Chapter 2

Day 1(continued)

"Brian, I'm the last one, you heading out soon?" Cynthia asked as she put on her heavy coat. "Whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow." Brian looked up and smiled at his friend and trusted partner. Their association was long, successful and very prosperous.

"Time was when I didn't mind working long hard hours, deep into the night," Brian said as he smirked at Cynthia.

"Yes, but that was back when you had little incentive to go home. Things have changed."

"Yes they have. For the better, I hope."

"For the better, very much for the better. Now go home before Justin sends out a search party. The roads are very icy. You be careful."

"I will," Brian said as he started to pack up his briefcase. Cynthia was right; it could wait until the morning. The conference call with Stacey and Kenneth at N'rgy was very positive, their outline for expansion, sound. By the summer, N'rgy would be sporting several more ad execs and artists and maybe a new look to the office.

The private line rang before they left the office. Cynthia picked up.

"Kinnetik. Yes he is, one moment, please. Brian, it's JR." Brian took the phone then shooed Cynthia out. "See you in the morning," she whispered.

"How's my favorite little lady?" Brian asked cheerfully into the phone.

JR giggled before answering. "Fine."

"And what can I do for you? Is your brother giving you a hard time?"

"No, Uncle Brian."

"You and Granny Danny getting along okay?"

JR burst out laughing. "We're good."

"So what's the problem or did you just call to chat?" Brian innocently flirted with the child.

"No, Uncle Bri, I mean I think there's a problem," JR said pensively.

"Okay," Brian took on a more serious tone, "tell me what happened."

"While Grandpa was cooking dinner, I took a shower. I, um, well..." Brian blushed, he got the picture. JR was growing up and sometimes young ladies needed to shower when they felt the need to shower.

"I understand, sweetheart. Do you need to speak with Grandma Debbie?"

"No, I'm okay. But when I was turning off the shower faucet, the knob felt funny. Kinda loose. Sometimes it would drip but if you turn it hard, the drip would stop. You know?"

Brian could only surmise; the girls' house was much older than the cottage. All the fixtures at Muncherville were very old.

"I told Grandpa; now he's in the bathroom trying to fix it." In the background Brian could hear Danny grumbling.

"I'm a drag queen, not a damn plumber."

"Okay, little lady, I get the picture. Let me speak to Gus."

"Sure, Uncle Bri. Thanks."

"You're very welcome and, Jenny Rebecca, you know you can call me anytime. Right?"

"I know, Uncle Brian. Here's Gus." Brian heard the portable phone being passed to his son.

"Pop?"

"Hey, Sonny Boy, what's happenin'?"

"Not sure. One minute the shower's okay then next thing the knob feels like it's gonna fall off. I don't think Danny is very handy with tools," Gus whispered.

"Yeah, he's handier with a makeup brush than a wrench. Do the moms have a plumber?"

"Yeah, some hot gay guy."

"Gus..."

"Sorry, Pop. I think his card is on the fridge. Let me look." Brian heard his son stomp down the stairs to go into the kitchen. "Here it is. You want the number?"

"Yes." Gus read the phone number to Brian. "Okay, this is what we're going to do. I'm heading home now. I'll call you when I get to the cottage. If the shower is still giving you problems, I'll call the plumber early in the morning. I don't think John is busy, maybe I'll ask him to take a look. Either way, we'll have it all fixed before the moms come back. Okay, Sonny Boy?"

"Okay, Pop! Um, Dad? Everything still okay with you?" Gus was still a little worried about his dad's health.

"I'm fine, I promise, Gus, and I don't lie."

"I know, Pop. Talk to you later."

"Later, Sonny Boy."

Brian hung up the phone, locked up the office and headed back home to Edna's Treasures.

*****

 

"So this must be the place," Melanie said as she brought the rental car to a stop outside a charming house with a little sign that said Piece of Plenty. It was early evening and she was tired.

When they had landed in Orlando, they had picked up their rental car. Then they were hungry and had found a place for lunch. Following that, they had headed for Downtown Disney to shop and look around. They had collected all kinds of brochures on Disney World and MGM and Sea World, and all kinds of other attractions. They had sat in the shade and gone through a lot of them, making some tentative plans for their time in Florida. It was nice to sit outside without having to wear a coat and boots and gloves. The warm sun felt great.

Finally they had set out for St. Augustine and had stopped for a quick supper at some chain restaurant along the highway. So far their holiday was less than memorable. They were both hoping for the best from the B & B, or the whole vacation together thing might just prove to have been a huge mistake.

