It had been a couple of months of living on the Moon for Justin Taylor and he was finally beginning to feel right at home. He enjoyed his living accommodations. He had turned in a request from personnel at his company for a change of scenery in his living quarters on his second day and woke up to the change on the morning of his third day. The hologram of a display of centuries old paintings and sculptures in a large museum, complete with benches for imaginary art observers, was much more to the young man's liking than the original 3-D wall display. Justin had everything he needed now, including a next door neighbor that he had become very fond of.

Daphne Chambers had been assigned to Justin as a guide to get him acclimated to his new home and job, but she had turned into Justin's best friend. They went everywhere together, both on the job and off. By the third week of Justin's new life, he and Daphne had already reached the stage of sharing confidences and deep dark secrets. Many people had begun to assume that the two young people had become more than friends but the fact was, that Daphne knew that Justin's interests lay elsewhere and Justin knew that Daphne's feelings were strong for a different co-worker, an employee who was already married to someone else. The two friends would now often discuss their frustrations over their hopeless infatuations.

Daphne was the only person to whom Justin had admitted his attraction to their boss, Brian Kinney. Justin had had a really hard time taking his eyes off the man as he danced wildly and seductively on the dance floor of their favorite nightclub, Moonstruck, that first night that Daphne had shown Justin the entertainment side of living on the Moon. Justin had tried to convince himself that it was only because he had been without any affection for such a long time since his split from Ian, that he was so drawn to Mr. Kinney. After all, the man was truly gorgeous to look at. It didn't hurt that he had a lot of animal magnetism and intelligence to boot. Justin reminded himself, every time they had a brief run in, that Brian Kinney was off limits. Not only was he the boss, but it was obvious he hardly even knew who Justin Taylor was. He barely looked at Justin during the times that he saw the lad at work and didn't even acknowledge his presence during the couple of dozen or so times he saw him outside the job.

Justin could have no way of knowing that Brian Kinney was having similar problems to the ones that plagued him. Even Daphne didn't recognize that she was seeing a lot more of her boss at her family's nightclub than she did before the arrival of a certain blond. And all the Lunar Industries employees under Brian Kinney, although they were aware that they were seeing a lot more of the man in their offices and meetings, had just put that down to the fact that they were expecting a very important visitor in a few weeks time. The President of the United Federation of Earth's Colonists was expected to make an inspection tour of the various colonies and report back on the progress of said colonies. Everyone wanted to make a good impression, especially those in positions of authority.

Brian was finding both the sight and the thought of his new intern very distracting and it was becoming annoying. Brian was just doing his job, he told himself, but it seemed that he was running into Taylor every time he turned around at work. And he couldn't go out for a good time anymore without spotting the kid. And Taylor was ALWAYS with Daphne Chambers. Brian really liked and respected Daphne a lot, but he was beginning to wonder if the relationship between the couple was capable of sidetracking them from doing their best work on the job. It was something he'd have to think about, he mused to himself. If it was, then he might have to separate them for a while.

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When Friday rolled around again, Daphne announced to Justin that it was her twenty-third birthday on the weekend and she had just found out that her family was throwing a 'surprise' blow out party that very night for her, complete with an imported band to play live music at Moonstruck. She needed a date and, of course, Justin was her first choice. It sounded like just the ticket to Justin. They could have some fun and maybe he would find someone worthy of flirting with. He really needed to drop this fascination he had with Brian Kinney. It was a dead end street.

Time seemed to drag on interminably at work that day, but the announcement finally came for quitting time. Justin put away the samples of art he had been working on for the new campaign that Mr. Kinney had assigned him to. It was for an overall view of the advantages of working for such a forward looking company and was meant to draw in some fresh talent to the company itself and Lunar living specifically. Mr. Kinney had assigned this very important ad to Justin personally and he wanted to give it his best effort. A lot of the artwork was done by advanced computers nowadays, but Mr. Kinney was one of those rare breed who still wanted to see things the old fashioned way too, believing a combination of manual artwork and digital artwork was the best way to go to get the full picture. That's why he had specifically requested a graduate student to intern who had training in both the modern and traditional art forms. Justin had no way of knowing that Brian Kinney wondered if he would have been better off if the other candidate had arrived instead of Justin Taylor. He probably wouldn't have been as talented, Brian was thinking... after all the kid really had a fantastic eye.. .but at least he wouldn't have been as distracting as Taylor was turning out to be.

