Mixed Signals | Cooper West

Mixed Signala

ARIE

, the girl at the front desk, tittered when Frank walked

into the salon. She knew him and knew her chances with
him were nil, but that did not stop her. It never stopped
anyone.

―Mr. Sheldon! Welcome back!‖ She grinned ear to ear

and Frank gave her one of his typical friendly smirks that
everyone fell for and yet did not imply ―invitation.‖ He
learned young how to keep his distance.

―Didn‘t forget me?‖

―Oh, never!‖ She tittered again, then pouted. ―But Jane

got tied up in a really complicated highlights job and is
running late.‖

―That‘s fine. Let her know I‘m here. I‘ll wait.‖ He tugged

at his unruly mop of hair. ―This needs mowing.‖

―Oh, Mr. Sheldon!‖ She gave him a sappy smile and ran

off to the back.

Sighing, Frank sat down. His looks could get him

bumped to the head of any line, but he did not want to
pressure his hairstylist by walking back there and laying on
the charm. He just needed a haircut, and he was not on duty
at LifeFlight until eight that night, so he could wait.

He liked the midtown salon because it did not have any

pretensions about being a ―day spa‖ or ―wellness center.‖ It
had the kind of friendly vibe that was lacking in all the
upscale salons of his youth but was classy enough to hire

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knowledgeable and experienced stylists. Frank had been
using Jane for nearly two years now, and he was a creature
of habit anyway.

―Dammit.‖

Frank looked over at the guy on the bench with him. He

was stocky and a little unkempt in wrinkled khakis and a
rumpled polo with coffee stains down the front. He was
glaring at his laptop, and Frank assumed that was what had
caused the cursing. The guy, who had a curly head of nearly
black hair that was chopped and ragged, started punching
the keyboard with extreme prejudice, so Frank held his
peace. The guy screamed ―geektastic‖ anyway, and Frank
knew all too well how poorly socialized that subgenus was in
general. Instead, Frank flipped through the pile of fashion
magazines, hoping against hope for an old copy of GQ.

―Okay, yeah—no, that‘s not working for me. Think for

yourselves, people….‖

Frank looked over again to find the guy was now

frowning at his laptop. It was impossible to tell if he was
younger or a lot younger than Frank, because he had the
soft, pale physique of a lab rat, a type Frank knew intimately
and biblically; ―soft‖ was the only reason he ever slept with
women, and his last boyfriend had been a cushy biotech
engineer with really, really gentle hands. So he only had
himself to blame for trying to strike up a conversation.

―Bad day?‖ he asked, keeping his body language neutral

because he was not ready to admit to himself that he was
hitting on a coffee-stained, hair-challenged geek in the lobby
of his favorite salon. The jokes wrote themselves, he thought
as he cringed inwardly.

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The guy looked up at him with a surprised expression,

clearly noting Frank‘s presence for the first time. Frank took
the blow to his ego with grace, he thought, at least until the
guy spoke.

―You‘re already pretty. Why are you here?‖

―Uh… thanks?‖ Frank squinted, trying to find a better

comeback, but the guy snorted and waved his free hand.

―Don‘t bother trying to be witty, you might hurt

yourself.‖

―Hey!‖

The guy sighed, closing his eyes and turning his face

towards the ceiling. It gave Frank a moment to gauge his age
better, and he was surprised to realize that he was probably
closer to Frank‘s age than he'd thought.

The guy sighed again and opened his eyes before

speaking. ―Sorry. So very sorry. Okay? Better now?‖

―Not really.‖ Frank turned toward the guy, crossed his

legs and arms simultaneously, and glared at him. ―This how
you usually make friends?‖

―I don‘t usually try to make friends with people like

you.‖

Frank bristled. ―Oh? People like me? And what kind of

people are those?‖ He knew his glare was intimidating,
because no one got out of a career as an officer in the
military without practicing being an asshole, but the guy
shrugged.

―Beautiful people. You know, with the hair… and the

clothes… and the, the… pretty.‖

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Frank blinked. ―The pretty.‖

―Yes, don‘t even pretend that you don‘t know what I

mean. Give me some credit.‖

Frank did know what he meant. Even in his mid-thirties

he could make people stop in the middle of the street just to
watch him walk, and he knew it. More than once Uncle
James the Hollywood almost-producer had told him to go
into acting; Frank preferred flying and said so, but no one in
his family took him seriously. The worst thing of all was that
his good looks were supposed to mean that he did not want
to do things like fly or have a career. His personality had
always been incidental to his looks, and the thing Frank
missed most about being in the Air Force was that being so
damn good-looking had been a handicap for a change.

―Yeah, okay.‖ Frank nodded, uncrossing his arms.

The guy stared at him. ―Really?‖

―Yeah?‖

―Okay then.‖ The guy paused, studying Frank closely.

―Just, you know, people like you are usually… humble about
it. ‗Oh no, I‘m totally average!‘‖ the guy falsettoed with a fair
imitation of the salon‘s front desk girl.

Frank laughed. ―Not my style.‖

―Oh. Okay. That‘s… new.‖ Then the guy‘s laptop made

an annoying pinging sound, making him focus back on the
screen again. Frank realized that he did not really exist in
the guy‘s world anymore… which kind of disappointed him.

―Hey, what‘s your name?‖

―What? Who?‖ The guy looked up, confused.

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―You. Name?‖ Frank pointed.

―Dr. Benjamin Kaplan. And no, you can‘t call me ‗Benji‘,

it‘s Benjamin. Or Dr. Kaplan. Whatever you‘re, uh,
comfortable with.‖ Benjamin looked really uncomfortable
himself, his eyes sidling off to his laptop, as if it was some
kind of actual escape route.

―Frank Sheldon.‖ He held out his right hand, which

Benjamin took suspiciously.

―Nice name.‖

―Sometimes,‖ Frank sighed, grimacing. He had a

beautiful name to go along with his looks, and he hated it:
Francis Devonshire Sheldon the Third (technically, after his
maternal grandfather, but it was not as if anyone bothered to
ask once he got to his last name). It was something that fit in
well at his boarding schools but not so much with the Air
Force. At least he had managed to get everyone in his units
to call him Frank, something he had somehow managed to
make stick now he was back to being a civilian again.

He did not think he would have minded so much if he

had been born a little plain like his younger sister or a little
too smart like his older brother. Nancy had gone into
politics, because no one expected her to be pretty, and
Jeffery had gone into academia because no one else would
have him. Francis, though, was pretty—or handsome,
depending on his age and how drunk his mother was—and
so everyone expected the world of him because he had the
name and the looks and charm.

Even the dishonorable discharge did not tar his feathers

much with the progressive movers and shakers that made

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up his family‘s peers. He was more a cause célèbre, which he
milked because it seemed like the right thing to do for a good
cause. He had found vicious pleasure in helping repeal the
―Don‘t Ask, Don‘t Tell‖ policy that got him kicked out of his
career.

He realized that he was still shaking hands with

Benjamin, and it was more like holding hands the longer it
went on. Benjamin was not giving him the usual starry-eyed
expression Frank got in situations like this; instead,
Benjamin looked as if he was studying a bug under a lens.
Frank gently pulled his hand back.

―Nice to meet you, Benjamin.‖

―Sure.‖ Benjamin nodded once, then turned back to his

laptop.

―Frank Sheldon!‖ Jane burst into the lobby like a

whirlwind, pulling Frank up and dragging him to her station.
―What the hell! Your hair‘s a mop!‖

―Thanks, Jane. Good to see you too.‖ Frank leaned over

and gave her a polite peck on the cheek.

She batted at him. ―Stop stop stop. First! We wash!‖

Frank was frog-marched to the sinks in the back by one

of the interns, a young guy with pink and purple streaks in
his hair who flirted mainly by blushing profusely at
everything Frank said. Jane shooed the boy off as soon as
Frank was settled back in her chair, though.

―I see you were bonding with our resident geek.‖ Jane

smirked and snapped her scissors.

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―Not your usual clientele,‖ Frank countered, admitting

nothing.

Jane nodded, rolling her eyes before starting on his

hair. ―He‘s Rachel‘s other brother. Carting her around since
‗the incident‘.‖ Jane air-quoted, and Frank was both
unsurprised and dismayed to realize that he knew exactly
what she was talking about. Rachel was the newest stylist on
staff and had managed to score a DUI on her birthday party
a few months earlier. ―The Incident‖ also totaled her car, and
it was just dumb luck that no one was hurt—a fact Frank
had spoken to her about at some length, including very
graphic details on the life flights he usually ran from
accident scenes like hers. She had avoided him ever since,
but he did not care as long as she learned her lesson. He
wondered if she had complained to her brother about him.

―Nice guy.‖

Jane snorted. ―We‘re talking about the same person?‖

―He‘s helping his sister out. Can‘t be all bad.‖

―Yeah, I guess. Not like he‘s got a job anyway.‖

Frank knew to let it go. He knew that if he did, Jan

would not keep talking about it. He knew that, but some
devil was on his shoulder, and he spoke without thinking.
―So what does he do?‖

―Some kind of website thing. Says he makes money off

it, I don‘t know. But what he really does is, get this, design
video games!‖ She laughed.

Frank grunted noncommittally, hoping he would take

his own advice and stop the madness. ―Yeah?‖ he asked, and
wondered when he lost all control of his mouth.

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―Hasn‘t sold anything; he says once he does he‘ll be a

billionaire. Sure.‖ She laughed again. ―Oh hey, you on duty?
I didn‘t think to ask.‖

―No, not on until eight p.m. tonight. Got the night shift

for a few weeks, the usual guy is out on paternity leave.‖

―Okay, then. Any interesting stories?‖

Frank reviewed the last few life flights he had done over

the past month but shook his head. Sometimes—rarely—
there was a funny or at least interesting story to tell, but
lately everything had been tragic car accidents and fires.
Jane grimaced sympathetically; her husband was an EMT,
so she understood that sometimes not talking about it was
the only way to deal, which was one reason Frank stuck with
her. Too many people thought his work was heroic and
interesting when it was just a job with a body count. In that
sense, he thought it was not very different from being in the
military.

