Dumb Blond

Chapter 15

Justin whirled around at the sound of his name spoken by a voice that he was sure he would never forget.

“B…Brian,” he stammered.

“I should have known,” Brian said shaking his head at this strange turn of events.

“Should have known what?”

“That it was you.”

“How…How could you possibly know it was me?”

Brian stared into the blue eyes that looked full of worry and fright.  “It doesn’t matter,” Brian said slowly.  “You work as a cleaner?  I thought you were an exotic dancer.”

“You mean a stripper,” Justin said his voice revealing some distaste about the job he had chosen in order to survive and pursue his art.

“I thought you were proud of the job you did,” Brian reminded him.

“I am,” Justin said defiantly.  “I’m proud of everything I do, and I do it to the best of my ability.”

“The cleanliness of my office speaks to that fact.”

“Joe would be pleased to hear that.”

“Joe?” Brian asked raising an eyebrow.

“My boss.  He’s finishing up at the back,” Justin explained.  The whine of the floor polisher took that moment to stop.  “He’ll be out here in a minute.”

“Justin … I think we need to talk.”

“Um…”

“Justin, you finished…?”  Joe did not complete his question as he saw the man who was standing in the office with his employee.  He wasn’t sure what was going on.  “How did you get in here?  I’m sure I locked the door.”

“You did.  I’m Brian Kinney, the owner of this company.”

“Oh!” Joe said startled at this revelation.  “I’m Joe Stewart.  I run the cleaning company.  Is there some kind of problem?”  Joe looked very worried as he glanced between Brian and Justin trying to determine what kind of trouble he might be facing.

“No, no problem,” Brian said looking to Justin for some indication of what he should say.

“Joe, this is … my Brian,” Justin said hesitantly.

“Your Brian?  Oh!”  The light had dawned.

“Um, if you’re ready to go,” Justin began, “you can take the polisher to the van, and I’ll be there in just a minute.”

“You sure?” Joe asked not wanting to leave Justin alone with this man unless that was what Justin wanted.

“I’m sure.  I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Joe agreed.  He turned and left the office.  They could hear him opening the front door of Kinnetik and dragging the big polisher out.

“Explain!” Brian ordered.

“I don’t have anything to explain, and I certainly don’t have to explain myself to you,” Justin stated emphatically.

Slowly a smile turned up the corners of Brian’s mouth.  This was the proud, unapologetic Justin that he had come to … know.  “You’re right.  You don’t have to explain, but why did you stop answering my notes?  I’d like to know.”

“I talked to Emmett a few nights ago and he said you ran an ad agency.  I had this sudden feeling that I was communicating with you, and it …scared me.  Plus, I didn’t want to get Joe into trouble.  He had no idea I was leaving notes.  I need this job, and so does Joe.”

“You have nothing to worry about for Joe or yourself,” Brian said genuinely.

“Thanks, that’s good.”

“Could we go somewhere and … talk?” Brian asked.  He wanted some other things clarified where Justin was concerned.

“Talk?” Justin asked.

“Yeah, just talk.  I have a lot of questions.”

“So do I.”

“Such as…?” Brian asked with a frown.

“Why are you interested now when you weren’t interested enough to contact me after … our night together.”

Brian made a face.  “I just wasn’t sure…”

“Sure of what?”

“Sure that I should.  Why didn’t you contact me?”

“I hardly knew you, and Emmett had told me…”

“Fuck Emmett!”

“He was just looking out for me.”

“Yeah, right!”

“You have everything, Brian.  I couldn’t imagine that you were interested in me.  I’m a cleaner and a stripper.  You have money and a beautiful loft and … friends.”

“Such as they are.”

“They care about you.”

“And about you apparently.”

“Justin!” Joe called.  “Everything all right?”

“I gotta go,” Justin said to Brian.  “Coming, Joe.”

“Justin, please…” Brian asked.  He knew it sounded like begging but he couldn’t help himself.

“Joe gives me a ride home,” Justin explained as he scooped up his cleaning supplies.

“I could drive you home.”

“You could?”  Justin seemed surprised by the offer.

“Sure.”

“Um … wait a minute,” Justin said to Brian.  He carried his cleaning kit out to Joe.  “I’m going to talk to Brian,” he said softly to Joe.  “He’ll take me home.”

“Are you sure?” Joe asked, obviously concerned for Justin’s well being.  He took the cleaning supplies from Justin.

“I’m sure.  I need to do this.”

Joe nodded.  “Mr. Kinney, make sure our Justin gets home safe,” he called out.

“I will,” Brian responded.

