Sickness & Health, Good Times & Bad

Chapter 49

Everyone at the Taylor-Kinney home was up early on Saturday. Lindsay and Melanie were off to the loft to get ready for the moving van to arrive. Brian, Justin and Gus headed to the soccer game. Brian talked game strategy with Coach Logue while Justin sat with Gus in his lap until the O’Briens arrived and Gus ran over to greet Kevin.

Roxanne put a blanket on the ground and the two boys flopped down to read Gus’s new zoo story book. Roxanne set up her chair next to Justin. “I am so glad that Gus is staying in Pittsburgh. He is such a good influence on Kevin. The other day Kevin asked me to help him read, that is the first time he ever asked that. You have all been so great with Kevin.”

Justin smiled, always happy to hear Gus praised. “Kevin is a great kid. He is so loving. We’re happy he and Gus get along so well.”

“You have all been so accepting of Kevin. You don’t know how rare that is. Even my own parents avoid being around him.”

Justin wasn’t sure what to say. “Well Brian and I like all of you and we’re glad Gus had made such a nice new friend.”

Roxanne didn’t answer and Justin was fairly horrified when he turned and discovered she was crying.

“Roxanne, I so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Roxanne smiled as she wiped her eyes. “You don’t have anything to apologize for Justin. I’m sorry I got so emotional on you. Please let’s just forget it happened.”

Justin nodded and turned back to the field to watch the pre-game warmup. He didn’t really understand what was happening on the field but he preferred watching that to continuing his conversation with Roxanne.

Justin spotted Ted and Blake walking to the field from the parking area and waved to them. He introduced them to Roxanne. Gus came running over to say hello to his uncles, he introduced them to his friend Kevin. Gus also told Blake that Justin had drawn a picture and he hah colored it for him. Blake told him he was anxious to see it and Gus beamed.

Greg and Brian joined the group when the game started. For a short time Gus sat on Brian’s lap and Kevin sat on his father’s lap but they soon went back to reading on their blanket.

Ted started to talk to Brian about the email he had sent but Blake took his hand. “Teddy, we are here to watch the soccer game.”

Brian started to say something but Justin gave him a look which made him return his attention to the game. The two blondes smiled at each other, both secure in their ability to control their partners.

John & Patrick’s team kept up their winning streak. Kevin and Gus came over to cheer the win. Kevin asked his mother if they were going to Uncle Brian’s house and was unhappy with her negative response. “Gus and I aren’t finished our story. If we went to his house we could read some more.”

Greg laughed. “That is a really good try pal but we are heading home. You and Gus can finish the story another day.”

Patrick came over and distracted his brother by grabbing him and spinning him around.

Justin looked around for John and saw him talking to a pretty dark haired girl with bright blue eyes. “Patrick who is John talking to over there?”

“That’s Patrice Anton. Her brother plays on the team. He told John his sister likes him.”

Justin looked over at Brian with a big smile. Brian shook his head. “Calm down Cupid. John has a good share of Kinney blood. He’ll have lots of flirtations before he is ready to settle down.”

Roxanne laughed. “So Brian does that mean you had lots of flirtations before you meet Justin.”

“Oh my god! I’m not sure I would call them flirtations but Brian had more than his share of one night stands before he realized just how much he adores me.”

Gus giggled. “Mommy says Papa worked really hard to capture Daddy.”

Justin ruffled Gus’s hair. “It was hard work but your Daddy was definitely worth the effort.”

Brian grinned. “That’s true.”

Greg and Roxanne just shook their heads. John and Patrice walked over to the group. “Patrice these are my uncles, Brian Kinney and Justin Taylor.”

Patrice smiled. “Hello. Mr Taylor I am a big fan of your art work. The art teacher at the Academy always talk about you as the well-known local artist. He will be thrilled that John and his brother are going to the Academy.”

Justin smiled. “Thanks. It’s nice to meet you. Patrick told us your brother plays on the soccer team.”

“Yes he does. He doesn’t play as well as John does or Patrick.”

A few more pleasantries and Patrice went back to her parents. Brian put his arm around John’s shoulders. “Already introducing her to the family. You’re a fast worker.”

John blushed bright red. “She asked to meet you. It’s not a big deal.”

After final good byes with the O’Briens they headed to the parking lot. Blake and Ted were waiting nearby.