―Sorry, let‘s talk about something else,‖ Jane said,

looking at him with understanding. They moved on to new
restaurants, and Jane grilled him about his (nonexistent)
dating life, and Frank volleyed the jokes in all the right
places. When he finally walked out, though, Benjamin was
not in the lobby anymore, and that was the first time Frank
realized he had been looking forward to seeing him again.

―I

‘

admirable, of course….‖ Frank‘s father trailed off,

waving around the hand not cradling his whisky. Dr.
Sheldon was not much of a social drinker, but Frank noticed

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he seemed to clutch a drink every time they had this
discussion.

―Admirable. Sure. Looks good on Nancy‘s press releases,

her brother the life-saving pilot and former military hero.‖

His father missed the sarcasm and nodded solemnly.

―Yes. I agree, there are benefits. No doubt. But it‘s hardly…
up to your potential.‖

Frank frowned. ―My potential went down in flames with

my discharge.‖

―My god, you still on about that? Son, please, you‘re

young; you have at least two more careers left in you.‖

They were sitting in his father‘s den, a large east-facing

room with a sizable fireplace that was burning huge logs
merrily. It was their main home, the ―family estate‖ that was
probably going to Nancy once the old man kicked off, and
was best used to intimidate pretty much everybody.
Including Frank, although he refused to admit it, squirming
on the antique horsehair wing back chair facing his father.

At Frank‘s lack of response, his father sipped his drink

and tsk-tsked. ―I know it hurt. I know you did your
damnedest to stay in the closet, and it‘s a shame our
country required that kind of deception of the honorable men
and women serving in uniform for so long. But what‘s done
is done, Francis. Flying for a hospital network is admirable, I
do mean that, but you‘re thirty-four and wasting yourself.
Fly on the weekends. Take my money and start a business.
Hell, buy a small airline. I don‘t care. I know whatever you
do will be… worthwhile.‖

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By which he meant profitable, but Frank was not up to

calling him on that after what had to be the most heartfelt
speech his father had made since his own wife‘s funeral.

―Dad, I… don‘t really….‖ Frank clutched at his own

drink, unsure of where to take the conversation. The truth
was that he had been gutted by his discharge, his plans
completely derailed in a way that left no room for
improvisation. He had decided to become a pilot and Air
Force officer when he was ten years old; twenty-five years
later, he had no clue what other dreams he might have
harbored once.

RANK

was back at the salon within six weeks. He usually

let his hair go for at least two months, but his father had
told him in no uncertain terms that Frank was to show up at
his sister‘s big local political rally looking every inch the
Wronged American Hero, and shaggy cowlicks were not
acceptable. Frank suspected he was in for another round
with Nancy‘s personal makeup assistant as well, and
probably a wardrobe call later. As the race heated up for
Nancy, Frank knew he was going to be yanked around to
every exclusive dinner and all-American rally the family
could drag him to without being charged with kidnapping.

―Mr. Sheldon!‖ the front desk girl squealed again, and

they went through the usual routine before Frank sat down
next to a very hyper-looking Benjamin.

―Picking up Rachel again?‖ Frank asked casually,

throwing a winning smile into the mix.

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Benjamin peered at him suspiciously. ―She‘s my sister.‖

―I know.‖

This only made Benjamin more suspicious. ―Well don‘t

get any ideas, pretty boy. She‘s only twenty-two.‖

Frank waggled his eyebrows. ―Old enough.‖

The look of horror that crossed Benjamin‘s face was too

much for Frank to resist, and he broke down laughing. ―I‘m
not interested in your sister, Kaplan.‖

―I don‘t see why not. She‘s very attractive.‖ Benjamin

sniffed in outrage, then turned back to his laptop.

―You‘re a class act.‖

―I don‘t think it‘s unreasonable to assume a good-

looking man would hit on my sister.‖ Benjamin flapped a
hand at him, still focused on the screen.

Frank let the comment sit for a minute, then threw it all

into play. ―So you think I‘m good-looking?‖ he asked,
dropping his voice to a level only Benjamin could hear.

Benjamin blushed and stammered for a second, and

Frank thought he got a score in. A straight guy would have
argued or brushed it off, not get flustered. Not the way
Benjamin was rattled, red all the way to the roots of his
curls. Frank decided he really wanted to run his fingers
through those disorganized, catastrophic curls.

―I… uh… oh my god, are you hitting on me?‖ Benjamin

hissed at him.

Frank slid back into a casual sprawl on the bench,

waited a beat, and nodded. He knew he had this guy in the
bag. Or the sack.

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Benjamin clutched his laptop to his chest. ―Well forget

it! I know your type! Believe me, I‘ve been the brunt of jock
jokes before. If I want a pretty lay, I‘ll play it safe and hire a
hooker.‖

Frank‘s mouth dropped open and he sat up straight.

―Hooker?‖

―Oh my god, Benjamin, did you call Mr. Sheldon a

hooker?‖ Jane stood at the desk, not quite mute with rage.

―No! He was… I was….‖

―Take your stupid video game and go wait in the storage

room!‖

―Hell no! The chloride in there could snuff a cow!‖

―Jane, it was just a misunderstanding—‖ Frank stood

up, hoping to smooth the waters.

―No, absolutely not. I‘ve had it with you out here

harassing the clients. Go!‖

Benjamin stomped toward the back of the salon, looking

more like a gangly teen than a thirty-year-old man. Frank
just stared after him as Jane fluttered around.

―I‘m so sorry, Frank, really, he‘s got no social skills

and—‖

―Forget. Just forget it, okay? Haircut. Now.‖ Frank

marched over to Jane‘s chair with as much military bluster
as he could dredge up.

Jane followed after him, mute and horrified, and the

haircut that followed was done without further conversation
for once. When she finally pulled the cape off, Frank brushed

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himself down and looked straight at her. ―Where‘s the
storage room?‖

She pointed, too surprised to ask him why he wanted to

know. He walked over and went into the room, which was
piled high with boxes of supplies and did smell
overwhelmingly of chloride.

―Benjamin?‖

―Yeah? Oh, it‘s you. Please leave, I don‘t want to be

attacked by stylists wielding sharp scissors.‖

―Look, I just wanted to apologize for—‖

―You didn‘t do anything. Forget it. Go away.‖ Benjamin

rubbed his face, his posture that of a very tired man.

The laptop was sitting on a box, and something moved

on the screen, causing Frank to glance at it.

―Hey! Proprietary!‖ Benjamin grabbed at the laptop,

slamming it shut.

―Like I even understood that.‖ Frank crossed his arms in

frustration. He knew he had a chance with this guy, but he
kept getting sabotaged at every turn. His luck was usually
much more easily coaxed along in these situations.

―Right. Never mind.‖

―Was it your video game?‖

The suspicious look was back, Benjamin glaring at him

with narrow eyes.

―Why don‘t you let me buy you lunch, and tell me about

it?‖

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―You really are hitting on me,‖ Benjamin said with a flat

tone of voice.

―Yes, I really am. Does that bother you or something?‖

―You‘re beautiful.‖

―Usually, that works in my favor. You‘re an outlier,

here.‖

―I‘m a thirty-year-old pudgy geek who lives at home. You

hitting on me is the outlier.‖

―You live with your parents?‖ Frank frowned,

considering that a deal breaker.

―What? No! They… they‘re dead. Rachel and I got the

house.‖

―Oh, I‘m sor—‖

―Same difference, I suppose, but no, I wouldn‘t live there

if they were still alive, I mean, come on. I‘d never get laid. It‘s
bad enough with Rachel, thank god for her boyfriend, but it‘s
not like I really get many offers… seriously? You‘re hitting on
me?‖

―Seriously, I really am. Can we at least do lunch or

something?‖

―Hmmm. Well, Rachel does have a while yet before her

last client is done. Sure.‖ Benjamin gathered up his laptop
and stopped abruptly. ―Something cheap. That sub shop up
the road?‖

―Whatever, Kaplan. I‘m hitting on you; I‘ll wine and dine

you at a five-star restaurant if that‘s what it takes.‖

―Right. Sub shop it is.‖

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HEY

sat down and unwrapped their subs in silence.

Benjamin was completely uninterested in talking, and Frank
was waiting for him to break. Eventually he could not take it
any longer.

―So you don‘t think I‘m some jock pulling a joke on

you?‖

Benjamin rolled his eyes. ―Yes, so collegiate of you.‖ He

took another bite of food and chewed slowly, thoughtfully,
before swallowing. From the coffee stains on his shirt, Frank
had expected him to have bad table manners, but Benjamin
ate his food like the adult he was so obviously trying not to
be. ―You might be.‖

―Wow, some faith in humanity there.‖

―I‘ve mentioned the part where I‘m a thirty-year-old geek

who lives in his dead parents‘ house. I left out the ‗flaming
queer‘ part in the interest of brevity. What do you honestly
think my social life was in college?‖

Frank cocked his head and stared. ―Not so much with

the flaming, Kaplan.‖

―I was a flaming twink, I‘ll have you know. It‘s what got

me beat up in high school and pranked on in college. Queers
didn‘t want me, I was too geeky; geeks didn‘t trust me
because I was too queer.‖ Benjamin shrugged. ―I finally got
some meat on me about the time it did me no good.‖ He
sighed and looked wistful.

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―So what was your degree in?‖ Frank decided to move

the subject to safer waters.

―Computer science; programming, mostly. You?‖

―Aeronautical engineering. Seemed like a good fit for a

pilot.‖

―Oh. You‘re a pilot?‖

―Yes.‖

This was the first time Benjamin actually looked

impressed, and Frank had a pathetic moment where he
considered playing up his military record in order to keep
Benjamin‘s interest going.

―That‘s… cool. I always wanted to learn to fly.‖

Frank looked at him over the top of his sandwich.

―Nothing stopping you.‖

Benjamin gave him an incredulous look. ―Do you have

any idea how much flight lessons cost? Much less plane
rental fees and… and fuel!‖ He waved his hands around. ―I‘m
still paying off my sister‘s extremely exclusive stylist
academy fees. I think my doctorate cost less.‖

Frank, in fact, had no clue how much flight lessons

cost, much less the price of a plane rental. He knew fuel
costs far too intimately, on the other hand, so he nodded
anyway.

