Together

Chapter 15

Live and love

Justin’s kiss had tasted of lemon icing and his smile had been beautiful when he left the cab. Brian watched him walk toward Plexus in the rearview mirror with a bounce in his step. They were running a bit late again, just a few minutes, and Brian smiled remembering Justin, his beautiful new orange shirt and striped tie already on, lying on his back with his ankles on Brian’s shoulders as Brian, himself still fully naked, was pumping into him.

He had come out of the bathroom to find Justin, in his boxers and shirt, tying his own tie, watching himself in the mirror with an intense look of concentration, the pink tip of his tongue between his lips, determined not to have to ask Brian to do it for him anymore. He had looked… adorable (when had Brian started to think such things without gagging?), and Brian had asked, “Need any help?”

Justin had looked up briefly from his task and smiled. “No. I think I’ve got it.”

“I think you are doing fine. I was just offering moral support.” And he had dropped to his knees, pulling down Justin’s boxers, and taking the quiescent cock in his mouth.

“You are just trying to distract me,” Justin had said, chuckling. “I think you like tying my ties for me.”

Well, he was right about that, Brian did like tying his tie, to just stand close and smell his ‘Justin just out of the shower’ smell and get his little thank you kiss at the end. But sucking on Justin's beautiful cock, even if it lacked his wonderful end of the day aroma, was pretty special too, especially when Justin was saying, “Humm… This feels so nice. It really makes me want your cock up my ass.”

Brian had pushed him down on the bed and said, “I am here to serve.” The knot in the tie was perfect, the color of the shirt brought out his pale and luminous complexion, and Justin had smiled at him, as he gloved up and lubed. Justin never turned him down, he was always ready, willing and able, even though Brian well knew his libido was ridiculously strong, and that he was one of the few men out there who did not have a refractory period. Of course Justin was only twenty-three. It might change in time.

When he pushed into Justin’s amazingly relaxed sphincter, only to have it tighten around him once he was fully in, Justin had said “God, I needed that…” even though they had made love when they had both woken up horny in the middle of the night. Brian smiled thinking that then again, it might never change…

Brian had fucked him hard and fast, as Justin held onto the bars at the head of the bed, making Brian hit his prostate on the return by canting his hips.

“It feels so good, Brian, so good…I love you cock in my ass, stretching me, filling me, taking me. You feel so big, so hard, so warm. I loved it at Gillian’s the other day, when your entered me naked. You felt so hot and soft and perfect, it was so good.”

Remembering the feel of Justin’s ass with no lube but his spit and nothing but sweet skin made Brian's arousal peak. He rolled in his lips lest he say something he might not want to say just yet, and grabbed Justin’s cock through the silk boxers he had just pulled off of him. Silk slid on silk and Justin’ body started trembling.

Brian looked at the pink flush of Justin's cheek, at his lips parted in pleasure on his white teeth, at his tongue darting out to lick the lower lip, and finally at his blue eyes, half lidded in pleasure, blinking at him slowly and at the smile blooming on Justin’s face when his orgasm carried him away. He felt the warmth and wet of Justin release in the silk material, and he let himself go, imagining his come painting Justin's silky insides with the same warmth and wet, wanting it so bad he could taste it. As it was, he came in long spurts inside the condom, saying his name, “Justin…”

Reviewing his schedule for the day with Cynthia, Brian noted that he would see Justin again before lunch, as they were both due in the projection room to review the takes of the toddlers. There was a little note from Adam that said, “We think it’s coming out great even though it was a stupid idea. The next person who wants toddlers in a commercial will have to film them themselves…” Brian cracked up. He was glad he’d had nothing to do with it.

More worrisome was the Urgent Private Meeting called by his partners that had rated high enough that Cynthia had rescheduled one of his presentations. That was not a good sign, but it wasn’t until four so there was no reason to worry about it now.

All in all a very busy day. He would go to the gym at lunch and work out. That would help keep him focus. He started by reviewing and asking for a million changes from a proposal coming from Randy. They did not communicate well, and Brian always had a hard time getting what he wanted out of him.

