When Irish Eyes are Smiling – chapter three
Author: Elsa Rose Bryant

It hadn’t taken Justin long to discover a great deal about his elusive landlord, once Sara had him sign the lease papers.  She’d given him a copy of the lease, a lease that was more detailed than anything Justin could possibly have conceived of. In fact it was so complicated that he had a friend, Melanie Marcus read it over. She was a lawyer and charged according to ability to pay. Despite the fact that Justin was financially secure, she had a soft spot for him. It hadn’t taken her long to ferret out considerable information about Brian Kinney, author and landlord. 

Of course, she’d had some help from their investigation department. “I think you should read this.” Melanie said, handing Justin a red covered folder.

“What is it?” Justin asked, looking down at the official and rather intimidating pieces of cardboard. He opened it cautiously. “Oh, you found out about Brian. Is this legal? I mean, snooping on someone?”

“I’m protecting your interests Justin.” Melanie sat back in her chair. “You’ve been offered a rather elegant space in a building known for its mystery and its lack of tenants. The lease contract is thorough, to say the very least. But oddly enough, it errs in favor of you rather than the landlord. And what’s more, the rent he’s asking is ridiculously low.” She huffed. “I just thought there was something strange about this whole thing.” 

“Well, I don’t know if I’m exactly comfortable snooping into Mr. Kinney’s background.” Justin mumbled. He wasn’t comfortable with it, but damn he was curious. In all the months he’d tried, he’d never found out much of anything. But then he’d never had the nerve to hire an investigator. But the dossier didn’t have a great deal of anything in it, other than a list of his businesses and real estate holdings. There was nothing there that said how he earned his living. Nothing about his background other than his age, 30, his marital status, single, his family, none known. The investigator had been paid for a basic investigation. Justin figured Melanie had been taken. He already knew a lot of this information. He too could go to the library and look stuff up. Not that he was about to disappoint her by letting Melanie know this.

^^^^^^^^^^^

And now Justin lay on the hardwood floor of his new studio, smoking some great weed and staring up at the surveillance camera cleverly hidden. He snickered. Not all that cleverly. He’d spotted it minutes after he’d come in. He’d also checked out the cameras in the lobby and hallways, not to mention in his apartment. 

Snoop much Mr. K, he asked himself as he took another drag. Here,watch this and he began to stroke his cock as he pulled pungent smoke into his lungs. He’d actually found the cameras when Sara took him to see his new space. He asked her about them and she’d explained that as the building had been empty on these floors, it was a way of ensuring everything was okay without actually being in the various rooms. She’d also assured him that she’d see that the ones in his space were disconnected. 

Justin trusted Sara, he didn’t trust Brian Kinney. After reading a folder thick with confidential information about the man. , he knew that Brian Kinney had little in the way of scruples if he wanted something. Or at least that’s what IP Investigations concluded with their report. But he was young enough and naïve enough not to care. Not to mention the idea of some old fart getting his rocks off watching him pull his dick, well that was kind of hot in a perverted way. 

Justin turned his head and watched a young cat creep through a cat door cut in the wall beside the entrance to his studio. “Hey cat.” He said, not wanting to startle the thing as it moved silently across the floor intent on springing onto his now throbbing cock as he moved his hand quickly up and down. His eyes locked with the camera, sure that he was being watched by the stranger in his tower as he liked to think of Brian. There had been no picture in the file on Mr. Kinney, so Justin used his imagination. He conjured up the man of his dreams with green eyes flecked in gold. 

“Arrrrrggghhh” Justin’s orgasm was intense. He was stoned enough to delight in the distance he was able to cover with his jism. The kitten jumped in surprise, not sure of what happened. Justin began to laugh in his mind-altered state at the look on the white kitten’s face. It was then he noticed its two colored eyes. “Wow cat, totally awesome eyes. I’m sooooo going to paint you.”  Justin sat on his studio floor, his legs folded tailor fashion. “So what do you think, I love this space and the lighting is amazing.” He turned around and around, his ass on the floor. “It isn’t too hot or too cold. It’s juuuuuuust right.” He giggled and lay back, proving his incredible flexibility. 

The cat found the blond interesting, not that he could hear him say anything. But the cat, being raised by kindness from the man at the top of the tower, knew kindness when he saw and felt it. This one was okay and he jumped on Justin’s chest, turning around three times before tucking all of his ends in and staring into Justin’s eyes. A white pillow of fluff, weighing little, vibrating with all the pleasure he could muster. 

