Anything Goes - Part 11:
The Main Course
Brian opened his eyes briefly, squeezing them shut once again in an effort to block out the blinding sunlight that flooded the room. He forced himself to open his eyes again, looking around the room. A few moments passed before he realized that the strange room he found himself in was in fact his hotel room in Boston. And the man lying next to him was a trick he picked up the night before at a bar not too far from where he was staying. Unfortunately Brian had fallen asleep before kicking him out.
“Good morning, beautiful,” the other man said.
Rising to a sitting position, Brian rolled his eyes. These guys never came up with anything new or original. Like ‘Good morning, beautiful’ was supposed to turn him on. If anything, it made his morning hard on go down.
Shooting a glance over his shoulder, Brian eyed his companion.
“I don’t have to be at work ‘till noon. We could…”
“I don’t think so,” Brian quickly cut him off, wondering why the hell he even picked up that guy.
Getting off the bed, Brian walked over to the desk, picking up his cell phone. “Fuck.” He forgot to turn it back on after his last meeting. And as expected, he had a message from Justin. He stood still for a moment, focusing on trying to recall with his hazy mind what Justin’s schedule was like on Wednesdays. Suddenly he felt two big arms encircle his body and snaking down to grab his cock.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Brian growled, moving away from the guy.
“I thought we’d have a repeat of last night,” the other man said, moving forward again.
Holding out his right hand in front of him, Brian stopped the man from coming any closer. “You weren’t that good.”
The trick scowled, stopping his movement toward Brian. “And how would you know? You were too plastered to remember your fucking name.”
Brian sneered. “If you were good, I would have remembered. Now, get your shit and get out. I’ve got things to do.”
“Fuck you!” the man shouted before grabbing his clothes and quickly pulling them on.
“I thought we established that wasn’t going to happen,” Brian smirked, tongue in cheek.
He waited for the man to vacate the room before slumping down in a chair by the window. Justin was going to be in school all day, so calling him for an impromptu phone sex session was out of the question. And since his first meeting wasn’t scheduled until eleven, he had plenty of time. Brian considered getting back in bed, but the thought of lying in those sheets the trick had just vacated made his skin crawl. Instead he opted for a long lonely shower.
~~~***~~~***~~~
Justin headed down a long corridor to his next class. His thoughts, however, were not on the Fundamentals of Multimedia. He couldn’t stop thinking about Brian. The exec had been gone for three days now but it felt a lot longer. He wondered how he had ever survived their five months break. Even though they spoke every day while Brian was away, usually more than once a day, Justin still missed him.
And from the sound of things, Brian felt the same way. Except, the night before he had called Brian twice with no answer.
He wasn’t naďve. He knew what Brian was busy with that late at night. Brian was in a new city with hundreds…no...thousands of guys who hadn’t had the privilege of being fucked by Brian yet. It was expected. But that hadn’t stopped Brian from calling him before.
“Justin.”
He was brought out of his thoughts by a woman’s voice. Turning around he saw a brown-haired woman in her late forties standing in a doorway of a faculty office. “Professor Green,” he greeted her. “Hi.”
“Do you have a minute?”
“Yeah, sure,” he replied, following her into her office.
After closing the door behind him, Justin turned around, watching the woman who was now sitting at the desk, staring back at him.
She pointed to a chair before speaking up. “I assume you know about the Spring Student show,” she said when he sat down.
“Yes.” It was one of the biggest events of the year at PIFA for students. Only twenty or thirty students out of the whole school were chosen every year to show off their work. And a lot of important people in the art community came to these shows.
“Would you be interested in showing your work?”
Justin was aware that his mouth was hanging open , but he just couldn’t make himself close it at the moment. “Are…are you serious?” he was finally able to utter, getting over the initial shock.
She smiled. “You’ve come a long way, Justin. Worked harder than anybody else in your class. I chose you because you’re one my best students and the other instructors agreed with me.”
The artist blushed, a shy smile spreading on his face.
“So, are you interested?”
He couldn’t believe she’d even ask him that. “Yes, of course.”
She smiled again. “Good. Now, we let the students decide on which pieces to show, but if you’d like, I could take a look at your portfolio. Maybe make a few suggestions.”
“That’d be great,” he replied, grateful. The show was a big event at PIFA and choosing the right pieces could make all the difference.
“Tomorrow at two?”
“Great,” he repeated. Taking it as his cue to leave, he stood up and thanking his professor again, headed to his class.
