Nuff Rope

Chapter 9


 

“That was delicious,” John said as he pushed his chair back just a fraction from the dinner table.

“I’m glad you decided to stay for dinner,” Ken said. “We were hoping you would.”

“I don’t know how we could have even thought about missing this feast,” Bobby said with a grin. “You are a damn fine cook, Ken.”

“That’s just one of his many exceptional talents,” Simon piped up.

“Thank you, darling,” Ken replied batting his eyelashes and hamming it up.

“Puke City,” Jeffrey replied. He was home for dinner too.

“Pulleeez,” Ken replied, “we are allowed to make goo-goo eyes whenever we choose. We’re in our own home.”

“Do you have any idea what it’s like living with two gay men?” Jeffrey asked John.

“Yes I do. We live, more or less, with my brother and Justin, as you know,” John reminded Jeff.

“Oh, yeah, right,” Jeff replied sheepishly. “I forgot about that.”

“And we happen to be two gay men who live together ourselves,” Bobby added giving John a gentle squeeze to the back of his neck.

“Sorry, guys,” Jeff said.

“Your reaction was that of a young man seeing his parents being affectionate with each other,” Simon told his son philosophically. “It embarrasses the hell out of their kids, straight or gay.”

“Um,” Gus said, “I don’t get embarrassed by Pop and Justin … most of the time.”

“That’s because neither of them are into public displays,” Bobby explained.

“Except at Babylon,” John added. “There have been a few times I’m sure they’ve embarrassed you there. Hell, they embarrass me. The way people react…”

“Yeah, well, they don’t go there much anymore,” Gus admitted, remembering more than one time that the two men had caused a sensation.

“I bet they put on quite the show when they were younger,” Ken interjected.

“They still put on quite a show when they want to,” Ray said. “Remember that time…”

“Um, let’s not bring that up,” Gus interrupted.

“I thought they didn’t embarrass you,” Simon said with a chuckle.

“I did say most of the time,” Gus corrected with an embarrassed chuckle.

“Have you noticed how we always end up talking about those two?” Ken asked.

“They are a source of endless fascination,” Simon said.

“So what have you guys got planned for your stay in New York?” Jeff asked, deciding he might like another topic of conversation better.

“We’re going to play it by ear,” Bobby said.

“If you like Old Masters art, you should go to the Frick. It’s amazing,” Simon said.

“It’s Justin who’s the artist,” John said.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy fine art,” Simon countered.

“True,” John said thoughtfully. “I hear you’ve got a small part in a play, Jeff.”

“Yes, off-off-off Broadway, meaning we’re actually in Newark,” he laughed.

“Maybe Bobby and I should come see it.”

“Okay,” Jeff replied. “I could get you some tickets.”

“We want to pay for them,” Bobby stated firmly. “I think productions that far off Broadway could use all the income they can get.”

“Yeah,” Jeff said with a smile. “I’ll get the tickets and you can pay me back … if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

“Do you start your internship at N’rgy tomorrow, Gus?” Bobby asked.

“Yeah, I popped in and told Stacey I was here. I start in the morning.”

“And thanks for giving that internship to Ray,” Ken said. “He’s told us over and over again how much he enjoyed it.”

“You may have a budding lawyer on your hands,” Bobby laughed.

“That career change is just fine with me,” Simon said reassuringly. He looked at Ray trying to convey his sincerity.

“I still intend to take over the business from you, Dad, but maybe not for a few more years,” Ray informed his father.

“You take your time, and be sure of what you want to do. There’s no rush.”

“I know.”

Simon smiled at his son. “Have you two got yourselves sorted out in the bedroom?” he asked looking from Ray to Gus.

“Um, if you mean closet space, yeah,” Gus said with a smirk so much like his father’s.

“Yes, that was what I meant,” Simon said trying not to blush. “What else could I, um, have possibly meant?”

“I think you’re the one who’s embarrassed now, Dad,” Jeff piped in. “Grown-ups!”

They all had a good laugh over that.

 

*****
 

“I wonder how Bree’s doing?” Brian said as he lay staring at the ceiling. They’d had some awesome sex, leaving the bedroom door open, something they never did when Bree was home. They had joked about whether Beau was out in the sun porch with his paws over his ears. Justin was on the verge of sleep, but Brian couldn’t seem to settle.

“She’s probably already sound asleep,” Justin replied sleepily.

“I hope so. I don’t want her to be scared.”

“She’ll be fine. We’ve raised a confident, independent little girl.”

“You make it sound like we’re finished. We have more to do when she comes home, don’t we?”

“Don’t be surprised if she needs us less when she gets back,” Justin advised. “A little independence and there’s no going back.”

