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I've Been Searching For You

Chapter 9: Help!

Summary:

David leaves voicemails.....

Notes:

I'm so sorry it's taken me forever to update! I promise this won't happen again. After my Rom Com published, I got into some serious writer's block and started another fic The Ocean Brought Me To You which is a wip as well. I'll be working on both of these and hoping to publish a chapter in each once a week at least.

A special thank you to my amazing beta and dear friend edie4711. Thank you so so much! <3

This story will be a long one so I hope you guys are ready! My outline is at least 28 chapters at this point.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

September 2016

David stood in this middle of the store, wondering what the fuck he had done. A joint and a lunchtime quickie with Stevie weren't enough to calm his nerves. Just thinking about his meeting with Patrick this morning made him uneasy. He found a chair in the middle of his space and moved it around, sitting down after a few minutes. Stevie insisted he try to talk to Patrick again. He knew he had to do it. David took Patrick's card out of his wallet and took a few deep breaths. 

He dialed Patrick's phone number. The consistent ring was unnerving as David sat there, tapping his fingers on his legs. He could feel his chest tighten with each ring. When Patrick's voicemail picked up, David breathed a brief sigh of relief until he introduced himself as Patrick and scrunched his face. At that moment, his entire body tensed. He explained he was looking to go over his business plan and asked Patrick to call him back as he ended the call with "ciao." 

David hadn't finished a conversation with "ciao" since he left New York. It was his signature goodbye, followed by a double cheek kiss. Patrick wasn't anything like any of his "friends" in New York, so it seemed very off-brand to use "ciao" in Schitt's Creek.

David attempted again to call Patrick and left another message, "Hi Patrick, I think...I think I called you David, which that's not... that's not your name. You can just delete that text. The voice... voicemail I left you. Um... just thought it might be a good idea to give you some background information about the...the store. It's basically a general store. Um... that will support local artists under the brand of the store, which... which would also be my brand. Sorry, just got a text." David said as his phone beeped. Distracted by the text, he disconnected his voicemail to Patrick. 

Stevie

Today3:33 PM

Thank you for the "break!

I hope all goes well at Ray's.

You're going to do great!

You've got this! 😉

Stevie meant well, but she had horrible fucking timing!

David attempted a third call and left another voicemail message, "The text cut us off." David's voice had almost risen an octave just in time for his phone's battery life to expire.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

David plugged in his phone and walked around the store. His palms were clammy, his belly warm, and his mind full of thoughts of Patrick Brewer. David was so used to telling people what he wanted. No, demanding what he wanted, especially when he was preparing for a show at his gallery. He didn't hesitate to require perfection, whether it was how the gallery’s decor, music, lighting, the type of food served, how the catering staff dressed, how his own staff dressed. He was a perfectionist, and if something didn't fit his vision, he demanded change. No amount of money was too significant to set everything just as he had envisioned. He thought that's what made his gallery such a success until his mother told him otherwise.

Stevie was right about David's plan for the store. David knew what he wanted, but sober or high, he couldn't effectively communicate it to Patrick. Patrick was a beacon of perfection. He was stable, confident, kind, and incredibly sexy, which he probably didn't even realize. It was all very intimidating, but he had to try again. 

David paced around the store for a few more minutes. Although still incredibly high and now starving, David picked up his phone and noticed a sufficient amount of battery left and tried Patrick again.

"So Patrick, have you...have you ever bought fungal cream at a store and wished you could find cereal right next to it? Ya, I didn't think so. You won't be able to find fungal cream in my store, and even if I sold fungal cream in my store, I certainly wouldn't place it next to the cereal. This is why the other general store is not in business. Fortunately for me, I'll have a beautiful store filled with products to make you look and feel good, all made by local vendors. Not that you need to look good. I bet you always look good, which is not the point. My store will carry fresh vegetables and berries...oh, I could really go for some blueberry pancakes right now. We'll need to meet for breakfast one morning and discuss this business plan. There is this new pancake place I've wanted to try, and you need to eat breakfast before Ray puts you to work all day long. Speaking of all day long, I'll even sell wine so people can drink away their day in this schitty town. Call me!"

Fuck! David had forgotten to tell him about the community events he wanted to plan inside the store. 

"In case you haven't figured out, this is David Rose again. I forgot to tell you about the community evening events I plan to hold in the store, such as book clubs or painting nights, maybe a poetry reading. A place where people can gather, have wine and cheese, maybe shop in my store, but I'm not opening up like an after-hours bar where people come and perform. Ugh, can you imagine people singing to strangers? Just the thought of amateur singer/songwriters performing makes me ill. Call me!"

