Before the Fall

Chapter 13





“You ready to go to work, boys?” Bobby asked as he came into the Kinney-Taylor side of the cottages.

“Yep,” Gus said shoving back his chair. “Have fun at camp, short stuff,” he said to Bree and gave a kiss to the top of her head.

“Bye, Gus, I’m glad you’re here.”

“Thanks,” Gus said with a smile.

“Bye, Ray,” Bree added and Ray waved at her before heading to the front door. Gus and Ray left with Bobby.

“Dada, is something wrong with Gus?” Bree asked.

“Why do you ask?” Brian responded. He knew what was wrong. He and Gus had talked for quite a while after Gus’ phone call to his mother. The trouble was that no matter how much they talked it didn’t solve the situation.

“He was awful quiet. He usually teases me … and he didn’t,” Bree said.

“You noticed that, did you, Squirt,” Brian said to his very smart daughter. “I think he’s worried about his mothers.”

“Brian, maybe you shouldn’t…” Justin said cocking his head towards Bree to indicate that Brian shouldn’t bring that topic up in front of their daughter.

“JR’s worried too,” Bree replied. “She told me on the phone last night.”

“I guess the wires were humming,” Brian observed.

“Daddy, can I have a cell phone?” Bree asked.

“A cell phone?”

“Yeah, JR’s got one … and Gus.”

“But they’re older.”

“I’m getting older,” Bree informed her father.

“I don’t think you’re ready for a cell phone just yet,” Justin said looking to Brian for support.

“We just got you a piano, Squirt,” Brian told his daughter. “I think that’s enough for now.”

“’Kay,” Bree said as she slid off her chair. “I need to get my sneakers.” She ran to her bedroom.

“Thanks for your help on that one,” Justin said as he poured some coffee into a travel mug for Brian.

“You realize we’re fighting the inevitable.”

“You mean she’ll want a cell phone over and over again.”

Brian nodded. “And at some point we’re going to have to give it to her.”

“We are?”

“She won’t let us put her off forever.”

“I thought it was going to get easier as she got older,” Justin said with a sigh.

“What parenting book told you that?”

Justin gave his husband a swat as Patrick came in from the other side of the cottages. “I’m ready, Uncle Bri.”

“Bree,” Brian called. “Time to go.”

“Coming, Dada,” Bree called.

“Good luck with the landscaping company,” Justin said to his husband.

“Thanks, we may need it.”

“I thought you made your own luck.”

“I do,” Brian said with a grin and a waggle of his eyebrows.



*****



After Brian dropped the children at Camp Little Flowers, he drove to the landscaping company that he and Todd were thinking of buying. They had made an appointment with the owner. His office was in a building that looked a lot like the shed at the back of Edna’s Treasures. Brian pulled into the lot and stopped the SUV. Todd’s car pulled in a minute later. They both got out.

“How are we going to do this?” Todd asked.

“Good cop, bad cop?” Brian asked with a laugh.

“Do you think that’s necessary?” Todd asked with a worried look on his face.

“That was a joke,” Brian reminded him. “But if we need leverage, I’m perfectly capable of applying it.”

“This may be nothing to you, but I sold everything in Chicago to move back here. I need this job.” Todd was deadly serious.

“I’m not taking this lightly,” Brian countered. “I want this company, and you’re going to make it a big success.”

Brian watched Todd’s face light up. The man looked like a huge load had just been lifted from him.

“Then let’s get this done,” Todd said. His confidence seemed to have returned.

They started walking towards the office.



*****



About an hour and a half later they were sitting in a coffee shop not far from the landscaping office. They each had a coffee in front of them. Brian had even eaten a small piece of the donut he had ordered.

“You were great in there,” Todd said with a chuckle. “All I had to do was shut up and let you negotiate.”

Brian saluted Todd with his coffee mug before taking another small bite of the donut. “You made some salient points about efficiency,” Brian told his new partner. This was their immediate celebration over how well the negotiations had gone.

“I don’t think waste ever adds anything to a business,” Todd said. “Mr. Montgomery has too many employees and doesn’t do anything but the paperwork himself. I intend to be hands on. I think we need to get rid of at least one worker.”

