Apologies for my lack of knowledge of the animation process – hope this makes some sort of sense: Julia. HOME RUN Chapter 14: Justin: ~~~~~ It was just as well everything was almost finished. He didn’t get too much sleep last night and had needed to come in early to get the last few things done before the Christmas deadline and it was now mid-afternoon. Justin couldn’t stop thinking about the radio show the night before. He was sure it had been Gus that day at the cemetery, but hadn’t stopped to talk to him and had no way of knowing if it was the same boy he’d heard over the air. As he was about to download the last sections onto disk for the courier, who was due to arrive shortly to deliver to the processors, the system crashed. Luckily, they had an emergency callout contract, but even so, it would be at least an hour before the engineer would arrive and then who knew how long it would take to get the system back up and running. The processors were expecting it and had wanted to start working on it the very next day, even though it was Christmas Eve. They had fallen behind and were likely to incur a penalty payment if they didn’t complete on time. Much to Phil’s relief, Justin agreed to stay on for the engineer and, by the time he’d arrived, had fixed the system and Justin had successfully downloaded everything onto disk, it was 8:30 before the courier was able to collect it. Someone would be waiting at the other end to take delivery. Around 8.45pm, Justin had finished up and was on his way home. He turned on the radio. Brian: ~~~~~ Brian and Gus had spent most of the day skating at the Rockerfeller Centre and the boy was learning more about his Dad each day. With perfect balance and an athletic frame, Brian was a natural on skates and was still extremely fit. Though Gus had tried a few times before, this was the first time he’d been skating with his Dad and, with his Father’s tuition, it hadn’t been long before he too was moving around the ice as if he was born to it. Brian watched him as Gus struck out on his own. He was thrilled to think he could pass on a skill to his son. There was so much he was finding out about him all the time. Like how he tilted his head to listen in a way that reminded him of Lindsay and often came out with a logic that had been so instinctively like hers. He had a way of knowing exactly what someone meant, even though it hadn’t necessarily been what they had said. He had a directness about him that Brian knew could only have come from him and wasn’t afraid to say what he was thinking. Comfortable in his Father’s presence, Gus was now starting to ask Brian more questions about how he knew his Mom and why he hadn’t always been around. Brian didn’t always have the answers and said so; he wasn’t going to bullshit his son. Gus wondered whether Justin had got the letter yet. When he wrote it, he half hoped he might reply; it might get him and Brian talking again. At dinner, Brian couldn’t help but notice his son was quieter than he had been on this trip and asked him if anything was wrong. He wasn’t really prepared for what came next. “Did you love Justin?” Gus asked and the forkful of food that had been half way to Brian’s mouth was suddenly put down in surprise at such a direct question. “What makes you ask that?” “When I found the photographs, you wouldn’t talk about him and when I asked Debbie …… “ “You asked Debbie? You had no right to ask Debbie about Justin. That’s private, between him and me”, and Brian got up from the table and started to clear away the dishes. Gus could see his Father was angry. He hadn’t meant to upset him; they’d been getting on so well just lately. Brian stood at the sink and shut his eyes. He hadn’t meant to snap at Gus. He was just a kid after all and didn’t understand these things. He went back to the table and sat down. Brian could see his son was hurt by his tone and didn’t want to spoil things; they’d come too far in their relationship and he didn’t want to fight with him. “Gus, I didn’t mean to yell at you, but you must realise that from time to time there’ll be things that are off limits and Justin is one of them. He was someone I knew once, that’s all. End of story”, but looking at his Father, Gus could see the sadness in his eyes whenever Justin’s name was mentioned. He waited until Brian had gone to bed. He was more convinced than ever that his Dad was sad and lonely and Gus would do anything to make him happy. Just before midnight, he quietly went out to the living room and dialled the radio station’s number. The True Love programme was a nightly show and this time, he gave his name as soon as the call was answered. Fascinated, Dr. Leo Franklin immediately went to him. He’d been disappointed that their call had been terminated so abruptly the night before and wanted to know more about Gus and his Dad. “Well, I understand we have Gus back on the line from last night. Gus, we were talking about your Dad, weren't we?” “That's right”, confirmed the youngster. “You said you think he’s lonely. How can I help you?” “Umm …. I’m not really sure. I guess …, I guess I wanna know how I can help him get a boyfriend so he’s not unhappy and on his own all the time”. “I see. Do you think he wants a boyfriend?” “I suppose. I mean he must get pretty bored with just me around all the time. I’m sure there must be grown up stuff he wants to do”. Leo Franklin smiled to himself at the boy’s innocence and was more curious than ever to learn about the young man’s Father. “You haven’t told us his name yet. Can you tell me his name?” At first, Gus hesitated but then replied. “It’s Brian; Brian Kinney”. To be continued.