The Gay and Lesbian Center
Saturday, March 2
Mel watched Lindsay march around the GLC hall checking everything for the umpteenth time. “Linds, will you relax? You’re giving me an ulcer just watching you. You’d think that this was a Monet exhibit at the Met.”
Lindsay’s eye darted around the makeshift gallery space. “I just want everything to be...”
“...perfect.” Mel finished for her.
“Yes,” Lindsay agreed.
“Look, all the artwork is in place, Em’s got the food handled, Ted located a piano player and has a chamber group ensemble coming in at 1:00 to spell the pianist. Brian and Michael have the kids until 2:30, all we have to do is open the doors.”
“You’re right.” But Lindsay swept the room one last time with her eyes. She just had a feeling that something wasn’t right. Then she saw it, the red sticker next to Gus’ portrait. “That can’t be right...” she murmured and called for one of the volunteers who had framed the works by Justin Taylor. “Carrie?”
“Yes, Ms. Peterson?” The painfully shy teenager hurried over to Lindsay and Mel.
Not wanting the young woman to think she was scolding her, Lindsay took the tact that perhaps there had been a misunderstanding. “Carrie, I’ve asked before, please call me Lindsay” Lindsay started out gently. “Do you know why there is a red sticker by that sketch?”
“It’s sold, Ms Peterson, uh, I mean Lindsay.” Carrie stammered out.
So it wasn’t a mistake. “But how?” Lindsay murmured under her breath.
“Linds, don’t worry about it. It was probably someone who was here for set up yesterday.”
“But, I was hoping that we could purchase it.” Lindsay finally let out with a pout.
“We’ll get the one of you, me and Jenny Rebecca,” Mel promised her partner. “Besides, I thought the whole purpose of this exhibit was to raise money for the GLC. You can’t be overly upset.” Mel turned to the teenager. “Any idea how much it sold for?”
“Tw-twelve-hundred dollars. The man on the phone purchasing it was very specific.”
“Twelve-hundred dollars?!” Mel and Lindsay both gasped at the amount.
“That’s four times the price that was being asked!” Lindsay finally remarked.
“I understand when Mr. Kinney called,” Carrie started, only to be interrupted by Lindsay.
“Mr. Kinney? Are you saying that it was Brian Kinney who purchased the portrait.”
“Yes, ma’am, uh Lindsay. At first Tannis didn’t want to sell him the portrait. She kept saying that he would have to come today and purchase it. But finally, after Mr. Kinney offered her the $1,200 she relented.”
“I’ll just bet,” Lindsay said.
“Figures, Brian would bribe her into selling the sketch.” Mel snarked.
“Let’s just let it go, Mel.” Lindsay glanced at the clock - eleven-fifty-nine. “It’s time to open the doors.
~~~~~~
The reception was off to a good start. The attendance was good, if not heavy. The food was delicious, and the light piano standards playing help to offset the chatter going on around the room.
Mel, Lindsay and Justin were standing off to the side when Debbie strode across the hall and in a loud voice demanded - in a nice Debbie sort of way - “So Picasso, where’s all these pictures I’m hearing so much about?”
Justin laughed. “They’re right over here.” And lead Debbie to the sketches.
The woman with the wild red hair and equally wild sequined top stopped in front of the diner scenes and stared. Justin held his breath, not knowing quite what to expect here.
“They’re fuckin’ works of art, Sunshine!”
“Justin”
“huh?”
“My name is Justin, Justin Taylor.” He held out a hand.
“Debbie, Debbie Navotney.” Debbie replied as she took his hand and pulled him into a great big bear hug. Spotting her other half across the room she yelled “Hey Carl, come over here and meet the newest member of our family!” The slightly rumpled middle aged man walked crossed the expanse of the room and took up a position next to Debbie.
“Look at these, Carl” Debbie dragged him over to where Justin’s sketches were on display. “He’s captured the whole family!”