“Shit!” Brian said. He shook his head. He didn’t like this at all. He wanted his little girl back home, just the way she was when she left.

“Brian, it’s inevitable.”

“But I don’t want it to be. I want our little girl back.”

“She’ll always be our little girl, but we have to let her grow up and be what she’s meant to be.”

“Don’t bullshit me, you miss her as much as I do,” Brian stated with a glare that Justin couldn’t see in the dark room.

“I never said I didn’t miss her.”

“Good, because I know you do.”

“Today…”

“What?” Brian asked when Justin didn’t complete the sentence.

“When you found me asleep on the chaise … with Bree’s grey bunny. That was because I wandered through the house missing her. Beau brought me the bunny. Somehow he knew I was missing her.”

“Beau’s a very smart dog,” Brian said rolling onto his side and touching Justin’s cheek. “I’m glad you miss her as much as I do.”

“You just want me to be miserable like you are,” Justin laughed.

“Misery loves company, or so they say.”

“Yeah, they do say that,” Justin chuckled.

“Shit! I wish I felt sleepy. I have to get up and hoe some gardens in the morning,” Brian said as he flopped onto his back.

Justin chuckled. “You’ll be able to do it, big guy.”

“I fucking better be able. I can’t say I’m looking forward to manual labor.”

“Just think about all those calories you’ll be burning.”

“Thousands,” Brian said with a little laugh.

“And maybe I’ll even have some ice cream kisses waiting for you when you get home,” Justin promised.

“Don’t expect me to be able to get anything up, including my fucking arm.”

Justin laughed heartily at that. After a minute he said, “I have an idea. Let’s go sleep on the sun porch.”

“Why?”

“Because we can.”

“Okay,” Brian agreed. He obviously wasn’t going to get any sleep where he was.

“Let’s go.”

They quickly made up the big brass bed while Beau watched them from his doggie cushion across the porch. They finally crawled into the bed and lay down staring up at the stars far above them.

“It’s as beautiful out here as it always has been,” Brian said softly.

“More beautiful,” Justin said letting his fingers find Brian’s. They entwined together.

Each of them drew in a deep breath and started to relax. A minute later they felt something fall onto the bed.

“What was that?” Brian asked.

Justin sat up and looked down the bed. “Bree’s grey bunny just hopped into bed with us.” Justin grabbed the bunny and set it in between them.

“Thanks, Beau,” Brian said.

The big dog gave a little woof and lay down beside the bed. He was feeling a little lonely too, with more than half his family missing. He felt Brian’s hand drop over the side of the bed and give his head a rub. Then they all quieted down and slept.

 

*****
 

“Is that what you’re wearing?” Ray asked Gus as they were about to get breakfast. It was Gus’ first day at N’rgy as an intern.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Gus asked as he looked down at his clothes. His clothes were neat, clean, wrinkle free but perhaps a bit too casual for a high powered business like Kinnetik N’rgy.

“Umm, Stacey and my dad dress up a little more than that,” Ray grimaced. “I don’t want to criticize but Stacey’s really picky, even the artists dress up.” Ray was hoping Gus would take the hint.

“But this is New York City, the home of business casual!” Gus said loudly, swinging his arms.

“Yes, this is New York and no, unless it’s office policy or you work in retail, most offices require a suit and tie.”

“But...”

“Gus, N’rgy is right downstairs. I see them come and go practically every day. The only time Stacey is ever in anything other than her suit is when she’s working on Sunday. And even then she’s neat enough to dine a client.”

“Shit. So are you saying I should go in there wearing my suit?”

“Your dad packed your suits for a reason.”

“Fuck!” Gus muttered curses as he began to undress. “I wanted to have breakfast with you guys. I won’t have time!” Gus was frantically digging into his suit bag and duffle bags trying to find the right shoes to go with his suit.

“I’ll make you a breakfast sandwich. You have time for that,” Ray said as he walked out of his room.

“Yeah,” Gus grumbled.

“Where’s Gus?” Kenny asked his son. “He doesn’t want to be late on his first day. Stacey’s meeting with a new account this morning. It’s a breakfast meeting and I know she’s down there already. She’ll need someone to help set up.”

“He’s changing,” Ray explained as he put something together for Gus to wolf down.

“Changing? Into what?”

“A suit. He was a bit too casual before. Dad, I gotta bring this to him,” Ray said as he waved the sandwich in the air.

“Go on, tell him to hurry up. I’ll go on down to help.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Ray gave his father a peck on the cheek before running back to his room.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Ken muttered to himself as he shouted goodbye to the apartment at large then left for N’rgy.

