Dumb Blond

Chapter 14

Brian studied the sheet in front of him.  He had gone over the list of people who had access to Kinnetik, and then he went over it again and again.  It didn’t matter how many times he looked for someone who could have left the notes on the boards, there was no other likely suspect than the cleaners.  It had to be them.

He wanted to know how someone cleaning his office had the ability to come up with such savvy advertising ideas.  And since they did, why were they cleaning his office?  They should be working in an advertising firm.  He’d hire them.  He had offered to. 

But why had they suddenly decided not to answer his notes?  He had been getting an answer every other day, finding a response after the night that the cleaners were in.  What was different this time?  Why was there no response?  He was truly puzzled.  And he wanted answers.

There had to be something he could do.

*****

Justin pulled his painting from his storage area and set it up on an easel.  Lydia and Joe stood with their backs to him waiting until he was ready for them to turn around and see his painting.  He wanted to experience their reaction when they first saw it.  He hoped they would love it as much as he did.

He adjusted the painting just a bit so that it was centered on the easel.  “Ready,” he said.

Joe and Lydia turned around and stared at the painting.  Justin watched their faces hoping for wide smiles of approval.  He didn’t get any sign at all.  They stood silently studying the painting, making no comment.  Justin felt his heart drop when neither of them spoke.  He didn’t want gushing praise, although that would have been nice.  He just wanted them to like his work, hopefully almost as much as he did.  That didn’t seem about to happen.

He was about to grab the painting and stick it back in his storage space.  He couldn’t stand the thought of their disapproval of a painting that meant so much to him.  Worse would have been their lukewarm reception of it.  He knew abstract works weren’t everybody’s cup of tea.

Lydia started walking towards the painting before Justin could act.  Joe followed her, neither of them saying anything.  Justin hesitated as he wondered if they would finally make a comment.  Lydia studied the painting closely, and Justin’s heart sank.  She must be looking for something innocuous to say about it, Justin concluded.  She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t do that.

“Justin, Justin, Justin,” Lydia finally said, speaking slowly and shaking her head as she kept her eyes fixed on the painting.

“You … you don’t like it,” Justin said sadly.

“What?” Lydia said.  “I love it.  I’ve just been searching for the right words to tell you how much, and I still haven’t found them.”

Justin’s face lit up like a burst of sunshine.  “You like it, you really like it?” he asked wanting to be reassured.

“It’s so powerful,” Joe said.  “It hits you like a wave of emotion.”

Justin looked to Lydia for further comments.

“Justin, you are very talented.  You should be so proud of this piece.  It’s magnificent!” Lydia said.

“Th…Thank you,” Justin said humbly.  His heart felt like it was about to burst as he took in Lydia’s wonderful words.

“We should be thanking you for making something so striking,” Lydia replied.

“I’m just glad you like it.”

“Joe told me about your young man.  Is that him at the core of your painting?”  Lydia pointed to the abstract representation of Brian that Justin had been sure no one would recognize.

“Yea … yes,” Justin said.  “I can’t believe you noticed that.”

Joe smiled at them both.  “My Lydia is one smart lady,” he said proudly.

“She certainly is,” Justin agreed immediately.

“I’d like to meet this man who can create such an impact,” Lydia told Justin.

“He’s not really my young man,” Justin said shyly.  “I haven’t seen him since that one night we spent together.”

“Then that’s his loss.”

“I wish it was,” Justin said, his voice soft and sad.

“If you want to see him,” Lydia stated, “then why don’t you?”

“I guess he didn’t like me as much as I liked him,” Justin conceded.

“Maybe he did, and he’s just as scared as you are to pursue it.”

Justin stared into her eyes.  Could that possibly be true?  Could Brian be worried about how Justin would react if he contacted him again?  No, Brian was Mr. Confidence.  He wouldn’t worry about what any of his tricks thought.  Emmett had said that Brian had a one time only policy.  That was all he had been – a one night stand.