Carl took his time examining each sketch. The diner scenes especially caught his eye. “I’d like to have that one of you.” He pointed to the portrait of Debbie.
“I think I’d rather have this one,” Debbie countered indicating the larger diner scene that included both she and Carl as well as all her boys. “That way we can have nearly everyone.”
“I’ll go see Lindsay about how we purchase it.” Carl responded and walked over to Lindsay.
“You’re coming to dinner tomorrow, and I won’t take no for an answer!” Debbie commanded Justin. Seeing as how she just purchased one of his works, he didn’t really feel he had much of a choice in the matter.
“I’d love to,” Justin graciously accepted.
“Got a boyfriend? You can bring him along.”
“Nope, I’m on my own these days. Although I do have a good friend Daphne.”
“Bring her along.”
“Uh, well, she’s straight.”
“No shit? Me too!” Debbie laughed, then proceeded to give him directions to her home. “Be there at 1pm sharp! We don’t hold dinner for anyone.”
“I will.” Justin chuckled. What a freak! He’d better be sure to bring Daphne along just for protection.
Justin’s eye caught a swing of blond hair, but before he could say anything, Debbie had piped up in her usual loud fashion.
“Jennifer! I didn’t know you were coming here today. Come over here and meet Pittsburgh’s newest Picasso. Sunshine, this is Jennifer from my PFLAG group.”
“Sunshine?” Jennifer asked.
“Uh, hi mom,” Justin replied.
“Jennifer, this is your son you’ve been telling me about?” Debbie asked.
“The one and only.”
“No shit! Oh, you’ll have to excuse me, Carl’s trying to get my attention.” Debbie looked at Justin, “Don’t forget 1pm sharp!” she said as she moved away.
~~~~~~
“What was that all about?” Jennifer asked her son.
“Uh, Debbie invited me to join her family for dinner tomorrow. I’m taking Daphne with me for protection” Justin told his mom.
Jennifer laughed. It wasn’t often her son exhibited signs of fear. “I’ve been to a few, you should go you’ll have a great time.”
Justin stared at his mother.
“What?” Jennifer asked “Do I have something on my nose?”
“I don’t believe you know her. With a personality like that I’d thought you would have said something.”
“Debbie’s a real inspiration. Pittsburgh’s PFLAG group wouldn’t be nearly as strong without her. And she’s been a good friend to me, when I’ve needed a sympathetic ear. It’s not that easy discussing your gay son with your friends at the country club.”
“Mom!” Justin gasped.
“Oh Justin, get over it. Now show me your pieces.” Justin led his mother to his sketches.
~~~~~~
Things were in full swing at the GLC. The chamber music group was starting to set up. Glasses of wine and sparkling cider, as well as canapes and other appetizers were being circulated by [really hot] waiters. Everything was flowing smoothly, when Brian and Gus arrived.
“Shit! what is he doing here?” Melanie glared across the room at Brian.
From another point in the room, the same thing crossed Justin’s mind. But then he noticed Gus tugging his father’s hand, pulling him toward Melanie and Lindsay.
“Mommy! Mama!” Gus enthused. Lindsay knelt down to give Gus a hug and Melanie stroked his hair.
“Lindsay,” Brian kissed the mother of his child on the cheek. “Melanie.” He dismissively acknowledged her presence.
“Bri... Brian this is a surprise. We weren’t expecting you so soon, the reception has almost an hour more to go.” Lindsay dropped her voice. “I thought we agreed to 2:30”.
“What’s the matter Brian, something come up that you feel you have to dump Gus here with us so you can venture out for your normal tricks.”
“Mel!” Lindsay gasped. She knew her partner was hostile to the father of their child, but normally Melanie avoided such remarks in front of their children.
