Chapter 11: Thieves in the Temple- Justin (and others)

Lyrics

Love come quick/ Love come in a hurry/ There are thieves in the temple

tonight/ They don't care where they kick/ Just as long as they hurt you/

There are thieves in the temple tonight

Love if you're there come save me/ From all this cold despair/ I can hang

when you're around/ But I'll surely die/ If you're not there/ Love come

quick/ Love come in a hurry

There are thieves in the temple tonight/ I feel like I'm looking for my soul/

Like a poor man looking for gold/ There are thieves in the temple tonight/

Voices from the sky say rely on your best friend to pull you through/ But even

if I wanted to I couldn't really truly 'cause my only friend is you/ Come on

There are thieves in the temple tonight

Kicking me in my heart, tearing me all apart/ 'Cause me and you could have

been a work of art/ Thieves in the temple/ Baby don't you know I'm holding

on/ The best that I can/ Love please help me be/ The better man/ Better

than the thieves in the temple

In the temple tonight/ Oh, thieves in the temple (Tonight) tonight/ Hurt me/

Love come quick/ Love come in a hurry/ There are thieves in the temple

tonight/ You said you loved me!/ You said I was your friend!/ You were

supposed to take care of me! (Love come quick) {Thieves in the Temple}/

You lie! Love come (Lie!) in a hurry (Lie!)

Thieves in the temple tonight

Written by Prince Rogers Nelson

•  Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group

Two Weeks Later

Justin

Things are finally starting to go my way. I officially filed the papers against Michael, despite the pleadings of Debbie not to take Michael's store from him. Part of me feels bad because I have to ruin her son's life, but the larger portion of me doesn't give a fuck. Michael has been cheating me from the very beginning, yet treating me and the use of my talent as his due. He betrayed my trust, not only regarding Brian, but because of my business.

Unlike for Michael, Rage and all its contents is not just a hobby for me. My name is on it; my blood, sweat, and tears went into it. Despite the mediocre dialogue, my artwork is what got the comic to the substantial proportion it has grown to be, while being lauded alongside long-time establishments such as Marvel and DC Comics. Even knowing what it costs me to draw for Rage- even if I love drawing for it- how dare he discount what I do for the business, and withhold the financial proof that I haven't labored in vain?! Well he is about to learn a very harsh lesson about fairness, and paying what you owe.

So no, I can't be sorry for that, at all.

The other great thing is that I met with Emmett's client, George Schickle. That's right ladies and gentlemen... The Pickle King of America and beyond is Em's client! I can't help but love that man and his partner for so many reasons- least of which is because I now have three new commissions: a rebranding contract for Schickle's Pickles which Brian agreed to help me with, for a fee of course. Another for a mural, which is going to pay for my new tiny house on his estate.

Also another commission is to be discussed at a later date, but the best news of the meeting is that the tiny house is on wheels. So hooking it onto my jeep I can move it anywhere I choose to live. It needs some work to make it my own, but for now, it will do. I've been moving my stuff, little by little, into the place. Emmett has been a real gem throughout all of this, and Mel negotiated my contract.

Another major benefit is that Mr. Schickle is also on the board for PIFA, so he was able to fix it so that I can forego four of my classes this semester, considering the two commissioned murals and one life studies painting as full credit. Since I was taking six classes, which is a full load, and two of the classes are done online, this freed me up so that I don't have to step foot on campus, except to occasionally meet with my counselor once every three weeks. Because of the artwork for Rage, and my artwork at the GLC back when I first met Brian, George and his partner, Malcolm, are avid fans of my work. The catch in the deal is that one of the murals I have to paint is at his estate in Los Angeles. His former wife, Virginia Hammond recently went to meet her maker- or as George put it Virginia went to hell to become its first lady- and she had what George called ‘atrocious taste' in artwork, including a mural of herself. George and Malcolm want to be able to spend the colder months there, since Pittsburgh has rather harsh winters.

I leave in a couple of weeks to begin working on it, so that by October they are ready to settle in until May of next year.

My only real problem continues to be Ethan... Or at least, that's the case if I don't do something about him quickly! He's become even more clingy than usual, which is saying a whole helluva lot. Sure, I haven't been the perfect boyfriend, but we are both busy. The problem is that when I'm busy, he's not and he simply expects me to change my plans to spend time with him.

