~~~Three days later~~~

Brian was in his office looking over his notes for the 3:00 presentation he had scheduled with the principles of Telson Tires, and he was ten miles past pissed because the boards the art department had sent him were for shit. Every single component of the boards, right down to the color and size of the font as well as the subject content, was completely the opposite of what he had requested.

"I can't do this fucking copy," Brian muttered to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose; feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on.

 CEO and founder Marvin Telson had lost a large percentage of the market share in recent quarters and had come to Kinnetik with the hopes of re-energizing business by overhauling his company's image.  Telson had initially planned to use Vanguard in his quest to light a fire under his flailing business' proverbial ass, but found Vanguards tactics a little too conservative for what he had in mind.  Brian had convinced him that with the one-of-a-kind campaign that only Kinnetik could design, Telson Tires would more than make up for its loss of national sells, and he'd be damned if he was going to be made to look like some incompetent  asshole who couldn't do his job.

Just as Brian had finished notating the necessary revisions; his assistant Cynthia came barreling into his office with barely a cursory knock.

"What is it Cynthia?" Brian practically growled

Cynthia stood glaring daggers at Brian with her hands on her hips, not the least bit put off by her boss' gruffness. Cynthia had worked as Brian's assistant during their time together at Vanguard, so she was very well accustomed to Brian's seemingly hostile temperament.

"What crawled up your ass this....you know what, nevermind don't even bother answering that question." Cynthia said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Brian raised an eyebrow at Cynthia in indignation before replying.

"Instead of wondering what might have crawled up my ass, which by the way would be none of your fucking business, you should worry about me firing yours. Now tell me what the fuck is so damn important."

Cynthia huffed out a breath in exasperation.

"Well...the gym called, your tailor called, and..."

"Fuck the gym, fuck the tailor, and fuck whatever else you were about to say. Now would you please get me some aspirin or something, I have a bitch of a headache," Brian groused. Cynthia narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, impatiently tapping her stiletto clad foot on the ground, silently demanding an apology for Brian's harsh tone.

"I'm not your little errand girl you know." she told Brian before moving toward the door.  She paused just as her hand touched the knob, turning back to face him "By the way, Michael called and wanted to know if you could meet him for lunch."

Brian knew he was going to have to face his best friend sooner or later, and he also knew Mikey was bound to ask questions that quite frankly, he literally didn't have answers to. Well that wasn't entirely true, it was more accurate to say he simply didn't want anyone knowing about his recent hospital stay. Hell, he was still uncertain about the events that precipitated his trip to Alleghany general in the first place.

Damn....why couldn't he remember what happened that night? How had he wound up naked and bound in a dirty, filth ridden alleyway? While those details may still remain a mystery, the one thing he could clearly recall was the fair skinned, blue eyed, blond haired angel that had come to his rescue.  Justin Taylor.

Brian was never one to stand on sentimental ceremony and for reasons he couldn't explain, he found himself wanting to know more about his little blond hero.

Brian pulled himself from his thoughts long enough to call Mikey and agreed to meet him at the Liberty Diner for lunch, and to call down to the art department to have an intern come and retrieve the newly modified boards to ensure they would be ready for the afternoon meeting with Telson.

Brian walked into the diner and spotted Michael sitting in their usual booth. He took a deep breath before walking over to join him, anticipating the interrogation he would no doubt be subjected to.

"Hey Mikey," Brian drawled taking a seat across from his friend after giving him a quick kiss.

"Hey yourself," Michael said with a smile. His expression quickly changed however as he remembered the reason he had invited his best friend to lunch. He had been calling Brian for the last three days and wasn't getting any response. He started to get worried after trying unsuccessfully to reach him by phone, so he decided to stop by his loft to pay him a visit, but that too proved to be in vain. As a last resort he tried his office and when Cynthia told him that Brian had indeed come into work, he figured this was the perfect opportunity to find out just what the fuck was going on with his friend.

