To say that Brian was feeling irritated was a definite understatement. As a matter of fact, Justin couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Brian this out of sorts. The minute he stomped through the door of their New York City loft, Justin's antenna had started tingling. After living with his complicated lover for the last three years, Justin had learned to read every minute physical and verbal gesture that came from Brian with astounding accuracy. There was no doubt that something had gotten under his skin tonight.

"Hey Bri. Dinner's almost ready. You want to grab a quick shower and relax a little?" Justin asked cautiously, sensing that the wrong words just might earn him a rude retort.

Brian stomped over to the rich mahogany topped bar service center that they had bought on their first shopping trip to furnish their new home and grabbed a glass and an unopened bottle of Beam. "A few quick slugs of this and I just might be able to be civil for Sunshine's sake", Brian thought to himself. After all, it certainly wasn't Justin's fault that he had backed himself into a corner and was going to have to take a ridiculous trip that he had no stomach for. If he had just paid more attention to how busy Kinnetic had become since they opened their second branch office in NYC, then he would have realized he couldn't do so much work without a much bigger staff. That's what he got for being so hands on with his clients. They all expected personal service from the top man himself.

Mr. Jake Murphy of Murphy Motors was an especially difficult client. It was a compliment that a company all the way from Chicago sought out his ad services specifically, but Brian wasn't looking forward to a trip to Chicago right now. It was December and Christmas was right around the corner. He hadn't shopped for a single damned person. Gus was going to be particularly hard to shop for. The boy was almost 9 now and just as finicky as his old man. What the hell, Brian knew he could turn over most of the shopping duties to Justin. Once again he felt that familiar warmth in his chest that he got whenever he thought of how grateful he was that Justin was a part of his life. But he knew that Justin would expect him to help and be a part of all the festivities. And how the hell was he going to be able to do that with so little time left and him being off in another State for God knows how long.

"Brian?"

Brian must have jumped a foot at the sound of Justin's voice right beside him. The little fucker. Brian had been stewing so deeply in his thoughts he didn't even see the gorgeous blond walking up to him or see the worried look that crossed over his face.

"Whoa! I didn't mean to startle you. You just looked so upset I thought I'd see if there was anything I could do to make you feel better." With that he laid his hand, palm down, gently on Brian's jacket lapel. He gave the material a little tug that pulled Brian closer and reached up with his other hand to the jacket's top button. "Here, let me help you out of this", he whispered huskily to Brian. Brian stood stock still as Justin removed his jacket and then set to work on removing his tastefully expensive tie. A minute later the buttons of his favorite dress shirt were undone and the smooth fabric was sliding down his arms.

"Shall we take this into the shower?" Justin asked hopefully. He knew that a hot shower was one surefire cure for a variety of ailments that sometimes plagued Brian.

Brian felt a bit of the tension starting to drain slowly out of him and had no doubt that his partner could help him rid himself of a lot more of what was ailing him if he gave the man half a chance, but he knew it would be better to bite the bullet and tell Justin what was really bothering him. He brought his hands up to his waist where Justin's slender fingers were resting on his belt and reluctantly removed them so that he could step back from the heat that was already building between them.

"I need a raincheck, lover-boy. I've got to talk to you about something you're not going to like." Brian told him.

Justin pulled back and with a nervous laugh said, "Give me a sec to put the roast on the warmer and I'm all yours, Brian."

Justin moved to the kitchen and fiddled with the oven, all the time his mind churning with all kinds of horrendous scenarios as to why Brian was upset. It couldn't be too good if Brian was turning down one of Justin's patented relaxing showers in order to thrash it out. Justin's brain hurt trying to figure it out but he quickly decided to face the music and just ask Brian to spill his guts. After all, he reasoned to himself, not knowing what the problem is was a lot worse than just guessing, especially with his overactive imagination.

A few minutes later he headed back to the spacious living room of their comfortable loft. Briefly he thought about how lucky they were to find a loft that was so similar to their Pittsburgh home. After all, most of his happiest memories were made in that place. But right now his mind snapped back to what was at hand. Brian was stretched out on their white leather sofa but it was obvious he wasn't relaxed. He sat bolt upright as he saw Justin approaching. "All right, Brian. Lay it on me. I can take it! At least I think I can!"

Ridiculously Brian couldn't help letting a big grin spread across his face. Justin just looked so darned cute with that overly serious look in his normally sparkling bright blue eyes. What the hell was he thinking behind the somber look? Did he think that Brian was going to tell him their relationship was over or something equally horrendous? Yeah, right! Like that would ever happen! Unbelievably, even to himself, he fell deeper and deeper in love with this young man every single day they shared together. The thought of saying goodbye to him, even for a limited business trip was painful enough. With that in mind, he skewed up his courage and started to explain his dilemma.

To be continued.......