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Diplomatic Relations	By : jai Category: Individual Celebrities > Athlete/Sports Misc Views: 3147 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not know the people written about in this fanfiction. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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This is a work of fiction; the characters, events and locations contained are not who/what you think they are and should not be mistaken for anything but fictional characters. This story and all connected chapters is intended for entertainment only.

October 16, 2008 Maastricht, the Netherlands

Grant picked up his backpack and suitcase as the train pulled into Station Randwuk and stood once the train came to a complete stop. He’d never been to Maastricht but he had a very detailed map of the town with English notations and quickly found the NH Maastricht Hotel.

A half hour later he was opening the door to his room. He removed his tuxedo from the side portion of his suitcase and hung it up, shaking his head over the wrinkles. Well he had tried but it was going to need to be pressed before he could wear it to Pieter’s wedding.

He wondered if anyone else had arrived yet but flopped on the bed instead of going out and looking around. He’d been kicking around the globe since Beijing doing personal appearances and flacking for his sponsors but actually he was just trying to avoid sitting down and writing his dissertation.

It wasn’t the actual writing or the subject matter or even the research that was stopping him. It was the fact that once he got his doctorate, he wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do after that. He wasn’t really worried by that fact. He may fast be approaching thirty but the way he saw it, he’d been working for over twenty years and he needed a break.

Then there was the fact that he was getting a little tired of being alone. Hell, he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d had sex but it was many months before the Olympics. He still looked at almost any attractive body and he’d even gotten several offers but he felt like his body was shut down.

Grant was willing to consider the fact that he might be a little depressed – retiring at twenty eight wasn’t really all that fun since it left him at loose ends. He was also mature enough to admit that he was jealous of what Ian and Michael had together. He wanted that kind of closeness with another person, to go to bed with someone he knew and waking up beside him or her.

Well okay, a him. While Grant considered himself fully bisexual he’d finally come to realize that it meant something when he enjoyed the sex he had with men more than the sex he had with women. He’d always though the illicit nature of his relationships with men was what made them more satisfying but he’d met someone two years ago that had changed his mind.

Kent Wallace was a fellow doctoral student at QUT, originally from Adelaide. Kent was tallish, bookish, geekish and thoroughly sexy in a way that had snuck up on Grant until he’d found himself almost stalking the man before finally asking him out. They had a nice dinner followed by a study session a couple of days later then met at the gym the following week. The fourth date had ended with Grant staying over at Kent’s small flat and for the next several months, he’d practically lived there.

The affair fizzled out naturally when they both moved on; Grant’s training was heating up and Kent graduated and got a job in Sydney. There were no hard feelings and they still exchanged emails occasionally although Kent didn’t sound very happy with his job. But it had been nice while it lasted and so different from any of his long term relationships with various girl friends.

He’d dated some wonderful women and had been half in love with several of them but that was the problem. He’d never felt any need to go further. With Kent, he’d experienced what being in love felt like and was still feeling a little tender that Kent hadn’t seemed to feel the same way in the end.

Maybe he just needed to keep looking.

&&

Grant woke up suddenly, holding himself still for a moment before another knock sounded on his door. Oh, that’s what woke him. He rolled off the bed and opened the door to find Ian and Michael in the hall.

“I thought you guys weren’t getting in until Friday?”

“Grant, it is Friday. Our flight arrived a couple of hours ago. How have you been?”

Grant accepted the hugs from Ian and Michael as he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that he’d apparently slept for, he checked his watch, eighteen hours. “I’m fine. How are you guys?”

“We’re great. Ian got accepted into Wharton!” Michael said proudly.

“Ian, that’s fantastic news! Congratulations!” Grant said sincerely.

“Michael’s also gotten a conditional acceptance into Arcadia’s Physical Therapy program if he can fit in the additional courses this summer.”

“Well, that’s great news too. I’m so happy for both of you. I’m not familiar with American colleges; is Arcadia close to Philadelphia?”

“It’s less than twenty miles from the center of the city.” Michael remarked as he took a seat on the bed Grant hadn’t been using. “Philadelphia is sort of a compromise city but I’m sure we’ll get used to it.”

“Those weren’t the two schools you applied to I hope?”

“Of course not. We did a lot of research and we both applied to a lot of schools. There were even two schools that both had our programs of study but neither one of us really wanted to live in Atlanta and unfortunately, Michael didn’t get accepted to Columbia’s PT school. We even considered universities in Sydney but there’s an accreditation glitch and Michael would have to take more courses to work in the States. Enough about us, what have you been up to?”

“Oh you know. Travel, appearances and all that.”

“I half expected you to head back to Australia after Beijing; aren’t you almost finished with your doctorate?” Ian remarked as he sat down next to Michael.

“I’ve still got to write my dissertation. I’ve submitted a couple of things but I’m waiting for my advising committee to approve one of them. How are the plans for your wedding?”

“Argh. Don’t even ask.” Michael said as he flopped back onto the bed. “We still haven’t found a reception site.”