Justin had formed his own opinion about the man who was his landlord. He read the file he’d been given, over and over, committing it to memory before feeding it into a shredder that reduced each page to a million tiny chunks. It bothered him that Melanie had taken it upon herself to research Brian Kinney so thoroughly. And it bothered him to see the man revealed, when he had so obviously gone to a great deal of trouble to keep himself away from prying eyes. Justin had a mission. He wasn’t sure how he was going to go about it, but he was determined to find a way. 

He was going to make sure that no background information could ever again be found on Brian Kinney. For that he’d need the help of his friend Daphne. She was a computer witch as far as he was concerned. Nothing was safe from her nimble fingers and a delete button once she was given a task. IP Investigations would no longer have any information on Brian in their systems once Daphne was finished. It was a start. 

When Justin had read through the file, Brian’s background appeared sad to him more than anything else. He didn’t take it to mean anything shady like Melanie had. But rather it was the background of a man whose childhood had been harsh. Who had managed to make something of himself despite it. 

He was determined to add some spice to the life of the mysterious Prince hidden in his tower. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Moving Day

“Holy shit kid, you sure lucked out here.” Debbie turned around in the space that was going to be Justin’s apartment. “I can’t believe you were able to get the owner to rent it to you. It must be that great butt of yours.” She laughed and swatted him on that very butt.

“Ma, leave the kid alone.” Michael laughed. “He hasn’t met the owner, only the owner’s representative, someone called Sara.”

“Is she cute?” Debbie asked with as laugh.

“Deb, she’s at least your age or even older.” Justin shook his head at his friends. “Hey Emmett, careful with that. It took me six weeks to make it.” He was referring to a wooden box Emmett was carrying in. It had been built out of a chestnut wood dresser that was not repairable. Justin had found it in an alley downtown, left for the garbage. He loved finding things and making them into something new and useful. In fact he was so talented at doing this, that he’d been able to make himself a considerable nest egg from the proceeds of the sale of the items. 

“Honey, I wouldn’t dream of dropping your <i> hope chest</i>.” Emmett sighed. “I remember the day when I had hopes and dreams of finding my prince and living happily every after. Right now I’d settle for an afternoon delight and fuck the happily every after.” 

“Drama Queen much?” Justin snickered. “It isn’t my <i> hope chest</i>, or not the way you mean. I’m not collecting linens and china in anticipation of my wedding.” He pulled out a towel and put it on his head like a veil. “I’m waiting for my true love,” Justin danced around, his hips wiggling, his wrist limp. “He’ll have plenty of money and will scoff at random things collected in a <i> hope chest</i> preferring of course, to buy me everything new.”

“Stop pissing around Justin. Some of us want to get this move over with. We do have lives you know.” Michael grumbled through his clenched teeth as he struggled with a box. 

“Don’t fight boys. I’ve started lunch and Vic will be here soon with something for dessert.” Debbie had been organizing Justin’s kitchen. She knew he’d redo it as soon as she left, but she couldn’t resist helping the boy. 

“Hey, great desk and stuff.” Ted put Justin’s computer on the afore mentioned desk. “It looks new, but it suits the whole art deco thing that’s going on here.” He pulled open drawers and snooped through the built in cabinets. “Wow, there’s everything you could ever possibly need in here. Look…” he said as he pointed to the drawer filled with file folders and paper and pretty much every kind of office equipment Justin might ever need. 

“Holy shit.” Justin looked into the cabinets. He hadn’t really paid much attention to the unit that took up most of one wall. “There’s a big assed television behind these doors and fuck, a Bosch sound system.” He touched the equipment with his fingertips. “This is like thousands of dollars. I wonder if it’s supposed to be here.” 

“Justin, it’s nice to see you have help with your move.” He turned to see Sara standing in the doorway. 

“Hey Sara, is this supposed to be here?” he nodded toward the well filled wall.

“Yes, remember the apartment lease said it was partially furnished. This is the partially part.” She smiled at him. 

“It’s too much. I mean I like it and everything, but Sara, I’m not just some poor school kid. I have money of my own. More than I need actually. Not that I’m bragging or anything, but between what I earn making Exquisite Stuff  and my trust fund, I’m doing okay. Hell, I even won a scholarship to PIFA, but I gave it to someone else who could use it more than I could. After all, I can afford the tuition, not everyone is as lucky.” 