Lindsay went up to the front door and pressed the door bell. It wasn't long until the door opened to a rather handsome looking middle aged man.

"Good evening" he said with just a touch of an Irish brogue.

Lindsay smiled. "Hi, you must be Seamus," she said extending her hand.

"And you must be the mother of Brian's son. He told me you were a beautiful blond," Seamus replied taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Looks like someone has kissed the Blarney Stone," Lindsay giggled.

"Or is merely full of bullshit," Melanie said sarcastically as she lugged a suitcase up to the door.

"Mel!!!" Lindsay reacted. "That was uncalled for."

"Um … sorry. It's just that Brian Kinney…"

"…is a fine man. I enjoyed having him and Justin stay here," Seamus said pointedly.

Melanie scowled and Lindsay smiled.

"Please forgive, Melanie," Lindsay said with a severe look at her husband. "We've had a long day."

"Of course," Seamus replied. "Your room is ready. Allow me to take your luggage."

"I can manage it," Melanie told him ungraciously.

Seamus shrugged. "This is a service I supply to all my guests," he told her, as he picked up the suitcase. "I'll get the rest of your luggage in a moment. If you'll follow me…" He started into the house.

"Will you stop that," Lindsay hissed. "You don't need to be rude to our host."

"Brian's friend," Melanie couldn't help but add.

"Stop!" Lindsay commanded. The look on her face made Melanie rethink her next comment.

"I hope the room's nice," Melanie said hoping that was a safer line of discussion.

"I'm sure it will be," Lindsay told her as they followed Seamus upstairs.

Melanie wanted to say something about how everything Brian touched was charmed, but she bit her tongue for the sake of their vacation, and the hope for harmony between them.

"Oh, Mel, look. It's beautiful," Lindsay gasped,when she saw the elegant room with fresh flowers and a huge bed.

"Not bad," Melanie had to admit.

"I'm glad you approve," Seamus said. "I'll get the rest of your luggage." He quickly left the room.

"What's this?" Melanie asked spying a champagne bucket with a large bottle of Cristal resting in the ice. "And chocolates. Yum!"

"They look delicious. What a great way to start our holiday."

"How much are we paying for this place? I don't know how 'our host' can afford to supply Cristal." Melanie lifted the champagne out of the bucket and studied the label.

"Let's get settled in first, and then we can enjoy the bubbly," Lindsay suggested. "I could use an early night."

"Sounds good to me," Melanie agreed.

Seamus brought in the rest of their bags. "Is there anything else I can get you, ladies?" he asked.

"Everything's lovely," Lindsay replied. "Just beautiful."

"That's good. Breakfast is between seven and ten," Seamus told them.

"Thanks," Lindsay said before Seamus exited the room and closed the door behind him.

"Well, one thing you can say about Brian fucking Kinney, he has great taste," Melanie said as she dropped the champagne bottle back into the bucket. "This is indeed a classy place."

"I knew it would be," Lindsay said. She wasn't at all happy about Mel's behavior so far on this trip. "Let's get unpacked and then we can enjoy the champagne."

"Sure," Melanie said, as she watched Lindsay unzip her suitcase with unusual gusto. If she didn't know better, she'd say Lindsay was angry. Melanie realized that maybe she should have kept her mouth shut about Brian. She didn't want to ruin everything before they even had a chance to get started. "Should we call home and see how everything's going?"

"Actually that's a good idea," Lindsay said picking up her cell phone.

*****

 

"Dada."

"Yes, Squirt."

"Do you know who Martin Luther King Junior is?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"We get a day off school because of him."

"That's right, next week."

"Teacher said he was a civil rights leader," Bree explained saying each word carefully and precisely as she remembered her teacher pronouncing them.

"Do you know what that means?" Brian asked. Bree shook her head. "Come and sit on my knee and I'll try to explain."

Justin smiled as he cleared the table and watched Brian with their daughter. He loved when Brian went into full daddy mode.

"Reverend King was a minister. He believed that people were all equal regardless of race or color or religion," Brian explained. Bree frowned. She wasn't sure what all those words meant. "He was a black man," Brian added, struggling to find the words that would make his daughter understand.

"Like Mr. Raph?" Bree asked.

"Yes, like Mr. Raph. And a long time ago, some people thought black people didn't deserve all the same rights and privileges that everyone else had."

"Why?" Bree asked with a frown.

Brian sighed. "It's a very long story that you'll learn in school as you get older. Okay?" Bree nodded. "Anyway, Mr. King didn't think it was fair, so he did his very best to get people to change their minds about that. He wanted everyone to be treated equally."

