Part 5


"What? What do you mean?" Justin asked, alarmed, as snatches of his conversations with Ted and Brian rushed to his mind.

---

"Did Cynthia tell you about Triple B?... 'Triple B' for 'Big Bad Brian'."

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"A few ad agencies in town could make good use of someone with your talent... Kinnetik's the best."

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"Kinnetik's his baby and he won't let anyone fuck up with a client or the reputation of the agency."

---

"I'm here with Brian."

"B-Brian? I thought... You work fucking fast... It's not a smart thing to fuck with him and it won't get you any favors."

"Theodore, if you know what's good for you, you'll shut the fuck up!"

---

Kinney... Kinnetik... How could I have gotten a 1500 on my SATs and not figured out that-

"-You're my boss..."

"And I can't fuck an employee." Brian sat on the edge of the bed. "When I was still working for Ryder, I fucked one of my new co-workers," he explained. "Next thing I knew, that piece of shit filed a sexual harassment suit against me."

"But I promise I'm not trying to-"

"That mistake almost cost me my career, Justin. And I was just a senior ad exec at the time. I can't take that risk again, there's too many things at stake this time. I have my own agency now, and I won't jeopardize its future."

Justin sat next to Brian and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Well, it's too late."

"What?!" he shouted, standing up, then faced Justin - naked and apparently unconcerned with the fact. "You motherfucking bastard!"

"Brian, calm down!" Justin said, raising his own voice but smiling. "You've misunderstood me."

"Then what are you saying?" Brian waited for Justin to slip his underwear back on before pressing him, glaring: "Well?"

"If something hadn't already happened between us, I'd understand your decision to stop this from going any further for fear I'd cause some trouble. But we found out you were my boss after we fucked," Justin pointed out. "The damage is done and it's not something you can change. It's too late now to think about the possible consequences. There's no turning back."

"Shit!"

"Look, you can tell me about your no-repeat policy, but you can't deny what happened a moment ago was fucking earth-shattering!" Justin said, suppressing a smile when he saw the little pleasured smirk on Brian's lips.

"Earth-shattering?" Brian asked, tongue-in-cheek, before sighing and closing his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he was obviously trying to decide what to do.

"I don't want to take advantage of the situation but if you really want to be sure, there are a couple of things we can do."

Brian opened his eyes, intrigued. "Like what?"

"First of all, I want something from you."

* ~ ¤ ~ *

"I knew it!" Brian snapped. "Christ! I need a fucking drink."

He stood up, walked to the living room and, spotting Justin's untouched glass of Beam, downed it in one gulp. He grabbed his pack of cigarettes and lit one.

"What will it be?" Brian asked. "Money? Because frankly, I don't see what else I could do for you. So, what do you want? A bigger income? Some cash? Or maybe you want me to pay for your tuition without you having to work at Kinnetik?"

"That's not what I want," Justin replied, leaving the bedroom and walking to the windows overlooking the city.

"Then fucking tell me!" Brian growled, his cigarette hanging from his lip.

"I just want the answer to my earlier question." He turned his eyes to Brian. "Could you fall in love with me?"

"What? You're kidding me, right?"

"Please. Just pretend the last ten minutes never happened and tell me. Could you fall in love with me?"

"Justin..."

"Could you, Brian?"

Brian slowly sat on the couch, the smoke from the nervous drag he just took leaking from his nostrils. "Justin, I-I..." He sighed, lightly tapping the ashes of his cigarette into the ashtray in front of him. "I don't know."

"Really?"

"I've never been in love with somebody. I don't know if I know how, or if I even can." He took another puff. "God, I hate this shit!"

"But you were willing to give it a try," Justin insisted. "I mean... that's why you invited me in the first place, right? To see if we - you - could fall in love."

"Yes! But not anymore. You'll be working for me in a few hours, for fuck's sake!"

Justin walked towards Brian and sat down on the coffee table, facing him.

"Then tear up my contract. You haven't signed it yet, right? So it's not like it was official or anything. I'll contact Vangard on Monday."

