New Life
Part 6
Inside the card was a framed photograph. The photo was a close-up of Justin's smiling face. The card had a simple message:
I just thought you might like a new photo of your love.
The `gang' were all shocked. This was a photo they had never seen of Justin. From the look of it, it seemed as if it was a photo taken in the last couple of years.
Debbie looked down into Brian's hands and was just as shocked. "Holy shit, that's Sunshine." Those were the exact thoughts of everyone else in the booth. The ringing of a cell phone woke everyone up. Brian reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out his cell. He looked at the screen and saw that the incoming number was blocked.
"Hello?" he asked, distantly, still staring at the photo.
"Do you like the photo?" the person on the other end of the line asked with laughter in his voice. "I took it of Justin in 2003. I didn't think that he would like me sending any recent photos."
"Who the fuck are you? And how do you know Justin?" Brian demanded. With those words all eyes at the table flew from the photo up to Brian's face and the conversation that he was having.
"Those things don't matter. All that matters is if you still love Justin."
"Of course I do."
"Would you go anywhere in the world to find him?"
"Of course." He answered with no hesitations.
"That's all. Thank you for your honest answers."
"Wait..who are you?" Brian only got a dial tone as the answer to his
question.
"Who was that?" Michael asked as soon as Brian closed his phone.
"I don't know. Whoever it was, the man claims to have taken this picture of Sunshine. But, I will find out who this person is and how they know Justin," Brian swore, still looking at the photo. He
silently got up and headed out of the diner. He was done being teased by someone who thought they knew him better than he knew himself.
He got into his car and thought about what he was going to do next. This had all started the afternoon after the meeting he had had with Stef&Jt, so it made sense to start there in his quest to figuring out what was happening. The only problem was that today was Saturday and most likely nobody was working at the office building that Stephanie had taken him to, but then again Stephanie had given him her cell phone number, so he might as well use it.
"Hello?" a female voice answered.
"Stephanie? This is Brian Kinney. We need to talk, where and when should I meet you?" He went straight to the point without waiting for her to respond.
"Well then, Brian, straight to the point. I like that about you. Meet me at The Garden." She named one of the best restaurants in town that took about a month to get into. "In, say, about an hour?"
"Sure, I'll meet you there in an hour." He hung up, surprised that she hadn't asked what he wanted to talk about.
Brian spent the next 45 minutes driving around town simply thinking about all the changes that had occurred in his life since he began working for Stef&Jt.
His association with Stef&Jt had started out strong and kept getting stronger. Every few days he would come up with a campaign for one branch of their company, and present it to the same group from the company. The group was a mixture of people from both the creative/company image department, which Stephanie's partner was in charge of, and those from the business department, who Stephanie was in charge of. Brian had yet to meet Stephanie's partner, but before any decision was told to him by the group he worked with, the mysterious partner had to review the campaign and had the final say. If that had been the only thing going on then he would be fine, but it wasn't the only thing that was going on.
In the weeks since Brian had met with Stephanie he had been getting little gifts. It was beginning to get annoying. He also thought that he was becoming crazy because every so often he would see a flash of blond hair, turn to look and nothing would be there. For example, just the other day he had been coming into his office when he brushed by the delivery man, who seemed to have blond hair. In his office was another present, without even unwrapping it, he ran out to try and
catch the delivery man, only to find that the man had simply vanished.
There was no record of a delivery at the security desk. In fact none of the gifts he had been getting had any record at the security desk. It was as if someone walked into the building dressed as everyone else and then changed into a delivery man outfit. No one in the office had seen anyone go into his office and leave these gifts. In fact every time one of these gifts showed up, Cynthia had been pulled away from her desk for a few minutes and when she returned nobody was in his office.
The most recent present had turned out to be a stunning crystal angel. It wasn't one of those stupid ones that are babies and have huge cheeks and a little smile. No, this angel was a woman with a feeling of sadness around her. Brian knew that it was one of those things that he would have seen and liked, but would have never gotten for himself. He put it on his desk right next to the pictures of Gus and an old one of Justin. His vase, that had come right after he had landed the Steph&Jt account, was filled with fresh white roses.
Of course there were also the dreams that seemed so real. That was probably the worst of it all. The damn dreams that he woke up after, convinced that Justin had just been with him. That was impossible, how would he be able to come and go, especially after the fact that Brian had changed security companies and codes after that break-in 5 years ago.
15 minutes until he was to meet Stephanie so he pulled into the parking garage. He got a spot and got on the elevator which would take him up to where the restaurant was. He exited it and the hostess approached him.
"Can I help you, Sir?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm here to meet Stephanie Crammer," he responded.
"Of course, she is already here. Let me show you to her table," She began to lead him through the restaurant. If he hadn't been so preoccupied he would have been amazed at how stunning it all was, but he didn't notice at all. Instead he focused on the hostess as she led him upstairs and onto a rooftop patio.
His eyes immediately found Stephanie. She was sitting with her back to him looking out at the view of Pittsburgh. It seemed like he was finally going to get some answers.