BRIAN

After seeing Michael on the screen, I know something is going to happen.

“His name is Michael. Normally he is one of my friends, but he is having some personal issues with Justin, so I need to keep them apart. I am going to send Justin out so I can talk to Michael. Can you introduce yourself to Justin and make sure he gets out?” I ask Lo.

I know Justin can handle himself and deal with Michael, but I don’t want him to have to.

Once I reach the bar, I see Justin and Milo walking towards me. I get some water for Justin, then look to see what Michael is doing. I think he was trying to dance with Gary. Gary goes for young and blonde, and has been after Justin forever. I don’t think Justin has ever really noticed Gary. I know they’ve danced once or twice but beyond that Justin thanks him and walks away. Gary is staring at Michael for a minute then just walks off.

Michael sees me and comes over. He apologizes to Justin for stealing his tricks. Like that would happen. Michael is cute, in a boy next door way, but he just doesn’t project sexy. I mean look at the relationships he’s had. Dave and Ben. Both are nice guys, good jobs, and looking to settle down. Ben is beautifully made, but beyond that he is boring. I don’t say this like it’s a bad thing. If you want a husband, Ben is great, he will be everything you need. If you want excitement, Zen Ben is not your man. I want to be a good partner to Justin, but we are never going to be the Beaver’s parents.

I ask Justin to go to the car, because after I say what I need to say to Michael, we are going home.

“What the hell is going on with you Michael? First the wifely visits all day, then the crap at the loft with Justin, and now you’re here instead of home talking to your husband.” I need him to explain this. He isn’t going to have a marriage left if he doesn’t go home.

“Look, I wanted to say sorry for behaving like an ass. I mean I got the flowers and food for that reason. I brought over something for dinner tonight not knowing you two had plans, but instead of letting me in, Justin acts like a jackass. I have always been allowed in the loft, and he is ordering me around like he owns you. What did I do out on the dance floor that was so horrible? I can’t help that the guys Justin was dancing with preferred me.” It all sounds logical, but I know better.

“Michael, I need you to back off for a while. Justin and I have had an awful couple of days ‘due to you’. Why aren’t you at home?” The last part is what I really want to know, because Ted made it sound like Michael was going to talk to Ben.

“Ben wants time, and really I don’t know how I feel about him anymore. I love Hunter and don’t want him hurt, but I can’t keep living a life I don’t want.” Michael tells me.

“Michael, I don’t know what you want from me. I need you to understand this, if I ever decide to commit to someone, it isn’t going to be with you. I love you as a friend and I want my friend back. I miss that person. Right now you have alienated everyone but your mother. You need to stop before this gets worse.” I want to say more to him, but he turns and stomps off.

I watch him go towards the other bar. It was time for Justin and I to go home. I turn to tell Kyle to call if they need me. Kyle tells me to remind Ted that the ice machine is acting up at the third bar. I have no idea, I let Ted handle those things. Kyle then points toward the door. Crap, what is Michael doing? I run toward the door but stop when I see Lo, she caught Michael and twisted his arm behind him and takes him to one of the bouncers to get Michael out. I stand in there, staring in awe. Michael had about 7 inches on her and probably fifty pounds, but she had him out the door. She walks by Justin, pats him and comes to me.

“Look, your friend, I know he hasn’t done anything, but I just didn’t want a fight at the front door. He is outside and according to Alex, is screaming at everyone. What do you want me to do?” She asks me.

“I’ll handle it. Thanks for what you did. By the way, how did you manage that?” I ask, because let’s face it, when I see her I don’t think, brute strength.

“Brian, I have four brothers. They love me but they also know that they couldn’t be with me every second of my life. My oldest brother Al, taught me to defend myself and stop people. All the rest of them taught me how to fight. I couldn’t run a club full of drunks if I didn’t learn to subdue them. Good night.” I watch her walk away and head toward some queen who is crying.

I get to the door and Justin is standing there with Aaron, one of the door guys. They look like they are making a bet. As I get closer I hear Justin.

“Fifty we hear him tell Alex he’s Brian best friend first.” Justin bets Aaron.

“Fifty it’s 'Brian is going to fire you'.” Aaron bets Justin.

I pick up my phone and decide it’s time to call in the mom.

“Deb, either you or Carl needs to come get Michael, he is yelling in front of the club.” I tell her.

“I’ll send Carl, and thank you for calling me. Sorry about all of this.” I pull the phone from my ear and look at it to make sure I’ve called Deb.

“Deb is that really you?” I mean I have been the asshole for the last few days.

“Yes, Asshole. I need to talk to you. Not about Michael, but about me. Can I come over tomorrow?” Deb asks me.

“Yes Mother. but you’ll have to come to Kinnetik. I’m still angry about Justin but I will listen.” That is the best I can do.

“Good. That’s all I ask. Carl said that he should be there in a couple of minutes. Night Brian.” We hang up, just in time for Michael to shout.

“Brian Kinney is my best friend and he is going to fire you for treating me like this.”

Justin and Aaron scratch their heads. I assume it’s because they aren’t sure who won the bet. I walk up behind Justin and rest my chin on his shoulder.