―I mean, I‘ve always wanted to learn, but it clearly

wasn‘t a priority. Mom and Dad died right before I got my
bachelors, and things kind of went to hell, and I had Rachel
to look after. She‘s, uh, eight years younger. So it was… a bit
rough.‖

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―I‘m sorry to hear that.‖ Frank was used to playing

sympathetic and compassionate, it was a required skill for
anyone whose family was involved in politics at any level, but
in this case, he felt genuine emotion behind the gesture.

Benjamin gave him a quick, piercing look, then turned

back to his sandwich. ―So what do you fly?‖

Chances were slim that Benjamin would have a clue as

to what Frank flew, but Frank was curious, so he answered
simply, ―EC-145.‖

Benjamin nodded thoughtfully. ―Right, by Eurocopter.‖

Surprised, Frank nodded. ―Doesn‘t fly like a dream, but

doesn‘t fall out of the sky either. When it‘s busy I can do four
or five flights in one night; the choppers can easily handle
the abuse.‖

―LifeFlight?‖

Frank

nodded,

but

typically,

Benjamin

was

unimpressed. ―I‘m sure being a LifeFlight pilot gets you all
sorts of nookie.‖

―Nookie?‖

―Right, sex. You know what I mean.‖

―Honestly, spending most of my workday carting around

people on the verge of dying isn‘t much of an aphrodisiac.‖
Frank dropped his sub with a bit more force than he
intended.

Benjamin looked over at him, his expression guarded.

―Yeah, I can see that would be a downer.‖

―Kinda.‖

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―Sorry. I didn‘t mean to… do whatever I did.‖

Frank felt his eyebrows rise. ―‗Whatever you did‘?‖

―Well, yeah. I tend to upset people without meaning to.

Rachel says my brain-to-mouth filter is… uh….‖

―Nonexistent?‖

Benjamin grimaced but nodded.

―I don‘t mind.‖

―You don‘t?‖

Frank leaned back in his chair, slouching a bit, and

looked off to the side. ―When you‘re good-looking, people
tend to tell you what they think you want to hear.‖

―Most people would love that kind of handicap,‖

Benjamin said, and Frank thought he heard a trace of
bitterness there.

―Sure. It‘s great. Until the day you realize you can‘t trust

a single thing anyone says.‖ He looked over at Benjamin
again to find him wearing a look of complete and utter
shock.

―I never thought of that.‖

Frank nodded. ―Most people don‘t.‖

―That sucks!‖

―Yeah.‖

―Although, admittedly, the regular sex probably makes

up for it?‖ Benjamin looked hopeful at that, and Frank
realized that this was just too easy.

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―Depends. Am I getting lucky here?‖ He eyed Benjamin

with his most lecherous gaze, the one that made otherwise
upstanding men and women drag him into closets for a
quickie.

Benjamin shook his head.

RANK

walked away from the sub shop with a vague sense of

disquiet. Plenty of times in his past, people had played hard
to get. Frank was not immune to the lure of ―the chase,‖ of
someone making him work for the payoff, and normally he
was up for the challenge if the person in question was smart
enough to make things interesting. But it was always with
some sort of understanding from the outset that they were
playing the game, that the winner would take all, and that
Frank was odds-on for winning.

Benjamin had turned the conversation back to planes

and helicopters and proved very knowledgeable about them
in general. He asked Frank for his opinion about the
different machines he had flown over the years but did not
ask a single question about his military service, keeping the
conversation interesting but superficial. There was no game
there; Benjamin was not playing hard to get, and other than
an objective acknowledgment of Frank‘s looks, he did not
seem interested in him physically.

The problem for Frank was that usually, when someone

was not interested, they were not interested in him at all.
Benjamin obviously liked Frank, though. Frank could not
decide if he was getting mixed signals or if he was just

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unable to understand Benjamin‘s signals. He figured it was
fifty-fifty either way, and most likely meant that he was
probably digging around in something he should not even
touch.

political dinner and rally were as excruciating as

expected, and afterward, even Nancy looked like she had
been beaten up by microphone-wielding news trolls as she
poured doubles for herself, Frank, and her closest staff.
Several issues on the plate were hot topics, and every news
team for two hundred miles had descended. Even Frank
ended up being corralled for mini-interviews no less than
four times, and he was grateful that the campaign manager
had coached him beforehand on what to say, because
otherwise his main comment would have been ―back the
fuck off.‖

―Better you than me,‖ he toasted his sister.

She gave him a growl and a frown, then slammed her

own drink. ―Get used to it. We‘ve got two more months of
this, and you better believe you‘re in for a penny, in for a
pound.‖

Frank turned to Nancy‘s personal assistant, Todd.

―When we were kids, she also dressed me up in pinafores
and made me play ‗tea time‘.‖

Todd nodded, obviously commiserating, and Nancy

threw a paperclip at them. Frank caught it and threw it
back, and the Great Paperclip War was starting in earnest
when the campaign manager yelped.

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―Oh my god!‖

Everyone stopped and looked at her. She waved them

over to her laptop. On the screen, a prominent photo of
Frank was topped by the screaming headline, ―Pretty Boy
Pilot Saves Sister‘s Campaign!‖

―That fucker. I hate that guy!‖ Nancy stalked off, kicking

a trashcan.

Frank read the whole article, which was actually

flattering to his sister‘s campaign, other than the torrid
headline. Todd pointed that out, and Nancy glared at him.

―I don‘t care. MudzNewz is just a muckraking asshole.

Sure, he gives me half-decent press this week, but that
doesn‘t make up for that damn ‗exposé‘ he did in June. We‘re
still fucking recovering from that.‖

Frank shrugged. ―Buy him off.‖

―Christ, you sound like Dad.‖

Frank cringed but did not withdraw the comment.

Todd shook his head, though. ―Better people have tried.

He accepts the bribe, documents it, then outs it. CNN picks
it up, and careers are destroyed overnight. No one likes
MudzNewz, but you can‘t fight him. He‘s completely fan-
supported, doesn‘t even accept advertising. There‘s no back
door.‖

―Who is he?‖ Frank asked, and everyone shrugged.

―Some college kid, probably. He claims to be a hacker,

and he‘s second only to Wikileaks in ‗procuring‘ classified
documents. Even the government has tried to shut him
down, but his servers are offshore and his signal can‘t be

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traced. You know he‘s good when the CIA made a blanket
offer to hire him if he just stopped publishing.‖

Frank whistled. ―Still, this article isn‘t so bad.‖

―Because he obviously has a damn crush on you.‖

Nancy pointed accusingly, and Todd laughed.

The campaign manager finally spoke up, after lurking in

the background of the conversation—Frank could never
remember her name anyway. ―Well if that‘s the case, Nancy,
your brother needs to be on staff. It would go a long way to
making MudzNewz agreeable to your campaign over the next
crucial months.‖

Frank stared at her. ―You‘re going to put me on staff

because some anonymous news junkie thinks I‘m hot?‖

Nancy grinned like a shark. ―Oh, hell yes.‖

father, unsurprisingly, was not only unsympathetic but

actually glowed as if being presented with another
grandchild.

―It‘s a good way to break into business again, son.

Nothing like a political campaign for networking.‖

Dinner on the estate was usually not a very formal affair

anymore, not since Frank‘s mother had died ten years
before. They were all sitting in the breakfast room instead,
dressed in business casual and only using one fork for the
whole meal (the butler still twitched at that, but he was
imported from England and prone to excessive formality).

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―I‘m not trying to break into business, Dad.‖ Frank

sighed.

―And I don‘t care. Already my numbers in the polls have

gone up, and MudzNewz has done everything short of
endorse my campaign,‖ Nancy crowed.

Todd, unofficially a member of the family, shook his

head in amusement.

Frank‘s brother Jeffery was with them for a change,

along with his wife Suha and their two daughters. He wiped
the youngest girl‘s chin—she was only four—then laughed at
Frank. ―Half my undergrad students think you‘re hot, Frank.
I think one of them even has a publicity still of you set as her
laptop wallpaper. So, hey, man, if you aren‘t going to use
that to your advantage, at least let Nancy milk it.‖

Suha sighed and shared a sympathetic look with Frank.

She was possibly one of the most gorgeous women Frank
had ever met (he tried not to be shallow about it, but he
never understood why she bucked her traditional Muslim
father‘s wishes in order to marry Frank's slightly odd,
average-looking and very non-Muslim brother). She was the
only one in the family who really got the frustrations of being
outstandingly beautiful, and while they never exactly talked
about it, Frank knew she was the only real ally he had at the
table.

―He is not public property, Jeff,‖ Suha said, her

expression clearly revealing that she knew the argument was
pointless but making it anyway for Frank‘s sake. He gave her
a grateful smile.

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―No, but he‘s family,‖ Nancy interjected. ―And it‘s not as

if he‘s got any other plans in life. So, I get him.‖

Their father laughed. ―Yes, you do, sweetheart. You

know we‘d all do anything to help you win. Right, Frank?‖

―I‘m doing it, aren‘t I? And anyway, I do have plans. I‘m

a planning kind of guy.‖

Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at him.

―What?‖

His father looked on him kindly, as if humoring him.

―And what are these mysterious plans you‘ve failed to
mention every other time we‘ve had a discussion about your
future?‖

Jeffery and Nancy abandoned him wholesale to shove

food in their mouths and study their wine glasses. Dr.
Sheldon on the hunt was not a person any of them wanted to
be in the direct path of, even if they were married with kids
or running for congress. Frank really did not know what he
was saying, he just wanted to derail any plans his father
might concoct concerning getting his youngest son into
politics, which seemed to be where the conversation was
headed with or without him. His brain flailed around while
his father stared him down.

―It‘s kind of new.‖

―Hmmm.‖

―And maybe a bit… unorthodox.‖

His father just continued staring at him.

―It‘s… uh, a video game.‖

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Jeffrey choked on his wine, while Nancy looked both

appalled and shocked.

Todd, on the other hand, perked up. ―First person

shooter?‖

―Uh…,‖ Frank started, trying to remember his

impression of the screen shot on Benjamin‘s laptop.

―That‘s quite the departure, Francis.‖ His father‘s voice

dripped disbelief.

―Well, a friend of a friend, really, and it‘s something of a

breakthrough, and we‘re still in the coding stage….‖

―Right. Well. Let me know if you need any… help.‖

Frank was pretty sure his father meant ―if you need me

to bail your sorry ass out‖ but nodded frantically, and was
immensely grateful that just then Jeffery‘s youngest
daughter decided to start wailing for the stuffed toy she
dropped.

