Part One:
Brian was getting more irritated with each passing hour. His train was supposed to depart from the station by 3:45 P. M. and it was already running behind. Of course it didn't help his mood one tiny bit that this trip was not something he was looking forward to. He actually liked Old Man Murphy, his newest client, but the man's fear of flying was inconvenient to say the least. Brian had no objection to going with a client to his place of business to research and prepare his advertising pitch; he'd done it countless times before. But Murphy's timing was off and Brian had no desire to be away from Justin during the Christmas holidays.
Of course Brian realized he could probably make it back to Justin before Christmas day, but with their record of mishaps and missed signals Brian didn't like the idea of taking risks and separating even for a short time. Luckily Justin had become secure enough in Brian's love for him to avoid queening out over a temporary separation or changed plans. In the last few years they had truly become simpatico and learned to read each other accurately. They still had their squabbles occasionally, naturally, but those were always over some little ordinary everyday things...nothing earth shattering. Actually, the fusses could be fun, Brian thought to himself, when he considered HOW they made up afterwards. As a matter of fact, thinking about the making up was bringing a wicked little smile to Brian's lips at that very moment.
The sound of the station announcer informing the public that Train 49 from New York City to Chicago and points in between was ready for boarding, rudely interrupted Brian's pleasant thoughts. "Shit! It's about time," he muttered under his breath. A quick look around revealed Murphy standing a few yards away, gathering his suitcase and a couple of bags of Christmas goodies he had purchased from some of the finer stores in the city for his family. Brian moved over to him and the two men stepped up into train on their sleeper car.
Brian quickly found his 2-person bedroom from the information on his ticket stub and, giving a wave to Murphy who had the room next door, he stepped inside. The bedroom was surprisingly roomy with its own tiny bathroom, complete with sink and shower. The couch-like chair would obviously be made into a bed and he could see that there was a built in pull-down bed over that. There was even a small swivel chair opposite the couch with a table that pulled up and away from the large windowed wall, giving a person a place to write, play cards, or eat if one was so inclined.
Brian set his single suitcase in the tiny cupboard near the door and moved over to the swivel chair. He had agreed to meet Murphy in the dining car for dinner in a couple of hours and they would discuss some ideas at that time. Meanwhile, Brian had time to sit and stew over his feeling of loss, not having Justin to talk to or touch. He looked out the window at the station, with its bustling passengers boarding and deboarding various trains. Brian usually got a secret thrill from observing strangers. He enjoyed testing his ability to judge whether someone batted for his team or that other unfortunate group of folks. And damned if he wasn't good at it. He rarely got it wrong. This time he didn't see a single fucking thing worth checking out. He was too busy feeling sorry for himself, a rare emotion for the confident, cocky Brian Kinney.
Just as he was about to give up his perusal of the sea of faces, he caught a glimpse of a shock of blond hair that startled him. The man had his back to him and was far enough away that Brian couldn't make out very much about him. For one split second Brian's heart took a giant leap and he thought, "I knew it, I knew he'd figure out something." Before he could carry on with his thought, the man turned and waved his arm at an approaching woman rushing towards him with a hapless toddler struggling to keep up as she dragged him along beside her. Brian let out a loud snort and admonished himself for being such a lesbian!
"Geez Kinney, grow yourself a set of balls, why don't you!" he groaned. He'd be damned if he'd admit how disappointed he was. Yeah, this was definitely shaping up into one miserable business trip.
Part Two:
Justin had grown frantic. He had gone online the minute Becky had stepped out the door and checked with Amtrak to see if he could make a reservation for the Lake Shore Limited train to Chicago. There were no first class bedrooms available but he knew that Brian already had one, thanks to Murphy's generosity. At least the man wasn't stingy and expected Brian to go coach on the overnight trip. He was able to book a ticket and pay for it with their credit card but now the problem was getting to the station on time.
The fucking cab was being driven by a typical New York cabbie that had obviously not been in America long enough yet to know the fastest route to anything and Justin was all but jumping out of his skin with each passing minute. Just as he had reached his limit of patience he saw the large train station coming up in front of them. The poor driver had barely had time to stop the car before Justin was throwing a wad of currency at him, yelling "Keep the change", and slamming the door. He didn't have to grab a damn thing as he exited the cab since he was in too big of a hurry to bother bringing anything with him. He figured if he didn't make it in time it wouldn't much matter and if he did make it...well there were always stores in Chicago. Besides that, he suspected he wouldn't need too much clothing for the trip anyway if he did make it.
Justin rushed into the station house and quickly looked for a monitor to see if his train was still in the station. Just as he was searching for the info, he heard "Last Call for Train 49 on Platform 22." Justin did a fast scan of the station and made a beeline for the right platform. He was huffing and puffing as he reached the attendant standing at the doorway of his coach car. Justin handed him the ticket that he had printed out at home and boarded the car. Only then was he able to take a deep, deep breath and realize that he had been shaking with anticipation. Now all he had to do was calm down and go find Brian.
Unfortunately, Justin had been in such a rush to get to the station in time he had forgotten to grab the neatly written note that Brian had left him with the information containing his room number for the trip. But Justin was resourceful, if he was anything. After all, he was the young man who had refused to take no as an answer from the #1 stud of Liberty Avenue when the man had made it clear he didn't do repeats with his tricks. This was not a young man who was willing to let a little thing like not knowing where his lover was on the long train stop him from getting to his man.
At least he knew Brian was in a sleeper car so Justin headed forward where he knew the first class cars were. He would find Brian if he had to knock on every fucking door from stem to stern. Thirty minutes later, he was beginning to think it would have been a far wiser move to ask the conductor to make an announcement over the p. a. system, asking Brian Kinney to report to the lounge car.
The train had barely pulled out of the station and Justin was finding it a little difficult to keep his footing. The train seemed to sway side to side and he was beginning to wonder how the damned thing managed to stay on the tracks. He raised his hand to the umpteenth bedroom door he was about to knock on when the door suddenly slid open and Justin was staring at the familiar face that made his heart skip beats every time he looked into it.
"Uhhh, room service sir?" He asked.
To be continued........