Dinner for Three

Brian was sitting at a table for three at Gino's, his favorite Italian restaurant, situated on Mt. Washington, overlooking downtown Pittsburgh. The other two seats were vacant so he had time to think to himself about other nights up there. He had carefully avoided the table where they were seated the first time he had brought Justin to Gino's, which was also the first time …. Brian smiled to himself. He hoped that the twink would not bring up that subject but he knew that Justin was often carried away by enthusiasm. Justin had insisted on Gino's for tonight. Brian had at least made sure they weren't at that same table. The rest was up to some higher power.

Brian also thought that he needed to be careful that Justin did not find out he had blown off an important client to attend this little affair. He could fix any problem that might come up with the client. Anyhow there were lots of important clients, but there was only one Justin. Brian had found that out. Justin wanted him to be there, and he wanted to be there himself. Not that he was worried at all.

The evening promised to be an interesting one because the third party was Ethan Gold, in town for an audition with the Pittsburgh Symphony. Justin had gone with Ethan to the audition for good luck. The pair were to walk across the Smithfield Street Bridge and ride up the side of the mountain on the Incline, a kind of almost vertical cable car, which would bring them up the 500 foot escarpment and deposit them a few steps from Gino's. Through the large picture window Brian could see one of the cable cars coming up the steep inclined plane and he figured the guys were probably on that one. He hoped all would go well. He grinned. The evening had begun frighteningly. Gino had told him when he arrived that it was "all you can eat" spaghetti night.

"You must hate me," Gino had complained good-naturedly when Brian arrived, "Bringing that blond spaghetti eating machine up here on 'all you can eat' night." "I think maybe two spaghetti eating machines tonight, Gino," Brian had warned him.

The awaited pair came through the door and headed in Brian's direction. Dispensing with formality, Justin told Brian. "You should have been there, Brian." "I don't play the fiddle, remember. Hi, Ethan," Brian interrupted him.

"Cut it out, Brian," Justin retorted, "I'm going to tell you about it and that's that, so just sit there and listen. There were six guys auditioning. Maybe it wasn't six guys. There might have been some girls in there too." Ethan nodded but did not dare break in.

"They all played behind this big black screen and the judges sat out in front where they could hear the music but not see the players," Justin ran on, "I was out in front too so I didn't even know which one was Ethan. They were all so good I don't see how the judges could pick one over the others. I'm sure Ethan was the best though."

Justin stopped for air, so Brian pointed out to him, "Sweetheart, if you had been playing a fiddle behind that big black screen, I would have been able to pick you out with no trouble at all."

"See what I have to put up with?" Justin looked at Ethan. "You love it," Ethan replied smiling at Brian. "I know," Justin said, smiling at them both.

Ethan and Justin both ordered spaghetti and Gino came over to tell them not to worry because they had made extra when they heard Justin was coming. Brian ordered, as he always did, something that sounded funny, and which Justin did not recognize when it came.

"Well?" Brian asked Ethan, "Sunshine here told me everything about the audition except whether you got the job. I hope you did."

"Oh we won't know about that for maybe two weeks. I think I did well, and there are going to be two of us hired out of the six, so the odds are 1 in 3," Ethan answered.

"He will, Brian," Justin chimed in, "He was the best." "You said you didn't know which one he was," Brian laughed. "Well I knew he was the best," Justin maintained.

Part way through bowl 3 of the spaghetti, Justin told Ethan, "This restaurant is very special for Brian and me." "Yes," Brian interrupted, "Because it's my favorite restaurant, and we are both crazy about the food here, Right, Sweetheart?" "Yes, Honey," Justin replied, "That's exactly what I was trying to say. That's all I was going to say." Brian smiled. "I bet," he said.

"We have a favorite table here, too," Justin said to Ethan, "But this isn't it." "Sorry," Brian told him, "It was already taken." "It was empty when we got here and for an hour or so afterward," Justin wondered.

"Gee, then maybe I forgot which one it is," Brian smirked. Justin said nothing but he answered Brian with a look that Brian understood perfectly.

The meal went well. Justin and Ethan tied in the unspoken spaghetti race with four bowls each. "I don't know how you guys can do it," Brian wondered, "If I ate all those carbohydrates, I'd look like a balloon." " That's OK," Ethan smiled, "Violinists don't need to be skinny."

"Young people don't put on weight," Justin counseled Ethan, "That's a middle-age problem." "Which you may never reach," Brian warned him, "If you don't lay off."

"You know," Ethan told them both as he and Justin finished up their pecan balls with hot fudge sauce, "You guys have what I want, hopefully with Tom, but if not with him, with somebody." "Are you and Tom getting back together?" Justin asked. "I think we both want to. A little separation sometimes helps, I think," Ethan answered.

"It does," Brian told him, "Sometimes you have to be without something to know how much you need it."

Justin didn't say anything. He just glowed.

Ethan had to get back to New York the next morning. He promised that they would be the first to know when he got the news from the Symphony, as they left him off at his hotel.

When Brian and Justin got back to the loft, Brian changed clothes and came out of the bedroom to find the fireplace lit. "Oh, oh," he said, "The evening's not over yet, I see." "I'm not in charge of what time it is," Justin answered him, "If you don't want the fireplace lit, we can turn it off."

"Leave it be," Brian told him as he sat down next to Justin on the floor, facing the fireplace. "Thanks for being so nice to Ethan," Justin said to Brian. "Ethan's a pretty nice kid, Baby - as long as he isn't chasing you - and you aren't chasing him," Brian replied.

"Brian, Honey," Justin told him, "You are getting exasperating." "You're cute when you're exasperated," Brian said, putting his arm around his blond twink. Justin responded by laying his head on Brian's shoulder.

"Why didn't you get us seated at our usual table?" Justin wondered. "I guess I didn't think of it," Brian suggested.

"Oh, no," Justin went on, "It was because it wasn't just us, that's why. You want to save that table for when it's just us. You can't fool me. That's why, isn't it? That has to be why." Justin insisted. "Well maybe, if that's what you think," Brian countered. "Oh Brian," Justin gushed, "You are so sentimental." Brian shut up. He thought he was ahead at that point.

After a few minutes, Justin renewed the conversation. "Thanks for being so nice to me too, Brian," he said. "What's that all about?" Brian asked cautiously..

"I called your office from the auditions but you had already left," Justin informed him, "Cynthia told me that Amalgamated is in town and wanted you to meet with them tonight, but you put them off. You probably should have met with them. They are a big account. But you cancelled, and you did it for me."

"Maybe, I did it so that I could see you and Ethan together, just to make sure…," Brian replied "No, Brian, Quit being so evasive. You did it for me." Justin insisted, " I know you too well for you to get away with that big, tough Brian stuff. You did it for me."

"All right, what if I did?" Brian answered him, "I wanted you to have what you wanted tonight, and I'm going to help you get Ethan settled down if he comes back to town, and I'm always going to be there when you need me - or even just when you want me. If that's a crime, I plead 'Guilty' - and that's that. You're always telling me I'm the boss around here. Well, the boss has spoken."

Justin just smiled at him. Then he said, "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Enough to make me tired," Brian replied, "Let's go to bed." "I thought you'd never ask." Justin told him, "I was beginning to think you were going to keep me talking all night."

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