Brian stormed into Kinnetik after a disastrous meeting with a potential client. The man ended up being far too understanding after Brian had fucked up royally several times over.

Brian found Cynthia’s shiny new toy laughing with her and a woman from Finance.

“You,” Brian spat, stopping in front of the idiot. “You’re fired.” Then he continued on his way to his office.

He could hear Cynthia talking soothingly to the imbecile. Damian had proved to be an amazing help until he had failed monumentally to do minimal research about Brian's business meeting with one who might be their biggest account to date.

“I thought we agreed not to say anything hasty to Damian. What has he done wrong?” Cynthia barged into his office.

Brian rounded on her. “You allowed him to do the research for our newest client. Well, he nearly cost me wining this account. He didn’t even get the man’s name right.” Brian noticed Damian hovering in the doorway, looking remorseful. “It was Brad, like Brad Pitt. Not Brandy, like your favorite sitcom. What the fuck, Damian?”

“I’m so sorry, Brian…” the boy mumbled.

“That’s Mr. Kinney to you. Get Ted to work on the papers for him,” he told Cynthia.

“Just because Damian mixed up the name of your client…that’s not a good enough reason to rip him a new one. How many times have I made such mistakes, Brian?” Cynthia challenged.

“I wasn’t your employer back then. Besides, we screwed up together.”

“Exactly. Damian is about our age when we started working for Ryder. Don’t be an asshole.”

Brian huffed. “Brad has the biggest chain of stores that sell vegan products. Why the fuck did you make reservations to a steak house? You are so lucky, we found something on the menu for him to eat.”

“I’m sorry,” Damian said shakily.

“And the cherry on the fucking clusterfuck?” Brian thundered. “I mentioned his wife in a casual conversation. Turns out the poor woman is dead…for three years now,” he spat. “It will be a miracle if he agrees to go with us.”

“Oh, Damian,” Cynthia sighed, shaking her head.

“Now you understand?” Brian demanded.

“Still, it’s not a sound enough reason to fire Damian.” She pushed the kid out of Brian's office, before closing the door, and turning to face Brian. “Like I mentioned a minute ago, we have both made mistakes. It’s his first time doing something like this.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” Brian muttered, throwing himself on his chair, tugging at his tie.

“You might not know or care, but he’s all alone in the city. In all the time he’s been with us, I never heard him talk about meeting with friends. He’s always eager to join us for drinks after work when we meet up.”

“I don’t want to hear his sob story.” Brian rubbed at his temple. “I know it’s his first time screwing up, and this wouldn’t have happened if you had the time to do your job. I couldn’t fix the problem that sprung overnight in Chicago and be at this meeting.”

“The Chicago issue is solved. However, you might want to talk to Kurt. You relocated him there as Account Manager, not as the boss. He’s been giving everyone orders, and Jane mentioned to me how he has been hitting on her,” Cynthia explained.

“I might have to fly over there and remind him I’m the fucking boss. Jane hasn’t said anything about this. I talked to her last week.”

“I doubt she felt comfortable to tell you. I suggested she should email Ted a written complaint, and we’ll take it from there.”

“Good thinking. I have to take this.” Brian took his ringing phone out of his jacket.

“I’m going to calm Damian and tell him he’s not fired.”

Brian showed her his finger, as he answered Justin. “Hey, you.”

“Hey. Are you busy toward the end of the week?”

Brian knew for a fact he had several meetings scheduled for Thursday and Friday. “Nothing that can’t be rescheduled. Why?”

“I’m waiting to get Nick from school, and I want to talk to his teacher to let him miss out Thursday and Friday.”

“What the hell? Why?”

Justin was silent for a long time. “On Thursday it will be one year…Nick might not realize it, but he’ll give me hell if I go to New York without him again,” he said softly.

“One year…” Brian repeated. “Oh, fuck. One year,” he said in understanding.

“Yeah. I was in two minds about going back on my own, but I would have had both of you on my ass for eternity.”

“You already have me on your ass for eternity,” Brian joked. “Want me to get plane tickets? Accommodation? It’s such short notice, Justin.”

“I know,” he mumbled. “If you can’t come with us, it’s okay. I know you’re busy.”

“Shut up. I’m coming. Come over after you pick Nick and talk to his teacher.”

“Did you eat? I could stop by somewhere.”

“I just came back from a lunch date. You get something for yourself and Nick. And drive carefully. The roads are icy.”

“I’ve noticed. See you soon.”

Brian placed the phone on his desk, rubbing his temple. After a few moments of mulling over Justin's wish to return to New York for a few days on the one year anniversary since Ian’s death, Brian checked his schedule.

He wasn’t sure what other days might be suitable to reschedule his meetings, so he got up and went to the door. “Damian,” he called toward the office he and Cynthia shared.

