Midnight Whispers
QAF Brian and Justin Fanfiction
Sickness & Health, Good Times & Bad

Chapter 67

Brian spent a large part of Tuesday working with Jason, from the art department, to get him started on the new ad campaign for Franklin Pharmaceuticals. Jason asked if there was any progress on finding a new director for the art department. Brian let him know that there were some interviews set up for Thursday.

Ted told Brian that the Fort Pitt School had notified him that they received the tuition checks and that Gus and JR were set up to start day care next week. Ted said he had called Melanie to let her know. Brian shot off an email to Lindsay and Melanie to say he would drop Gus at the school next Monday morning after Gus’s weekend in Washington. Brian asked them to be sure Gus had everything he needed for the first day of day care when Melanie dropped him at Kinnetik on Friday afternoon.

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Happy to be almost home Ted turned into the common driveway that ran behind the houses on his side of the street. The house he and Blake bought a couple years ago is at the end of the street. Ted pulled into the two car detached garage. He was happy to see Blake’s car already parked there. He walked through the small yard between the house and garage. Most of the yard was covered with pavers but Blake had flowers, herb and some vegetable plants growing in containers.

Ted came in through the mud room. There was a coat closet and a wall of cubbies to hold all the cold weather gear needed for Pittsburgh winters – gloves, hats, scarves and umbrellas were all neatly stored ready for the inevitable bad weather.

Ted opened the door to the dining room; opera music was playing softly and delicious aromas wafted in from the kitchen. Blake had tomato sauce simmering on the stove and was chopping some herbs to add to the sauce.

Ted walked into the kitchen and Blake turned with a smile he gently stroked Ted’s cheek before giving him a kiss. Ted wrapped his arms around his partner and pulled close for a second kiss.

“You’re home early and making dinner. That’s a nice surprise.”

Blake disengaged himself to stir the sauce. “I left early and stopped at the Farmer’s Market. They had this amazing lump crab meat so I thought I make the pasta sauce you like. We can have the crab on top. It really blew the food budget for this month!”

Ted leaned in to get a good whiff of the sauce. “I’m sure the crab is worth the money, budget be damned.”

Blake shook his head and looked Ted in the eye. “Teddy why is it that you would never have spent so much money for the crab meat but you don’t ever care when I overspend for something.”

Ted smiled. “Baby whatever makes you happy makes me happy.”

Blake gave him another quick kiss. “Go change your clothes. Dinner will be about ready when you come back downstairs.”

Ted gave Blake a quick pat on the ass. “I love you.”

As Ted went upstairs he started to worry about why Blake had come home early and was fixing a special dinner. As much as he tried to be comfortable in their relationship Ted was always concerned that Blake would realize he could do better and would leave him.

When Ted came back downstairs there was a bowl of salad, dishes and flatware on the bar between the kitchen and dining room. Blake dumped the cooked pasta into the skillet with the sauce.

“Teddy sit down everything is ready.”

Blake brought the pasta and sauce over to the bar and divided it between the two plates before spooning the crab meat in top. He got two glasses of fizzy water with lemon slices out of the refrigerator and came around the bar to sit on the stool beside Ted.

Ted spooned some salad into each of their bowls. “Everything looks great.”

Blake reached over and gave Ted’s knee a squeeze. “Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks.”

They both started to eat; after a few minutes Blake looked over to Ted.

“There is something I need to talk to you about.”

Ted’s got a worried look on his face and put down his fork. Blake chuckled.

“Teddy will there ever be a time in our relationship when you don’t assume that I am going to tell you I leaving every time I say I want to talk?”

Ted shrugged. “Probably not. I just can’t believe I am lucky enough to have you in my life.”

“Teddy that is such bullshit! You are a wonderful man and I’m the one who is lucky.”

Ted just shrugged again. Blake sighed.

“You are impossible! Do you remember me telling you about the young woman who was in one of my groups? It was her second time through the program. She was trying to get sober because her mother had cancer and wouldn’t be able to keep taking care of her daughter.”

