Justin went about his routine over the next few days completely on autopilot. His recent encounter with the handsome brunet from the alley had thrown him of kilter. He couldn't believe that the bruised and battered man he'd been introduced to on that fateful day, and the enigmatic one he'd seen in the diner were one and the same. It seemed that every time he thought he had his shit wrapped tight, one fleeting thought of those soulful hazel eyes was all it took to unravel him once again. He was so out of sorts that Sydney started complaining (more than usual that is) that the quality of his work was starting to be affected by whatever personal shit he had going on at the moment.

"Justin I don't know what the hell is going on with you, but you'd better snap out of it pretty damn quick. The gallery can't afford to lose out on profit because you have some kind of bug up your ass."

Justin had to remind himself that his boss' belittlement wasn't personal, that he was just high strung and anxious about the upcoming showing. He wanted to believe that with every fiber of his being; it was the only thing keeping him from beating the shit out of Sydney and walking out. Justin mustered up his resolve and plastered a smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes and addressed him as calmly as he could.

"Sydney I know that my focus has been for shit lately and I'm not going to offer up any excuses for it. I know how important this is to you, so you have my word that I won't fuck this up okay?"

"Alright Justin, so do you want to tell me what's going on? Let me guess, you've fallen madly, deeply, passionately in love with me and you were just trying to find the right time to tell me," Sydney joked as he playfully batted his lashes at Justin and smiled. A quiet laugh escaped Justin's lips as he shook his head at his boss in amusement.

"As much as I dream about you at night, that's not the problem."

Sydney studied his employee while they continued to diligently work on putting the finishing touches on the selected exhibits.

"Damn...and here I thought I actually had a place in your heart. What's his name then?"

Justin's hands stilled and his body went rigid as he mulled over the answer to that question. How could he possibly tell anyone that he'd been lusting after a man that he'd only met twice before and not under the best of circumstances? That he couldn't close his eyes at night without imagining the beautiful man's arms around him. The feel of his soft auburn hair as he lazily sifted his fingers through it while they lay wrapped around each other. Fuck! Brian Kinney had found his way into his life and had driven him to complete distraction; which was the last fucking thing he needed. 
"What even makes you think there is a ‘he' involved Sydney? Did it ever occur to you that it could be a family matter or that I'm simply not feeling well?"

Sydney put his hands up in a show of surrender, a small smile turning up the corners of his mouth "Okay, okay...I'll back off. Justin just promise me that if you do ever need my help or just someone to talk to, that you won't hesitate to come to me."

Justin gave Sydney a slight nod of acceptance, and while he appreciated Sydney's concern, he was still a bit offended by his boss' blatant assumption that he was having man troubles. ‘Well, who gives a shit what he thinks,' Justin mused to himself. The idea of him having any kind of romantic discord was ridiculous seeing as he wasn't involved romantically with anyone; hell he wasn't even getting fucked on a regular basis. That brought to mind the semi-cute dark haired man that was with Brian that day in the diner. He still wasn't very clear of what their relationship was, but it was apparent that they were very close. If they were in fact lovers, that would explain Brian's reluctance to tell him about his little adventure.

After leaving the diner and spending an insane amount of time in gridlock, Brian arrived back at Kinnetik and immediately set about giving Cynthia the dutiful task of finding out as much information as possible on one Justin Taylor. He still couldn't understand the pull the young blond had on him, or his deep need to find him and keep him a part of his life. Brian couldn't help thinking that his best friend might have fucked up any chance of that ever happening by acting like a complete asshole towards the young man. Truth be told, Brian was rather embarrassed by his friend's actions. Sure Michael had always been somewhat territorial when it came to Brian, but his verbal assault on the twink had been downright uncalled for. Brian needed to see Justin again if only to offer up a lame apology (something he is not inclined to do) so that was more than clear that Mikey's feelings didn't reflect his own.

When Brian approached Cynthia with her latest assignment, he knew the inquisitive lass would ambush him with a barrage of questions as to why a background check was being requested on someone who wasn't going to be a potential client. He figured he could always tell her that it was none of her fucking business, but because he genuinely needed her help he decided a tiny bit of the truth was in order. 

"Brian what is so important about locating this guy? I didn't think you ever bothered to learn the names of the guys you fuck."

"If you must know nurse Rachet, Justin Taylor is not one of my former tricks. As a matter of fact he's not a trick at all. Let's just say that I owe this man my life, literally." Cynthia raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow silently asking Brian for more of an explanation before she could feel comfortable about digging up dirt on a total stranger.

"Justin Taylor found me one morning in an alley after I'd had a particularly bad night. He stayed with me until I was able to get back home safely, and I've not had the chance to thank him properly for saving my ass."

"I can just imagine how you'd like to thank him for his good deed," Cynthia smirked. "But since I like you, I'll do it anyway."

"Your loyalty will not go unrewarded. Oh and by the way, you're fired" Brian responded with as much sarcasm as he could possibly muster. Cynthia just chuckled lightly as she effectively dismissed Brian and went right to work uncovering any little tidbit of information about Justin Taylor that she could find.

Cynthia quickly googled and wikipiediaed, binged and even searched both Angie and Craig's list and found herself amazed by what she had discovered about the young man. Justin Taylor was a 23 year old local artist and former student at PIFA who was currently employed with the Sydney Bloom Gallery. There were numerous magazine and newspaper articles chronicling his achievements dating back to his formative years at St James Academy. His father Craig Taylor was the owner of Taylor electronics; a chain of successful electronic stores in the greater Pittsburgh area and his mother Jennifer Taylor had also found success as a sought after realtor.

Her heart sank a little as she continued to skim over what was in front of her; Cynthia's eyes came to rest upon the newspaper article detailing his brutal bashing after leaving his senior prom. Because Justin was gay and had shown up and danced affectionately with his then boyfriend, a fellow classmate by the name of Chris Hobbs had seen fit to brain him with a baseball bat and leave him for dead. The judge trying the case shared Hobbs' homophobic sentiment, which resulted in the offender in question receiving no more than a slap on the wrist (500 hours community service) for what many would consider to be attempted murder. Disgusted by the whole scenario, Cynthia decided to move on with her research. As she perused the last virtual document in her ever growing file, she happened on an item she knew her boss would be very interested to see.