This last chapter is for Kayleigh, who says ´If you look at the world like most people do, you would miss the real beautiful things´ Kiss me alright Chapter 30 (Epilogue) –I might have laughed if you told me- Part I “WELL THAT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE A BLEEDIN’ IDIOT WHO CAN’T SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PRESENTABLE LAYOUT AND COMPLETE SHIT THAT WILL MAKE THE CLIENT THROW UP ON YOUR FUCKING UGLY SHOES!” The whole building seemed to shake under the force of the feral growl, resounding through the corridors of the executive floor, a few minutes after Lunch break. “My god.” A young intern glanced nervously in the direction of Mister Kinney’s closed office doors. “Who’s in there?” “Olaf. The new head of the art department.” Cynthia assumed. “He did brilliant work back in his former company in Sweden. But here…” She cringed when her boss turned his voice level again up to the maximum. ”He seems to have a few communication problems or something.” “OH YOU WILL DO IT AGAIN ALRIGHT, OR YOU CAN RESHIP YOUR SORRY ASS BACK TO IKEA-ISLAND!” The doors flew open and a pale-faced, thin man in a corduroy suit hurried out. “Tack så mycket, Misker Kinney.” He did an obsequiously half-bow midst walking, “Pleask have no omtanke.” And disappeared in one of the elevators with thick beads of sweat on his forehead. “Poor guy.” The intern watched, sympathizing with the man’s plight, as the elevator doors closed. “Ah,” Cynthia smirked. “I’m sure he’ll get used to certain people’s varying moods.” The young man shook his head and gathered a couple of files from the secretary’s desk. “Yeah, with the help of a good therapist maybe…” Cynthia still grinned when the phone rang. “Vanguard, you’re speaking to Mister Kinney’s office, how may I help you?” There was a short rustling sound on the line and then nothing but even breathing. “Hello?” She furrowed her brows and sat down on her swivel chair. “Hello? May I help you?” 21 seconds later a heavy sigh could be heard. And Cynthia’s grin changed into a loving little smile. “Oh, hello Justin. How are you doing today?” She received an answer after a short moment. “Yes.” “I bet you want to talk to Brian, am I right?” The line was silent. She smiled again. “Just wait a second, I’ll put you through.” She pressed a button and waited for the answer. It was a barked, “WHAT?!” after three seconds. She didn’t loose her smile. “There is an important call on line two.” “Hm.” He grumbled back, took the call, “Kinney.” and didn’t receive any answer other than steady breathing into his ear. He lifted one eyebrow and waited; enjoying the relaxed feeling, as some of the tension immediately left his body. The right corner of his mouth twitched, when he heard a little sigh and after almost a whole minute a small word. “Hello.” It was wrongly emphasized but clearly understandable. “That was very good.” “Yes. Justin.” Brian leant back in his chair, his eyes wandering automatically towards the clock on the wall. “Why are you calling? You have your physiotherapy in 3 minutes.” “No.” “Sure you do. Look on the schedule.” Justin sighed in annoyance. “No.” Brian’s lips folded inside. “Where’s your therapist? Is she already there?” Justin looked directly in his therapist’s expectant face and then demonstrative up to the ceiling. “No.” Mister Kinney pressed the tip of his tongue deep into his cheek, stood up from his chair and went over to his leather sofa, to slouch down on it. “Did Blake make you call me?” Justin blinked and didn’t answer. Brian sighed, deciding to change the subject. “Work sucks today.” “Yes.” “I’m surrounded by a bunch of idiots.” “Yes.” Justin began to sway slightly from left to right. “Fuck… fucking incom… incompetent people.” Brian folded his lips inwards again to keep from smiling. “Yes. Everywhere.” “Yes.” Justin sighed and knew exactly what the Prince meant. They were silent for a while, before Brian spoke again. “How much longer until I come home?” “Yes. Certainly three … three hours and forty-eight minutes.” “Hm.” Brian glanced at the clock. “Make that two hours and forty-eight minutes. I’ll come home early.” “Yes. Of course see… see Justin.” “No. Drink a beer and take a long shower.” “Yes.” Justin giggled a little. “Certainly see Justin.” “Well, it’ll be unavoidable since you’ll be all over me the minute I walk in the