Arms of Destiny

Chapter 4
 

While Brian sat at his desk waiting for Justin to make an appearance, his mind wandered back to the day he found out that his favorite twink took off. It was a Saturday morning and he went to the diner for his usual breakfast with the boys. When he walked in, Debbie was over at their booth, crying on Michael’s shoulder. He could hear their conversation as he walked over to them.

“I just don’t understand how the little shit could just leave without saying goodbye.” Debbie cried. They had all been wondering where Justin had been for the last few days. Even after he had moved back in with his parents, Justin always came around to the diner to see everyone. Debbie finally called Jennifer to see if he was alright, and she was told that Justin had gone off to Dartmouth without telling anyone he was leaving.

“Ma, calm down. I’m sure he had his reasons. Maybe he figured everyone would give him a hard time about giving up his dreams. I’m sure he will call you in a couple of days. Just give him some time.” Michael replied trying to sooth his mother.

“It’s just that he’s like a son to me. How could he do that?” Debbie whined, making it obvious where Michael got it from.

“How could who do what?” Brian had asked, wondering exactly who they were talking about.

“Your blond twink, that’s who we’re talking about. The little shit took off to Dartmouth without telling anyone he was going. He didn’t even say goodbye to my mom and Vic! Did you know he was leaving?” Michael accused, giving Brian one of those looks he saved for circumstances that involved Justin.

Brian didn’t know how to respond to that. He had no idea that Justin was planning to go to Dartmouth. The last conversation they had on the subject was when he had told the boy that his parents made their own pain, and he had to do what made him happy. He thought that was the end of it. Justin agreed to go to PIFA and that was that. Or so he thought, apparently, Justin had decided to do what was expected of him and not let anybody know. Brian felt a tightening in his chest at the realization that Justin was gone. He put on his mask and pushed his thoughts away for later, not wanting anyone to know how upset he was to learn that he had been left behind.

“I didn’t know anything about it, but if this was what he wanted, then I say good for him.” Brian replied, hoping that nobody noticed the trembling that started when he had learned the news. He needed to get out of there, to go back to the loft and sort out his feelings. He knew he could call the boy, but he figured that if Justin didn’t care enough to tell him he was leaving, he wasn’t about to go track him down like a love sick puppy. He listened a few more moments to everyone discussing how Justin could do what he did, then made some excuse and left. That began his downward spiral into drinking, drugs, and tricking. It took months for him to wake up and realize that he was playing Russian roulette with his life, and if he didn’t make some changes soon, he was going to lose. Finally admitting to himself that he loved Justin, and accepting that his opportunity was gone, he needed to get his life back on track. It was then that the idea for Just In Time began to take shape in his mind, and he spent the next 3 years planning and preparing for the day when he could follow his dreams. That day came six months ago. Everything had been going as planned, until he walked into the conference room and saw his past staring him in the face.

Brian was brought out of his thoughts by a knocking on the door signaling Justin’s arrival. He took a deep breath, and adjusted his tie, preparing to face Justin.

“Come in.” He called, trying to calm his racing heart.

“You wanted to see me?” Justin asked.

“Come in and close the door.” Brian replied, standing up and walking around his desk. He didn’t think he would be able to sit still while he said what he needed to say.

Justin did as he was told and looked into Brian’s eyes trying to read his expression. He still couldn’t believe Brian’s reaction to seeing him in the conference room and Justin didn’t know if he wanted to subject himself to another outburst like that.

“I shouldn’t have reacted like I did. I guess I was just in shock at seeing you standing there after all these years. I apologize for treating you that way. I would like it if we could put it behind us and move on from there. It would make our working together much easier.” Brian said, as he watched Justin’s face looking for any sign of forgiveness.

“Our working together? I thought I was fired! And since when do you apologize for anything?” Justin questioned, with a look of shock on his face.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me anymore, Justin. Four years is a long time and people change. As for firing you, we both know that it’s against the law for me to fire you because we were once involved.” Brian explained, enjoying the look of surprise on Justin’s face.

“So you want me to work here with you until you can come up with a better reason to let me go? You made it painfully obvious that you didn’t want me here stalking you, trying to insinuate myself into your life, so why not just let me go? I won’t make any trouble for you and we can forget this ever happened. I promise not to interfere in your life and you can forget you ever saw me here.” Justin offered, hurt that Brian was trying to smooth things over to save himself a lawsuit, as if Justin would ever do something like that.

“Look Justin, although it is true that I don’t have the legal right to fire you, even if I wanted to, I want you to stay because you are the best qualified for the job. You wouldn’t have been hired in the first place if you weren’t. You need a job and I need someone talented to head up my art department. We are both adults now. I think we could learn to work together without letting our past history interfere, don’t you?” Brian asked, knowing that Justin would have no choice but to agree. He wouldn’t want to make it appear like he wasn’t able to handle the situation.