*************************************************************************************

After a half day of work, Claire left the dental office in a better mood than the day before. This morning had gone pretty smoothly, no big issues and very little contact with Peggy Simons. She received her paycheck for a full week as receptionist.

When she got home Joan was waiting to leave for cashing Claire’s check and lunch. At her credit union Joan asked what Claire was going to pay her in board and insisted Claire use that money to open a saving account. Joan said this was another step on getting custody of her sons back.

After lunch, Joan went back home and Claire went to the drug store and bought a few things before heading off to buy some pills. Claire found her supplier in the usual spot.

“Sorry Claire. I can’t sell you anything.”

“I have money, I’m not asking for any credit.”

“Word came down from Tino that anyone who sells anything to you gets their supply cut off.”

Claire felt nervous thinking about getting through the week without any drugs. “He’ll never know. I just need some oxy to get me though this week.”

“Sorry Claire I can’t take a chance of getting on Tino bad side. I need him to supply me and he can be pretty unpleasant to anyone who crosses him.”

Claire turned away angrily and went back home.

************************************************************************************

When everyone got back to the house, Ted and Blake grabbed a couple bottles of water and headed for the tennis court. Gus and John hurried to change into swimsuits. Brian settled on a lounger with the Pittsburgh paper and the latest editions of his favorite magazines.

Justin got everything ready for their lunch before joining Brian to read the paper and some art magazines. Eventually Gus requested Daddy’s presence in the pool and Brian quickly changed into a swimsuit and joined his son and nephew in the pool.

Ted and Blake finished their tennis match. They took a pretty long shower before appearing in speedos and climbing into the hot tub. Justin brought them each a glass of his special adult pick lemonade. A short time later Gus, very politely, asked Uncle Ted if he wanted to play ring toss so Ted slipped into the pool.

Blake volunteered to play ring toss after Ted completed two games. Now that Ted was free Brian suggested they head to the study to talk about the “Hal situation”. Justin told them if they weren’t back in an hour lunch would start without them. Ted changed into dry clothes in the pool house and after changing his clothes upstairs Brian met him in the study.

After Blake had played 2 games of ring toss Justin put aside the newspaper. “Gus. Time to get out of the pool I need to get lunch ready. John will you please give me a hand in the kitchen?”

Gus made his way over to the pool steps. John boosted himself out of the deep end. “Sure Uncle Justin. I’m just going to go up and put on some dry clothes. I’ll be down in couple minutes.”

“Gus please go up put on some dry clothes. Leave your wet swimsuit in the bath tub, not on the bedroom floor okay. You should get Blake’s picture after you change. It’s in the media room. ”

“Yes Papa.”

Blake got out of the pool. “I’ll take a quick shower and put on dry clothes so I can help with lunch.”

Justin smiled. “You can just relax in the pool or the hot tub until lunch is ready.”

“I’d rather help, if that’s okay?”

Justin quickly agreed and went inside while Blake headed to the pool house to get showered and changed.

When John got downstairs Justin had assembled the ingredients for peach ice cream and John got the job of assembling the ice cream and getting it into the ice cream maker.

Gus came into the kitchen with the picture he had colored for Blake. Blake gave Gus a hug and thanked him for the picture and said he couldn’t wait to hang it in his office.

Gus and sat at the counter. Justin passed him a large bowl and the ingredients for the salad dressing. Gus’s job was to put everything in the mixing bowl and stir it with a whisk.

Justin was cutting vegetables to add to the pasta salad he made earlier. Blake got the job of slicing some of Alice’s homemade rye and wheat breads. After the bread Blake moved on to carving the roast beef Justin had stuck in the oven before leaving for the soccer game. John moved on to slicing tomatoes for the sandwiches and getting a few different kinds of cheese out of the refrigerator.

Meanwhile at the other end of the house, Brian and Ted were on a conference call with Cynthia and Patti. They were discussing how to handle their Hal situation. Brian was adamant that he did not want to pay Hal any severance since he had gone behind their back and gotten another job. Brian felt sure that Hal’s behavior on Friday had been calculated to get himself fired so he could start his new job and also get a nice amount of severance pay from Kinnetik.

Patti pointed out they did not have any proof that Hal was the person who was hired by the University Hospital. The other three people, although admitting they had no proof, felt sure that Hal was trying to scam them.

Just as the call was winding down, Gus knocked on the study door to let his Daddy and Uncle Ted know that lunch was ready.