Ted nodded. “You were afraid she wouldn’t make it. You said she was afraid of too many things to stay sober.”

Blake smiled. “So you do really listen to me when I talk about work.”

Ted smiled back at his lover. “I pay careful attention to everything you say to me.”

“Well sadly I was correct, she didn’t make it. She was found dead in some flea bag hotel. I had met her mother on family days and I did some joint counseling with both of them before her release. I met her daughter too when she visited with the grandmother. The grandmother has had legal custody of the little girl almost from the day she was born. She’s four years old.”

“Wow. What happened to the father?”

“The girl who died father was killed during a robbery at a store he and the mother owned. The mother has been a little agoraphobic ever since she saw her husband killed. The little girl’s father ODed before she was born. At least the “supposed father” ODed. I think the woman in rehab would have had to go on that TV show for paternity testing to find out who the actual father was. She owned up to trading sex for drugs pretty regularly.”

Ted looked a little shocked. “We are really lucky that as much as we fucked up we were both able to get our lives back on track. This family almost sounds like they’re cursed.”

Blake took a few more bites of his pasta and a sip of water before continuing.

“The mother came to see me today.”

Ted was puzzled. “Why did she come to see you?”

“Like I said I met her a few times. She told me her daughter always told her how nice I was and how understanding. I told the mother that was my job. She told me she has a reoccurrence of ovarian cancer and has to start chemo soon to have the best chance of another remission. The docs told her that that one reoccurrence raises the chances of more cancer in her future.”

“Oh my gosh! That poor woman. She just lost her daughter and now she gets a diagnosis like that.”

Blake nodded. “Actually she got the diagnosis before her daughter died. She thinks that is what got her daughter to start back on drugs. The daughter was afraid of having to take responsibility for her child.”

“Who is going to take care of the little girl while her grandmother gets treatment for her cancer?”

Blake had a tentative smile on his face. “Well that’s what I wanted to talk about.”

Ted was wide eyed. “Blake is that why the mother came to see you today?”

“Yes. She knows I have a partner. She has one sister who is a nun and is older than her. There is no one else in the world that she is close to. The daughter has a couple of friends that are lesbians. The mother feels like they enabled her daughter’s drug habit so she doesn’t want them to have custody of the little girl.”

“Blake, Baby, this is kind of surreal. I can’t believe this woman wants to give her granddaughter to you and a man she never met.”

Blake’s smile got a little bigger. “Oh she wants to meet you. She and Nina, that the little girl’s name, are going to come over here tomorrow night so we can all get together and see how that goes.”

Ted tried to think of something reasonable to say. “Does the grandmother have legal custody?”

“Yes she does. If things work out she will sign the custody over to us. She would like to stay in touch with Nina but feels she will not live long enough to raise her.”

Ted started to eat his pasta again. “I refuse to waste this expensive dinner. We’ll just have to wait and see how things work out tomorrow night. After that we’ll discuss our options.”

Blake leaned over and kissed Ted on the cheek before resuming eating his dinner.

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When Brian arrived home he was surprised to see Justin alone in the kitchen. Justin hurried over to give Brian a hug and kiss.

“Where are the boys Sunshine?”

“They are downstairs in the game room. It’s just you and me for dinner tonight. Alice fed John and Peter earlier. Go ahead upstairs and change. I’m going to cook us a couple tuna steaks and stir fry some broccoli from the garden.”

When Brian came back in the kitchen Justin put a cover on the wok to keep the broccoli warm. He put the two tuna steaks in a skillet with hot oil.

He turned to Brian who had a big smile on his face. “There’s a bottle of pinot in the refrigerator. Why don’t you open it and pour us a couple glasses.”

Just as Justin flipped the tuna to the other side Brian handed him a glass of wine. Justin took a couple sips and put the seared tuna on a platter which he handed to Brian. “Table is set in the dining room.”

Brian took the platter into the dining room where the end of the table was set for two and candles were already burning. Justin followed him in with a bowl of broccoli.

“The nephews have been told to stay in the game room until further notice. Dinner time tonight is just for us.”