"Brian is everything alright?" Brian cocked his head and eyed Michael curiously at the question.

"Sure Mikey everything's just dandy....why do you ask?"

"Well....it's just that I haven't been able to get in touch with you for the past few days. As a matter of fact, no one has seen or heard from you and we were starting to get worried."

Brian chuckled slightly at Michael's unwarranted concern. Okay so maybe it was warranted but he didn't have to know that. Brian knew that if he told him the truth about his little disappearing act, he'd never hear the end of it and Debbie would be on his ass like white on rice.

"Don't worry about me Mikey, I'm invincible." Brian said smirk clearly in place

"Well ma told me to inform you that if you're not at her house for dinner Sunday night, she's going to cut your balls off....let's see how invincible you are then," Michael laughed.

Kiki the waitress had just stopped at their booth to take their order when Brian looked up and noticed a familiar blond mop of hair. It was also the first time Brian had truly gotten a good look at the blond.  Perfection was the only word he could use to describe him as he gave Justin's body a slow deliberate appraisal.

He had flawless alabaster skin, full raspberry lips, and the tightest ass Brian had ever seen.   His cock began to quicken as he imagined himself buried deep within the tight heat of the hot little blond. Brian unconsciously licked his lips as he silently watched Justin from his place at the booth with a heated gaze.

Justin was oblivious of the eyes burning into him as he stood at the counter waiting for his coffee to arrive. He had been running a few errands around Liberty Avenue, and decided to stop by the diner before heading back to the gallery. With all the tasks that still needed to be completed in preparation for their expected client, Justin had a long afternoon ahead of him and figured he could use the caffeine.

The waiter had just given him his coffee filled Styrofoam cup when as if pulled my some magnetic force, he turned to lock eyes with the last person he ever expected to see.

My god, he's even more beautiful than I remember; if that's even possible He thought to himself.

The last time he'd seen the gorgeous stranger he was covered in cuts and bruises and nothing more. He remembered how he felt compelled to protect him from any and everything that would further cause him harm. Justin had to talk to him, to make sure he was really sitting there alive and well. Justin also wanted to prove to himself that he wasn't stuck in some silly daydream.

Justin's body seemed to move of its own volition as he approached the booth Brian and Michael were occupying. Brian couldn't help the smile that spread across his lips at the blond's presence, while Michael furrowed his brow in irritation at the interruption.

Justin smiled brightly in return before asking "How's it going?"

"Do we know you?" Michael groused

Justin shook his head disapprovingly at the dark haired man's harsh treatment. Focusing his attention solely on Brian and dismissing Michael completely, Justin continued to nervously make small talk.

"You're Brian uuuhhh.....Kinney right?"

"Yep the one and only," Brian replied with a smirk. "And you're Justin ...Justin...."

"Taylor..." Justin supplied

Brian was well aware of who the fine specimen was standing before them. He wouldn't let on as much though, in doing so he would be forced to field questions he didn't want to answer. He also wanted to know more about Mr. Justin Taylor, and decided that a little inane small talk would be a safe place to start.

"So to what do we owe the pleasure of this little impromptu visit?"

"Well I just wanted to make sure that you were feeling alright, you know after...." Brian's eyes flickered nervously between Justin and his best friend at the statement. He hoped the blond would understand the silent entreaty and not say anything further.

"Who the fuck are you and what the fuck are you talking about?" Michael growled

The panic must have been clearly displayed on Brian's face, because almost immediately Justin's look of concern turned to one of regret and understanding....he didn't want his friend or whoever he was, to know about what happened.

"Relax Mikey; he was just trying to be friendly." Brian said cursing himself for his momentary weakness. "And to answer your question I'm fucking fabulous," he added tongue planted firmly in cheek

"Yeah....well I-I really should be going," Justin stuttered wanting to make his exit as expeditiously as possible before the situation became too awkward.

Brian however, was determined not to let Justin walk away so easily.