After five voicemails, David realized he hadn't given the store a name, although he had finally settled on one.

"Oh my God, the store has a name. Rose Apothecary. You need to call me so we can get this paperwork filed. I have so much to do and so little time. I need to hire contractors and finalize my vendors. Oh, you've got to try Heather's cheese, and Veronica's wines are the smoothest blends I've tasted outside of Napa Valley. Oh, that's a great idea, a wine tasting with Veronica. People are drunks, so they'll come for this and then they'll shop. Well, that's my business plan in a nutshell. Call me!"

David breathed a massive sigh of relief as his mouth upturned. He stood there and laughed. He did not know what he just said to Patrick through multiple messages, but knew he said a lot. He grabbed his form and started filling it out. As he described the business on the application, he scratched out several words and decided he needed a new form. 

He needed to visit Patrick. The thought scared him because he did not know if he just made a total fool out of himself on voicemail, but that was all trumped by an excuse to see him smile. Even after all this time, Patrick's smile still melted David into a puddle. 

✍️✍️✍️

Patrick's eyes widened, and his lips upturned as he read his call history. He shared with Ray that he had six missed calls and six messages.

Ray giggled, "That David Rose is going to be a handful."

Patrick nodded with a wide grin, "Oh yes, he is."

Patrick went to sit down at his desk to listen to the voicemails. David sounded so nervous, and it was almost endearing. In the first message, David had introduced himself as Patrick. 

"Wow. David sounded so nervous, and he kept calling you back," Ray said as he walked by Patrick's desk.

Patrick paused the voicemails and thought about this morning and their evening in New York. On the last day of training in New York, Patrick planned to get David's phone number so they could at least keep in touch, but since David left, they never got that opportunity. Patrick was never sure why he wanted to stay in David's life, but now he'll be able to figure it out.

Patrick's face heated up as he listened to David tell him that he always looked good. David had only seen him this morning, right? Or did he remember Patrick and didn't want to say anything. Why was he blushing? It's natural when someone pays you a compliment, but somehow it seemed more meaningful coming from David. Patrick just didn't understand why. Guys didn't walk around telling Patrick that he looked good, but David wasn't like any other guy.

Patrick played all the messages twice and could put together enough information to complete David's forms. 

Just then Ray popped in and delivered a message to Patrick, "Mr. Jones called and said he needs to reschedule his tax appointment this afternoon and asked that I have you call him back."

Patrick thanked him for the message. 

That freed up Patrick's afternoon. He didn't have any other appointments scheduled, so he made a quick trip to the town hall and filed David's papers. He asked Ronnie to expedite the documents and assured her that he owed her a favor.

After he visited the town hall, Patrick headed back to Ray's to review all his files to make sure there wasn't any other work Patrick could do before he left for the day to get ready for baseball practice.

"Hi," David mumbled. 

He had come out of nowhere. Patrick's back was to him writing something down on his desk, and the moment he heard his voice, his heart started racing faster.

David waved the form Patrick had given him earlier that day and said casually, "So I messed up my form, and I'm going to need another form from you."

Patrick nodded and reached out his hand to grab the form from David and said, "Oh. Okay."

Patrick looked at the form. David nervously tapped his fingers. Patrick then looked up at David and flashed a wide smile.

David looked at Patrick and asked softly, "What?"

"Nothing. I just… ah… I'm so glad you made such good use of my business card. I'm sorry I didn't pick up. I was at a thing." Patrick replied with a grin.

Patrick moved around to the other side of his desk.

"Well, best, you didn't," David said with a retort.

"But, I got all your messages," Patrick said and picked up a maroon file folder containing David's completed forms. Patrick walked back toward David and crossed his arms over his chest, grasping the file folder.

"Ah….and just listened to the first one and then erased the rest?" David asked casually.

Patrick quickly replied, "No. No. No." David shook his head quietly at the same time, saying, "No."

"No, I listened to all of them. I kinda had to, to piece them together. Actually, I played them for a few friends of mine. I was at a birthday party, so there were a lot of people weighing in." Patrick said in a slightly sarcastic tone.

"Okay, …um."

"Just kidding. I didn't play them for anybody." Patrick said with a slight laugh.

Ray walked by Patrick's office and added, "I thought the first few very were humorous, David and then I lost interest."