“Was the bet what he said first, or was it he was going to say one thing or the other?” I ask.

“One or the other, so I guess we both lost, since he said both.” Justin tells me and Aaron nods.

Carl finally shows up and Michael stops in his tracks. Carl points to the front seat and looks over at us and waves. Thank God. We can finally go home.

CARL

The phone rings just as I walk in and Deb answers, putting it on speaker. I realize it’s about Michael. After Brian tells her someone needs to come get Michael and Deb gets Brian to agree to talk to her, she hangs up. I have already made my feelings clear on all this and she knows I will not listen if she defends Michael at this point. I was angry about the fight. I know she didn’t mean to hit Justin and even Justin knows it, but everyone is sensitive about his head. She knows that I will listen when she is being reasonable.

“Carl, when you get Michael, drop him off at the store and tell him he can come over for meals and baths, but other than that I don’t want him here until he gets his life together.” Deb is in tears.

“I’ll handle it Sweetheart. And if you change your mind and want him here, call and I’ll bring him.” I’m not heartless. What Michael is doing isn’t rational.

I talked to Ben and found out the truth. Ben told me that he thinks Michael misinterpreted what he saw and that is why he is clinging to Brian. I told Ben that if this out of control reaction is Michael’s way of handling things, they need to look at getting Michael some outside help.

When I pull up to Babylon, there is Michael, yelling until he sees me. He stops. I point to the car and he gets in without another word. I wave to the boys and get in the car. At this point there is nothing to say so I drive to his store and stop.

“Why are we here? I don’t need anything here, let’s go to Ma’s.” He tells me.

“Your mother told me to tell you that you can come for meals and showers but that is all she is willing to do at the moment.” Michael looks at me as if waiting for a punchline.

“Ma wouldn’t say that. Just take me home Carl.” He really thinks I’m kidding.

“Sorry Michael, but she was willing to help you till tonight. You went too far.” He finally gets out and goes to the shop door and goes in. Believe it or not, driving off, I feel off doing it, but I do it, for Deb.

DEBBIE

I was upset when Michael showed up this afternoon to tell me that he and Ben were separating. I understood Ben needing the space. Look at the mess in the wake of my son. I called Ben to tell him I understood that he need time but not to close the door on Michael yet. Ben informs me that after we dropped Michael off, he packed and left. The only thing said was that Michael needed space. When I hung up, that was the moment when I knew I had to stop trying to blame everyone else.

I didn’t talk to anybody or even try for a couple of hours, because I needed to think. I wanted to make sure that when I did talk to someone, that instead of blaming everyone else, I put the blame where it belongs.

I called Jen first and surprisingly it went really well. I told her the only one to blame for what I did to Justin was me and that I would understand if she was still angry. She told me that if I ever raised a hand to Justin again we would be done. After that she then asked if I had seen the news segment yet. I told her Emmett had it recorded. We started to laugh about Ben standing there while we circled around him. I think I’ve got my friend back. We are meeting for drinks at Woody’s tomorrow.

When Brian called I let him tell me about Michael and then I asked to speak to him. He is willing and I will make the most of the situation.

MICHAEL

I was hurt that Ma didn’t want me home, but then I realized that now I have more time for practice. I start looking at the book about pole dancing. I figure I’ll try to practice each move until I have it down. I open the book and start to read it. My eyes stray to the new Superman comic and I need something more entertaining right now so I grab it and start reading.

TUESDAY

BRIAN

I warned Cynthia that Deb was going to be on her way today. Justin told me last night that he wants me to let it go. If he isn’t mad why should we be. I know that he wasn’t really hurt, the bruise is almost gone. I was raised with abuse and it shapes your thinking. When I see that porcelain skin marred, I see Jack.

I talked to Jen about it later and she told me being mad was one thing, but going to jail was stupid on her part. I asked if she would have done it differently and got ‘hell no’. We both started laughing.

I walk into my office and start going through memos and notes. Five minutes later I see Michael at Cynthia’s desk he hands her a basket and walks out. She looks in, then brings it in.

“Michael said to give this to you.” She hands me the basket and walks back out.

Opening it, I see muffins and a thermos with coffee in it. What is he doing? Ted walks in and looks, grabs a muffin and sits down. Justin comes in, sees muffins and attacks. While Justin is doing his best chipmunk impression, Ted starts going over financials.

Nobody says a word about the basket so I just let it slide, because Justin looks like he just went to heaven when he gets to his third muffin.

“Ted, Deb is going to be here later this afternoon, can you be here?” He looks at his palm pilot nods yes.

So the rest of the morning is filled with callbacks and checking boards. Justin is in the art department helping out. I see him looking out the front around noon. I go over to check what he’s doing. He tells me he was trying to figure out what to do for lunch. I look at him and then the parking lot and ask why he is look out there. He smiles and says that if Michael showed up then he would just wait because Michael brings the good stuff. I am so glad he is enjoying my misery.

I turn him and walk him back to the art department and over to his desk, when I see two more muffins sitting there. I look at them and him and he mumbles something about snacks. Out of pure spite for not feeling my pain I grab one, unwrap it, stuff the whole thing in my mouth and walk off. I hear a whimper, now he feels my pain.