That was why he worked better with Julie. They seemed to speak the same language, and she would mostly send him what he’d asked for. But that left the complete onus of creativity on him. Sam on the other hand always felt free to make suggestions and propose new ideas, as did Justin, but then you were left with deciding whose idea was better.

Marcus had shown Brian an ad for a man’s fragrance designed by Justin. His prelim looked like a finished product, which made it hard not to accept his suggestions for the ad, because one would feel guilty making him start again from scratch. Of course in that case the prelims were brilliant, and Marcus had just been showing them off. Brian had wondered what the ground would have looked like with grass, and how the sea would have looked in the background instead of Mount Olympus, and he would have sent them back asking for that, but Marcus loved it uncritically. It was beautiful. Now Marcus would do what he did best, and ‘focus group’ the thing to death to find an appropriate Greek name. Brian had jokingly offered Eros, but Marcus, always serious, had only added it to his growing list.

At eleven, he went to take a look at the toddlers’ takes. Justin was already there. They were hilarious. One baby in particular who looked like a miniature Alfred Hitchcock had the cutest expressions, and they had matched the voice perfectly, with a slightly nasal upper class British tinge. They had changed and added some dialogue to take advantage of particularly cute moments and the whole thing was a hoot.

On a couple of outtakes, Brian noticed Justin had been present at the shoot, reassuring moms, changing diapers, and making faces for the babies to copy which was really funny. It apparently worked on some of them. The whole film crew seemed to agree that he had been a blessing and that without him, they wouldn’t have gotten some of the better shots.

They also teased him mercilessly because so many of the moms had given him their numbers, and some of them definitely not as a potential babysitter. Justin was so cute when he blushed.

Having finalized the choices of shots with Chris, they ended up riding the elevator together and as usual in these cases, the cabin got stuck between floors. Brian grabbed Justin’s tie and pulled him closer.

“Hey, Sunshine. How is it going?”

Justin smiled at him. “Really well, thanks.”

“Would you like a kiss?” Brian was brushing Justin’s lips with his.

“Yeah. I’d love a kiss…”

Brian encircled him in his arms, and touched their lips together, tracing the seam of Justin’s lips with his tongue. Justin’s lips parted, and Brian backed away.

“Tell me,” he said. He came close again, and licked Justin’s lower lip, backing away when Justin got close again. “Tell me,” he said again.

“… I’d like a kiss, please?” said Justin, not sure what he wanted.

Brian shook his head. “No, Justin. Tell me…”

Justin smiled, and looked in Brian’s eyes, “I love you, Brian. I love you.” Brian kissed him, putting his heart and soul into it, amazed once again that Justin should love him, that this beautiful, talented, sweet boy/man should want him in his life. Yet, when he backed away from the kiss, it was all there on Justin’s smiling face, acceptance, passion, awe, joy, happiness, and unmistakably, love.

Brian smiled at him. “And I, you. Don’t paint too late tonight. Call me. I… Fuck, Justin, I know I’ll miss you until you get home.”

Justin’s smile was so beautiful, so happy. “You are not working tomorrow, are you?”

“Not that I know of,” said Brian, thinking of the emergency Partners’ meeting.

“Let’s stay home tonight, and make love all night…”

Brian kissed him again, very much approving the idea. Then his phone rang. They both laughed and Justin pressed the stop button back in, getting the elevator going again.

“Kinney… Oh. Brandon, that’s fantastic… Yes, we do have plans but it’s the kind of plan we are happy to share with you and Todd… We’re staying in and making love all night. Is that enough of a celebration?” Brian laughed. “Yes, he’s right here… Of course I’ll tell him… Of course I’m sure it’s all right… See you tonight.”

The doors had already opened on the second floor, and Justin was blocking the electric eye with his knee.

“Brandon’s been hired as a second dancer by the New York City Ballet. He wants to come to the loft with Todd and celebrate with us. It is all right, isn’t it?”

“That’s fantastic. And yes. It’s perfectly all right. It’s special, the four of us, you know?”

“I know.” Brian smiled. “By the way, he left a message on your phone. He said it went to voicemail without ringing. “

Justin got his phone out of his pocket, and opened it. “Shit. It’s dead.”

“Did you charge it?”