“Make it the one who doesn’t know how to trim the edges of my lawn,” Brian griped.

Todd laughed, “I’ll see what I can do. I want to go out on jobs with them when we take over in a couple of weeks. I’ll see who does what.”

“I like the way you think.”

“Thanks, and I like the way you get things done.”

Brian nodded. “We make a good team.”

“And you want me to run the business on a day to day basis?”

“Yes. Ted will be available if you have financial or insurance questions. I wouldn’t mind working on landscaping projects, but only if you want some help.”

“Having seen your gardens at Edna’s Treasures, I’m sure your input would be invaluable.”

Brian felt pride in his gardening achievements hearing Todd say that. “Then I will get Bobby to draw up the contracts. Ted will look them over, and we should be partners and owners of…”

“Yes?” Todd asked wondering why Brian hesitated.

“I had been thinking of the Sunshine Gardening and Landscaping Company, but I’m having second thoughts.”

“A new name would set a new tone for the new company. Any other ideas?”

“I think I’ll ask Justin.”

“Justin?”

“Yes, he’s named all my businesses.”

“And they’re all successful. I vote for Justin’s idea.”

Brian laughed. “I’ll tell him you have every confidence in his choice of a name.”

With that they stood up and headed out to their vehicles.



*****



“All Things Happy!”

“What?”

“The All Things Happy Gardening and Landscaping Company.”

“I heard you the first time. I just wasn’t sure if I heard you correctly,” Brian said with a scowl. “I think you’ve finally lost it, Sunshine. What the fuck kind of name for a business is that?”

“A play on words kind of name. Something, Mr. Tip Top ad man, you should be able to appreciate,” Justin countered without backing down one iota.

Brian had come back to Edna’s Treasures in triumph, relating his good news to his mate. Justin was painting in the sun porch, working on his last few pieces for his “Then and Now” show.

“‘Splain it to me, Lucy,” Brian snarked as he took up residence on a chaise to indulge in one of his best guilty pleasures, Sunshine watching.

“Okay, I’ll ‘splain. This new venture, while not really necessary to your income, is something I think will make you happy and there’s no reason in the world why you can’t have a little fun too.”

“I get the happy part but it still...”

“Let me finish,” Justin said curtly. Brian gave him a royal wave with the third finger of his right hand. Justin ignored the gesture and continued, “As I said, there’s no reason why you can’t have fun as well as make money. When I say the expression “All things happy” what does it make you think of?”

Brian pondered for a moment then grinned. He leapt off the chaise to give his brilliant but deviously clever artist a hug and a kiss.

“All things happy and gay,” Brian murmured when he finally released his lover’s lips. The full ripe red lips that were now kiss swollen. “There’s no one home,” Brian whispered.

Riley, who was almost finished with Bree’s spinet had gone back into Pittsburgh to pick up the correct wax for the wood of the piano. He also had a lunch ‘date’ with a certain retired drag queen now rare book shop owner.

“Yeah?”

“Let’s go make this gay man happy,” Brian said punctuating his request with another toe curling kiss.

“Yeah,” Justin agreed. “We can make each other happy,” Justin panted. Grabbing Justin’s wrist, Brian led his happy gay man to bed.



*****



“That was John,” Brian said as he reached over Justin to hang up the phone. “He’s going to get the kids.”

The boys had just finished round two and were debating if they had time for a shower before going to get the kids from camp.

“How convenient,” Justin said with a smile.

“Isn’t it,” Brian drawled with a waggle of his eyebrows making Justin laugh. Brian, feeling himself falling in love all over again, grabbed Justin’s nearest hand and held onto it. “John also said he’s going to take the kids into Bridgeton afterwards to spend some quiet time with Claire and Steve. They’ll probably have dinner there.”

“What about Bobby and the boys?”

“He’s taking them for pizza later. Apparently Bobby has Ray knee deep in research and one of Scott’s exec’s is doing a late presentation that requires Gus.”

“Soooo,” Justin said with a bright smile as he rolled on top of Brian, grinding their cocks together.

“Exactly,” Brian countered as he grabbed the globes of Justin’s ass and squeezed.