But Justin was oblivious to Brian's feelings as he waved to Daphne across the room and pointed to the exit. It was time to get out and begin the weekend and Justin was itching to get started on it. He wasn't sure why he was feeling so hyper, but he had every intention of going with the flow and just have himself a good time at Daphne's party. The two friends met at the exit and headed home as quickly as they could. They parted ways at Justin's door so that they could get themselves into their gladdest rags, agreeing to meet in an hour at the taxi stand at the front entrance.

Justin entered his private living quarters and moved over to the small desk that had been set up like a mini office desk. He had his built in communications screen set into the top of the desk. Next to it was the communications speaker and the little recessed area that made it possible for him to secure his drinks without fear of them tipping over and damaging his equipment. To his right stood the old fashioned pencil sharpener that he had bought at an antique shop filled with 20th and 21st century finds while shopping one last time on Earth. He had been lucky to find the necessary batteries and chargers he needed to keep the old thing running along with a few other old fashioned battery operated items. Justin had always been fascinated by things from the past. It was one of the reasons that he preferred doing his art the old fashioned way... manually, with paints, brushes, pen and ink, and a favorite... pencil drawings.

He decided to see if there was a good place to shop for a gift for Daphne tomorrow before taking a quick shower and getting dressed. He removed the glass top covering his screen and released the screen from its locked position and raised it to an angle in front of him. The keyboard was now accessible. He spent the next several minutes making a cursory look for the right kind of shops. He made a note, on his personal keypad, of the places he found interesting and then set his screen and keyboard back into locked down position. After placing the glass top over the screen, he turned to his left where he had an artist's easel set up on its tripod. A very large sketch pad was placed in position and Justin began to admire his handiwork.

He made a mental note to be more careful in the future and keep anything he was working on covered as he looked at the pencil drawing he had on display in front of him. It was almost completed and it was beautiful, if he did say so himself. He looked into the dark eyes that stared back at him hypnotically. The full, sensuous lips of the subject looked like they were begging to be kissed. The thick, chestnut-colored hair seemed to dance seductively around the man's head and the drawing was so realistic that a casual viewer would swear the wind was rustling through it. The face tapered down to a long (but not too long), neck that rested squarely on broad shoulders. The drawing went a little further down as it revealed muscular arms that folded across a flat stomach. Just above the folded arms, the naked man's chest showed two perfectly shaped dark circles with taut nipples that seemed to rise slightly from the flat paper. Justin had never actually seen Brian Kinney naked, but he was certain that his imagination had not missed the mark by much.

Justin took one last look at his drawing, covered it up with a drop cloth, took a deep sigh and headed for the shower room. Forty minutes later, the freshly scrubbed and dressed young man was stepping into a taxi next to the festively dressed Daphne and giving instructions for the club.

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Three floors above Justin, Brian Kinney was trying his best to decide whether to go to Moonstruck tonight, since he had received an invitation from Daphne, or avoid the whole thing and head for one of his older haunts. It had been quite a while since he had last visited The Rear Door or the Babylonian, his two favorite night spots. He had always been able to make some excellent one night hook-ups at both places and he even had a couple of friends that he'd see there all the time and get into conversations with, although he liked being a lone wolf most of the time. 

A short time ago there would have been no question as to where he would have headed for a Friday night. This time he was having trouble deciding. He made up his mind to table the decision and have a nice hot shower. After that he'd decide. He headed off to the shower room, tossing off his clothing as he walked.

Brian's living quarters were a giant step up from Justin's humble abode. He had three times the space that Justin did and three separate walls with 3-D holograms. His favorite was in his sleeping quarters. It was a pastoral scene at the edge of a lake with lots of naked men laying about sunning themselves or floating on the water, many with their cocks proudly floating above their hips on the top of the water. Brian had often had the habit of zeroing in on a different sunbather occasionally and using him as a visual stimulant for a little 'five finger' exercising during the night. For some reason he had been zeroing in on only one of the young men lately... a slender youth laying out on a blanket under a tree. He was quite attractive, with a beautiful smile and soft wavy blond hair and Brian always managed to have one hell of an orgasm while imagining the young man with him.

Brian's best perk as an exec was the large entertainment area set up in center of his quarters. There were several forms of entertainment available, including a theater enclave where guests could view films that were so old they didn't even have three dimensional capabilities. Many of the ones in Brian's library were classics from more than a century ago. It was quite a lot of fun to see how much alike people were even back then to the way people were today. Brian held all his business parties here and it was the one time that he would shed his 'I want to be alone' attitude.

