CHAPTER 3: HELLO RUTH AND HER HOME TRUTH

THE LOFT – FRIDAY MORNING

BRIAN

He’s mad and he has every right to be. I told him about Michael and Lindsay being at Britin on Monday. I wanted to tell him face to face with no distractions.

“But why were they there?” He gripes, slamming the fridge door shut.

“I don’t know. Emmy called me as soon as he told them and told me to be prepared.”

He drops his head but doesn’t say anything else.  “Justin. I didn’t invite them. I wouldn’t have done that.” He turns to look at me and gives me a small smile. “It is your house and the only person that gets to invite people is you.”

“I know I’m being prissy about this but…oh for fuck sake!” He explodes before crossing his arms then pours out his coffee, without drinking it.

“Do I get to know what that’s about?”  I ask warily.

“When they got in, did they say anything?”

“To be honest, I wasn’t paying attention.  But…oh no!  She did mention something about wanting to help with the refurbishment.”

“No fucking way!” He shouts. “Well that explains why she was around the studio. She’s not getting in there Brian, no!”

I hold up my hands. “Justin, your house; your rules. I promise.” He sighs and mutters something.  “Justin?”

“Now that the works here are done can we…can we change the locks and only give a key to my mom?  I know…”

I nod and finish off my coffee.  “And Cynthia.”

“…he’s your best friend but…wait what?”

“Your mom and Cynthia.  I don’t see why anyone else should have keys for here now.  This is our home. Nobody needs to be able to get in whenever they want but us. Now Ruth is going to be here in a minute and I want you to meet her so you at least know who to look for.”

I put my cup in the dishwasher and turn to face him and he is looking a bit stunned.  “Justin?  Justin!”  He jolts out of his stupor.  “Come and meet Ruth.”

“Brian wait.  Did you just agree to just have my mom have the keys?”

“No.  I want Cynthia to have keys too.”  I start to shepherd him out.  “That okay?”  He nods before kissing me gently.

“Thank you. Now all we have to do is tell them.”  Justin sighs.

“Why?”  I start the elevator.

“Because he’s going to hammer on the door when he tries to get in and fails, then he will sit on the doorstep and wait us out.  And as for Lindsay…”

“Shit!  Don’t move from there!”  I shout and he looks surprised but I’m back in seconds.  “Sorry, I forgot to give this to you.”  I hand him a key. “This is the key to the street door and the code is 0017. I asked the super if we could get the locks changed, now that the works are finally finished.  He was very happy to do that.”  I chuckle.

“So they can’t even get in the building?” He looks at the key as if it’s the most precious thing in the world.  And then it hits me...to him, it is.

“Nope.  And you’re right they need to be told.  But I think you should tell them on Sunday when we’re at dinner at Debs.”

“Me?  Why me?”  He asks, taking my hand and then looks up at me.  “Okay, I’ll tell them.”

As I open the door for him, I wait for his reaction.  “Oh wow Brian look at that!  It’s gorgeous!  Quick take my picture before the owner comes!”

“Or you could meet Ruth and then get in.”  I smile at him as his jaw drops.

“This! This is the car service?!”  He gasps.

“Mr Taylor? Hi my name is Ruth.  Nice to meet you.”  Justin is too mesmerised by the car to acknowledge her. “Mr Taylor?”

He finally comes out of his daze to turn round to face her.  “I’m so sorry!  Justin is fine, so nice to meet you.  This is…”

“Brian!”  Michael’s voice cuts across the introduction as he runs up.  “Hey Brian!”

“Mikey…”

“Brian, what are you doing for lunch today?” He gives me a hug and then turns to Justin. “Hey. So Brian, lunch? I need to talk to you about something.”

“I’m going to be very busy today, Michael. I have morning meetings, a client lunch and then meetings in the afternoon. Now I have to go, we’re already running late.  Ruth if…”

“Can’t Ted do that?  I really need to talk to you.” He tries again.

“No Ted can’t do that. They want to meet me. Now we have to go.”

