Finding Your Own Way Back

Chapter 18

Justin followed them into the bathroom and then looked at Brian. "Um," he began, feeling three sets of eyes rest on him.

"What, Sunshine?"

Justin met Brian's eyes and then said quietly. "I can't do this. It's not right."

Beginning to understand how bad of an idea this had been, Brian simply nodded. Turning to Daphne, he said, "We're going to go."

Stunned but not entirely surprised because the whole thing had been so surreal, she simply nodded. Curtis glanced at Brian and Justin and then nodded. Interesting while it lasted, he thought.

Returning to the bedroom, they picked up their discarded clothes and Brian said, "Why don't you show me your room, then we'll get out of here?"

"You're not pissed?"

"No, I'm not pissed. In fat, this was a bad fucking idea. I don't know what I was thinking. But it's not a turn-on for either of us."

"Daphne was into it," Justin reminded him.

"Yeah, I know. And I feel a bit bad about how this whole thing turned out. But this floor show idea isn't who we are. Besides I should have realized just how exploitative this whole thing would be. For both of us," he said, shuddering.

Justin led Brian into his bedroom and swept clothes and books from the top of his bed. Brian took a deep breath and started laughing. "You know this is like something out of a horror movie."

"Well not all of us can afford to buy minimalist furniture. Some of us actually have to pay reasonable prices. And the mess is who I am."

"Hey, I was teasing. It just brings back memories of how the loft used to look." When you were there on a full-time basis, he thought. "You done any sketches recently?" Brian asked, trying to determine the cleanest place to sit.

"Um, yeah." Justin reluctantly handed Brian a sketch pad, watching the older man flip through the pages.

"These are good, Justin. Really good."

"You think so?"

"Would I compliment you if I thought they were for shit?"

"Um no," Justin admitted. "You'd tell me in your inimitable way that they sucked."

Brian nodded. "You want to get out of here?"

"Yeah."

Dressing hurriedly, they walked out into the living room where they found Daphne had closed the door to her own room. Hearing voices coming from within, they decided not to say goodbye. Instead, Justin opted for slamming the door as they left. It was a surefire way of making sure that they knew that they were alone.

"You hungry?" Justin asked, looking at the ad exec as they got in the car.

"Anything but sushi," Brian said, wrinkling his nose.

"That bad, huh?"

"It reminded me why I like cock, that's all. I feel kind of bad getting Daphne and Curtis all wound up and then not following through."

"She'll get over it."

"Will you?" Brian asked, looking at him as they sat at an intersection.

"Yeah, I'm over it. I never want to talk about it again. Okay?"

Nodding, Brian said, "So what do you want to do for dinner?"

Justin stared at him. "You really want to go eat or is there something you'd rather do?"

"We could go back to the loft and watch The Maltese Falcon. Make some of that popcorn you kids seem to crave. I don't really want to go out and face the guys. We'll have to do that soon enough."

Me, Brian, and Bogie, Justin thought. Things couldn't get much better, he thought. "You like old films, Brian."

"It's a classic," Brian corrected him. "It's film noir. Show some respect. At least it's not Adam Sandler. Bogie has more talent."

"Well, Adam Sandler has his good points. Like in 50 First Dates with Drew Barrymore and The Wedding Singer."

"That's two movies compared to nearly eighty, Sunshine. But I'll let you have this one. So are we headed back to the loft?"

"Yeah." He paused a moment, then asked, "Do you even have popcorn?"

Brian just glanced at him. "Kids."

"Old man."

It had been a narrow escape but they'd made it out without sacrificing what made them Brian and Justin.

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