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Chapter 17 – Interruptions, Part 3 of 4
Same Day…(Day 13)


A few hours later, Brian’s cell phone rang.  Again the caller ID was Toronto.

“Lindsay?” Brian asked, as he answered the phone.

“Brian, it’s me.  I used Lindsay’s cell phone, because I figured you wouldn’t answer if you knew it was me,” Michael said quietly, with his voice was almost a whisper.

“Good thinking Mikey,” Brian answered. “Now, what do you want?”

“I want to talk to Justin.”

“After what you did to Gus, do you really think I’m going to let you talk to Justin?”

“I’m sorry about Gus.  I can’t help it if he overheard Lindsay and me talking. I said that I was sorry.  Now will you let me talk to Justin?”

“Not going to happen Mikey!  You know how Gus feels about Justin.  You and Lindsay should have been more careful.  You should have known that Gus doesn’t understand subtlety and innuendo; he takes everything literally.  It’s time for you to get a handle on whatever is bothering you, Michael. “

Michael made careful notice of the use of his full name, so he knew that Brian was pissed.

“Look Brian, I said I was sorry.  Will you let me talk to Justin?”

“He has a cell phone, Michael.  Why didn’t you call him on his cell phone?”

“I did.  He’s not answering.  Brian, will you let me talk to him?  You let Gus talk to him, why not me?”

“Gus needed to talk to Justin.  I’m not sure about you.  Let’s just say I’m protecting Justin.”

“You don’t need to protect Justin from me,” Michael insisted.  “Besides, Justin can take care of himself,” Michael said with a laugh.

“That’s true, he can.  But he shouldn’t have to.”

“No he shouldn’t.  Please let me talk to him Brian,” Michael pleaded.

“Michael, I’ll let you talk to him…but no craziness. Ok?” Brian demanded.

“Ok.” Michael agreed.

Justin took the cell phone.

“Michael?” Justin said upon receiving the phone.

“Justin, are you ok?” Michael eagerly asked.

“Michael, I’m fine.  Brian told me that my painting was disturbing to you.  I’m so sorry,” Justin commented.

“No. No.  I love the painting.  It just that JT was missing,” Michael explained.

“JT didn’t seem to fit in this painting, Michael, so I left him out.  If it upsets you so much I guess I could probably add him.  But I thought the painting was complete just as it was.”

“Are you really all right, Justin?”

“I’m fine.  As I told Gus, Brian is taking really good care of me.  He even took me to Popagano’s last night,” Justin explained with a smile.

“Well, at least he came to his senses and brought you home.  He missed you, really missed you, you know,” Michael almost whispered.

“Well, I missed him too.  He asked me to come back to work on a project.  So I’ll be here for a few days.”

“That’s good.”

“So you can relax and enjoy your time with Jenny Rebecca.  Believe me, Michael.  I’m fine.  I’ll see you and Ben when you get back.”

“Ok.”

“Bye Michael.  Here’s Brian.” Justin said, handing the phone back to Brian.

“So are you satisfied now, Mikey?” Brian asked, once he regained the cell phone.

“Justin seems to be ok.  At least he’s there with you.  So at least I know I can stop worrying about him being lost in New York.”

“Thank goodness, Michael.  You had everyone worried about you.”

“I’m sorry.  I feel much better now,” Michael confessed.

“I’ll see you when you get back.  Bye Mikey!”  Brian hung up the phone, shaking his head.

Brian turned to Justin and said, “Michael seems to be ok now.  But somehow I know this isn’t over.  For Michael this is probably just the tip of the iceberg.  It’s like now he’s trying to grow up, and somehow he can’t make all the pieces fit.”

Justin shrugged his shoulders and started to clear away the dishes.  Brian decided to help.  While they were in the kitchen there was a knock at the door.

Brian commented with a smile, as he went to answer the door, “You know Sunshine, I’ve been here in the loft for a year while you were gone, and I didn’t have this many interruptions.  You come back for less than 24 hours, and look at what happens.  So whom haven’t we heard from today?”

Brian opened the door and refused to let this visitor inside.

“What do you want?” Brian asked, as he blocked the entrance.

Emmett pushed past Brian, pretending he didn’t exist.

“I didn’t come to see you.  Where’s Justin?” Emmett demanded.

“Em, I’m right here,” Justin said, as he was drying his hands.

“Sweetie, are you all right?”  Emmett asked, as he walked over to give Justin a hug. “Michael’s been so worried about you.”

“I just talked to Michael.  He’s in Toronto.  Everything is ok.  Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Justin asked.

“All I can tell you is that Michael has been doing some serious soul searching ever since he got your painting.  He realizes that he’s done some really awful things.  He has regrets. Now I think he has to find a way to live with them,” Emmett explained, trying not to betray any confidences.  “ But at least you’re home.  How long are you staying?”

“You can let go of him, Emmett. I promise you don’t have to keep your arm around Justin to be sure he’s not going anywhere,” Brian insisted teasingly. “I’m keeping my eyes on you, Em.”

“Oh you!” Emmett responded playfully, as he finally released his hold on Justin.

“Brian asked me to come home to help him on a project.  So it looks like I’ll be here for a while,” Justin explained.  “Did Ted call you about Babylon tonight?”

“Yes. As soon as he told me you were here, I came right over.  I couldn’t wait for tonight.”

“Now that you’ve seen him.  I suppose you’ll be leaving so Justin and I can get back to work,” Brian suggested, hoping that Emmett would take a hint.

“Is that what you call it?” Emmett asked, not believing for a moment that Brian and Justin were working.   “Brian, you can’t keep Justin all to yourself.  So get over it!”

“I can see that Emmett.  But we do have to get back to work. So you can see Justin tonight.  Goodbye Em.” Brian remarked, as he continuously motioned toward the opened door.

“I’ll see you tonight, Em.” Justin said with a smile.

Emmett finally decided to take the hint and finally leave.  As Brian shut the door, he wondered what other interruptions there were going to be this afternoon.  He realized that because of the brainstorming with Justin he had a lot of ideas that he wanted to experiment with.  Brian was really eager to get back to work on those ideas.

So while Brian resumed work on the computer, Justin grabbed his sketchbook and began to sketch.  Brian became deeply engrossed in his work.  The ideas for the campaign were coming to life.  

Justin went to the storage area and retrieved his computer.   

As he was setting it up, Brian looked up from his work and noticed the additional hardware.  He asked, “Where did that come from?”

Justin simply smiled and said, “Remember, I told you not to go in the storage area?”  

They set up the second computer, which allowed them to work simultaneously.  During the entire time they were working together they were continually touching each other.  A hand, a leg, a foot…it didn’t matter.  Their touching happened without disturbing the rhythm of the work.  At one point when Brian was completely absorbed in the project, Justin leaned in to kiss him gently on the lips.  

Justin went into the kitchen to assemble the ingredients for dinner.  Brian smiled to himself, as he thought about of having one of Justin’s home cooked meals.  

After a bit, Justin announced he had a craving for lemon squares, so he was going to walk to the Diner to pick some up.  Brian merely shrugged at this remark and commented that he would just continue working.  Brian had no problem working while Justin rambled around the loft getting ready to leave. 

But when Justin was gone and the loft was quiet, Brian could no longer concentrate.  He felt the immediate shift in the aura of the loft.  Brian stood up and walked to the window. Brian watched until Justin disappeared from sight.

Somehow, Brian knew he wasn’t going to get any work done until Justin returned.