Brian bestowed a toe curling kiss on Justin before sitting down at the table. They tapped their wine glasses smiling at each other until they started to eat.

They talked about the job interviews on Thursday, Justin’s trip to San Francisco for his art show, what they thought Joan would do about their try for permanent custody, Jason’s thoughts and suggestions about the art work for Franklin Pharmaceuticals and life in general. They smiled at each other and laughed a lot.

Brian cut a third of his tuna off and put it on Justin’s plate which earned him a sunshine smile as a thank you. Even with the extra food Justin was done eating before Brian.

Brian put down his fork. “That was a great dinner Sunshine. Thanks!”

“It was my pleasure. You know you are my favorite dinner companion.”

Brian laughed. “I’ll do clean up.”

Justin followed Brian into the kitchen and together they washed the pans and loaded the dishwasher. After the kitchen was shipshape the two men went down to the game room and challenged John & Peter to a ping pong game.

The next morning Brian was up and out earlier than usual. He had a bunch of stuff he wanted to take care of at Kinnetik.

Justin got out of bed, showered and dressed as soon as Brian left the bedroom. He had a quick breakfast and was up in the studio before Alice came over from the cottage. Justin was anxious to finish the third mural for PPG before he left for California. He also hoped to get the canvas for the fourth mural measured out and maybe even started before his trip.

After a very productive morning Justin went down to the kitchen for lunch. John and Peter were at the table eating lunch when a paint splattered Justin arrived. Alice told him to get a drink and sit down while she made his roast beef sandwich.

Justin looked across the table at John. “What’s the final head count for the birthday party?”

John smirked in an almost perfect imitation of his Uncle Brian. “The final total is thirty five.”

Justin chocked on his iced tea. “THIRTY FIVE! Oh my god; no one volunteer that information to Brian. If he asks tell him to talk to me.”

Peter looked amused and John looked concerned. “That includes us and Grandmom Jen and Tucker. You invited all the O’Briens and told Peter he could ask the Gardners. It’s not all my fault.”

Alice delivered Justin’s lunch to the table. “You told him to invite the whole soccer team. How many people did you think were going to come?”

“I guess I didn’t realize how popular John was.”

Everyone laughed at that comment. Alice said teenage boys were easy to feed. She would make potato salad and deviled eggs. Jennifer was bringing pasta salad and Rice Krispy treats. Alice told Justin she ordered hot dogs, hamburgers and some veggie burgers. She and John were making two sheet cakes on Friday.

After lunch John changed into his soccer stuff and Justin drove him to practice. When he got back home Peter asked him what he should pack for their trip to San Francisco. That made Justin realize that a shopping trip was needed to buy the buys some warmer clothes. They would need jackets and sweaters for the cooler “city by the bay” weather.

Justin told Peter that after practice John should get a quick shower and then the three of them would go clothes shopping. After that announcement Justin headed back to the studio. He put the finishing touches on the third PPG mural and emailed his shipping company to pick up the mural on Friday.

Later in the afternoon Justin looked back fondly on his first shopping trip with the nephews. Back then they were unsure and intimidated and actually paid attention to his suggestions. This trip was to the Gap where two much more secure young men made him feel about 100 years old and completely uncool by their rolling eyes and asking if he was serious every time he suggested some article of clothing. Much to Justin’s amazement Peter was just as critical of his uncle’s opinion as John.

Eventually Justin just stood by the cart and exercised veto power over the nephews’ selections. He was glad when the shopping was over and they headed home.

Brian, with his well-known aversion to the Gap, was delighted to hear the nephews’ assessments of how lame Justin’s fashion sense was. Dinner that night involved a lot of laughter most of it at Justin’s expense. Justin gave Brian a quick wink to let him know he wasn’t offended but was happy to hear laughter after all their recent drama with Joan, Claire and kidnappers.

The next morning a reluctant Justin was dragged out of bed by Brian. A quick fuck in the shower did fully wake up the blonde. After a quick breakfast they left for Kinnetik and as usual Justin kept up a constant stream of chatter during the trip which amused Brian. He remembered telling Justin, at the beginning of their relationship, how much his constant chatter annoyed him but didn’t actual remember that ever being true.

