Moving Forward
Part 3
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Justin moved into Brian’s guesthouse the following week. His friend Mike helped him move his stuff. He didn’t have much, so it didn’t take very long. Brian watched from the window as Justin moved back in. He wondered about the guy helping Justin move. Was he a friend or a boyfriend? Brian kept his word about the two not seeing each other if they didn’t want to. He would leave that to Justin. He wanted it to be the young artist’s decision. Brian was beginning to wonder if Justin would ever come to him.
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Justin got settled at his new place very quickly. He never saw Brian, and he figured that Brian was just helping him out. Part of Justin had been secretly hoping that Brian wanted him back, but the ad-exec had made no moves, so Justin didn’t push.. He took advantage of his new found free time and threw himself into his art. He was truly developing into a well rounded artist. Painting became his medium of choice. He painted everything from abstracts to landscapes to still lifes.
His apartment had become a studio. Except for his bedroom, every free space was devoted to his art. He constantly had all the windows open to air out the paint fumes. Thank god Brian never came over, he would have been livid with the clutter. However, Justin thrived on it. He was more at peace and much more content.
Other than his mother, no one knew about his change in living arrangements. He interacted with everyone outside of home, so no one really needed to know where he was living. Justin was a little embarrassed that Brian was taking care of him again. It still bothered the young artist that his ex-lover was paying his tuition, but now he was providing him a place to live … again.
Justin tried to help out around the yard as much as he could. He took advantage of the afternoons that he was home while Brian was at work to do lawn work. Brian employed a service to handle the lawn and pool maintenance, so Justin worked on a garden and the landscape. He doubted that Brian would notice anyway. He figured the ad-exec would just assume the lawn guys did the landscaping as well. Brian never noticed things like that anyway.
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Justin had been a little bit nervous when the dean called him to his office. The last time he had to meet with the dean was when he asked to be re-enrolled, so Justin didn’t know what was going on.
“Come in Justin, sit down.”
“Thank you sir.”
“You’re probably wondering why I wanted to see you.”
Justin giggled nervously, “I did wonder.”
“Well are you familiar with Charles Cowles?”
“No, I don’t believe I am.”
“Well he is my old college roommate and good
friend. He owns a gallery in
Justin was speechless, “He wants to view my work?”
“Yes, we can set you up in a studio here. How many pieces do you have done?”
“Well I have about ten in my studio here and another twenty at home.”
“Bring them all.”
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Justin asked Mike to help him transport the paintings to PIFA. He so badly wanted to ask Brian, but something stopped him. He didn’t want to force himself back into the older man’s life.
He was very nervous to meet Charles Cowles. Luckily his “country club” upbringing took over when he was introduced to the gallery owner.
“It’s very nice to meet you sir.”
“Likewise Justin. I was very impressed with your pieces that were featured in last quarter’s magazine. I wanted to see more. I have to say I am suitably impressed. I usually find that artists who are featured in a school magazine don’t always live up to my initial impression. I am very pleased to say that the rest of your work lives up to my initial impression.”
“Thank you Mr. Cowles.”
“Please, call me Charles.”
“Ok … Charles.”
“I’m curious, there appears to be a lot of passion and pain in your work. It shows a maturity that seems beyond your years. May I ask how old you are?”
“I’m almost twenty.”
“Judging by your art, I’d say you’ve packed a lot into those years.”
“Yes sir, I was assaulted when I was eighteen. After I recovered, I didn’t see the world the same way. The only way I knew how to express myself was through art.”
“Well Justin, you have an amazing talent.”
“Thank you.”
“I would like to take ten of these pieces to my gallery. I think they will fit in with my gallery’s concept. I’d like to see how they do, and then see where we go from there.”
Justin was speechless, this was not the outcome he had expected from this meeting. “That would be wonderful … Charles.”
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The next few weeks passed fairly
quickly. Justin had been waiting
to get his paintings shipped back to him, with a “nice try kid”
brush off. Life just continued
as before. He didn’t tell
anyone about the paintings that had shipped to
About four weeks after he met Charles, he received a phone call.
“Justin, it’s Charles.”
“Charles, hi!” He
had been waiting for this call. He
figured none of his pieces had garnered much interest, and Charles was calling
to tell him that he was shipping the pieces back to
“I wanted to get in touch with you because I need your bank’s wiring instructions.”
“Excuse me?”
“I sold all of your pieces and I want to wire you the money.”
Justin slumped into a chair, “You sold them all?”
Charles chuckled, he remembered being a young artist and dealing with your first taste of success. “Yes I sold them all. I will want to get together with you for more pieces. I will want to see how the second set goes, and then we can look into the possibility of a show.”
“That would be great Charles.”
“Let’s talk next week, I’ll make arrangements for you to come out here, I’d like you to see the gallery.”
“I would like that very much.” Justin hung up the phone, and let out the breath he had been holding. All his dreams were coming true … it was time to talk to Brian.
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Justin woke early on Saturday.
He was still in shock. The
amount of money that Charles had wired into his bank account was
staggering. Justin felt that
he was starting a whole new phase of his
life. He waited until
He crossed the back yard and went to the patio door. He hesitated just a moment before knocking. Brian came to the door almost immediately. Justin was surprised to see that his former lover didn’t look like he was nursing a hangover. In fact he looked very fresh and awake. The man before him looked gorgeous. He was wearing a pair of faded jeans and white t-shirt. Brian was wearing a pair of gold rimmed glasses, Justin thought he had never looked more beautiful.
“Hey, it’s my phantom tenant!”