"Vangard?"

"They offered me the same deal. I just chose Kinnetik because you told me it was the best."

"But what if Vangard's already signed someone else? What will you do? You don't have the cashier job anymore!"

"Then I'll find something else, Brian. It's no big deal!"

"It is! You're talking about your future! You can't jeopardize it for... for..."

"I can. And I will. Providing you still want to give us a try."

"And what if our rel... rela... what if it doesn't last? You'll have done all that for nothing."

"I'll never consider falling in love a waste. If you don't take some risks in your life then what's the point? What about the good things you might miss?"

"Justin..."

"No, Brian! Falling in love is a risk worth taking. You're a risk worth taking. And if it means taking a twenty year loan to pay for my tuition, then I'll take it!"

Brian looked at Justin for a very long time before standing up. He took a last drag of his cigarette before stubbing out the butt and, taking the younger man's hand in his, walked to his desk.

"Can you verify this is the contract you signed the other day?" Brian asked, handing Justin a bunch of papers from his opened briefcase.

"Yes," Justin confirmed after checking all the pages and gave it back for Brian to tear it up.

"Good." Brian took a pen and began to sign his name near each of Justin's signatures.

"B-Brian! What are you doing?!"

"You're right. Life's not worth living if you don't take risks," he replied, signing the last page of the contract.

"But what if I'm a troublemaker?"

"I don't think you are. But if I find out I'm wrong, I'll have to punish you..." Brian smirked, before growing suddenly serious. "I'm not taking a risk, Sunshine. I'm taking a chance on love."

Brian pulled Justin forward and slid his tongue into the welcoming mouth, feeling him melting, then curling his tongue around his as Justin caressed and teased, sucked and stroked. Brian slowly walked them backwards and when the back of his knees pressed against the edge of the couch, he spun them around and pushed Justin on it. The laughter escaping the blond's mouth died as soon as Brian's lips found his again and devoured Justin with renewed fervor, while he began to thrust against him, grinding their hardening cocks together.

One hand fisted in the silky hair, Brian broke out of the kiss and looked at his lover, whose lips were bruised and pupils wide.

"I'm glad you came today," he whispered, the fingers of his other hand lightly stroking Justin's cheek. "And that you stopped me from-"

"You're welcome..." Justin's smile became suddenly shy. "Does that mean we're boyfriends now?"

"Not boyfriends," Brian replied, cringing at the word, and rolling on his side. "It sounds too... high school!"

"Then what?"

"I don't know. Do we really need a label?"

"It could be helpful if we have to introduce each other to people," Justin pointed out.

"I've already introduced you to the people that matter."

"But not me..."

Brian's hand brushed the blond locks from Justin's forehead. "When I figure something out, I'll let you know," he whispered before crushing their lips back together, ready to spend the rest of the evening in a tangle of legs and naked flesh.

* ~ ¤ ~ *

Monday, November 26, 2001

"And finally, this is the forecast for the end of the year." Ted handed Brian a list of numbers. "As you can see, Kinnetik's ahead of what we hoped for 2001."

"Eighteen million?" Brian asked. "Last year we finished over twenty."

"That's right, but this is if Kinnetik loses the Spencer account." Ted pointed out a line at the bottom of the page. "And this is if we keep it."

"Fuck! Twenty-three million profit?"

"Yep. What do you plan to do with it?"

"What do you suggest?"

"The best investment there is: yourself."

"You want me to spend twenty-three fucking million on me?"

"You've worked like a son of a bitch. Treat yourself to something special and extravagant. Something you thought you could never afford."

"Brian," Cynthia said in the buzzer. "Murphy's already working on Brown's new ad. He doesn't have time to help with the Spencer account."

"What about Damian?"

"Busy, as well as everybody else at the Art Department except the new trainee. Justin Taylor."

"Fine. Send him in," Brian replied, a small smile appearing on his lips as he remembered their weekend.

"So, you haven't fucked him. I mean... if Justin's still working here..."