Justin smiled as Joe exited the building.  It was nice having Joe and Lydia being so protective of him.  Without his family in his life, it had been a long time since he felt like anyone really cared about his safety and well being.

“So, where do you want to talk?” Justin asked as he reappeared at the office door.

“We could go to the loft.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” 

Brian looked into the clear blue eyes.  “Okay,” he conceded.  “What’s wrong with here?”

“Nothing,” Justin said looking around.  “You have a beautiful office.”

“I like it,” Brian said.  “Want a drink?”

“Sure.”

Brian went to the cabinet that housed his liquor supply for when clients wanted a drink.  It also provided relief for him when the day had been a particularly trying one.  “Vodka okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Have a seat.”

Justin sat down on the sofa while Brian got their drinks ready.  He took a deep breath as he waited.  He didn’t know where this was going, but he couldn’t deny the little kernel of hope that was growing inside him.

Brian handed Justin a glass and sat down beside him.  Brian knew he was never much good at talking, so this was going to be a big challenge.  He would probably screw it up, but he knew he had to try.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Justin asked taking a sip of his drink.

Brian turned toward him and spoke with sincerity.  “I want you to come work for Kinnetik.  You have great advertising ideas, a special way with words and an excellent eye for color.  You’re wasting your time at Club Emvic and cleaning offices.”

Justin felt a little smile play at the corners of his mouth.  He was pleased that Brian didn’t call what he did at the club stripping.  Somehow that made it seem better.  He also loved that Brian thought he was smart and creative.  “How do you know that slogan wasn’t just a … fluke?” he asked.

Brian laughed.  “See, now that was clever.  You just proved my point.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think I’m cut out for advertising.”

“I think you are, or you could be.”

“Brian, you don’t know anything about me,” Justin protested.

“Then why don’t you tell me?  We said we were going to talk.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Why are you dancing some nights and cleaning my office other nights?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I have time, and tomorrow is Saturday.  Do you have somewhere to be?”

Justin shook his head.  “You know, this office is much nicer than my apartment.”

Brian chuckled.  “Thanks, but that doesn’t tell me much about you other than that you have a less than stellar apartment.”

“Less than stellar,” Justin repeated shaking his head.  “My apartment is a piece of shit.”

“Then move.”

“It’s all I can afford.”

“Then come work for me, and I’ll make sure that you have a better apartment.”

“If I came to work for you, you’d have to make sure I had an apartment like your loft,” Justin countered with a grin.

“Hey, I’m the boss.  You don’t get an apartment like mine for at least a week or two.”

They both laughed at that and took another sip of their drinks. 

“Justin, enough fooling around.  Tell me about your situation.  I want to understand.”

“It’s not a pretty story.  Are you sure you want to hear it?”  Brian nodded.  Justin took another deep breath and proceeded to tell Brian much the same story that he had told Lydia and Joe the day before.  “I can’t believe I’ve revisited those horrible events for the second time in two days,” Justin said with tears in his eyes, and looking worn out when he finally finished.  It still hurt a lot to talk about those events.

Brian did not say anything as he stood up, took Justin’s glass and went to pour them each another drink.  That gave Justin a few moments to compose himself.  He looked better when Brian came back.

“Your parents should be shot,” Brian said as he sat down.

“They were great when I was growing up.”

“Wish I could say the same,” Brian observed as he took a drink from his glass.

“Your parents weren’t … nice?”

Brian snorted.  “My father was an electrical worker who drank too much and liked to belt me around.  My mother is a frigid bitch who only sees the worst in me.”

“Wow!  I would have thought you grew up with money.”

“I put on a good façade.”

“You sure do.”

“It took me a long time to create what I am.”

“I hope I can do that too.”

Brian snorted.  “You wouldn’t want to be me.”

“I don’t know,” Justin grinned, “I think you’re … okay.”

“Just okay?” Brian asked as he raised his eyebrow.

“I thought you were fucking fantastic the other night.”

Brian chuckled.  He could really learn to like this kid.  “So why not come and work for me?” he asked.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“I’m going to PIFA and I do that during the day.  I can’t work when I’m required in class.”

“You want to be an artist?”

“I am an artist,” Justin declared.  He was sure of that now.

“But you still have to live.”

“I am living.”

“That’s not what it sounded like to me.  From what you described, it sounds like you are barely surviving.”

“Fuck you!” Justin exclaimed.  He stood up, placed his glass gently on the table and headed for the door.

“Justin, wait!”

“Fuck you, Brian!  I’m doing just fine without your help, so, so, so just leave me alone!”

And he disappeared out the door.

Return to Dumb Blond