Silver Skates

 

Brian had an odd look on his face as the guys sat down in their accustomed places on the floor of the loft to watch the flames in their fake fireplace. Brian thought he knew what the subject of the evening’s discussion would be – and he was right on the money.

“OK, Brian Kinney,” Justin began immediately. “I am definitely mad at you.”

“I thought you might be, Baby,” Brian revealed. “You may try to hide it but I can usually tell. It was not my fault I wasn’t in the office when you stopped by this afternoon. You didn’t say you were coming. How could I know?”

“Turned out to be a good thing you weren’t there, Mr. Kinney,” Justin informed him. “I got to pass some time with Cynthia. And that’s when I heard that Kinnetics was planning an ice-skating party – which I knew nothing about. Cynthia said that you said….”

“Yeah,” Brian confessed. “I told Cynthia I’d tell you about it and I guess she thought maybe I meant like right away.”

“When you really meant like two weeks after it was over, I bet,” Justin accused him. “So maybe you want to tell me now. I told Cynthia not to tell me any more about it. I wanted to hear it directly from you, Sweetheart.”

“Well, the party is gonna be out at that new skating rink in Southpointe,” Brian started at the beginning. “They rent it out some nights to private parties – and that’s what we’re having. We’re celebrating Kinnetics getting the advertising contract with Silver Skates. They didn’t do so well this winter and they blamed their agency – so they decided to try us. We’ll be wanting your help on next year’s campaign since you’re such a great skater yourself.”

”Which is supposed to explain why I wasn’t told about the skating party?” Justin wanted to know. “At least till I pried the information out of Cynthia.”

“I don’t think you actually pried the info out of Cynthia,” Brian laughed. “I think she just figured you already knew….”

“Because she knows how we never keep any secrets from each other, Kinney,” Justin grouched, “Which is what I thought too….”

“I’m sure that’s exactly what you thought all right - but I also know how you worry when I’m going ice skating, Baby,” Brian tried to explain. “I was just trying to save you a couple of weeks of worrying – because I love you so much.”

“OK, Kinney,” Justin laughed. “I guess you think that’s gonna work. Well, I’m not saying it’s not going to work – but it hasn’t worked yet so….”

“It’s gonna be a big night, Baby,” Brian enthused. “All the Kinnetics staff and most of our friends will be there. Linz and Mel are even going to bring Gus. And Jeff Silver and his crowd from Silver Skates will be there too. It will be a great night.”

“Well Mr. Silver just might decide to cancel the contract after he sees you skating, Bri,” Justin teased.

“Nah. I’ll do OK. Cynthia said she’d take me out for a couple of practice sessions – and so did Melanie….” Brian told him. “So….”

“And you actually thought you were going to get on any ice rink without me?” Justin was incredulous. “Surely you didn’t think that.”

“Well maybe I was hoping, Kiddo,” Brian replied. “I was thinking - after a few practice sessions - that I might be like the first person ever to land a triple lutz at Southpointe.”

“What you’re likely to land is about half a lutz,” Justin had to smile, “But you very well could be the first person out there to land any kind of a lutz on their head. And then Gus would be an orphan.”

“Gus would hardly be an orphan with two mommies and one blond daddy still left,” Brian reasoned. “If he had to lose somebody, I’d probably be the one he best could do without.”

“OK, Brian,” Justin was amused. “So now you’re playing for sympathy. And that might work too, but it’s not working yet either.”

“Well I’m willing to wait for a little while. Some things take time. I hope you don’t stay all that mad though, Baby,” Brian told him. “I do need some help from you. We have to get everybody Silver Skates before the party. I don’t think it would look very good for us to be skating around on some other company’s skates. I guess some of the people could rent skates but it would be better if ….”

“You know what, Bri,” Justin replied. “I don’t much like Silver Skates. They don’t hold their edges as well as ….”

“Starting now, Baby,” Brian informed him, “You do like Silver Skates. Actually you love Silver Skates. We’re making a lot of money from Silver Skates and we all love Silver Skates.”

“Yeah,” Justin got the point. “Silver Skates edges are getting better already, I guess. Maybe that can be the focal point of our campaign. Quality – quality- quality. So maybe we ought to get some big name skater on-board to shill for us.”

“And maybe have him do a quarter lutz and land on his head in a TV ad?” Brian projected. “That would be a big attention grabber.”

“But that might not be exactly the attention we’re looking for, Brian,” Justin disagreed. “I guess we’ll need to think the campaign through later. The first item of business should be the skating party.”

“Does that mean you’ll come to the party, Sweetheart?” Brian said with pseudo-hopefulness. “I was afraid you’d stay mad and refuse to come to the skating party at all.”

”OK, Kinney,” Justin recounted for him. “Getting romantic might just work. Playing for sympathy might even work. And maybe they did work already. Getting sarcastic will not work. You know damn well I wouldn’t trust you at that rink without me there to supervise. So you knew all the time that I would be there – and I intend to have Malcolm and Chuck there to help – and maybe even Brandon. He’s a pretty good skater. There will be no lutz from Kinney at that party. No lutz or even any part of a lutz.”

“Well what if Jeff Silver decides to do a lutz or even an axel?” Brian wondered. “He was an amateur champ not all that long ago and almost made the Olympic team – and he’s about my age too.”

“And also pretty hot, Brian,” Justin added for good measure. “I remember seeing his picture back when I was just a child. But Jeff Silver is not my concern. You are. So if he wants to do some jumps…. He is pretty hot though. It might be safer if he ….”

“Geez, Kiddo, I hope you won’t be going around that night harassing Jeff Silver,” Brian told him decisively. “Or turning on the charm either. He’s still pretty hot – but I don’t think he’s your type.”

“No worry, Brian,” Justin informed him, “I will be too busy harassing you – and making sure I still have you around after the damn skating party is over. You’re my number one priority, Kinney - just like you always are.”

“Well I guess I can live with that,” Brian supposed contentedly - as he pulled the kid much closer and ran his fingers through Justin’s hair – causing a substantial pause in the conversation.

And it was a while before Justin’s curiosity got the best of him. “OK, Brian,” he asked the big guy,. “Why didn’t you tell me about the skating party in the first place? You knew I had to find out sometime.”

“Maybe because I thought you’d enjoy finding out for yourself, Baby,” Brian admitted. “You get a big kick out of finding stuff out for yourself and I wanted you to have as much fun as possible – to go along with the worry. I’m always thinking of you, you know. I am.”

“Yeah, I know. And I guess I can live with that,” Justin told him as he rubbed his head against Brian’s cheek. “I really think I can.”.
 

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