“Most true it is that I have look’d on truth

Askance and strangely; but, by all above,

These blenches gave my heart another youth,

And worse essays prov’d thee my best of love.”  

As Justin stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him he decided to handle this whole thing with dignity and a bit of unconcern. At least he was going to act like he didn’t really care, since he didn’t want Brian to notice how much this unexpected visit thrilled him, how fucking excited he’d gotten. ‘Pretty good plan, huh?’ Justin was more determined than ever.

He didn’t even see the man yet, but the sound of his soft voice from the other room was enough to upset Justin’s plans immediately, and now all he could hope for was being able to act like a normal human being and not a complete retard. He’d known he wouldn’t be calm, but now he was sure as hell he wouldn’t even be able to look like he was. It was frightening how easily Brian could make the boy lose his mind every time they met. Justin didn’t think there was anyone else who had the ability to do something like this to him. As he stepped into the living room area he could see Brian standing there with his back to him, and Daphne with a nearly captivated smile on her face.

“Want to drink something Brian?” She asked the man, then looked around in the small room and added somewhat sheepishly, “Not that we have too much at the moment.”

Brian chuckled quietly and shook his head lightly. Suddenly the girl’s face lit up and added sweetly, looking up at the embarrassingly beautiful, tall creature,

“I’ll make you a coffee…or tea…or something.”

“No thanks. I’m fine.” The man answered. Justin couldn’t see, but he was sure the actor was giving Daphne one of his breath-taking, crushing smiles.

“But…” The girl said, but Brian cut her off,

“I’m okay. Really.”

Justin stared at Daphne with a stunned expression; he’d never seen his friend so very devoted to any of their visitors before. She wasn’t a bad host, she’d just never been markedly hospitable to someone she barely knew. The boy thought it was the well-known but still irresistible effect Brian had on everyone, whether male or female; and Daphne was no exception. The blond truly believed that there wasn’t any exception at all.

Justin could clearly remember that Ethan had never been this welcomed here, though he knew that the girl had never liked him. ‘Looks like she’s a better judge of character than I am.’ Justin thought, and watched the man’s back intently. He didn’t have the slightest idea what he would say to Brian, if he would be able to say a single word at all, that is. ‘Congrats Taylor, you couldn’t be playing it any cooler…Fuck.” He said to himself bitterly while wiping his sweaty palms on his pants.

As if he could feel the piercing gaze on his back that seemed to be burning a huge hole in his black leather jacket, Brian turned around slowly and returned the look he’d been given, gave Justin an amazing smile then said,

“Hey.”

The boy blinked nervously, getting totally lost in the sight of that enticing face for the hundredth time at least. ‘How does he do it? Oh God. Help me.’ Justin gathered all his strength and tried to return the greeting in a casual voice,

“Um…hey.” He was able to manage it in a relatively casual voice and he was pretty proud of himself for that.

“I really didn’t want to disturb you at home, but….” Before Brian could finish his sentence Daphne cut in,

“Oh, you’re not disturbing at all! What makes you think such a thing? We’re glad you came. Right, Justin?” Daphne looked at the boy who could feel himself blushing. He decided to strangle the girl for that later, but only if he’d survive this unforeseen visitation of the man of course.

“Um…Daphne.” Justin looked at his friend and hoped she’d take the hint and leave them alone. But the girl just stood there, looking at the two men alternately with a wide grin on her face.

“Daphne.” Justin spoke again, motioning with his head toward the door almost unnoticeably. The girl realized at last what her friend was trying to say to her, so she waved at Brian nervously, still smiling,

“Oh, if you need anything just…” Daphne said while slowly walking backwards.

“We will, Daphne.” Justin answered in a tone that was a bit annoyed and rolled his eyes. He didn’t want to hurt his friend but he didn’t want her to increase his already evident nervousness either. Whatever Brian was about to say, the boy didn’t want anyone else to hear it. He looked at the man and said shyly, “Sorry, she can be such a pain in the ass sometimes.”

“She’s funny.” Brian stated and the look on his face told the boy that he meant it.

After a minute of staring into each other’s eyes without a word, Justin spoke in a shaky voice,

“Why don’t we sit down?”

Brian nodded and sat down on an armchair. The blond sat on another one opposite from Brian. It was so strange to sit this far from the man; in fact, it seemed to be against nature. Justin would have preferred the sofa next to Brian, but he wanted to keep his emotions at bay. He seemed to lose control every time he was close to him, so he thought the best would be to sit as far from the man as possible.