“You gave up your scholarship?” she asked eyebrows rose. “Goodness.”

“It wouldn’t have been fair to take it.” He shrugged. “I didn’t even apply for it. I figured it was a mistake anyway.”

Sara couldn’t stop the grin on her face. Brian was going to be surprised. He’d always, well as long as she’d known him, used his wealth to buy acceptance. Not that he realized that’s what he was doing. But she knew.  

“Actually”, he looked around to make sure no one was listening. “I’ve established my own scholarship at PIFA. It’s not a full one, but it’ll help. It’s available to all the public high schools and it’s for the full four years. I’m eighteen, but my trust has more than doubled since it was established. I figure I’ll earn anything I need to live on. I might as well share the trust.” He nodded to a chest of drawers being carried in by Emmett and Ted. “That’s one of my designs. I work with reclaimed furniture. That’s just another name for used stuff.” He giggled, actually giggled. “I like to reinvent them, you know make it into something unique and different. That’s how my company Exquisite Stuff started. I make a good living even doing it part time.”

“I didn’t know that.” She paused. “I think there was an article in the paper a few months ago featuring artists working in different mediums. Wasn’t Exquisite Stuff part of that article?” 

Justin blushed. “Yeah, but I managed to stay out of the limelight. I don’t need the grief of publicity. I’m not really ready to burst out into Pittsburgh’s art world. I just want to get my degree and then figure out what I’m going to do with my life.” 

“You seem to have a level head on your shoulders.” She smiled. “But I’m taking up too much of your time. I know you’re busy. If there’s anything you need, let me know. I’m on the third floor.” She added needlessly, she was well aware he knew how to find her. 

“I’m fine.” Justin held the door for her. “Oh, the kittens, I meant to ask about them. I see them every now and then. Did you know that a couple of them are deaf?”

“The kittens belong to the owner of the building. He rescued their mother as well as the four kittens. The white ones are deaf, apparently it happens with that kind of cat, it’s genetic. The owner had small doors put on all empty rooms to make sure that they never get trapped. If they bother you, feel free to lock the door.” She bent down and showed Justin the small and almost invisible latch. 

“They belong to the owner?” Justin was surprised. From what he’d learned of the man in the tower, he just didn’t seem like the kitten type. 

“Yes, he rather enjoys their company.” She smiled as one of the kittens strolled in. “This one is Three.” She bent down and patted the orange ball of fluff. “He’s rather a scamp and likes to make sure that any pens or pencils are knocked off desks or tables.”

“Three?” Justin looked puzzled. 

“I’m afraid not a lot of imagination went into their names, One, Two, Three and Four along with Mom Cat. That’s the extent of the owner’s cat family.” 

Justin huffed a laugh. “He doesn’t have much of an imagination.” 

“Oh, he has an imagination, too much of one I sometimes think. But no doubt he was tired of dreaming up suitable names. It’s something he does for a living and I’m always impressed with what he comes up with.”

“Really?” Justin tried to think back to the dossier he had on Brian Kinney. There was nothing in it that said the man had any kind of imagination. Unless buying up businesses and making them pay was using his imagination. “What’s his views on surveillance.” He snickered, nodding his head toward the not so well hidden lens of a camera.

“As I mentioned before. It was necessary for insurance purposes. But the system has been turned off in your quarters. I did request that the boss do so.” She smiled. 

“I’m sure he listened.” Justin’s smile was almost a smirk as he looked up. Justin was equally sure that he was being watched right now. It didn’t happen every time he was in the studio or apartment, but once in awhile he could feel the mystique of the man in the tower. He wondered if he looked like the beast from fairytale books, or if he was somehow crippled. There had to be some explanation for why he kept such a low profile. 

Sara only smiled and waved goodbye to Justin’s friends who now were lounging on his sofa and floor. As she left the apartment she scooped up the kitten taking him with her. 

“Was that your landlady?” Debbie asked from the kitchen. 

“No, just his agent.” Justin turned around. “Hey guys, is there much more in the truck?”

“You managed to avoid moving much of it Sunshine.” Michael groaned. “I need a massage or at least a beer.” 