By the time Brian and Ted got to the kitchen, everyone else had their sandwiches made and salad on their plates. The two men quickly made sandwiches and helped themselves to pasta salad.

After sampling the food Ted commented. “You guys are lucky to have Alice. The woman is a fantastic cook. Did she make all this yesterday or come in this morning to do it.”

Blake poked Ted in the side and shook his head. Justin just laughed. “I’ll have you know Ted that Brian and I did not exist solely on takeout food even before Alice became part of our household. Also I had no cook in New York and takeout there is too expensive to have every night.”

Gus gave his Uncle Ted a very disapproving look. “Papa cooks lots of stuff and I helped make the salad dressing.”

Brian smiled. “Theodore I’ll have you know that Sunshine is a man of many talents. Talents that are put to use in several different areas of our home.”

Justin smacked Brian’s arm. “That is more than enough information sharing from you!”

John laughed so much he almost choked on his sandwich. Life with the uncles was certainly interesting and a lot of fun. He and Peter laughed more since they had lived here than they did in all the years they lived with their mother.

Ted started to mutter an apology but Justin gave him a sunshine smile. “Ted, I’m not upset. No big deal. I know you would never deliberately do anything to hurt my feelings.”

Ted blushed in embarrassment. Blake gave him a kiss on the cheek. “See Teddy, everyone knows what a truly nice guy you are.”

Brian looked across the table at Blake. “I’m trying to eat here. Could you two dial down the schmaltz.”

Justin gave Brian another smack on the arm. “Brian behave yourself!”

Brian rolled his eyes but said nothing. Justin leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Brian turned his head and their next kiss was a little more passionate.

John looked over at his uncles. “Hey. I’m trying to eat here. Could you two dial down the ridiculous romance.”

Everyone laughed, even Gus who didn’t really understand why they were laughing.

After dessert of the homemade peach ice cream and some of Alice’s cookies, Ted and Blake left for home.

John and Gus went to the media room to play video games while Justin and Brian did clean up in the kitchen and discussed the plans for Brian, Patti and Cynthia’s meeting with Hal on Monday.

Justin listed to the plan. “Suppose our Hal is not the Hal who got hired by the hospital?”

Brian shrugged. “We just follow through on Patti’s plan but Sunshine I really feel it is our Hal who has a new job. The little creep is hoping to be fired and collect severance.”

Justin smiled. “I think so too.”

Later they decided to go out to dinner. There was a chain Italian restaurant at Robinson town center that Justin really liked so the four of them went there. John helped Gus cut up his entrée. Gus was thrilled to have his cousin’s attention focused on him. Brian was happy to focus his attention on Justin so everyone enjoyed dinner.

Back home Gus had his bath and made it through an entire story from his zoo storybook before falling asleep.

*************************************************************************************

On Sunday morning Claire attended Mass with her mother. She was feeling on edge, wondering where she was going to get some drugs. She knew Tino didn’t control drug traffic for the entire city but he was the supplier to the sellers that Claire knew.

After Mass Joan asked Claire to go to the cemetery with her to visit Jack’s grave since his birthday was coming up in the next week. Claire agreed since she wanted to get on her mother’s good side. They stopped to buy a potted flower and placed it on Jack’s grave. Both women were dried eyed and Joan felt like her duty was done. Joan believed a widow should visit her husband’s grave even if the widow was happy the husband was buried there.

When they got home Claire asked Joan if she could borrow her car so she could go shopping for some new clothes to wear to work. Joan agreed on her way to the kitchen to fix herself a drink to help drive any memories of Jack Kinney from her mind.

Claire drove to the North side of Pittsburgh. She drove slowly up and down the narrow side streets until she saw a possible dealer leaning against the wall outside a closed gas station. Claire parked and got out of the car. She strolled over and asked the man if he had anything to sell. Claire was able to buy some oxy pills and was happy to head home.

Claire parked the car in Joan’s driveway and get out quickly. She was anxious to get inside, take some pills and space out in her room. The driveway was shielded by tall, unkempt shrubs and Claire never noticed the man walking up the driveway towards her.

Suddenly Claire felt a hand on her shoulder and she spun around. “Tino! What are you doing here?”

“Watching out for you.” Tino grabbed her purse, opened it and took out the plastic baggie of pills.