Umm, sooo NOT going to happen! But it doesn't stop him from whining, whenever I refuse to do so. Because I already have enough problems with Ethan, I haven't told him any of what has been happening. My fourth project makes it even more difficult to do so, since Brian called me two days after my meeting with George. Of course we fucked, but afterwards, he had a very interesting proposition for me.

The GLC is paying him eighty-thousand dollars to build a campaign for their annual Carnivale. Brian offered me ten-thousand to work with him on it, and I told him that I would. Of course, this is a business agreement, but Ethan will see it as a way for Brian to get back with me no matter what I tell him. Honestly I could say the same thing about his continued association with his good friend LeRoy, but I don't. Perhaps it's because I really can't see any reason to be jealous.

Yes, Brian and I are fucking, but this is strictly about business. We have never, and will never mix the two. I can't say the same about Ethan and LeRoy, especially not when Daphne told me that she saw the two of them looking cozy in the student Cafe. She had gone there searching for me one day last week, and said that her appearance caused the two of them to look as if they had been caught with their hands in each other's cookie jars. Although I know Daph can't stand Ethan, she would never deliberately tell me something that isn't true just to get rid of him.

Considering that I've seen the same looks on them whenever I come into a room where they were alone for an extended period of time, I couldn't negate her assessment. Honestly, it doesn't matter to me, in the least. And isn't that quite telling in and of itself? So, despite of Ethan's objections and whiny pleadings, I'm doing what's best for me. And that includes working with a man, whom I just happen to like out of bed as well as in it.

Ethan will just have to deal with it... Or not. Besides, it will give LeRoy a chance to comfort him if he doesn't. Just call me altrustic!

Lindsay

"Who the fuck is Taryn?" Melanie is standing here in the kitchen, as I finish up the call. "And what the hell was all the fucking whispering about?"

I looked at Melanie, trying my best to think of a way to answer her without either raising her suspicions or outing the truth. "Just a young pregnant girl I met at the GLC. She's a little more than six months along; a college student and pregnant with twins."

There! As close to the truth as one could get, even though it was full of half-truths.

Taryn Charles is the young woman who is carrying my babies. Although Michael believes that one of them is his, he is dead wrong! Yes, so he jerked off in a cup, and pushed his idiotic donation into my hand for my endeavors. But I absolutely refused to have any of my eggs mingle with that whiny pain in the ass to create a child! First, it would be doing a disservice to humanity as a whole, if that asshole was allowed to procreate.

Secondly, the very thought of having to teach Michael's offspring anything as basic as simple table manners, was a most troubling thought. Hell, he hasn't even learned him as a grown man past thirty! So I did what any self-respecting woman in my position would do to achieve what she wanted. While at the fertility clinic, I swapped Michael's sample in exchange for a second one of Brian's the minute the nurse turned her back. You see, I always said that if I was going to have children they would be Brian's or no one's, and I meant every fucking word!

It was rather easy to obtain that additional sample. I found out that Michael, Ted, and Brian had spent the night in jail when a frantic Ted had called Mel to see if she could get them out. Unfortunately- or fortunately in my case- Mel told him that she wouldn't be able to do anything for them at that time in the morning. After they were released and told by Carl, Debbie's boyfriend, that there wouldn't be any charges, I waited until I thought was a good time to go see Brian to find out what exactly had happened. I let myself into the loft, which had the distinct smells of sex and coffee in the air.

I knew that Justin was at the Diner by then, so I had no worry of getting caught. But when I looked into the bedroom, I saw Brian sprawled out on the bed. The sheet and duvet were spread artfully around him, and... Oh I would have loved to have stayed there and watched him sleep all day, but I was on a mission! I looked into the trash can he's always kept between the bed and the bathroom.

There were two filled condoms within it, so removing the ziploc from my purse, I placed them inside. Just as I was about to leave, Brian opened his eyes and asked what the fuck I was doing there; that he didn't recall hearing the buzzer. I told him that I had just used my key to let myself in since I knocked and he didn't answer. A lie, of course, but he had no way to prove otherwise. I told him that Justin must have made coffee before he left and if he wanted some I would get it for him.

He nodded his head, and I headed back down the steps to prepare a cup for him.

"I don't believe it," he grumbled.

