Endeavor
Chapter One: January

“Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do”-Oscar Wilde

 

Brian stood from his chair and cautiously shook hands with the woman who stood in front of his desk. “Thank you for coming in, Theresa.”

“Oh,” the woman giggled, “it was my pleasure.” She winked one of her large brown eyes at Brian and squeezed his hand a hair too tightly.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think you’ll be right for the job,” Brian informed her, extracting his hand from the woman’s grasp.

“You don’t?” Theresa asked. “But… you said that I had great qualifications.”

“You do,” Brian agreed. “But I don’t think you are right for Exhibition.”

Theresa tore her watery gaze from Brian’s hard stare. “I can’t believe this!” she roared, stalking toward the office door in her six-inch heels. “You’ve wasted my time!” she cried, throwing open the door.

Cynthia stood from her chair and gave Brian a smile before running after the woman. “I’ll walk you out,” she called after her, disappearing into the hallway.

Brian sat back down in his leather chair and flipped to the next candidate on the list Cynthia had given him. He grabbed the folder with the corresponding name and looked over the resume once again. Of all the candidates, this person was the most qualified for the job in terms of education and skill. However, with the exception of a few internships, true on-the-job experience was nil. Brian also noticed that he’d finished school the previous May and wondered why he hadn’t gotten a job within the last seven months.

“That woman thought she was God’s gift,” Cynthia said, walking back into Brian’s office.

Brian shrugged. “You think she’d be thanking me for being honest and allowing her to continue her job search.”

“You’re a martyr,” Cynthia joked, sitting back down in her chair.

Brian grinned and replied, “I know.”

Cynthia rolled her eyes; though she was in complete agreement with how Brian handled every candidate, he’d so far turned down. “So, Karen said the next appointment has arrived and is waiting in the lobby. Is that his folder you’re looking at?”

“Yeah.” Brian slid the resume over to Cynthia and flipped through the small portfolio that provided samples of the candidate’s work.

“He’s young.”

“But talented,” Brian said, handing Cynthia the portfolio.

“And did you see his reference page?” Cynthia gasped, flipping through the four typed pages.

“I glanced at it.” Brian waved her off.

“This is the guy Lindsay told me to tell you to hire.”

“Since when do you work for her?” Brian quipped.

Cynthia slapped Brian’s arm. “Since when do I work for you? We own this company 50/50.”

Brian sighed. “Details, details.”

“Anyway, this is the guy who sometimes babysits for Gus and Jenny. Lindsay told me that she suggested for him to apply here.”

“So you put his resume in with the rest of these because Lindsay told you to?”

“Do you want me to storm out of here and leave you to do the hiring alone?” Cynthia warned.

“Do you think he’s qualified for the job or is he a candidate because we’re doing Lindsay a favor?”

Cynthia leveled Brian with a piercing glare. “Again, do you want me to storm out of here?”

Brian laughed and took the resume from Cynthia’s outstretched hand. “Keep your panties on. I’m just tired of doing these interviews and getting nowhere. This isn’t how I wanted to start the new year.”

“So what you’re saying is that you’re cranky and hung over.”

“What I’m saying is, next year when I think it’s a good idea to schedule anything more than a lunch on the 2nd, be sure to remind me of this hellish day.”

Cynthia rubbed her temples and agreed, “I will. Believe me, I will.”

“All right, the sooner we see this kid, the sooner we can get on to the next and get this day over with. Have Karen send him in.”

Cynthia grabbed her notepad from Brian’s desk and leaned back in her chair. “You realize you’re the one with the phone in front of you, right?”

Brian stuck his tongue out and pressed the page button for his secretary.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Kinney?” the secretary asked.

“Send in our next appointment please, Karen.”

“I’ll walk him down, Mr. Kinney,” Karen spoke before hanging up.

Brian scowled. “Hopefully we’ll have a candidate that doesn’t hit on me.”

“Or me,” Cynthia added.

“Knowing the GLC and art geeks Lindsay surrounds herself with; he’s probably some homely introvert whose only means of expression is through his art.” Brian laughed at his assessment.

