Rage Over Hollywood

Chapter 5

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The rest of the week couldn't pass quickly enough for Justin's liking. Brian was due in on Friday evening and he only hoped that the last minute trip to Chicago didn't ruin those plans. He missed his lover and didn't think he could wait another week, let alone another month.

Security kept protestors at a safe distance from the gate, but they couldn't do much to keep them from showing up. As long as they weren't inciting violence, he'd been told, they had every right to be there.

Apparently, calling for the death of a comic book hero didn't count as inciting violence.

Brett had been livid when he'd heard about the protestor showing up at Justin's apartment building. From then on, he made arrangements for one of the studio guards to pick him up and drop him off. No one else had received unwelcome visits at their homes, but then none of the others lived as close to the studio as Justin did. Brett agreed that whoever was harassing the young artist had likely got his address and phone number from personnel records which meant that it had to be someone who had fairly free run of the studio office area.

Of course, in a studio the size of the one they were working in, that was an awful lot of people.

Though Brett vowed to find out who it was and 'see that they never worked in the business again', Justin wasn't holding his breath. The assault on him had been minor by any standards and he doubted the local precinct was overly concerned about protestors trying to stop a gay movie from being made. Hell, half of the guys on the force were probably cheering them on. The most he hoped for at this point was that they'd lose interest, or at the very least, the movie would be completed and released before someone really got hurt.

A knock on the open door brought him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see a smiling Steve in the doorway. "Hey," he said with a smile as he got to his feet. "What brings you here?"

"I have to go to Phoenix," Steve informed him as he entered the office. "I just dropped by to tell Sandy so I thought I'd pop up here to say goodbye before I left."

"That sucks," said Justin with genuine disappointment. "Brian's coming in tomorrow night. I wanted the two of you to meet."

"I'm looking forward to that, too," Steve replied. "I guess we'll just have to wait until the next time he visits."

"How long will you be gone?"

"Three days minimum, a week max."

Justin forced a smile. He hadn't known Steve long, but they'd formed the basis of a close friendship and he realized he was going to miss the man. "So, no Friday lunch, huh?" he asked, acting as normal as possible.

"Not for me," Steve agreed. "But Sandy told me to tell you if you're not there, she'll be up to kick your ass."

"I'll be there," he promised with a laugh.

"Any more trouble?" Steve asked, concern showing in his expression.

Justin shook his head. "Not really. A couple of threatening emails from accounts they can't trace. The usual protestors at the gates. A few fucked up drawings. Nothing serious."

"I guess you have no cause to worry with an armed escort home each night," he teased.

Justin rolled his eyes. Steve knew how much he hated having to be driven to and from work by a security guard. "I think Brett's gone off the deep end, sometimes."

"You should feel flattered," Steve tried to turn it around. "Not too many studio employees at your level get such special treatment."

"Ha-fucking-ha," Justin smirked sarcastically. "Don't you have a plane to catch or something?"

The sparkle in his blue eyes took all the sting out of the words and Steve couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I do." Closing the distance between them, he gave Justin a warm hug. "Take care of yourself and don't get into any trouble while I'm gone."

Justin tried hard to ignore the affect the close proximity was having on his body. "I won't."

Steve pulled back and smiled at him. "I'll call you on Monday and you can fill me in on your fabulous weekend."

Justin nodded, the very thought of a weekend with Brian brightening his smile. "Ok. Have a good trip."

After the older man left, Justin sat down at his desk and let out a sigh. He'd been looking forward to introducing Brian to Steve, but the prospect of having his lover all to himself certainly had its merits. Grinning like an idiot, he tried his best to focus on the boards in front of him.

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Brian was surprised to see Michael waiting for him at the airport.

"Mikey," he greeted his friend with a grin. "I thought Cynthia was picking me up."

"I offered to instead," Michael replied with a small shrug and a smile. "I haven't seen much of you lately. I thought it would give us a chance to catch up."

Brian nodded, quite agreeable with the plan. As they headed toward the short term parking lot, he started the conversation. "How's the wife and kid?"

"The *husband* and kid are just fine, thank you. How was your trip?"

"A fucking success, of course," Brian replied with an arrogant grin.

Michael was quiet for a moment. "And how are things with Justin?"

"What things?" Brian asked evasively.

"Let's start with things between the two of you," Michael suggested, unsure as to the reaction he'd get.

"We're good," Brian answered, striving for nonchalance. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"Well, with him out there and you here, I just thought it might put a strain on things."

Brian considered how he wanted to answer that. "When he went out there the last time, things were strained," he pointed out. "This is different. This is the best thing for him right now and we both know that."