―

?‖ Marie blinked at him in surprise.

―Benjamin. Kaplan. Dr. Kaplan, Rachel‘s brother?‖

Frank waved a hand over at the empty waiting area. ―I need
to speak with him.‖

―You do?‖ She kept looking at him with an expression of

shock.

―Yes, I do. Where is he? Did Jane stick him in the

supply closet again?‖

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Marie was still having trouble processing his request, so

he gave up and walked through to Jane‘s stall.

―Hey handsome! Back so soon?‖

―Jane, I need to get in touch with Dr. Kaplan.‖

Jane gave him the same surprised look Marie had. ―You

do?‖

―Yes!‖ Frank managed not to stomp his foot in

frustration.

Jane raised her hands in surrender while her customer

gave them both nervous looks.

―Rachel.‖ Jane pointed to the sister, who had just

walked out of the back room. Frank zeroed in on his target,
and with minimal fuss and only one mildly surprised ―you
do?‖ from Rachel, he managed to get Benjamin‘s phone
number. He stepped out of the salon to call him.

―What?‖ the annoyed and slightly distracted voice

snapped after barely half a ring.

―Benjamin. It‘s Frank. I need a job.‖

There was a long pause, then a sigh. ―You should try

modeling. I hear ‗mature‘ men are hot right now.‖

―For fuck‘s sake, did you just call me old?‖

―No! That was my professional business advice!‖

―Well, it sucks.‖

―Why ask, then?… Hey, how‘d you get my number?‖

―I want to be a business partner in your video game

thing.‖

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―My ‗video game thing‘. Do you even know what you are

talking about?‖

―Not really, no. That‘s why I want to meet up with you,

to talk about it.‖

There was another sigh. ―Seriously, do you ever give

up?‖

―I‘m not hitting on you!‖ Frank yelled, and a woman who

was passing by on the sidewalk stepped carefully away from
him. ―Okay, look, can we just meet and talk about this? Not
at the sub shop,‖ he qualified quickly.

―Not until you explain the sudden interest.‖

Frank could almost see Benjamin leaning back and

crossing his arms defensively, which only made him smile.
He stopped quickly, realizing that maybe his brain was
focusing on the wrong thing. ―Look, it‘s either back your
damn video game, or my father is going to start
micromanaging my political career.‖

―You have a political career?‖

―No! And that‘s kind of the point: I don‘t want one!‖

―Soooo, you randomly picked helping me develop a video

game as a way to look respectable to your old man?‖ The
sarcasm dripped from Benjamin‘s voice, and Frank had to
admit that when put like that, his idea sounded stupid. He
slumped.

―Something like that.‖

―But you have a career being a dashing, heroic LifeFlight

pilot.‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

Frank sighed. ―It‘s not so much a career as a hobby, at

least by family standards. And hey, did you just call me
dashing and heroic?‖

Benjamin snorted in his ear. ―Beside the point. Who the

hell is your father, anyway?‖

―You heard of Nancy Sheldon? She‘s running for

Congress, and—‖

―You‘re her brother! Shit! Yeah, I saw your photo. So

your dad is Dr. Moneybucks Sheldon, huh?‖ Benjamin
whistled. ―No wonder.‖

Frank tried not to groan. ―Kaplan, are you going to help

me escape the clutches of the evil billionaire or what?‖

―Your dad really a billionaire?‖

―No, but he has an evil streak. Can we meet, or not?‖

―You know, I had this same crisis when I was, oh,

fifteen.‖

―Kaplan!‖

―Okay! Okay, fine. You know the coffee shop on Harper

Avenue, the one by the drug store? Be there in twenty.‖

Frank hung up and started walking. By the time he got

there, Kaplan was ensconced on a lounger chair with a
super-size cup of coffee. Frank got his own small, plain cup
of regular and sat down in the lounger chair opposite him.

―My

game

isn‘t

some

kind

technological

breakthrough, if that‘s what you‘re hoping,‖ Kaplan said by
way of hello.

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―Oh. I was sort of hoping, actually. But honestly, I‘m not

picky.‖

―Yeah, I got that.‖ Kaplan slurped his coffee, and Frank

understood where the coffee stains came from. Kaplan went
after his coffee like a hyena, in direct contrast to his
fastidious eating technique. It was rather adorable, and
Frank cringed when he thought that.

―So what makes it special?‖

Kaplan stared at him for a second before he set his

coffee down. ―Despite our old house and my POS car, I‘ve got
money. Not a lot, but enough; my website development work
pays the bills, so I don‘t need this video game in order to
eat.‖

Frank sipped his own coffee. ―Okay.‖

―What I‘m saying is, this is an act of love for me. It‘s

about the story and the characters and the content; I mean,
the graphics are important to me, sure; they are to any
gamer. But most games have sucky story lines. World of
Warcraft isn‘t popular just because it‘s a violent social
networking platform. It‘s because people like the world-
building and the general story lines, the campaigns.‖

Frank shrugged. ―You can say the same about most

popular games.‖

―And I do. I‘ve played all of them.‖

Frank doubted that was hyperbole, so he just nodded.

―Okay, let me make this simple for you: I don‘t need a

backer. I do my own coding and writing and development.
You want to help, then I can make you a beta tester, but I

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already have a forum of fellow gamers I trust online to do
that.‖

―Dammit.‖ Frank sighed. It was too good an idea to work

anyway, he knew that, but it still hurt to have the rug
yanked out after what he had told his father. Now he‘d have
to come up with something else and endure his family‘s
heckling of his ―failed video game venture.‖

Benjamin gave him a pained look. ―You already told

your dad about this, didn‘t you?‖

Frank cringed but nodded.

Benjamin looked around the room, but his eyes were

not focused, and it was clear that he was lost in thought.
Then he slapped his thigh and pointed at Frank. ―Deal.‖

―Deal what?‖

―I help you, and you help me!‖

Frank narrowed his eyes. Somehow he knew this was

not going the way he wanted. ―How?‖

―I will be your ‗cover‘ for being a video game

entrepreneur, and you! You will pay for and help me with
flying lessons.‖

Frank grinned. ―How about I rent the plane and teach

you?‖

It was Benjamin‘s turn to look suspicious.

―I‘m a certified flight instructor. You can check my

license if you want.‖ Frank could not stop grinning.

―I will, believe me! But… really?‖ Benjamin looked so

hopeful that Frank‘s heart nearly broke. Without a doubt, he

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

was getting in over his head with the lunatic geek, but he
could not stop himself at this point.

―Really. I teach you to fly, and you meet my father with

a business plan that has my name on it.‖

Benjamin sniffed. ―If he‘ll sign an NDA.‖

―He signs those like other people sign credit slips. No

problem.‖

They sat in the coffeehouse grinning at each other like

fools until Frank convinced himself this was not actually a
date and managed to get out with both a promise of meeting
later in the week and his dignity relatively intact.

―I

HEAR

you bought a plane.‖

―I decided I want something fun to fly on the weekends.‖

Frank piled up more eggs from the serving platter on his
plate. ―Helicopters are one thing, but fixed wing….‖ Frank
could not stop himself from smiling dreamily.

His father nodded. ―It‘s good to have a hobby. Just don‘t

crash it.‖

It was his father‘s way of saying, ―I love you; play safe,‖

so Frank smiled. ―I won‘t, I promise.‖

―Any more news on this… video game?‖

Frank nodded. ―Kaplan has a business plan we‘re fine-

tuning.‖

―Hmmm.‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

Frank went in for the kill. ―But neither one of us has an

MBA or anything. I thought, maybe, if you wanted to look it
over and—‖

―Absolutely! Of course, I would not miss a chance to

help you out, son,‖ his father jumped in, and Frank knew
the deal was set, although he waited for the other shoe to
drop. His father coughed. ―And if this Dr. Kaplan would like
to be in on that consult, I‘d be pleased to meet him.‖

Frank nodded as if he had not thought of that himself.

―Sure, I‘ll ask him. He‘s pretty busy, but this is his baby
after all.‖

―So, what is your initial investment?‖

Frank gave him a number that was roughly equivalent

to the price of his new plane. His father did not even blink.

HEY

had only gone up once so far, and that was with Frank

at the controls. He had given Benjamin a textbook and
assigned him some lessons out of it, which made his student
snort in derision, but Benjamin did the homework anyway
with a speed and precision that made Frank‘s own flight
school traumas in the USAF look pathetic. A fact he did not
mention. However, he had taken Benjamin up as a ―reward
for good behavior‖ (earning him yet another derisive snort),
and they had a great time. Benjamin did not ask about the
plane, clearly assuming it was rented, which was fine with
Frank for the time being. He did not flaunt his trust fund,
and in fact rarely used it for anything and preferred keeping

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

it out of whatever was happening between him and
Benjamin.

Not that anything was, or that Benjamin noticed. Frank

was in the unusual position of pursuing someone who could
care less about his attentions, which was not something he
had a lot of practice with. He was used to guaranteed wins or
immediate losses, but he refused to admit he was not in play
and so met regularly with Benjamin even if it was just for a
cup of coffee under the guise of getting ready for this meeting
with his father. Totally unnecessary, but he was not going to
admit that.

Benjamin was yammering on about a programming

issue with the game, his jargon thick and heavy. Frank
raised a hand to stop him.

―No idea what you are talking about.‖

Benjamin frowned. ―Sorry?‖

―It‘s okay. You‘re just going on about… computer stuff.‖

―Hazard of the job.‖ Benjamin smiled smugly at him.

―You know, I meant to ask: why don‘t you have a job?‖

―Huh?‖ Benjamin slurped some more coffee.

―You have a doctorate. In computer science. You….‖

Frank waved a hand around.

―Why aren‘t I at a university, or working for some big

international corporation for a lot of money?‖

Frank nodded.

―Rachel. She‘s eight years younger than me, was a real

surprise for Mom and Dad. Then they died ten years ago….‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―So she was only, what, ten?‖

Benjamin stopped, surprised that Frank remembered

Rachel‘s age. ―Yeah, actually, twelve. I was twenty and had
another year left on my bachelors. Fortunately the university
here has a good program, so I transferred back. I could have
sold the house and moved her around while I got my
degrees, but I figure, she just lost her parents, so it was
better to keep her where things were familiar. Anyway, the
CompSci department loved me, gave me a full ride for my
doctorate.‖ Benjamin shrugged.

