Lois and Carolyn, thanks for the beta...you're the greatest!
Chapter 37 – Just Checking In A Little While Later…(Day 45) Brian got up to answer the knock on the door. He was not surprised to find Spyder standing there. “Please tell me, you haven’t heard from a certain artist that we’re both overprotecting?” Brian asked teasingly. “No, not a word. How about you?” Spyder asked with a smile in return. “He’s been silent. I know that his phone is on. I made sure that he turned it on before he left the loft this morning.” “So we terrorized him into hiding out in his studio,” Spyder teased, “I guess both of us in overprotective mode was too much for his little blond psyche, huh?” “We make a formidable pair,” Brian said with a laugh, as he and Spyder shook hands. “So what are you doing roaming the streets at this hour?” “Well I wanted to return your limo, and say thanks.” “You’re welcome.” “I had drinks and dinner with Adam Lyons. I must say he was suitably impressed.” “You saw Adam? That must have been interesting.” “He asked about you. He’d heard the rumors that you were in town.” “And…” “He was looking forward to hooking up with you again…until he Googled Taylor. He knows that you and Taylor are a couple. He also knows that you’re in town.” “What did you tell him?” “I simply told him that with Taylor here, you were in town all the time. He bought it for the moment, but Brian there’s too much buzz about you. That line isn’t going to work much longer.” “I know.” “Adam thinks I should return to the social scene here in town. Maybe it’s not a bad idea since I do want to be sure that you and Taylor travel in the right circles,” Spyder said with a laugh, making himself comfortable in the nearest chair. “I’m surprised that with you and Adam being friends that you’re still so willing to be actively involved with Justin and me,” Brian said, resuming his relaxed position. “Can I offer you anything to drink?” “No thanks, I’m fine. You know Brian, I don’t let anyone dictate to me who I can and cannot see. I like you and I like Taylor. Adam is merely an old friend. I’m very trustworthy because I keep confidences. Do you have a problem with that?” “Not at all. I’m just surprised that you would have me call on Barrister, Wilkins & Evans, when you knew that Adam was probably going after the account.” “Your calling on the firm is purely business. I admit I have a warm spot in my heart for the firm. I wanted them to have the best ad agency. That wasn’t going to happen unless the firm had a choice. Mitchell is smart enough to know what he wants. I simply made an introduction.” “That’s fair, and I’m pleased that you had enough confidence in me for that introduction.” Brian said, “Now tell me how things went today with Belluss Occhiali and Eyeconics.” “Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” Spyder said with a laugh. “After I loaded the software on their computers, we worked a bit together. Here’s the first draft of text for the brochure,” Spyder said, handing over a few printed pages. “I’ve already emailed you the file.” “Well…” Brian was pleasantly surprised. “We also wrote the script to run on the monitors. We tried to make a selection of the images to go with the script. You’ll have to take a look at what we selected. We couldn’t settle on the music though…so I thought you and Taylor would settle on that. They also found enough archival images so that a photo shoot is unnecessary for this showcase.” “I can’t believe you got all that done.” “I think they like me, so they wanted to work together. I couldn’t argue with that. Since we got so much accomplished, I thought I would make that trip I need to make out to the coast. That way I should get back here on Monday. If you need to send me stuff before then, just email it to me. I can’t work on my tan the whole time I’m gone. Of course, from what Taylor has told me about the weekend that you guys have planned, not too much will be happening here anyway.” “So he told you about the gathering did he? I only set it up so that my son would have a play date when he was visiting me, and hopefully Justin could get some painting done. Otherwise, Gus would never give Justin a moment’s rest. For some reason my son is crazy about Justin, and every now and then I have to remind him to whom Justin belongs.” Spyder burst out laughing as he tried to picture that discussion between father and son. “I don’t know what you think is so funny,” Brian commented in all seriousness. “Nothing, Brian. I’m sure you wouldn’t understand,” Spyder said with a smile, “I would just love to hear that conversation between you and your son.” “You’re right, it pretty