Close To Home IV

Chapter 13





“Are you done with your damn exercises?” Justin griped as he stood in the doorway of Brian’s exercise room.

“Just about,” Brian said, hoisting the heavy weights up over his head once more, then again, then allowing the weights to come to rest on the stand.  He sat up on the bench where he had been lying and wiped his forehead.  “There, I’m done.  Are you happy?”

“Infinitely,” Justin snarked.

“Why aren’t you painting … or doing something useful?” Brian asked testily.

Justin was about to retort, but then thought better of it.  He knew Brian’s bad mood came from his scheduled meeting with Marty Ryder the following day.  Brian would make his pitch to buy the Ryder Agency.  Justin wasn’t sure which might be worse … if Brian got the deal or if he didn’t.  “I don’t want to fight with you,” he said finally.  “We need to get ready if we’re going to Mary’s for tea.”

“Mary’s?”

“The lady we met at the supermarket.  The one we gave a ride home.  You remember?”

“Oh, that Mary.”

“Yes, that Mary.  We need to get ready.”

Brian didn’t move and Justin merely stood in the doorway waiting for Brian to refuse to go.  He knew that was coming, as surely as he knew what his own name was.

“Why don’t you go without me?  Give Mary my regrets.”

Justin glared at Brian.  “I asked you yesterday if you were going to go.  You said yes, and I confirmed with Mary that we’d be there,” Justin stated.

“And now I don’t want to go,” Brian said petulantly.

“You fucking asshole!”

“I know; that’s what I am,” Brian admitted.

“What are you going to do?  Stay here and worry for the rest of the day about what’s going to happen tomorrow morning?”

“I know what’s going to happen tomorrow.  I’m going to buy the Ryder Agency.”

“Then come with me now.  There’s nothing more you can do.  Going to Mary’s will take your mind off it for a while.”

“What if I don’t want to take my mind off it?” Brian asked in a not pleasant voice.

“Fine!” Justin said, and turned away.

“Where are you going?” Brian asked.  He didn’t like Justin being mad at him.

“I’m going to get ready.  I’ll go to Mary’s by my fucking self, and I’ll be sure to tell her what a fucking stupid and ungrateful asshole I live with.”

“Justin…”

“What?” Justin snapped back at Brian.

“How am I going to get into her fucking house?”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” Justin asked, his face softening as he looked at Brian.

“It’s one of the things.”

“When I called Mary, she said one of her neighbors had brought her a piece of plywood, kind of like Dougie’s.  It will get you up the front steps, and then the main rooms are all on one level,” Justin explained.

“Oh.”

“Is that all you have to say?  Oh?”

“I…”

“I know.  I just took away your excuse.  You still don’t want to go, so just say it.  Asshole!” Justin added for good measure.

“I’ll go,” Brian said hardly audible.

Justin didn’t blink.  “Did you say something?” he asked airily.

“You’re going to make me repeat it, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“I said I’d go.”

“Good, then get ready.”

“Yes, sire.”

“It’s about time you learned your place,” Justin chuckled as he came back into the room and gave Brian a gentle kiss.  I love you, and everything is going to be fine … at Mary’s and at work.  I know it.”

“You do?”

“Mary has taken care of the entry problem to her place.  I wouldn’t let you go there if I knew you couldn’t get in.  You know I always look out for your interests, don’t you?”  Brian nodded and smiled at his partner.  “And I have every confidence that you will take care of matters at work.  So, are we good?”

“We are extremely great,” Brian said proudly.

“Then get your fine ass into that chair and take a shower.  “You’re all sweaty and stinky.”

“I thought you liked my stink.”

“I do, and if you would have gotten ready when I first asked you, we might have had time for a little hanky-panky in the shower.  Now, you need to hustle your butt.”

“When we come home then?” Brian asked as he lifted himself into his wheelchair.  He looked sheepishly at Justin.

“You better believe it,” Justin declared, and he wiggled his ass suggestively as he exited the room.  Brian let out a groan before following him.


*****


“Come in, gentlemen,” Mary said as she opened the front door of her house.