“I came at just the right time.” Vic peeked into the apartment. “You’d better move that truck, there’s a traffic cop coming down the street.”

“Shit, the truck’s in my name.” Ted jumped up and ran out the door. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Wow, you sure know how to make Teddy move fast.” Emmett giggled. “Justin, do you want us to help you unpack. I’m an excellent decorator.”

Justin laughed. “That’s okay Em, I have lots of time to unpack. I don’t start school for another week and I’ve caught up in all my orders for Exquisite Stuff.” 

The next hour was spent with the gang having an impromptu party. Only leaving when Justin’s yawns made them all laugh, his mouth opened so wide. He followed everyone downstairs to the lobby, making sure that the heavy doors were shut and the lock secure. When he turned around to move past the large brass mailboxes, he was surprised to see his name engraved on a small black and brass plaque fixed on one of the mailboxes. It looked so grownup and official he couldn’t help but beam his pleasure. He smiled up at the lobby camera and blew a kiss in its direction as he rubbed the small bit of metal with his shirt to remove an invisible smudge. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The next week seemed to fly by. Justin spent a whole day unpacking and arranging his living space the way he wanted it. All the while watched by the kittens who seemed to enjoy taking turns sitting on his kitchen counter that opened up onto the living room. 

Justin rather enjoyed the company once he gave up on trying to keep them off the counter. They were like yoyo cats, he’d put one down and another would bounce up. It was more than distracting, but amusing at the same time. He was going to name them, but somehow it was just easier to call them by their numbered names. Justin was forever getting them mixed up; the kittens didn’t seem to care one way or another. 

“So what do you think?” he asked one of the white kittens. He stood back from the wall where he’d hung two pieces of his latest art. “I think it’s a bit pretentious don’t you?”

“Merrrrow.” Answered the kitten who hadn’t really heard him say anything. But thought it was time to comment. 

“I completely agree.” Justin ran and slid across his shiny wood floor to land on the white sofa that looked hard and unyielding, yet was surprisingly soft. He loved the sofa. It was one of his designs. He’d sold the design to a furniture manufacturer in Italy, enjoying the check for the design and the quarterly checks every time another one was purchased. For he’d kept his copy write. What was even more amusing to Justin was seeing them advertised in the high-end magazines as Italian sofas when the designer lived in Pittsburgh and was only eighteen years old. 

Justin’s family on both sides had always been astute business people. He came by his entrepreneurship honestly. “Now that we have that done.” He continued to talk to the cat. “I have one or two more little jobs around here to finish and then I think it’s time for a long hot soak in the tub.” 

He patted the sofa, not getting up yet. The kitten jumped up and sat beside him, content to loll in the little bit of evening sun that drifted in the windows. The week had been a long one as far as he was concerned. He’d work many hard hours to complete the look he’d wanted for his first apartment and studio. The hardest part had been keeping his mother away to allow him to do things for himself. He didn’t dare cough or even hint he might be tired or headachy. It meant for a lot of stress. What he did enjoy was his sister’s company. She’d usually stayed away from him, preferring to fade into the background and away from his mother or father’s attention. But now that he was living on his own, he found her more and more often ringing the bell to come up and visit. It was rather strange, but rather endearing at the same time. 

PIFA was an adventure that he looked forward to almost as much as he looked forward to spending his nights in his new bedroom. He’d splurged on a king sized bed, for no reason other than he could. It was to his mind a grown up bed, so distant was it from what he’d used as a child. He’d bought white bed linen, a half dozen sets of white sheets, all the same, all Egyptian cotton and a thousand-thread count. White duvet covers and soft white blankets and throws. He loved white and all the variations of the non-color. It was the perfect setting for some of his more elaborate and colorful paintings and furniture designs. Or maybe he just liked the look of long rabbit soft white cats with different colored eyes against a backdrop of white silk or satin or even velvet, depending on how he felt.  
And what was even better, the bedroom was his private place. No one had seen it other than himself and no one was going to go in it. Well, other than the cats. 

He glanced up at where the camera was hidden. It had taken him a whole day in his studio to build the covers for the cameras. He’d needed them to be designed to look like part of the décor and to have easy access to the back panel where he inserted drawings each day. Occasionally when the mood struck, he changed the drawings two or three times a day. In anime style, he drew a blond, himself and the cats, doing various everyday things. Of course, those everyday things might have been a tad exaggerated. Like fighting off dragons, or ninjas on occasion. But he found it rather fun to stretch his imagination and come up with an adventure for anime Justin and the cats that moved from room to room. 