“Oh, can’t we talk in the car? Then she can drop me back at the comic book store and…”

“Michael!” Justin sighs crossly. “You are delaying us. We have meetings to go to.”

“What meetings?” Michael demands. “This is really important, Brian.”

“This meeting, which we are already late for, is more important.  I will speak to you tonight. I should be done around about seven, that’s the best I can do.”

“Okay, I’ll be back here for seven then. What should I bring for dinner for two?  Thai?”

“I’ll meet you at Woody’s. Trust me, I will need a drink after today!”

“Mr Kinney, in order to make your appointment, we need to go now.”  Ruth interjects.

“Well I suppose I could make my own way back to the store…”  Michael begins again. “I walked here and…”

“TAXI!”  Ruth suddenly shouts out and a cab pulls up.  “Hey sweets, this guy…”  She points to Michael.  “Needs to go…well, he can tell you that.”

Michael looks stupefied. “Hey buddy, you getting in or not!”  The cabbie calls out.

“Fine!” Michael stomps over and gets in. “Take me to Red Cape.  Brian see…”  Ruth slams the door hard in his face.

She makes her way back to the car.  “Now, where were we?”  She smiles at Justin.

“Justin Taylor, but call me Justin.  This is so beautiful.  Can I sit up front with you?  Brian, you don’t mind?”

“No, carry on. You can give Ruth your details and those for your mom.”

“Okay.”  He starts to get in but then stops and gives me another sweet kiss.  “Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome.”  I reply and get in. The journey to our meeting with the lawyers is filled with Justin trying to persuade Ruth to let him drive the car just around the car park.  His big beautiful blue eyes are having no effect on her.

“I will prevail.”  He tells her determinedly. “After all, I wore him down.”

“You didn’t wear me down.”  I grouse.  “Why do I have to keep telling you that I don’t do what I don’t want to do?” I cover the hurt in my voice with a smile…but it really hurts.

WOODY’S – EARLY EVENING

BEN

I’m at the bar getting us a drink when I hear Michael call out to Brian.  As I make my way back to the table, I catch the end of their conversation.

“How was your day?  Busy as you said?”

“Yeah.  But we signed two more contracts so that’s good.”

“Hey Brian, how are you?”  I clap him on the shoulder and he looks perplexed.

“Ben?  I’m fine. You’re here...”

“Where else would I be?  Would you like a drink?  Brian?  A drink?”

“Uh yeah.  It’s just that when Michael said he wanted to meet up and talk about something important, just the two of us…”

“Yeah, that was when we were going to the loft.  But we’re here now so…”

“So I could’ve asked Justin to meet us here too.”  Brian gripes. “I’ll get the drink. Thanks Ben. Won’t be long.”

“What are you doing?”  I turn to Michael once Brian is out of earshot.

“What?”  He looks in the direction that Brian has just gone.

“Michael!”  I snap sharply and he turns to me.  “What. Are. You. Doing?”

“Nothing.  I’m meeting my best friend for a drink.”

“Of course you are.  Of course you are.”  I mutter as Brian heads back to the table.

CAR BACK TO THE LOFT

RUTH

Justin had me pick him up from Britin and traffic is being a bitch.

“Asshole!”  I look in the mirror and he looks resigned but there's also a pissed off expression on his face.

I don’t say anything for a while.  “So how did you wear him down?”

“Huh?”

“You said that this morning.  How did you wear him down?”

Justin moves to the seat directly behind me and gives me his version of events, which matches Brian’s but he doesn’t mention the wedding.

“Can I ask your opinion on something?”

I nod.

“I have a friend who is having a relationship dilemma.”

No shit Sherlock!

He goes on to tell me about the stag do and the lead up to cancelling of his friend’s wedding.

“So what do you think?”

“Is your friend still with her boyfriend?”

“I’m not sure.”  He replies.

“If I was the fiancé, I would ditch her and move on.”

I catch the astonished look on his face.  “Why?”

“He had an opportunity to have a last hurrah fuck and she would be fine. But instead, he chose to decline and spend his last night of free…actually what did you say she said he said?”