Brian had managed to get his chair up the makeshift ramp of plywood to the small porch at the top.  He hoped he would be able to get back down when the time came.

“Thanks, Mary,” Justin said leading the way inside.  Brian followed him, having to take a couple of runs at the slightly raised door jamb before he could get over it.

“Make yourselves at home in the living room.  I’ll just put the kettle on,” Mary said heading for the kitchen.  “I hope tea is all right with you boys.”

“I love tea,” Justin said.

“Sure,” Brian agreed, although he could count on the fingers of one hand how many times he had actually had tea.  “What the fuck are we doing here?” he whispered to Justin once Mary had left the room.

“We’re here because Mary invited us.  We’re being social,” Justin whispered in response.

“Fuck social!”

Justin chuckled in spite of himself.  “Behave,” he said.

“What the fuck am I supposed to talk about with this old woman?”

“Let her direct you.  See what she wants to talk about … and be nice,” Justin warned.

Brian scowled but he sat silently waiting for Mary to return.  She came back into the room carrying a plate of homemade cookies.  She set them on the coffee table.

“The kettle will boil in a few minutes,” she said as she sat down.  “I like my tea made properly.”

“And what is properly?” Brian asked.

“Water at a rolling boil, always make tea in a proper teapot and heat the pot first.  No mugs with teabags in them for me.”

“I see,” Brian said although it made little difference how Mary chose to make her tea.  He wasn’t going to enjoy it anyway.

“My mother, God rest her soul, always made delicious tea.  She showed me how and I’ve never forgotten it.”

“Do you have any family around here?” Justin asked.

“I have no family at all,” Mary said sadly.  “I had a daughter, but she was killed many years ago in a car accident.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that,” Justin said softly.

“It was a drunk driver that killed her,” Mary continued.

“That … that’s what happened to Brian,” Justin managed to get out.  He glanced at Brian who looked slightly shell shocked by this piece of information.

“Oh my goodness,” Mary said, her voice rising in anger.  “How can they allow people like that on the streets?”

“I don’t know,” Brian said forcefully.  “They either take lives or change them completely, and … they never see the consequences of what they’ve done.”

“That is so true,” Mary said in total agreement.  Just then the kettle started to whistle and Mary stood up to go make the tea.  “I’ll be right back,” she said before disappearing into the kitchen.

“Are you okay, Brian?” Justin asked.  “I had no idea…”

“How could you have any idea?  It’s not your fault.  I guess Mary and I have more in common than I thought.”

“Here we go,” Mary said cheerfully as she came back into the room carrying a tray with a teapot and three fine china cups.

Brian groaned inwardly.  He hated those fancy cups that never had big enough handles to get your fucking fingers through.

“Let me help you,” Justin said taking the tray from Mary and setting it on the coffee table in front of where she had been sitting.

“How do you take your tea?” she asked.  “Milk?  Sugar?  Both?”

“Both,” Justin responded.

“Just milk,” Brian said.

Mary fixed their tea and handed the cup and saucer to each of them.  Then she passed around the plate of cookies before picking up her own cup of tea.

Brian placed a cookie on his saucer and then took a sip of the tea.  It wasn’t half bad.  Next he took a bite of cookie.  It was fucking delicious.  “This cookie isn’t bad,” he said.

“That’s a rave review coming from Brian,” Justin told Mary.

“Thanks,” Mary chuckled.  “The recipe came from my mother.  It’s been passed down for generations.  Sometimes the old things are the best things.”

“In this case I would have to agree,” Brian said taking another bite of his cookie and another sip of his tea.

“Have you lived here long, Mary?” Justin asked.

“Over forty years,” Mary said.  “My husband and I bought the house so long ago.  I can’t bear the idea of giving it up.”

“Why would you have to give it up?” Brian asked.

“You saw how hard it is for me to get around.  Before long I won’t be able to look after the house, let alone myself.  I’ll have to sell and use the money to pay for some kind of place where they’ll look after me.”

“You’re not ready for that yet,” Brian declared.

“No, no I’m not,” Mary agreed.  “But some day…”

“That’s still far away,” Brian said.  “I had to go into a care facility after my accident.  I couldn’t look after myself,” Brian said sadly.