And the most fun as far as Justin was concerned, was what he had anime Justin saying, in Japanese of course. For anime Justin was always poking fun at the man in the tower who watched, and Justin knew Brian Kinney watched, he could feel him. 

He reached over to the nightstand to answer his phone. “You don’t have to call me every five minutes mom. Yes I’m eating healthy, yes I’m sleeping well, no the cats don’t bother my allergies.” It had been two hours since her last call. He was seriously considering an unlisted number. The problem was, if he didn’t answer her calls, she arrived at the downstairs door. No one had a key to his place except him, no matter what argument they used for needing one. 

“Justin, don’t use that tone on me. I’m your mother and I’m the one who has had to nurse you back to health on more than one occasion since you were born.” She began the litany that usually sent Justin into an irritated stupor. “I’m worried about you. Debbie tells me you haven’t been to the diner all week and you don’t return her calls.”

“Mom, I’ve been busy. I do have a life you know. And strangely enough, despite the fact that you refused to let me in the kitchen, I can cook. Nothing fancy, but my ability to download recipes from the net and follow them is rather keen.” His voice almost dared her to warn him about hot ovens and turning off burners. “And for the ten thousandth time, I have only limited free time before I begin my first semester at PIFA. I want my place to be a perfect oasis of serenity.” He knew that word would piss her off. She never could understand why he couldn’t relax at home with her. 

“Debbie wants you to come to dinner this Sunday. Everyone will be there. It’s your last Sunday before school starts.” Jennifer’s voice was quietly strained. She knew he’d never agree to come if she ordered him to do so as was a mother’s right. 

“I’ll be there, I already told Michael when I met him at Starbucks this morning.” 

“You go to Starbucks, but you won’t go to the diner?” she sighed.

“Starbucks is three doors from the Rosewood Building, Liberty Avenue Diner is five blocks. It’s no contest mom. Not to mention I can go in there and not be accosted by half of gay Pittsburgh. It’s a win, win situation. I get my coffee fix and I don’t have to do much more than throw on a pair of pants and shirt before heading out the door.”

“Your sister is supposed to be there. I want to talk to her.” His mother’s voice had become harsh when she mentioned Molly. Justin hadn’t seen the girl, but he instinctively covered for her. He could understand why she wanted to escape their mother’s clutches.

“I just sent her for coffee to the previously mentioned Starbucks.” He smiled to himself. 

“I don’t understand why she disappears over to your place every chance she gets. You two were certainly never that close before.”

Actually Justin hadn’t seen his sister in a week. He wondered what was up with her. “She’s helping me with something in my studio.” He said. “Didn’t she tell you that?” 

“No, she won’t talk to me. I think it’s her age. She turns thirteen in a week.” She sighed. 
“Please talk to her about keeping up with her piano lessons. For some reason she refused to go back to Mr. Crane’s after his summer vacation. I just don’t understand the girl. He’s one of the best teachers here in Pittsburgh. He’s always said she has talent.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Justin promised. “If you’ll do something for me. Limit your calls to once a day.”

“Justin, I’m your mother. You’re only eighteen years old.” She began her usual song and dance. 

“I’m almost nineteen and if you don’t limit them to once a day, I’m getting an unlisted number.” His voice was quiet but firm. He wasn’t kidding about the number. His mother’s interference in his life was one of the things he had in common with Mikey. Of course his mother was the ultimate stiff backed WASP while she nagged and Debbie was anything but that. They were equally annoying. Justin waited and listened to his mother for a few more minutes before whispering a quiet. “Goodbye” and hanging up the phone. He turned off the ringer so that he wouldn’t hear when she called back. His cell phone was already turned off.

He sighed with all the drama he could muster, throwing himself in the center of his bed. He grinned and made a bed angel, wishing all the white was snow. “Now cats, what in hell is Molly up to?” he asked the four cat faces. All of the kittens had arrived during his conversation with his mother. They had perched themselves on various shelves and niches. “I suppose I’m going to have to find out one of these days. I hope she’s behaving herself or at least not doing anything illegal.” 

Molly was an enigma to him. He knew there was much more to the girl than she showed to the world. But what it was he had no idea. He’d never had the chance to find out and his mother certainly had never bothered.