funny…and it never seems to do any good,” Brian added with a laugh. “Anyway…I guess I’ll pick up dinner and stop by the studio. I don’t want Justin to become a starving artist.” “You do that. I may stop by the studio on my way home. I want to be sure that I touch base and let him know that I’m leaving.” Spyder gathered up his things to leave. He and Brian said their goodbyes. “I’ll call you,” he added. “And have a good meeting with Mitchell.” “I’ll do my best,” Brian whispered. *** Spyder left Brian and headed right to Justin’s studio on his way home. Justin was painting away, but he didn’t mind the interruption. He opened the door and smiled at Spyder. “If you’re checking to see if I’m painting…you can see for yourself that I am,” Justin say right away, still holding the paintbrush in his hand. “I just stopped by to let you know that I’m leaving for the coast. I’ll email if I need you anything I need you to work on for Barrister, Wilkins & Evans while I’m gone. I’ll be back here no later than Monday.” “I’ll miss you,” Justin admitted. “That alone makes the trip worthwhile,” Spyder said with a smile. “I just left Brian. He said something about bringing dinner to you here in the studio. So he should be here any minute.” “That’s good. I was so busy painting that I forgot about lunch.” “You’ve been doing that a lot lately,” Spyder reminded him. “I know. Once I get back to my studio at the house, Teres will make sure that I eat…not to worry.” Spyder got serious for a moment. “Taylor, did you talk to Brian about Kip?” “I told him that I saw Kip with Adam Lyons. That means that he’s been warned that Kip is in town so he won’t be caught off guard if their paths cross,” Justin explained. “I just had drinks with Adam Lyons…so he and I have reconnected. He knows that you and Brian are a couple. He figured it out when he Googled you. I merely confirmed it for him. He hasn’t figured out about the Kinnetik’s New York office yet. But it’s only a matter of time. So Adam and Brian will probably be traveling in the same circles soon. I’m glad you finally told Brian whatever secret you were keeping.” “I didn’t say that I did that,” Justin cautioned him. “I simply told him that Kip Thomas was in town. That’s all that Brian really needs to know at the moment.” “Are you sure?” Spyder challenged as gently as he could. “Yes. I’m sure,” Justin stated. “You have to let me handle this. I know what I’m doing.” “Ok. I’ll let it go for now. I’ll email you, while I’m gone. I’ll talk to you when I get back.” “Are you going to contact your family?” Justin asked, being eager to change the subject. “I still don’t know. We’ll have to see. I’m at least thinking about it.” “Have good trip,” Justin said as he hugged Spyder goodbye. Justin closed the door to the studio and returned to his painting. *** An hour later, Brian knocked on his studio door. Once again, Justin was ready for the interruption, and he quickly opened the door. “Teres isn’t here to feed you, so I thought I would bring you dinner,” Brian said, “I hope you’re hungry. I picked up Chinese.” Justin leaned into give him a kiss before removing the bags from his arms. “Spyder was here…not too long ago. He just stopped by to tell me he was leaving.” “Yeah. He said as much to me,” Brian said, making himself comfortable on the futon, and placing the food on the nearby table. Justin cleaned up a bit and made himself comfortable beside Brian. “How’s the painting going?” Brian finally asked, seeing that there were no paintings visible. “Pretty well. I think I’ll fly back here on Monday and finish my painting. I want to get the submission off to Milan by the end next week. Then I can start on the paintings for the other exhibits.” “I have my meeting with Barrister, Wilkins & Evans tomorrow morning. So I was thinking that we could fly back home tomorrow afternoon. How does that work with your schedule?” “I should be at a good stopping point by tonight. I have a couple of paintings to ship back to the house in the morning. That way they will arrive at the house of Friday without us having to take them on the plane. But I should be ready to leave with you in the afternoon.” “We should probably call Jennifer and see if she and Molly can come out to the house for dinner tomorrow? I’ll call Teres to see if she can whip up something. Otherwise, I’ll have dinner delivered. Either way, you and I need to talk to Jennifer. I don’t think we can put it off much longer,” Brian pointed out. Justin leaned over to rest against him. “I know…I can’t believe how fast things are moving.” “I’m glad that we’re doing this together. You know, I couldn’t do this without