“You don’t know what you might get when you buy your pills from strangers. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you so I’m going to confiscate these pills.”

Claire made a grab for the pills but Tino shoved her to the ground and tossed her purse on top of her. He walked down the driveway to where a car was stopped with the motor running. Tino opened the back door and climbed into the car which sped down the street.

Claire got up and brushed herself off. She wanted to start screaming and never stop. She felt like every nerve in her body was tingling. She bent over and lost her breakfast in the overgrown grass beside the car.

She went into the house, told her mother she didn’t see any clothes she liked. Claire went upstairs and got into a hot bath trying to calm herself down, relax her nerves and try to figure out how to deal with Tino.

************************************************************************************

Sunday was a quiet day at the Taylor-Kinney home. John made scrambled eggs for his uncles and Gus. Justin took John and Gus to play putt-putt and they stopped at the sea food store on the way home.

When they got home Brian was shut up in the study. Justin left John and Gus to apply the rub to the filleted salmon he had bought for dinner.

Justin knocked on the study door and went inside. Brian was on another conference call with Patti, Cynthia and Ted. “So guys, has anything new or different been said in the last fifteen minutes or so?”

Cynthia laughed. “Probably not.”

Justin looked directly at Brian. “I think it is time to stop the calls. You have a plan for your meeting tomorrow. You can only be so prepared because you have no idea what Hal is going to say or do.”

Brian looked annoyed. “Justin this is important. I know Kinnetik is not your first priority but it is important to me.”

“More important than your son? It is time for you to spend some time with him. Kinnetik will survive and thrive with or without Hal and you have a hell of a nerve to intimate I don’t care about it.”

Brian shook his head. “We won’t be much longer but just leave us alone for now.”

Justin thought he heard someone’s shocked reaction to Brian’s comments. “Brian since Kinnetik seems to be the most important thing in your life you can stay in here and flog this dead horse just as fucking long as you like. You have been given plenty of time to formulate your plan but if you need to endlessly discuss it just have at it.”

Justin turned and left the study slamming the door behind him. Ted was the first to speak. “Ah, I think maybe Justin is right about flogging the dead horse.”

Brian started to reply but was interrupted by Cynthia. “Listen Boss do NOT give Ted a hard time. We are just wasting time with this call. We know how we are going to approach Hal but we do not know what his reaction will be. We all have better things we could be doing with our Sunday afternoon and don’t you dare say that Kinnetik is not important to us.”

Brian grunted. “Okay this call is over.”

When Brian went out in the hall he heard John and Gus laughter from the kitchen. He continued down the hall and entered the kitchen with a sheepish expression on his face.
Justin spotted him immediately but said nothing. Gus looked up and got a huge smile on his face. “Hi Daddy. John and me are helping Papa get the fish ready for our dinner tonight. We rubbed it.”

John smiled at his cousin, he was amazed at what a happy little kid Gus was.

Before Brian could say anything the phone rang and Justin answered. “Hi Mom.”

“That sounds like fun. I’m sure they will all be happy to go bowling.”

“Tomorrow is John’s first day with the tutor so you’ll have to pick them up after 11:00.”

“Okay see you tomorrow. Love you.”

John and Gus looked at Justin anticipating what he was going to tell them. “You guys probably figured out that conversation from my half of it. Grandmom Jen is going to take you bowling tomorrow.”

Gus yelled “Hooray.” As John grabbed him and twirled around the room, both boys laughing.

While the boys were occupied with their celebrations, Justin gave Brian a raised eyebrow look. Brian smirked. “Thanks for pointing out the error of my ways Sunshine.”

Justin walked over, gave Brian a kiss and whispered “Hooray” in his ear and laughed.

Brian sliced some of the leftover roast beef and made sandwiches for everyone. His way of apologizing to Justin. Justin gave Brian a big smile which was his way of letting Brian know he wasn’t angry with him.

After lunch Brian, John and Gus kicked the soccer ball around the yard while Justin sketched on the patio. Eventually they all wound up in the pool.

After swimming for a while Justin went in the house to chop up some zucchini, tomatoes and broccoli for a stir fry to serve with the fish. He heard the front door open and a minute later Peter rushed into the kitchen and gave him a hug. “Hi Uncle Justin. I missed you. Josh’s cousins are kind of buttheads but we just ignored them and had fun by ourselves. It’s nice to be home.”