“Hi Bri, I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
“No, I was just working on a new account. What’s up?”
Suddenly Justin was very nervous, “Umm, well, I sold some of my pieces, and I wanted to take you out to dinner. Since the only reason I actually still have a future as an artist is because of you, I would like to thank you.”
Brian was a little saddened that the only reason Justin came to see him was out of obligation and gratitude, but he would take what he could get, “Sure, that would be great.”
Brian was greeted with the “sunshine” smile he hadn’t seen in a long time. “Ok, I’ll pick you up at seven, but you have to drive.” The two men shared a laugh, and Justin started to walk away, but he stopped and turned, “Oh Brian, dress nice.”
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Justin knocked on Brian’s door promptly at seven. The ad-exec answered almost immediately, dressed to the nines. Justin was glad that Brian had taken his dress code to heart. He was wearing his black Armani suit with a red silk shirt. Justin was wearing a charcoal Hugo Boss suit with a blue silk shirt. The two men sized each other up.
“Sunshine, you look … amazing.”
“Thanks Bri, so do you.”
As they walked to the Vette, Brian asked where they were going. “We have reservations at Papagannos.”
Brian was a little taken aback, Papagannos was the most expensive
restaurant in
They rode to the restaurant in relative silence. Surprisingly it wasn’t an awkward silence, but a comfortable silence. Once they were seated, Justin decided to break the silence. He pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket and slid it across the table to Brian.
“What is this?”
“It’s for you … tuition payment.”
Brian was floored, he was not expecting this. He opened the envelope and found a cashiers check for $20,000. “Where the fuck did you get this kind of money?”
“I told you, I sold some pieces.”
“I figured you netted a couple hundred dollars, what’s going on?”
Justin knew that it was time to come
clean. “About six weeks
ago the dean asked to see me.
Apparently his former college roommate is a gallery owner in
Brian didn’t even try to hide his amazement. “Justin this is huge, why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“At the time I wasn’t sure how it would go. I was expecting to get my paintings back with a ‘well we tried kid.’ I had no idea they would actually sell.”
“I am very proud of you Sunshine.”
Justin beamed at the praise.
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Dinner passed quickly, the two men caught each other up on their
lives. Justin was thrilled to
be comfortable in Brian’s company
again. When they got home, a
little bit of the awkwardness returned.
Neither man knew how to proceed, so they said goodnight and went to
their respective homes. Justin
figured Brian would head to
Justin slipped outside. Brian was now standing, looking over the pool. Justin silently came up behind Brian and wrapped his arms around his waist. He felt the older man jump slightly and then relax into his embrace. Brian leaned his head back onto Justin’s shoulder. Justin took advantage of the position and began to rain light kisses on the older man’s neck and throat. Brian just sighed at the touch. He had missed Justin’s touch. The ad-exec had been celibate for so long that he feared he would go off like an inexperienced teenager.
Brian turned around to face Justin. He wanted to see the artist’s eyes. Justin’s eyes could never lie, Brian knew he would get his answer there. He saw love in the blue orbs, pure, honest love. Brian leaned down and claimed Justin’s lips. He could get lost in his baby’s kisses. The kiss spoke all the words that they could not. Their tongues caressed and explored. Brian reached and grabbed Justin’s luscious ass and pulled him closer. He could feel Justin’s erection straining against his jeans.
Brian fell to his knees. He unbuttoned Justin’s jeans and freed his cock. It was already bubbling with pre-cum. Brian licked the drops that were forming at the slit. His lips encircled the cap and he sucked gently. Justin’s hands fisted into his hair as he pulled Brian deeper into his erection. Soon he felt the tip of his cock hit the back of Brian’s throat. Lust took over and Justin began to thrust into Brian mouth. Brian’s sucking matched Justin’s thrusts stroke for stroke. Justin could no longer contain his release and he began shooting into Brian’s mouth. Brian drank every drop. When Justin was done, Brian rose and kissed his lover. Justin could taste himself on his lover.
Justin’s started to lower himself to Brian’s cock, he wanted to return the pleasure, but Brian stopped him. “No, I want to cum buried in your ass.”
Justin groaned, god what Brian could do to him. He could barely form a coherent thought, “… need to go inside … don’t have a condom …”
Brian grabbed the back of Justin’s head and gazed into the blue eyes he loved so much. “Justin, I haven’t been with anyone since that last time we saw each other in the backroom and I was tested last week. I want to make love to you raw.”
Those words pierced through Justin’s lust filled brain, he hadn’t been with anyone either, so all he could do was nod. Brian led them over to a chaise lounge by the pool. He laid down first, and Justin straddled his lap. Brian knew his lover would need to be prepared. He inserted his fingers into Justin’s mouth and Justin lubed them with his saliva. Brian gently inserted his spit slicked fingers into Justin’s hole. He worked his fingers inside his lover, caressing and stretching. When he felt Justin was sufficiently prepared he looked up with a silent question. Justin nodded and slid himself onto Brian’s cock. He slowly slid down. The feeling of Brian’s bare cock inside him was almost too much. He willed himself to not cum too quick. Justin started to slowly ride Brian’s dick. The need between the two of them quickly overrode any desire to go slow and gentle. Justin was bucking on Brian’s lap while Brian was matching the thrusts while he fisted Justin’s cock. The two men felt their orgasms come together. Justin shot all over Brian’s chest, while Brian came in Justin’s ass. The sensation of the hot cum shooting up his ass was more than Justin could stand. He felt warm, he felt fulfilled … he felt loved.
Brian reached up and pulled Justin down to look into his eyes, “Justin … I love you.”