“Or a straight man who has only seen a real life woman’s naked body in Life Class,” Cynthia added in a horrified tone.

A soft knock rapped on Brian’s office door.

“I guess we’ll see who is right,” Cynthia said, straightening her posture.

“Come in,” Brian called.

 

*****

Karen had walked Justin down a long hall, pointed to a door at the end and left him to see himself into Mr. Kinney’s office. As he stepped toward it, he’d heard exactly what the two people behind it were saying about him. If he hadn’t wanted to work for the best ad agency in Pittsburgh, he wouldn’t have applied to work for Brian Kinney. There was a new scandalous sex story to hear from the gay grapevine involving the man almost daily and Melanie’s distaste for him added to the reluctance Justin felt when he submitted his resume to Exhibition. It was no surprise to him that instead of criticizing his lack of professional experience, Brian Kinney and a woman, who he guessed was the man’s partner in the agency named Cynthia Prescott, were instead talking about his physical attributes.

After knocking and hearing Mr. Kinney give him permission to enter, Justin lifted his head high, plastered on the brightest smile he’d ever given anyone and sashayed into the office. He knew how to make an entrance and knew that it was very important for him to be completely desirable to Mr. Kinney from the moment the man’s eyes landed on him. His goal was to get Brian and Cynthia to practically beg him to work for Exhibition.

“Ju… Justin Taylor?” Brian asked, rising from his chair.

Justin held back his laughter in reaction to the stunned look on the man’s face. “Yes, nice to meet you, Mr. Kinney.”

*****

Brian closed the folder on his lap and lifted his head to meet Justin’s eyes. “CMU’s School of Art only accepts ten students each year into their MFA program. After looking through your portfolios and academics I can understand why they would consider you.”

“Thank you, but act…”

“But I want you to tell me what it is about you that caught their attention,” Brian interrupted. “Why were you better than the other applicants?”

“Actually, they only accept six students,” Justin corrected, receiving a curt smile from Brian. “I’m not sure how to answer your question without sounding egotistical.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Cynthia encouraged. “If I minded egotistical men I wouldn’t have started an ad agency with Brian and if he minded them he wouldn’t…”

“Thank you, Cynthia,” Brian cut in. “Just answer the question however you feel is best.” He leaned back in his chair and continued to stare at Justin with more than the usual interest he showed in his prospective employees.

Justin was determined not to get nervous. Brian and Cynthia had been making him jump through hoops; their questions were all over the place and intended to throw him off his game. However, they hadn’t. He was still in control, still garnering their interest and he’d answer this question with as much ease as he’d answered the others. “As soon as I entered into the BSCA program my freshmen year, I began preparing to be one of the students selected for the MFA program. I arrived to class early, never missed a day, turned in every assignment before the due date, performed whatever task my professor asked of me and always asked for…”

“You kissed major ass, you were a brownnoser,” Brian laughed as he interrupted Justin.

Justin shrugged. “I knew that I had to get myself noticed, not only with my art but also my personality and work skills. I took off-curriculum courses during the summer, volunteered to help with set designs for the plays and tutored other art students, anything to show my dedication to Carnegie Mellon. I showed them that I was the best candidate, that even if there was only one spot open, it should go to me.”

“That’s very impressive,” Cynthia commented, a little bit in awe of the young man.

“But it still doesn’t answer my question,” Brian quipped. “I’m sure all of the other applicants did the same things, or are you calling yourself a Grade A ass kisser?”

Justin laughed and lifted his chin defiantly. “Actually, I can assure you that many of my accomplishments were rare amongst the CMU students. I suppose you could declare me a Grade A ass kisser. Working hard to meet my goals while pleasing those in a position to decide a big part of my future is something I am proud of. That being said, I’m not a pushover. I didn’t get into the MFA program because of ass kissing alone; I have raw and skilled talent to go along with my ass kissing. Truthfully, I’m the total package. I had and still do have everything going for me.”

