Testing, Testing ... 1,2,3

Chapter 4

The next morning Brian and Justin helped Bobby load up his car with the boxes of donations as well as the kids. Bobby would drop the kids off at school then the clothes at the shelter. Since Justin had left his SUV in the Pitts the previous night, Brian drove them back into Pittsburgh. He dropped Justin off at the loft then went over to Kinnetik to look over several proposals. Joseph Reilly from Perspectives had plans to expand and wanted Brian’s input. Brian welcomed the distraction.

“Bri?”

“Yes, Theodore,” Brian said softly as his peered over his computer at the accountant.

“Far be it from me to interfere in your personal life...”

“Since when?” Brian growled then waved Teddy on. Ted approached Brian’s desk cautiously.

“Brian, have you seen this?” Ted handed Brian that morning’s copy of the Dispatch. It was open to the gossip section. Ted pointed to an article with a familiar name at the byline.

“What famous luscious blond local artist, who just recently had such a successful opening at the Bloom Gallery, is palling around with two lovely dark haired young things? This reporter is dying to know!”

“I’ll kill him!”

“Now, Bri...”

“Great idea, I’ll do it right now!”

“No, Brian, that’s not what I meant. Let’s not do anything hasty. This could be written about someone else.” Teddy tried to calm his boss and friend.

“Schmidt!”

Ted could almost see the steam rising from Brian’s ears. “Brian, now think of your blood pressure,” Teddy suggested.

“My blood pressure is fine!”

“Then think of my blood pressure. Brian, no one reads the Dispatch; it’s only three little lines in that rag. No one will see it.”

Just then Cynthia stormed into the office.

“Brian, Leo Brown is on line one, he wants to speak with you immediately. Apparently, his grandson goes to PIFA and he’s worried.”

“Worried about what?”

“He wants to know why Justin has been spending so much time with kids.”

“Kids? Those kids are above the age of consent and what he’s doing is nobody’s business! This is getting out of control. Cynthia, get Bobby on the phone while I talk to Leo. He didn’t come to Justin’s show. Maybe I can lure him to the gallery with a special invitation. Ted, I need you and the guys to start working Rage PR.”

“Rage?” Cynthia and Ted asked.

“Justin’s new project with the twins. They’re going to animate Rage. That’s what the local luscious blond is doing with the lovely twins. We’ll need a kick ass campaign to counteract this shit. Now, go, people!”

As Cynthia and Ted left Brian’s office, Brian took a deep breath to prepare himself for Leo Brown.

“Leo! How is my number one client....?”

 

*****
 

“No, no, no! That’s all wrong,” Michael grumbled. Justin, Lacy, Michael and the twins were in the computer lab working on some rudimentary animation for Rage the cartoon. Justin, Lacy and the twins were all quite pleased. Michael, however was...

“No! Zephyr is too fat and Rage is too tall! Justin, these kids don’t know what they’re doing,” Michael whispered loudly so that everyone could hear him including the twins who were totally nonplussed.

“Michael, these ‘kids’ are older than I was when we started Rage, now back off and give them a chance. This isn’t the finished project; it’s only a dry run of the individual characters. They haven’t even started on JT yet.”

Michael huffed then crossed his arms across his chest. He grumbled to himself as Justin and Lacy moved closer to the boys. They each had pads and were sketching furiously to give the genius computer artists examples to work from. Michael was feeling a little left out.

The four artists were deeply involved, talking angles, light and shadows and color. Michael left the computer lab to go back to his world of words.

 

*****
 

“Mr. Schaeffer, my name is Bobby Morrison; I’m an attorney. I’ve been asked by my clients to contact you to see if we could come to some sort of agreement,” Bobby said smoothly and calmly.

“Your clients, who might they be?” Morris Schaeffer, the city editor of the Pittsburgh Dispatch asked Bobby.

“You may have heard of them, Justin Taylor and Brian Kinney.”

“Of course I know of them. They’ve been the subject of many articles in our paper over the years. Why would they feel it necessary to have a lawyer contact me? The review our art critic gave was very favorable.”

“I agree. However, it was his personal observations that my clients found objectionable.”

“What observations?”

“Come now, Mr. Schaeffer, two lines of actual review, then an entire paragraph devoted to the hottest couple and possible trouble in paradise. Why is your art critic doubling as your gossip columnist? Mr. Schaeffer, we’re asking politely, please restrict your reporter to reporting art. To say my clients are very influential in Pittsburgh is an understatement. We’d like to keep this friendly.”

“I’ll look into it, Mr. Morrison.”

“Thank you, Mr. Schaeffer.” Bobby cut the connection with the editor. “Brian, you heard?”

“Yes, I did. I’m also taking Leo Brown to lunch at Emmett’s Place Too after we tour the gallery. Apparently, Brown’s grandson goes to PIFA. He was one of the kids Justin had interviewed for the Fractal project and rejected. The kid took it personally and ratted Justin out to grandpa.”

“Shit. And I take it grandpa saw the article in the Dispatch and wants to make waves?”

“Yes, but he decided to get my take on it first. Justin said that little Leo is very talented but not very computer savvy and that was a specific requirement for the Fractal project. Now I have to go kiss big Leo’s ass.”

