THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU

 

It was fairly late when the guys sat themselves down in front of their fake flames. It appeared that Justin was trying – maybe without much success – to convince his other half of something. Or he was about to try to convince his other half of something – with not much chance of success.

"It was just a coincidence, Brian," Justin was telling him. "Coincidences happen."

"Coincidences do happen," Brian agreed. "Every once in a while they happen. Coincidences don't happen every day to the same people. And sometimes things that seem to be coincidences aren't coincidences at all."

"Anyhow you're over-reacting," Justin complained. "Gee whiz, Brian, it isn't the end of the world or anything. And it wasn't my fault anyhow. You picked the night. You picked the place. You picked the time. I was supposed to be surprised. And I was surprised."

"Yeah you were," Brian tried hard not to smile but failed badly. "You were supposed to be the one who was surprised – but it was me who got surprised. I was supposed to know what was going on but I was surprised too."

"We were both surprised, Brian," Justin countered. "I was just as surprised as you were."

"Look, Kiddo," Brian reasoned. "I pick a really out of the way restaurant for our private Thanksgiving dinner. A really small out-of-the-way place with only about 15 tables. I pick their slowest night of the week. I pick a late hour so most of any crowd they might have would be gone. There's only one other table occupied when we get there. Brandon and Jason. And I'm supposed to believe that's a coincidence."

"Yeah you are," Justin argued back. "There's no way I could have known where we were going – or when either. You never told me. All I knew was that we were going out to eat – and I thought we were going to Gino's. You didn't tell anybody so how was I supposed to find out? Even if I would have wanted to tell anybody – which I wouldn't have either. Just tell me how I could have found out anything."

"Well maybe I told Mikey," Brian admitted.

"You told Mikey about our secret Thanksgiving dinner," Justin tried the offensive. "And you didn't tell me. And now you're suspecting Mikey of blabbing? And blaming me if he did?"

"Mikey wasn't the one who was supposed to be surprised," Brian defended himself. "You were. And I trust Mikey too. He would never blab – but he could have been spied on. You know what I'm gonna do next year. I'm gonna tell Brandon. That way we won't run into them."

"No," Justin seemed amused. "Maybe not – but we'll probably run into Hix and his boy-friend, whoever that might be by next year – and I guess I'll get blamed for that too."

"You will – if it happens," Brian was seeing some humor too. "But coincidences do happen, I guess. It still might be better to meet Hix and friend than Brandon and Jason though. We wouldn't have to sit down with them. They wouldn't ask us and we wouldn't have to accept if they did."

"Jason and Brandon were as surprised to see us as we were to see them, Brian, and you know it," Justin maintained. "You know they were. They didn't know what to do so they asked us to join them and we didn't know how to refuse…."

"And you're telling me that them having a private pre-Thanksgiving dinner - just for the two of them - that was a coincidence too?" Brian wanted to know.

"Well maybe I did tell Jason that it was something we did because we are so busy on the holiday itself," Justin said, "But there are a lot of restaurants in this city and lots of other days and lots of other times. There was no way I could have figured that they would pick our place and our date and our time. And they wouldn't want to share their private Thanksgiving dinner with us any more than we would have wanted them with us. So it was a coincidence, Brian. It was."

"Tell me, Baby," Brian laughed. "Do Jason and Brandon have a fake fireplace?"

"No comment," Justin took a firm stand. "Maybe I know and maybe I don't, but I don't ever do any gossiping and so I'm not saying anything at all because I wouldn't tell you even if I did know."

Justin cozied himself up to Brian – maybe because he was hoping to suspend the discussion – or maybe for some other reason – but either way, it did – in fact – suspend the discussion for a prolonged period.

It was Justin who resumed the discussion after the hiatus. "You know what, Bri, I think you actually enjoyed yourself tonight with Brandon and Jason," Justin opined. "And actually I did too – not that I wouldn't have rather just been with you."

"OK, Twink, I'll admit it," Brian said. "Brandon is beginning to grow on me. I think we could be real friends. If it won't make you mad, I'll admit that maybe I did enjoy myself just a little bit."

"But you'd rather have just been with me?" Justin wondered.

"O yeah, Baby," Brian grinned. "Just like always."

There was another briefer pause in the conversation at that point.

Brian broke the silence after a while. "You know what we can do, JT?" he proposed. "We can go out tomorrow and have our own little Thanksgiving dinner – just the two of us. We can go from restaurant to restaurant till we find one with nobody we know."

"That'll work, Bri," Justin responded, "But how about not tomorrow. Tomorrow I was planning to surprise you with a little pre-Thanksgiving dinner right here. I got some stuff ordered so I don't want to change that – except that it won't be a surprise now.'

"Well maybe we had enough surprises for one Thanksgiving season, Kiddo," Brian grinned at him. "Maybe we don't need any more surprises."

"Then maybe I should tell you that it's not gonna be turkey tomorrow, Brian," Justin divulged. "It's something you like but not turkey. That was supposed to be a surprise too."

"I thought you'd have that Polynesian turkey like you had last year," Brian said. "That turkey was really good."

"And I guess I was actually thinking about that and then I decided to surprise you and not have it," Justin told him. "That was before surprises became anathema though – so now I should have had it because it wouldn't have been a surprise."

"But you didn't tell me what we are having," Brian pointed out, "So there is still some element of surprise involved."

Well I don't think I'll tell you anyhow," Justin maintained. "Maybe it'll be OK to have just a small element of surprise left."

"Like maybe I should bring Brandon and Jason home for dinner tomorrow night?" Brian jibed. "Like that kind of a surprise?"

"If you decide to pull a surprise like that, Sweetheart," Justin answered him in kind, "I think you better be prepared for some extra surprises yourself. That's what I think."

"OK, Baby," Brian laughed, "That sounds like a warning. But next year I think we'll go to Timbuktu or maybe Samarkand to get a little privacy – or maybe some uninhabited island in the Pacific – and if anybody we know turns up…."

"It'd just be a coincidence, Bri," Justin laughed back at him. "Coincidences do happen."

"Guess I'll never get to be alone with you with all these coincidences going on," Brian complained half-heartedly.

"You know what, Kinney," Justin pointed out. "Actually, we're alone right now."

What followed was neither coincidence nor surprise.


 

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