The buzzer sounded. It had to be his missing sister, everyone else had already touched base with him, or at least tried to by phone. “Hey Mol, come on up.” He said releasing the door.

“How did you know it was me.” She asked when she walked in the door. She flopped on the sofa after scooping up one of the kittens to cuddle.

“Mom called.”

“Oh.” Her bottom lip quivered before she stiffened up presenting a face of indifference to Justin. 

“Molly, what in hell are you up to?” he squatted in front of her, trying to make his sister look into his eyes. “Mom says you’ve been here almost every day. Unless you’re invisible, I sure haven’t seen you.” 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She finally said, her eyes not meeting Justin’s. “I’m okay. I’m doing anything bad. I just don’t want to talk about it. It’s kind of personal.” Her face lit up for a moment as she thought about something. Justin was surprised at how pretty and calm she looked for just a brief moment.

“Molly, you’re twelve, almost thirteen. You’re kind of young to be doing something without mom knowing about it.” 

“I’m not doing drugs or selling my body on street corners. She doesn’t have to worry about me.” She sniffed and buried her nose in the kittens fur. “Can I have something to drink?”

“There’s water in the fridge.” Justin knew he wasn’t going to get anything else from her, at least not now. “Molly, if you need someone to talk to, you can always talk to me.”

“I have a friend to talk to. He’s nice and he listens to me. He doesn’t treat me like some kind of little kid. He respects my intelligence. I’m almost thirteen, but I have an IQ higher than yours. I looked at your school records.” She giggled like the young girl she was. “Mom says girls with IQ’s as high as mine will never get married ‘cause guys don’t like smart girls. I don’t care. I’m never getting married. At least you’re gay; you don’t have to worry about her pushing girls on you to marry. No way is she ever going push guys on you.” She giggled again.

“You’re too young to worry about getting married.”

“A fat lot you know about it. All the kids in mom’s circle at the Club are planning their weddings now. Fuck, they even have vows written.”

“They are your age?” Justin had to ask

“Yep and younger. It’s like we’re in training for wife of the year. I think it sucks. No way am I going to be one of them and it’s not because I’m smarter than they are. Some of them are pretty close to me in intelligence. I’m not going to be a Stepford wife, no way, no how.” 

“Barbie doll overload?” Justin asked with a snicker. “Mom also has issues with you giving up piano.” 

“Mom can stuff it. I’m not giving up piano; I’m giving up taking lessons from Mr. Crane. He smells and he has breath that would stop a clock. I don’t need that. Besides, I’m better than he is. My friend is helping me progress.”

“Tell me about your friend.” Justin pulled up an ottoman so that he was close to her.

“He’s just a friend. He’s really good with musical stuff. He says it’s because he has an analytical mind. I think it’s just ‘cause he’s good at stuff. Lots of stuff.” She shrugged. “I don’t want to talk about him.” 

“You know Molly, you have to be careful of some adults. You shouldn’t be alone with this guy unless mom or me check him out.” Justin didn’t want to scare his sister.

“You’re just like everybody else. You think he’s some kind of pervert because he cares about me. Well you’re wrong, you’re all wrong. For one thing he’s gay and for another thing, he says he’s already in love with someone. He has principles.” She sniffed as she jumped up from the sofa to find a bottle of water in the fridge. 

Justin wasn’t sure what to do about his sister. Who was the man she seemed to idolize? “Have you seen dad lately?” 

“Too often.” She laughed. “He soooooo has no idea about real life. I think his girlfriends get younger every year. Soon he’ll be finding them in my class at school.”

“Ewwwwe. Don’t need the visual.” Justin laughed. 

“See why I think getting married sucks?” she asked. “I mean who needs it? It’s all a crock of shit.”

“You are my sister?” he asked with a joke. “I mean I’d like to get married someday.”

“Justin, give up that dream. It’s going to get you nowhere. I mean even the word <i>love</i> is a four letter word that sits there in a long list of four letter words that we shouldn’t say but do, because they fit the scene at the time. It means nothing. People say it all the time just like they say shit and fuck.”

“For twelve you’re kind of jaded.” Justin observed.

“Almost thirteen.” She amended with a smirk. “You’re my brother, I feel something for you, a familial feeling of affection.”