“Relax, Mellie. I had told Gus about the sketch that I had purchased of him. Ever since, he’s been going on about he wants to be an artist like his mother. We spent the morning at Carnegie Museum of Art in one of their hands-on classes that they have for children, and just spent the last hour at Utrecht getting him outfitted for the “studio” he’s planning on setting up for himself at the loft. I figured we could go through the exhibits here, and if you weren’t finished by the time we were, we go across the street to the park and let off a bit of energy. Any objections?” The last question was pointed at Mel.
“It all sounds very reasonable,” Lindsay broke in before Melanie could respond. She dropped her voice before continuing. “However, you might want to avoid some of the photography exhibits and the vagina sculptures.”
Brian gave a shudder, and agreed. The last thing he wanted to look at were seven foot technicolor vaginas. It would put him off his game for a week.
“C’mon Sonny Boy, let’s go see your portrait.” With that, Brian and Gus walked over to the wall where Justin’s work was hanging.
~~~~~~
“What do you think is going on with Brian?” Lindsay mused.
“You mean what is he up to?” Mel countered. “I have no idea, but I plan to avoid him the rest of the day.” She stalked off to where she saw Ted and Emmet talking.
Looking for an excuse to find out more about Brian and what he was doing here, Justin crossed to Lindsay. He had meant to ask her earlier if he had left his scarf at their house, so he figured this would be as good a time as any.
“Lindsay?”
Lindsay had been watching Gus and his father as Brian pointed out the sketches and answered Gus’ questions. Justin’s question redirected her attention to the artist. “Hmmm?”
“Did I leave my scarf at your house the other night?”
“Scarf? No, at least I didn’t see one. Maybe Melanie saw it. What did it look like?”
From where Justin was standing, he could see Brian and Gus looking at Gus’ portrait. He watched as the older man helped his son remove his winter jacket before taking off his own leather coat. Brian folded both coats over his arm, but left the scarf around his neck. Justin’s scarf.
“Never mind. I must have left it on the plane.” Justin equivocated. Trying to change the subject, he asked. “How are sales going?”
Lindsay smiled. “I can’t say much for the other artists, but Justin Taylor’s works are almost sold out. In fact, Gus’ father paid over a thousand dollars for Gus’ portrait.”
“A thousand?!” Justin coughed.
“Actually, twelve-hundred to be exact.”
Justin looked at Lindsay like she was nuts “You were asking that much?”
“No, we priced your sketches at $300 each. Brian wanted to purchase Gus’ portrait before the show opened. He doesn’t quite see eye to eye with the folks who run the center here. They were quite adamant that there would be no sales before the show. That is until Brian Kinney made them an offer that they couldn’t refuse.”
“I’ve been hearing an awful lot about Brian Kinney of late.” Justin hoped it wouldn’t sound like he was fishing for information.
“Well, don’t believe everything you hear.” Lindsay replied. “A lot of people don’t know to look beyond the surface with Brian. He lives by his own code. He can be a loyal friend and ruthless enemy.”
Justin nodded, trying to take in Lindsay’s description of the much heralded Lord of Liberty Avenue.
“Would you like to be introduced?” Lindsay turned to look to where Brian stood with his son in front of Justin’s portion of the exhibit. “He’d probably like to meet you, after all he did spend a substantial amount for Gus’ portrait.”
Unsure how to respond, Justin replied. “Why don’t I introduce myself. I’m sure you have a lot of other things you need to look after.” As if to emphasis Justin’s statement there was a crash somewhere else in the makeshift gallery. Lindsay nodded and headed in the direction of the crash.
~~~~~~
Justin took his time seeking out Brian. He observed father and son as they went through his works. Gus would point out the subject of a picture and enthusiastically comment. Brian would respond, his eyes on his son. Gus pulled his father down and whispered something in his ear. Brian nodded and Gus crossed the room to receive a big hug from Debbie. Justin figured now was as good a time to make his move.
“I understand that you made a fairly substantial donation to the center for Gus’ portrait. I’d like to thank you. I don’t believe we’ve been introduced, I’m Justin Taylor.”