―After that she was graduating high school and enrolling

in the stylist academy, and so I… just stuck around. Most
job offers I got would have required me to relocate.‖

Frank nodded, understanding Benjamin‘s dilemma.

―Well, what about teaching? The university?‖

―Yeah, I did that. But let me tell you, academic politics

are vicious. And I never got to work on what I wanted; I was
pressured to do high-level crap to get published in the
journals. It‘s all about prestige, not actual accomplishment. I
started taking side jobs, built a few web sites, and worked on
my game. After a while it made more sense to do all that full
time and quit the teaching gig. I like doing my own thing.‖

―Good turn you did for Rachel.‖

―She‘s my sister, my only real family, actually. I mean,

no one counts crazy Uncle Larry. Who I think is actually a
cousin….‖

Frank laughed. ―I think we have a few of those too.‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―So what‘s up with you? Discharged for conduct

unbecoming, so now you live at home and fly helicopters for
fun?‖

Frank put down the coffee. ―How‘d you know about the

discharge?‖

Benjamin colored bright red for a second, then rallied.

―You really believe I didn‘t Google you after you told me who
your father was?‖

Frank blinked. Naturally, given his sister‘s campaign,

his whole story was probably an open book online. He
sighed. ―Yeah, okay; point.‖

―And it‘s not like I can escape your sister‘s campaign,

it‘s all over the news.‖

―I don‘t think anyone can escape it.‖ Frank grimaced. ―I

like helping her out, but it‘s a drain. I‘m still flying three
twelve-hour shifts a week, and that‘s full time plus for a
pilot. It takes a lot out of you. But then I‘ve got to run
around to all of her dinners and rallies… gah.‖ Frank closed
his eyes and leaned back in the chair.

―She‘s… ah… a bit of a rebel.‖

Frank nodded, pausing while he collected his thoughts.

―Look, I‘m not voting for her just because she‘s my sister.
And if I really disagreed with her platform, I wouldn‘t let the
family bully me into helping her. She‘s a good person, and
she‘s a damn good manager. She gets things done. Father
likes having a politician in the family, but it‘s more than that
for her: she‘s a true believer.‖

―Well, there have been some scandals….‖ Benjamin

talked slowly, carefully, staring into his coffee. There was

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

something odd about it that Frank could not place, until he
did.

―Oh, Christ, that whole shitstorm in June that

MudzNewz raked up.‖

Benjamin blinked, then colored red again. ―You read

MudzNewz?‖

―I have to, don‘t I? Shit. Look, that was a bad deal, I

agree, but Nancy didn‘t know what that guy was doing. She
vets her staff, but you can‘t catch every crook, my father
would tell you that. She was blindsided by the whole thing.
Fuck that MudzNewz, seriously.‖

―Hey, he‘s just trying to get at the truth.‖

―I think he‘s trying to get into my pants,‖ Frank barked

with a bitter laugh.

Benjamin paled. ―What?‖

―Why the hell do you think I‘m on the campaign staff

now? Because apparently Nancy‘s campaign manager thinks
MudzNewz has a crush on me. It‘s fucked up. We don‘t even
know if this guy is a guy… or hell, even an American. So
don‘t ask me to be nice about that fucker, because he nearly
derailed my sister‘s career and he‘s the reason I‘m not going
to get any sleep for the next six weeks.‖

Benjamin was silent for a long time, looking off to the

side. ―That‘s messed up, yeah.‖

―Glad you agree.‖ Frank sighed, tired of the topic. ―Look,

that meeting with Father is in two days. Let‘s talk about
that.‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

ENJAMIN

showed up at the headquarters of Sheldon

Medical Technologies Corp. dressed in a halfway decent but
obviously been-around-the-block suit. His tie was bright
blue, sprinkled with images of old biplanes, which made
Frank grin.

―Ready?‖

―No, absolutely not.‖ Benjamin nodded.

―Right then, let‘s do this.‖ Frank hauled Benjamin by

his arm into the building, giving security only a passing
glance as they walked to the elevators. He used his special
key card to get them to the top floor where his father‘s
business suite was, then pushed Benjamin out of the door.

―Sheila, how are you?‖ Frank stopped at the

receptionist‘s desk, knowing she would buzz his father to let
him know they were there.

―Great, Mr. Sheldon. Is this Dr. Kaplan?‖

―You know who I am?‖ Kaplan suddenly looked

panicked.

―Of course! Dr. Sheldon is waiting. Have a great day!‖

Frank did not stick around for more pleasantries and

headed off, hauling Benjamin behind him. His father‘s
personal secretary, Sally, just flapped a hand at him as they
walked past her desk.

He had to hand it to his father, the man was smooth

and kind and polite. For as much of a shark as he was in
business matters, he was a genuinely nice guy, and Frank
sometimes forgot that while he was busy butting heads with

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

him. His father shook Benjamin‘s hand warmly and invited
them to sit at the casual table (as opposed to the more
ostentatious board-room table that dominated half the
office).

―Thanks for e-mailing me the business plan so I could

look it over, Dr. Kaplan.‖

Benjamin nodded, completely mute.

―So, Father, what do you think?‖ Frank chimed in after

a moment of silence.

That was all it took to set his father into ―business

mode.‖ He eviscerated the business plan in the nicest way
possible, then produced his own marked-up copy and
proceeded to go over it page by page, graph by graph. By
page twenty-two, Benjamin rallied and was bouncing
questions, waving his hands around to make his point or
agree or make his own notes. Frank was impressed by
Benjamin‘s business acumen, which, though inexperienced,
was pretty thorough. His father did not humor anyone for
any reason and would not have bothered to spend his time
discussing the business if it had not at least met his own
criteria. All in all, it was a total success, and Frank could not
wipe the grin off his face as the two other men wrapped
things up.

His father asked Sally in and handed her the marked-up

plan. ―Copies, plus a PDF. E-mail to all parties.‖ She nodded
and headed out. ―Dr. Kaplan, you‘ll get a copy before you
leave, but I‘m sure Sally will get the electronic version e-
mailed to you this afternoon.‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

Benjamin finally stopped, blinked, and looked stunned.

―Oh. Thank you. This was… enlightening. I never expected…
well, Frank said, of course, but I thought… uh….‖

Frank‘s father gave Benjamin a gentle, benevolent smile,

and Frank‘s hackles went up.

―You thought you were just humoring Frank‘s paranoid

father,‖ his father laughed, and actually reached over to pat
Benjamin’s arm. Frank sat up in the chair, trying to figure
out what the hell was going on.

―Well, you said it. Not me.‖ Benjamin grinned.

His father laughed again, then motioned at Frank. ―Dr.

Kaplan… may I call you Benjamin?‖

Benjamin nodded. ―Of course, sure. Uh, please do.‖

―I need to speak with Francis privately for a few

moments. Family business, nothing for you to worry about.‖

―‗Francis‘?‖

―Father….‖

―I‘m not calling you ‗Frank‘, it makes you sound like a

character in a bad sitcom.‖

―Francis? Really? That‘s your—‖

―Okay then, thanks, Benji. I‘ll be right out.‖

―Hey, what‘d I say about that? Don‘t… hey, stop

pushing.‖

Frank shut the door in Benjamin‘s outraged face before

turning on his father, who was grinning at him. Frank
crossed his arms and glared.

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―For chrissake, Francis, I‘m not an idiot. I know what

this was.‖

Frank faltered, wondering when his father had seen

through their ruse. Probably when Frank never said a damn
word about the business plan for the last hour. His father
got up and hugged him, though, and laughed again.

―Hell, I did the same thing with your mother‘s father. He

terrified me, but I was so in love, and what did a poor
medical intern have to offer the socialite daughter of one of
the wealthiest manufacturing scions of the East Coast?‖

Frank faltered, having no idea what his father was

talking about. ―Uh?‖

―Exactly! Nothing! So I spent twenty-four hours coming

up with a business plan for a new medical device one of my
old med school pals was inventing and got my foot in the
door that way. Hell, I had no idea the damn thing would turn
into my first million; I was just trying to clear the way to ask
your mother‘s hand in marriage. You know what a bastard
your grandfather could be.‖

Frank‘s jaw dropped.

―Kaplan‘s a good man, Francis. A little… hyper. But

damn smart, and that business plan of his might actually go
somewhere, not that I know anything about video games.
And he adores you, that‘s pretty clear.‖

―No, wait, that‘s not… I mean….‖

―Kind of sweet of him to go through all this trouble,

really. It‘s not like I‘m some Victorian about my children‘s
dating lives. Very romantic, though!‖ His father beamed, and
Frank considered jumping out the window to escape. ―So,

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you two have my blessing. Might want to keep it low-key
until your sister‘s campaign wraps up, especially since we
have no idea how MudzNewz will take the fact that you are
seeing someone.‖

―I‘m… not….‖

His father gave him a long-suffering sigh. ―Enough,

Francis. Go away. You have my blessing, and I have work to
do. Go enjoy your young man.‖

Struck dumb, Frank nodded and walked out.

Benjamin jumped him. ―What was that? Did you father

say something about me?‖

Frank stared at Benjamin, completely at a loss.

―He did! He thinks I‘m crazy!‖

―No. No, that‘s not… it really was some family business.

About… about Nancy‘s campaign. Nothing to worry about.‖

Benjamin was not buying it, but Frank offered a

celebratory ―training flight,‖ and Benjamin all but dragged
him out of the building to the airport. Frank wondered if
Benjamin would be half as excited to have sex with him…
probably not.

ANCY

and Frank looked at each other, then back at Todd,

who was pointing at his smart phone.

―You‘re kidding,‖ Nancy said, her expression a bizarre

cross between horror and relief.

―No, no, no, I‘m not. And it‘s news. The major networks

are stumbling over themselves.‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

Frank shook his head. ―Because MudzNewz backed off

reporting on Nancy‘s campaign?‖

Todd rolled his eyes. He was young and irreverent,

which was why Frank liked him… most of the time. ―Because
MudzNewz specifically said he has a conflict of interest. That
he can‘t report on her campaign. This is the most objective,
untouchable news source in the country saying he‘s been
compromised, but not how or why. It… it‘s a scandal!‖ Todd
gave them both a wild-eyed look and shook his phone at
them again. It started ringing, and Todd looked at it as if it
would bite. ―Oh crap, CNN!‖ He gave them one last panic-
stricken look and then ran off to find the campaign manager
with the phone still ringing.