“I’m glad that’s cleared up.” He snorted. “Well I <i>love</i> you like a sister and when I say that little four letter word, I mean it.”

“I know you do Jus, because that’s the way you are. I know that. But believe me brother, no one else knows you have a strict code of integrity. Don’t be surprised if people you run into won’t believe you when you say the word.”

“That’s my sister, always a little ray of sunshine.” He leaned over and gave her a hug. “Do you want to stay here for supper?” he asked. 

“Pizza?” she asked, willing to change the subject.

“Actually yes. I have some dough rising. I was going to make pizza.”

“You’re making it?” she laughed with a snort. “No shit.”

“I have unseen talents.” He grinned and stood up. “Come on into the kitchen, you can help. Leave the fur balls where they are. I don’t like cat hair in my pizza.” 

“Speaking of cats. I can’t believe you have them. Mom always said you were allergic to them. She’d never let me get a kitten because of your allergies.”

“Most of my allergies are in mom’s head.” He snorted. “I’m not some fragile little fairy, contrary to popular belief.”

“She still won’t let me get a cat and you don’t even live with us anymore. She’d freak if she saw these guys.” Molly was still holding one of the white kittens. 

“You’ll just have to get your cat fix when you’re here. And Molly, maybe you actually should show up when you tell mom that’s where you’re going.”

“I’ll visit you more.” She agreed, but she silently thought of her adventures with a certain handsome man who lived in a tower of his own making. She wanted to share the adventures with Justin, but she didn’t want to share the man. At least not yet. He paid attention to her. He made her feel special, like a princess or something. She’d never felt like that before. “Justin, do you still draw pictures of this building?” 

“Not of the outside.” He answered glancing at his sister and wondering where this conversation was going. “I do parts of the inside. This place has amazing interior architecture. It makes for interesting things to sketch.”

“Seems kind of pointless to draw things like the elevator or the stairs. I mean there aren’t any people.” She ate a piece of pepperoni he was chopping. 

“I put people in my pictures. Kind of ghost like people.” He dried his hands off before picking up a sketchbook and turning the pages to show her. “See, I have people in here and of course the kittens. They’re everywhere. I used to think there were dozens, but I know there’s only four.”

“I like these pictures.” She smiled as she turned the pages. “Oh I like this one a whole lot. Can I have it?” It was a picture of the stairs done from the front foyer. And four kittens chasing each other up the steps. You could almost see them running, it was so well done. She wanted to give it to her friend.

“Sure you can have it.” He shrugged. “That sketch book is full. Take what you want.”

“I’ll take the whole book and bring it back later. I want to have time to decide.” She grinned, more like her old self than the sulky young lady who had arrived earlier. “Would you sign for me to get a tattoo?” she asked.

“Like mom wouldn’t murder me for that.” He mumbled. “No.”

“Would you go with me to get something pierced?” 

“Your ears are pierced what more do you want?”

“My tongue.”

“NO.” he looked horrified. 

“How about a small tattoo?” 

“Molly, you’re almost thirteen. That would be a great big NO.”

“Mom won’t let me do anything and neither will you.” She was back sulking. 

“I will draw a henna tattoo for you if I like the design. I’ll even keep it looking fresh for a few weeks. Mom won’t freak as much about that if she knows it’s not permanent.”

“You will?” Molly jumped up from her seat startling the kitten on the stool next to her. 

“Sure. Let me check it out first. I’ve never actually done one or even seen it done. But it can’t be that hard.” 

“That would be so cool.” She hugged herself. “When’s the pizza going to be done, I’m starving.” 

“Half an hour.”

“If you had a keyboard in here or a piano, I could practice. I kind of like making music.” Molly looked around. “You could put a piano over there.” 

“I could, but I don’t want to.” He ruffled her hair when he walked by on the way to the large blank area of floor space. “I like this just the way it is.” He lay down in the center of the area and spread his arms and legs. “I can make floor angels.” He demonstrated. “Or I can just lie here and look out the windows at the sky and watch the clouds. 

“You’re a freak, you know that don’t you.” She giggled and lay down beside him. “Hey good view.” She was looking out the window. “I see a bear.” 

“That isn’t a bear. I think it’s a wooly mammoth.” The siblings spent the next half an hour watching clouds and speculation on what they looked like. While the kittens came and went from the apartment, not sure of the humans who lived there.