A Matter of Trust
Chapter 2
It had been four weeks since Justin had run out of Babylon and away from the hazel eyed man from that night, yet he still couldn’t seem to get him off his mind. Things were finally settling down for him after weeks of chaos. His mother and Molly moved in, bringing nothing but drama and upset to his home. Getting his mother to accept his help was becoming more of a problem than he originally anticipated. She refused his offer of money, demanding that she buy the food and toiletries that she and Molly needed. It was a battle that he was never going to win. On top of that, he had to make two trips to New York so he could sign the contracts and discuss his book deal with the editors. Luckily, all that helped to keep his mind occupied during the days, but there was no one around to help him at night when he was trying to sleep. His brain relived his and the unknown man’s dance over and over again, causing him to jerk himself off on more than one occasion just to find some relief. Daphne was constantly nagging him, trying to get him to go back to Babylon to seek him out, but Justin refused. The last thing he needed was to have another encounter with a man that he couldn’t forget. It was a sure fire recipe for disaster.
He finally managed to get a free day and decided to disappear for awhile away from everyone. After grabbing his sketch book and letting Daphne know he was going out, he left the house looking forward to a relaxing day. His first stop was at a small coffee house on the outskirts of town. He’d discovered it during one of his visits home and promised himself that he would check it out the first chance he got. It was a quaint little place with small tables and a few well worn couches where people could relax and enjoy their drinks. Justin ordered an espresso and found an empty couch by the window that had good lighting. He pulled his sketch book out of his messenger bag and began to loose himself in one of the drawings for his book. He lost track of time and wasn’t aware of his surroundings until he felt a tingle run down his spine. He looked up quickly and his eyes met a pair of very familiar hazel ones.
Brian had decided that he needed to get out of the house. Cynthia was still on her honeymoon and the silence of the big old house was getting to him. She’d been gone for two weeks already and wasn’t planning on returning for another two weeks. Brian had always prided himself on not needing anybody, but he finally realized just how much he relied Cynthia to keep him grounded. As he entered his favorite coffee house, trying to decide what to do to amuse himself for the day, his eyes were immediately drawn to the blond sitting in the corner. It was the same blond that had been invading his thoughts for far too long. His desire for coffee momentarily forgotten, Brian walked over to the couch where the blond was sitting, unsure of what he was doing.
“Hey,” he said softly.
Justin saw the man approach and tried to quell his nervousness. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“I haven’t seen you in here before? New in town?” Brian suddenly felt like a school boy instead of the multi-millionaire that he was.
“Uh…sort of. I grew up in Pittsburgh, but moved away years ago. I just came back to town to be closer to my family. I saw this place when I was on one of my visits and promised myself that I’d check it out the first chance I got. It’s a nice little place.” Justin hoped he didn’t sound as nervous as he felt.
“Yeah, it’s a great place to hide away. I can spend hours here just trying to get away from the everyday shit.”
“I bet. My name’s Justin, by the way,” Justin said, extending his hand.
“Brian,” he replied, ignoring the heat he felt when their hands connected. “So, I see you like to draw?”
Justin looked down and noticed his sketch pad, having momentarily forgotten it when Brian entered the room. “Yeah, it’s a favorite pastime of mine.”
“Would you mind if I take a look?”
“No…I mean, no I wouldn’t mind,” Justin stammered, handing the pad over for inspection. He was thankful that the drawings he had done of Brian from the memory of their night were in one of his old books at home.
Brian took the sketch pad and sat down, looking through the pages in awe. “These are really good. Do you draw professionally?”
It only took a split second before Justin made the decision to keep his success a secret and become just a regular guy in a coffee house. “Yeah, I’m trying this whole starving artist thing. What about you? What do you do?”
Brian stiffened at the question. The last thing he wanted to tell a starving artist was that he was one of Fortune 500’s favorite subjects and was surprised to hear his own reply. “I’m in advertising. I work over at Ryder Agency.” It wasn’t a complete lie. He did work for Ryder after college; before he bought out his boss who retired to Florida.
“That sounds like an interesting job.”
“Yeah, I spend my days thinking up ways to get people to buy things that they don’t need by making them think they can’t live without them,” Brian laughed in reply.
“Oh, so the next time I end up with something completely useless, I can just blame you,” Justin teased.
They talked for a few more minutes before Brian stood up, ready to go get his coffee. “I guess I should let you get back to your drawing.”
“No…I mean that’s okay. I’m…uh…enjoying your company,” Justin stammered, kicking himself for his sudden speech impediment.
