Mayor Kinney
* 25 *
Justin met Robin at a coffee shop near PIFA. He wasn't sure what else he could tell her about Brian that she didn't already know and that he was willing to reveal. There were some things that were private between him and Brian. He wasn't prepared to talk about those. There were other things that he knew Brian would not want revealed and he had no intention of letting any of those out.
"Hey," Justin said seeing Robin as he came into the shop. He went and got a coffee and joined her at her table.
"How are you today?" Robin asked.
"Fine," Justin replied wondering why she was starting like this. He had already learned that she didn't beat around the bush.
"I had a chat with Brian about all the things you are doing in your life
right now. How do you juggle
it all?"
"I don't know," Justin replied wondering what she was getting
at. "I just do
it." He knew Brian had talked
to her about this and he had gotten his reward last night for all the things
he did for the man. A smile played
at the corners of his mouth.
"What are you thinking about?" Robin asked with a grin.
"Nothing," Justin replied quickly.
"Brian told me you had talked about my
role in his life."
"Does he tell you everything?"
Justin almost choked on that one.
She obviously had no idea how much Brian kept to
himself. It had taken Justin
the full two years that they had known each other to even scratch the surface
of the enigma that was Brian Kinney, and there was a lot that he still didn't
know. "He tells me
enough,"
Justin said carefully. "Nobody
tells everything."
"I guess that's true. He seems
to rely on you a great deal."
"We rely on each other," Justin stated.
"You're a student here?" Robin asked changing the subject.
"Yes."
"I'd like to see some of your work later if that's all right."
"Sure, we can walk over to my studio space when we're done here."
"How old are you, Justin?"
Here it comes, he thought. "I'm
nineteen."
"Isn't that kind of young to be in such a serious relationship with the
mayor?"
Justin sighed. "I can imagine
that a lot of people think so, but I
don't. I'm exactly where I want
to be."
"Really?"
"You don't believe me?"
"It's not that I don't believe you.
Its that you seem so sure.
How much experience have you had with other
men?"
"What difference does that make?" Justin asked annoyed that she was taking
this tack.
"It's just a question. You seem so young to be making this kind of commitment."
"And if I was a girl getting married at nineteen, would you ask her how
much experience she had with other men?"
Robin chuckled. "I see your
point. But does that make you
the little woman in this relationship?"
Justin looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I suppose it does if you want to look at it that
way. I'm younger, I do the cooking,
and I'm mostly supported by Brian."
"Does that bother you?"
"Of course it does. I want to
earn my own way. It's just that
this is the way things are at the moment.
Brian says I can support him in his old age," Justin chuckled.
"And do you think you will?
Will you still be together when he's old and you're middle aged?"
"How the fuck can anyone answer that?
I hope so, but traditional marriages barely survive anymore, so who
knows where we'll be at that point."
"You seem like a level headed young man," Robin said sincerely, her admiration
for Justin growing.
"Thanks. I used to tell Brian
I was the most mature person he knew."
"What did he say to that?"
"He just snorted."
Robin and Justin shared a laugh both having experienced some of Brian's snorts.
"Could I ask you about Gus?"
"What about Gus?" Justin asked warily.
"Brian doesn't want me to see him or put anything about him in the article."
"It's not just Brian. His mothers stayed out of the election. They want their privacy and don't want Gus' life disrupted."
"So you're telling me to leave them alone?"
Justin nodded. "Gus is a great
little kid. He's almost like
my son too. He's happy and precocious
and nobody wants to see that change."
Robin studied this young man.
"When I started this article it was going to be about Brian as a gay
man fighting daily prejudice to do his job as
mayor. I've changed that
idea. I don't see Brian fighting
prejudice every day. He seems
to have made converts of most of the people around
him. How does he do that?"
Justin looked her in the eye. "He
does it by being honest and caring deeply about people that are important
to him. He always does the best
he can and now that includes the best for the city of
"Did you write some of his campaign ads and speeches?" Robin
laughed. "You sure know how to
sell him."
"I don't have to sell him. He
sells himself once you get to know him."
"Let's go look at some of your artwork," Robin
said. She had a lot to think
about.
-----
When Justin arrived home Brian was in his jeans watching the news on TV.
"Hey," Justin said.