Christ! Ted... He's still here.

"Remember what I said the other day, Theodore?"

"Right. Nobody's business but yours." He took the folder Brian handed him back and walked towards the door. "About the profits-"

"I'm sure I'll come up with something to delight myself with," Brian replied, dismissing his accountant.

"Let me know if I can help..."

* ~ ¤ ~ *

Five minutes later, a knock on the door had Brian raising his head from the files he was reviewing.

"Mr. Kinney?"

"Taylor. Come in."

The young man approached Brian's desk, trying very hard not to smile like a fool.

"Sit down."

Oh yeah, he wanted to just do that: sit on Brian's lap and kiss him until they were both hard and panting and then, tear off his clothes and ride him-

Stop it, Justin! You know Brian wants you to stay professional when you're both at work! But, oh God! Look at him! He's so fucking hot in that suit! And that desk could hide an army behind it... I could just drop to my knees and blow him and nobody would know I'm- Stop it! Just... Stop. It.

Justin took a deep breath and asked: "You wanted to see me?"

"Cynthia told me you were very enthusiast the day of your interview," Brian said with a neutral voice.

"I'm very excited! It'll be a pleasure to work under you... sir," Justin smiled.

"You understand that you'll be required to work long, hard hours, sometimes deep into the night?"

Justin nodded, grinning.

"Well, then... you can start... immediately." Brian stood up, walked around his desk and sat down on it, facing to Justin.

"You mean... you want me to..." Justin stammered. He licked his lips, his eyes never leaving Brian's groin a few inches from him, and wondered if his lover was really implying what he thought he was implying.

"Work with me on a campaign, yes," Brian smirked, before leaning forward and whispering: "The blowjob you were thinking of will have to wait till the lunch break, twat."

Justin flushed and watched Brian leaning backward, his tongue in his cheek and his eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Brian, by any chance..." Ted said entering the office. "Oh, hi Justin!"

"Hey Ted," the blond replied, his face still flushed.

"Are you ok? You seem a bit feverish. I hope you haven't caught that flu some of our co-workers have."

"Uh... I..."

"You should take a hot bath tonight when you get home, then eat some chicken soup and go to bed early. You should feel-"

"Theodore," Brian interrupted him. "Did you came back for a reason or just because you wanted to play doctor with young Mr. Taylor?"

"Oh, uh... sorry. Have you seen my Mont Blanc? I can't find it anywhere and since I came here earlier for you to sign those invoices..."

Brian looked on his desk and spotted the expensive pen. "Here," he said, throwing it to the accountant. "Now get out. And close the door behind you!" He then buzzed his assistant. "Cynthia, I don't want to be interrupted."

"Sure, boss!"

"Now, where were we?"

"You wanted me to work-"

"Right!"

Brian reached behind him and handed Justin his notes on the Spencer campaign. He explained what message he wanted the campaign to deliver and what he expected the ad to look like. Then he sent Justin back to the Art Department, asking him to return as soon as he had something to show him.

* ~ ¤ ~ *

Four hours later, he was again knocking on Brian's door.

"You're right on time for that blowjob, Sunshine," his lover said, once Justin had closed the door.

"Actually, I was coming to you because of the ad."

"Oh. You're having some difficulties?"

"Not at all. I finished it."

"That soon? You sure there's nothing more you need to do?"

"Not from my point of view. But you're the expert..."

"Well then... Impress me," Brian said, standing up.

Justin put the boards he had done on the table near the desk and waited while Brian studied them.

"So?" he asked, five minutes later when Brian still hadn't said a thing.

"You did this?"

"Yep."

"Anyone help you?"

"Nope."

A slow smile formed on Brian's lips.

"You're impressed, aren't you?" Justin said, grinning.

"You're a genius! And a fast one! Of course I'm fucking impressed!"

Brian grabbed Justin by the back of his neck, pulled him close, and moaned as their lips brushed together. The kiss was long, passionate, and demanding, and left them breathless and hungry for more when their lips parted.