"And he won, didn't he?" Bree asked.

"Yes, he won," Brian said, deciding that was the best way to end the discussion and avoid having to explain things that Bree was still too young to understand. "And so we have a day off school or work to honor him."

"That's good. Everybody should be equal and share," Bree said profoundly.

"Exactly."

The phone took that moment to ring. Justin answered. "Just a minute, he's right here." Justin handed the phone to Brian.

"Yes?"

"It's Lindsay, Brian. Have you talked to Gus today?"

"Yeah, why?"

"We just called the house. There was some kind of disturbance, banging, like metal being pounded. Gus kept saying everything was fine. When I asked to speak to Danny the banging stopped, but he wouldn't tell me anything either."

"They probably don't want to worry you."

"Worry me!" Lindsay reacted. "What do you mean, worry me! What's to worry about? What do you know?"

"Calm down," Brian told her. "I called earlier and there was some problem with the knob in the shower. I'm going to call the plumber for them in the morning. It was probably Danny that you heard, trying to tighten the knob."

"Danny doesn't know anything about plumbing," Lindsay said with worry in her voice.

"I'll get the plumber in the morning," Brian promised. "Don't worry."

"Oh shit! We should come home right now."

"Home? Why?" Melanie demanded. "What's wrong?"

"Sh, I'll tell you in a minute," Lindsay shushed her.

"You should stay right where you are. Everything's fine. I'll check on them tomorrow," Brian said quickly. "You are to enjoy yourself, as much as you can with your companion of choice," he snarked.

"I don't know…" Lindsay said uncertainly.

"Trust me, everything's fine. Have a great time. I'll make sure the house is standing when you come back," Brian promised.

"Okay, if you're sure." Lindsay wasn't sure about the situation, but she trusted Brian's judgment.

"I'm sure. Nothing's wrong."

"Okay. Thanks for reassuring me, and for keeping an eye on them."

"They'll be fine. Now, hang up. Enjoy your champagne and chocolate, and your companion, if you must," Brian sighed.

"Thanks, Brian," Lindsay giggled. "I will." She closed her phone.

*****

 

"Is there a problem at Lindsay's?" Justin asked having heard Brian's side of the conversation.

"There's something wrong with the knob in the shower. I told Gus I'd get a plumber for them tomorrow."

"So what was Lindsay upset about?"

"When she called, I guess Danny was trying to tighten the knob or fix it or something."

"And Lindsay heard?'

"Yeah, the hullabaloo set off her motherly worry glands."

Justin chuckled. "Yeah, I can understand that."

"Is Gus okay?" Bree asked listening to her fathers' discussion.

"Gus is just fine, Squirt."

"I can help with the bubblehoo," Bree stated confidently.

Brian laughed. "If we need help with the bubblehoo, I'll be sure to let you know." Bree nodded in agreement.

*****

 

"So everything's all right?" Melanie asked when Lindsay set down her phone.

"It sounds like that knob in the shower that's been loose for like forever is giving them problems, but Brian's going to call our plumber in the morning."

"It probably is time to get it fixed. It's a fucking pain in the ass to adjust the water."

"Our hot plumber man should be able to take care of it," Lindsay chuckled.

"If I wasn't a lesbian, I'd like to be there to see him fix it," Melanie chuckled as she popped the cork on the champagne.

"I am a lesbian, and I still enjoy watching him work," Lindsay said with a husky laugh. "He's great eye candy."

"A ten on the hot plumber scale."

"That's for sure."

"Here's to us and to a wonderful time in St. Augustine," Melanie proposed. She handed a glass of champagne to Lindsay.

They clinked the glasses and took a sip.

"Mmm, very nice," Lindsay cooed.

"Not bad. It was really nice of Seamus to provide this."

"I don't think it came from Seamus."

"Then who?" Melanie asked with a frown. She raised the glass to her lips to take another sip of the champagne.

"Brian said to enjoy the champagne and chocolates."

The champagne in her mouth came spurting out at Lindsay's words. Melanie tried not to choke, as Lindsay laughed at her.

"Brian arranged for this?" Melanie asked.

Lindsay nodded. "He really does want us to have a good time."

"Well," Melanie said philosophically, "I guess I can drink Kinney's champagne. It would be a shame to waste it."

"Yes, it would."

"Have a chocolate."

"Thank you, I will." Lindsay bit a chocolate in two.

"You have a little chocolate on the side of your mouth," Melanie told her, her voice getting husky at the sight.

"You could lick it off," Lindsay told her in that breathy voice she knew how to use so well.

"It would be my pleasure."


 

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