“That must have been very hard for a proud man like you,” Mary replied.

“It was … but why do you say I’m a proud man?”

“I see things,” Mary averred.

Justin chuckled.  “You nailed it the first time, Mary.  Brian is a very proud man.”

“I could see that.  Sometimes it’s very good to be proud, but sometimes it can cause you to be all alone or not be able to do things you’d like to do.”

“I know that only too well,” Brian admitted.  “Justin taught me that.”

“Then Justin is a very smart man.”

“With that I agree one hundred percent.”

Justin smiled at his man.  He knew he had chosen wisely when he selected Brian Kinney to spend the rest of his life with.

“More tea?” Mary asked.

“Yes, thank you,” Brian said handing her his cup.  That surprised the hell out of Justin, who knew that Brian much preferred coffee.  He was pleased to see that Brian actually seemed to be enjoying his tea, and his visit with Mary.

“So, Brian and Justin, what do you gentlemen do to make a living?” Mary asked.

“Calling me a gentleman is stretching the truth,” Brian said in his self-deprecating manner.

“It most certainly is not,” Mary declared.  “You’ve been a perfect gentleman with me, right from that first moment when you helped me pick up my loaf of bread.

Brian nodded at the compliment.  For some strange reason he liked Mary thinking that he was a gentleman.  “I work in advertising.”

“Brian’s going to buy the firm he works for,” Justin blurted out, before he could stop himself, earning a glare from Brian.

“Oh my, that sounds like big business,” Mary said with a smile.  “I’m sure you’ll make a big success of it.”

“Let’s hope you know what you’re talking about,” Brian replied.  “And it’s still a secret.  The deal to buy the agency hasn’t gone through yet.”

“You don’t have to worry about me spilling the beans.  I hardly ever go out of the house,” Mary admitted with a little laugh.

“No midnight rendezvous’ or ballroom dancing?” Brian said with a grin.

“I wish,” Mary said with a sigh.  “I loved parties and dancing.”

“When I take over my company,” Brian said, “you’ll have to come to the celebratory party.”

“Oh my goodness,” Mary laughed.  “I wouldn’t have a thing to wear.”

“We could always remedy that,” Brian said setting down his empty teacup.  He had thoroughly enjoyed the tea, even if he had thought he would hate it.

“You are a caution, Brian Kinney,” Mary chuckled.  “But I can see you being a big success.”

“Thank you, Miss Mary,” Brian grinned.  “Now we should talk about Justin’s career.  He’s an up and coming artist.”

“An artist!  My, you boys lead such exciting lives.”

Brian laughed.  “Yeah, we’re pillars of society, me in high finance and Justin in the arts.”

“And that’s just how it should be,” Mary declared.  “I’m so glad you were able to come for tea today.  I haven’t had this much fun in a very long time.”

“Me either,” Brian admitted with a grin.


*****


As Brian and Justin were getting ready for bed later that night, Justin asked, “Did you enjoy tea with Mary?”

“Surprisingly I did,” Brian admitted as he removed his clothes.

“I did too.  She’s a nice lady.”

“Yeah, she is.”

“I think you should invite her to your victory party when you take over Ryder,” Justin said as he finished undressing.

“You do, huh?” Brian grinned.

“She has more faith in you than…”

“Than you did?” Brian asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I guess you could say that, but then I saw you through her eyes.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Brian asked as he hoisted himself onto the bed.

“She sees you as a handsome gentleman who is smart and savvy and capable.  And I realized that’s how I see you too.  I don’t know what I was worried about.”  Justin sat down on the bed beside Brian.  “You’re going to take over Ryder tomorrow and you’re going to make it one big, fat, fucking success.  I don’t have any doubt about it.”

“Come here,” Brian said gently as he pulled Justin against him.  “I love you.”

“I love you too, and I’m going to be right by your side wherever you want to go.”

“Then we will be completely unbeatable,” Brian declared.

Justin smiled one of his blazing smiles that put the sun to same, before he kissed Brian senseless.