Brian and Justin had been thinking about renovating their kitchen. Somehow they had managed to agree on cabinets and countertops but the tiles for the space between the cabinets and the countertop were causing problems. If Brian liked a certain tile, Justin wouldn't and vice versa. They had visited several tile stores and tried to find something both of them could be comfortable with. They started to get desperate, especially Brian. The whole renovation was on hold because of the tile issue. Justin wasn't that stressed, but because life with an annoyed Brian Kinney was something he didn't enjoy that much, he wanted to find the tiles as soon as possible - preferably yesterday. Justin had heard from a friend of a place that had its own, unique line of tiles but they didn't have their shop in Pittsburgh. The nearest shop was in DuBois, about 90 miles from Pittsburgh. Justin had no problem with traveling 90 miles for tiles but Brian wasn't so keen on the idea. Justin knew he had to convince Brian somehow. Luckily Justin had his ways.
"I don't know how you got me into this," Brian said when Justin and he were driving to DuBois to visit "Unique Is Us".
"I know," Justin said grinning. "You're so easy sometimes. A little bit of you-know-what and you'll do anything I want."
"You used devious means," Brian stated.
"Oh, come on! Don't pout."
"I don't pout. I'm just stating the obvious."
"Okay, whatever you want, Honeypuff."
"For God's sake, Justin, enough with the Honeystuff!" Brian said horrified. "I can still turn this car around."
"Okay, I promise. No more," Justin relented because he knew Brian might actually turn around and go back home.
"I'm sure we'll find the perfect tile today," Justin said after a little while.
"Is that a promise?"
"Umm... yes?" Justin said uncertainly.
"Was that a question or a statement?" Brian asked cocking his eyebrow.
"Umm... well... a statement," Justin finally said.
"Aren't you sure of yourself. What if we don't find the perfect tile?"
"Then I'll do something you want."
"Hmm... that sounds promising. I'm sure I can think of something."
"I bet."
********
"This is the place?" Brian asked a bit skeptical.
"Yeah, I guess so. The sign says "Unique Is Us" so this must be it."
"They could use a face-lift for this place because this doesn't look actually inviting," Brian said looking at the gray building.
"The best ad-exec in the world could do miracles for them."
"You think?"
"Uh huh."
"I don't think they could afford me... umm... him," Brian said.
"They could always negotiate."
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go inside, I'm freezing my ass off."
When Brian and Justin stepped inside the building, the view was better. The shop had a lot of light and it looked sophisticated.
"Welcome! May I help you?" asked a friendly sales clerk.
"Hello! We're looking for kitchen tiles," Justin said.
"Okay, then let's go this way. Here we have our tiles that are designed especially for kitchens, but in many cases you can also use bathroom tile in the kitchen if you want to. Would you like me to show you some tiles or would you like to look at them yourself first?"
"I think we'd like to look at the tiles ourselves."
"That's perfectly fine. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."
"Thank you."
*********
"What about this?" Brian asked.
"No, too green. What about this one?"
"No, too small. You know, this is as difficult as before. Maybe we should just paint it white."
"Oh no, Kinney, not white."
"Excuse me, may I bother you a moment?" the clerk asked.
"Sure," Justin said.
"Have you found anything you like?"
"Well, not really. I mean you have beautiful tiles but we can't seem to agree on one," Justin said.
"Okay, then there's a really unique possibility that might suit you. If you can't find the tile you'd like in our collection, there's also a tile called "One in a Million"."
"Oh? What does it look like? Can we see it?" Justin asked excitedly.
"This is the best part. The tile will look just as you want it to look."
"What do you mean?" Brian asked.
"Well, you can create it yourselves! With a little help from our designers."
"Wow! That sounds too good to be true!" Justin said.
"I must say it has its downsides."
Justin's face fell.
"It's more expensive than regular tiles and the delivery takes four to six weeks."
Brian and Justin looked at each other.
"I think we can live with that," Brian said. "If we can finally get the tiles we can agree on, our life will be so much easier and less stressful."
"I must say I'm convinced that this tile will save many marriages and relationships," the clerk said with a smile.
"I can imagine," Justin said. "Some people are so difficult to deal with."
Brian gave his partner a look.
"So, where do we go from here?" Justin asked ignoring Brian's look.
"Well, we need to make an appointment for you with our designer. Actually, if you have time now, I think one of our designers is here."
"Now? That would be great! You know, we live in Pittsburgh so it would save us a trip," Justin said.
"Okay, if you'll wait here for a minute and I'll go and see if the designer is available. I'll be right back."
"Okay, thanks."
*********
Brian and Justin were lucky 'cause the designer was in and they were able to start designing their tile. The designer told them that if they wanted to, they could also use a photograph that would be transferred to the tile but Brian and Justin opted out of that - they wanted something more abstract. Justin already had a vision of how he would like the tile to look and luckily Brian liked it also. After various color combinations, they finally found the perfect one. The tile had different shades of blue and it also had a special iridescent layer on the surface that would make it reflect and transfer the lights beautifully.
"Stop!" Justin exclaimed. "Now it's finished. It's perfect."
Brian looked at the screen and was very happy with the result. "Finally. That's the one," Brian said with a deep sigh.
Justin was beaming. "I'm so happy and relieved we finally have the tile for our kitchen. No more trips to tile shops."
"I've seen enough tiles for the rest of my life," Brian said.
"Although... " Justin started.
"What?"
"We could renovate the bathroom too."
"We will renovate nothing after this ordeal," Brian stated.
Justin just winked at the salesman.
**********
When Brian and Justin were sitting in the car, Brian said: "We need to celebrate."
"Babylon?"
"Home."
"Home? Brian Kinney wants to celebrate at home?"
"It's a very private party, for my very special tile designer," Brian said and gave Justin a kiss.
Justin couldn't help but smile the whole way back to Pittsburgh.
~ The End ~
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