~~~***~~~***~~~
It was after seven when Brian finally made it back to his room. With having meeting after meeting, he did not have time for even a quick call to Pittsburgh all day.
Loosening his tie and flopping down on the bed, Brian dialed Justin’s cell number. He was surprised to hear a voice belonging to someone other than his lover on the other line. It bothered him greatly that Justin felt so comfortable with Nick that he’d let the man answer his phone, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. So, he just settled for a dry ‘hello’ and asked for Justin.
“Hey, blondie, would you get dressed already. And here, talk to your boyfriend.” There was the sound of the phone changing hands which gave Brian enough time to consider all the reasons why Justin would need to get dressed or more importantly why he was UN-dressed. In the next moment his lover’s cheery voice came on the other end of the line.
“You fuck him yet?” Brian asked after the usual ‘hey’s’
“Brian!”
Even being in a different city Brian knew exactly what expression was currently plastered on the teen’s face.
“He’s my friend. I told you that,” Justin added.
It still amazed Brian how naďve Justin could be at times. Those were the moments when Brian would get a glimpse of the boy he met that night almost three years ago. “Yeah, well, don’t fuck him. Trust me, fucking your best friend ruins everything.” He wasn’t sure where that came from. He had obviously never fucked his best friend and Justin’s little adventure into the straight world with Daphne didn’t really count. It wasn’t about that. He knew that somewhere along the way Justin and Nick would find themselves making that choice. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew it was going to happen or that it happened before. That part wasn’t clear. The only thing he was clear on was that it wasn’t the best thing to happen for any of them.
“I hope you’re not speaking from personal experience,” Justin’s voice broke through this thoughts.
“No. Not mine,” Brian replied.
“Good. So, shouldn’t you be packing?”
Right. Now he remembered the reason he called in the first place. “I have to stay here for a couple more days. The client’s dragging his feet and the whole thing’s pretty much going to hell.”
“Oh.”
He knew Justin tried to hide it just like he usually did, but Brian could still hear the disappointment in his voice. “So, what are you getting dressed for?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Nothing. It’s…nothing. There’s this art show that I was chosen for at school. It’s sort of a big deal.”
Brian smiled. Well, at least one of them had a good day. “Not bad, Sunshine, not bad.” That was as close as he’d ever get to telling Justin how proud of him he was.
Thankfully, from the sound of things, Justin knew what he meant because Brian could practically hear the man smiling. “Thanks. Anyway, the guys are taking me out to celebrate.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“Yeah, well…”
They were both quiet for a moment, both wishing Brian was back in the Pitts. But he wasn’t and wouldn’t be for at least another forty-eight hours. And there was no point in dwelling on that.
“I should really go or Nick will drag me out of here in my underwear,” Justin finally broke the silence.
“I’m sure he’ll at least put a jacket over you so you don’t catch pneumonia,” Brian teased, smiling when he heard Justin chuckle.
“I really doubt that.”
“Well, then I guess you should go,” Brian said.
“Yeah.”
“Have fun tonight.” Justin deserved it. The kid had worked his ass off to get where he was today. He deserved to have some fun. There was only one problem…Brian wasn’t there to enjoy it with him.
“I will.”
“Later,” Brian said softly.
“Later,” he heard Justin’s reply before the line went dead.
~~~***~~~***~~~
“And he just gets up and says, ‘what are you all looking at?’ and just walks off.”
Everybody at the table laughed as Nicholas finished telling yet another story.
Surprisingly, Justin found himself enjoying his night out. Something he didn’t think was possible after he spoke with Brian. The exec sounded tired and he missed Brian terribly. He tried to get out of going out with the guys, wanting to just stay inside and wallow in his own misery for the night, but Nick wouldn’t have any of it. He practically force-dressed him and dragged him out of the apartment, which Justin was now thankful for.
Nick said it was Justin’s night. And as he sat at the table, looking at the faces of his new friends, he knew it to be true. They were here for him. Because of him. He was the center of their attention and that felt…great.
What he didn’t realize was that a lot more was happening at the table than the looks of friendship and pride from his friends; Caleb watching Justin; Nick watching Justin; Kevin watching Nick; Nick watching Caleb; Caleb watching Nick; Mark watching Caleb. Basking in the glory of his moment, Justin was completely oblivious to the drama building up around him.
~~~***~~~***~~~
“Congratulations, baby,” Emmett exclaimed as soon as Justin got in arm-reaching distance, as the older man hugged the artist, kissing him on the cheek. “I’m so proud of you.”