“You are the ass connoisseur,” Bobby chuckled.

“There’s only one ass that interests me. And right now it’s making cartoons.”

“Sucks to be you, huh?” Bobby snickered.

“Don’t you have lawyering to do?” Brian groused as Bobby laughed out loud.

“Yes, I do. And I’ll go do it. Let me know if Schaeffer took the hint. If not, I’m prepared to pursue it further. You just say the word.”

“Okay. See you at home later.”

“Oh and Bri, the girls at the shelter appreciated the clothes. I’m going to have Patrick go through his closet this weekend. I think John and I will be sifting through our stuff as well.”

“I hear ya. Good idea. I could use a few new suits; no need for the others to go to waste.”

“I’m sure. Later, Bri.”

“Later, Red.” Brian hung up then prepared himself for his meeting with Leo Brown.

 

*****
 

“So this is what my grandson has been fussing about?” Leo gazed at the monitor which was going through its run of the Fractal movie. “I don’t even know what I’m looking at. I mean I recognize the paintings, most of them are in Taylor’s exhibit but what’s the rest of it?”

Brian was about to try to explain when Lindsay stepped up to interrupt. Brian smiled as Lindsay’s soft tones, beatific smile and her innate understanding of Justin’s work, wove a spell that Leo could not break.

By the end of the afternoon, Brian’s alliance with Leo Brown and Brown Athletics was stronger than ever and Leo had acquired a Justin Taylor original.

 

*****
 

“Hey, Mikey!” Brian called out as he entered the comic book store. Brian gave Michael a chaste kiss then stepped back to examine the frown of Michael’s face. “What happened now?” Brian asked as he grabbed the latest Wonder Woman comic then sat in the oversized chair to read it.

“Nothing,” Michael pouted.

Brian arched a skeptical brow. “Doesn’t sound like nothing,” Brian murmured as he marveled how Wonder Woman’s considerable attributes remained within her costume as she cartwheeled across the page.

“Bri, the twins made Zephyr fat,” Michael whined. “And you look seven foot tall!”

“Well I am larger than life,” Brian stated nonchalantly, steadying himself for Michael’s ensuing tirade.

“But...”

“Mikey, the kids have just started on their little cartoon. Now be the adult I know you are and give them some space. You know they’ll come running to you because they’ll need the plot and you’re just the man to have one. Right now it’s all that messy drawing thing and pixels and whatnot with the computer.” Brian made a screwed up face for Michael, making him laugh.

“That’s better. There’s the Michael I know and love. As soon as the children run out of things to draw, you’ll be there to set them straight.”

“You think so?” Michael asked hopefully.

“I know so,” Brian said as he got up from the chair, stretched out the kinks then gave Michael a kiss goodbye. Brian smirked as he heard Michael whistling contentedly as Brian left the shop.

 

*****
 

As pre-arranged, Brian met Justin at the diner just before they were ready to drive back to Edna’s Treasures. Brian had picked up Gus who was going to spend the weekend.

“Hey guys!” Gus called out as he greeted Tre` and Troi` who were sipping sodas. Since Justin had commandeered the twins for most of the afternoon, he thought it only right to buy them a meal.

The younger boys chatted while Justin got up to greet his spouse.

“Hey,” Justin said low, flirting with his spouse.

“Hey,” Brian said with a smirk. Brian felt his cock twitch as he gazed into Justin’s ocean blue eyes. “You done playing with your twins?”

“For now. You ready to follow my country ass back to the country?”

“I’ll follow your country ass and city ass anywhere you lead.”

“Good, then let’s go home,” Justin said with a smile and a wink.

Brian walked Justin to his Cherokee which was parked just outside the diner. “I’ll meet you at home,” he whispered then gave Justin a kiss through the window.

As Brian and Gus walked back to Brian’s Jeep, they missed the photographer who was taking pictures of the hottest couple in the Pitts who were driving away in separate vehicles.

 

*****
 

Saturday morning broke clear and cool, but with a brilliant sun that indicated the day would be warm for the fall. The family had one of Brian’s delicious breakfasts in the sun porch. There was lots of chatter and laughter as Brian and Justin told the family about their dinner with the Brenners.

“Too much ‘Do not touch’,” Bree said definitively. “Don’t like it.”

“I know, Squirt,” Brian agreed with a chuckle.

“But you did very well, Bree,” Justin complimented his daughter, eliciting a big smile from Bree.

“That’s great, short stuff,” Gus laughed. “Wish I’d been there to see it.”

“Me too,” Bree said to her brother. “Daddy, can me and Patrick go to the Wendy house?”

“You and Patrick may,” Justin said shaking his head about his daughter’s grammar. He knew she understood the correct way of forming that question, but she always chose not to do it the right way.

“Come with us, Gus?” Bree asked batting her eyes at her brother.

“Maybe in a bit,” Gus said. “I need to talk to Pop.”

Bree and Patrick ran off outside and Justin, Bobby and John started clearing the dishes.

“Want to go to the stream?” Brian asked his son.

Gus nodded, and father and son exited the sun porch.