Cynthia bit her tongue as she looked over at Brian and saw how annoyed he looked. She forced herself not to smile, even though she really wanted to because it wasn’t every day that someone made Brian feel out of his depth. Her and Brian’s interview strategy had failed, depending on how you looked at it.

Justin Taylor was intelligent, witty, creative and as honest as Brian. There wasn’t one single bad thing to write about him on her notepad. Though her attitude wasn’t nearly as pessimistic as Brian’s, this still surprised her because she thought that there had to be some reason to not hire Justin. But there wasn’t. He’d passed their test with excellence and turned the job interview into a gallery showing or something close to it.

She and Brian had been wrong about Justin’s lack of experience. Neither had bothered reading all the details in the resume. Justin had informed them that the internship positions he’d held went far beyond printing copies and fetching coffee. He interned as the Student Art Director for CMU and in his third and final year in the MFA program Justin had been an understudy to the University’s most highly honored Fine Arts Professor. Upon closer inspection of the recommendations, Professor Greer had written that Justin had practically taught his Fundamental Art class the last year. She’d never felt so unprepared while giving an interview and knew Brian felt the same way but was trying not to show it.

“You do?” Brian dared to ask.

“Of course and you know that I do. Otherwise, this interview would’ve been over as quickly as the last two were.” Justin leaned forward and put his hands on Brian’s desktop as he stared him down. “So, are you going to admit that I am exactly what you have been looking for?” He looked at Cynthia and asked, “Am I Exhibition’s new Art Director?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

Justin laughed but covered his mouth as Brian and Cynthia agreed upon glaring at him.

*****

 

Justin followed Brian out of the Art Department. “Can I ask why you said no?”

“Didn’t you just ask?”

“Yes. So why?”

Brian stopped in front of the first office door down the hallway where his office was located. He handed Justin the key to the Art Director’s office. “Here.”

“Thanks?” Justin guessed that the man expected him to open the door himself.

Brian impatiently waited for Justin to open the door. “If you want to get rid of the orange paint feel free to do so, but on your own time.”

Justin was in complete shock as he looked around the huge office. It was almost the same size as Brian’s. “I don’t mind the orange.”

“Cade, our previous Art Director, was obsessed with orange. I had to get rid of all the furniture, so this is all new.”

“His furniture was orange too?” Justin asked, slowly walking around the spacious room.

“The curtains too,” Brian said. “It’s amazing I didn’t fire him for decorating his place to look like a fucking creamsicle.”

Justin ran his hand over the raised sketch table, gave Brian an uneasy look and asked, “Why did you fire him?”

“I guess you’ll hear it from the staff soon so I guess I should tell you. Otherwise you’ll probably get some dramatized truth.”

Justin looked out the largest window and drew a smiley face in the frost. “So they’re gossipers?” he grumbled.

“There is nothing the Art Department likes more than juicy gossip. You’ll learn that once you put them in their place and they go from tolerating you to respecting you.”

Justin laughed. “They looked at me like they wanted to claw my eyes out.”

“Can you blame them? They’ve been working here almost as long as you were going to school and you don’t look a day over eighteen.”

Justin bristled and faced Brian. “That’s ridiculous. I look at least twenty-one.”

Brian smirked. “That doesn’t really make a difference.”

“Well, I’m not going to apologize for choosing the right path for my education and career. As for my looks, I won’t apologize for being gorgeous.” Justin gave Brian a flirtatious smile. “I doubt you do.”

Brian coughed away the spark inside his chest. “No, I don’t.”

Justin had undressed Brian approximately four and a half times since he’d met him and was trying his best not to do it once again. He turned away and pretended to check out the closet as he asked, “So what was the reason you fired Cade?”

Brian had to replay Justin’s question in his head to have it make sense. He’d been staring at his perfect ass as he walked away from him and his cock was demanding that it have more blood flow than his brain. “He was caught fucking his boyfriend across the desk.”

Justin turned to face Brian again. “You said the desk is new, right?”

Brian nodded and sat down on the edge of the expensive looking piece of furniture. “Yeah, it is.”

Justin swallowed down thoughts of fucking Brian across his new desk and asked, “So did you catch them?”

