The Skeleton in the Closet

Brian was disturbed as he left the office late one Thursday afternoon. He had been involved all day in a meeting with some hot-shot New York ad execs. The meeting was successful and profitable from a business standpoint, but there had been a few surprises. He wanted to talk to Justin. They were meeting Michael and Ben, Ted and Emmett at Woody's for dinner with a possible excursion to Babylon afterwards. Brian and Justin were not really regulars at Babylon any more but they dropped in occasionally to be with the gang and to renew old acquaintances.

It was always a fun time when those six got together. They always had a lot to talk about and they were all genuinely fond of each other. Usually Brian was the life of the party but that was not the case on this evening. He seemed preoccupied.

"What's the matter, Brian?" Mikey asked him, "Are you feeling all right?" "Yeah," Brian replied, "I'm fine." "Did the meeting go well today?" Justin wanted to know. "Yeah," Brian answered, "We'll make some real money on the joint venture." Everyone sensed that something was wrong with Brian even though he was trying not to show it, but no one had a clue as to what his problem was.

After they finished eating, Emmett suggested that they head over to Babylon. The others all seemed to be ready for that but Brian begged off. "I think I've had enough for tonight," he told them, "I better go home from here. I'll be available for Babylon next week though if anybody's interested." They were interested and they set up another meeting for the next Thursday night. They were all concerned about Brian. Michael suggested to Justin that he go home with Brian but that had been Justin's intention all along. He knew something was wrong with Brian and he had to at least try to help.

Brian didn't say much on the way home. Finally Justin said, "Something is bothering you, Brian. I can tell." "Yeah there is," Brian responded. "Are you going to tell me about it?" Justin asked. "Yeah, I am," Brian told him, but didn't say more. The rest of the ride was in silence. So now there was something bothering Justin too, and he had no idea what it was.

When Michael and the others arrived at Babylon, the activity there was in full swing. The go-gos were grinding, the strobes were flashing, and the crowd was pulsating to a heavy metal rock beat. They looked around to see whom they knew among the dancers and Michael spotted a familiar but unexpected face. Mike put two and two together and thought he got four. "Oh my God," he said to Ben, "I think I know what Brian's problem is. Poor Justin."

At just about the same time, Justin and Brian were entering the loft. By then, Justin was probably edgier than Brian was. "I'm going to change clothes," Brian told Justin, "How about lighting up your wonderful fireplace. Then we need to talk." Justin ransacked his mind as he lit the pseudo fire. Could he have done something to irritate Brian? He couldn't think of anything. Brian had been his usual self that morning and they hadn't been together all day. Still, Justin was convinced that he was somehow involved in Brian's problem, and that bothered him.

"Are you mad at me?" he blurted out as Brian came out of the bedroom. "I don't think so. I hope not," Brian answered, "But let's sit down and talk. You can get yourself some marshmallows if you want to." Now that reminded Justin of the condemned man getting to choose his last meal so he declined. As they got as comfortable as possible under the circumstances, under the blanket and facing the fire, Justin tried to prepare himself for whatever was coming. But he still wasn't ready for what came.

Brian started the discussion. "I'm sorry if I'm making you nervous, Sunshine. Let me begin by telling you that I love you now and I will still love you when we're finished talking, no matter what." Brian wasn't smiling however and Justin really wished that he were.

Then Brian asked him: "Do you know Kip Thomas?" The only way Justin's heart could have sunk any farther would have been if he were taller. "That's the guy who sued you for sexual harassment," Justin answered. "And then for some unknown reason dropped the suit," Brian finished Justin's sentence for him, "We talked about that, Sunshine. You said it was a mystery, and it was a mystery for me. Was it really a mystery for you?"

"Why are you asking about that now?" Justin questioned Brian, "That was almost two years ago." "Kip Thomas was at the meeting today," Brian explained, "He's the executive assistant to the chief honcho at A & B Ads. At one of the breaks, he congratulated me on my strategy - sending a blond twink to entrap him and then blackmail him into dropping the charges. How many blond twinks do you think I know?"

"We didn't do anything, Brian. Believe me, we didn't do anything," Justin protested, "I just led him on until I thought I had enough on him to get him to drop the suit. I had to do it. You were innocent but you could have been found guilty. You would have lost everything. I loved you, Brian. I couldn't let that happen."

"I wouldn't have wanted you to take that kind of a chance for me, Justin. I wouldn't have allowed you to do it," Brian said.

"Brian," Justin responded, "I have been in a lot of trouble the last few years. You were always there when I needed somebody. Even when you were trying to push me away, you were always there when I needed you. I know you would do anything for me. I'm not some helpless child. Let me try to do the same for you."

"But why didn't you tell me what you'd done?" Brian wanted to know. "You've already answered that question yourself, Brian," Justin countered. "You would have been mad at me and I didn't want you to be mad at me. I was kind of scared of you then. If you were me would you have told you back then?"

Finally, Brian was smiling. "But you're not scared of me now? he asked. "No, I'm not," Justin smiled back, "But I still hate it when you're mad at me."

"Sunshine," Brian said, "Don't ever put yourself in a dangerous situation like that for me again. Let me take care of myself. That's an order."

"You know, I do take orders from you, Brian. If you told me to jump out the window, I'd probably jump. So just keep giving orders whenever you want to, but I'll decide on my own which ones to follow. Now I'm going out to get some marshmallows. Can I take your order for some?" Brian nodded in amazement. What a wonderful kid this was.

Justin's cell phone rang at just that minute. That was a surprise because Justin got very few calls in the loft on his cell phone. It was Mikey. "Justin," he said, "I know what Brian's problem is." "That's all taken care of," Justin answered, "Brian just needed someone to tell him a few things and I took care of that."

When the phone was hung up, Brian asked, "Mikey?" "Mikey," Justin confirmed, "A really good friend."

Brian and Justin stayed up late that night, sitting on the floor, holding on to each other and watching the fire. They didn't need to say anything and they didn't for a long time. Then Justin broke the silence. It was usually Justin who broke the silence. "Hon," he said to Brian, "If you had lost the loft, where would we have put our fireplace?" "Too bad Kip Thomas was such a wimp," Brian answered. He kissed Justin on the head and all was well with Brian and Justin.

Return to Fireside Chats