“I don’t think that’s likely,” Justin said after a moment or two.  “He just didn’t like me enough to want to see me again.”

“Then he’s an idiot.  Don’t give him another thought,” Lydia declared.  She pulled Justin into a hug.

“Isn’t she a little old for you, Taylor,” Mark Botelli said with his usual smirk.  He had come into the space just in time to witness Lydia’s warm hug.

“Shut up, Botelli,” Justin reacted.

“Just saying,” Mark added continuing his smirk.

“Young man, are you a student here?” Lydia asked.  She had placed a hand on her husband’s chest as he attempted to get past her and confront the insolent young man.  Joe immediately relaxed understanding that his wife wished to handle this.  Lydia could hold her own with anyone.

“Yes I am,” Mark replied.

“Your parents must be paying a lot of money to send you to this fine institution.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sure they’d be very proud of how you insulted someone of their age.  Maybe I should speak to the dean of the college who could inform them of your less than stellar manners.”

Mark made a face.  He realized from the look in Lydia’s eye that she just might do what she had threatened.  He was already in his parents’ bad books for ditching a couple of classes that he didn’t like.  He decided he better amend his statements.  “I apologize if I offended anyone.”

“You offended me, and I daresay Justin as well,” Lydia informed him.

“Sorry,” Mark said sheepishly.

Lydia looked into the young man’s eyes and saw that he really was sorry, probably more sorry about getting himself into trouble than for what he actually said.  “Apology accepted,” Lydia stated, “but I hope you will learn from this incident that not everyone will take your words and say nothing.  You will get a lot farther in life if you hold that sharp tongue of yours.”

“I know, I know,” Mark mumbled shaking his head.  “I’ve always had a big mouth ever since I was a kid.”

“But you are an adult now,” Joe said, speaking for the first time.  “You should act like an adult.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” Mark conceded.

“You should see Mark’s painting if he’ll show it to you,” Justin suggested.  “It’s almost as good as mine.”  Justin grinned at the embarrassed young man.

Mark looked like he had a sharp retort on his lips, but he didn’t say it.  He grinned back at Justin instead.  “I’d love to show you my work,” he said genuinely.

“Then we’d love to see it,” Lydia agreed, a smile covering her beautiful face.

They spent the next few minutes discussing Mark’s painting.  Lydia and Joe had some complimentary things to say about Mark’s work, but their praise didn’t come close to what they had said about Justin’s.  Justin couldn’t help but feel proud.

“You make some excellent comments,” Mark said to Lydia.  “You sound like an art critic.”

Lydia chuckled.  “I guess it’s all those gallery shows and lectures and reading that I do.  I love art, and you certainly have talent, young man.”

“Thank you, thank you so much, Mrs. …”

“Mrs. Stewart, but you may call me Lydia.  Everyone calls me Lydia.”

“Well, thank you, Lydia,” Mark said sincerely.  He shook Lydia’s hand gently.

“Welcome,” was all she said.

*****

Brian leaned his head against the wall and let his mouth fall open slightly.  The guy sucking his dick wasn’t bad.  Brian was close and he wanted to enjoy the last seconds before this was over.  He let out a slight groan as the guy did something with his tongue – something unexpected.  That just about finished it.  Brian took a breath and hung on as the guy tried to swallow his full length.  With a final suck on the tip of his cock, the trick looked up at him.  Brian was oblivious to the man.  All he wanted was the release that was so close. 

He grabbed the guy’s hair forcing his dick deep into the man’s mouth.  The guy swallowed around him and Brian felt his orgasm explode.  He leaned against the wall as the ripples of pleasure washed over him.

The man released his cock and Brian stood up away from the wall.  He buttoned his jeans as the world settled back into its normal routine.  He hardly heard the grunts and moans that filled the back room of Babylon. 

His trick stood up and licked his lips.  “You taste good,” he said.