Michael was impressed by the answer. When he'd gone out to L.A. with Brian to look for Justin after Brett's party, he'd known for sure how his friend felt about the blond. He was hoping that the recent separation wouldn't see them losing some of the ground they'd managed to gain during that time. To hear Brian talk, it hadn't. "I'm glad to hear it," he said sincerely.

Brian offered a small smile, but didn't respond.

"How's he handling everything that's going on with the movie?" Michael asked. "He emails me the details, but I was at Ma's yesterday when he called and I talked to him for a few minutes. He sounded kinda wiped out."

"I don't think this job was what he figured it would be," Brian explained. "You know how much you enjoy making up the stories for the comic. Imagine your job was just to tell someone else how to do it. It's not the same as doing it yourself."

"No, I guess it's not," Michael said with a small frown. "And to have all that shit going on on top of that."

"It's been pretty frustrating." Brian turned to grin at his friend. "But I plan to do all I can to work those frustrations out this weekend."

Michael smiled and rolled his eyes as they headed for the car

On the way to the loft, they talked about the various things that were going wrong with the movie and speculated on whether it would get better or worse as it neared completion.

"With the extra security, they'll probably be too scared to try anything else," Michael suggested hopefully.

Brian didn't reply. He only hoped that his friend was right.

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When Justin arrived back at the apartment building, it was to find his elderly neighbour in the lobby, balancing a full grocery bag while she checked her assigned box for mail.

"Let me take that, Mrs. Turner," Justin smiled, reaching to take the bag from her arm.

"Justin," she greeted him, with a grateful smile. "Thank you. This damned lock is jammed again."

He smiled slightly at the mild cursing. With two hands free, she had the box open in seconds. Once she had the mail, she reached to take the bag back.

"That's all right," Justin assured her with one of his nicest smiles. "I'm going up, anyway."

She smiled and allowed him to carry the bag as they headed up the stairs. Justin wondered, at first, why a woman of her age wouldn't choose to take the elevator, but when they reached their floor, he noted she was no more out of breath than he was. He followed her down the hall to her apartment and waited while she unlocked the door.

When she turned to take the bag from him, she smiled. "Thank you, dear. Would you like to come in for a bit? I could make some tea."

He had to resist the urge to wrinkle his nose; tea was not high on the list of his favourite drinks. "Um.."

"Coffee, then," she offered as though able to read the reason for his hesitation.

Glancing at his watch, he noticed it was still fairly early. "Sure," he said with a smile. "Thanks."

The apartment was the same layout as the one he was currently residing in, but the similarities ended there. While his was modern with sleek lines and designer furniture, hers was what could only be considered homey. The living room walls were a deep, warm burgundy and the furnishings looked to be antique.

"You have a beautiful place," he said, looking around the tastefully decorated room.

"Thank you, dear," she called from the kitchen where she was putting away the groceries. "Make yourself at home."

He made his way over to a wingback chair and lowered himself into it, pleasantly surprised at how comfortable it was.

A moment later, she entered the room with a plate of cookies that she placed on the table in front of him. "Coffee will be ready in a minute," she said as she took a seat on the sofa across from him. Gesturing toward the cookies, she added, "Help yourself. I know my Donny was always hungry when he got home."

Justin smiled and took a cookie. "Thanks."

"How are things going at the studio?" she asked.

He shrugged as he broke off a piece of the cookie. "Ok, I guess."

She looked at him skeptically. "Doesn't sound like the boy who was so excited about working there a couple of weeks ago."

Justin sighed and leaned back in the chair. "There's just a lot of stuff going on right now."

"And not good stuff, I take it."

Justin had talked to her briefly on occasion and had told her that he was working at the studio, but had carefully avoided any conversation about the movie itself. She reminded him of someone's grandmother and didn't think he'd be comfortable discussing Rage with her.

"No," he answered. "Not very good."

She was silent for a moment while she regarded him. It was obvious he didn't want to talk about it, but she wasn't sure if it was because he was a private person by nature, or whether he just didn't trust her to understand. "I guess you couldn't very well expect Rage to be popular with everyone, even in this day and age."

He looked at her in surprise for moment before adopting a wry smile. "No, I guess not. I just didn't expect all this."

She nodded in understanding.

"I'm surprised you know about Rage," he said after a brief silence.

"I've read the comic," she replied in a matter of fact tone.

His eyes grew wide at her admission. "No f…No way."

She laughed lightly at his obvious surprise. "Let me go get our coffee and I'll tell you a little bit about my life," she suggested, getting up from the sofa. "How do you take it?"