“All night. The battery doesn’t hold the charge anymore. I need a new phone. I’ll buy a new one today after class.” He looked at Brian with a grin. “You’ll have to call me. I don’t even know your number, or the loft’s. It’s pathetic really. I’ve got to go. I don’t want to miss class again.” He looked right and left, and seeing no one, kissed Brian’s lips. “Later.”

“Later.”

It was ridiculous, but Brian hated that for a few hours, Justin would be out of reach. It would be good for him to get a new phone though. His had really been on its last leg.

Brian went and worked out. While he was lifting weights, he thought about the strange symbiosis that existed between Brandon and Todd and Justin and he. He really enjoyed having sex in parallel with them, yet had no desire to trade partners. He could absolutely appreciate how attractive Todd was, and of course, Brandon was in love with Justin, so one would have thought that at some point, a switch would occur, but it never did. They enjoyed watching each other fuck immensely, but that’s as far as it went.

On the other hand, it would never have occurred to Brian, nor apparently to Brandon or Justin, to do the same with Oliver instead of Todd. It just would not feel right. He wondered about Todd and Brandon. What was going to happen now that they were in the same city? Right now, they had the kind of relationship he had thought he would have with Justin. They were a constant in each other's life but pursued other interests when not together.

The ‘rules’ he and Justin had worked out would allow exactly for that, and as far as Justin knew, it might be happening. Twice this week they had spend the evening apart, Justin painting at the studio then yesterday finishing the evening alone at Essengy, and Brian out at two different clubs where Justin had never even been.

One of them was an old favorite of Brian’s, where you could go and fuck in rooms that seem completely private, except that one of the walls was a one-way mirror and that you could be seen fucking by the entire dance club, which walls each were adjacent to three or four rooms. Through lighting effects, the DJ could have them all ‘open’ to viewing, or could highlight one, two, or several of the rooms. Brian had both loved watching while dancing, and fucking in the rooms, never knowing if you were in private or if two hundred guys were watching you.

There was a regular back room with large screen TVs showing what the DJ was highlighting at the moment, where people mostly got blow jobs or jerked off watching the action. Brian had gone there fully intending to get a blow job. Instead, just as he had in the orgy room as Gillian’s that time, he had jerked himself off, watching other men fuck.

It was not for lack of offers. Even halfway through he could have, at any time, just by looking intently at one guy or another, finished off down someone’s throat. He just didn’t feel like it . He had wondered afterward if he was just having a hard time taking that first step, because since the day after Christmas he had been completely monogamous. Was he unconsciously worried that if he got a blowjob, the next thing he knew, he would be fucking some guy against the wall?

So last night, he had purposefully taken one guy up on his offer, and gone to the lounge to get blown. He had taken down his pants and the trick had taken him in and he had been quite good at it. But as the guy was deep throating him, he had kept losing his erection, unless he closed his eyes and imagined it was Justin doing him. And the trick was not half as good at it as Justin was. So what was the fucking point? He had pulled out of the trick's mouth, and said, “I think I left my iron on.” He had gone home, taken a shower and waited for Sunshine to get home from Essengy. He had wondered the whole time if Justin was getting a blowjob, as had been his habit in the past, or if he was even fucking someone.

When Justin had arrived from the club, however, he had looked incredibly happy to see Brian home already (It was only a little after midnight), and he had put on a CD of Enigma and done a slow strip tease for Brian. He was sexy as fuck when he wanted to be, and he had really wanted to. He had finished, standing in front of Brian, his innocent sexy horny smile a total turn on, his torso covered in glitter and his cock very hard.

When Brian had taken him in his mouth, his gorgeous cock had only smelled of Justin-clean-sweat and delicious end of the day musk. No latex, no lube and no one else's spit. After making him cry out in pleasure and gratefully swallowing his love’s spunk, Brian had taken him from behind, fucking him deep and slow, finally coming with his entire body draped on Justin’s, loving him, loving him so fucking much, and Justin had come again, crying out his name.