“Yeah, so I’ve been told,” Brian replied before pushing past the guy and heading for the bar.

“Hey!” the man called after him.  “Don’t you want my number?”

“No thanks,” Brian said as he left the room.

“You really are a bastard,” Emmett Honeycutt said as he met Brian outside the back room, having heard the last bit of Brian’s exchange with his trick.

“Yeah, so everyone likes to tell me.”

“Don’t you ever want their number?”

“No.”  Brian kept heading towards the bar pushing his way through the Friday night crowd at Babylon.  Emmett trailed along behind him.  “What the fuck are you doing here anyway?”

“Checking out the competition.”

“And picking up a guy?”

Emmett made a face.  “So I haven’t found anyone yet – neither have you.”

“Not looking!” Brian stated tersely, although for some unknown reason his mind had immediately gone to the Dumb Blond.  “Beam,” Brian ordered from the bartender.

“Cosmo,” Emmett said.  “Maybe it’s time to settle down,” he suggested as much for himself as for Brian.

“No thanks.”

“I, um, thought you might be interested in our little blond dancer,” Emmett continued waiting to gauge Brian’s reaction to that statement.

“Been there, done that,” Brian said a little more harshly than he intended.  He didn’t like anyone, including Emmett Honeycutt, butting into his private life.

“Vic and I think Justin’s pretty special.”

“So now you use his name,” Brian retorted remembering when neither man would tell him much about the blond dancer.  He downed his drink and nodded at the bartender to bring another.

“And you managed to find out his name,” Emmett commented, “and remember it.”  Brian was notorious for never remembering anyone’s name, especially tricks.

Brian shrugged.  “Don’t you have a club to manage?” he asked.

“Vic’s keeping an eye on things tonight.”

“Well I’m glad somebody is.”

“Brian,” Emmett said hesitantly, “thanks for your suggestions.  Business is starting to pick up a bit at the club.”

“Good.  Gotta go,” Brian stated polishing off his second drink.

Emmett watched his friend walk away, knowing that Brian had decided he had heard enough.  Brian wasn’t one who liked to be thanked publicly for his help.  But somehow Emmett suspected that the thank you meant quite a bit to Brian even if he didn’t show it.

*****

Outside the club, Brian wasn’t sure what he wanted to do next.  He couldn’t go back in, and he hadn’t seen anyone worthy of taking home with him.  There was always the baths, but they usually were full of trolls, and Brian didn’t feel like an orgy tonight.  He wasn’t sure what he felt like.  Maybe going home was best after all.

Brian shook his head at his own folly.  He really did sound like he was ready to settle down, even to himself.  Drawing in a breath, Brian had a sudden inspiration.  Home was good, but partying was better.  He could use that with the Blush campaign.  Subtle makeup for home, and wild party makeup for a night on the town.  He would show the contrast in the ads, how Blush cosmetics could do both. He decided he would go back to the office and get his ideas fleshed out for Monday.  He quickly walked to his Jeep.

*****

When Brian pulled into the parking area at Kinnetik, he noticed the van that was parked in his space.  It was the cleaners.  He immediately wondered why he hadn’t thought of confronting them before.  He glanced at the clock in the Jeep.  It was almost three in the morning.  They would be finishing up.  Brian wondered who he might find in his office where the boards were still on display.  Would there be a new message?  Maybe he could catch somebody in the act of leaving the message. 

He got out of his Jeep and headed for the front door.  He used his key as quietly as he could to unlock the door.  He stepped inside and gently closed the door behind him.  It was quiet inside Kinnetik, but the lights were on.  The cleaners must be working somewhere in the building.

Brian walked to his office.  The door was open and he heard some movement from inside.  He stopped and listened for a moment.  It sounded like things were being moved around on his desk.  When that noise stopped he waited a beat and then stepped into the office.

His breath caught in his throat as he saw someone studying the boards on the easels.

“Justin!” he said softly.

Return to Dumb Blond