“The artiste.” Brian replied smoothly. “Brian Kinney, but I suppose you know that. I imagine between what Harrison told you on the plane, and any number of the members of the family who have spoken with you here, you’ve gotten a clear picture. Tell me, does Melanie still describe me as the spawn of satan? I wouldn’t want to let her down.”
Ignoring Brian’s snide remarks, Justin changed the subject. “That’s a rather interesting choice of scarf.” Indicating his scarf that lay loosely along Brian’s collar. Justin boldly raised his hand to the scarf and rubbed the length of it between two fingers, pulling loosely on the fringe. “Not the typical thing I see as a part of your wardrobe.”
“Really?” Brian cocked and eyebrow and stuck his tongue in his cheek. “You’re familiar with my wardrobe?”
“Well,” Justin replied, “an artist needs to observe his surroundings. You know that we were on the plane together on Monday and Tuesday - I suppose with those suits, it might be appropriate. But with what you’re wearing today,” Justin slowly, boldly raked Brian’s body with his eyes taking in the black Armani turtleneck underneath a boiled wool cardigan, down to the black Armani jeans and Prada boots. Justin was sure to spend just a fraction more than what was appropriate eyeing Brian’s crotch. “It seems a bit pretentious.”
“Pretentious?” Brian had to stifle a laugh. The guy had balls. “Oh, I don’t know.” Brian fingered the scarf. “Maybe if I were wearing a tee shirt or a wife-beater,” recounting Justin’s outfit from the plane, when Justin was wearing the scarf, “it would be ‘pretentious’. But I think that it goes fine with what I have on. Besides, I’m not much for itchy wool. This,” Brian reached up and sensuously slid the silk fabric over the back of his hand, “is much more pleasing to the touch.”
Justin swallowed, thinking about the strong slender hands and long fingers, “Uh,” he cleared his throat. “Uh, where would one go about finding such a scarf?”
“This?” Brian’s brows furrowed as if in contemplation. “It was just lying around, so I picked it up and took it home with me.”
Justin was about to respond when the Chamber Music group started to tune up. The violin was predominant over the viola, cello and base. He cringed at the discordant sounds. “Fucking violins.”
Brian’s eyebrows raised a bit at what he thought was an odd comment coming from the artist. “I always thought that violins reminded me of cats being strangled.” And on that note, he crossed the room to his son, leaving Justin to wonder what just happened.
~~~~~~
The Chamber Music group settled down and began to play what most would consider soothing background music. But to Justin’s ears, it was tortuous noise. He had to get out of here, his head was starting to pound. He made his way over to Lindsay and Mel and said goodbye and headed to the street.
~~~~~~
After collecting Gus from Debbie, and agreeing to join the family for dinner the following day, Brian bundled Gus up in his jacket and led him to the park across the street. They had about a half hour before Gus would be going home with his mommies. And while he’d like to stuff Gus full of sugar and send him home with Mel, he wouldn’t do that to Lindsay. He grabbed the soccer ball from the car and headed over to the park with his son.
Justin had stopped at the corner of the building to light a cigarette when he noticed Brian and Gus. Keeping a distance, Justin watched as father and son kicked the ball back and forth. He tried to reconcile this Brian Kinney, to the one he observed on the plane and at the GLC. From what he had seen, Brian Kinney was a force to be reckoned with. He seemed to excel at knowing when and how to push people’s buttons. Point in case the scarf. Justin could have sworn that he had the scarf at Lindsay and Mel’s on Wednesday, but the only place Brian could have gotten ahold of it would have been the plane. What the hell was going on?
Fuck it. He stubbed out the cigarette. He looked at his watch, he was supposed to be picking up Daphne at the hospital and her shift ended at 3pm. He crossed to his car on the side street and drove off. Lost in his thoughts, he wasn’t aware of the man with the chestnut hair whose sharp hazel green eyes followed his departure.