“Oh you poor babies.” Grant said mockingly. “So why did you stop by?”

“I wanted to see my best friend of course.” Ian said. “We thought you might want to wander around with us, get a feel for the town. Robert left a message about the bachelor party but that’s hours from now and we slept on the plane.”

“I see, so I’m your entertainment committee. Okay but I need to get a shower before I go anywhere.”

“I should hope you would clean yourself up a bit, you’re a mess.”

“Yeah yeah. Give me a few minutes and we can leave.”

&&

Maastricht was an ancient town in the south of the Netherlands and near the borders of Belgium and Germany. It was a lively town noted for its University, vineyards and weirdly shaped museum. Ian, Michael and Grant wandered around and found themselves in the midst of the market square and the general market. They purchased bread, cheese, meats and some other food before stopping in a local shop and getting a bottle of wine and some water then found a nice spot near the river to enjoy their make shift lunch.

“So what do you think Pieter is doing right now?” Michael asked.

“He said he was going to have lunch with his future in-laws today.” Grant answered. “I spoke to him briefly on Monday and he sounded a bit frazzled.”

“Gee, you’d think they’d let the guy have his last day as a bachelor to himself.” Michael commented as he made himself another sandwich. “I’m surprised he’s being allowed to have a bachelor party.”

“Allowed? Do you really think Minouche has to approve Pieter’s every move?” Ian asked.

“He said he wanted a small wedding without a lot of fuss. Instead he’s getting this big production in a castle with royalty attending and a fairy tale theme.”

“Well its Minouche’s wedding too, Michael.” Grant mentioned.

“And it seems like she’s turned into some kind of bridezilla if you ask me. Look, I have nothing against people having the wedding of their dreams but I feel sort of bad for Pieter because his dream seems to have been overrun here.”

“I had no idea you and Pieter had talked about weddings, Michael.”

“We’ve sort of emailed back and forth. He was interested in coming to the States for his residency you know.”

“He was?” Grant asked. “I thought he’d be finishing his schooling here.”

“Well now he is. Minouche said she didn’t want to raise her kids in the States and that put and end to that which is a real shame since he had a chance of getting into some great schools.”

“I had no idea.” Ian confessed then put aside his wine glass and looked at Michael. “Are you upset about our wedding? About how big it’s gotten?”

“No of course not. We both want our friends and families to be there and we’re lucky that we have so many people in our lives; I’m just frustrated that we can’t find the right spot.”

“Well there’s a castle over that way that does weddings.” Grant said with a grin then ducked when both Michael and Ian threw their napkins at him.

&&

Pieter’s brother had arranged to rent out the restaurant of the hotel for Pieter’s bachelor party and as all of Pieter’s male friends started gathering, Grant realized there was one small problem: Pieter was running late. An hour later, the groom finally arrived looking tired and rather unhappy and immediately scooped up a drink.

Grant watched from a distance as Pieter proceeded to drink his way through the evening and wondered if Michael wasn’t on to something here. Pieter definitely didn’t seem like a man who was about to have the best day of his life.

At twelve, several attendees were talking about heading out for wilder pastures but Ian and Michael convinced them that taking a very drunk Pieter along probably wasn’t such a great idea. Grant stepped in at the point and helped get Pieter upstairs to the room he was staying in.

The elevator trip was taken in silence aside from Pieter’s mumbles that he really should be allowed to go out on the town. While Grant and Ian undressed their totally soused friend, Michael got the bed turned down and procured some water, aspirin and put a wake up call in with the desk downstairs.

“Guys, I’ll stay here tonight.” Grant offered. “He really shouldn’t be left alone and he’ll probably need help in the morning.”

“Thanks Grant. We’ll be by at nine to see how you’re making out.”

Pieter passed out shortly after being put to bed but Grant’s night wasn’t so peaceful. Although he hadn’t seem Pieter in many months and they didn’t really talk much, he considered the Dutchman a friend and wondered if perhaps Pieter wasn’t as eager to get married as he aught to be.

He tossed and turned all night as he considered whether or not to say something to Pieter. He wished he’d gotten here a week ago and had had time to really analyze the situation instead of having to decide if saying something the day of the wedding would really be wise. Pieter was an adult after all and knew his own mind.

When the phone rang at seven, an hour before the wake up call, he rolled over to grab it but Pieter beat him to it. The conversation that followed was in Dutch but Grant could follow it enough to know that Minouche was on the other end of the line.

Pieter hung up a half hour later and put his arm over his eyes then jumped when Grant spoke.

“Are you okay?”

“Grant, what are you doing here?” Pieter asked after he pried one eye open.

“I was at your bachelor party and Michael, Ian and I decided that you might need some help. How’s your hangover?”

“Ah, don’t say that word.” Pieter said miserably.

“There’s water and aspirin on the nightstand to your left.”

“Thank you.”

When Pieter didn’t move after a few minutes, Grant sat up and uncapped the pill bottle and handed three with the water over.

