Up, Up and Away

Chapter 4

 

“They’re over there, Dada.” Bree pointed to the soccer field filled with kids adjacent to the playground. “Should I go?” Bree asked her father, a little uncertain of herself. The kids were strangers and older than her, they certainly were much bigger than Bree.

Brian, who had changed out of his suit at the diner, led Bree toward the soccer field. They stood at the sidelines for a few minutes watching the kids play. There was an extra ball leaning up against the fence. Brian picked it up then took Bree further down the field.

“Let’s show them your stuff, Squirt. I guarantee they’ll come to you,” Brian said with confidence.

Brian began to put Bree through her paces. A natural competitiveness had developed between the two of them. Brian didn’t hold back, but he did shorten his movements to compensate for their size difference. Within minutes they garnered an audience.

“You’re good,” one of the kids called out to Bree. “You want to play with us for a while? Show us some of your moves?” Bree stopped running and smiled brilliantly. “You her coach?” the kid asked Brian. Brian nodded.

“My Da...”

“Yes, I am, and Bree wouldn’t mind practicing with you guys for a while,” Brian said, interrupting before Bree could go on about Brian’s soccer past and trophies.

“Cool!” the kid exclaimed as they all went back to the main practice field. Brian stood on the sidelines watching his little soccer star run circles around her opponents.

“She’s good,” Joel, the man Brian had met the other day commented from the other side of the fence.

“Yes, she is,” Brian replied honestly as he turned to see Joel. “Does your son play?” David was currently on a swing.

“He’s more into hockey,” Joel boasted. Brian nodded then sighed to himself. He could handle having a soccer star in the family; he wasn’t too fond of hockey. “No potential hockey stars in your family?” Joel asked with a smirk.

“Not that I know of. My son’s a computer geek and my nephew is trying to be Goose Gossage. Other than him, there’s no sporting stars in the family.”

“No artists?” Joel cocked his head toward Bree who just happened to score a goal. Brian cheered as he clapped his hands.

“Actually Bree is quite the little artist. She likes to paint with her father. And my son the geek is not only getting his MBA at Penn but he’s also finishing up a degree at PIFA,” Brian said proudly.

“Talk about over achiever!”

“Yeah, well...”

“Heads up!” A shout got Brian’s attention just as a wayward ball hurtled toward him. Brian skillfully deflected the ball with his head back into play. With that, the practice came to a halt.

“Did you see me, Dada?” Bree came running over then threw herself into Brian’s arms.

“Yes, I did, Squirt, and you were great,” Brian said as he hugged his sweaty little soccer player. Bree and Brian said goodbye to the kids as they each gathered up their stuff and walked off the field. The soccer players let Bree know that she would be welcome at their next practice.

“Can I, Dada?” Bree asked Brian with large hopeful eyes.

“Let’s consult the family calendar before we make any commitments,” Brian stated.

“Okay, Dada. Can I play with David for a while?” Bree asked. She saw David on a swing.

“Sure,” Brian said as he carried her to the playground, not willing to let Bree go just yet. When they entered the playground, Brian gave Bree a peck to her head then set her free. Bree ran over to her new friend to play. “I don’t think I ever had that much energy,” Brian mumbled to himself as he and Joel found an empty bench. Joel made noises of agreement as he sat to watch the kids play.

 

*****
 

“Hey,” Justin greeted Brian as he walked toward the bench Brian and Joel had commandeered.

“Hey,” Brian replied with a smile and a discreet kiss to Justin’s cheek. “What time is it?” Brian asked as he grabbed Justin’s wrist. It was close to two. “I’m surprised someone’s stomach hasn’t complained,” Brian managed to say just as Bree ran over to announce...

“Hi, Daddy! This is my new friend David and we’re hungry,” Bree exclaimed, her cheeks were flush from exercise. David smiled shyly as the three fathers laughed.

“I think lunch is a great idea. It’s actually the reason why I escaped from the gallery. I think I’ve had enough of Miss Williams for a while,” Justin explained.

“There’s a nice diner not too far from here or we can go back to Woody’s?” Brian suggested.

“They do make a mean burger,” Joel stated with authority. David nodded.

“Woody’s it is,” Justin said as they gathered up their things and walked out of the park.

 

*****
 

The small group was crowded around a table at Woody’s, everyone munching on a burger, except for Brian who had ordered his usual turkey on whole wheat with no mayo. He was, however, snatching a French fry every now and then off Bree’s plate.

“So what do you do, Joel?” Justin asked when he slowed down enough to swallow and clear his mouth.

“I’m a writer.”