“Cynthia did,” Brian explained. “It wasn’t even the fact that he was fucking his boyfriend at work. He was late for a staff meeting and didn’t answer any of Karen’s pages or calls. It wasn’t the first time he’d been late to a meeting after having lunch with his boyfriend in the office. He was careless; he didn’t even lock the fucking door.”

“That is pretty stupid,” Justin said. “You don’t have to worry. I won’t be fucking my boyfriend at work and he definitely won’t be making me late for anything.”

Brian blinked quickly. “You have a boyfriend?”

Justin shrugged. “I guess you could call him my partner, but we don’t live together.”

“Interesting. I didn’t peg you to be a hetero-wannabe.”

“I’m far from it,” Justin replied, unperturbed. “Eric and I have a very open relationship.”

Brian smirked at that. “So you haven’t been together very long then?”

“Actually we’ve been together for about seven years.”

“And you don’t live together?”

“I told you, we have an open relationship.”

“How convenient.”

*****
 

“Hey!”

Eric looked up from his desk and smiled as Justin closed the door and walked further into the empty classroom. “This is a nice surprise.”

“I was in the neighborhood,” Justin joked.

Eric stood and gave Justin a quick hug and kiss.

“That was awfully risky,” Justin warned.

“The door is closed and it’s not like they have cameras in the classrooms.” Eric sat on the edge of his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “So, what are you doing here?”

Justin’s mind flashed to the thoughts he’d had earlier of fucking Brian Kinney across his new desk and cleared his throat. “I wanted to share my good news. I’m now employed!”

“You got a job?” Eric asked.

Justin proudly smiled. “Yup.”

“Where at?”

“Exhibition Advertising.”

Eric grimaced. “So you decided to put your resume in there after all?”

“I knew I’d get the job if I did.”

“I knew you would too, but I thought you didn’t want to work for that guy.”

Justin frowned. “What he does in his personal life has nothing to do with work. Same with me. It’s not like you tell your students that you’re gay.”

“True,” Eric agreed. “But you held off putting in a resume there for months; I didn’t know that you’d changed your mind. I thought you were taking a year off before you looked for anything that wasn’t freelance.”

“I’ve had enough of a break. It was far past time that I stopped living off my inheritance since I got my MFA last May. I don’t know what I was thinking when I said I’d take a year off. Normal people don’t waste a year of their lives.”

“You weren’t wasting your life, Justin. You did some freelance work and you were helping your Mom do something she’s wanted to do since your dad died.”

“And the renovations to her house are finished and she’s since sold the house and has been living in her new home with Tucker for a month.” Justin didn’t want to talk about anything that had to do with his father or Tucker today. “Lindsay was right. The opportunity to work as the Art Director for the top advertising agency in Pittsburgh wouldn’t be there in a few months.”

“So is he as bad as the rumors say he is?” Eric queried.

Justin refused to answer that question because he felt uneasy talking about his boss with Eric, though he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why that was. “So when can you get out of here? I want to celebrate!”

Eric twisted around and grabbed a large stack of papers. “I have about a hundred poems to read, half of which I’m sure will make my eyes bleed. Wanna help me grade them?”

“Maybe, if you get me liquored up first,” Justin bargained seriously.

“It’s a deal,” Eric replied, getting up from the desk and gathering up his things. “Only one bottle of wine though, otherwise I won’t want to get up for school tomorrow.”

“You can call in and get a sub,” Justin suggested.

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Eric remarked. “The freshmen were reading chapter eight of “Lord of the Flies” today. When we got to the part where Jack is naked except for war paint and a belt, they were all giggling like second graders.”

Justin reached out and playfully petted Eric’s soft brown hair. “My poor man. Why you decided to teach high school kids, I’ll never understand.”

“I could say the same for you about your choice of employment,” Eric teased, closing his briefcase.

“Yes, but I can at least excuse myself by admitting that I’m attracted to the huge salary, health benefits and prestige.”

Eric kissed Justin’s cheek quickly before opening the classroom door and ushering his boyfriend out into the hall. “You’re very bad, Justin.”