At Kinnetik Brian went right to his office. Justin went to Cynthia’s office to meet with her and Patti to go over their interview plan. Justin has suggested that Jason talk to each candidate to give them an idea of how the art department functioned.

The plan was for Tim Merlot to arrive first and meet with Patti for half an hour. Patti would pass him off to Jason for another half hour. Jason would take Tim to Cynthia’s office when they were done. After Cynthia grilled him, she would deliver him to Justin in Brian’s conference room. When Justin was finished he would have Brian come in to the conference room for the final interview.

The plan was for Greg to start the process with Patti when Tim was meeting with Justin. Greg would follow the same schedule and after the interviews were over for both men; Brian, Justin, Cynthia and Patti would meet to discuss how the interviews went.

Justin had brought a sketch pad with him and amused himself with that until his interview with Tim. Patti was very impressed with Tim and his resume. Jason felt like there would be a lot of changes in the art department if Tom became his new boss.

Tim felt meeting with Cynthia was kind of a waste of his time and let her know he felt that way. Cynthia was amused by his attitude but also determined he was not going to be hired by Kinnetik. Their meeting was over well before the scheduled time.

Justin was surprised when Cynthia led Tim Merlot into the conference room where he was waiting. He was on the phone with his contact for the PPG property managers discussing the delivery of the third mural. Justin ended the conversation as soon as possible.

He stood up and walked over to where Cynthia and Tim stood by the door. Justin held out his hand to Tim. “Hi. I’m Justin Taylor and you must be Tim Merlot. Sorry I was on the phone when you came in. I wasn’t expecting our meeting to start so soon.”

Tim shook his hand and said he understood about the phone call and it was no problem. Cynthia’s quick raise of her eyebrows communicated her lack of enthusiasm about Tim becoming the new director of the art department.

Justin indicted a chair for Tim and asked him if would like anything to drink. Tim said he was fine; Justin took a sip of his coffee and smiled across the conference table.

“Tim, we have been looking forward to meeting with you. You have a very impressive resume. I understand you have recently moved back to Pittsburgh from New York to be closer to your in laws.”

Tim nodded. “Yes. My wife is an only child. Her father has started to have some serious health issues so she felt we needed to come back here. As you know I managed an art department for a large New York advertising agency. I was sorry to leave them but you know the expression happy wife, happy life.”

“I hope Jason was able to give you some understanding about how the Kinnetik art department operates. I suspect it is somewhat different from what you are used to.”

Tim had a slight frown as he answered. “Yes. He was very informative. I think this was the perfect time for me to move back to Pittsburgh. I am exactly what Kinnetik needs to move to the next level. I am sure that revamping the art department operations will allow Kinnetik to double in size.”

“Doubling in size is not part of our current corporate vision but I am interested in what changes you would make in the art department.”

Tim sat back in his chair. “Presently you are creating a custom campaign with unique art for every customer. Kinnetik needs to have standard advertising packages. I would work with Brian and any other relevant people to create customer service levels and then create an advertising package for each level. A lot of time and effort is being wasted creating custom campaigns for each customer.”

Justin couldn’t help a slight shaking of his head. “I understand how that could be a time saver and how really large advertising companies would need to utilize those standard packages. However Kinnetik is more of a boutique type company. We want to create a custom campaign for each customer. That is what makes us unique. Of course we do have standard expectations about just how much custom work we will do based on the size of each customer.”

Tim nodded. “I’m sure as an artist you enjoy all this customization. Jason told me you sometimes work directly with the art department. I don’t mean to offend you but I think that is a little unfair to the director of the art department. It is also counterproductive for the staff to not be sure who is actually in charge. I have found that it really is better for spouses or partners of business owners to stay removed from day to day operations of the business.”

Justin smiled. “I do on occasion work on a specific campaign with someone in the art department but I don’t create policy or involve myself in the operations of the department. There is one large customer who requested my okay on all their art work as part of their contract. Other than that I only get involved if Brian feels the art department is not correctly executing his vision for a campaign.”