“A writer?” Justin questioned. “What kind of books?”

“Mostly children’s books at the moment, but like any writer, I have a great American novel that I’m working on.” Joel gave a nervous little chuckle as he admitted this.

“What’s it about?” Justin asked as he finished off his burger.

“I really feel funny discussing it with someone I don’t know very well. It’s very personal,” Joel said softly. He seemed to regret not being able to be more forthright.

“I understand,” Justin replied quickly. “My artwork is very personal.”

“But you don’t mind putting my di… bodily parts out there for the world to see,” Brian threw in.

“Yeah, like you’re so bashful,” Justin said with a grin. Brian smirked in reply.

“I’ve seen some of your paintings of your husband,” Joel said with a grin. Brian groaned. “You’re quite beautiful, Mr. Kinney.”

“If you’ve seen my … parts, you can at least call me Brian.”

“Of course … Brian.”

I wish they’d talk about something other than Dada’s body. I know what he looks like, but strangers always seem to talk about those pictures. They wink and laugh. I don’t like it. My Daddy paints lots of other things that are just as good, or maybe better.

I wish there was something me and David could do while they talk. Maybe he has some ideas.

Bree leaned over and whispered to David. After a moment she sat up and smiled.

“Dada?”

“Yes, Squirt.”

“David and me don’t want to listen to you talk about body parts. He said he’ll show me how to play pool. Can I, Dada, please?”

“Do you play pool, David?” Brian asked.

“Yes, sir. My dads taught me.”

“Be careful that you don’t rip the felt,” Joel cautioned his son. “You may need a chair for Bree.”

“I don’t need no chair,” Bree protested.

“Yes you do, Squirt, and listen to what David tells you,” Brian admonished. He fully intended keeping a close eye on his daughter and her new “teacher”.

They all watched as David took Bree to an empty pool table. He selected cues for them and set up the balls. They could see David explaining what he was doing and how to hold the cue. Bree climbed up on a chair so that she could lean over the table and line up a shot. David had her break, and she did not a half bad job of it. She looked at her Dada for approval and he winked at her in reply.

“They’ll be fine,” Joel said. “David’s been playing for over a year. He’s getting quite good at it.”

The men sat back and relaxed, each keeping one eye on the children.

“So, what’s your partner’s name?” Justin asked.

Joel took a drink of his Diet Coke. “Andrew.”

“What does he do?” Brian decided to ask.

“Andrew is an accountant.”

“An accountant?” Brian said with disbelief.

“Yes, an accountant,” Joel replied rather testily. “Is that a problem?”

“No, no, not at all,” Brian reassured him. “One of our … friends is an accountant.”

“Our good friend, Ted, is an accountant,” Justin corrected. “He works at Kinnetik with Brian.”

“How do you find working with friends?” Joel asked. “I could see where that might cause some problems.”

“Ted is indispensible. He’s the CFO at Kinnetik. He also does a lot more than that. I’d say he’s one of the most valuable people who work for me,” Brian said honestly.

“That’s quite a testimonial,” Joel observed.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” Brian responded as he thought about what he had just revealed about Ted’s value to him at Kinnetik. And that said nothing about his value as a friend.

 

*****
 

David’s really good at pool. I’m much taller when I’m up on this chair. I wonder if I can learn to play pool while we’re in Toronto, and then I can beat my Patrick when we go home. I’d like that.

I think my cue is too long, but they don’t have anything shorter. David says I can do it though. I guess I just have to try harder.

“Let the cue slide in and out of your fingers till you get the feel of it,” David instructed.

Bree tried what the boy suggested. It felt funny but she saw the logic of what he was having her do.

“When do I get to hit a ball?” Bree asked after a couple of minutes of practicing with the cue.

“In a minute,” David said as he watched her. Bree kept sliding the cue between her fingers. “That’s good,” David finally said. “Now point your cue at that ball.” David pointed at a colorful ball that Bree was to try to hit.

“How do you know which one to pick?” Bree asked while she tried to get the cue lined up with the ball he had pointed to.

“You’ll learn to look at the whole table and pick which balls you can get in the pocket real easy.”

“Oh. Should I try to hit the ball now?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Bree asked with a frown.

“If I drew a line along your pool cue and followed it to the ball and then beyond, where would it end up?” he asked.

“Um…” Bree studied what he was talking about. “It would hit that side over there.” Bree pointed to where she thought the ball would go.

“That’s right,” David agreed. “But that’s not where you want it to go. We want to get it in that pocket over there.”

“Oh.” Bree rethought what she was doing and how she was aiming at the ball.