Justin laughed. “We missed you too. Everyone is out in the pool, you should go say hello.”

“I’m going to go upstairs and put on a swimsuit so I can go in the pool too.”

Peter had disappeared up the back stairs by the time Bill Gardner walked into the kitchen.

“Hi Justin.”

“Hi Bill. I hope Peter wasn’t any trouble.”

“No he was great. Having Peter along really helped Josh enjoy the weekend. My niece and nephew are older than Josh and they are fairly obnoxious.”

Justin laughed. “We used to think the same thing about John and Peter but they have proved us wrong.”

“My sister’s children come by it genetically. My brother in law is truly obnoxious and really conservative. He made some comments about gay people that rubbed Peter the wrong way. He defended you and Brian and said what amazing people you are. Mary and I backed him up but Peter was pretty impressive on his own. Josh asked him later if he was upset but Peter said he was happy to have the chance to tell people how wonderful you and Brian are.”

Justin nodded his head but didn’t say anything for a minute. “Thanks for letting me know and thanks for being good friends.”

Bill left just before Peter reappeared dressed for swimming. Justin told him about bowling tomorrow and was happy to see how excited he was about it.

After dinner the whole family watched a video. After Gus had his bath and story, Brian and Justin played billiards with John and Peter before retiring to their bedroom for the night.

John went to bed earlier than usual so he would be ready for the tutor and Peter read in his room.

When Brian shut and locked their bedroom door he expected Justin to ask for an apology. He stood by the door waiting.

Justin turned and looked at him with a smiled. “I’m not angry with you Brian. There’s no reason for you to look so guilty.”

Brian looked puzzled but crossed the room to stand by his partner. “So how come you aren’t angry?”

“Because I know how important Kinnetik is to you. I believe you also know that what is important to you is important to me. You just got caught up in your concern and forgot that for a minute. I understand how protective you get when someone or something you love is threatened.”

Brian kissed Justin who happily responded. Justin took his partner’s hand and led him to the bed. Both men quickly divested themselves of their clothes. Brian’s mouth roamed all over Justin’s body until the blonde was on his back, legs in the air begging his lover to fuck him into the mattress. Brian was happy to comply.

Afterwards as they lay entwined together Justin told Brian what Bill Gardner had said about Peter wanting to defend them. Brian chuckled. “His mother and grandmother would take that to mean we have completely corrupted his morals.”

The next morning Brian was up even earlier than usual. He was anxious to get to Kinnetik for the final preparations for the meeting with Hal.

When Brian emerged from the bathroom, dressed and ready to leave, he found his coffee, wheat toast and Guava juice waiting on a tray. Justin smiling at him.

“Wow Sunshine, you are up early this morning.”

“I wanted to be sure you ate something before you left. Remember, stay calm and follow your plan. Let Patti and Cynthia lead the meeting.”

Brian smirked. “Yes dear.”

Brian ate his breakfast and after a kiss from Justin he left for Kinnetik. Shortly after Brian left, Gus made his way into the Master Bedroom and was surprised to see his Papa wide awake and disappointed to find out his Daddy had already left for the city.

At 10 AM Hal knocked on Brian’s office door. He was surprised to see not only Brian but also Patti and Cynthia waiting for him.

Patti, with a smile firmly in place, spoke first. “Hal. Please come in and sit down.”

A slightly confused Hal sat in the open chair in front of Brian’s desk. Cynthia and Patti sat in the other chairs and Brian sat behind his desk.

“I thought I was meeting with just Brian this morning.”

Patti answered. “Hal after the Friday meetings I realized that I don’t think we have been fair to you. You seem confused about what exactly you should be concentrating on as the manager of the art department. We are all aware of how important the art department is to the overall success of Kinnetik. It occurred to me that it is unfair to expect you to do a good job as manager unless you completely understand what is expected of you.”

Cynthia spoke up. “When Patti realized what our problem was and came to me we discussed what the best way to solve this dilemma would be. We understand that the creation of the mentor program in the art department has obviously muddied the waters for you. This is a consequence we really did not anticipate and we know we have to be fair to you.”

This what not the meeting that Hal was anticipating and he was somewhat confused by Brian’s silence. “Well I do agree that the mentor program has created some issues in the art department that weren’t really considered when the program was set up.”

