Could We Start Again Please?

Brian leaned back in his executive chair, and smiled at the vase of long stemmed red roses on his desk. Their delivery had come as a complete surprise, as did the note attached to them: "Could we start again please? Lunch at La Petite 2pm."

Ted sat in the chair across from Brian's desk, and turned to page four of the Monday morning Pittsburgh Post. "Mayor James T. Stockwell announced the closing of Babylon, the infamous gay nightspot following a brawl that occurred on Saturday night resulting in the injury of several of its patrons." he read. "Witnesses say that the fight broke out around midnight following an altercation between two of its customers over a bet."

"That's a lie, I never touched him." Brian traced his fingers across the delicate petals.

Ted read on. "In an emergency press conference earlier this morning mayor Stockwell was quoted as saying: "We will not allow a few degenerates to ruin our fair city. As your mayor I vow to clean up the human cesspools that threaten the way of life for our honest, law abiding, gay citizens."

"Human cesspools?" Brian continued to admire the flowers.

"The mayor went on to outline his blueprint to overhaul Liberty Avenue which includes closing down other undesirable establishments." Ted closed his newspaper. "I hope you're pleased with yourself now Brian. Thanks to you, and Brandon, and your stupid bet Babylon is closed. Not only that, rumor has it that Stockwell slapped Sapperstein with so many fines that he can't afford to re-open."

Brian pulled his eyes away from the roses, and looked at the shiner that Ted was now sporting. "You should wear a black eye all the time Theodore. It's very becoming on you, very butch." he suggested.

"You think this is funny?" Ted pointed to the still swollen left side of his face. "Someone could have gotten seriously hurt, I could have been blinded!"

"Oh calm down Ted. The boys were just blowing off a little steam, that's all. It's good for them, breeder-boys do it all the time." Brian said.

"Yes, but the mayor doesn't close their bars when they blow off their steam!" Ted reminded him.

"Which brings me to the reason why I called you to my office." Brian leaned forward, and rested his elbows on his desk. "I want to buy Babylon." he said.

"What?" Ted's jaw dropped.

"You heard me, I want to buy Babylon." Brian said again.

"Have you lost your mind completely?" Ted couldn't believe his ears.

"Not at all." Brian assured him. "The way I see it Kinnetics was founded by a degenerate. It's rooted in the heart of the cesspool. We're well known for supporting other degenerates such as the walking dead over at Vic's AIDS hospice care. It seems only natural that Kinnetics would be the one to re-open Babylon. Actually it's quite civic-minded if you think about it. What better way to serve Pittsburgh's gay community than to make sure that the boys have a nice place to go fuck?"

"How very noble of you" Ted said sarcastically. "Do you have any idea how much it would cost to re-open Babylon? Thanks to you the place was nearly trashed, and god only knows how many fines Stockwell levied on it. The backroom alone could cost hundreds in health code violations. Then there's the liquor license, and insurance, zoning taxes, and that's even before we begin to think about the cost of renovation. A project of this magnitude could easily run into the millions."

"Again, that's where you come in." Brian said. "I want you to get together with my lawyer, and Sapperstein's lawyer, and iron out the details. Then I want you to juggle the books as only you can, and find the money."

"What? Brian you can't be serious. As your accountant I have to advise against it…."

Brian stood up, and walked over to where Ted was sitting. He eased his ranting accountant out of his seat, then slowly began to walk him toward the door. "I have every confidence in you Theodore. I'll expect an outline of your proposal by the end of the week. Now run along. You have a lot of work to do, and I have a lunch date." Brian edged Ted out of his office, and closed the door behind him.

"Could we start again please?" Brian reread the type written note as he prepared to leave for his lunch date. Following his, and Justin's bittersweet reunion, its simple message could have very well been a winning lottery ticket as far as Brian was concerned. Things had not gone exactly as planned when he took Justin home on Saturday night.……………

The rain had once again stopped when the reunited lovers stepped out of the front door of Babylon. Something was noticeably different. The normally brightly lit path to the popular nightspot was suddenly dimmed. "Liberty Avenue must have lost power. Look, some of the street lights are out." Justin pointed to the lamppost in the distance.

"We don't need it baby." Brian smiled. "We can find our way home without it."

Other than brief directions to Justin's place, the couple rode in awkward silence. Brian pulled up in front of the newly erected apartment building. "Thanks for the ride." Justin said, then started to open the car door.

Brian reached across, and pulled the door shut again. "Justin wait…."

"It's starting to rain again Brian. If you hurry up you can make it back to Babylon without getting wet." Justin said.

"I don't care about the rain, or Babylon." Brian confessed. "Justin, I'm sorry baby. I never meant to hurt you…."

"Oh but you did Brian, and I'm not just talking about what happened in Atlanta. You've hurt me over, and over, and over again." Justin reminded him. "I've tried to go the Dr. Phil route with our relationship, and take 50% of the blame for its failure, but in the grand scheme of things you, and I both know that it's all your fault. Tony would have never been in our lives if it wasn't for you Brian, you and your open relationship bullshit. Why couldn't you have been happy just loving me?"

"I was happy just loving you." Brian said. "I've never loved anyone but you…"

"And I should understand the difference between loving someone, and fucking everyone. That's what you taught me, isn't it Brian?" Justin added. "Do you know what really hurts? It really hurts to know that you're the majority, and that there's a great chance that I won't ever find someone who will be content to love only me. I don't want to end up like you Brian, happiest with my naked ass plastered against a cold wall, and my dick hanging over in a stranger's mouth. I don't want to be just another backroom whore." Justin fought back the tears that were starting to well in his eyes.

"That's not me anymore." Brian pleaded his case. "These past few weeks have opened my eyes. I've changed baby. Let me show you how much I've changed. Could we start again please?"

"I don't know Brian. It seems that we've already had too many false starts already. Maybe it's time for me to be alone for awhile." Justin said, then exited the jeep……………………

Brian handed his car keys to the valet in front of La Petite restaurant, and adjusted his tie before going inside. "Good afternoon sir. May I have your name please?" The matradee asked.

"My name is Brian Kinney."

"Ah yes, the young blonde gentleman is waiting for you." The old queen smiled, then signaled for a hostess to escort Brian to his party.

Brian's heart was racing as he followed the young woman through the posh dining area crowded with businessmen dressed to impress their various guests. It certainly wasn't the romantic setting that he had hoped for, but it was a start, and Brian was determined not to blow his chance this time. Brian had decided to give Justin as much time as he needed to rethink their relationship. Whether this luncheon date was to inform him that his baby was ready to come back home, or just Justin's way of testing Brian to see if he had indeed made any changes, it didn't matter. At this point the only thing that really mattered to Brian now was that Justin was reaching out to him, because that meant that Justin was thinking about him.

"This is your party sir." The hostess announced Brian's arrival.

"Hello Brian." The handsome blonde gentleman stood to greet his date.

"Brandon." Brian frowned.

*************************************

NEXT WEEK: He Had It Coming

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