“Okay,” Brian started, “You might want to know what I’m here for.”

“Sure.” Justin tried to answer nonchalantly, like he didn’t really care. But truth be told, his heart was beating so loudly that he wouldn’t have been surprised if the man could hear it too.

“It’s about business.” Brian said.

Justin was very surprised, and he hated to admit it but disappointed too, though he tried to hide it carefully. Business? This was the last thing he’d expected; he didn’t have an idea what the actor might want from him.

“What do you mean?” The boy asked, looking confused.

“Ted sent me to talk to you. He would have come himself, but…” Brian stopped for a second to examine a poster on the wall which he suddenly found very interesting, though Justin would have sworn he was just looking for the right words to say, “…he’s too busy right now.”

“Oh.” The boy really didn’t know what to say, so he waited for the actor to go on.

“He went to your school to see that exhibition. He saw your work and he was very impressed.” Brian informed him with a slight smile.

Justin nodded slowly and returned the smile, but his enthusiasm disappeared in no time. This was not what he and Brian were supposed to do in a small room while being on their own, sharing the same air. Justin suddenly found himself being pissed at the man for not coming here to talk about completely different things. He knew very well he was asking too much and he shouldn’t have clung to hope in the first place, but he couldn’t help it. He was just unable to sit there and talk about his work with Brian, as if he were talking politely to a stranger; when all he could think of was how good the man tasted and how incredible it had been to feel him inside of him.

“That’s very flattering. And what can I do for him?” Justin asked, hating to be talking about the director.

“Well, we’re about to put ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ on the stage.” The man answered and Justin couldn’t hide a bitter smile at this coincidence. The play’s title expressed perfectly the way he was feeling at the moment.

“That’s great.” He said.

“But we’re not satisfied with the set scene. Ted has some definite ideas, but no one seems to be able to bring them to effect.” Brian stopped, looking suggestively at Justin.

The boy acted like he didn’t know what would come next, though he knew what the question would be.

“So?” He asked, looking at the actor questioningly.

“So I…” Brian cleared his throat immediately, “…Ted thought you’d be the right person to do it.”

“So you came here to ask me if I’d do it.” Justin stated firmly.

“Yep. Ted wanted to ask your boyfriend to…” Brian was interrupted by the blond,

“He’s not my boyfriend anymore.” He said angrily.

“Whatever.” Brian replied, “Ted wanted to tell him to ask you this, but the jewel of a violinist called in sick. We haven’t seen him for a few days. So I came here to ask you. What do you say?”

Justin already knew what his answer would be since he’d never been able to resist the actor, and the thought of working with him made him shiver. Besides, it was a great opportunity for him as an artist. But he decided to give Brian a bit of a hard time and not answer right away.

“How did you know where I lived?” Justin asked abruptly.

Brian raised one eyebrow, not really understanding what this had to do with the proposal and why the blond wasn’t giving him an answer to the question.

“I’ve been looking for you at the diner, but they told me you’re not working this week.” A devilish half smile crossed Brian’s face as he went on, “Some very attentive co-worker of yours told me where I could find you.”

Justin rolled his eyes; he couldn’t believe that the guys in the diner would have given his address to anyone. But then he realized that Brian wasn’t just anyone; he was the kind of person you just couldn’t say no to. If he wanted something, you would just give it to him, of your own free will.  Justin couldn’t blame the guys; he was sure that most people would have even become a serial killer willingly, if that was what Brian asked them to do.

“So?” Brian asked, his eyes scanning Justin’s unreadable face, “Are you planning on giving me an answer?”

“Oh that.” Justin shrugged and wondered if it was only his imagination, or he really could see a slight sign of uncertainty on the face of the ever so confident man, “I’m interested. I’ll need more details, but I think I’m going to give it a shot.”

Brian nodded, trying to hide his relief, but he couldn’t hide the sparkles in his eyes,

“Great. You’ll have to meet Ted then and he’ll give you all the information you need. You should come to the theatre. ”

“Sure. When?” Justin couldn’t wait to start working. This whole thing sounded way too exciting; in more ways than one.  

“Tomorrow morning if that’s okay with you.” Brian answered.

“Fine. I’ll be there.” Justin nodded with a small smile. He reared his head as he watched the man standing up from the armchair.

“Well, then…” Brian said but Justin stopped him by standing up abruptly,

“Leaving already?” He didn’t want to sound this desperate.

“Yeah. We have a rehearsal going on right now, I should be getting back.” Said the man as he was approaching the front door.