"What?" I couldn't help, but ask as I fixed his coffee just the way he liked it- with a ton of sugar. As I stirred, I couldn't help but be a little jealous that Justin got to see Brian in that freshly-fucked, and deliciously disheveled way everyday.

Brian had sat up then. He was stark naked in all his Adonis glory. I felt the little drops of drool surface in the corners of my mouth at the sight. The gorgeous cock that I remembered so well from the one time we fucked, was bobbing in the air before him as if hailing a cab. As I started to make some quip channeling my inner-Mae West, I noticed Brian looking down into the garbage can.

"The twat finally remembered to empty the garbage. I'll have to reward him later for actually paying attention to me when I asked him to this time."

I wanted to tell him so badly that Justin hadn't done what he asked. But then I thought about the fact that I actually did empty the garbage right into the ziploc, carefully nestled within a side pocket of my purse. Well I knew that particular conversation wouldn't have gone well, at all. So I kept my silence, even as I felt the bile rise up from my gallbladder at the thought of Justin's reward. I figured that if things went as planned, Justin was about to become a distant memory soon, so I could live with the reward Brian was talking about giving Justin...

Even if it did anger me that the little blond would have Brian's dick in him, before the night was through.

We had our coffee and chatted awhile about the events of the night before, leading up to Brian's short-lived stint in a holding cell. The conversation was amiable, but then I noticed the time and realized that if I was going to make it to my appointment on time to have my eggs fertilized, I would have to leave right then. We said our goodbyes, then I rushed to the clinic with the stolen sperm. I didn't want any delays, and I certainly didn't want Michael's sperm used. That would have been the ultimate tragedy for me!

Four days later, Taryn was inseminated with the fertilized eggs and the rest is history. We were lucky that the eggs took the first time, otherwise Michael would have been coughing up more money for the procedure to do it all again. I certainly couldn't ask Mel for it to make this goal for me a reality. I had them throw the rest of the samples out when Taryn reached her second trimester, so that Michael wouldn't get any ideas when he discovers that the kids are not his. Let him find his own egg donor if he wants to become a father.

So long story short, instead of two babies, Brian and I are going to have three children, including Gus. I'm so excited to see his face when I tell him!

Taryn has been a godsend throughout the entire process, keeping Michael and I updated on her progress at every turn. It was fortunate that we found her at all. I didn't lie when I told Mel that I had met Taryn at the GLC. Her parents were withholding her tuition money, until she decided that she was no longer a lesbian. That was when the plan to get Brian's sperm and have Taryn carry the babies began to form and take shape within my mind.

Michael had been looking for a way to get Brian to commit to him, and I knew that Michael was already withholding the bulk of Justin's earnings for the artwork on Rage. It was something we talked about a lot before he actually decided to do it. I'd often told Michael that he couldn't expect Brian to support him, the way he would a wife. So the logical approach would be to make himself an equal financially, before trying to get into a relationship with a stellar catch like Brian. Of course, our plan to have Justin babysit while I drew for the comic has fallen through, but I still get to have Brian's children at the end of it, so that it's a win for me anyway.

I told Brian once before that I wanted other children with him. And he had told me ‘no fucking way'; that Gus was going to have to suffice because he was never going this route again. Well regardless of his protests, in a few weeks I will have the physical evidence of exactly what that particular response meant to me. I don't mind waiting, as long as I get what I've wanted all along in the end. The only problem I actually have right now is standing before me, and bitching as usual.

"Lindsay, I find it amazing that you have so much time to tend to other people and their problems, meanwhile Gus is being neglected," she tells me.

"What do you mean, Mel? He's clean and fed. If anyone is neglecting Gus, it's you with your long hours, and this business with Justin's case! Why doesn't he just drop it already?!"

"First, let's get this straight. I work these long hours, because a certain woman decided that instead of resuming HER tenure as an Art History professor, she wanted to stay home with the baby for the first few years. However, instead of spending all her time with her child, she is running around town, plotting and scheming with the Dunce who MY CLIENT, Justin, is suing. Secondly, what Justin decides to do in regards to HIS case is NONE of your fucking business! Once again, you're involving yourself in matters that do not concern you. You keep this up, Lindsay and I'm telling you right now, you're going to have more than a little bit of problems."

"Are you threatening me, Melanie? What are you going to do?"