Justin whispered, “Well, Mr. Rockford, maybe you should take me home and show me how good boys act. I like watching you as you try to behave.”

Eric really wished there weren’t cameras in the hallway because he wanted to push Justin against the lockers and kiss the naughty tone right out of him. “Why don’t I ever get to be the teacher?” Eric asked quietly.

Justin pulled on Eric’s tie for a moment before replying, “Don’t mess with what works, Mr. Rockford. You get to play teacher all day, at night, it’s my job.”

 

*****
 

“Brian, what are you doing here?” Lindsay asked, ushering him inside.

Brian ignored her question and asked one of his own, “How come you didn’t tell me that you were sending one of your art geeks to me?”

“What? You didn’t hire him.”

“Of course I did. You knew I would.”

Lindsay smiled. “Justin is talented, smart and he’s great with our son. He watches him from time to time and Gus loves him. Ask him, he’ll give you another reference, though I doubt Justin needs it.”

As if on cue, Gus came running out of his room. “Dad!” he yelled, rounding the banister and taking the stairs two at a time. “Guess what?”

“You grew another inch?” Brian asked, accepting a hug.

“No,” Gus said, rolling his eyes. “Next Wednesday is career day and we get to bring one of our parents to school.”

“Well, I’d choose your Mom if I were you. It’s much cooler to bring an art teacher to school than a lawyer. She’d bore them all to death.”

“Brian!” Lindsay elbowed him in the side. “Melanie’s job isn’t boring.”

“Yeah, it is,” Gus said, beating Brian to saying it.

Brian laughed. “Speaking of the devil dyke, where is she?”

“Brian!” This time Lindsay punched Brian’s shoulder. “Melanie is at work.”

Gus giggled but stopped when his mother gave him a stern glare. “Don’t worry,” Gus told her. “I know Dad and Mama are only joking when they say bad things like that. They really love each other.”

“Actually…” Brian’s words were cut off as Lindsay clamped her hand over his mouth.

“Are you going to behave?” Lindsay asked, half smiling. Brian nodded and Lindsay removed her hand. “I can’t go because I have to teach too, I can’t go to Gus’ school,” she explained. “So…”

Brian’s eyes widened. “No way.”

“Aww… Dad!” Gus pouted, looking up at his father. “You never come to parent meetings.”

“That’s because….” Brian stopped himself from saying that he wasn’t Gus’ parent. “It’s because you have two parents that are better at the school stuff than I am.”

“But you’re the one I want to come. Even if Mom could come, I want you. I told everyone at school that you made the Chocolate Grill commercial and they want to meet you!”

Brian grimaced as he thought of that commercial. The ‘grill’ was a line of candy molded into different sets of false teeth. It was one of the worst products Brian could ever remember selling. However, the profit he made from Hick’s Candies made up for the embarrassment. “I suppose your friends will be expecting me to bring some of those with me?” Brian asked. He really didn’t want to go but he figured the appearance would get him out of the next open house or carnival they had at Gus’ school.

Gus jumped up and down. “That’d be awesome!”

“I’m sure your teacher will love that,” Lindsay offered.

“Well they can’t have them until I leave,” Brian told Gus.

“That’s okay. Thanks, Dad.”

Brian jokingly replied in a happy-go-lucky tone, “You’re welcome, Son.”

Gus’ eyebrows knit together. “You’re weird.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“Go finish your homework,” Lindsay said. “Or you’re not getting any of the ice cream Mama’s bringing home.”

“Okay, okay,” Gus sulked and kissed Brian before running back upstairs.

“So Mel’s grocery shopping?” Brian guessed. “You never answered me earlier.”

“She took Jenny with her. We didn’t have anything to make for dinner,” Lindsay said, walking with Brian into the kitchen. “Do you want some coffee?” she asked, pouring herself a cup.

“No. I want you to tell me about Justin.”

“I already did and I’m sure you grilled him during his interview. You know all you need to, Brian.”

