re scaring me.” Dave reached out and took his hand. “You—you’re not sick, are you?”
“No, nothing like that.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. You can do this. It will be all right. “I did a bad thing. Or… a thing that went bad, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
Dave squeezed his hands. “Tell me. Whatever it is, we can fix it. Together.”
“I don’t think we can.” He looked up into his husband’s dark brown eyes and saw only love. “I took out a loan, to save the business. Years ago.”
Dave stared at him. “You never mentioned this.”
“I know.” He bit his lip. “We were teetering, and I thought I could save us. Save the business. Then Covid hit, and everything fell apart…” His eyes filled with tears. He felt like such a fucking useless asshole. I did this. I ruined everything. And I can’t even get a job.
“How much do we owe?”
Another deep breath. “Forty-three thousand.”
A sharp intake of breath.
I’m so sorry. He could feel Dave’s confusion, his pain.
The man he loved closed his eyes. Pulled his hand away and hugged himself tightly. Took another breath. And nodded. His eyes flickered open. They were clear and bright. “It’s okay. We’ll figure out a way to pay it back. Get an extension. You’ll find that new job you are looking for, and I’ll… we’ll figure something out.”
Marcos shook his head. Don’t you think I’ve tried?
“What?”
“It’s all due next week. Every last cent of it. There’s a balloon payment…” His vision blurred, and he reached out to grab Dave’s hands as if they were the only thing that could keep him from drowning. “I’m so sorry. I’ve ruined fucking everything.” Now he began to cry in earnest. The dam had burst, and it all came rushing out of him.
Dave pulled him close and held him tight as he sobbed. “It’s all right.” His warm hands rubbed Marcos’s back. “We’ll figure it out.”
“No it’s not. We’re going to lose everything.” Our condo. Our car. Our business. Everything they’d worked so hard to build together. I broke it all.
Dave held him while he sobbed, tears streaming down his face, his nose plugging up. How long they sat there like that, he’d never know, but he took solace in the warmth of Dave’s chest.
At last, when his crying jag wound down, Dave released him and held him out at arm’s length. “Listen to me closely. You did not screw everything up. Covid did. And all of these greedy, horrid corporations. And AI. You just tried to fix it. Sure, you failed. But we were always going to fail. He put his hand under Marcos’s chin, lifting it up. “But you know what? In the end, it’s just money.”
Marcos stared at him. Brad was right. He threw his arms around Dave and hugged him tightly. “I’ve never loved you more than I do right now.”
Dave nodded. “I love you too. We’ll figure this out, mi corazón. Together.”
For the first time in months, Marcos felt a flicker of hope. He pulled Dave close and kissed him softly. “Together.”
< Read Chapter 40
Like what you read? if you haven’t tried it yet, check out book one, The River City Chronicles, here.