“He said he respectfully declines his last meal and chooses to go home.”

“So he picked her over a with-permission-last-fuck? Then goes home with her and when he says he just wants to cuddle and be with her, she throws his reputation in his face? That must have hurt so much to hear. To him, she’s bought the myth, not the man he’s trying to be for her.  He was telling her that she was it for him.”

I thank the traffic Gods for my perfect timing as I pull up by the loft and get out to open the door.

“Have a good rest of evening Justin.”

“Thanks.”  He mutters and heads inside.

SATURDAY MORNING

THE LOFT

BRIAN

Justin had a fitful night’s sleep but I don’t know why.  He’s also been quiet this morning.

“Brian, I’m sorry.”

“Why? What have you bought?”

“Nothing.”  He sniffs and I tilt up his chin.  “I’m so sorry for the way I reacted to the stag do. I should’ve realised what you were trying to say. I’m…”

“Yeah, you should have.” I tell him, finally letting him see how much that hurt. “But where are you now?”

“Here?”  He looks confused and then gives me a small smile.  “As pissed off and hurt as you are, you still want me?”

“Not quite…I want you back in bed.”  I hoist him over my shoulder and carry him giggling back to the bedroom.

DEBS’ HOUSE – EARLY SUNDAY EVENING

DEBS

Everyone is here. But there is something different between Brian and Justin.

“Okay people, let’s eat!”  I order.

An hour later, we’re sitting in the lounge when Lindsay clears her throat. “So Brian, I understand that you have had the loft redecorated and extended.”

“Extended?” Michael looks confused. “What do you mean? It didn’t look any different when we came around.

“When did you come around?”  Brian demands.

“And why is that Michael’s and your concern, Lindsay?”  Carl asks.

“Why is it…? Well obviously we would need to see it to make sure it’s safe for Gus.”  Lindsay replies as if placating a small fucking child.

“Michael, when did you come around?” Brian asks again.

“Last Saturday but you were otherwise occupied.” Ben smirks.

“Oh, what a surprise!”  Mel snarks.  “You were entertaining!  How many this time?”

“Justin and only Justin. Right Michael?” Ben glares at him.

Okay what is going on there?!

“I don’t know. There could’ve been other…”

“It was just Justin. Trust me!”  Ben retorts.

“Can we focus on the point of my question? It has been extended, correct?  So when will the redecorating be entirely finished?” Lindsay asks, quelling any further thoughts or comments on Saturday’s sexscapade.

“When it is.” Justin sounds pissed. “And when it is, we will let you know.”

“I can supervise that for you. That way you can concentrate on working on your art.”  She smiles again. “Or I can oversee the rooms in Britin if the ones in the loft are just about done. And speaking of that…”

“No and no.” Justin interrupts.

“No what?”  She frowns.

“No you can’t supervise and no you can’t help with Britin. Brian and I want to decorate our homes by ourselves.”

Michael snorts. “What’s the problem, Michael? They are their homes and if they want our help, they can ask for it.”  Ben rebukes him.

I’m about to say something but then I catch Carl’s warning glance.

“All I’m saying is that with you both being so busy, I can easily let myself in and…”

“No you can’t.” Justin takes a breath. “We’ve had the locks changed and the only people who get keys are my mother and Cynthia.”

“What?!” Lindsay and Michael say at the same time.

“We don’t have keys for your homes. Why should you have keys for ours?”  Justin asks and I spot the look of pride on Brian’s face.

“I’ve always had a key to Brian’s place.” Michael asserts.

“But it’s not just Brian’s anymore, is it?”  Carl turns to him.  “It’s their place. And just because it was, doesn’t mean it always should be.”

“Thanks Carl.” Brian smiles at him before turning back to Michael and Lindsay. “You don’t need to be in there without one of us at home. So no more keys for either of you two.”

For the first time this evening, Mel looks at Brian and doesn’t scowl.

CARL

Looks like life is changing for at least four people tonight and there’s happiness about it…for some more than others.