"Get your fucking hand off of me!"

Justin's eyes darted from his sketch of the gardens to the source of the vehemently whispered command. His heart squeezed painfully and his breath caught somewhere between his chest and his throat. Wanting to do something, but not sure the situation warranted him to play hero, he sat very still and trained an eye on the waiter. Oscar. His back was stiffened and Justin could tell that he was trying very hard to contain his temper as the bands of muscle in his arms and neck stood out in sharp relief.

The old guy seemed to be trying to calm him down, but the dreamy waiter was having none of it. Before Justin could process what was happening, Oscar had the guy pinned to the table with a wrist lock. It took all of his will power not to stand up and cheer.

The perv's cries had obviously been heard by the rest of the staff, and two men, both looking old and terminally peevish, came rushing outside.

A few minutes later, the waiter having been carted away into the restaurant, the old guy was still receiving his fair share of ass-kissing and Justin had positively lost his appetite, watching the head waiter stroke the man's ego into oblivion.

After a few minutes, it was time for them to play pacifier with him. Hushing the witness, one might say. "Sir, I do hope that we haven't disturbed your meal today. Is there anything I can get you? On the house, of course!"

Justin looked up at the man and wanted to laugh. He was trying so hard to smile, but all he seemed to be able to manage was a slight twitch of his upper lip. "Oscar?"

"Pardon me, sir?"

"You can get Oscar - my waiter."

The other man looked utterly flabbergasted. "I...oh, well he..."

Then it hit him. They'd fired him for causing a scene. Sure, he had seen bus boys get fired for less at his parent's country club, but it was still ridiculous. "You do realize that man was trying to accost him right?" He pointed a finger directly at the perv that was now happily enjoying his free lobster.

"Well..."

"Right. I didn't realize that this was the type of establishment that allowed their help to be treated like animals." And without another word, Justin shoved his new sketches into his bag and left.

As great as righteous indignation was, and as much as he had enjoyed walking out with his principles intact, none of that had filled his empty belly. The only thing he had eaten all day had been a package of peanuts during the flight, but that had probably worked against him anyway because he had felt thirsty all damn day. So his first order of business was to find food.

Since he had chosen to walk instead of finding a cab, he was able to find the smaller places that the tourists tended to overlook. The first place he came upon was in the middle of a long line of buildings. A faded old sign by the entrance proclaimed that it was called the Blue Monkey.

As far as he could tell, it was a bar. And really...that description was extremely kind. The expression ‘hole in the wall' did it more justice. There were four customers total and none of them looked as though they needed or wanted an outsider in their midst. One man even growled at him from behind his beer.

Wanting to appear more bored and less frightened by the scene, Justin began to slowly back out of the building. A moment before his foot would have hit the sidewalk just beyond the door, his back hit a wall. Turning swiftly, he looked up and into the most gorgeous eyes he had ever seen. Vaguely familiar eyes.

Taking in the entire package of the man at his back, his eyes widened in surprise. "Oscar!" The man looked down at him and arched a questioning eyebrow. "Um...I was at the restaurant e-earlier," he stuttered, feeling a bit self conscious under the man's intense gaze.

"I know who you are," he replied coolly. "What I don't know is what you're doing here. Shouldn't you be enjoying your over-priced, undercooked meal about now?"

Justin shrugged. "I told ‘em to fuck off," he replied with a self-satisfied smirk.

Oscar looked at him and shook his head. "What do you want? A fucking medal?" The man pushed past him and took a seat at the bar.

Justin followed him back into the building, his courage returning with the somewhat familiar new presence. "I saw what that guy did. He totally crossed the line. No means no."

Brian scoffed at him and motioned to the barkeep for a beer. "What are you? A public service announcement?"

"I just wanted to say...that I think it stinks - what they did. Firing you."

"Yeah well..." He shrugged the comment off and chugged his beer.

"No, really. You didn't deserve to be fired for that!"

The man eyed him snidely, "How would you know? You don't know shit about me! Especially what I may or may not deserve."

Justin nodded, conceding his point. "True, but-"

"Andrew?" A heavy set man boomed from the back doorway. "Andrew, my boy!" The big man waddled forward, smoothing his shiny salt and pepper hair back with his hands. His smile was crooked, but he had a look about him that was somewhere between psychotic puppy kicker and a kindly old grandfather. "Yer in here early, even fer you."

Oscar rolled his eyes and smiled wryly. "Hey Hector."

"Hmm...let me guess. Fired?"

"Yeah, well they're assholes. You know how it is."