"I may have played them here on speakerphone." 

"Okay. Can I just get the paperwork, and then I can…." David said, sounding annoyed.

"The good thing about the messages is that I was able to get enough information to fill out your forms," Patrick said, interrupting David and then handed David the file folder.

"Oh, I wish I could remember," David said, slightly surprised.

Patrick looked at David with a slight smile, "It's a good idea… your business… rebranding local products and crafts … it's very inventive."

David thanked Patrick as he flipped through the contents of the file folder.

"And I like the name… Rose Apothecary…. it's just pretentious enough." Patrick said with a slight smile.

"Would we call that pretentious or timeless?" David challenged.

"So, I'll call you when I hear something, and if I don't get a hold of you, I'll just leave a message," Patrick said with a hint of a smile.

David, still irritated, smiled and said, "Okay. Thanks."

Ray walked by and said, "Ciao."

David turned to leave.

Patrick watched him walk out the door, smiling. Not only was Patrick happy to see David again, but excited to see David start his own business, as they had talked about so many years ago.

✍️✍️✍️

David drove back to the motel after he visited Patrick and headed to the lobby. He slammed the door open as he entered the motel lobby.

"Well, hello there, Sunshine. How was your second visit with the guy at Ray's?" Stevie asked, coming around the front of the motel lobby desk and greeting David with a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm not sure what's worse. That I left him six messages rambling about the business or the fact that he actually listened to all of them and filed my paperwork for me."

"Well, you were probably high when you left those messages, and he did his job, ignoring how crazy you sounded. He seems like a good guy." Stevie said. 

"It was nice that he filed the paperwork. People actually do that kind of thing?" David asked, furrowing his eyebrow.

"Yes, not all people are bad. Is this guy new in town?"

"Uh...yes, he's Rachel's fiance." 

"He told you that?" Stevie asked.

"No, Rachel showed me a picture of him at the cafe one day," David said a matter of-factly. David would tell Stevie about New York one day, but today was not that day.

"It sounds like we can officially welcome Patrick into the group. We should all meet up for dinner or something. He helped you out, and something tells me he could be good for your business, David." 

"He actually said my business was a good idea when I went back."

"The same guy that called your business a failure this morning?" Stevie asked as she furrowed her eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips.

David scrunched his face in some form of an annoying grin.

"He sounds nice. You should shoot him a text thanking him for his help." Stevie added.

"Ya, I can do that later, but I need to thank you too for today. Meet me in our room after your shift?"

"Hmmm, yes," Stevie said with a grin. 

David pulled Stevie into a deep kiss before sneaking out of the motel lobby.

✍️✍️✍️

Patrick pulled into the ball field and was surprised to find Rachel there. 

"Hey, Paddy! How was your day?" Rachel asked as she pressed a chaste kiss to Patrick's lips and turned to face Josh again. 

Patrick avoided the fact that he spent the afternoon thinking about David and just casually commented that the rest of the afternoon went smoothly. He had no reason really to bring up David. Rachel already knew David, and Patrick already told her that he was working with him.

Patrick had asked Rachel about her day. Rachel had revealed that Josh had invited her to baseball practice. 

"She's going to be one of our cutest cheerleaders," Josh said with a smile as he glanced at Rachel.

Rachel smiled in return.

"Rachel loves baseball. She used to watch me play at home. We've spent a lot of time traveling to various ball fields. We have a plan to visit every baseball stadium in the country."

"Cute and loves baseball. Patrick, you've got the perfect woman."

"I do." Patrick smiled and kissed Rachel on the cheek. Patrick certainly knew that. 

"Alright, let's get everyone together and get practice going. Big game this weekend against Bob's Garage." Josh said as he ran off.

Patrick ran off closely behind him.

The team broke themselves up into two different teams and formed a scrimmage. Josh's team was up at-bat, and Patrick's team was in the outfield. 

Josh was up, and Rachel started cheering him on, and Patrick looked over at her, trying to give her a dirty look, but Rachel didn't seem to notice.  

As Rachel cheered on Josh, he looked over at Rachel and smiled. As soon as he turned away from the pitcher, the pitcher threw a ball, and it hit Josh square in the back, knocking him over. Rachel came racing over to check on him. Josh just looked up at Rachel and stared. His blue eyes met her blue eyes. Patrick came over, and Rachel asked him to get some ice. Patrick did as he was told but slightly annoyed at the fact she raced over to help him. 