“Do you know his boyfriend?” Brian couldn’t believe he’d actually asked that question. From the look on Lindsay’s face, she was surprised too, but then she started to frown at him.

“I’ve met him a few times, yes. We don’t teach at the same high school if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Oh, he’s a teacher. How cute.”

“Brian, you can’t fuck your employee.”

“You never told me why you told Cynthia about him and not me,” Brian said, changing the subject.

“If I would’ve mentioned it to you beforehand you probably wouldn’t have even given him an interview. Justin isn’t as flaky as my other friends can be. Actually, he isn’t flaky at all.”

“So why say anything to Cynthia?”

“I happened to mention it to her at Exhibition’s New Year’s party, that’s all. It wasn’t some elaborate plan to use my ‘connections’ to get him hired. I knew his resume would get him the interview and you would hire him all on his own merit. However, I didn’t want you to find out later that we’re friends and that I suggested the job to him. Then, you really would’ve been thinking I’d planned the thing. Even if I did, what does it matter? He’s great at what he does and you’re lucky to have him work for you.”

Brian grumbled as he saw headlights bounce off the garage through the kitchen window. “I guess that’s my cue to leave. What time am I supposed to go to Gus’ school next week?”

Lindsay walked with Brian to the foyer and gave him a tight hug. “Gus brought home a paper about it but I don’t want to disturb him while he’s doing his homework. I’ll call and let you know tomorrow, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Brian replied, opening the door to find Melanie holding Jenny with one arm and a bag of groceries in the other.

“Don’t just stand there, Brian,” Melanie panted. “Come grab the kid, she’s asleep.”

Brian sighed. “I’m still in my Armani, she’d better not spit up on me,” he warned.

“She’s almost four years old, Brian. She doesn’t spit up,” Lindsay laughed, breezing past them as Brian took Jenny in his arms. “I’ll go get the rest of the groceries.”

“And leave me alone with him?” Melanie whined.

Brian laughed quietly as he brought Jenny into the living room and placed her on the sofa. He was in the process of taking off her boots when her eyes opened and she immediately smiled at him. “Uncle Brian?” she asked dreamily, her smile broadening.

“Yeah, it’s me.” Brian grinned back, pleased that Jenny liked him so much because he loved how much it pissed Melanie off.

 

*****
 

“Don’t you think we should ask Mr. Kinney before changing…”

“Anna, I am the Art Director. It’s my job to make this decision. The only reason I’d ask Mr. Kinney about something first was if I was changing something he specifically asked to see in the mock up. When I bring him the final board for approval, if he doesn’t like the change at that point we will change it,” Justin told the woman.

Anna tilted her chin in the air, turned on her toes and hurried back to her desk.

Justin turned his attention to the rest of the employees in the art department. “If anyone has any other questions regarding my authority, please come see me in my office and we’ll discuss it in private there. If you don’t know where my office is, the plate on the door with my name and the words Art Director underneath it should give you a clue.”

Two weeks working at Exhibition and his staff was still acting as though he didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about! It was getting old, really fucking old. Justin was going to start handing out pink slips and hiring a whole new team if they didn’t cut their shit soon. He walked out of the art department and headed for his office, planning on grabbing his pack of smokes and heading outside for a quick cigarette.

He put his plans on hold when he entered his office. Brian sat in one of the swivel black chairs in front of his desk, wearing an expression of impatience. “Good afternoon, Mr. Kinney,” he greeted warmly, walking around to his desk chair.

Brian laughed at Justin. “Cut the shit. You’re not my secretary, you don’t have to greet me like I’m your…”

“Boss?” Justin filled in, chuckling. “Did you need something?”

“Well, you said that if anyone had any questions regarding your authority we should speak to you privately in your office.”

Justin’s face reddened and he covered his face. “You heard that?” he asked behind his hands.

Brian grinned. “Yeah, the whole office did.”

“Shoot.” Justin cautiously took his hands away from his face. “Sorry.”

“Just remember that the next time you plan on bitching them out to close the door. It’s soundproofed glass all around so you can then yell as loud as you would like. I know I do.”