Justin couldn’t help but stare at the man standing before him. Not only did Brian apologize for the way he acted earlier, he just complimented Justin on his talent, telling him he was the best for the job. Maybe Brian had changed in the years he was away. Stranger things have happened. Justin didn’t know what to make of the new Brian Kinney, but he did need the job if he was going to get his life together, and Just In Time was just the right place to start. He looked up into the hazel eyes that he loved so much and realized Brian was waiting for his response.

“Uh…yeah, I think we could work together. I appreciate you giving me a chance without having any experience. I didn’t think finding a job fresh out of college would be this easy. I promise to do my best.” Justin replied, realizing he was running at the mouth again. He couldn’t help but be nervous around Brian. Even though, they hadn’t seen each other for over four years, Justin was still struck by the beauty of this man. He knew he had never gotten over him.

While at school, he had met a few people and tried dating a couple times, but nobody compared to Brian so Justin had ended up spending most of his time studying, except for the occasional trick. He wasn’t sure how he was going to work with the man on a daily basis without being able to touch him, but he would find a way. This job was too important to turn down. Besides, he felt he needed to prove to himself and Brian that he could do it. He always wanted to be able to help Brian and what better way to help him then to be his Department head.

“I’m sure you will Justin, now why don’t we go over all the details you need for our new account, London Bridges Construction.” Brian suggested, grabbing the file off his desk, and throwing himself into work mode.

An hour later, Justin walked out of Brian’s office with all the information he needed to start on his first account, and a raging hard on. Just being around Brian was enough to make Justin want to strip off his clothes and jump into bed with him. He couldn’t help but wonder if he made the right decision when he agreed to stay on at the company. He didn’t know how he was going to hide the reaction he got by just being in the same room with Brian. Before he could think about anything else, he ran into Cynthia, coming out of her office.

“Hey, how did it go? Are you still with us?” She asked, even though she already knew the answer. She didn’t want to let on to Justin that she had spoken with Brian about everything that had happened because she was hoping to be able to get Justin’s side of the story. If she wanted to get them back together, she needed to know what she was working with.

“I’m still here. Brian apologized and asked me to stay, although I’m beginning to wonder if staying here is the right thing to do.” Justin replied, unable to shake the feeling that things were going to be difficult for him if he worked for Brian.

“Justin, of course it’s the right thing to do. This morning you were so excited about the job. Don’t let Brian ruin it for you. You are just what we need to get this company on the map. That’s why you were hired in the first place.” Cynthia pointed out, knowing what she was saying was the truth. Justin was very talented, and she knew that he would be an incredible asset to the agency.

“I’ll try Cynthia, but I’m not sure how I’ll handle working with Brian everyday. It was bad enough living with him all those years ago.” Justin explained, not noticing the surprised look Cynthia had.

“You lived with him?” Cynthia asked, still unable to believe that Brian Kinney had lived with anyone, let alone Justin. He could only have been seventeen or eighteen when they were together.

“Yeah, for a little while, when my dad kicked me out. But then I forgot to set his alarm and he…oh, never mind. I’m sure you don’t want the details and we probably shouldn’t be talking about this here anyway. Brian would have a fit.” Justin said, looking around to make sure no one had heard him. The last thing he needed was for all the employees to hear about his and Brian’s past.

“I would love to hear the details, but you are right about talking here. Why don’t I take you to lunch today, my treat. You can tell me all about how you managed to live with the big bad Brian Kinney.” Cynthia suggested, hoping she didn’t sound too eager. She really wanted to hear about what went on between her boss and his teenage lover. She was intrigued and knew that the information would help her out in her quest to reunite the two of them.

“Okay, if you’re sure I won’t bore you to tears, I would really like that. Just buzz me when you’re ready to go.” Justin told her, before making his way to his office. He was looking forward to lunch with Cynthia. He liked her the minute he met her, and he thought it would be nice to talk about Brian with someone, something he hadn’t done since he left Pittsburgh.

Cynthia smiled to herself as she walked down the hall to the copier. She couldn’t wait to hear what Justin had to say about Brian. Once she had both sides of the story, she would be able to decide on the best way to handle things from here.

Brian was staring out the window, trying to calm his nerves, not to mention his hard on, from having Justin in such close proximity. He was beginning to wonder if maybe he should have taken Justin up on his offer to leave. How was he supposed to work with the kid when this was the reaction he got while he was around. Although Justin wasn’t a kid anymore. He was twenty two now and time had been good to the blond. Brian could see the way Justin’s body had matured and he couldn’t help but imagine what he would look like naked beneath him. Those thoughts were what was going to get Brian in trouble. He needed to put Justin out of his mind. They worked together, but that was all. Things between them were over along time ago, and although Brian still had feelings for him, Justin obviously moved on with his life. There was no way Brian was going to go chasing after him, trying to win him back. He would just have to put those thoughts out of his head, and concentrate on building his company into the biggest and finest ad agency in Pittsburgh. Everything else was unimportant. With that decision made, Brian sat down at his desk, and tried to get to work. When his mind drifted to images of Justin lying across the desk waiting for him, he knew his world would never be the same.


End of part 4
7/12/03

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