Rachel drove Josh home in his car, agreeing with Patrick they'd pick up her car at the ball field tomorrow.

✍️✍️✍️

Patrick came home from baseball practice exhausted, and since Rachel was at Josh's, he didn't feel like going to the grocery store. He came back to the house, grabbed a shower, and threw some leftovers in the microwave.

He grabbed his phone to see if he had any messages since he left the office before 5. 

 

He missed a text:

David Rose

Today 6:12 PM

Hello Patrick, this is David Rose. I hope contacting you for a business purpose is a good use of your business card! 😂

Hello David. Please feel to call or text me any time with any questions.

I'm sorry about today. I really do have a vision for my business. I'm looking forward to the completion of all this paperwork and red tape.

Honestly, David, I should apologize. I'm sorry I teased you this morning. It really wasn't very professional. Frankly, I’m embarrassed.

It may take a couple of weeks for the paperwork to come back, but please feel free to reach out with any questions. You really have a great plan.

Thank you, Patrick. I appreciate your help, especially after all the voicemails….if I were you, I would have been extremely annoyed.

I really enjoyed the voicemails. They may have been the best part of my day actually.

Well, you’re welcome?

Thank you for the text. It was nice talking to you.

Good night, Patrick.

Goodnight, David.


 

Patrick wanted to bring up the contents of the voicemails, but he'd save those messages for later. He didn't delete any of them. It's not like he planned on using them for blackmail, but something told him to keep them, and so he did. 

✍️✍️✍️

 

It was almost 11 pm by the time Rachel walked through the door of their apartment. Patrick was watching a baseball game on television that was due to wrap up soon. 

Patrick looked up as Rachel came in the door and said, "You're home later than I thought. Is Josh okay?"

"I'm sorry, Paddy. I fell asleep on his couch. I helped him get tucked into bed and sat on his couch for a bit, waiting for him to fall asleep and took a nap of my own." Rachel said as she sat down on the couch next to Patrick, placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Rach, why did you run over to him?" Patrick asked, casually.

"What do you mean? He was hurt," Rachel asked as she furrowed her eyebrow.

"You practically ran over everyone to get to him. You took him home. You fell asleep at his house."

"Patrick Brewer, if I didn't know any better, I’d say you were jealous." Rachel smirked.

"He likes you, Rach," Patrick said as he contemplated how he felt about tonight's situation. He knew Rachel was trying to do the right thing, but he needed to hear her say it. 

"Don't be silly. I went over to his house because he lives alone and he was in pain. I literally tucked him into bed and waited a few minutes before I left to make sure he was all set. This baseball team means a lot to you. He's a friend of mine and wanted to help. I promise there's nothing more to this. You're the only one I want to come home to," Rachel said as she looked up at Patrick and traced her finger along his jawline. She then crawled into his lap and kissed him.

A few minutes later, Patrick suggested they get ready for bed and then talk since it was getting late. 

 After they both crawled into bed, Rachel turned over on her side, facing Patrick. 

"Tell me about the rest of your day. I'm glad you met David, although it sounded like your meeting was a bit awkward."

"He couldn't clearly articulate his thought process. I think I actually gave him a lot of shit today and am surprised he doesn't hate me."

"No one could hate you. Did he recognize you?" Rachel asked, as her eyes softened.

"No, he didn't, but I wouldn't expect someone like David Rose to remember someone like me."

"Patrick, you aren't just like everyone else. I'm sure if you guys start talking about your visit to New York, he'll remember. Do you need to see him again for another business purpose? I could always get the gang together to introduce you two socially." Rachel suggested with a smile. She always loved group gatherings.

"I will be visiting the store for a couple of business-related activities, but he and I are in a better place. We exchanged a few texts while you were out, and I think we're good." Patrick said with a smile.

"I'm glad to hear that. I like our little group in Schitt's Creek. I'll talk to the girls about planning a night out. There's always the Wobbly Elm."

"Sounds good Rach, I'm going to turn over and go to sleep," Patrick said and kissed Rachel goodnight.

Notes:

I'm so glad Patrick and David have reconnected even though no one is willing to talk about it....yet!

You can find me on tumblr under "vanillahigh00." I don't post much as I am navigating the tumblr world, but feel free to talk to me on there!

You can also find me on IG under "vanilla_high_00."

Kudos and feedback keep me going!

Each chapter's title will be based on a song. I will be storing a playlist for this fic on Spotify. Chapter 9's title is based on the song, "Help" by the Beatles.