“Your gardens look great,” Gus said noting all the fall flowers with their rich, dark colors.

“Yeah, I’m happy with them, but I’ll have to start clearing them out for winter soon,” Brian said with a touch of sadness in his voice. He always found the transition from fall to winter in his gardens rather depressing. “Are you trying to butter me up?” Brian asked.

“Well, maybe a little bit,” Gus admitted sheepishly.

“So, what exactly did you do?” Brian asked as they entered the path to the stream.

Gus hoped they got past the Wendy house without the kids seeing them. He needed to tell this to Brian in confidence. “I did something stupid.”

“So, tell me,” Brian said with a sigh. He sat down on the big rock by the stream.

Gus sat beside him. “You know when I was practising driving here a couple of weeks ago?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I did some not so good things when you left me alone to drive.”

“Like what?” Brian asked with a frown.

“I sort of raced up and down the lane and practiced skidding to a stop.”

Brian chuckled in spite of himself. Gus’ face brightened up, just in time to see Brian’s face grow serious.

“You know the car is not a toy. You don’t have the experience to be able to handle a car if it really starts to skid.”

“I did pretty good,” Gus said in defence of himself and his actions.

“That’s not what you’re supposed to be learning,” Brian said sternly. “I let you drive Justin’s car by yourself because I thought I could trust you.”

“I know, Pop. I won’t do that again.”

“Good, and I’m glad you told me about this.”

Gus debated if he should tell his father that he had sworn Bree and Patrick to secrecy about his actions, but he decided that might not be a good idea. His father had accepted this news very well. He wanted to keep Brian’s good will.

“So, what else did you do?” Brian asked with an arch to his brow.

“How … how do you know I did something else?”

“Fatherly intuition, and you just told me as much.”

“Fuck!” Gus muttered.

Brian laughed. “You do take after me.” He clapped Gus on the shoulder. “Tell me.”

“The other day at school, when I was in Driver’s Ed. I … I did something I shouldn’t have.”

“What did you do?” Brian asked with a deep frown. He didn’t like the sound of this.

“I got to drive the instructional car at school,” Gus began. He dreaded telling this. “They put the instructor and three students in the car. Then we take turns driving. It was so boring waiting for my turn.”

“And what did you do to stop the boredom?” Brian asked, knowing he was not going to like the explanation that followed.

“I … I gunned the engine and slammed on the brakes like I had done in the lane,” Gus said unable to look his father in the eye.

“You did?” Brian asked stifling a chuckle. He could see himself doing some dumbass thing like that when he was in school. In fact, he probably had. “And what did your instructor say about this demonstration?”

“He said that I had to sit out two lessons and watch how the other guys drove … properly.”

“Sounds fair to me.”

“Pop…”

“Gus, as I’ve said several times, a car is not a toy. It can become a weapon if it’s not controlled properly. Whatever made you think that would be a smart thing to do?”

“I didn’t think it was smart. I just thought it would be funny.”

“And did the other kids think it was funny?”

“No,” Gus said shaking his head. “They were scared.”

“Why do you think they were scared?” Brian asked hoping Gus could see the error of his ways.

“I guess I bounced them around a bit when I did it.”

“And…”

Gus frowned and thought about it. “I suppose they thought maybe the car was out of control.”

“And what would have happened if it had been?”

“Mr. Rashki would have slammed on his set of brakes.”

“And if he hadn’t been quick enough?”

Gus shuddered. “I guess we could have been hurt.”

“And the boy wins the prize,” Brian said sarcastically.

“I’m sorry, Pop.” Gus really meant it too.

“This is why I say ‘sorry’s bullshit’. Gus, you have to learn that driving is a serious matter. It’s not meant to be fun. It’s not a game. You’re taking other people’s lives into your hands when you get behind the wheel, to say nothing of your own. Do you understand?”

“I think I do.”

“Don’t think! Do.you.understand?” Brian repeated, emphasizing each word.

“Yeah, I get the message.”

“Good, then I think this discussion is over, and I never want to have another one like it. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Pop.”

“So, there will be no more practising driving by yourself.”

“Yes, Pop.”

“You can practise with me in the car.”

“Yes, Pop,” Gus said perking up. He had half expected to be banned from driving altogether.

“You will apologize to Mr. Rashki and the other students.”

“Do I have to?” Gus whined.

“Unless, perhaps you’d like to withdraw from Driver’s Ed. Until next term,” Brian said staring at Gus.

“No, no, Pop. I’ll apologize.”

“Good, and you better mean it.”

“I do,” Gus said contritely.

“Then let’s head back to the house.”

“Okay,” Gus said standing up. He was glad to feel his father squeeze his shoulder in support. He was relieved to have told all this to his father. It hadn’t been so bad.

“I would have liked to have seen the expressions on the faces of the other people in that car,” Brian chuckled as they started down the path to the cottage.

“You would?” Gus asked with a grin.

“Yes, and if you ever tell anyone I said that, I’ll tell your mothers what you did.”

“My lips are sealed,” Gus said, but he flung his arm around Brian’s shoulder. They walked back to the house, happy with their little talk.

 

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