"Hey," Brian replied. "How
did you make out today?"
"You mean did I give Robin any incriminating information that she can use
against you?"
"I meant how was your day, but that other stuff, yeah, that too," Brian
grinned.
"I did my very best not to reveal too much."
"Justin, I didnt think you were going to give anything
away. I trust you," Brian said
seriously.
"I know, but it is a little nerve wracking dealing with
Robin. She jumps all over the
place with her questions, and I'm never sure exactly what she's after."
"You too? I thought it was just
me."
Justin giggled and came over to sit down beside Brian. "She asked about Gus," Justin said quietly.
"I told her he was off limits," Brian said with a frown.
"I told her the same thing. I
made it clear that it wasn't just you saying that, but his mothers wanted
to keep him out of the spotlight too."
"Did she agree?"
"I think so."
"What else did she want to know?"
"She actually came back to my space to see my
art. I was kind of surprised
that she was interested."
"Why? You're very good."
"Thanks," Justin said with a smile.
"She said Frank had told her what a good artist I am."
"Frank should go into promotion," Brian chuckled.
"I hope I did all right with her,
Brian. I don't want to let you
down."
"You never let me down. I know
you did your best."
"Thanks. She says she's changing
the focus of the article."
"She told me that too. I'm not
really sure what that means."
"I think it means she didn't find what she expected when she came here."
"I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad one," Brian mused.
"Can we order dinner? I'm
starved."
"Sure, and then let's go to
"Are you kidding? We haven't
been there since you got elected."
"I know. We're a bit overdue,
don't you think?"
"Brian, you're not supposed to go out on your own without Chuck or
Phy. Do you think this is
wise?"
"I don't care whether it's wise or not.
I want to go
and I want to dance with you."
That earned him a big smile from Justin.
"Chinese?" he asked.
"Sure," Brian replied and Justin went to place the order.
-----
When they arrived at Babylon Justin looked around nervously. He didn't know how they'd be received and he wasn't sure that somebody might not try to take another round out of Brian.
"It's fine, Justin. We're among our own people," Brian said with a grin.
He pulled Justin onto the dance floor and they started moving to the music. They had been dancing for awhile, foreheads touching, staring into each other's eyes, when they realized there was way too much room around them. Usually the dance floor was packed and it had been when they started to dance.
They looked up to see most of the people present standing back watching them. Brian frowned and glared at anyone who chose to notice.
"Let's hear it for the mayor!" someone yelled.
A loud round of applause and whistles broke out. Justin could tell that Brian was embarrassed and he thought he might bolt out of there any second. He was ready to follow him.
"I'm not the mayor tonight," Brian yelled to be
heard. "I'm wearing my fag clothes
just like all of you."
There was another round of whistles and the dance floor filled up and they
were once again surrounded by a sea of sweaty male bodies.
They danced for a long time enjoying the feel of being in familiar surroundings and moving together. When they finally found their way to the bar, they noticed Emmett leaning against it sipping a cosmo.
"Hey, Emm," Justin said.
"Hi guys."
"Why didn't you join us out on the floor?"
"You two were enjoying yourselves.
I didn't want to intrude."
"You wouldn't be intruding," Justin told him.
"Yes he would," Brian stated.
Emmett chuckled. Trust Brian to be blunt. "You haven't been here in ages," Emmett told them.
"I was too busy getting beat up and run over," Brian said ruefully.
"Have they got that all settled now?"
"Not exactly," Brian replied, "but they're working on
it. I just got sick of being
cooped up. Come dance with us."
"If you wouldn't mind, that would be nice," Emmett said
slowly. He finished his drink
and they made their way out onto the
floor.
Several dances later they returned to the
bar.
"That felt great," Emmett told them.
"I haven't felt much like dancing
since Ted
" He didn't finish
that statement. They all knew
Ted was in rehab.
"How is your business going?" Brian asked to change the subject.
"Vic and I are doing great. We're booked up for several weeks," Emmett said proudly.
"That's great, Emm," Justin said.
I'm glad Vic is working with you."
"So am I. I'd never be able to
do it all without him."
"Justin, I think maybe we better
get going. I have an early meeting
with Robin in the morning," Brian said.
"Who's Robin?" Emmett asked.