“Here. Take these.”

Pieter swallowed the pills and finished off the bottle of water. “Thank you again. God, how much did I drink last night?”

“I lost count after your sixth beer.”

“I have a feeling that I didn’t stop there.”

“No you didn’t but you’ll feel better after you get a shower.”

“I don’t want to move.”

“Well I’m okay with you lying here all day but your lovely bride to be might object.”

“My wife you mean.”

“Huh? Uh, did I miss your wedding? Isn’t that today?”

“Well the big fluffy ceremony is today but we were married yesterday at city hall.”

“Was that part of the plan?”

“Yes. Civil ceremony is the legal part.”

“Oh. Then why did we have a bachelor party for you last night and not Thursday?”

“I have no idea. I guess Minouche really doesn’t consider us married unless she gets to wear the big dress.” Pieter said matter-of-factly.

Grant opened his mouth but reconsidered his words before anything came out. “Well I’m happy for you both. Are you ready to get up now?”

&&

As the bride walked by in all her glory, Grant looked up at the flower draped gazebo thing where Pieter was standing and thought he’d never seen a man look so miserable underneath the patently fake smile. He saw Ian and Michael, who were standing in the row in front of him, exchange a look and knew he wasn’t the only one who thought so.

The event was, as Pieter said, a big fluffy ceremony and at one point during the evening Grant seriously mulled over ‘accidentally’ stepping on the hem of bride’s big fluffy gown. It was either that or forcibly going over and dragging the woman away from her family and friends and getting her to pay attention to the man she’d just married twice.

“You look very serious for such a happy event.”

Grant turned his head and saw that Inge had come up behind him.

“Hello! You look fabulous; how have you been?”

“Retirement sucks but other than that, I’ve been fine. So what has you looking so serious?”

“Oh, you know. Just pondering marriage and all that stuff.”

“Ah. So are you considering marriage? I hadn’t even heard that you were dating anyone.”

“I’m not. I guess I’m just in a mood. I’m happy for Pieter and Minouche of course but they could have had children without all this fuss.”

Grant saw a look flash across Inge’s face and wondered what that was about but his attention was caught by band starting up the dancing and the moment was lost.

&&

November 20, 2008 London, England

Grant rushed from the taxi and into the Speedo offices, cursing himself for running late. It wasn’t really his fault since his flight from Edinburgh had been delayed but he disliked tardiness. He was just opening the door to the reception area when he stopped in surprise.

“Inge! I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Hello Grant. I was just meeting with Angelique about the new swimsuit.”

“Funny thing; that’s what I’m here for.”

“Are you free after your meeting? Would you like to meet for lunch?”

“Sure. How about the restaurant downstairs in an hour?”

“Great. I’ll see you then.”

Grant’s meeting went well and he was soon being seated across from Inge and looking over the menu. Between the ordering and eating their meals, they caught up on each others’ lives and gossiped about their mutual acquaintances.

After dessert was served, Grant paused and looked across the table. “So Inge, what’s on your mind?”

“I can’t just want to have lunch with you?”

“Normally yes but something’s bothering you.”

Inge sat back against her seat and played with the edge of her dessert plate for a moment before answering. “I didn’t know Pieter and Minouche were planning to have a family.”

“Okay.”

“No you don’t understand. After we talked at their wedding I did a little asking around because I thought they were maybe planning to adopt.”

“As far as I know they’re not but then I’m not privy to that information.”

“I talked to someone who knows Astrid, Pieter’s mother and that woman expecting Minouche to announce a pregnancy any day. That’s I realized that Minouche never told Pieter that she couldn’t have children.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“Wait, Inge. How would you know this and how could Pieter not know?”

“It’s something someone told me a few years ago.”

“Who?”

“One of the girls from Eindhoven who used to swim with Minouche. Minouche and Pieter broke up before Sydney, Minouche got pregnant and when she went to get an abortion, there were complications. The doctors told her she couldn’t have children and according to Hannah, that was just fine with Minouche.”

“But Pieter quit swimming because Minouche didn’t want to raise their children alone.” Grant pushed his untouched dessert aside and leaned forward. “How reliable is Hannah?”

“Grant, I think she was telling the truth. She had no reason to lie and really, I’d forgotten all about it until you said something. You really need to tell him.”

“Me? Inge, you’re much better friends with him than I am. Why can’t you tell him?”

“I tried but he’s never available when I call and Minouche does not like me calling anymore.”

“I see. I’m going to have to think about this you know. I can’t just burst in on him and tell him that his wife is a liar.”

“I hope you have better luck than I did.” Inge said, looking more relaxed than she had since Grant sat down. "And thank you."

&&

This is the very first part of DR and I've been fooling with it for ages so I'm posting it just so I can move on to the rest of the story. I'm still working mainly on The Sweet Life but will post additional chapters here intermittantly.

And don't expect this version to match exactly with what is going on over at TSL; everyone has their own version of the truth after all.
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Diplomatic Relations