“Okay, well then let me go order my coffee. Do you need a refill?”
“No thanks, I’m good,” Justin replied with a smile.
Three hours later, Brian and Justin were still sitting in the coffee house talking like they were old friends when Justin’s cell phone rang.
“Sorry, I have to take this,” Justin said after looking at the caller ID.
“Go ahead. I have to use the bathroom anyway.” Brian got up and walked away, giving Justin some privacy.
“Hey Daphne,” Justin answered once Brian was gone.
“Hey Jus, listen I know you’re taking the day to yourself, but I wanted to let you know that Todd called. He wanted to see if you finished up the sketches for the first book. He’s arranging a meeting with one of the big wigs and wants to have something to show them,” Daphne explained.
“I’m trying to finish them up now. Call him back and let him know I’ll have something for him by Monday. Oh, and call Tomas at the gallery and let him know that I’m sending him a few more paintings for the fall showing. I finally went through those crates that were in storage and found some pieces that I forgot I had.”
“Okay, I’ll take care of it. How’s your day going? Did…uh…anything exciting happen that you want to share?” she asked.
Justin looked up and saw Brian heading back towards the table. “No, nothing exciting. I’m just sitting alone in the coffee house, trying to get some work done. I’ll see you later, Daph.” He quickly disconnected the call before she could comment.
“Is everything alright?” Brian asked as he sat back down.
“Yeah, that was just my friend Daphne calling to check up on me. She’s always trying to get me to go out and meet people. She thinks I have no life,” Justin chuckled.
“You have one of them too, huh? I have Cynthia, but luckily she’s away on her honeymoon so she won’t be checking up on me for a couple more weeks.”
“You’re so lucky. I wish Daphne would get married so she’d have more to worry about than just me,” Justin teased. “But I guess I really should be going. I didn’t plan on spending the whole day here.”
“Yeah, me either,” Brian replied, struggling to find a way to get Justin’s number. For some reason Brian didn’t like the thought of not seeing the blond again. “Hey, do you ever do freelance work?”
“Sometimes,” Justin lied. “A starving artist has to take whatever work he can find.”
“Why don’t you give me your number? The agency has a list of people who freelance for us when we have a full schedule and strict deadlines. Maybe I could help throw a little work your way.”
“Uh, sure; that would be great,” Justin said, as he reached in his bag. He went to pull out his card before remembering that he was supposed to be starving. He didn’t think a business card with the title gallery owner would be appropriate. “Let me just find a piece of paper and write it down for you.”
After Justin had written down his number and handed it to Brian, he said good bye and walked out to his car, hoping to hear from the man soon.
Brian finished his drink as he stared down at the number Justin had given him. He’d have to be careful when offering Justin work; otherwise he’d figure out that Brian wasn’t an employee but the boss. As he drove back home, Brian noticed a sign for a new exhibit at the art gallery downtown and smiled. His mind immediately went back to Justin and his obvious love for art. Did he dare call him and ask him to go? Would he consider it a date? Was it a date? Brian had given up on dating years before, but there was something about Justin that made him want to try again. Then again, Justin had given him his phone number with the understanding that it would be for work. Maybe calling and asking him out wasn’t such a good idea.
By the time Brian pulled into his three car garage, he was totally conflicted. He’d just have to think about it some more before deciding what to do next.
Justin tried spending a couple of hours in the park watching the children play and working on the sketches for the book, but his mind kept drifting back to Brian. Aside from his obvious good looks and perfect body, not to mention his kissing abilities, Brian seemed like a nice guy. Justin had enjoyed talking to him at the coffee house and they never ran out of things to say to one another. Shaking his head to rid himself of those thoughts, Justin looked at his watch and saw that it was almost five. He’d wasted most of the day talking to and thinking about Brian, but surprisingly Justin didn’t care. He put away his sketch pad and headed towards the car, happy with the way the day turned out.
After dinner, Daphne and Justin were watching a movie when Justin’s cell phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number and thought about ignoring it, but answered it anyway.
“Hello?”
“Hey Justin, its Brian,” Brian said nervously into the phone. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“No, not at all,” Justin replied, his heart leaping into his throat. “Do you realize that you needed an artist for a job at work?”
“Uh…no. Actually, I was just calling because I saw a flyer for a new exhibit that’s opening at the downtown art gallery tomorrow night and I was wondering if you’d like to go,” Brian asked.
