Dumb Blond

Chapter 9

Justin paid the cab driver and began the long climb to the seventh floor and his apartment.  He didn’t recite his mantra on the way up.  He just trudged along not sure what he should be feeling or thinking.

He wondered if Brian was already with that Mikey person.  Maybe they were kissing and happy together.  Maybe Brian was treating him the way he had treated Justin, maybe better.  Justin let out a little gasp as he started the last flight of stairs.  It could have been a gasp for air, but if he was truthful with himself, it was a gasp of pain.  It hurt to have been turned away so abruptly after the time he and Brian had spent together.  It had been so special – at least to Justin it was special.  And it had seemed like it was special to Brian too, but maybe that was only an illusion.  Maybe when you were experienced like Brian was, it took someone more sophisticated and worldly than Justin to hold Brian’s interest – someone like this Mikey person.

Justin hauled himself up the last few steps and unlocked the door to his tiny apartment.  It was fucking hot inside even at four in the morning.  His window was open, but little air came in.  Justin closed and locked his door.  He looked around his little home and couldn’t help but compare it to Brian’s loft.  It suffered greatly in the comparison.

Justin pulled out the sofa bed, and drew back the sheets.  He slipped out of his clothes and lay naked on the old worn sheets.  He remembered the soft, delicious feel of Brian’s sheets.  They were expensive he was sure, but they were so worth it.  They made you feel cool just by touching them.

The memory brought Justin back to making love on those sheets.  They would be all sticky and crusty after their exploits.  Justin smiled as he remembered Brian saying he would need to change them.  He’d have to do that by himself now.

Justin heaved a sigh.  He could still feel Brian’s cock up his ass.  He had been so stretched and full.  It had hurt a lot at first, but then…  Justin tried to remember every detail, every feeling, every nuance.  He realized it was already fading a little bit from his memory.  That made him sad.  He knew he would always remember this night … and Brian, even if he never saw the man again.  He hoped Brian would ask to see him again, but he knew that would be very unlikely based on Brian’s one time only policy that Emmett had told him about.

Justin’s finger explored his anus feeling the soft ring of muscle.  He thought about the size of Brian’s dick pressing into it.  It still took his breath away.  Brian had been so gentle when he had rubbed that wonderful cream onto it.  Justin should have asked what the cream was.  It felt so great.

He brought his hand back around to his dick which had started to swell with his explorations behind.  His fist encircled it and he began to jerk off thinking of Brian and hazel eyes and hot kisses.

“AAAHHH!” Justin moaned as he came once again.

He wasn’t sure how many times it was possible to come in one night, but he was certainly testing how many times he could come.  He turned onto his stomach wiping his hand on the sheet.  He closed his eyes hoping he could sleep.  He just hoped the emptiness inside him would be gone when he awoke.

*****

“Michael,” Brian said as he came down the hallway in the hospital.  “How’s Ben doing?”

Michael shook his head.  “The doctors are in with him now.  He’s had some kind of bad reaction to his meds.  They’re trying to get it under control.”

“They will,” Brian said trying to sound confident.  He knew that all the drugs Michael's partner Ben took to keep his HIV in check took their toll on the human body.  Even though Ben was very fit, the side effects and the taxing of the liver from the drugs were always a worry.  He hoped the doctors could find some combination that would deal with the HIV without killing the patient.

Brian pulled Michael into a hug and held him close.  He felt Michael’s silent sobs as they stood in the hallway together.

“Thanks for coming,” Michael said when he got a grip on his emotions.  He pulled out of Brian’s embrace and wiped at his eyes.

“I’ll always come when you need me,” Brian affirmed.

*****

Justin awoke with a start.  He could see the sun shining in his little window.  He glanced at the alarm clock that sat on the kitchen counter.  It was almost eleven in the morning – Sunday morning.

He turned onto his back and looked up at the ceiling.  There was a dark spot where the roof had leaked at some point, who knew how long ago.  He stretched luxuriously.  He could still feel the effect of his activities from the previous night.  He had been so alive, so exhilarated, so … fulfilled.  It had been wonderful … while it lasted.

