Wedding Bell Blues
Chapter 8
June 1, 2007
It was after six when Justin entered Kinnetik to meet with Brian and hopefully drag the man out from behind his desk so they could get dinner. Justin had finished his last end of semester presentation and he had one more final to take on Monday then he was a free man for the summer. He decided that he was going to take full advantage of the summer to get a lot of paintings done. Sidney Bloom was showing his work and Justin wanted to strike while the iron was hot. The commitment ceremony was two weeks away and Justin also knew that it was going to get very hectic and soon. He was glad that his classes were done so he could be there to lend a hand. Brian was deep in a phone conversation when Justin walked into his office. Brian smiled and waved the boy in as he was finishing his call, Justin hearing his lover's end of the conversation as Brian was pursuing the contracts.
"I see it. So we're all signed, sealed and delivered? Good. And the former management conceded to my stipulations? Everyone stays except for the manager. Very good. I hated buying him out but I'll be glad to see the back of him and I don't mean that in a positive life affirming way. A new manager? No, I haven't given it much thought. Theodore will do it for now but he has enough responsibility and enough of my money. I'll get back to you on that. You did good, Red. Your boss will get a letter of commendation from me and you better ask for a raise. Keep my brother in the lifestyle he deserves. We'll be up there early next week after Justin is done with his finals. Okay, Red, goodnight and give the big guy a hug from me."
"What was that all about, Bri?"
"Sunshine, you are looking at the new owner of Babylon."
"You did it? You really bought Babylon?"
"Yes, I did. So, what do you think?"
"I think that's great. A place for queers and perverts to go and have fun but, Brian…"
"But what?"
"Brian, you're so busy now, if you own Babylon, I'll never..." Justin was truly happy for Brian and he knew Babylon was safe in Brian's hands but as Brian's success grew, their time alone was shrinking.
"Justin," Brian saw the happy smile fade to a frown. "Justin, I promise you; I intend to hire a full time manager. I won't let this interfere with us. And besides, I'll need something to occupy me when you're off finding fame and fortune in New York."
"Brian, you're so sure I'm going to leave you."
"It's a given, it's just a matter of when."
"And that's it?! That means we're over?" Justin spat out in anger and in frustration.
"Justin, what the hell are you talking about? Stop, breathe and read my lips. I bought Babylon because, a- I heard through the Gay grapevine that the owner was going to sell and if he couldn't get anyone to buy it he was going to sell it to a discount department store chain; b- Teddy was getting on my ass to diversify and invest in something; and c- I liked the idea of Bobby preserving the Honey Bear. I was going to ask you for your opinion on who to hire for a manager, but if you're going to get all pissy about it, forget it."
Justin stared at Brian for a moment then walked into his arms, giving Brian a hug. "It's just, I miss you sometimes and we live together."
"I know, Sunshine. Me too." The lovers held on tight as Brian guided them to the sofa. He settled them onto the sofa with Justin nestled on Brian's lap.
"I promise you, Justin, after I find a trustworthy manager, I won't be involved in the day to day running of the club. As for you going to New York, you know you will someday. It won't be the end of us."
"You promise."
"I promise and you know I don't lie."
"No, you don't but sometimes you do things to push me away."
"I'm not doing that now. I'm doing something to secure our future and the future of our community. Want to know something else? You'll find out eventually but I want you to be the first to know, well after Bobby because I needed him to do it for me."
"What?"
"I had to change the name of the club."
"No, you can't, Brian. Everyone knows Babylon."
"The name over the door stays the same. It's the corporate name I had to change since I'm the new owner."
"Tell me."
"Well, I was going to name it after you but I changed my mind. I hope you won't be disappointed. I named it Vic's Babylon and some of the profits will go to the Vic Grassi Home. Is that okay with you, Sunshine?"
"Oh, yes Brian. And I'm so proud of you. It's fitting. He loved that place; I still have the pass he gave me to get in."
"How about I name a special house drink after you? The Sunshine cocktail, goes down warm and smooth."
"I like it. We should name one for you too. The Stud, long, tall, hard and all mine."
"I like it; you should be in advertising."
"I think I had enough of advertising with Vance." The lovers shared a quiet moment then Justin made an unusual suggestion.
"Brian, I think I have a solution to your manager problem."
"Not you, Justin, although I would trust you implicitly. You have too much on your plate as it is."
"No, not me, but I thank you for trusting me. I was thinking of Carl."
"Carl? As in Debbie's Carl? Justin, he already has a job and I don't think the Pittsburgh PD would look too kindly on one of their own running a gay night club."
"You're right, but he's thinking of retiring. He's done his twenty and Debbie's been saying he's tired of running around chasing bad guys all the time. He's hardworking and who better to trust. Plus, it'll keep him off the streets. He's not homophobic, not anymore. He's smart, got a great sense of humor and he'll know when to ask for help, when to consult with you. And what he doesn't know about running a business, he'll learn from Bobby, Ted and you. It'll keep it in the family."