"I have no need to threaten, Lindsay. I'm Gus' parent, as is Brian. Plus the mortgage is in my name. Do I really need to say any more?"

She looks at me with a small smirk, knowing that she has me right where she wants me. My credit wasn't good enough to get my name added to the mortgage. And even though Mel paid all of my charge cards off, I still have no income of my own to speak of. It's times like this that I really regret having Gus. If I wasn't trying to trap Brian into giving me money while making Mel give in to me, this wouldn't be a factor right now.

I was receiving the best of both worlds with having a personal piggy bank in Brian, while Melanie supported me the way my spouse was always supposed to. If I would have been able to have a normal hetero relationship, Brian and Mel's roles would have been reversed, of course. But my plan to live like the queen I was born to be, while Brian and Melanie were providing for me, was working out perfectly at the time I decided to play Mommy full-time. And it would have continued if only Brian and Melanie had stuck to my plan; if they still played the roles I'd thought up for them... But no!

Fucking Ted had to be the one who told them what I was doing.

Apparently, as their accountant, my spending habits and requests were raising his proverbial red fucking flags. So as a result, Mel made me sign an agreement with Brian that I wouldn't ask him for any more money outside of the child support, which he sends faithfully. This is why I needed to be able to draw Rage. Michael wasn't going to be able to pull the bullshit on me that I suggested he put Justin through. Admittedly, if he tried, I would have been doing exactly the same thing Justin is doing now.

Mel's still standing there, tapping her foot at me with her arms folded across her chest, and waiting for my answer. I exhale a long-suffering sigh. "Yes, Almighty Mel. I get it. You have all the power and I have nothing."

"Cut the shit, Lindsay. You're not getting any sympathy points from me, and there's no one else here to be your audience. Besides, you have something that you've always wanted- a Kinney baby. So why don't you try honoring your responsibility to your child, for once, and leave the grown ass baby named Michael Novotny to dig himself out of the hole he put himself in by listening to you."

She stomps off, while I sit at the kitchen table. Once again, Melanie has bested me, which has been happening more and more lately. Why can't she understand how I feel, for once? I'm not used to being broke. I grew up with money, and am not used to not having it for myself.

Gus was supposed to be my way of reclaiming the kind of wealth I had grown up with. Well no matter, as soon as the other two babies get here, Brian will have to increase the child support. Whatever our household expenses are can be taken care of with one third of the check, but the rest will come to me, which I can live with for now. After all, the only other way Brian will be able to maintain any control over what he pays in child support would be to marry me. So either way, I win!

But before I deal with Mel and Brian's sudden alliance, I do have one more call to make. I need to see if he is aware of what his boyfriend is up to. I look at the time, noting that he should be available right now. As I scroll through my phone for the person I want to speak with, I think of all this could mean if the situation gets any more out of my control. My accomplices in ensuring that Justin is completely out of Brian's life are not doing their jobs adequately enough at all!

I press the option to connect the call. After ringing four times, I thought it was going to roll over to voicemail. So it is with surprise and pleasure as I hear his voice come over the line. "Hello Ethan, it's Lindsay. How are you?"

Ethan

I can't believe what Lindsay Peterson is telling me. Justin? Involved in a lawsuit? And with Michael?! "No, I know nothing about it. He isn't exactly as forthcoming with his business as he was when we first became friends."

"Well you have to make him tell you, Ethan. I didn't hand Justin over to you on a platter for you to lose him the same way that Brian did. If you don't communicate with him, or in this case make him communicate with you, you'll be in the same place as Brian. Except you'll be much worse off because he'll go back to Brian, and there will be nothing that you can do about it."

I know what she's saying is right, but what can I do? Justin won't confide in me. He's being secretive; I don't even know where he is half the time. And even when I do know where he is thanks to the GPS signal, which automatically comes on when he's connected to Wi-fi wherever he is, it's often too far away for me to get to by walking or the bus. Which brings me to my next question...

"Lindsay, where did Justin live before he hooked up with me?"

"With Brian."

"I know that!" I say forcefully, before calming down. "I meant the name of the street."

"He lived on the corner of Fuller and Tremont," she answers me as I pick up my phone to tap into Justin's GPS again. Right now, it shows him on the corner of 4th and Main which means he's at work.

"Ethan, why did you ask me that?" 

