Justin Taylor stepped off of the bus and began walking the two blocks over to his apartment in Chelsea. He had calmed down significantly since walking out of his job earlier, but he wasn't really thinking about that. Sure, his half of the rent was going to be very tough to come up with at the end of the month, and quitting his job with no notice without anything else lined up was really fucking dumb, but he had other things on his mind- one thing, or rather, person in particular.

Justin thought back to his brief meeting with what was most likely the most gorgeous man he had ever seen in his life. He did not see the man when he had stormed out of the restaurant the first time, but at that point, he just wanted to get the fuck out of there. Once Justin gotten outside and lit a cigarette to calm his nerves, he noticed that he had left without grabbing his messenger bag and jacket. He thought about finishing his cigarette outside, but figured what the hell? He had already quit, so he just brought it in with him.

He had been so intent on getting his stuff that he failed to notice the man when he walked through the dining room the second time. After walking back to the employee break area to his locker and retrieving his things, he gave that fat bastard, Jerry, a death glare as he walked back out of the kitchen and into the dining room.

While passing through the dining room for the last time, Justin suddenly felt someone grab his left arm to stop him. He was planning on telling the offending person to go and fuck themselves, but as soon as he saw those hazel eyes staring up at him, he couldn't have recited the alphabet, even if he had a gun to his head.

The man had a square jaw that could cut a diamond, and a strong, pronounced chin-masculine qualities that made Justin's pulse quicken. When the hot brunette in the expensive suit asked him what was wrong, he decided to be frank and tell him that he had just quit and that his boss was an asshole. Justin could feel the smoldering eyes burning into his flesh as the man checked him out from head to toe before taking a hit off his cigarette.

While Justin could hardly believe the gall of a man who would put his lips on a stranger's cigarette without even asking, he thought it was one of the most sensual acts he had ever witnessed. He could feel his dick harden at the image of those lush pink lips sucking on his cigarette's filter.

Justin walked up to his apartment building, fished his keys out of the front pocket of his messenger bag, and unlocked the main door. He then walked up the three flights of stairs to his apartment.

Every time he lumbered up those stairs, Justin promised himself that some day he would earn enough money to get a place in a building with an elevator.

He unlocked the door to the apartment and walked into the small foyer, where he could hear Janet Jackson's "When I Think of You" playing on the open laptop sitting on the coffee table. After taking off his jacket and hanging it up in the tiny coat closet, he walked into the small living room.

At that moment, Justin's best friend and roommate, Daphne, walked out of her bedroom, clad in a tiny hot pink tank top with a picture of a frog on it and even tinier lime green cotton shorts. Her naturally curly hair was held back in pigtails.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing here in the middle of the day? I thought your shift ended at four," Daphne asked as she stretched her arms above her head, nearly touching the low ceiling.

Not that Daphne was complaining, as she rarely got to see Justin unless either of them had the day off, since they worked different shifts. But still, she knew he shouldn't have been home at that time of the day.

Justin replied, "Yeah, it would have... if I hadn't told that fat fuck, Jerry, to suck my dick before I quit."

Daphne's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "You did what?! You just quit your job? Are you fucking serious, Justin?"

"I had to, Daph," Justin replied as he walked into his tiny bedroom with Daphne following close behind. Justin sat down on the twin-sized bed to take off his shoes and socks. "If I had to put up with Jerry's shit for one more minute, I would have burnt that fucking place down! I've told you before that the asshole wouldn't get off my case. Like nobody else in that dump has never dropped a fucking plate before!"

Justin unbuttoned the white dress shirt he was wearing and took it off.

I won't be needing this anymore, Justin thought to himself as he threw the shirt on the floor.

"The douche bag saw me take one of my plates off the serving line and he said, ‘Don't drop that one, Taylor,' all obnoxious. I thought to myself, ‘That's it, motherfucker,' and threw the plate down on purpose."