you,” Brian admitted. “Sure you could. You’re the best at what you do. I’m just here and madly in love with you,” Justin said, leaning in closer to give Brian a kiss. “I’m glad about that,” Brian whispered, as he wrapped his arm around Justin. “Oh, I need to call Gregory too,” Justin said as an afterthought. “Gregory, why? Why are you calling our decorator?” “Well with Nicky coming, I want to be sure that we have a room set up for him and Gus. I want them to be comfortable. So I’ll call Gregory and have him deliver the additional stuff we need. In fact, I think I’ll send him an email tonight. He’ll probably have everything set up by the time we get home tomorrow.” “I guess at some point, you and I will have to spend some time actually furnishing the house,” Brian suggested. “That’s going to be a real project!” he added with a laugh. “I still want us to be able to take our time when we do it,” Justin argued, “So I know that it won’t happen any time soon. In the meantime, the rented furniture keeps the house from feeling so empty.” “I agree.” Justin leaned over and wrapped his arms around Brian. “I want you to know, I really appreciate the fact that you haven’t complained about the rented furniture.” “You know, you chose comfortable stuff. We have everything that we need. You added the touches so everything feels like home. After we furnish our place here in the city, we’ll work on furnishing Bri-tin. We’ll do it together. Somehow, we’ll make the time. Ok?” “Ok,” Justin whispered in agreement. “Have you decided what we’re going to do about telling the family about the move?” “I’ve decided that I’m not telling anyone until the move is complete. Theodore, of course knows. Jennifer will need to know. If you need Emmett’s help, then he’ll have to know. If you swear him to secrecy he won’t gossip. If we leave him to figure things out, he’ll think out loud and be the gossip queen we both know he can be,” Brian said with a laugh. Justin burst out laughing for he knew what Brian just said about Emmett was so true. Then Justin got quiet for a moment. “What happened? Where did you go?” Brian asked. “I was just thinking how much I’ve missed everyone. It’s been weeks since we were really home for any length of time.” “I know. So much has been happening. You and I have been really busy, haven’t we?” “It’s been less than two weeks since you finally came to your senses and agreed that we were going to be together.” “I’m probably as happy about that decision as you are. I like waking up with you in bed beside me. But Theodore and I have a lot to do to pull everything off. In the meantime, I really want you to focus on your shows.” “I will. There shouldn’t be anymore distractions.” “Spyder got a lot done for the Collezione Fiero showcase. So that should come off on schedule. I’m glad that he was willing to help. He makes a great assistant…I wonder how long I can bribe him with breakfast and limo rides to keep him helping us here?” “Spyder is so unpredictable. I’m sure a lot will depend on what happens while he is on the west coast. We’ll have to see when he gets back.” “So are you going to show me what you’ve been working on?” “Not really. You know how I hate to show you unfinished art. You’ll see it when it’s all done.” “I guess I can live with that,” Brian said, touching his forehead to Justin’s. “I’m going back to the loft. I want to review my notes before my meeting in the morning.” “I should be home before too long. I just want to finish up a few things here,” Justin said, beginning to stand up. “Promise me you’ll take a cab back to the loft?” Brian demanded. “I’m perfectly capable of walking. I do it all the time. But, if it will make you happy I’ll take the cab,” Justin agreed. He figured it was easier to give in to Brian when he was like this. “Thank you,” Brian said with a sigh. “Eventually, you’ll have the studio where ever we live, and this won’t be an issue.” “I know,” Justin readily agreed. After they had finished eating, Brian helped Justin clean up and discard the take out cartons. Once the studio was once again returned to a professional state, Brian wrapped Justin in his arms. “I’m going back to the loft. I’ll see you when you get home.” Justin kissed Brian passionately. “Are you sure that you wouldn’t like one of my world-class blowjobs before you go?” Justin asked with a devilish smile, “You know it will be awhile before I get back at the loft?” Justin already knew the answer to that question. “Ordinarily, I don’t want to keep you from your work, but now that you’ve offered, how can I refuse?” Brian said with smile, pulling Justin on top of him as he collapsed on the futon.