Right now, his one concern was a shower and choosing his night's activities. Brian's shower room had a fully equipped spa in it, something else that Justin didn't have, and he took full advantage of this perk by stepping down into the warm swirling waters of his seven foot long bath that was embedded in his flooring. He stretched out to his full length and let his body float as the waters washed over him gently. He lay in the water for some time until he could feel all the tension of the day leaving his body. By the time he stepped out and wrapped the full body towel around himself, Brian had made up his mind. It would be rude and thoughtless to not at least put in an appearance at Daphne's party. A quick drink or two and he would then head for one of his more favored spots to do a little hunting for a companion for the night.

The decision made, Brian headed for his dressing quarters to prepare for the night's pleasures.

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Moonstruck had been jumping for an hour, with the house band keeping the dancers moving to the beat. Justin was having a really good time. Daphne had introduced him to a lot more of her huge family and every one had taken to the sweet natured kid that Daph seemed so fond of. The band had taken a break and everyone was excitedly waiting for the imported band to appear. It was a brand new band that had gotten together recently on Earth and put out a single production number that had gone over really well with a wide audience. Colonists were clamoring to hear them in person, which fit in well with the tour they wanted to do to promote some of their newest songs.

A buzz began to run through the crowd as a group of seven men came out from behind the stage and stepped up onto it with their instruments. Justin had been chatting away with Daphne and some other friends, with his back to the stage, when the buzz caught his attention. He turned to see what the distraction was. He noticed the members of the touring band as they stepped onto the stage. He started to smile in anticipation of some new sounds when the last man in line stepped up. Justin let out an audible gasp, followed by a muffled "shit!" that Daphne caught on to immediately. She saw Justin's face go pale and the smile that was almost always on his face had faded away completely.

"Justin? What's wrong?" Daphne asked her companion, who had begun to tremble ever so slightly.

Justin could barely make out what Daphne was saying. The short, wiry man with the black, curly hair had stopped Justin cold. He hadn't seen Ian in months and the man had a full beard and moustache now, but Justin would know that face anywhere. Ian was still getting his violin out of its case when he looked up sideways to scan the crowd. His eyes fell immediately onto his ex-lover standing in a circle of people only a dozen feet away. Time seemed to stand still as the two men stared each other down apprehensively.

Ian was the first to break the deadlock as he stepped off the stage and walked over to Justin, who was still too surprised to move.

"Well, Justin, so this is where you ran off to. I tried looking you up when our band first hit it big, but you were already gone and no one would tell me where. You certainly trained your friends well."

Justin had remained silent during Ian's speech, but the tap on his arm from Daphne brought him back to his senses. He put his arm around her gratefully and pulled her close, as if for protection. He was finally able to find his tongue again.

"This is certainly a surprise, Ian. I had no idea you had joined a band. I thought you were only interested in going solo and becoming a super star," Justin replied, ignoring Ian's sarcastic comment.

"It was a lot harder to get a break by myself than I anticipated, especially when that talent agent decided to forego representing me after graduation. But we do what we have to do in order to survive. So, are you visiting someone or have you decided to become one of the colonists?"

"I live here now," Justin answered. Suddenly he realized that Daphne was close beside him. "I'm sorry," he said, "I'm being rude. This is my good friend, Daphne. Daph, this is an old school mate from my Academy days, Ian Gold."

Daphne recognized the name but didn't let on. She stuck her hand out and proceeded to take the clammy hand into hers and give it a quick shake. Ian pulled his hand back and tried to size the petite girl up. It was odd, the way that Justin held onto the girl as if they were a close couple. He wondered briefly if Justin had decided to go a different direction with his affections. He didn't think so, looking back on some of the nights they had shared, but you never know.

The silence was beginning to get uncomfortable when Ian turned suddenly and then said, "sorry, kid. I'd better get back to work. Will I see you later?"

Justin wanted to say... not on your life, or when hell freezes over... but instead he nodded yes and watched as Ian moved quickly back to the band stand. Daphne could feel the tension as it rose in Justin's body. It looked like this night, that had started out with a lot of fun possibilities, had turned into a disaster. Both of the friends wondered how the night was going to end and prayed it wouldn't be too bad, no matter what happened. No matter what, it was going to be a long night, that was for certain.

To be continued........