Nancy turned to Frank. ―What did you do?‖

―Me? Me? I didn‘t do anything! I‘ve done everything you

asked!‖

―Something! You did something!‖

―No! No, I did not! And anyway isn‘t this what you

wanted, for him to back off?‖

―Not like this! It makes it look like we paid him off or

something!‖ Nancy paced. ―I‘m serious, Frank, what have
you done?‖

Frank ground his teeth. ―Nothing.‖

Todd ran back in. ―Holy shit, MSNBC has it as a

headline on their website. There‘s all kinds of speculation
going on.‖

Nancy grimaced. ―Fuck.‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

RANK

had to bail on Benjamin for the next two weeks as

Nancy‘s campaign battled back against bizarre, unfounded
accusations of corruption based on MudzNewz‘s complete
cave-in. The irony was that as far as the MudzNewz site was
concerned, Nancy‘s campaign did not even exist anymore,
while on all the mainstream news outlets it was all that was
talked about. The running assumption was that the Sheldon
family had somehow bought MudzNewz‘s silence.

Even MudzNewz took to running a banner across the

top of his site claiming total financial independence and
objectivity, but then Fox News speculated that meant it was
due to some kind of blackmail scheme by the Sheldons, and
the story spiraled even more out of control.

By the time Frank walked into the coffee shop again,

they were three weeks out from the election, neck-and-neck
in the polls with Nancy‘s competition, and he had also
covered several more shifts for the pilot out on paternity
leave.

―You look terrible.‖ Benjamin looked up at him as if

smelling bad meat.

Frank crashed into the lounger that he unofficially

considered ―his‖ and just nodded.

―That bad, huh?‖

Frank closed his eyes and concentrated on not dropping

his cup of coffee.

―I‘ve… uh… been reading the news. Online. About… the

thing.‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―Of all the things in the world I do not want to talk

about right now, it‘s Nancy‘s campaign.‖ Frank did not even
open his eyes.

―Ohhhhkay. How about, I rewrote the business plan,

and Charlie thinks it‘s solid.‖

Frank looked up at him. ―Charlie?‖

―Yeah, your father? He looked it over again and—‖

―You‘re calling my father ‗Charlie‘?‖ Frank sat up, mildly

outraged, or maybe just appalled.

―Yes? I mean, yes. He said I could!‖

Frank only knew three people who called Dr. Sheldon

―Charlie‖; two were old medical school pals of his, and the
last one had been Frank‘s mother. If his father ever asked
Suha to call him by his name, she had obviously declined.
He dropped his face into his hands.

―What? He said I could!‖ Benjamin repeated, sounding

like a five–year-old.

―I know, I know. Look… I should come clean here, you

need to know.‖ Frank sucked in a deep breath and
straightened up.

―That your father thinks we‘re dating? That‘s not exactly

a secret.‖

Frank paled, stunned speechless, but Benjamin just

waved a hand at him. ―He asked if we were doing a prenup
as part of the business arrangement, and when I finished
having a stroke, he asked about the honeymoon. He‘s…
pretty old-fashioned, for a liberal-minded kind of guy. He
wanted to know what church I go to.‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―You don‘t go to church,‖ Frank said, as it was the only

thing his brain could process. Other than vague plans to kill
his father.

―Well duh.‖ Benjamin pointed at himself. ―Secular Jew!

Hello!‖ He stopped and studied Frank for a second. ―You
know, for a guy whose sexual orientation is common
knowledge at CNN and who hit on me the first time we met
in the waiting area of a salon, you‘re acting pretty upset
about this.‖

Frank shook his head.

―Because it‘s your father? Hate to break it to you, but he

probably guessed you were gay when you got kicked out of
the military for cock-sucking.‖

―Jesus! Kaplan, shut up!‖

Benjamin frowned at him. ―So what‘s the problem?‖

―Maybe it‘s because my father thinks we are getting

married!‖

―That‘s ridiculous, gay marriage isn‘t legal here. We

could immigrate to Canada, maybe….‖

Frank groaned, remembering weeks of hitting on

Benjamin unsuccessfully before tacitly giving up, and
wondered why Benjamin was being so cavalier about it.
―We‘re not getting married!‖

Benjamin opened his mouth, then shut it so hard his

teeth clacked. ―Oh.‖

There was a long silence as they stared at each other

before Frank finally broke. ―What?‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―I thought… well. Forget it.‖ Benjamin began slurping

his coffee, but he was bright red and angry.

―You thought what?‖ Frank pressed.

―It doesn‘t matter, because I was wrong, okay?‖

―About what?‖

If anything, Benjamin went even redder in the face.

―Look, it‘s obvious that the idea of you being gay isn‘t the
problem with your father, you just don‘t like him thinking
that you‘re with… with me. I get it. I‘m not good enough for
the Sheldons. Not good enough for you.‖

Floored, Frank could not even reply.

―I mean, I thought we were kind of moving towards

something here, but I guess I was just flattering myself.‖

Frank‘s brain finally engaged. ―You turned me down.‖ He

pointed accusingly.

―I wasn‘t going to be a convenient floozy! Then you kept

showing up and I thought you were actually interested in
me… wouldn‘t be the first time I got the signals wrong.‖
Benjamin deflated in his chair while Frank continued staring
at him in surprise. ―I‘m sorry, okay? We can still do the
business plan thing, I‘m not a jerk….‖ He leaned over and
started packing up while Frank was still putting the pieces
together.

―You thought I was courting you?‖

Benjamin stopped and glared at him. ―Courting?‖

Frank grimaced but waved a hand at Benjamin in

frustration. ―You know what I mean.‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―Sure, okay, fine. Courting. Yeah. That‘s what I thought.

Us lower classes, we call it ‗dating‘.‖ Benjamin continued
packing up.

Frank paused at that, because looking back over the

last few weeks, it did look a lot like they were dating. He got
ready to say so, but Benjamin stood up.

―I mean, I get it. You‘re hot and sexy and rich, so why

would you hang out with the geeky professional failure?‖ He
threw away his coffee cup and set his messenger bag on the
chair. ―No hard feelings. I‘ll see you next week.‖

Benjamin moved to leave without further comment. By

the time Frank was out of his seat to stop him, Benjamin
was turning away from the chairs and toward the front door.
Frank grabbed his arm, but Benjamin was so startled by it
that he lost his balance and tripped forward. Frank
instinctively pulled at him, and when they were steady, but
locked faced to face, Frank leaned down and placed a gentle
kiss on Benjamin‘s lips.

They stood motionless like that for a few moments

before Benjamin tipped his head and started kissing back,
slowly but certainly. Smiling into his kiss, Frank let his
tongue sweep out over Benjamin‘s lips, making him groan.

They stopped at the sound of applause. Frank pulled

back, and Benjamin picked up the things he had let drop to
the floor with a sheepish grin as the other coffee house
patrons continued clapping and cat calling. Some of them
were taking photos with their phones, laughing
encouragingly.

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―We‘re leaving,‖ Frank said, trying to look businesslike

as he gathered up his trash and threw it away but feeling the
flush to his toes.

―I… ah….‖ Benjamin stuttered but followed. ―Okay.‖

―Your place.‖

―Rachel‘s at work, yeah, okay.‖ Benjamin still looked

stunned, and stopped randomly every few steps to stare at
Frank, who finally herded them into his own car—he was
willing to drive back to the coffeehouse later to retrieve
Benjamin‘s car—and got them on the road.

―Are we…?‖

―Damn right we are,‖ Frank answered, nodding

vigorously.

Benjamin grinned, then snapped out directions to his

place.

It was a nice but not fancy city house that took up most

of its lot. The bushes and trees were overgrown and
unkempt, but the grass was cut and the exterior was clean,
although Frank did not care at all as he bustled Benjamin
up the walk to the front door.

Benjamin got them inside and suddenly stalled out,

looking at Frank with wide eyes. ―Really? Me?‖

Frank rolled his eyes, stepped forward, and pushed

Benjamin into the wall as he used his free hand to slam the
front door shut behind them. Muscling closer until they were
touching all the way down their bodies and Benjamin was
starting to pant, Frank leaned in to the shorter man as if to
kiss him, but stopped.

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―You‘re the one who thought we were dating.‖

―Not really, I just thought it was a possibility… you‘re,

uh, pretty persistent.‖

Frank nodded. ―Usually. I thought you weren‘t

interested at all, though.‖ He breathed out, blowing warm air
over Benjamin‘s jaw and making him squirm.

―Oh, interested! Yes, yes, very interested! But, uh… I‘m

not really in your league, you noticed that, right?‖

―Not many people are, my father‘s a multi-millionaire.

But just because you don‘t have a lot of money… dammit, I
don‘t care about that.‖

Benjamin blinked in confusion. ―I don‘t care about your

money!‖

Frank frowned at him.

―Okay, maybe I do a little. Who wouldn‘t? I‘m only

human! A human whose hot water heater is old and finicky
and needs replacing, and… okay, never mind. I didn‘t mean
that.‖ Benjamin flushed and looked off to the side. ―I just
mean, you‘re beautiful. And I‘m not so much.‖

Frank pushed in close to kiss him again and sucked on

his tongue, going for deep and wet. Benjamin was on board
with that idea, grabbing at Frank‘s waist to haul him in even
closer. Their groins pressed together, cocks plump and, at
least in Frank‘s case, firming up quickly. He rolled his hips,
causing Benjamin to gasp into his mouth. It was dead sexy
and Frank groaned.

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

Frank moved to grab Benjamin‘s upper arms, pressing

him harder against the wall, and shoved his thigh in between
Benjamin‘s legs.

Benjamin hauled his head back, looking up at the

ceiling. ―Really. Hot.‖

―Yeah, you are….‖ Frank trailed off, smiling, kissing

Benjamin‘s neck lightly and letting up on the pressure
between them, allowing Benjamin to decide the pace.