"Justin said that he has a studio, and I don't know where it is. I was just curious. Also, who lives in Sewickly that he may know?"

"His family used to live there, Ethan. My family is from there as well. It's a very wealthy area- some containing upper middle-class families to those who have million dollar mansions. Has Justin mentioned spending time there?"

I don't want to tell her that I've been tracking Justin's movements, but I don't want to lie either. "Not really. It's just that he's been helping someone out there on his days off; I was just curious about the area. The last thing I want is for Justin to be in danger, and I not know where he is, or what could have possibly happened to him."

"Well you don't have to worry about those things when he is in that neighborhood. Where you live now is much more dangerous than where Justin and I grew up."

"Ever since he got that fucking jeep, Justin has been pulling away from me, Lindsay. I don't know how to stop it," I said, piteously.

"Well, the first thing you have to do is convince him to get rid of the car. Then you will have more time to convince him that going forth with this ridiculous lawsuit is an expense that the both of you don't need. I will work on Melanie, who is his attorney. Don't worry, Ethan. If you follow my suggestions, you and Justin will be happy again. You just have to learn to close off all his avenues of escape. It's how I've managed to keep Melanie all these years."

"That's right! You both celebrated ten years together, even though the occasion was ruined by Brian's barbaric behavior. How could you both share a child with that monster? I mean the way he hit Michael... I would be afraid to let my child anywhere near him. It's why I'm glad that Justin left him. I would have been afraid that Justin was being hit, too."

"Don't worry about how I allow Gus near Brian," she said, sharply. "You know nothing about him. You just worry about you and Justin. I will take care of everything else, okay?"

"Yeah Lindsay, okay."

Her hard voice had gone back down to smooth and easy-going, as soon as I agreed with her. "Now remember, Ethan. Get Justin to get rid of his car first; everything else could be handled in increments. Remember, you got Justin to leave Brian in the first place, so it shouldn't be too hard to keep him with you."

We disconnected the call, and I have to say that I know she is right. I leave my apartment to go to see Justin while he is at work. I figured that by the time I get there, he should be ready to take his break and he can get us some food from the kitchen, so that we don't have to pay. I keep replaying the conversation with Lindsay in my mind as I walk. I did get Justin to let go of Brian, and anything that reminded him of the man.

There was the job at the Diner, and that ridiculous comic book. Although Michael took care of that for himself by betraying Justin, in the first place. Of course, there are some other situations that also need to be addressed immediately, in order for Justin and I to move forward with our lives, in the direction that I want us to go. After the car thing, I will take care of his association with that little bitch, Daphne. For all I know, she could be the go-between for him and Brian to communicate behind my back.

She's made no secret about her dislike of me. Regardless of how nice I try to treat her, she makes no bones about the fact that she's Team Brian and Justin, instead of me and Justin, so it's past time for him to cut her loose, once and for all! Ted is his accountant, although I don't understand what Justin could possibly need one of those for. He only makes so much money at the restaurant, and that goes towards paying for food and sheet music for me so that I can save my money for when I have to travel. He really doesn't need an accountant, so it's time that Ted is cut off from contacting Justin as well.

The same goes for Melanie, although having his attorney on standby could be useful for me in the long run. I will have to give that continued association a little more thought. The only one I won't systematically get rid of is Emmett. So far, he's been relatively harmless, but if it changes, he goes too. I want all of Justin's focus and attention on making us work!

I want him to be free to travel with me when I win the competition. I want him to not have too much contact with the people we leave behind, nor do I want him to be able rewrite a future, without me being a part of it. That's not what I planned when I started pushing my suit towards him. It's supposed to be about me, having my beautiful partner by my side in all the ways that matter, including supporting ME and my goals... And Justin IS that partner!

He is mine!

When I arrive at the restaurant, I head inside expecting to see Justin. Instead, I see one of the guys who also goes to PIFA. He's the one that helped Justin get an interview to get a job here. It helped that in exchange for his help, I let him cum in my mouth, but still it worked. Justin was officially free and clear of the low-class folks that made up Liberty Avenue, and is working in an upscale restaurant instead.

I asked him if Justin was free for dinner, but he told me that Justin had told him he would be back after his break. "He left with some older brunet dude, saying that they had business," Nick tells me.

"Do you know what time he's due back?"