"Well, I don't blame you, but you could have waited to make a statement like that after you found another job! Did you ever think of asking Johnny if you could move to the bar so you wouldn't have to go in the kitchen anymore?" Daphne asked, knowing that Johnny was the general manager of the restaurant.

"I would have asked Johnny if I could work in the bar, if the tips would have been comparable to serving, which they aren't," Justin vehemently replied as he unzipped his black pants and pulled them off.

While living with Daphne for the past two years, they had seen each other naked numerous times, so it didn't bother him to walk around in his birthday suit in front of her. Also, there was that one time in high school...

Justin then added, "Plus, that homophobic prick didn't care how Jerry was treating me." He pulled off his boxer briefs, threw them onto the pile of work clothes, and pushed past Daphne.

Daphne looked at Justin's naked ass as he walked into their shared miniscule bathroom to take a shower. While Daphne gave up on any dreams of a real relationship with Justin long ago, she still found herself very attracted to the blond beauty. Hell, who wouldn't find that boy attractive? she thought to herself. Daphne had observed more than one obviously straight man give Justin a second look when they had gone out in public together.

Justin turned on the shower, stepped in, and pulled the sunflower-printed curtain closed. "But the day wasn't a total bust," he said over the sound of the shower.

Daphne closed the lid on the toilet and sat down to continue their conversation. "Oh?" she inquired.

"'Oh' is right," Justin replied, giggling. "As in, ‘Oh, my fucking God,' I saw the hottest guy in the restaurant before I left! Christ, Daph, you should have seen this guy... you would have pissed your panties!"

Daphne laughed and inquired, "But, he wasn't hot enough for you to piss your panties?"

"Oh, trust me, my dick was too hard for me to piss at all," Justin countered, laughing.

"Eww, you nasty freak!" Daphne squealed. "T.M.I.!"

"Well, you asked... And since when is anything T.M.I. to you? What have you not asked me about my sex life, and what have you not told me about yours?" Justin peeked his shampoo-covered head out from behind the curtain long enough to inquire, "Shit, I fucked you before, remember? And how many times have I held your hair when you've had too much to drink, huh? What haven't we shared?"

"Touché, my love, touché," Daphne replied. "So, what do you think you're going to do now; for work, I mean? Did the dude from that gallery ever call you back?"

Justin sighed and answered, "Yeah, he called this morning when I was getting ready for work. He said that while my work was ‘unique and fresh,' it's not what he wants to showcase at this time."

Daphne clicked her tongue and said, "What was he looking for, typical and boring? Well, someone will want to show your work eventually, babe, you'll see."  

Although Daphne wasn't an artist, she knew that her best friend had loads of talent. Justin had been lucky enough to sell a few pieces that he was able to get shown in small showcases in the past, but he never sold enough of his work to make a living off of it.

"Well, it looks like I'm going to be peddling my ass on the streets again," Justin said.

Daphne laughed. "If anyone can sell their ass, it's you, my friend!"

Justin turned the shower off and opened the curtain. He grabbed a towel off the rack next to the tub and began to dry himself off. "I hope so."

 "... and let me tell you something else, you asshole," Debbie yelled on the other end of the cell phone that Brian was holding a few inches away from his ear.

"Deb... Deb! It's been a pleasure talking to you, as usual, but I've gotta go," Brian managed to say. "Bye-bye, now."

He hit the "end" button on the phone and turned the ringer off before putting the phone back in his jacket pocket. Brian made the mistake of answering Debbie's fourth phone call of the day, but he knew that he would have to speak to her eventually, or she would never stop calling.

Following lunch, Brian and his three employees rode back to The Palace in their limo. Instead of going to the hotel's spa like he originally planned, Brian changed from his suit into a modest pair of blue jeans, a white v-neck t-shirt, a black leather jacket, and a pair of Nikes. He then had his driver take him to Central Park.

To help get his mind off of the meetings he had scheduled over the next few days, along with the feisty blonde he saw at lunch, Brian decided to take a stroll. Although he loved the bustle of the city, he liked that the park offered a low-key atmosphere to escape to for a couple of hours.

