It’s All Relative

 Chapter 5

Brian barged into Kinnetik the next morning, carrying an extremely large cup of coffee accompanied by a huge chip on his shoulder.

He immediately began barking orders at Cynthia, Ted and any other employee whose name he could recall as he steamrolled through the office.

By the time he plowed through the doors to his private office space, he’d left two new employees cowering at their desks and the remainder staring after him.

Cynthia and Ted were right behind him as he entered the office, and they closed the doors so no one could hear their conversation.

“Brian, what the hell is going on? I just hired those new employees and they’re good at what they do, but they won’t stay through the day if you jump down their throats for no good reason.”

“Cynthia, believe it or not, there are some things that are not your concern.”

“Look, boss, Bri, I know you like to keep your private life private...”

“That’s right, so let’s keep it that way.”

As Cynthia stomped out, she turned momentarily. “You have a meeting with Dandy Lube at ten o’clock. Try to be more pleasant by then so we don’t lose the account.”

After the door closed behind her, Brian looked at Ted. “I thought Dandy Lube was your baby, so to speak.”

Ted blushed, “Let’s just say that Blake insisted I give that one up.”

Brian nodded and smirked. “Is there a reason you’re still standing here? Don’t we make enough money to keep your math skills continually active?”

Ted huffed. “Yes, Brian, my math and accounting skills are kept very busy here, but sometimes friends are worth my time even more.” Ted just stared at Brian and waited.

Brian began to shuffle papers around his desk, looking for nothing in particular. Ted patiently stood and watched.

“Okay, Ted, you want to know what the fuck is bothering me, I’ll tell you.” Brian stood up and started pacing back and forth in the small space behind his desk. He ran his fingers through his hair. “I finally met the social worker who’s in charge of my adoption of Jessica.”

“That’s great, isn’t it?”

“The bitch ambushed me at the diner while I was mouthing off and acting a tad less than fatherly.”

“Well, you weren’t with either of the kids at the time, were you?”

“No, of course not.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“Obviously you haven’t spoken with Michael or Ben in the last twenty-four hours.”

Ted was looking more and more confused. “No, I haven’t but what does that have to do with...”

“The fucking social worker is Michael’s homophobic cousin who moved with her family to Philly when she was a kid. Like the Poltergeist, she’s back.” Brian mimicked the tone of the famous phrase from the movie.

“No shit!” Ted’s eyes widened and he gripped the back of an armchair.

“No shit is right. Now I have to convince a goddamn homophobe that I’ll make a great parent to a little girl. The last she remembers of me, I was getting her older cousin into all kinds of fucking trouble.”

“Brian, that was in high school,” Ted reasoned. “Besides, it’s illegal in this state to refuse adoption based on sexual orientation.”

“You don’t think she can dig deep enough to find some other excuse to refuse my adoption of Justin’s daughter?”

Ted looked directly at Brian, “Your daughter. That little girl calls you dada. As far as she’s concerned, you, Justin and Daphne are her parents. That’ll never change.”

Brian glared at Ted and then his face softened. “You’re right. But Justin and I want her protected, same as Gus.” Brian looked towards the door of the office, averting direct eye contact with Ted. “Thank you.”
 

“No problem, boss, anytime.”

“You really are there anytime.” Brian looked back at Ted. “I guess I should go out and smooth things over with Cynthia.” Ted nodded. “And maybe have the local bakery send over donuts for the entire staff.”

“Not a bad touch.” The corners of Ted’s mouth turned upwards .

Brian walked out of the office to attend to all his mea culpas. He also instructed Cynthia to interrupt him, no matter what he’s doing, if a Helen Martin were to call.

He then decided to take matters into his own hands so he wasn’t a sitting duck. He needed his own ammunition. There was no way he would lose his daughter because he didn’t keep his wits about him and get the upper hand. He made two quick calls and arranged for a special lunch to be delivered to Kinnetik and then went back to business.

No one would deny him his right to care for Jessica in every way possible because he was gay. For the first time in Brian’s life, he actually understood some of Melanie’s rantings from years past. Maybe that bitch did have a point when she freaked out and ran off to Canada. At least she knew no one could take her kids from her there.

Jessica was as much Brian’s daughter as she was Justin’s at this point, and Helen Martin had better figure that out, otherwise, Brian had no compunction to destroy her, despite the fact that she was Michael’s blood.


[TBC]

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