Justin was relieved that Brian found himself amused by his rant. “Did you really want to talk to me about that authority stuff?”

Brian shook his head. “Nah, though if you feel the need to write some of them up and look for new-hires yourself, you know you can. Cade is the one who hired almost every one of the art staff so if they feel some fucked up sense of loyalty to him, feel free to start firing them if they don’t behave like adults.”

“I really don’t want to,” Justin groaned. “But you’d think that after seeing how happy you are with what we’ve put out, by my designs, they’d respect me. You are happy with my work, Mr. Kinney?”

“Believe me, you’d know it if I wasn’t,” Brian replied. “And please, when we’re alone or with Ted or Cynthia, you can call me Brian.”

“Noted,” Justin said, smiling.

“I’m about to take my lunch. Do you want to come with me?” Brian asked.

“Where are you going to eat?” Justin asked. “Not that I’m picky.”

Brian thought that Justin had to have a special diet of food that deposited itself directly in his ass and wanted to ask him if he did, but knew that remark would qualify for sexual harassment. “Actually, we’ve taken on Vincent’s as clients. Have you eaten there before?”

“No,” Justin said, his mouth watering. “I’ve always wanted to. I hear their food is great but I couldn’t ever justify spending thirty dollars for a plate of pasta.”

“Apparently neither can the general population, which is why they’ve come to Exhibition. I’m going to have to think of a brilliant way to make people think that spending that kind of money on pasta is perfectly acceptable in this economy. You don’t have to worry about the bill today; your lunch is research. It’s a business expense.”

Justin grinned and stood from his chair. “I’m in. Though don’t we have a research department?”

“As the owner of Exhibition and you as the Art Director, we should be well versed in all the departments and their duties.” Brian grinned as he stood from his chair and started for the door. “Do you have a car?” he asked.

“I do, but I’m having it detailed today. I took the bus,” Justin replied.

“Well, then you’ll have to ride with me,” Brian said, pausing in the doorway. “Meet me out front in a few minutes; I’ve got to grab my briefcase and coat.”

“All right,” Justin replied, shutting the door behind him.

He didn’t watch Brian’s long lean body walk down the hall to his own office until he disappeared inside and closed his door behind him. His cock didn’t get hard, his mouth didn’t water, and his skin didn’t tingle. It didn’t, because he was already headed for the front door and facing the opposite direction. Or so he told himself as he walked out into the crisp, freezing air and thanked the cold for having a certain effect on the area below his belly button.

 

*****
 

“I feel like we’re food critics,” Justin said excitedly, practically bouncing in his seat.

Brian shuddered. “There’s no way I can try even one bite of everything here. I’ll have to call in fat to work tomorrow.” Mr. Vincent wanted them to choose their favorite dishes to inspire them while developing the campaign.

Justin rubbed his hands together as he tried to decide what he’d try first. “Tomorrow is Saturday; you can sleep it off.”

“I don’t think we’ll be making it back to work,” Brian warned. “I should call Karen and let her know we’ll be out for the rest of the day.”

“You’re serious?” Justin asked, laughing at Brian’s dramatic act.

Brian nodded. “We’ll be in food comas soon.”

Justin wasn’t going to stop his boss from allowing them both the opportunity to play hooky for the rest of the day. “I look forward to the food coma, then.”

Brian got out his cell phone and called Karen while Justin tasted the rigatoni, moaning as he chewed. The noise distracted Brian and after Karen hung up it took him hearing the dial tone in his ear before he did the same. “I should’ve at least smoked a joint first because then I wouldn’t have cared.” He watched Justin’s expression, gauging his reaction to the admission that he smoked pot.

“You have some?” Justin asked quietly, even though they were alone in the private section normally reserved for large parties.

“Sadly, no. I don’t usually travel with it to work.”

Justin pouted. “I haven’t smoked in ages. My partner is a teacher so he always gets all paranoid at the suggestion of me smoking pot. He thinks I’ll be arrested while buying it and it’ll come back on him somehow.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Brian made a decision and stuck a fork in the spinach lasagna. “So he’s probably not out at work either, right?”