"Can I have that blowjob, now?"

* ~ ¤ ~ *

Saturday, December 22, 2001

"When are you leaving?" Brian asked, panting.

They had just fucked for the third time that day and were trying to catch their breath.

"Tomorrow. After lunch."

"So you can spend the night?"

Justin smiled when he heard the little plea in his lover's voice. "Let me just call my mom so she doesn't alert the media of my kidnapping."

Brian huffed a laugh and handed the phone to Justin before going to the living room to give him a moment of privacy.

He opened the bottom drawer of his desk and grabbed the small box hidden under some personal files. He had thought long and hard about giving his lover a Christmas gift. Then last week, Brian got stuck in traffic while Justin was waiting for him outside, in the cold, on his way back from PIFA. It was then Brian knew what he needed to do. And the result was there, in that small wrapped box.

"Mom gave me a hard time about letting me stay here tonight," Justin said, joining him in the living room. "But after some pleading, she just sighed and told me to have a good evening with, I quote, 'my mysterious boyfriend'. I think she might be hinting she'd like to meet you." He quickly kissed Brian and finally took a look at what his lover had in his hand. "What's this?"

"Open it." Brian handed him the box.

"It's a Christmas gift? I don't have yours with me. We should wait and open them together when I come back from Harrisburg."

"I don't want to wait. Open the box."

"Brian..."

"Please, Sunshine. Open it," he asked one more time.

"Ok. If you insist..."

Delicately, Justin unwrapped his gift and open the small box. Inside was a sun-shaped keychain with his initials engraved in the center. And attached were two keys.

"Brian?"

Brian took the keychain from Justin's hand. "I don't want you to ever have to wait for me again when I might be late. So that one opens the building door," Brian said, showing the long and shiny silver key. "And that one's for the loft," Brian added, showing the smaller key. "You already know the alarm code, so if you need some place calm to work on an assigment, you don't have to ask me. Just use your key. Use it anytime you need it, anytime you want it. Even if it has nothing to do with PIFA or Kinnetik, ok?"

"Ok," Justin replied, his eyes full of tears. He sniffed. "Thank you." he added before hugging his lover.

Brian brushed away Justin's tears with his thumbs. "One last thing. How about celebrating New Year's Eve here at the loft?"

"My mom wanted to cook my sister and me her special holiday ham for New Year's Eve."

"Well, I do have a big and quite new oven here. If she was willing to change her plans a bit, I think that would be a nice way for all of us to meet."

"You want to meet my family?"

"Well, you already met mine. It's time to show your mom how amazingly handsome, smart and wealthy your 'mysterious boyfriend' is," Brian said, tongue-in-cheek, before adding more seriously. "I'm sure she'd like to know she can trust me to take care of her son."

"Yeah, she worries about me..."

"She's a mom. That's what moms do."

Justin raised up on his toes and slowly kissed his lover. "Thank you, Brian."

"My pleasure. Merry Christmas, Sunshine." Then he leaned forward to kiss those delectably plump lips once more.

* ~ ¤ ~ *

One week later

Two days before her first meeting with the man her son was dating, Jennifer Taylor was feeling anxious. Justin's insistence about not revealing any information about his boyfriend was making her think the man wouldn't live up to her expectations.

For days, all she knew about him was his name: Brian. It was quite common but when she made that remark to Justin, he just laughed and told her Brian was anything but common.

After that, Jennifer tried to learn more about him, asking tons of questions. But the only answers Justin gave her were that Brian was a businessman, was older than him and that he never had been involved with anyone else before.

Since then, her mind was on overdrive, which was why she was waiting for a counselor at the GLC: she needed some advice because she was sure Justin was hiding something about Brian from her - something she wouldn't be able to deal with.

What if Brian never had been involved with anyone before was because of his physical appearance? What if he was nice but had a physical or mental disability?

What if 'older' actually meant 'old enough to be Justin's father'? Or worse, 'old enough to be his grandfather'? Maybe he was old enough to be in a wheelchair.