“I need to capture that feeling,” Justin said aloud.

He had an assignment due at PIFA.  He had started something that he wasn’t really happy with.  Maybe the feeling from last night was what he needed to recreate.  If he could do that, it would be awesome, just like the whole night had been … until Brian gave him a wad of money and sent him away.

Justin slid the sheet off his body.  There were crusty patches on the sheet and on him where he had jerked off the night before.  Images of Brian danced in his brain as he hauled himself up and into his tiny bathroom.  He definitely needed a shower, but it wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable as the one he had experienced at Brian’s loft.

*****

Brian unlocked the door to the loft and stepped inside.  The place looked much as it always did.  Brian yawned as he locked the door and walked to the kitchen.  He needed some water, not to counteract any drugs he had taken, but to wash away the taste of antiseptic and death.  That’s what hospitals always smelled like, and Allegheny General was no different.

Brian grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, turned the top and drank half the bottle in one go.  He was fucking tired.  Michael was exhausted, but he was still at the hospital.  Ben had finally come around about an hour ago.  Thank the gods that he did.  Michael was a fucking basket case thinking that his boyfriend was going to die.  Michael should have been more prepared for these kinds of episodes when he started dating an HIV positive man.  But this was Michael he was talking about – the man who always leaped before he looked, and thinking things through was not a part of his repertoire.  The man wore his heart on his sleeve and usually got it trampled as a result.  At least Ben seemed to love Michael back.  That was something to be thankful for.

Brian drank the rest of his water.  That made him feel a little better.  It was Sunday, thank the gods.  He could sleep the rest of the day if he wanted to, and at the moment that was exactly what he wanted to do.  He tossed the water bottle into the trash and walked towards the steps leading to the bedroom.

The distinct smell of sex assaulted his senses as soon as he climbed the steps to the bedroom of his loft.

“Shit,” he muttered.

He had meant to get the sheets changed after the marathon of sex he had had with the Dumb Blond ... Justin.  That had been some night.  Brian’s lips lifted at the corners.  A smile spread across his face.  It took a lot to wear him out sexually, but that kid had come close.  He was a natural.

Brian pulled the sheets from his bed.  He instinctively brought them closer to his nose for a final whiff before he tossed them into the hamper to be washed.  Some men he brought to the loft left an odor that was not very pleasant, and that was being kind.  Some of them positively stank.  The Dumb Blond smelled kind of … nice.  Brian frowned as he took another sniff of the sheets.  He must have damaged his olfactory organs from the formaldehyde and other chemicals at that fucking hospital.  Nobody smelled nice, especially on sheets that were crusted with jizz.  Brian stuffed them into the hamper and got fresh sheets from the linen closet.

While he made up the bed, Brian couldn’t stop his mind from going over the events of the previous night.  They had been quite spectacular, almost spectacular enough to want another go at it.  But that totally went against everything that Brian believed in.  One time only, that was his policy.  He needed to stop thinking about the blond and get some rest.  He smoothed out the sheets and shucked off his clothes.  He climbed in naked between the fresh sheets, letting out a little sigh of relief.

He closed his eyes and hoped for dreamless sleep.

*****

Justin was working in his space at PIFA.  He was painting like a fiend.  It was an abstract with colors of fire and desire and splendor.  He smiled to himself as he mixed another color.  When he got this one put on then he could concentrate on the image of Brian that went in the vortex at the center of his painting.  Somehow that was what he felt represented the man he spent last night with.

When he had started painting, he didn’t know what he was going to make.  He just knew that there were colors and shapes and emotions that he wanted to capture on canvas.  He was really happy with how the painting was going.

“Not bad, Taylor,” a voice said from behind him.

“Um, it’s not finished yet,” Justin replied.

“Well, don’t wreck it by overworking it,” the voice advised.

“When I want your advice, Botelli, I’ll ask for it,” Justin stated.

Mark Botelli laughed.  He knew he was a better artist than Justin Taylor, and he enjoyed pushing Justin’s buttons whenever the occasion arose.  He had to admit that Taylor’s canvas was striking, but the guy would probably screw it up before he was finished.