Benjamin wrapped his arms around Frank‘s back and

pulled him back, rising up on his toes to gain leverage and
kissing frantically while trying to talk. ―Ysmph… yes…
mmm….‖ His hips stuttered against Frank‘s thigh, his cock
hard in his pants. Frank angled up to force Benjamin‘s thigh
against his own erection, and they were quickly rutting each
other against the wall.

Frank shoved himself backwards. ―I am not coming in

my pants in the foyer.‖

Benjamin blinked. ―This isn‘t a ‗foyer‘, Trust Fund Boy,

it‘s a living room.‖

―Whatever, genius. Bedroom. Now.‖

Benjamin sprung off the wall and practically jogged to

the back of the house. He pulled open a door and entered a
small bedroom that looked frozen in time from 1999.
Including an early Star Wars: The Phantom Menace poster.
Frank stopped to stare at it.

―Look, I didn‘t know the movie was going to suck.‖

Benjamin stood defensively by the bed, which was only a full
size and very rumpled.

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―Is this really the room you grew up in?‖ Frank crossed

his arms.

Benjamin looked uncomfortable. ―The master bedroom

was my parents‘. Rachel and I turned it into an
entertainment room. Neither one of us could stand the idea
of sleeping there….‖

Frank walked over and gave Benjamin a slow, full body

hug. Benjamin sighed, leaning into him. ―Sorry, I wasn‘t…
can we just pick up where we left off in the foyer?‖

―The living room,‖ Benjamin snarled with a grin, and

then they were kissing again.

Frank pushed them back onto the bed, using his long-

neglected hand-to-hand combat training to control the fall
and end up on top. He crawled up Benjamin to straddle his
hips.

―That is so hot,‖ Benjamin whined, rubbing his hands

over Frank‘s thighs.

Frank grinned and started undressing Benjamin,

unbuttoning his shirt while sitting on his cock. Benjamin
whined some more, closing his eyes and trying to thrust up
against Frank. They both still had their jeans on, and there
was not much friction to be had, so Frank sat down further,
pressing all of his weight on Benjamin‘s hips.

―Fuck! Oh, oh….‖ Benjamin started ripping his shirt off,

sitting up a little to let Frank pull him out of it. ―You! You,
you, you! Now!‖ Benjamin attacked Frank‘s shirt with more
enthusiasm than effectiveness, and by the time it was off,
Frank was laughing helplessly.

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―What! Is this funny?‖ A quick shadow of doubt passed

through Benjamin‘s eyes, making Frank want to kill the
bastard who had ever made him so self-conscious in bed.

―I‘m just having fun.‖ Frank reached out and stroked

Benjamin‘s face with a gentle hand. ―After all, since we‘ve
been dating so long and everything, I think I should take my
time.‖

Benjamin rolled his eyes but moved his hands up

Frank‘s chest, then made desperate clutching grabs for him
as he moved off and stood up. His hands froze in the air as
Frank slowly started unbuttoning his jeans. He stared at
Benjamin‘s cock, which was starting to battle its way out of
Benjamin‘s jeans, and kept at his slow, measured strip
tease. Benjamin‘s eyes went wide and his hands dropped
back to the bed while he watched Frank finish undressing.
As soon as Frank was moving back towards the bed,
Benjamin frantically went for his own pants and had
stripped out of them by the time Frank lay down next to him.

He waited for the grabbing/pushing/pulling enthusiasm

he expected of Benjamin, but instead Benjamin rolled up
next to him, shifting slowly so their cocks brushed up
against each other, and softly stroked the skin of Frank‘s
exposed arm, side, hip, and leg. He rested his head in his
hand, propped up on his elbow, so he could see what he was
doing. Frank responded by reaching out to run his fingers
through Benjamin‘s hair.

―Wanted to do that for a while.‖

―Oh.‖ Benjamin grinned, running his hand lightly, then

heavily, down Frank‘s side, alternating strokes.

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―You know, I‘m okay with us having dated this whole

time. Really good with it.‖

Benjamin snorted, then rolled on top of Frank,

smashing their cocks together in a hot, full-body-pressure
way. Frank groaned and shoved his hips, reaching up with
his lips to find Benjamin again. They kissed and adjusted
until there was a rocking, steady friction between them.

Benjamin pulled out of the kiss with an air-sucking

gasp. ―Not really gonna last too long, here. Keep… oh, man…
keep your expectations low….‖

―Mmm-hmmm.‖ Frank nodded, wrapping his hands

around Benjamin‘s plump, soft ass cheeks and tightening
his grip, snapping his hips up. They were both a little
graceless, and lube would have helped—somewhere in his
not-lizard brain, Frank was making note of that for future
reference—but Benjamin began gasping out short sobs
against Frank‘s shoulder and mouthing skin mindlessly,
writhing on top of him.

Frank‘s orgasm was almost like a cough—it welled up so

quickly and unexpectedly inside of him. He let out an
explosive breath, his hips stuttering, and felt his come flood
out between them, slicking both of them up. Benjamin
gasped and braced himself up on his hands, staring down at
Frank with a dazed expression that showed just how close
he was to coming.

―Yeah, for me… come on, baby, do it….‖ Frank did not

let up his grip on Benjamin‘s ass, slamming him down hard
enough to bruise his own hips, but Benjamin rode it and
him and let out a long, pained moan as he came.

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

Benjamin collapsed in slow motion as his cock

throbbed, emptying out. Frank kept up a steady, rolling
motion with his hips to gentle them both through the
aftershocks until Benjamin dropped to one side, sliding
down on the bed and curling around Frank, mumbling
something unintelligible.

Frank drew circles on Benjamin‘s back as they shifted

into a comfortable position and started to doze. Finally, his
brain pieced together what he wanted to say.

―You‘re good enough for me.‖ He kissed Benjamin‘s

temple. Benjamin gave him a sloppy, sleepy grin before
slipping off to sleep.

Frank stayed awake, enjoying the feeling of Benjamin‘s

solid body against him and cataloging the numerous
perfectly built and painted model planes that lined the
shelves on the opposite wall. It was a room that was smaller
than his closet at the mansion, but it felt like home.

HREE

days later, Frank sat staring at the headline in

shock. The photo, an amateur shot that nonetheless looked
very clear and crisp, was sitting at the front and center of the
web page under the large words ―MudzNewz gets intimate
with Sheldon Campaign!‖ The photo was from the kiss Frank
had plastered on Benjamin at the coffeehouse, and it looked
a lot smoother and practiced than it had felt at the time.

Not that Nancy cared.

―You unbelievable—‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―I didn‘t know! I had no idea! He‘s just… just Benjamin!‖

―What, you were doing a tonsil inspection on him?‖

―No! That‘s not what I mean, dammit! He‘s just… he‘s

not MudzNewz, he can‘t be.‖ Frank shook his head, still
transfixed by the photo. Next to him, Benjamin honestly did
not look like much, a little dumpy and a little rumpled, but
Frank could not help but think he was adorable as he
clutched at Frank‘s shirt in the picture. He was so very
screwed.

―Well, Jon Stewart seems to think so, along with every

other major news outlet,‖ Todd said unhelpfully from where
he was hugging the wall, avoiding Nancy.

―No….‖ Frank continued to be confused.

Todd took pity and stepped over, carefully out of

Nancy‘s flight path as she paced angrily around the room.
―Apparently someone tried to sell that photo to MudzNewz,
who didn‘t offer to buy it but threatened to ruin the guy‘s
credit. So instead, the guy shoved it over to a CNN tip line,
where it got assigned to some newbie reporter who‘s a little
too smart. He started backtracking your guy Dr. Kaplan,
and… look, I‘m not saying it‘s a solid case, but given the
circumstances about MudzNewz and the campaign and the
connections this reporter dug up, it‘s pretty odds-on to be
true.‖

Nancy had stopped pacing and was staring at him. ―You

really didn‘t know.‖ She said it softly and kindly, her
expression full of pity. Frank wanted to hit her for it, but
they were not kids anymore, and he suspected his father

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

would do more than send him to his room. Instead he
groaned and rubbed his face.

―No, I really didn‘t.‖

The campaign manager snorted from where she sat at

the computer. ―At least this explains why Mudz backed off a
few weeks ago. He just couldn‘t admit he was dating your
brother.‖

―We weren‘t dating then, anyway. This….‖ Frank waved

a hand at the incriminating picture. ―This is new. Day before
yesterday.‖

There was dead silence for a few moments until Frank

looked up and realized that they were all staring at him,
waiting for him to make the next move. ―I need to talk to
him, don‘t I?‖

Todd nodded with relief. ―At least get the straight story…

er, I mean, the real story from the source.‖

Frank rolled his eyes at the fumbled ―correction,‖ and

Nancy outright laughed at it. It lightened the mood a little
bit, but not the weight pressing down on Frank. His
romantic entanglements were usually a lot less romantic and
a hell of a lot less entangled. He did not like the way he was
feeling about all of this, the sense of betrayal that ate at his
gut warring with his genuine affection for the recalcitrant
computer programmer who might have just sunk his sister‘s
whole campaign.

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

E KNEW

the second Benjamin opened the door and stood

there, glaring at him defiantly.

―Shit. It‘s true.‖ Frank slumped against the doorframe.

He had used Todd's car to get there in order to shake any
press who wanted to see where Frank was going. He had half
expected to find a whole slew of reporters camped out on
Benjamin‘s front yard, and counted himself lucky that the
street was as normal and quiet as the last time he was there.
Until Benjamin opened the door.

―The only reason the vultures aren‘t here is that I

hacked more than a few government databases to erase my
address.‖

Frank stood back up. ―Just now?‖

Benjamin rolled his eyes. ―No, years ago. When I first…

started the website. I knew it would bite me on the ass one
day, and lo and behold, here is that day.‖ He stepped back
and waved Frank in. ―Also, it‘s mostly just local databases,
because I‘m not keen on racking up felonies; anyone gets
access to the IRS and they‘ll know where to find me.‖ He
shut the door, then folded his arms. ―So, did your sister send
you down here?‖

―Why am I the one getting the third degree here? It

doesn‘t fucking matter if she sent me here or not; the bigger
problem is that you fucking lied to me.‖

Benjamin paled, opening his mouth to say something,

but no sound came out.