Damian appeared promptly in the hallway, looking like he had been crying. “Yes, Mr. Kinney.”

Brian waved him into his office. He returned to his chair, and Damian followed him, stopping close to the door.

“Shut the door. Take a seat.” Brian waved to the chair across his desk.

“Can I say something, please?” Damian begged, his eyes on his hands knotted on his lap.

“Keep your apologies. We all make mistakes. Just…be more careful about these things. Especially with new clients,” Brian insisted.

Damian looked up, wonder in his eyes.

“Come on, kid. You must have heard me bark at Theodore a billion times how I’m going to fire him. You have to piss me off much, much worse for me to throw you out of the agency. Now, let’s talk about my meetings on Thursday and Friday.”

“Thank you, Mr. Kinney. Thank you! You have no idea…I promise to be more careful.”

“Damian,” Brian hissed. He wasn’t ready to hear the boy making promises he wasn’t able to keep.

“Right. Let me get the planner.”

Brian frowned after him, as the boy rushed out of his office only to return what seemed like the next second with a tablet. Damian sat across from Brian again, thumbing through the device.

“We can reschedule everyone. I will make the calls. Except…the sex toys account.”

“Fuck.” Brian wasn’t sure why he had accepted the offer from an old acquaintance. He had pushed around the meeting, and now there was no escaping it. “Have Ted handle it. You can join him,” Brian added, amused.

Damian’s eyes widened, and his face turned an unhealthy shade of red.

“It will be fun. Take notes for me.”

Skeptically, Damian nodded. “Good. Make all the necessary calls to reschedule all my other meetings. If some of the clients can’t meet us another time, it’s on Ted or Phil. Now, send Cynthia here.”

Damian nodded again, before disappearing out of Brian's office.

“You’ll give this kid a whiplash,” Cynthia complained, stepping into his office and closing the door.

“He’s a tough kid. Do you still have our details to buy plane tickets and book a hotel room for us?”

“Are you taking Justin away for Valentine’s Day?” she asked, surprised.

Brian winced. “Thanks for pointing that out. No, actually, he wants to go back to New York for a few days. On Thursday it will be one year since the fiddler was murdered.”

“Oh, God. Just the two of you?”

“And Nick. Do you need anything for him?”

“I have his details for when I booked your trip for the summer.”

“Right. Thank you.”

She managed to reached the door, when Brian called her name, grimacing. She turned to look at him over her shoulder.

“When’s the Pink Day?”

“Today.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Need me to call a flower shop?” she offered, smiling.

“No.” Brian could clearly remember how Justin had told him he hated roses.

Brian knew exactly what he wanted to get Justin, and he knew Justin would appreciate food more than flowers. With his decision made, he picked his cellphone, and left the office.

“If Justin and Nick arrive before I’m back, tell them I had an emergency,” Brian said toward Cynthia’s office.

He walked to the bakery not that far away from Kinnetik. Brian had helped the owner make it better known after he had discovered what delicious sweets were displayed and how few customers the place had.

The bakery was swarming with people when he stepped inside, but he went to check the displayed sweets.

“Hi, Brian,” Tara called, offering him a small smile.

“Hey! Is Jackson around?” Brian wasn’t impressed with the cookies and fancy cakes in the display window.

Tara opened a side door. “Jax, you have a visitor,” she shouted.

Brian waited for his friend to appear and ask Tara what he problem was. She pointed to Brian, who waved, rolling his eyes.

“Brian, I would have never guessed to see you here on this day,” Jackson said, coming closer to his friend.

“Stranger things have happened. Tell me you have other cakes besides these ones.” Brian waved to the display window.

“Come with me in the back. I just finished decorating a small and cute cake. I don’t think it’s your style, though.”

“I don’t have a style,” Brian joked, following Jackson to the kitchen area.

There were several cakes in a refrigerator with a glass window.

“This one,” Jackson said, waving to the one on the metal table.

Brian shouldn’t have been surprised he overlooked it. The thing wasn’t his style, at all. But it screamed Justin for miles.

It was small and heart-shaped, decorated in dark chocolate frosting with raspberries on top of it, accentuating the shape of the heart.

“What is on the inside?”

“Dark chocolate base with a white mousse made of cream and raspberries, then it’s a coffee mousse layer, and white chocolate top with a thin frosting of dark chocolate.”

“Sold,” Brian said hurriedly.

“It’s ninety dollars.”

“Like I ever cared about the price. Wrap it up nicely.”

“Go to Tara and pay for it. I’ll bring it to you in a minute. I have to finish decorating it,” Jackson said, amused.

“Thanks, man.”