"You're so smart."
"Got to be. What do you think keeps you interested in me?"
"You mean, beside that fine ass of yours, your beautiful cock and kickass smile."
"Right."
"And your modesty."
"Yup." Pushing his smart, beautiful, kickassed smiling boyfriend off his lap, Brian shut down his computer and grabbed his briefcase.
"Come on, Sunshine. Let's go get dinner, find out what Edna's been up to and talk to Carl. No need to procrastinate about this and get you all worried that I'll work myself to death."
"Good idea, no time like the present. Brian, I am very happy for you and proud of you."
"Good thing, Sunshine, cause I'd give it up in a second if you weren't."
The lover's kissed and left Kinnetik.
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Brian led Edna out of the hotel. Justin took the elderly lady's other arm and they walked down the street.
"Is this a good restaurant?" Edna asked.
"One of the best in this part of town," Brian assured her.
"But not too fancy," Edna wanted to know.
"Just right," Justin chuckled as he gave Edna's hand a squeeze.
"You boys are so extravagant paying for the hotel and squiring me around. I'm going to be so spoiled I'll never want to go home."
"That would be fine with me," Brian said arching an eyebrow and giving Edna a suggestive grin.
"You are such a bad man, Brian Kinney. That must be why I like you so much."
Brian chuckled. "Takes one to know one," he laughed. "How the hell did you ever marry a minister?"
"That's a long story," Edna laughed in reply.
"You'll have to tell us over dinner," Justin said as he opened the door to the restaurant for Edna.
"I wouldn't want to give you indigestion," she chuckled.
Once they had placed their orders and had a sip of their first drink, Edna began her story.
"I was kind of a wild girl when I was young. I lived through World War II as a child. I knew young men who went off to war and never returned. My older brother was one of them. I vowed that I was going to live my life and experience everything I wanted before something happened to me."
"And did you do that?" Justin asked as their salad was delivered. Brian signaled for a bottle of wine, as he listened to Edna continue her tale.
"Oh my yes. I left home at eighteen and went to the big city. I got a job as a telephone operator and finally got an apartment of my own. I had many lovers back then. I guess most people would have called me a slut. This was the fifties. You know, the days of June Cleaver. I didn't measure up by any standards of propriety."
"So how did you end up getting married, let alone to a man of God?" Brian asked. He couldn't understand how someone like Edna with that wild streak that he had identified with right from their first drink on the plane to Colon, could have found any kind of happiness with someone from the church.
"I … I got pregnant," Edna said swallowing a couple of times, and taking a long drink from her wine glass. Brian motioned the waiter to bring another bottle.
"But I thought you said you didn't have any children?" Justin asked.
"I don't. I wasn't even sure who the father of the baby was, so I decided to get rid of it. I had an abortion at one of those backstreet clinics that you've probably heard about. This was back in the dark ages when it was illegal to have an abortion. Suffice it to say," Edna continued polishing off the wine in her glass, "they botched it but good. I almost died and they fixed it so I would never have a similar problem again."
"That stinks," Justin reacted.
"It certainly does, and now I hear that Roe v. Wade is under attack. I pray they never go back to the way it was then. Some girls were even more unlucky than me. They didn't survive the abortion."
The waiter filled Edna's glass from the new bottle of wine. She took a long drink.
"But enough about that. I am supposed to be telling you how I met my husband. After the abortion I was wilder than ever. I didn't have to worry about getting pregnant ever again, so I slept with just about anybody who asked, and some that I had to ask." Edna gave a little chuckle at her own expense. "That went on for a long time until my mother died. I went back to the little town I came from for her funeral. My husband was the new minister in the town. He came and talked to me about my mother and what I wanted him to say at her funeral. He knew almost as much about her as I did. It had been so long since I had seen her. I guess I was feeling sorry for myself. I had no family. My father had died a few years before and I never even knew about it. I cried on Keith's shoulder several times. He was very comforting and kind. I guess I was at a point in my life where I needed something different. I didn't really fall in love with Keith until he asked me to marry him. I couldn't believe that anybody could want me after all the things I had done in my life."
"But Keith did," Justin said squeezing Edna's hand and looking into Brian's eyes.
"Keith did," Edna said softly. "I kept telling him that I didn't believe in love, that I would make a terrible wife, that he would be ashamed of me. He wouldn't hear of any of it. He wanted to marry me, and soon I wanted to marry him. He convinced me that we could make a good life together … and we did."
"How did you end up in South America?" Brian asked.
"Actually Panama is in Central America," Edna said with a sly smile. She knew how smart Brian was but she wouldn't let him go on thinking something that was false.
"I stand corrected," Brian smiled gently as their main courses arrived. He ordered another bottle of wine.