"That I do, my friend." The man completely ignored Justin as he pushed past the smaller man and hefted himself onto the stool beside Oscar. "What did Luc have to say about it?"

"Haven't seen him yet." Oscar looked away as if working up courage and then turned back to Hector. "Hey man...think I can crash here, with you? Ya know...if things get..."

Now it was Hector's turn to look away. "Andrew...you know that I have no problem with it. But-"

Oscar put his hand up to stop the explanation from going any further. "It's okay. I know how it works. Luc wouldn't appreciate it. No problem." He finished off his beer and slid off the bar stool. Without another word, Oscar...or Andrew, brushed past Justin and out of the bar.

Outside once more, Justin looked around quickly in hopes of catching up with the mysterious man. He was nowhere in sight and Justin made himself stop from running in random directions in hopes of finding the stranger. Though he wanted to, badly. He wasn't sure why but somehow and for some reason the beautiful now ex-waiter with the deep hazel eyes had captured his interest.

Still...this was supposed to be a quiet, peaceful vacation. With his mind quickly and firmly set on leaving the situation alone, Justin sent up a silent prayer that the man would be okay. Hopping into a taxi and working to explain where he wanted to go, he missed seeing the hazel-eyed man two doors down from the bar, smoking and watching him intently.

***

"What do you mean, you can't send anyone until tomorrow?" Justin snapped into the phone. He gritted his teeth, annoyed but trying desperately to remain calm.

Just what I needed to start things off with a bang, he mused. But at least you aren't at home.

It wasn't so much that he had to leave Pittsburgh. It was that if he didn't leave, there was no way he could have been held responsible for what he might have done. Sasha had been on his case for months about moving in with him. His parents were beginning to torture him with lectures on the benefits of a furthered education. The New York gallery that he sold his work through was getting antsy about his deadlines on several projects, which were looking more and more impossible with every passing day. Justin was in dire need of a vacation.

A vacation from his vacation as his sister had said before seeing him off at the airport. Of course, Molly was naturally a smart ass, so he didn't take the jab to heart. And she was right, partly.

After taking the cab back to the small town home where he would be staying, he took a few minutes to stroll around the gardens in the back yard, check the swimming pool's temperature and open a few windows to ventilate the house, Justin realized just how much he had missed the place. How very much at home he had always felt there.

The relaxation was quickly brought to an abrupt halt though, when Justin had made up his mind to shower before doing anything else. He had flipped the water lever up and screamed as the shower head and pipe groaned and sputtered, finally spraying the tub with dark brown water. At least he assumed it was water.

He had immediately called information and was redirected to a plumber, which was currently where his annoyance lay. He listened to the man on the phone before nodding to the empty room. "Of course it's an emergency. My water looks like sewage! Yes, of course I checked the other faucets! They were fine. But there's only the one shower. I need for it to work." He sighed in defeat. "Fine. Tomorrow morning then." He placed the phone back on the base and he let his body sink down onto the bed.

Only three hours into his vacation...

He struggled not to think about it. Not to let the negativity of the situation hit him, else he would be no better off there than he would have been in New York or Pitts. "Well...sponge bath it is then," he mumbled and set about ridding himself of the travel grit that he felt was still clinging to his body.

Any other time, he would have unpacked everything right away. Made an effort to get the little things done so that he could fully begin to relax and enjoy his vacation. But at the rate he was going at, Justin figured he had better make the most of what was left of the day.

Pulling out his pale blue linen top by Varvatos and ivory drawstring cotton pants by Helmut Lang, Justin wondered when he had acquired so many labels. Around a year ago. That was the likely answer. No...that was the only answer.

He had never been very big on clothing, even though his parents had never let him want for the finer things. His favorite clothes were still his beloved old, grey, threadbare sweat pants and a white FCUK shirt that he'd had since he was at least seventeen. But Sasha had always insisted that he wore the best, even if it meant that Justin's fashion budget severely outweighed his budget for living expenses. As long as he wasn't paying...

Sasha wasn't really a fashion queen either. He simply enjoyed showing Justin off. Almost as much as he enjoyed showing himself off. Justin wondered if that was all he really was. A glorified mannequin. A window dressing that looked particularly nice on Sasha's arm.

"Fuck it." This was exactly what he had come there to get away from. Sasha was on his top ten list of things to avoid during the trip. The other man had already ruined his good mood with the phone call earlier. And Justin couldn't really blame him. They had argued the night before and the next day Justin had hopped the first outbound plane. If Sash had done that, he might feel a little worried. Maybe a little self conscious. But he had to do what he had to do.

And at that moment...he had to dance.

TBC...