“My dad says it’s all a matter of mathematics,” David stated sagely.

“That’s what my Patrick says about throwing a baseball sometimes,” Bree added. She pointed the cue, drew back and hit the ball. It almost went into the pocket, but hit at just the wrong angle and bounced away. “Bad,” Bree said dejectedly.

“That’s pretty good, Bree. Sometimes people can’t make it go anywhere on their first try.”

“So I did good?”

“You did very good.”

“Thanks,” Bree said giving David one of her best smiles. Pleased with what she had accomplished, Bree sat down on her chair. “Do you have a grandma?” Bree asked.

David shook his head. “My dads told me that their parents are all gone.”

“Oh. My Dada’s mother passed away last year. I miss her so much. We used to travel together. She went to New York with me. We did lots of stuff together.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Yeah,” Bree agreed.

“Is the lesson over?” Brian asked as he approached the pool table.

“I hit the ball and almost got it in the … pocket,” Bree informed him.

“That’s good, Squirt. It’s not easy to get it to go where you want it to when you’re just starting.”

“She did good,” David said.

“Sounds like she had a good teacher,” Brian said ruffling David’s red hair.

“Do you want to play?” Bree asked.

“Not right now. Daddy has to get back to the gallery,” Brian explained.

“It’s time to go,” Joel told his son as he and Justin joined them. “We were thinking about taking David to Niagara Falls this weekend,” he added. “Would you be interested in joining us?”

“It’s my opening at the gallery,” Justin said. “I’ll have to be there all day Saturday, and part of Sunday.”

“That’s too bad.”

“You could scope out the good things for us to do,” Brian suggested.

“Actually, I’d love to come to your opening if you have a spare ticket or two,” Joel hinted to Justin.

“I can certainly arrange that,” Justin said with a smile. “I’d love to have you come, and bring Andrew of course.”

“That would be wonderful. Maybe we can work out something else about going to Niagara Falls. That would be a fun day if we all went together.”

Brian raised an eyebrow at Joel’s suggestion, but Justin seemed in complete agreement. It looked like they were going to have some travel companions. “Come on, Squirt, we need to get your Daddy back to the gallery.

 

*****
 

“There you are!” Marcus Krupp greeted Justin, et al, as they walked through the gallery doors. “I thought you may have gotten lost. I have a surprise for you,” Krupp gushed as he took Justin’s elbow and steered him away from Brian and Bree. Bree wasn’t sure what to make of it but waited to see how her elder father was going to react.

“The press,” was all Krupp said with an ear to ear grin. Justin just stared up at the man. “Yes, my boy, the press is all ready to get an exclusive interview with you,” Krupp said eagerly.

“I’m not dressed for the press,” Justin murmured as he looked down at his grubby old t-shirt and cargo pants. He was dressed for moving and shifting paintings around not for impressing art critics and journalists. At home, Sidney and Kinnetik carefully handled the gallery’s publicity. In London, Charles Higgins had everything well planned so that Justin wouldn’t have any surprises. Justin wasn’t prepared.

Brian snarled softly to himself; he could see Justin’s anxiety level rise again. Things seemed to be happening very haphazardly and not at all to Brian’s liking.

“Mr. Krupp,” Brian began as he subtly disengaged Krupp from Justin then steered the exuberant man slightly away. “Kinnetik handles the PR for the Bloom Gallery; I’m very familiar with the press. Justin, well, you know how these temperamental artists can be,” Brian said in hushed tones and a conspiratorial wink to Krupp. “He needs a few moments to prepare and clean up a little,” Brian whispered.

“I see,” Krupp said as he seriously considered Brian’s suggestion. “Hmm, maybe I was a little hasty. We’re just so proud to have Justin Taylor here, I may have gotten a little carried away,” Krupp admitted.

“Understandable,” Brian commiserated. “Give me a few minutes with Justin. I’m sure the press would love a sneak preview but you mustn’t give away the whole show,” Brian cautioned.

“Oh no, of course not! Everything is covered except for the florals. We made no promises,” Krupp assured Brian.

“Good man!” Brian schmoozed so not to make the situation any more difficult or offend their host. “Do you think you can give us about fifteen minutes?” Brian asked.

“I’m sure I can keep the press occupied for that time,” Krupp said with a knowing smile.

“Good, then Justin will make his entrance in fifteen,” Brian said as he grabbed Justin and Bree and shoved them in the nearest ladies room. He quickly took out his cell phone to dial up the driver of their car.

“Brian, this is the ladies room!” Justin started to protest.