Patti’s smile never wavered. “That’s true Hal. Neither of us anticipated that the mentor program would cause any confusion about your duties and responsibilities. Now we just have to work on a clear job description so we can correctly assess your job performance.”

Cynthia took some papers out of a folder in her lap and handed them to all four attendees. “This is a log that Patti and I have created. In order to get a true picture of the manager’s job we are going to need your help Hal. What we need for you to do is fill out this log with everything you do in a day.

You’ll give Patti a copy of the log every day. Once a week you, Patti and I will meet and discuss the logs. Together we’ll determine what routine tasks could possibly be done by someone else. We’ll evaluate which are the most important things for the art department manager to be doing.”

Patti spoke again. “This is best way for us all to determine the proper job description for the manager of the art department and to remove any confusion you might have about the best use of your time. We should be able to easily complete this project in a month’s time.”

Hal looked at Brian who was silent with a slight smile on his face. “Brian you agree with this plan?”

“Personally I was disappointed by your recent job performance but Patti and Cynthia have convinced me that we need to have a clear understanding of your job duties before we can judge your performance.”

Hal was fumbling for a response. “Are the other department managers also filling out this log?”

Patti shook her head. “Not initially. Depending on how well this works for your position we may use this as a template for other job descriptions.”

“I think this is discrimination against me because I am heterosexual. None of the homosexual managers are being asked to do this.”

Cynthia chuckled. “Hal, this plan was decided upon by Patti and me. We are both heterosexual. I’m not sure why you feel we would be prejudiced against heterosexuals. No other managers have expressed the same confusion about their job duties as you did on Friday.”

“Well there is no way I am going to fill out this log every day for a month. You either trust me to do my job or not.”

With a concerned look Patti answered. “Hal, we don’t want you to look on this as any kind of punishment. On Friday you expressed in a meeting in this room and later in a meeting with me that you were not sure what your job responsibilities were any more. This is our attempt to help you. We certainly don’t want to lose a valuable employee like you.”

“There is no way I am going to fill out this log. It’s juvenile.”

Cynthia pulled another paper out of his folder. “In that case we need you to sign this form.”

“So you expected me to refuse. I feel like I am being set up.”

Cynthia pulled another paper. “Here is a form saying you agree to participate in the month long job description project. I just believe in being prepared, in case you haven’t noticed that before.”

Hal quickly signed the form saying that he refused to fill out the daily log and handed it back to Cynthia.

Patti frowned for the first time. “I have to admit I’m disappointed Hal. So now we need to decide what your new role at Kinnetik will be.”

Hal briefly smiled before assuming a more serious expression. Brian saw the smile and thought “we hooked him, now we just have to reel him in”.

“Why can’t I continue as the manager of the art department?”

Patti shrugged. “Hal, you have told us you are not sure what your exact duties should be and now you have told us you don’t want to be involved in defining the job. To have you remain as manager would be a formula for disaster.”

“So you are letting me go?”

Cynthia spoke up. “Of course not. You have been a loyal employee. We don’t want to abandon you just because the manager job is not working out. I understand it has been hard for you to adjust to recent changes in the department.”

Patti nodded in agreement. “For now I guess it makes sense to have you remain in the art department. Of course we will need to adjust your job grade and salary.”

“You’re going to cut my pay!”

Patti nodded again. “It wouldn’t be fair to other managers here to have you receive manager pay but not perform manager duties. Surely you understand that. I suggest we grade you as a senior art assistant. At least until we decide where you’ll fit best here at Kinnetik.”

“So you expect me to just blend in to the art department. How do I go from being the manager to just one of the workers?”

Cynthia sighed. “I can see where that could be a problem for you. We do have an opening in administration. One of the receptionists just took a job in accounting. We could probably give you a supervisor grade there. You could oversee the front desk staff and that way your salary cut wouldn’t be as drastic.”

Hal jumped to his feet. “Your suggestion is that I go from the manager of one of the most important areas of Kinnetik to being in charge of the receptionists?”

Patti stood as well. “Hal, we are trying to work with you to find a position here since you can’t continue in your present job.”

“Why not just fire me.”

Patti had a very concerned expression on her face. “Hal we are trying our best to avoid you losing your job here. You tell us you are unsure what your job duties are but you won’t assist us in clarifying your duties. I feel like you are not even meeting us halfway.”

“And I feel like I am being fucked over here.”

Patti gasped. “Hal there is no need to use that kind of language. We are trying our best. How do you suggest we deal with this situation?”