“Dad, I’m going to the theater!” Jeff shouted, getting a quick “Be careful!” in return from his other father just before he slammed the front door behind him. Simon was close behind, grabbing a few real estate catalogues before heading down to his office.

“Gus, you have to go now!” Ray commanded.

“Fuckin’ tie! I can’t get it right.” Gus was now in panic mode.

“Gus, my dad is downstairs, he’ll fix the tie. Just get going!”

“Oh fucking hell,” Gus grumbled as he ran to the door with the tie in his hand and the sandwich in his mouth.

“Gus!” Ray yelled before Gus made it to the landing outside the apartment door.

“What?!” Gus mumbled around his sandwich.

“Good luck,” Ray said softly, removing the sandwich from Gus’ mouth before planting a kiss on his lips. “You’ll be fine,” Ray smiled. Gus took a deep breath trying to center himself, before he popped the sandwich back into his mouth then sprinted down the stairs to N’rgy.

“Whoa! Slow down there, pardner,” Ken called out as he intercepted Gus just before he was about to enter the main door to N’rgy.

“Mr. Mann, I’m gonna be late,” Gus whined breathlessly.

“It’s Uncle Ken when we’re outside the N’rgy office and no, you won’t. Let’s just fix you up a little,” Ken said as he took the tie out of Gus’ hand then draped it around Gus’ neck to tie it. “I want you to take a few deep breaths before we go inside. Address Stacey as Ms. Manning,” Ken counseled as he gave Gus’ suit a dusting.

“But I know her.”

“You know her as your dad’s employee. Now she’s going to be your boss. It’s Ms. Manning until she tells you otherwise.”

“You sound like my father.”

“Thank you, and that’s because I am a father and I admire yours very much. Gus, we all want you to succeed. Now are you ready?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Deep breaths,” Ken said as he inhaled and exhaled along with Gus. “Okay, let’s go,” Ken said as he opened the main door and guided Gus inside.

 

*****
 

“Good morning,” a morning husky voice said as a tall handsome figure entered the kitchen. “Coffee?”

“Yes, please,” the man said with a pleasant smile as he reached for the cup.

“I hope that smile is for me and not just for my coffee.”

The man laughed. “Yes, you have a lot to do with this smile. A hell of a lot to do with this smile. I’m afraid to admit that I haven’t had much reason to smile in a very long time.”

“Then I’m happy to oblige and I do hope this isn’t a one time thing. I’m a bit too old for one night stands.”

“Danny, I have to be honest, I’m not sure if I have another commitment in me. When I met Tony, I firmly believed he was my life.”

“I’m not here to replace someone who is irreplaceable, but there’s no rule that I know of that says you can’t fall in love more than once in your life. I only ask that you give us a real chance. Don’t make any decisions now. Just know that I haven’t felt this good in a long time,” Danny said. “You have very talented fingers. Must be all that piano playing,” Danny said with a grin.

Riley smiled broadly. “And you have talents that I just can’t describe,” he stated putting his coffee down on the table then putting his arms around Danny’s waist. “You are a fine figure of a man,” Riley whispered as he kissed Danny.

“I try to maintain my girlish figure,” Danny teased with a coquette smile. “I’m serious, Riley, I have no expectations other than two mature men becoming friends and maybe a little more than friends.”

Riley nodded.

“Hungry?” Danny asked. Riley nodded again. They had both worked up a good appetite. “Good, I love to cook. So how about I rustle us up some breakfast?”

“I thought Brian was the only one in this family that did the rustling.”

“Nah, but we all let him think it,” Danny chuckled. “But don’t tell anyone I said that,” Danny added quickly then got back to making their breakfast. Riley picked up his coffee cup, stepping out of the way to let Danny rustle.

 

*****
 

“Good morning, Mr. Kinney,” Stacey addressed Gus a bit curtly as she checked her watch.

“Good morning, Sta...uh, Ms. Manning,” Gus replied as he stuck out his hand. “Thank you for letting me intern here this month,” Gus said, turning on the Kinney charm.

“Don’t thank me yet, you’ve only just walked through the door. Please follow me; we have a client coming in less than an hour.”

Stacey led Gus to the main conference room. The caterers were there setting up breakfast as Ken was bringing in display easels and foamcore boards.

“Mr. Kinney...”

“Gus, please. Mr. Kinney is my dad.”

“Yes, he is. All right, Gus. Please set up the boards; they’re all numbered. It’s imperative that each easel hold a specific set of boards and that each set is in sequence,” Stacy ordered.

“Right away, Ms. Manning,” Gus responded with confidence. “Piece of cake,” he muttered to himself.

 

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