―You lied to me from the start—you knew who I was the

moment I walked into the hair salon and sat down next to
you.‖ Frank approached Benjamin, feeling his anger like a

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

hot brand on his skin now that Benjamin had all but
confessed. He was used to being used—no one as attractive
as he was escaped that fate, and he had accepted that a long
time ago. Accepted it and hated it; and as he consciously
worked to physically intimidate Benjamin into the wall, he
let his anger show. He was used to people trading on his
looks and his money, and the one time he really let his guard
down, it came back to betray not only him but possibly his
family as well.

Benjamin was shaking his head. ―No! No, I really didn‘t.

Of course I looked you up as soon I got home, but no, I
swear to you—‖

―But you knew. When I called about my father, about

the business… you knew.‖

Benjamin nodded, looking startled as he realized how

much Frank was crowding him.

―You knew, and you used me to get information about

my sister. To meet my own damn father!‖

―What? No!‖

―You lied to me,‖ Frank repeated, grinding his teeth.

―Not on purpose!‖ Benjamin nearly shouted. Frank

snarled at that, but Benjamin found his voice again. ―Okay,
maybe a little on purpose. But not because I wanted to lie to
you, not because I cared about your sister‘s campaign! I
promise! I was just trying to….‖ He trailed off, frowning over
Frank‘s shoulder.

―You have no idea what you were trying to do, do you?‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―I‘m… not used to this. You liked me, you kept talking to

me, you gave me flying lessons! That‘s why I backed off
covering the campaign!‖

It was true—Benjamin had done that, not that it helped.

―That only made things worse.‖

―But not on purpose, don‘t you get it?‖ Benjamin yelled,

shoving Frank away from him. ―I was trying to make
everything okay. I did a bad job of it, okay? I get that! But I
never meant… I mean, I just….‖

Frank shouldered past him and sat down on the couch.

He stared at the floor, not sure what to make of anything.

―I was trying to save the reputation of something that

means a lot to me while dating the one person on earth who
could destroy all my hard work.‖ Benjamin sounded defiant,
but he slouched over to the ottoman and sat down with the
air of a man on the dock waiting for execution. ―At least, I
thought we were dating at the time, which we weren‘t, I
mean, not until… but it was about us, I swear. I did not give
a damn about your sister‘s campaign; I just didn‘t want you
thinking….‖

―That you were using me to get at her.‖

Benjamin nodded. ―I wasn‘t. But there‘s no way I can

prove that, is there?‖

Frank shook his head. ―Admitting it from the start

would have gone a long way towards that. Why didn‘t you
just tell me, asshole?‖

―Admit it, you would have… I suppose ‗called it off‘ isn‘t

the right term.‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

―No, I wouldn‘t have, because I didn‘t know back then

there was anything to ‗call off‘. Did you purposely look for
ways to screw this all up? Dammit.‖ Frank leaned back.

―No!‖ Benjamin looked affronted.

―Well, you did anyway.‖

Benjamin clenched his jaw. ―You have to understand, I

started MudzNewz during a nasty local election; the guy in
the lead was a homophobe and an anti-Semite, and I
couldn‘t just let him win. Especially when a source gave me
proof about the guy‘s boy-hooker habit. I totally meant to
shut it down after I knocked that asshole out of the running,
but suddenly I was getting all these tips from readers about
politicians, and when I said I was taking it down anyway,
people raised $20,000 to pay for the servers.‖

Frank blinked. ―$20,000?‖

―Seriously, you do not even know how fanatical some of

these people are. I‘ve had two followers leave their estates to
MudzNewz in their wills. They are just the ones who actually
died; I have no idea how many have done that. The site pulls
in about $7,000 a month through individual donations, just
from people desperate to make sure I never get swayed by
corporate backing. Even after bandwidth costs, I make
enough of an annual profit to pay property taxes and
insurance for the house.‖

Frank leaned back on the couch, shocked. ―So asking

you to shut it down now is….‖

―Totally not happening.‖

Frank groaned. ―Every news outlet says we bought you.‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

Benjamin nodded, his expression grim. ―Remember

what I said about fanatics? I‘ve been getting death threats
from otherwise loyal readers who think the same thing.‖

Frank sat up. ―Death threats?‖

―Not to get worried about, honestly, mostly just the ‗I

hope you die!‘ variety. Which, hey, I get all the time anyway
from people who hate the site on principle.‖

They sat quietly for a few moments. Frank was worried

about the death threats that Benjamin talked about so
cavalierly, but he was still mad too. ―My sister wants me
castrated.‖

Benjamin nodded glumly, took a deep breath, then

slapped his hands on his thighs. ―So this is it, I guess.‖

Frank stared at him.

―If this is how things go when we‘re, ah, together,

imagine the fallout when they find out about the business
plan.‖

Visions of being strung up and left for the vultures by

his sister danced through Frank‘s head. ―Oh, fuck.‖

―Right. Look, I already have a plan, so leave it to me.‖

Frank did not like that idea and shook his head.

―Leaving it to you got us in this mess.‖

―I‘ll just be ‗honest‘, tell everyone that I was… tricking

you. Playing you along to get info on the campaign. Everyone
will believe it, trust me.‖ Benjamin sighed. ―After all, you
did.‖

Frank felt the wind get sucked out of him. ―Did you?

Play me?‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

Benjamin looked directly at him, his expression grim

and stern but his eyes watery. ―No. I didn‘t, and I won‘t. I…
you… well, it was the best thing to ever happen to me. While
it lasted.‖

Frank‘s stomach twisted, because he could see how

Benjamin would believe that having to keep his identity
secret and lie to him and risk one of the most important
things in his life, just to be with Frank, would count as his
―best thing ever.‖ His anger bled away into disappointment.

―So this is it?‖

Benjamin looked at him, surprised. ―Isn‘t it?‖

Frank got up and walked over to stand in front of

Benjamin, then slid down on his knees. ―Your plan sucks.‖

Benjamin eyed him but kept his arms folded over his

chest. ―Look, I‘m not happy about it! It‘s the first idea I had,
but it‘s not a bad one. Anyway… it‘s not as if you can‘t do
better.‖

Frank leaned up and forward on his knees to kiss

Benjamin, gently putting his hands on Benjamin‘s thighs for
balance.

―What… what was that for?‖ Benjamin shied back.

―Because you mean it. Because you‘d throw yourself

under a bus to do the right thing for me. Because…. I just
wanted to.‖

Benjamin nodded, his eyes wide and earnest as he

leaned forward for another kiss. This time he unwound his
arms and gently, hesitantly put his hands on Frank‘s
shoulders.

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

After a few moments of surprisingly chaste kissing,

Frank sat back again. ―So we‘ve established that your ideas
suck?‖

―No. Right now, it‘s our only way out.‖ Benjamin ran his

hand through his hair, looking stressed again and refusing
to meet Frank‘s eyes. ―And you really can, you know. Do
better.‖

―You think I‘m just going to give you up?‖

―Uhm… yes?‖

Frank leaned over and rested his forehead on

Benjamin‘s thigh. He felt Benjamin awkwardly patting his
head.

―No. I‘m not.‖

―Really? I mean, that‘s great, but….‖

Frank lurched up, grabbed Benjamin, and rolled them

both onto the ground, pining Benjamin under him. ―Nancy
can handle this; Dad can handle this. We can handle this.
Just no more lying to me, ever.‖

―Never ever ever. Never.‖ Benjamin looked up with a

dazed expression, trying to get at Frank‘s lips again.

―No more figuring things out on your own. You‘re a

Sheldon now, Benjamin. We solve this together.‖

It took a moment before Benjamin registered what

Frank said and stopped trying to kiss him.

―I‘m a what now?‖

Frank grinned. ―Well, we could always just go to

Canada.‖

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

Epilogue

Toronto, CANADA—News of millionaire pilot playboy and
former United States Air Force Major Francis Sheldon‘s
elopement with software developer Dr. Benjamin Kaplan took
the political world by storm when they first flew by private jet
(piloted, it is rumored, by Sheldon himself) to Canada to
request political asylum last month.

Kaplan, founder and publisher of the infamous political

muckraking online magazine MudzNewz.net, had apparently
been contacted several times by the United States Central
Intelligence Agency about shutting down the website and
was allegedly in fear of his safety. He cited those
circumstances as the reason behind his decision to stop
monitoring Senator Nancy Sheldon‘s campaign prior to her
election. Several news agencies have discovered evidence
suggesting the government was blackmailing Kaplan
regarding his relationship with Sheldon in order to curb his
website‘s political news coverage, and an investigation has
been called for by Sen. Sheldon‘s office.

Sheldon, youngest son of medical equipment magnate

Dr. Charles Sheldon, commented to reporters recently that
he was unaware of Kaplan‘s identity as the owner of
MudzNewz.net during their courtship. Kaplan corroborates
the statement, but a number of online conspiracy theorists
claim that the whole thing was engineered by Dr. Sheldon to
distract news coverage from the release of his company‘s

Mixed Signals | Cooper West

latest hand-held MRI, although no one can explain the
benefit of such subterfuge.

Sheldon is taking these events in stride. Caught leaving

their apartment in Toronto on their way to private flying
lessons for Kaplan at a private air field on the outside of the
city, the exiled couple were holding hands and arguing about
video games. They refused to answer questions from
reporters.

About the Author

OOPER

EST

lives in Florida and wishes the weather was

more like the Pacific coast, or maybe Hawaii, but is in
graduate school to become a sexy librarian so is unable to
make that real just yet. West has a cat and a lot of books
and spends too much time reading slash fan fic when not
riding a bicycle or doing yoga or napping.

Visit Cooper at

http://www.cooper-west.com

. Contact

Cooper at

cooperwest.wtr@gmail.com

Romance from

OOPER

EST

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Mixed Signals ©Copyright Cooper West, 2011

Published by
Dreamspinner Press
4760 Preston Road
Suite 244-149
Frisco, TX 75034
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the
authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Art by Catt Ford

This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is
illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon
conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No
part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the Publisher. To
request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press at: 4760 Preston Road, Suite
244-149, Frisco, TX 75034 http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

Released in the United States of America
July 2011

eBook Edition
eBook ISBN: 978-1-61581-947-8

Document Outline

Mixed Signala
Epilogue
About the Author
Romance from Cooper West
Copyright

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