Brian instructed the driver to drop him off near the pond when Debbie called. Just as he thought, Michael had promptly called his mother to complain to her about how Brian had spoken to him on the phone after he arrived in New York, and Debbie just had to call Brian to give him a piece of her mind.

After hanging up on Debbie, Brian continued his leisurely walk along the trail when he suddenly came upon a blonde man sitting on a camping stool. The man had an easel set up in front of him and was sketching an older man and woman, who were sitting on a bench next to him, with a charcoal pencil. Brian could not see the man's face at that angle, but he knew without a doubt that this was the same gorgeous man that he saw in the restaurant a few hours before. The blonde was wearing the same blue denim jacket that he had on earlier.

Brian looked closely at the drawing, which was nearly finished, and could tell that the man had wonderful artistic talent. The sketch looked just like the couple, who were sitting close together and smiling at the blonde. A minute later, the man scribbled his signature on the bottom right corner of the paper and tore the page off of the sketch pad. He stood up and showed the drawing to the couple.

"Here we go... what do you think?" the blonde asked them. Brian immediately recognized the voice as belonging to the man from the restaurant.

The woman put her hand to her mouth and said, "Oh, my goodness, that is amazing! Isn't it beautiful, sweetie?"

The man answered, "Yep, it looks great. Thank you, young man." After pulling a bill out of his wallet and giving it to the blonde, he took the drawing with his left hand. The men shook hands, and the couple began to walk away, their arms wrapped around each other's waists, still marveling at the sketch.

A moment later, the blonde turned around to walk back to his stool and came face to face with Brian, who was then standing a couple of feet away. The blonde gasped slightly, the look of recognition etched across his astonishing face.

The blonde flashed Brian a big smile, his blue eyes shimmering in the sunlight. "Uh... hi."

Brian grinned back and said, "Why, hello there. Of all the people in this big city, I never thought I'd come across you again. I'm Brian Kinney, by the way." Brian held his hand out to the blonde, who Brian observed was wearing a pair of khaki pants and a red t-shirt under the jacket.

The young man took Brian's hand in his and replied, "Justin Taylor."

Daph is gonna shit when I tell her about this! Justin thought to himself.

Brian continued to stare into Justin's eyes, tightly gripping his right hand in his. "Justin... it's very nice to meet you... officially, this time."

Brian gave him his Kinney Smile, and Justin suddenly began to sweat, despite the sixty-five degree temperature and light breeze.

"Um... you, too, Brian." Justin let out a nervous chuckle, thinking that his right hand was about to burst into flames from Brian's touch.

"I couldn't help but see the sketch you did of that couple. It was amazing," Brian said, finally letting go of Justin's hand.

Justin swiped his forehead with the back of his hand and replied, "Oh, uh, thank you. Now that I'm unemployed, I figured I better do something to earn a living, even if it's selling sketches for ten dollars a pop."

"Ten dollars, that's all?" Brian asked, stunned. He pulled his cigarette case out of his pocket, took one out and offered one to Justin. Justin took the cigarette and allowed Brian to light it for him with his Zippo. "You're selling yourself short, Sunshine." Brian lit his own cigarette, blowing out a smoke ring over his head.  

Justin blushed, surprised to hear Brian call him by an endearing pet name after only speaking to him for no more than a minute, as well as for complementing his drawing. "Oh, well, I..." Justin brought the cigarette to his lips with a shaking hand.

Brian interrupted. "I'll give you a thousand dollars to draw me, and to accompany me to dinner tonight."

Justin coughed the smoke out of his lungs, taking a few deep breaths to steady himself. "A THOUSAND DOLLARS?" Justin exclaimed, coughed again, and threw the cigarette on the ground. "Are you fucking kidding me? Look pal, I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but..."