How would he have felt had Justin’s first move been to head for the shower? He wasn’t sure. Justin hadn’t seemed to mind that Brian had obviously showered after coming home, with all that implied. Brian would not bring up the issue. He wanted Justin’s choice to be entirely his own, just as his had been. They had only been together two months, and of those two months had been apart four and a half weeks. He would not expect anything.

So why was he so fucking glad that last night at least Justin had not taken advantage of the freedom they both had to have sex lives outside their relationship?

If anyone had told him, a year ago, that he would want one man so much it overcame any desire he might feel for others, or that he would hope that that man felt the same way, he would have laughed out loud. The same was true six months ago. But already, things had started changing. He laughed at himself. He had fucked more blonds in three months than in his entire life. And when he had fucked guys who were not blond, he had fucked them because they were not, and that was just as telling.

And now he was everything he never thought he would be. Monogamous, in love, possessive, and so fucking happy.

He bypassed the steam room, took a shower, got dressed and went back to work. On his desk was a contract for Moebius Electronic and a retainer check. He smiled. He sent their info and stats downstairs, telling Sam that the client had requested the team that worked on Body By Design and Click Clack, so the job should be assigned to Taylor, especially since he and Taylor had already discussed the idea for the campaign. Before he sent it down, though, he called Sam.

“Sam? Brian.”

“Hey, Brian. Randy hates you. I don’t know why I ever bother assigning him to you. You’re going to give him an ulcer.”

“Because the best shit he comes up with is always when he works with me. He always ends up giving his best just to prove what an asshole I am, and how wrong I was to tell him he was incompetent.”

“True. But he is hell to be around the entire time… You’re right though. Nobody pushes him like you do. He is probably the best one here and never bothers to give it 100% with anyone else.”

“That’s right. But I am not calling about Randy. I’m calling because I am requesting Justin for a campaign.”

“…”

“I know assigning creative managers is your area, Sam. That’s why I’m calling.”

“You bypassed me with the Ste. Blanche winery as well, Kinney, though I guess in that case you couldn’t know Taylor would be here to finish the job.”

“I got this new account, completely out of the blue. Moebius Electronics…”

“That’s a Vangard client.”

“Not anymore.”

“Vangard has done top work for them. Why would they switch?”

“Long story. But basically, their CEO wants the creator of BBD and that of Click-Clack. I am the account exec for both so he wants me. We both know who designed BBD, so I want Taylor.”

“… OK. That actually makes sense. You guys are just finishing Greenbabies together. I would have worked this next one with you, but I can see the logic. My system has worked, and done this firm well for years now, Kinney. The rotation makes sure everyone stays challenged; no one gets stale, just like you with Randy. You may get the best out of him, but he gets you to go in directions you would never think of going. It’s good for everybody. I will not have you throw your weight around to work more and more with Taylor. It will be a while now before I assign him to a big project with you again. Live with it.”

“I’m with you completely on that Sam. This will not happen again.”

“Good.”

“Did you see the Greenbabies rough cut?”

Sam laughed. “Yes. It’s brilliant, and you know it. As is Ste. Blanche. As I am sure whatever you are sending me will be. Doesn’t change how I feel about it.”

“I got you, Sam. As I said, we are of one mind on this.”

“All right. Send it down. Thanks for calling. I am fully aware of the fact that you could just do as you please.”

“You do a great job, Sam. I’m not going to fuck with a system that has proven to work as well as yours. We each have our own jobs. I may be an asshole, but I have great respect for you and your people. You know, except when I don’t.”

Sam laughed and hung up. Brian smiled. He liked Sam. The guy had balls.

He saw what was next on his pile and sighed. Talk about getting stale. It was a company named Parchment that sold high class stationery. They had been his clients for three years now, and this would be his fourth campaign with them. Their rep was super conservative in her approach, and from year to year the changes in their advertisements were minimal. It was boring as shit.

It could use a serious makeover, but that woman (What was her name? He looked through the file…Sally Handfield), Sally, resisted any major changes they tried to make, every year. She said she represented perfectly her employer’s desire for continuity and restraint, that they wanted to stay as far away from the ‘Hallmark’ tearjerkers as they possibly could, and no matter what Brian said or presented, sherefused to consider a middle ground.