And what about his business? What if it was something shameful, like a porn site? Or maybe... maybe he was in the Mafia!

"You seem on the verge of a panic attack," said the man sitting in front of her. "Is everything ok?"

"No! I mean... yes, thank you," Jennifer replied with an unconvincing smile.

"Want to tell me what's wrong? I'm a good listener and talking to a stranger is sometimes easier."

Jennifer took a closer look at the man: he was a very attractive brunet, in his late twenties, maybe early thirties and something about him was making her feel safe.

"I wouldn't want to bother you..."

"Actually, you'd be helping me. I'm bored out of my mind and these magazines are for shit," he smirked.

Jennifer laughed. "Well, if you insist." She took a deep breath. "I suppose that, since you're here, you're gay friendly."

"You could say that..."

"Well, my son is gay. I've known it for a few years now, and I never had a problem with it. He's my son and I love him, whether he prefers boys or girls."

"That's a great attitude. Not all parents react like you when they find out their child is gay," the man smiled.

"I know. My ex-husband... but that's another story." She took another deep breath. "In a few days, I'm having dinner with my son and his boyfriend and I'm very anxious about it."

"I see. First meeting? What are you afraid of?"

"My son, Justin, had always been very talkative about his past boyfriends. I knew almost everything about them before actually meeting them. But with this one, it's like he's hiding something," Jennifer said before explaining to the stranger the few things Justin had told her about his new boyfriend. "And it's driving me crazy! All I can think about is that my baby is in love with a Mafioso old enough to be his grandfather and whose nickname is 'Slash'!"

The man laughed out loud. "You've got an incredible imagination!"

"I'm exaggerating, aren't I?"

"I'll agree the lack of details could be because he fears you won't approve of his choice. But maybe he just wants to surprise you, in a good way," the man smiled.

"You think? Justin told me Brian was anything but common..."

The stranger's smile widened. "Will you love him any less if his boyfriend doesn't meet your expectations?"

"Of course not! I just don't like surprises... What if Brian is effeminate?"

"All gays being effeminate is just a cliché! Some are, but most gay men could be mistaken for straight." The man smirked and put his tongue in his cheek: "What if he was like me?"

"You mean you're... Well, I would ask you if you have a straight brother!" she replied and they both laughed.

Just then a door opened and a little boy ran towards the man. "Daddy!"

"Hey, Sonny boy. Ready to spend the weekend with your old dad?"

"You not old, Daddy!"

"I see you taught our son the basics of a good relationship between you and him," a blond woman said, smiling. "I'm sorry. I'm Lindsay Peterson and this is Gus," she added, turning towards Jennifer.

"Jennifer Taylor."

"Come Daddy! I wanna see Du'bo!" Gus said pulling his father's arm.

"Dumbo, huh? Seems like we need to go to the DVD store then. Ladies..." he gave a nod with his head before walking away with the little boy in his arms.

"What an adorable son you have!" Jennifer gushed. "And he just looks like his father. Gus will be a heartbreaker in a few years."

"That's what half of gay Pittsburgh thinks about his father, among other things... Anyway... You were waiting for someone?"

"Um... I wanted to see a counselor, but... I think I found the answers to the questions I had."

"Well then, have a good day," Lindsay said.

"You too," Jennifer replied before leaving the GLC.

* ~ ¤ ~ *

Monday, December 31, 2001

"And please, don't stare at him if he has a scar on his face or if he's in a wheelchair," Jennifer said to her daughter after knocking on the loft door.

"Mom, please..." Molly whined.

At that moment, the door slid open and Justin greeted the two women.

"Mom, Molly! I'm so glad you could come tonight!" He gave them a hug before turning towards the man who was on his left. "This is Brian."

"Hello, Ms. Taylor," Brian said, his eyes shining mischievously.

"But... He's... he's..." Oh God! Say something Jennifer! "You... You have a straight brother?"

"Mom!" both siblings said, embarrassed, while Brian just laughed out loud.