“I tired of this bullshit. I quit.”

Patti nodded. “We’d be sorry to lose you but if that is what you want to do we need you to tender your resignation in writing.”

“So give me a pad of paper and a pen.”

Brian slid a pad and pen across the desk to Hal. Hal quickly wrote “I quit as manager of the art department of Kinnetik.” And signed his name.

He slid it back to Brian. “Well Hal we’re sorry this didn’t work out. We’ll pay you for two weeks but we don’t need you to work out your notice. We’ll mail your final check to you.”

Hal laughed. “You owe me more than two weeks. My contract calls for six months’ salary and medical benefits.”

Patti answered. “That would be true if you were fired but there is no severance package if you resign.”

“You are forcing me out. You have to pay my severance.”

Brian smiled. “This note you just wrote and signed states that you quit. Everything that Patti and Cynthia have discussed with you was how to help you understand your job better or what other role you could fill here. No one but you talked about you leaving Kinnetik.”

“Fine. We’ll let my lawyer discuss that with you. I need to get my personal possessions from my office and copy my personal files off my PC and I’ll be out of here and glad to go.”

Cynthia spoke. “Actually Hal you can get your car keys but we’ll have anything else packed up and shipped to you. The PC you have been using is the property of Kinnetik. All the contents of the PC are also the property of Kinnetik. If you supply us with a list of the files you consider personal we will review those files and as long as they don’t contain confidential Kinnetik information we’ll copy those to a disk and ship that to you with your personal belongings.”

“Those files are mine. You have no right to look at them.”

Cynthia smiled. “Actually Hal, every time you logged on to that computer you saw a screen that told you the computer and everything on it were the property of Kinnetik. Our employee handbook cautions everyone not to keep any personal information on any company computer.”

Hal started toward the office door. “I’m going to get my possessions and my files and you can’t stop me!”

Cynthia walked around the desk to Brian’s PC. She quickly went to the network and removed Hal as a user. She had pulled up the network program before the meeting started.

Meanwhile Patti called security to let them know to intercept Hal. Security was on alert that they might be needed so two guards were immediately on the way to the art department.

Cynthia also disabled Hal’s access code to the building.

In the art department Hal had stormed into his office and tried to sign onto his desk PC. When his sign-on failed he thought he had typed it wrong. He took a couple seconds to calm himself and typed his password again. Again the sign-on failed.

Hal looked up and saw the two guards standing in the doorway of his office. Several employees were standing in their cubicles looking to see what was going on.

Hal smiled at the guards. “I just have to copy a few files and gather my belongings and then I’ll be ready to leave."

“Hal your network access has been disabled so you won’t be able to copy anything off that computer. You need to get your car keys only. We’ll escort you to your car since your building access is also disabled we’ll need to let you out of the garage.”


“I am not leaving without my files and belongings.”

“Legally you are now trespassing here, since you are no longer a Kinnetik employee. If you refuse to leave we will have to call the Pittsburgh police to remove you."

Hal grabbed his keys. “Fine but you can let your faggot boss know that I will make him sorry for treating me this way. I’m glad not to be working for him anymore.”

Back at the house the doorbell rang a little before 9 AM. A barefoot Justin wearing paint free jeans and T shirt opened the door. A man wearing dress pants with a shirt and tie stood there.

“Hi. I’m Justin Taylor. Please come in.”

The man stepped into the entrance hall. “Hello. I’m Ron Kramsie, the tutor from Washington Academy.”

“Nice to meet you. We have the dining room set up for you to use. Not sure if you need it but we have a flip chart and stand, pencils, pens and paper. If you need anything else just let John know and he’ll get it for you.”

John walked in to the hall from the kitchen. He walked over and introduced himself and shook Mr Kramsie’s hand. John was casually dressed.

Ron turned to Justin. “I like to maintain a classroom atmosphere so I feel we need to establish a dress code.”

“I agree with the dress code but not so sure we need to pretend we are in a classroom. We are in our home! I think casual dress is perfectly fine but you can dress however you like.”

Ron frowned. “I prefer to dress in a professional manner.”

Justin shrugged. “Whatever makes you comfortable is fine with us. John and I are comfortable in casual clothes.”

John led the way into the dining room. Ron followed and shut the door firmly. Justin shook his head and walked back into the kitchen.