*****



Georgina Nielsen, a no nonsense ad woman was about to prove her worth to Part Deux and to her new client. The purpose of the ad was to entice teenagers, and their parents with the money, into buying the client’s latest clothing line. This was a first for this particular client who had resisted trends, sticking with the staid and mainstream. Ms. Nielsen’s goal was to show that a little stray now and then into popular could be very profitable.

Gus’s job was to display the boards, make sure water glasses were filled and that coffee, tea and their fixings were always at hand. His other job was just to sit in the corner and be quiet.

“So, Mr. Porter, you have the results of our test market and the opinion surveys. We also recommend not saturating the market, limit the line. This will force the customer into the select stores you want them to be in so that you can subtly promote your mainstream line as well as prevent waste in over manufacturing. As trends change, so does your new line. With our eye catching campaign, we predict complete success,” Ms. Nielsen said confidently.

Gus couldn’t help notice that one of the gentlemen in Mr. Porter’s party was rather handsome. He was so good looking that he could have been one of the models they had used for the ads. Gus was quietly going around the room refilling glasses and cups when he took a good look at one of the boards. The picture was of six or seven teens, all Goth and somewhat androgynous. One particular young man that caught Gus’ eye was...

“Hot!” Gus blurted out.

If looks could kill, Gus had just been cut in two by Georgina.

“I beg your pardon,” Mr. Porter grumbled, clearly displeased by the interruption.

“Chill, Dad,” Mr. Handsome Suit said quickly. “What’s your name?”

“Gus,” he said softly.

“How old are you?”

“Eighteen, sir.”

“And your comment refers to?”

“The model.”

“This is pointless,” Mr. Porter announced. “He’s saying that the girl is attractive, not the clothes.” Mr. Porter wasn’t sure which model Gus was singling out but Porter assumed Gus was talking about a girl. But it just proved the elder Mr. Porter’s point about the clothes. This venture into the modern was his son’s idea. Dad wasn’t too happy with it.

Ignoring his father for a moment, Mr. Handsome Suit asked for the pictures of the models prior to dressing them up in the clothes and makeup.

“Gus, any of these pictures draw your attention?” young Mr. Porter asked.

“Not really,” Gus answered honestly as he looked over the photos. They were typical model head-shots. And while very professionally done and all were attractive, Gus considered none of them ‘hot.’

“Gus, please point out the model in question on the board.”

Gus hesitated; he’d be outing himself. And while he certainly wasn’t ashamed of his orientation he had learned discretion from his father when it came to business.

“Do as Mr. Porter asked,” Georgina hissed with impatience.

Gus pointed out the hottie. The elder Porter gasped while the younger smiled smugly.

“Ms. Nielsen, which model is he?” the younger Mr. Porter asked. Georgina sifted through the pictures and came up with the model. “Do you have full shots of him?”

Ms. Nielsen rummaged through her files to find the requested pictures. The pictures were then handed to Gus.

“Wow,” Gus exclaimed, the difference was striking.

“What makes you say that?” the handsome Porter asked before his father could grumble, or before Ms. Nielsen chased Gus from the conference room. “And I’d like your honest opinion.”

“The way he’s dressed, if I saw him in a club I’d want a closer look. At him and the clothes,” Gus said honestly.

“So in your opinion, the clothes made the man.”

“Well, yeah.”

“Would you wear them?” the elder Mr. Porter asked, now becoming more interested in the conversation.

“I’m not into Goth but I could go for those pants and my boy...”

“Go on Gus,” the younger Porter gently encouraged.

“That shirt would look great on my boyfriend,” Gus blushed.

“I understand. I think my boyfriend would look hot in it too,” young Mr. Handsome stated. “Dad, I’ve grown up in this business and I understand that trends come and go, but there isn’t a law that says we can’t take advantage of them. Ms. Nielsen makes a point, we limit the line so there’s no overage and when trends change, we alter the line. I’m not telling you to stop carrying your classic clothes, because when those kids grow up and need a suit, they’ll come back to us. We were there when they wanted to look trendy and we’ll be there when they’re ready for the mainstream.

“When the kids beg their parents to take them to our store, mom and dad may realize a new suit may come in handy or a new shirt or a tie or...” the younger Porter began to tease his father.