Justin’s mind raced at the invitation. He knew about the opening. He’d donated a few of pieces about a month ago as a favor to a friend. He wondered if he’d be able to be there without being recognized. “Uh, sure. That would be nice.”
“Good, how about if I pick you up at 7:00. We can grab something to eat before we go,” Brian suggested.
Panic set in momentarily as Justin tried to figure out a way to keep Brian from coming to the house. “Well, I have a few errands I have to run. How about if I pick you up when I’m done?”
“Oh, okay…uh…let me give you my address.”
Once Brian gave Justin the address to the loft, they agreed to meet at 7:00 and said good bye. When Justin turned off his phone, he found Daphne staring at him with a questioning look.
“Alright, spill it,” she demanded.
Justin sighed before replying. “Remember the guy I was dancing with at Babylon?”
“You mean the hottie? How could I forget?”
“Yeah, the hottie,” Justin smiled. “His name is Brian. We ran into each other in the coffee house this morning and talked for awhile. I gave him my number incase he needed any freelance work done and he just called to ask me to the gallery’s exhibit opening tomorrow night.”
“Justin that’s great!” Daphne exclaimed, before suddenly realizing what he had said. “Wait a minute. Why would you give him your number for freelance work? You gave that up years ago.”
“Well, I kind of told him I was a starving artist,” Justin mumbled.
“You what? Justin, you have more money than God! Why would you tell him you’re starving?” she asked incredulously.
“Look Daph, I’m tired of trying to figure out if guys are interested in me or my bank account. I think I could really like this guy and I want to make sure that he sees me for me; not just another opportunity,” Justin explained.
“But Justin, if you guys do hit it off, what do you think he’ll say when he founds out that you’ve been lying to him?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to worry about that if and when the time comes,” Justin sighed, hoping that he was making the right decision
Brian hung up the phone with a smile on his face. For the first time in fifteen years, Brian Kinney had a date. He just wished he’d been able to be honest with Justin, but too many years of having people try to take advantage of him caused him to build up walls around him for protection. He’d have to play it by ear and see where things went with Justin and just hope that when the time came for him to admit who he really was, Justin would understand.
Justin spent the next day going through his closets, trying to find something to wear that didn’t make him look like he had money. By mid-afternoon he gave up, jumping in his car and heading to the mall. He finally settled on a few things from the Gap to make his starving artist appearance perfect. By 6:30 he was a nervous wreck and wasn’t sure if he’d be able to go through with it. Daphne found him pacing the living room mumbling to himself.
“Justin, is everything okay?”
“Yes…no…I don’t know. I don’t know if I can do this Daph. I haven’t been on a date in years.” Justin said in a panic.
“Justin, you’ve been with a lot of men,” Daphne pointed out.
“That’s not dating; that’s fucking. This is different. What am I supposed to talk about?”
“I don’t know…what did you talk about yesterday?”
“Everything. It was easier yesterday. It wasn’t a date, we just ran into each other,” Justin pointed out.
“Justin, you need to calm down. This is no big deal. Just wait and see what happens. You’re a successful artist who meets and greets people everyday. I’m sure this Brian is no different than anyone else you’ve come in contact with,” Daphne assured him.
“You’re right. I’m being crazy. It’s no big deal. Now where are my mother’s car keys?” Justin asked as he walked by Daphne towards the kitchen.
“What do you need her keys for?”
“Think about it, Daph. I’m a starving artist. It’s not like I can take the jag or the Lexus to pick him up. I can’t afford cars like that, remember? I’m just glad that Mom wouldn’t let me buy her a car like I wanted to. Her Toyota Camry is perfect,” Justin replied with a chuckle.
“Justin, I really think you need to just come clean with Brian before it goes too far. Otherwise you might end up getting hurt.”
“Don’t worry about me, Daph. I know what I’m doing,” Justin assured as he grabbed the keys and kissed her check before heading out for his date.
“I hope you do Justin, but somehow I doubt that,” she said to the empty room.
At exactly 7:00, Justin nervously buzzed up to Brian’s loft and entered the building. As he rode the elevator, he thought about what Daphne said and wondered if he should just come clean and admit who he was, but seeing Brian standing outside his door waiting for him reinforced his original idea. The man was absolutely beautiful and Justin wasn’t about to do anything that would ruin the evening.
“I’m almost ready. I was working and lost track of time. Would you like something to drink while you wait?” Brian asked as he led Justin inside.
“Sure, whatever you have would be great,” Justin replied, taking in his surroundings.