“I really do understand that you enjoy this artistic involvement but I strongly feel it is a mistake and is holding back the growth of the company.”

Justin chuckled. “That would be something you would have to discuss with Brian. It is always his request for me to get involved with the artwork.”

“Brian is a businessman. I feel sure he will understand how this type of thing is not a good business practice.”

Justin smiled again. “Tim you need to understand that this customization of campaigns is Brian’s vision for Kinnetik. He feels that is our niche in the marketplace and it has been quite successful for us. Kinnetik is a privately held company and you may not be aware of the revenues and profits but I can assure you we are very profitable.”

“Justin, I don’t doubt that Kinnetik is currently profitable. I’m sure that Brian realizes that to move forward some things will have to change. I believe the company has gone about as far as you can go with the current business practices. I know the art world is very different but Brian is a business person so this will all make sense to him.”

“Tim I don’t think that you and Kinnetik are really going to be a good fit. We are not looking to double in size or revamp our business model.”

Tim continued with a condescending tone to his voice. “Justin I got this same message from the office manager. I don’t mean to be insulting but honestly I feel these two meetings have been a waste of time for you and me. Brian as the owner of Kinnetik and someone who understands how businesses need to operate in order to grow. He will understand what I am talking about. It appears to me that you and the office manager are really locked into maintaining the status quo. I honestly don’t feel that is best serving the needs of Brian Kinney or Kinnetik.”

Justin chuckled again. “Well the one thing you and Brian certainly have in common is your candor. Let me go see if he is available to meet with you now. We are ahead of schedule and I do agree we are wasting each other’s time. Help yourself to water or coffee on the side table.”

Justin went out into the hall. He asked Carole to buzz Cynthia and ask her to come to Brian’s office. Justin swiped his badge to open Brian’s office door.

Brian glanced at his watch and gave Justin a puzzled look. “Are you ready for me now? It is way ahead of schedule.”

Justin laughed. “Well Tim feels that it has been a waste of time to meet with Cynthia and me. We are not business people so we can’t understand how he is going to make it possible for Kinnetik to double in size and how we need to get away from all the custom work the art department is doing.”

Before Brian could reply, Cynthia came into the office.

“Tim is a really bad fit for us. I’m sure he can do a great job for someone but NOT for Kinnetik.”

Brian smiled. “Well you and Justin seem to be in agreement. I’m sure you explained that customization is really the backbone of our business model.”

Justin laughed again. “I made that point a couple times but I am just trying to maintain the status quo and do not understand business because I am an artist.”

Cynthia smiled. “I don’t understand the big picture because I am bogged down in the day to day nitty gritty stuff.”

Brian nodded. “This should be interesting. Thanks for the feedback Cynthia. Justin you stick with me.”

Brian led the way through the side door of his office that opened into his private conference room. Tim Merlot sprung to his feet and came across the room hand extended.

“Brian Kinney, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Brian smiled and shook the offered hand. “Hello Tim. We have all been anxious to meet with you since we read your resume, very impressive.”

“I’ve been looking forward to talking with you about how I can help you move Kinnetik forward.”

Brian raised his eyebrows as he walked over to the conference table followed by Justin and Tim. Once they were all seated Tim looked pointedly at Justin.

“I was hoping Mr Kinney that we could meet alone. I’m not sure that a discussion on how we can increase Kinnetik’s business will be interesting to Justin.”

Brian smiled. “If he is Justin than please call me Brian. Justin and I own an equal share of Kinnetik. He is the person I trust most in the world. I would never make a major decision in my professional or private life without Justin’s input.”

Tim looked a little ill at ease. “I guess I didn’t realize Justin played an active role in running Kinnetik.”

“Well Justin isn’t here every day but he is part of the management team along with Cynthia and Ted, our CFO.”

Tim looked a little more ill at ease. “I thought Cynthia was the office manager?”

“That’s the title we came up with but actually she and Ted are the only Kinnetik employees who report directly to me. I’m not interested in managing people or doing paperwork like employee reviews.”