“Okay.” Justin answered weakly while following him.

Hearing the man leaving, Daphne showed up immediately and smiled at him brightly. Brian smiled back and said goodbye to her, then watched Justin for a brief moment before saying,

“Later then.”

Justin nodded in response, loving how this short phrase always held the promise of seeing the man again very soon, and then said,

“Later.”

As Justin closed the door behind Brian he turned around and found himself being confronted with his friend’s annoyingly wide grin.

“What?” Justin asked impatiently then sighed, “I bet you want me to tell you what happened.”

“Nope.” Answered the girl, still smiling, “I know everything.”

The boy rolled his eyes and said in disbelief,

“Don’t tell me you were eavesdropping.”

Daphne nodded happily in response,

“So?”

“So what?” Justin looked at her uncomprehendingly.

“Aren’t you happy?” Asked the girl excitedly.

“To work for the theatrical company? That’s a great opportunity I guess.” Justin answered like he was reading the words from a book. His mind was so far away right then.

“I was talking about Brian, not the job.” The girl gave Justin a look of disapproval.

“What about him? He was just the go-between as you could possibly hear.” Justin retorted.

“Yeah, right. Because he’s that go-between kind of guy.” Daphne said sarcastically.

“What do you mean?” The boy looked at her questioningly.

The girl sighed heavily and crossed her arms,

“Are you really that dumb Justin?” She asked and went on as she could see the boy blinking without saying a word, “God, where would you be without me?”

“Would you mind telling me what the fuck you’re talking about?” Justin asked with a fake, innocent smile, “He came here because Ted, the director was too busy.”

“Sure. Didn’t it occur to you why this director hadn’t given you a call instead? He could have gotten your number easily; or he could have just left you a message at PIFA. Okay, let’s say he sent Brian to the diner; don’t you think he could have gotten your number? They told him where you lived anyway. He shouldn’t have come here, but he did. Do you know why?” The girl asked with a knowing smile.

“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.” Justin said sarcastically.

“Because he wanted to see you; and he wanted to make sure you’d say yes.” Daphne said triumphantly.

Justin wasn’t so sure of that; though somewhere in his heart he covertly hoped that it was what Brian’s visit had meant. But he didn’t dare to think of something like that; he just couldn’t take another rejection.

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

The next morning Justin was walking down the street with his hands deep in his pockets. He was very excited to meet Brian, he just couldn’t stop think of the man since he’d left the apartment the day before. Justin knew he should have been excited about the new job and everything that had something to do with his art, but he couldn’t help it. The thought of seeing the actor again made him feel delirious.

As he opened the door he looked around but didn’t see anyone; then he heard voices coming from the auditorium. He walked quietly to the entrance and peeked inside. He could see Ted sitting on one of the chairs, and the others standing on the stage. After a few minutes of watching the rehearsal he decided to let the director know he was there. As he got closer to the stage, he could feel the men’s eyes on him. Ted turned around in his chair and called out,

“Justin! I’m so glad you’re here! Come here!” He motioned the blond to sit down on the chair next to him, then instructed the actors, “Okay guys, let’s see this scene once more!” 

Justin made his way through the chairs to Ted and sat down next to him. As he looked up to see the actors he could see Brian greeting him with a nod. He nodded back with a smile but soon he was distracted by Ted,

“It’s so great you said yes Justin! I’m sure you’ll be doing a perfect job.”

Justin smiled shyly and answered,

“I’ll try to do my best. That’s all I can promise.”

“And that’s all I need.” Ted replied with a reassuring smile, “Have you ever done something like this before?”

Justin shook his head lightly,

“Not really. To tell the truth I don’t understand why you chose me.”

Ted chuckled and answered in a low voice,

“Actually, it wasn’t my idea; though I really don’t know why I hadn’t thought of you earlier. Well, shame on me. Fortunately, Brian was smarter than me.”

“Brian?” Justin asked in disbelief, not understanding what this had to do with the man.

“Yeah. He was the one who suggested we should see that exhibition at PIFA as soon as we could.” Ted said absent-mindedly.

“Brian…was there?” Justin couldn’t believe his ears.

Ted nodded and answered while watching the actors on the stage,

“I loved your work and his idea, so he told me he’d ask you if you wanted to work with us.” Ted paused for a moment, still not looking at Justin, “Didn’t he tell you this?”

After a few seconds of silence Justin mumbled quietly,

“No. He forgot to mention that part.”