"Cream and sugar, please," he replied, still intrigued by her casual attitude.

She nodded and left, returning a few minutes later with two coffee mugs.

"Thanks," he said as she handed him one.

Once she was settled in once again, she took a sip and began to speak. "I was a registered nurse for over forty years," she told him. "I saw my share of a lot of things and cared for more patients than I can count, but one, in particular, really made an impression on me. It was nearly fifteen years ago now and this young man by the name of Peter Cousman was an AIDS patient on my floor. As sick as he was at the time, it was clear that he was a handsome man. Personable, too. He always managed a smile when he could. I remember thinking what a shame it was that he'd been struck by illness at such a young age."

She paused as the memories engulfed her. After a moment, she shook her head slightly as though to clear it and smiled at Justin. "Of course, I was married to my Donny at the time and already old enough to be this boy's mother, so I wasn't interested for myself, you understand."

"Of course," Justin assured her with a smile of his own.

"Anyway, I walked into his room one day to give him his meds and his parents were there." She scowled a little. "Or at least they were trying to pass for parents."

Justin could tell that what was coming wouldn't be pleasant, but remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

"They didn't seem to even care that I was in the room," she went on. "They were telling him that he was no longer their son, that they couldn't possibly accept the idea that he was gay and had contracted this dreaded disease through his perverted lifestyle."

Justin lowered his eyes to his coffee cup.

"I wondered why they were even there," she said sadly. "It was obvious they didn't care about what he was going through." She cleared her throat and continued. "Afterward, he told me that he'd asked them to come. That he wanted to die at home, surrounded by his family."

Justin raised sad eyes to meet hers. "But he didn't, did he?" he said softly.

She shook her head. "He never had another visitor from that day, at least not that I know of. He was such a nice young man and he had no one to share his last days with."

"So, what happened?" he asked, sure he could guess.

"I visited with him whenever I could," she replied. "On duty and off. Donny even came with me a few times." She looked up at Justin and smiled. "My Donny had a heart of gold."

"Sounds like he wasn't the only one," Justin said softly.

She smiled at that before continuing with her story. "Peter died about a month after that visit with his parents."

"I'm sorry."

She fast-forwarded ahead a few years. "I never forgot him though. I retired from nursing six years ago and since then, I've been volunteering at an AIDS hospice in West Hollywood. Part-time, at first, of course, but since Donny passed a few years ago, I spend a good portion of my days there."

Justin smiled. "That's nice."

"My nursing experience comes in handy sometimes, but for the most part, I visit with them, listen to them, read to them." Her eyes sparkled slyly as they met Justin's. "Rage is a very popular choice there when it comes to reading material."

Justin blushed slightly and dropped his eyes to his cup once again.

"So you see, Justin, I'm not blind to what's going on out there. I've seen more hate and apathy over the years than I care to remember."

Justin met her eyes and nodded in acceptance of those words.

"You did the art for the comic?"

He blushed again, thinking of some of the scenes he'd drawn that she'd more than likely seen. "Yeah," he answered with a small nod.

"You're very talented," she smiled.

He looked up and smiled back. "Thanks."

"How did you get started on a project such as this?"

He told her about Michael and how they'd decided to produce their own comic. Before they knew it, almost two hours had passed and they'd discussed everything from Justin's relationship with Brian to the ongoing problems plaguing the movie set.

"I really should go," Justin said, getting to his feet. "I can't remember the last time I just sat and chatted like this. It was nice. Thank you."

She, too, got to here feet and mirrored his smile. "I should be thanking you, Justin. I've enjoyed your company. I hope we can do this again soon."

Despite the difference in their ages, Justin hoped so too. She was a very caring, compassionate woman with a sharp sense of humour and he felt like he'd known her far longer than a mere few weeks. "We will," he promised as he made his way to the door and retrieved his bag. "Thanks again. Good night." He kissed her lightly on the cheek before flashing one of his trademark smiles and leaving the apartment.

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He was heating up some left-over lasagna from the take out place around the corner when the phone rang. Picking up the cordless, he looked at the familiar number and smiled.

"Hey," he answered.

"Hey," Brian replied in kind. "What are you up to?"

Justin thought about his visit with Mrs. Turner and some of the stories she'd told him about the people she'd cared for. "Just heating up some dinner and thinking about how incredibly lucky I am," he said with a smile. "How about you?"

"Just finished Thai take-out and thinking about how incredibly lucky you're about to get," Brian replied

Justin could easily picture the sexy smirk on his lover's face and his smile broadened. "Oh yeah?" he said softly.

"Oh, yeah," Brian purred into the phone.

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