door. Brat.” “Yes.” Justin looked in the direction of the entry hall. He really would’ve preferred to… “… see Prian now.” “Later. What do you want to do tonight?” “Yes. Go… go for a walk.” With Prian. To the shit brew water and the evil birds. Brian felt himself relax some more. He really enjoyed pointlessly walking around with the little twat. “Hm. You can’t. You’re legs won’t work properly since you’re not doing your physiotherapy like you’re supposed to. But hey,” He made sure the tone of his voice was absolutely serious. “We could always use the wheelchair.” A strange feeling shot through Justin’s belly and he looked down at his feet to wriggle the toes in his shoes. He hated the wheelchair. It was ugly and one couldn’t walk on his own with it. He felt a little ill and rocked more strongly back and forth. Brian waited a moment. “Why don’t you go and do your exercises with Isabel.” Justin sniffed soundly through his nose and looked up to the ceiling, but his eyes flickered uneasily around. “Justin.” It was silent. “Physiotherapy sucks?” Justin sniffed again. “Yes.” The therapist had a thick chest and always touched him. “Do it anyway. Then we can go for a walk.” “Yes.” Justin rubbed his nose and then his left eye. “And dance.” “Yes.” In the kitchen and the shower but never at Babylon. “And practise swimming, so you won’t drown again in the fucking pool.” “Yes.” Justin smiled a little and looked over at the terrace doors. He liked swimming with Prian in the wet, blue frog water... “…well.” “What ever.” Brian could hear a slight smile through the phone and liked it very much. “Will you go and practise with Isabel now?” “Yes.” Brian showed a slight smile, too and said his answer in a low voice. “Good boy.” “Yeah…” Justin’s belly felt much better now. “ Justin.” “Great.” Brian grinned. “Now give me a kiss and then let me go back to my work already.” The pure sound of happy laughter came through the line. The prince was of course a little bit stupid. One couldn’t kiss over the phone. There was only voice but… “…certainly no mouth!” Brian’s tongue wandered back into his cheek and then the laughter from the other end of the line stopped abruptly when he kissed the mouthpiece of his phone. Soundly. “Hh!” Justin pressed the receiver to his ear and didn’t dare to blink. Then he licked his lips and felt his heartbeat sped up, as the Prince whispered for him. “I’ll lick your mouth when I’m back home, okay?” Something warm formed deep inside Justin’s stomach and he felt a little nervous. “Yes.” “Good. Now say goodbye and go do your therapy.” “Yes.” “Say it.” “Good… goodbye.” It wasn’t the right way to pronounce the word distinctly, but it didn’t matter because Justin remembered to press the red button on the telephone to disconnect the line. Mister Kinney sat in his office, on an expensive Italian leather sofa for six more minutes, feeling oddly proud. ******** At 5.10 pm, Justin stood in front of the beautiful prince castle, staring down the street through his sun glasses. Now and then he shoved a few blond bangs off of his forehead, sighing deeply. He thought it was really very warm in June. Even when the day was almost over. “Yes.” He gazed up to the sky. It was still blue and the sun shone brightly. He didn’t like it and really would’ve preferred for the moon to come out, because the air never was very warm without the sun. “Hff.” He sighed again, made a really annoyed face behind his sunglasses and turned his attention back to the street. “Yes certain… certainly see Justin at five… five pm.” Maybe the black car vehicle drove only very slowly today? “Justin!” Blake appeared in the courtyard, taking his own sunglasses off. “What are you doing on the sidewalk?! I told you to wait by the gate posts!” Justin blinked and remained where he was without moving a single toe. “Hey.” Blake jogged over, stopped and pointed to the iron gate that marked Brighton’s driveway. “You can see the street from behind the gate, too.” Justin looked uninterestedly aside. He didn’t want to wait behind the gate. He wanted to stay here on the sidewalk with all the slit stones. “Justin.” Blake grabbed for the boy’s wrist. “Naaa!” Justin made himself stiff and started to rock back and forth strongly. Blake pursed his lips and put his hands on his hips. Justin stopped screaming, but swayed a little more. The nurse shook his head and went a few steps