The bakery had emptied considerably, and Brian only had to wait for a man to decide what he wanted to get his girlfriend, before he told Tara to ring him ninety for a cake, and also add some rainbow cupcakes. Brian had learned fast how delicious the rainbow cupcakes were, but he also spent five extra minutes on the treadmill after such a treat.

Brian returned to Kinnetik to find Justin and Nick in the hallway with Cynthia.

“What you got there?” Nick came to peer into Brian's bag.

“Did you eat lunch?” Brian asked.

“Yup.”

“Nope,” Justin said loudly.

Brian laughed. “Then you won’t get what’s in the bag,” he told Nick, holding the bag out of the child’s reach. He met Justin's eyes, grinning. “We can go, I’m done for the day.”

“Sure.” Justin hugged Cynthia, before joining Brian and Nick, who was pouting at the bag.

As they left the building, Justin steered Nick into the backseat of the Jeep. After he shut the door, he turned to Brian, kissing him soundly.

“I got you something,” Brian said quietly.

“Sweets? Fuck, you know the way to my heart. What’s the occasion?” Justin asked, peering into the bag, but everything was wrapped up and he couldn’t see inside.

“Fuck, I knew it. I could have sworn you forgot, but then Cynthia came and pointed out what today was.”

Justin eyed him curiously, then his eyes widened. Then he laughed nervously. “I didn’t want to say anything. I realized what today was when I was at the gallery earlier. I even got a flower from a random guy on the street who was handing flowers left and right.”

Brian pursed his lips. “Cute.”

“No, don’t get jealous. It doesn’t become you.” Justin opened the passenger door. He leaned inside the car then turned to hand Brian a bouquet of white roses. “It was all I could find.”

“I thought you hated flowers…especially roses.”

“When they didn’t hold any emotion, but these…well, it’s silly. I hope they mean something for you.” Justin eyed the bouquet in his hands.

“Thank you, Sunshine. I don’t recall anyone ever buying me flowers.” Brian kissed him deeply.

They were separated by loud honking.

Brian spotted Nick leaned between the front seats, pressing his palms to the center of the steering wheel.

“Nick,” Justin gasped, climbing into the passenger seat. “That wasn’t nice.”

Brian placed the bag with the sweets and the flowers in Justin's lap, before he closed the door and rounded the car to get behind the wheel. He caught the end of Nick’s complaint about being hungry.

“You refused to eat everything I offered you. So, wait until we get home. We have mac ‘n cheese.”

“Can I put ketchup on it?”

“Yes,” Justin groaned, shuddering.

Brian knew how Nick loved to coat his macaroni in ketchup.

.

.

.

Much later that night, Brian was stretched on the couch with Justin's feet on his lap. Justin was lounged on the length of the couch, eating his third helping from the cake.

“I take it, you like the cake,” Brian said teasingly.

“It’s fucking orgasmic. I don’t think I’ve tasted such heaven in my life.”

Brian stroked Justin's calf absently. “I can talk to Jackson about helping with our wedding cake.”

“This is exactly what I want for our wedding cake,” Justin said around his fork. “So you are friends with the owner of a bakery? Why didn’t I know this?”

“It never came up in conversation?” Brian answered, amused.

“Okay, you have to introduce us.” Justin licked at his fork, moaning. He leaned closer to the coffee table to place his empty plate, before linking his fingers across his stomach. “I’m stuffed.”

Brian eyed him amazed. “I’m not sure how you had enough room for mac ‘n cheese, two rainbow cupcakes, and three generous pieces of that cake.”

“It’s a gift.”

“You better watch out, because I’m not into fat.”

“At the rate we fuck…I’ll burn all these calories by the time the night is over. That is, if I could move,” Justin said thoughtfully. “I never know when to stop when I taste something I really like,” he mumbled.

“My dick can attest to that,” Brian joked.

Justin kicked his leg half-heartedly. “I don’t think I overindulged in anything with you…well, until just now. But a few summers ago, Ethan and I took Nick to the park. There was cotton candy. We got three huge ones. And I mean…HUGE…like twice the size of my head.” Justin rubbed his stomach, closing his eyes. “I more or less inhaled mine, then took Ethan’s because he wasn’t that big of a fan. And it turned out Nick didn’t like it, either. You have no idea the sugar high I had after that, or the stomach pain.”

“I can only imagine. I feel sick only watching how much you’ve eaten tonight,” Brian admitted.

“It was the best surprise.” Justin crawled up the couch and sat across Brian's lap. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Brian.”

Brian kissed him soundly, stroking his back. “I love you today, and I love you every fucking day.”

“For eternity,” Justin supplied, kissing down Brian's neck. “Make love to me. Gently,” he whispered in Brian's ear.

“Are you sure? You won’t get sick?”

“No,” Justin protested. “But gently,” he insisted.

Brian laughed, pulling him up and leading him toward their bedroom.