“How about a glass of wine?” Brian offered, thankful that he took the time to stock up a bit and make the loft look inhabited.
“That’s fine,” Justin said, shocked by what he saw. Hanging on the far wall was one of his paintings from his earlier days. He stood in front of it, wondering if Brian knew anything about the artist and never heard Brian approaching him.
“Here’s your wine. I take it you like the painting?”
“Uh, yeah. It’s not bad,” Justin replied.
“Not bad, huh? I happen to think it’s incredible. I found it years ago in a gallery in New York,” Brian said as he took a sip of his wine.
“Do you…uh…know anything about the artist?”
“No, not really. It’s signed J.T., but I never really thought about it. I’m not usually into the art scene much, I just knew that I had to have it the moment I saw it,” Brian explained. “Just let me save my files on my laptop and then we can go.”
Justin nodded and downed his wine, his heart thumping in his chest over Brian’s need to buy one of his paintings. Once Brian was done, they made their way downstairs and out to the car.
“Any place special in mind for dinner?” Justin asked as he pulled away from the curb.
Brian gave him directions to a nice little Italian restaurant close by and soon they were enjoying a nice meal with good conversation. By the time they made it to the gallery, Justin had a slight buzz going from the wine and wasn’t as worried about being recognized. They walked through the exhibit, admiring the art work and sharing their opinions. Justin was engrossed in a particular painting when he heard Brian calling him.
“Justin, look at this,” he said as he stared at a painting. “It’s signed J.T. I think I may have to get it and put it with my other one.”
Justin began to panic again. If Brian tried to purchase the painting, it was likely the gallery owner would speak with him and he would recognize Justin immediately. “Brian, it’s uh…awfully expensive. Are you sure you want to spend that kind of money?”
Brian was about to say that it didn’t matter until he remembered that he was supposed to be a regular working class guy. He didn’t want Justin to question him throwing away that kind of money on a whim. “You’re right; I guess that is a lot of money to waste on a painting. I wasn’t thinking about the price.”
Justin sighed in relief, thankful for his quick thinking. “Well, I guess we’re about done here.”
“Yeah, we should probably get going.”
Soon after, Justin was pulling up outside the loft, wishing there was a way he could prolong the evening. He’d had a good time with Brian and didn’t want to see it end.
“Home sweet home,” Brian said as he reached for the door handle.
“Thank you for suggesting this. I had a really good time tonight,” Justin offered softly.
“Me too, Justin. Maybe we could do it again sometime.”
“Sure, you have my number,” Justin replied as he looked into Brian’s eyes.
It took everything in Brian’s power to keep him from inviting Justin inside, but he had something he needed to do and knew that if they went inside, neither one of them would be leaving anytime soon. He reached out and brushed lightly at the hair resting on Justin’s forehead before gently pulling him in for a kiss. Justin’s lips were softer than Brian remembered from their night at Babylon the month before and it almost hurt when he pulled away moments later. “I’ll talk to you soon,” he whispered huskily.
“Later,” Justin said softly.
“Later.”
Brian stood on the curb and watched Justin drive away before heading to his car parked in the parking garage. Ten minutes later he was walking back inside the gallery.
“Excuse me ma’am. I’d like to buy a painting,” he said to a woman who was just finishing helping another customer.
“Great. Which one were you interested in?”
“The landscape over there by J.T.” Brian pointed to the painting Justin had talked him out of earlier.
“A wonderful choice, sir,” she said as they walked towards the desk to fill out the paperwork.
“Would you happen to know anything about the artist?”
“Sure, J.T. is pretty famous around here. He was born and raised in Pittsburgh, but moved to New York before his career got started. It only took a few years for him to become established. Now he’s one of the greatest artists in the world with showings both in the US and all through Europe. He owns a few galleries, but spends most of his time painting, leaving others in charge of his business. I heard he’s taking some time off to deal with some family issues right now, but he was nice enough to donate a few pieces for us to show. Rumor has it that he plans on moving back to the area in the near future. We’re hoping to get him to make an appearance at one of our exhibits. Now will that be cash, check, or charge?”
“Charge,” Brian said, filing away the information he learned. He never understood what the attraction was to the painting he purchased. Most of the other art work he had hanging in his home were pieces that Cynthia had found. He’d never really had an interest in art before except for his J.T. original, which he bought on a whim during a boring night out with some colleagues. If the famous J.T. was going to make an appearance, Brian just might have to come and meet the man for himself.
End of part 2
11/23/04
Return to A Matter of Trust