over to the low wall, bordering Mister Kinney’s property. He pursed his lips again with a reproachful look at Justin, and then sat down. “You’re as stubborn as a mule, you know that?” “Yes.” Justin stopped rocking and turned his gaze back to the street. Blake looked up to the sky and put his sunglasses back on. “God it’s oppressively hot today.” “Yes.” Justin really didn’t like it. “Maybe you should wear a hat or something.” “Yes.” A blue one with a big purple feather, like the puss in boots had. “Brian would kill me if you have a sunstroke.” “Yes. Don’t… don’t forget the sun… sun block.” Blake smiled. “We didn’t.” Justin too. “Yes. Sun… sun protection factor fif… fifty.” “Yeah, Brian wouldn’t like your skin crispy brown I guess.” Justin laughed. “Yeah… looks like a fuck… fucking roast turkey!” “He said that, huh?” Blake shook his head grinning. “Yes. My… my Prian.” He liked the prince so much. “Hm.” The nurse stretched his legs out. “So, are you two having plans tonight?” Did they? Justin wasn’t sure. But he really would’ve preferred to go for a walk tonight and maybe eat some… “… ice cream with… with sprinkles.” And whipped cream and a cherry without stalk. “Uhh…” Blake held his stomach with a theatrical sigh. “I hope you remember to bring some home for me. I could eat a whole bathtub full of chocolate almond ice cream!” He sighed again. “Or bathe in it.” Justin wrinkled his nose in scepticism. Presumably Plake would … “…become very dirty.“ Blake waved his hand half-heartedly, “I don’t care. Better dirty than deliquescent.” and then sat up straight and pointed to the left. “Look, there he is.” “Yes.” Justin saw the black car vehicle come closer on the street and felt some butterflies flapping their wings inside his belly. Automatically he reached for the golden jewelry around his neck and stroked the little butterfly pendant with the tip of his thumb. Blake stood up and guided the boy out of the way, to make room for the car to enter the gateway. Brian wore his newest Armani sunglasses and a complete suit, despite the temperature, which was 95 degrees fahrenheit. He parked near the garage doors, gathered his cell phone, keys, wallet and a styro-foam cup of iced coffee, and climbed out of the jeep with a blank expression. Justin waited silently a few steps away, slightly swaying on his feet, and his gaze held aside. Brian locked the car, took a sip of his coffee and then stood directly in front of Justin, tilting his head to the side. “Are you wearing sun block?” Justin didn’t say anything, and sighed softly after 32 seconds. Brian moved a step closer, sniffing the younger man’s cheek. “That’s good.” He said it quietly right beside a warm ear shell and then kissed it. “Yes.” Justin’s eyes moved rapidly behind his shaded glasses and ten toes wriggled openly in a pair of $174.95 black Hugo Boss Flip-Flop’s. “Certainly lick… licks Justin’s mouth. Prian says.” Brian showed a small smile, placed five guiding fingers on a soft neck, pecked Justin’s mouth and then stroked his tongue slowly over the smooth lips, before moving back again to study the boy’s face. “How was physiotherapy?” Justin didn’t feel like talking about his exercises and instead lay his head against Prian’s chest. He liked the smell of the prince’s beautiful suit. Brian wrapped one arm loosely around Justin’s back. “Did Isabel leave a report for me?” Justin didn’t say anything. “Of course she did.” Blake came over and smiled. “She wouldn’t dare leave this house otherwise.” Brian rubbed Justin’s back for a moment and then released him to walk towards the front door. “So everything went alright?” Blake followed. “Yep. We had a great day.” Justin, too. “A blast.” He said it in a monotonous voice and entered the house with his blank gaze up to the ceiling. Brian shut the door and flung his wallet and keys on the small ornamental table on the left side. “Well, seems like I’m the only one who had a shitty day then.” “I wouldn’t say that.” Emmett passed through the entrance hall with a sweaty forehead and a huge laundry basket in his hands. “But the customer service guy who came to check the washing machine seemed to have the time of his heterosexual life, when he fished the ribbed condom out of the inlet spout.” “Yes, certain… certainly a new one.” Justin reported and disappeared behind the servant in the living room. “A new what?” Mister