"Are you trying to get me drunk, Mr. Kinney?" Edna grinned.
"Only if you want to."
"And how will I get back to the hotel if I pass out in my dessert?"
"I'll carry you," Brian offered.
"I knew you were a gallant man from the moment that I met you."
"Ah, you just liked me because I plied you with liquor."
"That too," Edna laughed.
"So, Central America?" Brian asked.
"When I finally agreed to marry Keith, I knew that I could never live in that town with people knowing what they did about me. I knew it would ruin Keith's chances for advancement too. When I told him that, he told me that he had always dreamed of doing missionary work. He wanted to know if I could stand going off to the wilds of the world with him. It was the best proposition anybody ever made me."
"No regrets?" Brian asked.
"Not a one. I loved my darling Keith with my whole being. We were very lucky to have found each other. We had a great life … even without children."
Brian heard the hesitation and knew that Edna would have made a great mother. He wished he could have helped her have that one thing she had been denied.
"But I have you boys. You've become like the sons I never had. And now we're going to have a wedding. Life is good."
"Life is good," Brian agreed raising his glass in a toast. Edna clinked his glass, and then so did Justin. Brian knew that life was indeed good, even though he had not always thought so. Life was good as long as Justin was part of it.
Some time later they assisted Edna back to the hotel and headed back to the loft. When they arrived in the loft Brian noticed that the machine was blinking with a message. He wondered what it might be as he pushed the button to listen to it.
"Brian," John's voice spoke out to him from the machine. "Call me when you get this. I need to talk to you. Please, as soon as you get this."
"He sounds desperate. Why didn't he call your cell?" Justin asked.
"I turned it off when we went to dinner. There's probably voicemails there too. I wonder what the crisis is this time."
"Call him and find out. I'm going to have a shower."
"Can I come get you if I need help?"
"Yes, dear," Justin chuckled secretly pleased that Brian might need his help and was willing to admit that.
"You're much better at the touchy-feely stuff than I am."
"I'm not so sure of that."
"What?"
"I'm taking my shower. Make your call."
Brian watched Justin walk up into the bedroom and frowned at his statement. He wondered what Justin meant. Quickly he dialed his brother's number dreading what he would hear on the other end of the line.
"Brian, thank God."
"What's wrong, big bro'?" Brian asked trying to keep the tone light. He didn't want to add to whatever was causing John's worries.
"I … I think I'm having cold feet … about the wedding."
"What? You're fucking shitting me! Don't you want to marry Bobby?"
"I … I don't know. Yes, I do, but … oh fuck! I don't know what I want."
"What the hell happened?"
"I … I just got thinking. I haven't been … gay very long, and I know how people feel about gays marrying, and I don't want Bobby to get upset, and I'm not sure we should go through with this."
"John, you've been gay your whole life, although you may not have admitted it. And, fuck people who don't want gays to marry. And Bobby will be more upset than you can ever imagine if you call this wedding off. You'll destroy him. He loves you so much and I know you love him. And lastly, you are fucking going through with this, if I have to tie you up and drag you down the fucking aisle myself."
"You really think I should do this?"
"Of course, I do. And you know it's what you want. You want your family and friends to see the love you have for Bobby and you want them to recognize the commitment you are making to each other."
"Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm doing."
"What the fuck did you think you were doing?"
"I … I got this funny feeling that we were going to be a public spectacle for people to laugh at and make fun of. I could see Bobby being so hurt by that."
"The only people at the wedding will be those who love and respect you both. Nobody's going to make fun. We'll be there to honor you," Brian said in his most reassuring voice.
"I guess. I … I just needed you to tell me that."
"Have you talked to Bobby about this?"
"No, God no, he'd think I wanted to back out."
"And do you want to back out, because now's the time to do it. Don't go ahead if you really don't want too. You'll regret it for a long time."
"Jesus, Brian, you know I love Bobby. I want to marry him. I've never wanted anything so much in my whole life."
"Then what the fuck are you calling me for? Go tell Bobby that."
John laughed. "You're right. I'm sorry I bothered you. I'm okay now."
"I don't mind you calling, John. Just keep your eye on the prize."
"Thanks, little bro'. I'll see you in a few days."
"You got that right. Have you picked out your wedding gown yet?" Brian stuck his tongue in his cheek as he waited for the reaction.
"Fuck you! I've got my suit all ordered. I go for the final fitting tomorrow."
"Good. Now go get Bobby to fuck you, and I'll talk to you later.
"Good night, Brian, and thanks.
"Any time."
"See, I knew you were good at the touchy-feely stuff," Justin said from the top of the stairs.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to hear you calm and console your brother. What was his problem?"
"Cold feet and thinking too much."
"Must be a Kinney trait."
"Why you…"
Justin dove onto the bed knowing Brian would capture him there and that when he did they would make love long into the night.