Justin tried hard not to smile but he could see that Tim Merlot was suddenly thinking he may have may some mistakes this morning. However Tim was still feeling he could turn this around.

“I was telling Cynthia and Justin that I really believe that I can help you double the size of Kinnetik and help prepare you to compete with the big guns of advertising. I am really familiar with setting up standard advertising campaigns that can be easily and quickly rolled out for customers.”

Brian nodded as he listened to Tim. “I’m sure they told you that doubling the size of Kinnetik is really not our vision. Our niche in the market is to be a custom shop. To be honest I’m not interested in trying to compete with larger ad firms.”

“If you want to attract the larger nationwide accounts you are going to revamp how you do business. That is what I can help you do, it is how I have managed art departments for other companies.”

Brian smiled. “You know Kinnetik does have some nationwide account already.”

Tim nodded. “I know that Brown Athletics is your premier account. I’m sure you are aware that Leo Brown is planning to announce a major expansion. The talk on the street is that he is also going to be shopping for a larger ad agency.”

Brian smiled. “Leo and I have a good relationship. I doubt he is going to leave us anytime soon.”

“I worked with Brown Athletics at my last job. They thought they had a good relationship with Leo. Whenever he came to town they always took him to the best restaurants, got him tickets to Broadway plays but he still left them.”

Brian knew that Leo was annoyed by the other agency never coming to Chicago but always expecting him to come to New York for meetings. Leo also didn’t like it that they never included Donna in any dinner invitations wanting them to always be dry discussions of business.

“Of course Leo left them to sign with Kinnetik. Leo seems very happy with the job we are doing for them.”

Tim was still determined to make an impression. “I know you were able to make a presentation for Franklin Pharmaceuticals. That’s quite an accomplishment. That is the type of prospects you can expect to attract once I revamp your art department.”

Brian nodded as he squeezed Justin’s thigh under the table.

“The problem is I don’t want my art department revamped and I am not interested in doubling the size of Kinnetik. Do you really think that hiring you would get Kinnetik accounts like Franklin?”

Tim shrugged. “I understand Franklin has already made its decision. I expect to see an announcement very soon naming their choice. I do think you are not going to be able to attract accounts of that size with your current operation.”

“Tim I wish you good luck in your job search. You have an outstanding resume so I’m sure you’ll find a position you are happy with. As I believe Justin told you; we don’t feel you are a good fit for Kinnetik.”

“Brian you’re a businessman. Surely you want to increase the profits of your business?”

Brian chuckled. “Of course I like profits but I prefer to make them the way I choose. You have offended Justin and Cynthia by discounting their positions here at Kinnetik. Even if I wanted to hire you I would never go against the recommendations of Justin and Cynthia. I know that they are always looking out for the best interests of Kinnetik and my personal best interests. Actually even if I wanted to go against their recommendations, I couldn't. Together they own a larger share of Kinnetik than I do.”

Tim looked shocked.

Brian stood up, still smiling. “I don’t want you to worry about me being at the mercy of Justin and Cynthia. Leo Brown signed a two year extension of his contract a few months ago. He and his wife were guests at our home for a couple nights right after he signed. Leo really does appreciate the personal touch when it is done correctly. Also there will be a joint press release tomorrow announcing that Franklin Pharmaceuticals has signed a contract with Kinnetik.”

Tim stood up, not smiling. “Well I’d wish you good luck but I guess you don’t really need it.”

Brian shook his head. “I don’t believe in luck. I believe on being adequately prepared and doing research on who I do business with. I suggest in the future you try and learn more about the company you interview with. Thanks for coming in today.”

Tim mumbled a thank you and quickly left. Justin stood up beside Brian. “Well you certainly let him have it with both barrels.”

Brian leaned over to kiss Justin. “He deserved it! Way too impressed with himself.”

Justin laughed. “You should understand being impressed with yourself.”

“But it is hard not to be impressed by me Sunshine!”

Justin laughed but was happy to accept another kiss from his impressive partner.
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