Kinney squinted his eyes in irritation as he followed the two other men. “Customer service guy, washing machine or fucking condom?!” God, he wished this goddamn day would be over soon. “Yes of course always… always use a condom.” Justin walked into the kitchen with small steps, to drink a glass of water. “Prian says.” “He did?” Emmett lost his interest in folding underwear briefly. “When?” Brian smacked the back of his head when he passed by to join Justin in the kitchen and fetch a beer out of the fridge. “The guy said you’d need a new washing machine.” Blake clarified and shouldered his bag. “And advised to check your sheets more carefully, before throwing them in the laundry.” He winked and then put his sunglasses back on. “Great.” Brian opened his beer bottle and took a big sip. “Not the end of the world. Just a new washing machine.” Blake told him, waved for Justin, “See you tomorrow, Justin. Enjoy your ice cream.” and left with a friendly smile on his face. “What fucking ice cream?!” Brian shot Justin a deprecating look. “Yes.” Justin placed his empty water glass back on the counter. “Certainly go for… go for a walk.” “Yeah.” Brian grumbled and took another gulp of his beer. “But certainly not to the fucking ice cream parlor.” ******** Justin loved the ice cream parlor. It was near the park and very colourful and one could sit outside with a red-white striped sunshade over the head. But the best thing was, that it smelled so very wonderful. “Would you stop sniffing the air like a goddamn dog and eat your fucking ice cream already? I’m not planning on spending the whole evening in this calorie polluted place.” Brian was frenetically stirring his coffee, while looking around suspiciously, as if at any moment someone could jump on his back and force him to eat a huge Mocha Madness hot fudge, coffee ice cream Sundae, topped with chocolate syrup, chocolate jimmies, whipped cream and a cherry without stalk. “Yes.” Justin tipped his head to the side and looked up to stare at the pretty round sun shade. Of course the man with the white apron had brought him a cup with one scoop of banana ice cream, two scoops of chocolate ice cream, a heart shaped crispy wafer and some brown sprinkles on top, even though he wanted a whole lot of peanut butter fudge ice cream in ... “… a bathtub.” Brian lifted one eyebrow and laid his coffee spoon on the saucer. “You know full well that no one eats ice cream out of bathtubs. You have a cup.” “Yes. Certainly a bathtub.” Brian stared at him, shrugged after a moment, and eventually reached out to pull the wafer out of Justin’s ice cream. He gave the boy a vacant look as he licked the banana ice cream off before taking a big bite. Justin’s heart hammered in his chest. He was shocked. The prince ate his terrific cookie! Brian finished the last piece of waffle with a slight grin, sipped at his coffee and then used his coffee spoon to scoop a little of Justin’s chocolate ice cream. “Hm.” He nodded approvingly and reached out to gather some more. “Not bad.” “Oh oh.” Justin started to rock on his chair nervously. “Yes, certain… certainly eats Justin’s ice cream.” Mister Kinney shrugged and ate another spoonful. “This shit costs $11.50 and it starts to melt. Someone has to eat it.” “Yes, of… of course eats all the sprinkles.” Absolutely calm, Brian took some of both ice cream flavours on the spoon, fed it unceremonious to Justin and then leaned in to kiss him. “How many sprinkles?” He spoke against cool lips and licked them briefly. “Yes.” Justin nudged his nose against Prian’s cheek. “Thirty… thirty three.” Brian pulled back and fed the younger man another spoon. “There were thirty-three sprinkles on the ice cream?” Justin looked blankly aside and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. “Yeah.” “Hm.” Brian handed Justin the spoon, leaned casually back in his chair and sipped his coffee. “That’s not very much for $11.50.” He placed the cup back on the table. “Fucking cutthroats everywhere.” “Yeah.” Justin ate some banana ice cream, sighed and looked up at the sunshade again. “Certainly have to… have to sue them.” “Hm.” Brian nodded while lighting a cigarette. “Maybe.” “Yeah.” Justin nodded too. “Fuckers.” ******** It was 8.32 pm when they passed the big wooden sign, marking the Riverview Park entry and the air was a little bit colder now, but Justin still had his red