"About a half hour, man. Do you want me to tell him you came by?"

Inside, I'm fuming! Justin is supposed to be here, not out gallivanting with Brian! I can just imagine what kind of business they are are conducting! Justin won't give me his ass to plow, but that never stopped him from giving it to Brian! It's just one more thing that keeps Justin from me!

Well I know how to put a stop to that!

I tell Nick not to tell Justin that I was here. I have a few dollars in my pocket, so I head over to the hardware store across the street. I leave with a set of tools and spray paint that I'm sure we don't need at the house, so it should be easy to return as soon as I'm done with them. I cross over to the car, noting that Justin must have had it washed recently since it looks almost brand new with a fresh wax job. The longer I stand there looking at the bane of my existence- the thing that enables Justin to keep secrets from me- the angrier I get.

Taking out the wrench, I bust up the headlights first. From there, it's easy to continue. I don't stop until all of my frustration of the past few months is drained from me. I relish the look of the broken glass and dented doors. But I'm NOT done!

Taking the can of spray paint in my hand, I stop to think about what it is I want to say. I think of all the things I've talked to Lindsay about: the lawsuit he's filed against his former business partner, that I knew nothing about; the upscale neighborhood that he's been visiting, that I knew nothing about; the studio, that I have never been to, and this fucking car I'm barely allowed to ride in! The red paint is beginning to burn a hole in my hand just as Justin's secrets, lies, and betrayals are burning a hole in my heart. And this is only the first thing in a long list that irks me about Justin's life before me! "LESSON #1: Secrets KILL," is what came out of the can as I stand here, looking dispassionately at the now-hunk of junk sitting in front of me.

This will surely serve as a reminder that HE IS MINE, and Justin is NOT to keep fucking secrets from me that I have to find out through other people! I'm lucky that Lindsay is pulling for our relationship to work, otherwise I still wouldn't have known what he was up to. I walk around to all four tires and let the air out of them to complete this crime of passion. Maybe Justin will finally learn his lesson from this. But if he doesn't, I'll just keep going until he does!

Justin

The meeting with Ted, Brian, and Mel was productive. When Ted came into the restaurant, I didn't think about it. But when I got to the car and found Brian and Mel in there, I knew it was a pretty serious visit. I ran back in quickly to tell Nick that I was probably going to be awhile and to cover for me if I'm late getting back. He told me it wasn't a problem, and just to call if I was going to be delayed.

We went to Mel's office because all of the documents, pertaining to my case, were there. It wasn't very far from where I worked and if need be, I could walk back. The meeting was very eye-opening about Michael's spending habits with my money. I found out that Michael had gone to the two comic cons and stayed in the penthouse suites at the Four Seasons both times. He also put ten-thousand dollars towards him and Ben getting a house, even though he has horrible credit.

To say that I am pissed off about that alone, would be an understatement. I was pretty much homeless until George offered me the tiny house. Yet here this bastard was buying a fucking house with MY money?! Before I could begin my rant, Ted and Brian assured me that they have already talked to Ben about the situation, and he said that he would try to find out where the rest of my money went. In the meantime, I agreed to let Ben take Michael's name off the mortgage so that he wouldn't end up homeless himself by the end of all this.

My issue is not with Ben; just his asshole partner, and I wouldn't want him to suffer because of it. But from what Emmett tells me, Michael is walking a thin line with Ben since all of this began. Ben told him that all it would take is one more screw up on Michael's part, and Ben would be done with him. I hope Michael screws up! Ben deserves so much better than that whining, cheating, thieving pain in the ass, so hopefully, Ben will think so as well.

I walked to the side of the building, where I parked my jeep to put the new round of papers and contracts in the glove compartment, before heading back into work. At first, I wasn't sure what the fuck I was seeing. My jeep wasn't the way I left it! It was... it was DESTROYED, and all my feelings of accomplishment and autonomy right along with it! I could feel the rising panic swelling within me; feel the life draining from me as I read the words: LESSON #1: Secrets KILL.

What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Why was my jeep vandalized? More importantly, WHO would do such a thing? Even as I could feel the darkness closing in on me, I pressed the number 1 on my cell phone, praying to God that he would answer. By the time he did, I could only force out the words "HELP ME," before the darkness that I tried to fight finally claimed my last conscious thought.