JUSTIN 

John was at the house when Ben came to say goodbye to Jacob. I waited to see if John was interested, but he barely looked at Ben.

“You have to admit he's gorgeous.” I whisper to him. 

“It's just hard to get past his taste in men.” John whispers back.

“I suck at matchmaking.” I tell him. 

“It would have helped if you picked a guy that wasn't interested in you.” Brian tells me. 

“He really wasn't.” I tell John.

“Justin tends to ignore the obvious.” Brian tells John.

“I would never have gotten past the whole Michael thing.” John tells us. 

“Everyone has someone that makes you wonder what you were thinking when you dated.” Emmett tells him. 

“You weren't when you dated Ted.” Brian tells Emmett. 

“I still can't see that.” I tell Emmett. 

“It was painful, be glad you didn't.” Brian tells me. 

“There's this tiny part of me that would love to take Ben for a test drive.” John admits.

“He's coming to the wedding.” I tell him. 

“Probably hoping you'll need help getting away.” Brian muttered. 

“As you once told me, there's no turning back.” I tell him. 

“Do you ever feel like they speak in code?” Emmett asks John.

“Dad, Uncle Ben said he's moving to Pittsburgh.” Jacob tells me. 

“So you decided?” I ask Ben.

“The job offer has been there for a while. I never took them up on it, because you and Jacob were here.” He tells me. 

“You’re welcome to stay with Drew and me until you get settled.” Emmett tells him. 

“Ben, you could stay with Carl and me if you want.” Deb tells him. 

“The school has temporary housing. It will give me time to find a place.” He tells her. 

“I just want you to know you’re always welcome in my house.” Deb tells him. 

“Do not invite him to stay at our house.” Brian whispers to me. 

“When are you coming to see me?” Jacob asks Ben.

“I have to finish with my classes, so I should be there next week.” Ben tells Jacob. 

“Isn’t it cool Daddy, Uncle Ben is moving too?” Jacob asks Brian. 

“Is it?” Brian asks me. I kiss his scowl.

“Ben, I forgot to introduce you to John.” I tell him, elbowing Brian when he snorts.

“It was really very tiny.” John whispers. 

LINDSAY 

I was standing in Sydney’s gallery, hoping to get a job. My parents were playing hardball about the place they would help me with. 

“Lindsay, how have you been?” Sydney asks me.

“Great, I'm moving back to the area and wanted to give you the first chance to hire me.” I tell him. 

“Oh, well…” He looks around at everything but me.

“I could start whenever you wanted.” I tell him. 

“Maybe we could talk about this in my office?” He asks me. 

“If you want to, but I have another interview and just wanted to give you the chance first.” I tell him. 

Sydney leads me to his office and shuts the door. 

“Lindsay you should see what this other job is offering you first.” He tells me. 

“I loved working for you and even if I have to start at a lower rate, to me it would be worth it to work with you again.” I tell him. 

“I'm not really looking for help, but leave your information and if someone in town is, I'll let them know you were looking.” He tells me. 

“I'm sure you could find a position for me. Remember when I convinced the guy to buy? You told me it was the first time he ever bought anything. I'm sure you would love having me here.” I tell him. 

“Lindsay, I just don’t feel it would be good for my business to have you here.” He tells me. 

“I helped you bring in customers and you don't feel it would be good?” I ask him. 

“I just don’t want another incident like what happened before you left.” He tells me. 

“He came on to me.” I tell him. 

“It shouldn't have mattered, you were expected to behave professionally.” He tells me. 

“I can promise you it won't happen again.” I tell him. 

“I hope for your sake it doesn't, but I'm just not comfortable offering you a job. Hopefully your interview will go well.” He tells me. 

“I'm sorry you feel that way, and hopefully you'll rethink hiring me. I just think that my record for sales should be considered, not the other thing.” I tell him. 

I get up and leave his office and head to the interview that I was hoping to avoid. It was years ago and I don’t know why Sydney seems to think that anyone cares about that anymore. I get to the Big Q and just want to turn around. I waited at the registers as the manager is talking to a customer. I look to see that it was already past the time when my interview should have started. She finally turns to me and tells me to follow her to her office. 

“Hi, I’m Tracey. So you’re interested in joining the team?” She asks me.

“I was looking into my options. I was hoping to look into a management position.” I tell her.

“I was looking at your resume and didn’t see any retail experience. Is there a reason you feel you qualify for management?” She asks me.

“I was once a gallery manager and I taught school. In Canada, I worked in an art supply store, so I do have experience.” I tell her.

“We look for people who have worked in a chain retail environment before when we consider them for management. I do have a position on the front end, as a cashier. Right now it would be seasonal and full time. If you do well then it could lead to management.” She tells me.

“You don’t think that I might be overqualified to be a cashier?” I ask her.

“I think with no actual retail experience you would need to start in a position that is easy to learn. I started that way and now I run the store.” She smiles like she’s offering me a career.

“I think you're underestimating my capabilities, but I could start there and when you see my work we can talk about it again.” I tell her.

She hands me the paperwork and tells me that I will get a uniform when my drug test and background information comes back. I honestly can’t believe they expect me to start out as a cashier. I was hoping to interview with the new gallery but the girl there said that the new owner was out of town and she’d let him know when he came back. I told her to make sure he got my information. If he offers me a job then I can tell Tracey to keep the shitty job.

JOHN

We were all back in town and Michael was apparently waiting at his mother’s house for us to deliver Jenny. Brian asked if I would take her over there for Justin who was waiting for his paintings to arrive at my gallery. I pulled up and Michael was there waiting for us. When he saw me, he looked disappointed, guess he was hoping for Brian.

“Jenny, why don’t you go in and I’ll get your things.” He tells her.

He waits for Jenny to go in and turns to look at me.

“Why didn’t Justin or Brian drop her off?” He asks me.

“They were both busy and I’m on vacation, so I’m who you get.” I tell him.

“They shouldn’t let strangers take my daughter anywhere.” He tells me.

“I’m a friend, and you know me, so, not really a stranger.” I tell him.

“If they want a fuckbuddy around their boys, that’s their decision, but I don’t want you around my daughter.” He tells me.

“You know if this is you mad because Brian didn’t show up, get the fuck over it. I’m no one's fuckbuddy.” I tell him.

“Justin must have really wanted to please Brian, to let you stay with them. Is he already worried he isn’t enough?” Michael smirks.

“I’m curious, is it that Brian never fucked you that was the problem, or that Brian took one look at Justin and you became a distant memory. I’ve tried to figure it out, and I think it’s a combination of the two.” I tell him.

“Just tell them that I expect them to drop my daughter off, not you.” He tells me and walks in the house.

I went to the gallery and Linda, the manager, told me that someone inquired about a job. I looked at the message and told her to throw it away. No way am I going to have Lindsay working for me.