hoodie jacket tied around his waist. He looked around, liking the green lawns and small way stones everywhere. In the distance was a dog with long, brown fur, that drank some water out of the big fountain. Justin giggled a little and crinkled his nose under his sunglasses when he looked up at Prian. Brian gave a brief smile in return and reached for Justin’s hand. “Let’s walk on the grass. I have stones in my shoes.” “Yeah.” Justin plodded a little reluctantly along behind the prince. “Certain… certainly keep off the grass.” “Says who?” Brian took his flip-flop’s off and hooked them onto three fingers of his free hand. “Yeah.” Justin gazed up to the sky. There were three big clouds and five small, but everything around them was very blue. “Of course the sign.” “Fuck the sign.” Mister Kinney looked around and decided to bring more distance between himself and this bed of pink flowers. “We’re taxpayers. That’s our lawn.” It was? Justin blinked and made three more steps on the soft grass. Yes, he liked his lawn. Brian squeezed Justin’s hand. “Go on, take off your shoes. Walking barefoot is healthy for your feet.” “Yes.” Justin stopped and Brian waited 161 patient seconds until both of the kid’s Hugo Boss flip flop’s stood in the grass. He bent down to carry them along with his own. “Does it feel good?” He took Justin’s hand again. “Yeah.” Justin curled his toes. The grass tickled against his skin and was a little bit cold. It felt like green rain. “Hm. Just watch out that you don’t step on a bee or something.” “Yes.” Justin watched as two men on bicycles passed on the way with the little white stones. He didn’t like bees. They made strange noises. After six minutes of walking over the well-kept lawns of Riverview Park, Brian released Justin’s hand and requisitioned the red sweat jacket. Justin didn’t react, so he took it off the boy’s waist himself and spread it out on the ground near a sturdy oak. Then he flung the two pairs of shoes in the grass, sat down and demanded the same from his companion. “Well? Sit down.” “No.” Justin swayed a little from left to right and didn’t know why the prince was sitting on the floor suddenly. On his beautiful red… “… jacket.” “I’m certainly not ruining my pants with grass stains. They’re a remembrance of my last white party.” “Yes.” Justin curled the blond hair strand behind his ear around his finger. Twice. It was getting longer. Brian leaned back on his elbows and then held one hand out. “Come here.” “Yeah.” It took almost two minutes until Justin Taylor kneeled a little bit stiff on his red jacket between Prian Kinney’s legs. On their own lawn in Riverview Park. Brian nudged his inner thigh against Justin’s side. “Well isn’t that the most lesbionic thing ever, dear?” He faked a big smile. “Sitting on a lawn together to enjoy the early evening. How nice.” “Yeah.” Justin rocked a little back and forth on his heels. He felt nervous. Certainly there lived… “… many ants in the grass.” “Don’t be a girl.” Brian nudged him again and tipped his head back to exploit the last rays of the sun for his facial tan. “Yes.” Justin rubbed his forehead. “Of… of course spiders.” Brian didn’t open his eyes. “There are no spiders.” “Yeah.” Justin sounded concerned. “Tick… ticks live in the grass.” Brian frowned. “What’s a fucking tick?!” Justin looked to the side, but seemed focussed on what he said. “Blood… blood-sucking parasites.” He scratched his forehead again and then his ear. “ Of course they… they are related to scorpions.” “Scorpions?” “Yeah. And spiders.” “Did you read about them?” Did he? Yes. In a book and… “… the pharmacies magazine.” “Hm.” Brian grabbed for the kid’s wrist and pulled slightly. “Come here.” “Yeah.” Justin bent forward until he lay against Prian’s chest. He sighed. The prince was warm and smelled so very nice. Brian kissed the top of his head and rubbed his back lightly. “There’s at least ten gallons of coffee in my blood. No fucking tick would like to drink that.” “Yeah.” Justin blinked through his sunglasses. “And sprinkles.” “Yeah I’m sure they won’t bite anyone who just ate thirty-three sprinkles.” “Certainly twenty… twenty-eight.” “Twenty-eight?” Brian’s hand stilled for a moment on the boy’s back. “Yes. Of course Prian eat… eats five sprinkles.” “Of course.” Mister Kinney nodded and started rubbing again. “You should be a fucking accountant you