"Um no one, no one that you'd know. Bye, Emmett," Brian said and pulled Justin away from the bar. They made their way out to the Corvette.
Once they were seated inside Justin had to ask, "Aren't you going to
tell the gang about the Newsweek article?
They'll be so proud."
"Let's wait till I see the fucking
article. It may not be something
to be proud of."
"Oh," Justin said in surprise. He
hadn't thought about that.
-----
When Newsweek containing the article about Brian hit the stands some
time later, everyone was surprised.
On the cover was a picture of Brian with the
Brian had not expected to be on the cover and he wasn't too thrilled about it either.
"Fuck, Justin, now everyone is going to
know. More shit will hit the
fan. I thought most of
"But it's a great article. I
can't believe that Robin had such nice things to say about
you. There's hardly anything
negative in it at all."
"I know. I saw the drafts, but
they didn't tell me about the cover."
"I bet they thought it would be a nice surprise."
"Fuck! Why do things always happen
to me?"
"Because people like you when they get to know you."
Brian made a face. "I have to
get out of this popularity contest.
I'm losing my edge. Too
many people like me
and on the flip side too many people hate me."
"You never did inspire the middle ground," Justin said with a chuckle.
Brian made another face at him.
"I can hardly wait to see what kind of demonstration awaits me tomorrow
morning when I get to fucking
work."
"Come to bed and I'll make it all better," Justin said in a husky voice. Brian knew that he could too.
-----
Chuck pulled up in front of City Hall. "They're baaaack!" he chanted.
"Oh, fuck! I knew it," Brian
replied.
He sucked in a deep breath and mentally girded himself for the
onslaught. He waited for Chuck
to open the door knowing that he might want to keep Chuck between himself
and the angry mob as he made his way into the
building. There would be no chat
with the protesters today.
Brian stepped out and the crowd erupted, not in boos or taunts, but in cheers and whistles. He looked around stunned at this response.
"What's going on?" he asked Chuck.
"Fuck if I know! Hey, look
at that placard over there," Chuck said pointing to a large sign that said
'Thanks for putting
Brian glanced around. There were some other signs basically saying the same thing and congratulating him on the article. "Where are the protesters?" Brian asked somewhat confused.
"There are no protesters, Mr. Mayor. We drove the two of them away," someone yelled at him.
"That's not very nice," Brian said with a smirk. "I was getting to know some of them really well."
"We figured you deserved some positive feedback for bringing
"And just when I was getting used to being screamed at and criticized."
"There's a lot of us who think you're doing a good job and we don't care
whether you're gay or not."
"That's about the nicest thing you could tell me," Brian said
genuinely. That resulted in a
round of applause. "Thank you
all for doing this, but I better get to work."
As he turned to enter the building someone started a chorus of "Hip, hip, hooray!" Brian smiled to himself and waved as he went through the door.
Cynthia was all smiles as she flashed a copy of Newsweek at him. "You done good, boss," she said with a laugh. "It's a great article, although I hardly recognized this kind, gentle, caring mayor that they were describing." She grinned with her tongue firmly planted in her cheek.
"Neither did I," Brian chuckled.
Brian went into his office. Justin had asked him to call when he arrived at work. Brian was sure he thought somebody would attack him as a result of the article. He was going to be so surprised.
"Brian," Justin answered on the first
ring. "What happened?"
"I was welcomed with open arms," Brian laughed.
"What? What do you mean?"
"There were a ton of people waiting when I got here and they had signs thanking
me for putting
"Oh, Brian," Justin half moaned. Brian could hear the tears in his voice.
"Sunshine, what's wrong? It
was good."
"I know," Justin choked back a sob.
"I'm so happy and relieved.
I was expecting the worst. I
braced myself for another attack and I didn't know how much more you could
stand and I was so worried and then this and I just can't help
it."
Brian could hear him gulping through his
tears. "It's all right,
Justin. Calm down, baby."
"I'm sorry. I'm just so
relieved."
"So am I."
"Let's go out tonight and celebrate.
Go to dinner somewhere nice?" Justin requested.
"That sounds good to me. Like a date?" Brian said knowing that would cheer him up.
"Yeah, like a date," Justin replied and now Brian could hear the smile in his voice.
"I can hardly wait."
"Later."
"Later."
Things were definitely looking up.