“No,” Justin said, going for the seafood ravioli with his fork. “But that’s the only place he’s in the closet. I couldn’t date anyone that isn’t out. I don’t want a flaming queen or anything, but you know what I mean, right?”

Brian rolled his eyes. “Not in the slightest. I know you know my reputation, Justin. Every gay man in Pittsburgh seems to.”

Justin chewed the delicious food carefully and marked his rating for the dish on Brian’s notepad. “Right, I do. But are you telling me you’ve never dated anyone?”

“What’s the point?” Brian asked. “I don’t need to be in a relationship to get my needs met.”

“The point is…” Justin thought for a moment but words failed him.

Brian laughed. “You don’t even know why you’re with your boyfriend, do you?”

“I guess it’s just one of those indescribable things,” Justin retorted. “But you wouldn’t understand that since you’ve never actually tried to be in a relationship.”

“Whatever,” Brian dismissed Justin. “So how did the ravioli taste?”

“Delicious, but I think there was too much shrimp in it. It overpowered everything else.”

“I thought that when I ordered it,” Brian admitted. “The spinach lasagna’s great. You have to try that.”

“So who did you come here with before?” Justin asked. “It seems like the perfect place for a date.”

“I came here with clients. You know, I’d forgotten about it, but I did go on one date.”

“Really?” Justin asked, completely intrigued. “Was he the one who scared you away from them?”

“I probably scared him since I ended up fucking the waiter,” Brian stated proudly.

Justin chuckled. “That’s terrible. You probably broke your date’s heart.”

“Probably,” Brian grinned. “I’m a natural born heart breaker.”

 

*****
 

“Justin?” Ted knocked on Justin’s open door.

“Hi, Ted. Come in.”

Ted handed Justin an envelope. “That’s your paycheck. I was out of the office the day Brian had you fill out the forms so he may not have included the direct deposit form in the packet. I wanted to double check with you and see if you were interested in that.”

“What do I need to do for that?”

“I’ll have the forms on your desk in the morning,” Ted answered, turning to leave.

“Thanks,” Justin called after him.

Once Ted had left the office, Justin went back to working on the graphics for the Vincent’s commercial. By the time he was finished, the office had gone quiet and Justin was sure that it was probably only him, Cynthia and Brian left at Exhibition. Looking at the clock on his desk, Justin realized that it was already after seven. Deciding that he’d worked enough for the day, he gathered his things and prepared to leave.

“Are you leaving or did you come back because you forgot something?” Brian asked from down the hall.

Justin closed his office door and turned toward Brian. “I’m leaving. I just wanted to finish some graphic work for the Vincent’s commercial.”

Brian walked toward Justin and smirked as he heard Justin suck in a deep breath as he stopped close to him. “Do you need a ride home?” he asked.

Justin found his feet somehow backed up into the corner in the dark hall and Brian’s lean body was only inches from his own. Brian’s form seemed to overpower his presence; it should have made him feel uncomfortable, but he welcomed it. “No, no…” he stuttered before clearing his throat. “I brought my car.”

“See you tomorrow then.” Brian gave Justin a curt nod and walked toward the elevators.

Justin wasn’t pretending when he went back into his office because he was sure he’d forgotten something important. Even though he couldn’t remember what it was. It had nothing to do with the feeling that crept up his spine and spread itself through every nerve in his body, the feeling he’d never experienced before that just so happened to appear the last two times he was close to Brian Kinney. His boss. Justin hadn’t convinced himself that he’d forgotten a useless folder of sketches just because he couldn’t bear the thought of riding alone in the elevator with Brian. He honestly forgot and needed the preliminary sketches for the first campaign he’d worked on at Exhibition.

Really. He did. Or so he convinced himself as he waited for the elevator to reach Exhibition’s floor. He let out a relieved breath as the light for the tenth floor lit up above the metal doors. The doors opened and he started to rush in, only to stop in the middle of them.

“My fucking car won’t start,” Brian groused.

Justin gulped. “I’ll give you a ride.”