know…” “Yes.” “Hm.” Justin turned his head to press his nose in Prian’s shirt, sniffed a little and then rested his cheek again on the prince’s chest. There was a light breeze blowing and he liked it. It made him feel his hair and he got slight goose bumps on his bare arms. He shivered. Brian wrapped his arm around Justin’s body and peered down at him. “Gsst.” Justin moved around and looked up. He smiled. Prian looked funny through the shaded glasses. “Are you cold?” Brian took the boy’s sunglasses off. Justin didn’t say anything, he just watched as Prian’s lips moved with every word. He wanted to lick it. “You’re shivering. Do you want to put on your jack-” He was interrupted when Justin’s tongue snaked out to touch his mouth. Brian blinked surprised and smacked his lips. “What was that for?” Justin chuckled quietly. Mister Kinney lifted one eyebrow, stuck the tip of his tongue into his cheek and curled then his fingers around the back of Justin’s neck to pull the boy closer and kiss him. It was just a little peck at first, but grew deeper until Justin made small mewling sounds and pressed himself closer against Prian’s body. Brian held onto Justin’s chin and pulled back a little to examining the kid’s face. He found closed eyes, open lips, shimmering with wetness in the evening sun, and he kept his own eyes purposefully open when he dipped his tongue appreciatively back into this warm mouth to taste it some more. Justin tilted his head a little to the side, letting out a relaxed sigh. Brian pecked him on the lips. “Brat.” “Yes.” Justin pressed the tip of his nose against Prian’s, trying to look him in the eyes at the same time. Brian let him, stroking the soft blond hair strands at the back of his head. “It’s strange you know?” “Yeah.” Justin enjoyed to breathe his warm breath against the prince’s near face. “I kind of like to sit pointlessly around here with you.” “Yeah. Certain… certainly maggots in the… maggots in the grass.” Brian huffed a laugh and let his head fall back. “Jesus! And I thought I was the most unromantic person on the planet!” “Yeah.” Justin blinked his long eyelashes. “My Prian.” He really didn’t like bugs. ******** It was slowly getting dark when they made their way back to the car. Justin felt tired and suddenly found it difficult to walk on the small white way stones in his flip-flop’s. He kept on stumbling and couldn’t concentrate because Prian was talking and talking on his little silver phone. “Yeah.” Brian slowed down a bit while rubbing Justin’s knuckles with his thumb. “No, I have some people coming over tomorrow afternoon to help Emmett.” He guided the boy to the left and out of the park, in the direction of the parking area. “No, you really don’t need to bring anything.” He drew his fingers a hint tighter around Justin’s fingers and looked back over his shoulder when the kid stumbled again. “No, not even lasagna.” Brian rolled his eyes and released Justin’s hand to unlock the passenger door of the jeep. “Yes, okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He snapped the phone shut, tossed it on the dashboard and then helped Justin to climb in the car. “That was Debbie.” “Yes.” Justin rocked a little on his seat and curled a thick hair strand around his index finger. He was really tired. “She thinks I’m letting you starve and wants to bring you real good food tomorrow.” “Yes. Certain… certainly white beet.” Brian leaned in, helping Justin to put on his seat belt. “Yeah. Tell her that.” And he sighed and gave the younger man a long look. “Tired now?” The blue eyes flickered and finally drifted aside, but five slightly cool fingers reached out to stiffly touch the prince’s cheek. “Yeah.” “You’ve missed the good night greeting again.” “Yeah.” “Want to read a little when we get home?” “Yeah.” Justin didn’t want to read today. He wanted to… “…sleep with Prian.” Brian folded his lips inwards, smiled briefly and in the end pressed his nose against Justin’s. “You have your own bed.” He spoke quietly. “Yeah.” Justin too. “Sleeps… sleeps with Justin.” Brian closed his eyes for a moment. He liked the feeling of Justin’s clumsy touches on his face. “You want me to?” “Yes.” Justin stroked Prian’s cheek with his finger. “Be with my prince.” And Brian didn’t say anything, just kissed soft lips. Twice. And then he drove home and went to bed at 10.28 pm on a Friday evening. ********