“I know,” Brian said to Justin and then into his phone, “Pull up in front.” Brian snapped his phone shut. “Bree help your Daddy wash up.” Justin was a little dusty. “And take off that t-shirt. I’ll be right back.” Brian flew out the door while Justin took off his soiled shirt and began to wash his face.

As promised, Brian was back in a few minutes and carrying the garments he and Bree wore several hours earlier at their meeting with Philip Waldon.

“This isn’t going to work,” Justin whined.

“Yes, it will,” Brian reassured him as Brian checked out the dainty toiletries that were artfully arranged in elegant baskets in the lounge area of the restroom. “Bree, dampen some of those towels,” Brian commanded as he took charge. Bree had her Dada’s eye for fashion and trusted Brian to know how to fix things. She dutifully followed her father’s instructions.

Within ten minutes, Justin was cleaned up. His face, slightly flushed from being scrubbed, gave him a glow. He was wearing Brian’s designer shirt, with the sleeves neatly rolled up and the bottom tucked into the waist of the cargos. It gave Justin a sophisticated but casual look. Brian added his tie, but made it slightly loose around Justin’s neck. Brian’s belt finished off the look.

Brian pushed Justin back to scrutinize his handiwork.

“Good, Dada!” Bree added her approval.

“Mmm, needs one more thing,” Brian mumbled then grabbed Bree’s bag to rummage through it. “Yes!” Brian exclaimed as he gave Bree a grateful kiss for being her little fashionista self.

Brian took out a comb and a small tube of hair gel from Bree’s bag. He quickly dampened Justin’s hair, slicked it back then added a little gel to keep the blond locks in place.

“Yes!” both Bree and Brian exclaimed as they high fived and turned Justin around so he could see himself in the large mirror.

“Wow,” was the only thing Justin could say at his transformation. The uncertain expression on his face gave way to a more confident one.

“The rest is up to you, Sunshine. You’ve handled the press hundreds of times before,” Brian said as he stepped behind his mate and gazed at Justin in the mirror. “You can do this.”

Brian sported a confident smirk, his eyebrow slightly arched. Justin thought that the look was one of Brian’s sexiest looks. Brian’s look was a combination of confidence, sex appeal and ‘I don’t give a fuck.’

Justin took a deep breath then nodded. “Where will you guys be?” he asked just before he left the restroom.

“Bree and I will get cleaned up then wait for you. This is your show, Justin, we’re just window dressing,” Brian said as he shooed Justin out the door. Bree and Brian took a few minutes to get cleaned up and change into the clothes they wore that morning. Brian slipped his suit jacket over the undershirt he had worn then packed up their stuff.

“Ready, Squirt?” Brian called out. Bree had taken her clothes into one of the stalls to change.

“Ready, Dada!” Bree replied. She had taken her hair out of her ponytail to comb it. Brian gave the fine strawberry blond hair a little brush then replaced the clip. They turned to look at themselves in the mirror.

“Perfect!” they said in unison then laughed. Then they left the ladies room to lend their support to the most important person in their lives.

 

*****
 

“He’s quite amazing, isn’t he,” Ms. Williams stated as she stood off to one side and watched as Justin had the press eating out of his hands.

“Yes, he is,” Brian agreed as he watched Justin in full artist mode explain where his inspirations had come from and his vivid use of color. The photographers kept snapping away as reporters from different papers and publications came forward to ask their questions. Justin’s polite country club beginnings did his mother proud as he graciously answered every question. Bree smiled approvingly as she stood holding Brian’s hand.

“You must be very proud of him,” Ms. Williams commented.

“More than you can ever know,” Brian said wistfully.

“I read his bio. Was it true? His injury,” Ms. Williams asked tactfully, giving Bree a glance.

“Yes,” Brian answered seriously. “But that was a long time ago and he has moved beyond it.”

“I didn’t mean to offend,” Ms. Williams said.

“You didn’t, it’s just something we rarely talk about now. It’s there, it’s always there and it’s in his art but he’s so much more than that,” Brian said with admiration and love.

“Yes, I can see that,” Ms. Williams said with a smile. “He’s lucky to have someone who loves him so much,” she observed.

“I’m the lucky one,” Brian admitted.

There was a smattering of applause as the session ended. “That’s my cue. It’s over,” Ms. Williams explained as she went to assist Krupp in showing the members of the fifth estate out of the gallery.

“How was I?” Justin asked as he rejoined his family. He leaned up to give Brian a kiss then leaned down to give one to Bree.

“Perfect!” Bree and Brian said in unison. They all laughed then after a brief review of the next day’s agenda, Brian, Justin and Bree left the gallery to go back to the hotel.
 

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