Good Housekeeping

Brian was seated in front of the fireplace. Justin was not. Brian wanted Justin there.

“C’mon Taylor,” Brian called out impatiently. “I am waiting and I don’t like to wait. I thought you liked to sit here with me. I guess the honeymoon is over. Hurry up. Brian Kinney is getting vexed.”

“Hey Brian,” the kid called back. “I have to finish up in the shower. Don’t you want to come and help me? I bet I could get finished sooner if I just had some help.”

“Nah, not this time,” Brian smiled in spite of himself. “Another time for sure but I don’t think so right now - not this time.”

“Well I guess the honeymoon is really over then,” Justin called back in a cheery tone. “But I’ll be in there as soon as I can get there.”

And it wasn’t long before Justin assumed his position on the floor next to Brian. Brian put his arm around the twink but didn’t say anything for a few minutes.

“You don’t clean the shower as well as Mrs. Hudson did, Baby,” Brian finally broke the silence. “I noticed a few streaks in there this morning.”

“There was a time,” Justin postulated, “when the only thing you noticed in the shower was me. At least I thought so.”

“That was in the old days,” Brian admitted, “when Mrs. Hudson kept this place spotless. Too bad she had to retire. We need her. She kept this place clean and she never got in our way at all.”

“She got a chance to retire to Florida, Bri,” Justin pointed out. “She’s gonna be near the grandchildren and all. She deserves to retire. And she got us a new housekeeper. Mrs. Williams will be available next month and Mrs. Hudson says she’s real good.”

“Well, what are we supposed to do in the meantime?” Brian wondered. “I don’t like living in squalor.”

“Well, Kinney,” Justin laughed. “She did suggest we hire Happy Housekeepers in the interim, or that guy, Jeff. She said he’d come every week till Mrs. Williams was available.”

“She said Happy Housekeepers would not do as good a job as she did,” Brian remembered, “And that Jeff guy is some good-looking blond twink, just a little bit older than you.”

“And you figured that if you were going to have some blond twink doing all the housework around here,” Justin was still laughing. “It just might as well be the blond twink already in residence? So you put the nix on Jeff.”

“That is not why. I didn’t think you’d want any competition around, Baby,” Brian reasoned. “You’d be making all kind of noise about me and Jeff and you know it. I was just trying to keep peace around here.”

“And you never considered the possibility of maybe me and Jeff?” Justin challenged.

“Not for a minute, Kiddo,” Brian assured him. “I’m the guy around here who falls for twinks. You need somebody older and wiser – more mature and experienced. You would never want some twink, so Jeff wouldn’t appeal to you, I bet. Anyhow, I wouldn’t be worried about you and Jeff. I’m pretty confident.”

“Hmmm,” Justin considered. “Older. Wiser. Mature. Experienced. Sounds good. I wonder where I could find somebody like that.”

“Cut it out, Justin Taylor,” Brian stopped him. “I have half a notion to get up and go into that shower right now and point out all the streaks and stuff you’ve left there, and then you kept me sitting here all by myself too while you cleaned the damn shower.”

“You know, Bri,” Justin did not back down. “I am sorry. I do have to apologize. I’m sorry I hid the broom and the mop and the cleaning supplies from you. I guess I’ll tell you where I hid them though. I hid them in the ‘broom, mop and cleaning supplies’ closet. I knew you’d never find them there. So you wouldn’t be able to clean the shower yourself and get rid of all those streaks that you’re complaining about. I should be ashamed. I am selfish, Brian, and I apologize.”

“Hey, Baby,” Brian came back. “Cut the martyr bit. I was all for hiring Happy Housekeepers but you said you wanted to do it. That’s what you said and that’s why we didn’t hire Happy Housekeepers.”

“Maybe your memory is failing just a little, Honey,” Justin told him. “Just a little bit though. What I remember saying is that maybe WE could TRY to do OUR own cleaning till Mrs. Williams could come.”

“Well maybe that’s what you said, but I knew you wouldn’t expect me to be doing any housework,” Brian defended himself. “Now tell the truth. You didn’t, did you?”

“I guess not,” Justin admitted, “But I didn’t think you’d be bitching about all the stuff I was doing either. I thought I was doing a pretty good job, but I guess not good enough to satisfy Brian ‘Mr. Clean’ Kinney.”

“You did OK, Baby,” Brian backed off a little. “But housekeeping is not your strong point. I want you to concentrate on your strong points, so actually I called Happy Housekeepers and they’re coming Tuesday. I can cancel them if you don’t like the idea. The decision is up to you – just like it usually is. Shall I call them off?”

“Without arguing the point about decision making,” Justin responded. “I want you to make this decision, because I have Jeff coming on Monday. So what do you want to do? Which one do we call off and which one do we keep?”

“Let me think about it for a while,” Brian answered. “Can you keep quiet while I think about it?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Justin agreed. “Just hold me a little tighter and I won’t talk till you loosen up. How about that?”

“Fair enough,” Brian agreed and fulfilled his part of the bargain. So did Justin. The situation worked so well that it was quite a while before Brian rendered his decision.

“You know what, Baby?” Brian told the kid. “Let’s have both of them come. I don’t want you to be doing any of the house stuff. I don’t want to be criticizing you. Maybe, between the two of them, we’ll both be satisfied. OK with you?”

“Yeah,” Justin said. “Good plan. Even though I’m not allowed to talk because you’re still squeezing me pretty tight.” Brian did not quit squeezing so Justin shut up again. Both of them seemed satisfied with the outcome of the discussion and the silent period continued.

Finally Brian relaxed his grasp on the twink. “You know, don’t you?” he asked the kid. “And you knew the whole time, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Justin told him, “And I love you for it, Brian. Not just because of that though, but because of so many other things too. I really love you.”

“And so you’re not mad about me carping about how clean the apartment is?” Brian asked for reassurance.

“Nope,” Justin told him. “I knew everything was spotless and I knew why you were complaining too.”

“Well, I was feeling neglected,” Brian said. “I want you to be worrying about me and not about cleaning the shower or any other thing either.”

“And that’s what I would rather do too, Brian,” Justin assured him. “Why do you think I called Jeff? I might just have been cleaning the shower a while back, but I was thinking of you the whole time. Jeff and the Happy Housekeepers might leave a few streaks in the shower but….”

”I won’t notice,” Brian interrupted.

“But didn’t you say….” Justin tried again.

“I won’t notice, Baby,” Brian reiterated. “Believe me, I will not notice.”

Justin believed him. And he knew what Brian would notice too. The honeymoon was definitely not over.
 

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