Arms of Destiny

Chapter 8
 

Brian and Justin arrived in Chicago at 10:00 the next morning. Both of the men were tired from the early morning flight. They took a taxi to their hotel and checked in before agreeing to meet that afternoon to go over the account one more time. As Brian walked in the direction of his room, Justin couldn’t help but stare at his retreating form. He once again felt the sadness that he had gotten used to in his years at Dartmouth. He shook off those thought and headed towards his room, hoping to get a few hours rest before having to look into those hazel eyes once again.

Justin was lying on his bed in the hotel wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into. He had been employed for less then a week and here he was, in Chicago, trying to please a client. What if he wasn’t ready? He was beginning to panic and tried to get his mind off the meeting that would be taking place in a few hours. The only problem was that gave him more time to worry about his other issue; being stuck in Chicago with Brian. As much as he wanted to help Brian succeed, he didn’t know if he had the ability to meet with clients and he didn’t want to let the older man down. He felt like this was his chance to redeem himself after walking away without saying goodbye and he wanted to make Brian proud. Realizing that it was already 1:00, Justin decided that maybe a hot shower would help clear his head so he stripped down and headed to the bathroom.

Brian stood outside Justin’s hotel room trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. It was silly for him to feel like he was feeling. It was only Justin. But then again, the blond always had that effect on him, even from the beginning. Not that Brian would ever admit that to anyone. He was Brian Kinney, he didn’t do feelings. Somehow, Justin had changed all that. Somehow, he had managed to change all the rules Brian lived by, and then he left. He walked away without looking back and confirmed Brian’s theory that love just wasn’t worth the effort. Unfortunately, it was too late by then. Brian was already too far gone to turn back. Now, four years later here he was, afraid to be alone with the man in his hotel room. Maybe he should just call and have Justin meet him downstairs. No, he had to do this. He needed to get used to being close to the blond if they were going to be working together.

Brian knocked on the door and when he didn’t get an answer he tried to turn the knob, surprised to find it unlocked. He entered slowly and heard the shower running. Memories of their time spent in his shower at the loft ran through his mind and he tried to shake them off as he walked towards the window. Looking out over the Chicago sky, he replayed the morning after they met. He knew that the boy had to be sore from all that he had experienced the night before, but that didn’t deter him from engaging in another round. The boy definitely had the ability to keep up with Brian’s sex drive, which was surprising for a boy out for his first time. The sound of the shower being shut off jarred Brian from his thoughts and he continued to stare out the window waiting for the blond to enter the room. As he heard the door open and the sound of Justin, startled to see him standing there, Brian spoke as he turned around.

“You should really learn to lock your door, Sunshine. Anyone could just walk right…” Brian’s words were stopped by the sight before him. Justin stood there with a towel wrapped around his waist, water droplet’s glistening on his bare chest. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the beautiful vision before him.

“Bri…Brian! What are you doing here?” Justin asked, trying to get over the shock of seeing Brian standing in his hotel room.

“I…uh…thought I would come early to give us more time to go over our plan for the meeting. When you didn’t answer the door I thought maybe you were asleep so I just came in. I guess I’ll just go wait downstairs. I’ll be at the bar.” Brian replied before walking out of the room at lightening speed. He needed a drink and needed it bad.

Justin watched Brian walk out of his room, confused by his sudden departure. If he didn’t know better, he would swear that Brian was uncomfortable being alone in the room with him. Realizing that his theory was way off base, Justin went about getting dressed, shaking his head at the thought of Brian being uncomfortable by anything. It wasn’t his style. Being alone in a strange city with his true love was beginning to make him crazy.

Brian sat alone at the bar, working on his third beam, trying to figure out how to handle his current situation. He needed to get a grip on his feelings for Justin. The blond moved on with his life and Brian needed to do the same thing. Knowing that he needed to back off the booze before his meeting, he got up from the bar and sat down at a table in the corner where he could keep an eye out for Justin. While he waited he was approached by a tall, good looking man, asking if he wanted to get together later that night. Brian didn’t even have to think twice before turning the man down. Ever since he crawled out of the dark period the tricks had become less frequent, needed only when the urges became too great. His thoughts were interrupted when his cell phone rang. Looking at his caller ID, he smiled as he answered.

“Miss me already?” He chuckled into the phone.

“No, you asshole. I just wanted to make sure you two got there okay. You know I hate it when you have to travel all the time.” Cynthia replied with a smile on her face. The truth was that since her and Brian became close, she worried about him constantly, always waiting for the dark period to resurface. Now that she knew what had caused his minor meltdown, and knowing that the cause is traveling with him, she was even more concerned.

“I know, Cyn. We are fine. I am sitting in the bar at the hotel waiting for Justin now. We are going to go over the account one more time and make sure we are on the same page before meeting with Mr. Grant. What’s happening on your end? Any problems?” He asked, as he watched the blond approach. He thought back to the moment when he turned and saw Justin standing there in just a towel. He had definitely grown up since the last time Brian had seen him. His body filled out in all the right places and just thinking about it made him hard. He shifted in his seat as he motioned for the man to join him.