He smiled to himself when his first thought was ‘I wonder what Justin would come up with for this.’ Sam had a point. It was obvious that left to his own devices, Brian would probably prefer to work with Justin on every campaign. So far, he had always worked with Julie on this, and she was as frustrated as he was. The current ad pretty much added to “We’ve got paper, we’ve got cards, we can print to order and everything’s real pretty.” God. Brian hated it.

He looked at the communication slip. General direction: it asked. The last two years, Julie and he had tried so hard to shake it up. Maybe he should just accept the status quo, and just change it to “We’ve got pretty paper, we’ve got pretty cards, and you can special order us to print real pretty things.” He just wanted to beat his head against the wall.

He wrote, “Grandma on a shopping spree?” Then he added, “Punk Rocking teenager on a shopping spree. And they buy the exact same things.” That could be fun. And they would be buying real pretty cards, real pretty paper, and who knows? Invites to a party… He hated this account. Maybe he should pass it to a Junior exec. But they were long-term clients, and he didn’t want to lose the account. He sent the whole thing to Julie, knowing she too would bang her head against the wall. That was some consolation.

It was nearing four. Cynthia walked in with a triple espresso. Uh-oh. Not good. Obviously, she had heard something. She closed the door behind her.

“Bob Tuscan wanted to fire us. Alan convinced him to just fire Paul and pass the account to someone else in the firm. He sent samples of his, Marcus' and your work for Tuscan to choose from. Alan got the answer yesterday, and it’s not him, nor Marcus that Tuscan wants.”

“Fuck. How big is it?”

“Over a quarter of a million.”

“Fuck.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m not doing it.”

“You will.”

“I know. I don’t want to do it.”

“Obviously.”

“Couldn’t Alan have somehow leaked to him that I’m queer?”

“One quarter of a million dollars, Brian. Word is you will be nominated for a Clio for one commercial this year, and probably in the print campaign category as well with BBD. You are Plexus’ hot ticket right now.”

“Fuck.”

“Time to go…”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

Brian hated drug companies with a passion. He had always refused to take on any of their accounts, no matter how lucrative. Tuscan Pharmaceutical was even worse, because Tuscan was a total bigot who personally and publicly had made many inflammatory statements against homosexuals, questioning the government support for Aids and HIV drug research and actively lobbying against it.

When Paul had accepted the account for Plexus, Brian had been livid, but at the time he only had been a partner for a couple of months, and had only voiced his opposition. Now that he was much more secure in his role in the company, there is no way in hell he would let Plexus take on an account he objected to so much.

It turned out that Bob Tuscan had rejected Paul’s campaign for their new allergy medication. The campaign was based on faulty information provided to Paul by their rep. Apparently, side effects had appeared after the lengthy government trials were finished, and their new drug, ‘Allerfree’ could no longer boast of being ‘without any side effects,’ the fact on which Paul had based his entire campaign.

The emergency meeting went far better than they had any right to expect. Considering he was losing one of his most lucrative accounts, Paul was to be commended for his cool. All three of them agreed with Alan that passing the account to someone else instead of losing it completely and having Tuscan sing about it on every roof would be best for the firm, and Paul stuck by that decision.

The fact that the client was wrong, that the mistake was theirs and that he was a scapegoat seemed to make no difference. He knew that Tuscan switching firms altogether at this stage would besmirch Plexus’ reputation, because Tuscan would have no qualms publicizing his reasons for switching. He had a big mouth and a very nasty streak, and so Paul accepted the consequences gracefully. Brian really admired that.

They had decided that all meetings with the representative would from now on be recorded, transcripted and sent to Bob Tuscan himself for his perusal and approval and that was only going to make for more complicated matters, with at least one more person’s opinion to consider in all decision making. The account was worth over a quarter of a million a year. For that alone, it was worth it. For their reputation, it was essential.

They had lost a huge amount of man-hours and good will, and had to work to compensate the first and rebuild the second. The fact that the man responsible was still heading Tuscan advertising division was sad, but not unheard of.

Alan then announced he had decided to handle the switch to another exec by having Bob Tuscan himself pick Paul's successor. Brian, who supposedly did not know that a choice had already been made, immediately refused to be part of the pool for obvious reasons.