“Suit yourself,” Botelli said.  “I have work of my own to do.”

“Don’t wreck it by overworking it,” Justin couldn’t resist saying as Botelli walked away.  He went back to work on his canvas, knowing that he must have something pretty good for Botelli to even bother to comment on it.  Usually Botelli was too wrapped up in himself to notice what anyone else was doing.

Justin felt his heart soar as he worked his impression of Brian into the vortex.  Nobody would know what it was, except maybe Brian and him, but it held enough mystery and substance to attract attention.  Justin was elated with the result.

*****

The phone ringing awoke Brian.  He glanced at the clock to see that it was five in the afternoon.  He had slept away most of the day.  He stretched and popped his shoulder before picking up.

“What?” he snapped.

“Brian, it’s Michael.”

“Michael?  Did something happen to…?”

“No, no, Ben’s sleeping.”

“So was I.”

“Oh, sorry.  I wanted to let you know that he’s doing better.  They think he may be able to come home tomorrow.”

“That’s good,” Brian said.  “So why are you calling?”

“I … I just wanted to thank you for staying with me last night.  I was so scared.”

“I know, Mikey.  But you really need to prepare yourself.  With Ben’s medical history this may happen at any time.”  Brian wanted to warn his friend, and he wasn’t going to fucking sugar coat it.

“I know,” Michael said sadly.

“Do you really know, Michael?”

“Yeah, I do.  I really appreciate you coming to stay with me.  It made it … bearable.  I would have gone crazy all by myself.”

“That’s what friends are for,” Brian said using the trite old saying, or was it a song title?  Whatever.  But with Michael he meant those words.  “Did you get some sleep?”  Christ, Brian thought, he sounded like Michael’s fucking mother.

“You sound like Maw,” Michael advised him with a chuckle.

It was good to hear Michael laugh even a little bit after last night, Brian decided.  “Bite your fucking tongue,” Brian snapped, but there was no malice in his voice.

“Should I let you get back to sleep?”

“I’ve had enough sleep.  I need food.”

“Brian Kinney needs food?  Now I’ve heard everything,” Michael laughed.

“Go sit with your boyfriend,” Brian ordered before he cut the connection.

Brian threw back the sheets and got up.  He headed for the bathroom where he turned on the shower. Images of a blond head and lithe body pressed against the glass forced their way into his brain.  He shook himself and stepped inside the shower.

Five minutes later Brian had cleaned his body and his mind.  He had the plan for the rest of the day worked out.  He would go to the diner, get some greasy fries and a burger for dinner, drink a bit at Woody’s, maybe hustle some pool, and then he would find several likely prospects to suck his dick in the backroom of Babylon.  Yeah, that was a good plan.

*****

Justin placed his painting in his storage shelf at PIFA.  The shelves were large and wide so that they would hold several canvases or other pieces of art.  There was also enough room for air circulation so that the painting would dry. 

His assignment wasn’t due until Wednesday, so he would be able to add any finishing touches as they might come to him.  He was very pleased with what he had been able to accomplish while he was in the studio today.  He was tired, but it was a good tired.  He had made something quite memorable out of a memorable adventure.  He had heard nothing from Brian, but the man didn’t know how to find him except through Club Emvic.

Justin made sure his painting was secure, before closing the door on the space.  He needed to get a move on so that he wouldn’t be late for his shift at the club.  He wondered if Brian would show up.  He certainly hoped so.

“Did you ruin the painting yet?” Botelli asked when Justin turned around from placing the combination lock on the mesh door of his space.

“Screw you!” Justin reacted making a face.

“You wish.”

“It might surprise you to know that I don’t wish.”

“Nothing would surprise me where you’re concerned, Taylor.  You’re pathetic.”

“Fuck off!”  Justin gathered his messenger bag and quickly left the building.  He didn’t want to hear any more of Botelli’s derogatory remarks.

He caught his bus and made it to Club Emvic on time.  He danced three times that evening, each time hoping that he would see Brian sitting ringside when he came out to perform.

It was not to be. 

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