“Everything is fine here, but you got a phone call from Josh. I told him you wouldn’t be back until late Friday, but he seemed upset, so I thought I would let you know.” Cynthia explained, hating to ruin Brian’s trip with his personal life.

“What did he say? Did he tell you what was wrong?” Brian asked, all thoughts of Justin pushed away for the moment. The last thing he needed now was another drama while he was out of the state.

“Come on Brian. You know he would never tell me what’s bothering him. That’s why I called you. You might want to give him a call and make sure he’s okay.” She answered, knowing that was exactly what he was going to do.

“Yeah, I’ll call him now. This is not the time for one of his little drama moments. Look, I’ll call you after the meeting and let you know how everything went.” Brian said before disconnecting the call. His mind was so set on the current problem at hand that he dialed the familiar number without realizing that Justin was sitting a few feet away watching him.

“Hello?” The woman answered with her usual cheerfulness.

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded calm so he knew that it couldn’t have been an emergency. “Hello Shana, it’s Brian. Is everything alright?” He asked.

“Oh, hello Brian. Everything is fine. Why? Did Josh call you again?” She asked, even though, she already knew the answer. No matter what little drama her son found himself in, he always ran to Brian.

“He called my office, but I’m out of town. My partner let me know so I thought I would check in. Did anything happen?” He asked, feeling better that there obviously wasn’t anything to worry about.

“How about I let you talk to Josh. He can tell you what’s bothering him.” She replied, and then pulled the phone away to call for the boy.

Brian waited for Josh to get on the line oblivious to the confused look on Justin’s face. All he could think about was Josh and the friendship they had begun. He had met the kid more then three years earlier, right after the dark period. When he finally realized that he needed to make some changes, he found a log cabin retreat that was run by an elderly couple who had lost both their children to drugs. They offered support and housing for people like him. People who didn’t necessarily have a drug or alcohol problem, just depended on the substances a little too much. He packed his bags and went away for a week without telling anyone of his plans, not even Cynthia. While he was there he met Shana, Josh’s mother. She was there more to escape her abusive husband then her alcohol problem. She had her five year old son with her. For some reason Josh and Brian bonded immediately and their friendship began. Since then, the two had kept in contact, making sure to speak at least twice a month. He wasn’t due to call again for another week and Brian was getting anxious about what could be bothering the now eight year old. He didn’t have long to wait.

“Brian! I am sorry to call you, but I didn’t have no choice. My grandparents are coming next week and they want to take me out to a nice place for dinner cause they said I was a man now and they said I have to wear a suit and Mom said she would take me to Sears to get one cause we don’t have lots of money but I know you said to never buy clothes at Sears cause they don’t have no Armany or anything like that and I need to have something nice to wear!” Josh exclaimed, never stopping to take a breath. He was so excited about going to dinner and didn’t want to look bad.

“First of all, it’s Armani, not armany. You have to be able say it before you can wear it. Tell your Mom not to worry about it. I will take you shopping on Saturday. I can’t let you go out of the house in a suit bought at Sears!” Brian replied, laughing at the excitement in the boy. Sensing two blue eyes staring at him, Brian knew that he needed to get off the phone and face the music.

“Thank you Brian. I knew I could count on you! You are the best!” Josh yelled into the phone. He knew that Brian would come through for him, he always did. Brian was his best friend and he used to wish that he would marry his mother so he could be his Dad, but his Mom explained that Brian liked boys better then girls so he had to settle for just being friends.

“Okay Buddy. I have a meeting I need to get to. Tell your Mom I’ll pick you up at 10:00am on Saturday.” Brian said, as he looked over at Justin.

“Okay. Bye, Brian!” Josh replied excitedly before hanging up the phone.

"What?” Brian asked as he put his cell back in his pocket. He could just imagine the questions running through that blond head of his. He knew he would have to explain some of what Justin had overheard, but the less he knew, the better.

“What was that all about? Who is Josh?” Justin asked with confusion. He new that it was really none of his business, but he couldn’t help but wonder what the phone call was about. He knew nothing of the life Brian had been living for the last four years, but that was his fault. He should have kept in touch with everyone. Unfortunately, hind sight is always 20/20.

“That was just someone I know. Let’s go over these files so we are prepared for the meeting. I want to be able to assure Mr. Grant that we can deliver whatever it is that he wants.” Brian replied, dismissing the subject. He didn’t want to have the conversation right now. In fact, he would like to forget about it completely. What he did with his life was none of Justin’s business anymore. He chose that path when he walked away.

“Uh…sure. Okay. Let’s get started then.” Justin said, recognizing the automatic shut down that Brian always used when someone tried to get too close. Justin decided to put away the questions for the time being, but he had every intension of asking them again. He may have walked away, but he never stopped loving the man beside him and if they were going to be friends, Justin would have to make him open up. All he had to do was figure out a way around the great wall Kinney.


End of part 8
8/6/03

Return to Arms of Destiny