Alan replied that it looked better if Tuscan had three choices rather than two. Brian then asked that a short biography be send with the rest of the material Tuscan was provided to choose his next exec from, detailing each partner’s marital status and making sure to mention Brian had a male partner.

Alan replied that if Tuscan found out that one of the partners was gay, they would be fired for sure, and that if Paul could stomach the personal humiliation of losing an account and being blamed for someone else's error, Brian would have to,  for the good of the firm, swallow his gay pride.

All of Brian’s objections would however be dully recorded, and that was what he wanted. He did not intend to keep the account. He would salvage Plexus’ reputation, but at the first possible occasion, would dump the account on someone else's lap (if possible, someone at Vangard…) and his history of objections would help him in that endeavor.

Then, of course, Alan announced that based on samples of each partner’s work from last year, Tuscan had already made his decision. He had chosen Brian. Brian asked that Tuscan be told Brian was unavailable due to too many prior commitments. He was voted down. He tried the path of conflict of interest, and was voted down. In desperation, and realizing things needed to lighten up a little, he proposed irreconcilable differences, and managed to get them laughing.

“Brian, I’m sorry you are being put in this situation. You just have to separate your own interest from that of the firm, and try to do your best,” said Alan. He was no fool. He knew this was really a big sacrifice to ask Brian to make.

“How good is the damn drug?” Brian asked Paul, hoping at least it was a miracle in a pill.

“Not any better or any worse than any other on the market. The skin rash is the only reported side effect, and it does clear up in 2-3 weeks after stopping the use of the drug. It only occurs in one out of two hundred users, an acceptable risk.”

“I want nothing to do with this,” said Brian honestly, knowing it was pointless, but having to somehow express it. “Let him fire us.”

Three stern faces were looking at him. They all knew how he felt, but also knew they could count on him to come through.

“Fuck,” he said.

His one consolation was that he would be working with Sam on that one. He pretty much decided to sign off on whatever Sam sent him, and get rid of this thorn in his side as soon as possible.

“There is one more thing,” said Alan. “He wants to meet with you in person. He’s invited you and your wife to dinner next week,” said Alan.

“I'm pretty sure Justin and I are busy next week.” That was obviously a joke. For all his dealings with Tuscan, Brian had to be in the closet. He would work for that bigot, but to expect him to socialize with him was going a bit too far.

“Brian.” Alan had that long-suffering look on his face. Brian relented.

“I am single. I’ll go alone,” he offered, and that was his best offer.

“It would be better if you at least had a girlfriend.” Now Brian was getting really pissed off, and that was not good. He could put up with some shit, but Alan was going too far.

“Alan. Ask me one more time to pretend to this SOB that I am straight, and you can take this account and shove it. I will go alone. If he asks if I have a girlfriend I will say no. If he questions me any further, I will not lie. One quarter of a million dollars is not worth my denying Justin’s existence.” He realized how angry this situation really made him, and tried to keep his cool. “If I were you, I would make sure I am invited to this little dinner as well. Your lovely wife can redirect. Because I will not bend over backwards for this prick.”

“For what it’s worth, Alan, I’m with Brian,” said Paul, totally surprising Brian. “Salvaging Plexus’ reputation is one thing. Letting this jerk lead us by the balls is another. ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ is as far as you should ask Brian to go, and even that, in my opinion, is going too far. Brian should not be asked to have dinner with someone who would gladly return the sodomy laws to the books, and make it again a capital offence. Fuck Bob Tuscan, and the horse he rode in on. I certainly never had to socialize with that homophobe.”

“I'm with them,” said Marcus. OK. Now Brian was really blown away. Marcus was a strong Christian man, and Brian knew that though Marcus was personally tolerant, his church disapproved of homosexuality. “Brian is single. If that’s not good enough, too bad. He should not have to deny who he is just to kiss the ass of a client whose political views are despicable.”

“All right,” said Alan, a little surprised at his partners’ united front. “Fine. I’ll see if I can get Heather and I an invitation as well. And if he straight out asks you, I guess we will just have to live with the consequences. All right?”

“All right.”

To be continued...
 

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