Justin smiled, blushing. “How did you guys know?” After the dinner with the guys and Daphne, the group decided to go out for drinks, so Woody’s was an obvious choice. Where, of course, they ran into Emmett, Michael, and Ted.
“How do you think?” Michael asked.
It didn’t take long for Justin to realize who the source of information was. His mother was becoming more and more like Debbie every day. “Maybe we should stage an intervention,” he said to Michael.
The brunette shook his head. “Wouldn’t do any good. They’ll just turn it around on us. They’re pros at that, remember?”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Justin smiled. There wasn’t much he could do when it came to Debbie and his mom. He got used to having two mothers a long time ago.
“Okay, enough about mothers. How about a drink?” Nick quickly changed the subject, volunteering himself and Kevin to get them another round of drinks.
“I thought Brian was coming back tonight,” Michael said turning to Justin after the other two men left the table.
Despite trying not to show his disappointment, Justin frowned. “Yeah. He has to stay in Boston for two more days. Some issues with the new account.”
“The great Mr. Kinney having problems with a client?” Ted scoffed, earning a glare from Justin as well as Michael and Emmett.
Just then Nick and Kevin returned, bringing drinks as well as a reason to change the subject.
Half an hour later Justin found himself listening to Emmett recount his and Ted’s trip to New York from last summer while scanning the bar that was now a lot more crowded. His eyes settled on a young guy in his early twenties standing by the bar nursing a bottle of beer. Half-listening to what his friend was saying, Justin watched the brunette at the bar who chose this moment to turn around, their eyes locking on each other’s. Justin licked his lower lip, looking the guy over. The brunette smiled, motioning for the bathroom. Biting his lip, Justin considered for a moment. It was exactly what he needed. A hot ass without much work. Just what the doctor ordered.
“I need to use the bathroom,” he threw over his shoulder before getting up and quickly making his way into the back.
~~~***~~~***~~~
“He isn’t,” Caleb said, as the rest of the group watched Justin and the brunette from the bar disappear in the bathroom.
“He is,” Daphne replied.
“But I thought…I mean…what about Brian?” He turned around, looking around the table.
“Brian’s probably fucked half of Boston by now,” Emmett commented.
“I don’t understand,” Caleb admitted. “I thought they were together. In a relationship.”
“Brian and Justin are like…two men in a restaurant who settled on the main course, but still like to try out different appetizers,” Ted explained.
“You mean, Brian likes to try out different appetizers,” Emmett corrected his boyfriend.
“I’m sure I just saw Justin going in the back with a trick,” Michael said, quick to defend his best friend.
“I just thought they loved each other,” Caleb said quietly.
“They do,” Daphne replied, sighing heavily. “Sometimes they just don’t know what’s good for them.”
~~~***~~~***~~~
Justin closed the door and, taking out the phone out of his pocket, flopped down on the bed. He stared at the phone in his hands for a few minutes, trying to decide whether he should dial the number. He knew that in all probability Brian was out in some club or fucking a trick right about now. But he wanted, needed to hear his boyfriend’s voice. Deciding that the worst that could happen would be getting Brian’s voicemail, Justin pressed the speed dial.
“Yeah.”
Startled by actually hearing Brian answer the phone, Justin forgot what he wanted to say.
“Justin?”
“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t think you’d be there.”
“Why’d you call then?”
Justin shrugged even though Brian couldn’t see him. “I kinda hoped you would be,” he said honestly, his voice but a whisper.
“How was your night out with the boys?”
Justin shrugged his shoulders again. “Okay.”
“That’s it? Okay?”
“It was fine,” the teen tried again, failing miserably at faking excitement. He did have a good time tonight, but now that he was back in his bed alone, he missed Brian even more.
“What’s wrong?”
Justin cursed under his breath, hating the fact that even being in different cities, Brian could still read him so well. “Nothing. I just…I…” He sighed. “I wish you were here, that’s all,” he said, hoping the exec would ignore the desperate note in Justin’s voice, blaming it on the late hour.
There was a pause on the other line. “I’ll be home Friday night. We’ll celebrate then, ok?”
Justin released the breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. “Yeah,” he simply replied, a small smile creeping up on his face.
“I gotta finish this report before my meeting tomorrow morning, so…”
“Yeah. Sure. Go ahead.” He didn’t realize that Brian was working all night.
“Get some sleep, Sunshine.”
He could hear the smile in Brian’s voice and the softness of it made him smile as well.
Go to Part 12