Brian laughed and said, "Whoa, calm down. I didn't mean to offend you, I'm just offering-"

"It sounds like you're hoping I'd have sex with you in exchange for money!" Justin said as he walked over to his makeshift work area to pack up his supplies, grumbling under his breath.

"What?" Brian asked. "Did I say ‘A thousand dollars to fuck you?' No! I meant a thousand for a drawing, and then we can go to dinner. That's all, no further expectations!"

But if you do want to fuck me after, I certainly wouldn't say no, Brian thought to himself.

Justin zipped up his messenger bag after putting his pencils and sketch pad away. He looked back at Brian and skeptically asked, "A thousand bucks just for a sketch?"

"Yeah, you're worth it. With your amount of talent, I'm sure it will be worth a lot more than that in the future," Brian answered, giving the blonde a slight smile. "And hopefully after you draw me, you'll let me to treat you to dinner."

Justin bit his lip, contemplating Brian's offer. I'd be out of my fucking mind if I said no to that... even if he was only asking me to dinner, Justin thought. He huffed out a breath and replied, "Okay."

Brian smiled, then cocked his head to the side and said, "Okay... what?"

Justin snorted and answered, "Okay, I'll sketch you... hell, for that price, I'll do a color portrait. Then, we can have dinner."

"Great," Brian said, flashing the Kinney Smile again. "Do you live around here?"

Justin folded up the stool and said, "Not really; I live in Chelsea. The bus goes down Fifth, then..."

Brian chuckled, "No... my limo is waiting for me up the road."

"Li... limo?" Justin asked, wide eyed. How much fucking money does this guy have? He was wearing a really nice suit earlier, but...

"Yeah... let me help you with those," Brian said, taking the now-folded easel and stool from Justin. Brian pointed in the direction he came from and told Justin, "This way."

The two men began walking up the trail, side by side. Justin asked, "So, what do you do for a living, Brian?"

"I own an advertising firm in Pittsburgh. I'm here for the week on business," Brian replied.

"Wow," Justin said. "Are you here to meet with a particular company, or...?"

"Well, yeah, but I'm not really supposed to talk about it. The company I'm scheduled to meet with is shopping for a new agency, so I really shouldn't tell anyone until after I land the deal."

Justin smiled. "You said ‘after' you land it... you sound pretty sure of yourself." 

"Oh yeah, I'm very confident that they will sign with me," Brian said. "So, Justin, did you go to art school?"

"Yeah, I spent a year at the School of Visual Arts, but I had to drop out."

"Hmm," Brian said, "why was that?"

"My dad refused to continue to pay for my schooling, and I could never earn enough money to pay for tuition, so I had to leave," Justin answered.

"Bummer. Why didn't your dad want to pay for it anymore, if you don't mind my asking?"

Justin sighed and said, "Well, he was never too crazy about me going to art school. He had hoped I would go to business school at NYU like he did, to earn an MBA, but I begged my mom to convince him to let me go to SVA instead. During my freshman year there, I came out, moved out of their house, and then my parents got divorced a couple months later. When it came time to enroll for my second year, my mom told me that he wasn't going to pay for it, and that was that. I don't even talk to my dad anymore."

"Damn," Brian said. "Your old man sounds like almost as big of an asshole as mine. He died a few years back, but we never got along. Hell, I didn't even tell him that I was gay until he told me that he was dying of cancer. I think I was saving it for one last ‘fuck you' for the prick."

"My dad only found out because my mom told him, although I begged her not to," Justin said. "My mom figured it out when she found sketches of naked men in my room."

Brian laughed. "I wish it had been that easy for me! My mom found out last year after she showed up at my place unannounced, where I was in the middle of fucking some guy."

"I bet that was interesting," Justin said, laughing.

"Nothing kills the mood like your bible-thumping mama banging on your door. Here we are," Brian stated, indicating his limo parked a few feet away.

Brian opened the back door for Justin and climbed in after, sitting Justin's stuff on the opposite seat. After Justin told the driver where his apartment was located, the limo began to make its way out of the park.