“I get it.” Mr. Porter held up his hands in surrender. “Jeremy, you can be very stubborn when you want to be,” the older man said fondly, losing the hard business-like facade.

“I learned from you, Dad,” Jeremy said accepting the backhanded compliment.

“Ms. Nielsen,” Mr. Porter began, quickly returning to business mode. “You and this young man have convinced me.” Mr. Porter nodded at Gus; Jeremy gave Gus a wink. “You’ve made a very sound proposal. If your contracts are ready, I’d like to look them over.”

“Of course,” Ms. Nielsen said in a very pleased manner. She quickly withdrew the contracts from her folder to hand to the older gentleman. Gus took that opportunity to scurry back into his corner, his heart pounding a mile a minute.

By the end of the day, Part Deux had just won another multi-million dollar campaign due in part, to one Gus Kinney.



*****



It wasn’t until the next morning at breakfast did the Edna’s Treasures clan have the opportunity to discuss their day. They were all sitting around the breakfast table.

“Dad signed me up for baseball camp,” Patrick beamed at the table.

“Well all right!” Justin high fived his nephew. “When do you go?”

“In August, after I finish regular camp.” Patrick was ready to stretch his wings.

Bree was quietly filing it all away. She wanted to go away for soccer camp but knew it wasn’t the time to ask.

“Ray, why don’t you tell them what you did yesterday,” Bobby urged.

“It wasn’t much, but last night I thought I was going cross-eyed,” Ray joked.

“You’re too modest, Raymond. Due to this young man’s tenacity and persistence, he found an obscure but relevant law that we can pursue. It will save my client a lot of headaches and money.”

“Way to go, Ray!” Everyone cheered. Ray blushed as Gus leaned over to plant a loud kiss on his lips.

“And how was your day, Sonny Boy,” Brian singsonged. Brian had gotten an email and a phone call regarding Gus’ contribution to the meeting. Scott and Georgina were very pleased.

Gus, busting at the seams to tell his story, very quickly and loudly recanted his version of his save. After the accolades died down and everyone prepared to get going, Brian took his son aside for a small chat.

“Sonny Boy, I’m very proud of your performance and so is Scott. He sees great potential in you.”

“Thanks, Pop.”

“But I’m warning you. Do not get too cocky. I’ve seen too many in this business get cut down because they think they can do no wrong. Just because it worked out yesterday doesn’t mean the next time you try a similar tactic, it will. You were very lucky that Porter’s son turned out to be gay. If he wasn’t, Part Deux might have lost that account. Old man Porter went to several of Kinnetik’s competitors before his son pushed him to give us a try. It could have gone very badly.”

“Pop, I...”

“Gus, take this as a learning experience. You did real good, but don’t let it go to your head.”

“Okay, Pop, I won’t.”

“That’s my Sonny Boy. Now one more thing before you go to work. Have you given any thought about the kind of Fur Harry you want? We did promise that if you did good at college and learned to drive responsibly, we’d get you a car.”

“You mean it?” Gus was about to pop.

“Yeah, I mean it.”

“You know what I’d really like?”

“What?”

“A Jeep like yours,” Gus said with a faraway look in his eyes.

“Why?” Brian asked when he got his throat to work.

“Because it reminds me of you and Justin, the treehouse, lots of reasons. It just feels right.”

Brian grabbed his son, drawing him into a fierce hug. “Okay, Sonny Boy, one Kinney special, coming right up.”

“Thanks, Pop. I love you,” Gus whispered into his father’s neck.

“Love you too, Sonny Boy,” Brian said as he tightened his hug.

“Hey, Gus, move your ass!” Ray hollered from outside.

“I’m moving! I’m moving!” Gus shouted back.

“Better get going, Sonny Boy. Doesn’t look good if the boss’s son is late for work.”

“Okay, Pop. Later.”

“Later, Gus.”

From the front path, Brian watched the caravan of cars drive slowly down the lane toward the gate. It was only him and Riley working at home this day.

“That’s some family you have,” Riley commented as he poured coffee into his mug. Brian brought his own mug closer to the pot. Riley obliged him.

“Yeah, I’m one lucky son of a bitch,” Brian crowed as they clinked mugs then enjoyed their coffee.