Druid II

Chapter 2



Justin awoke with a start. As he opened his eyes, he realized that there was light coming in around the closed drapes of the bedroom. He had had trouble getting to sleep. The last time he looked at the clock it had been almost two in the morning, and Brian hadn’t come home yet. Justin turned his head and noted with a feeling of relief that Brian was sleeping beside him. He checked the clock seeing that it was just after seven. They didn’t have to get up for a few more minutes.

Turning slightly, Justin studied the face of the man he loved. Brian had been so strange the day before … ever since that call from Thierry Desmarais, Justin realized. Brian had talked about having a party, inviting all his old friends to Dublin for a get together. Brian had never suggested anything like that before. Then he had asked about Justin’s mother coming for a visit. Usually Brian carefully avoided mention of Jennifer and Molly. Justin had always thought Brian did that so as not to upset him. But this time Brian had been the one to bring up the subject of a possible visit.

And then there was the whole clubbing excursion. They hadn’t been to Primavera since Brendan’s death. It was strange that Brian had suggested it. And then the end of the evening had been the most peculiar of all. Brian had sent Justin home in a cab while he went back to the office to work on a supposed new idea for today’s presentation of the Morton account. Brian had never done that before. He could have worked on an idea on his laptop at home, or he could have had Justin sketch some ideas, but instead he had insisted on going back to the office … alone. Justin frowned wondering what had caused Brian to do that.

“Have you figured it out yet?” Brian asked.

Justin jumped and clutched at the sheet. “Fuck, I wish you wouldn’t do that,” he said looking into Brian’s eyes as they opened.

“It’s just one of my many talents.”

Justin shook his head. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“What were you thinking about?” Brian repeated. He hadn’t liked the look on Justin’s face when he had peeked from under his eyelids.

“I was trying to figure out why you sent me home last night and went to the office by yourself.”

“I told you.”

“You told me bullshit,” Justin said with accusation written all over his face.

“I don’t do bullshit.”

“Liar! What the fuck is advertising, if it’s not bullshit.”

“Point taken,” Brian admitted looking into Justin’s eyes for a fraction of a second.

“So, what were you doing?”

“Working on the campaign for this morning,” Brian persisted, as he threw back the covers and prepared to get up.

“Don’t lie to me, Brian.”

“I don’t lie,” Brian declared but he was already in the bathroom out of Justin’s sight.

Justin flopped back onto the pillows. He knew Brian wasn’t telling him the whole story. He’d fucking see if there were any differences in the Morton account ads when he got to the office. He knew there wouldn’t be. He wondered what Brian’s excuse for that would be.

“Shit!” Justin mumbled to himself. He hated when they weren’t being honest with each other. But he couldn’t make Brian tell him the truth if he didn’t want to. With a heavy sigh Justin threw back his covers and got up too.



*****



“They loved the presentation, Sunshine,” Brian said happily. He grabbed Justin around the waist and pulled him in for a big smacker of a kiss. “They’ll be signing the contract as soon as we send the final draft to them.”

“Yeah, that’s great.”

“You don’t sound very happy about it,” Brian observed as he released his partner from his hold.

“I’m glad we got the account,” Justin said carefully. “It’s a lot more revenue for the firm.”

“Then what the fuck is eating at you?” Brian demanded. “You’d think we lost the fucking account.”

Justin considered whether he should broach the subject that was bothering him. He knew it would probably lead to an argument. But Brian had asked…

“I didn’t notice any changes in the boards or slogans for the Morton account,” Justin said keeping his voice level.

“The idea I thought would work turned out to be for shit. I scrapped it.”

“I see.”

Brian sensed there was more to what Justin was seeing than his comment indicated. However, Brian didn’t want to have to explain what he had been doing last night, so he said no more.

“What time is Thierry supposed to be here?” Justin asked doing his best not to make a face.

“Two p.m.”

“How convenient!” Justin reacted. “I have to leave for my course at 1:30.” Justin had enrolled in the best art school in Dublin. He took a couple of courses each semester, that schedule allowing him time to work at the ad agency when he was needed.

“Justin…”

“Don’t bother,” Justin replied. “I don’t want to hear that he means nothing to you. It will be what it will be.”

“It will be nothing,” Brian contended.

“How can you know that?”

“I know,” Brian said definitively.

Justin looked at his partner. Brian seemed so definite that this meeting with Thierry Desmarais was only about advertising. Justin decided that maybe he was overreacting.

“Do you want to grab some lunch with me before I go to the art college?” Justin asked.

“Um, sure,” Brian replied.

Justin didn’t like the uncertainty in Brian’s voice. He’d make fucking sure that Brian got back in time from lunch for Thierry’s fucking meeting. “I have to grab my portfolio,” Justin said knowing he would have to catch a bus right from lunch.

“Sure,” Brian replied and watched Justin leave his office.

“Jane,” Brian said into the intercom to his receptionist, “if Mr. Desmarais arrives before I get back from lunch, please bring him into my office and make him comfortable. See that he gets some coffee or wine or whatever he’d like.”

“Yes, Mr. Kinney,” Jane responded.

Brian set the phone down only to find Justin standing in the doorway of his office with his arms crossed on his chest. “We have to make sure that Thierry is happy,” Justin said derisively.

“He is a potential client.”

“And until he is a client, he’s just one of your former … clients,” Justin declared turning on his heel and heading out of Triskele Advertising.

“Justin, wait!” Brian called as he caught up with his partner outside of Triskele.

“Why don’t you just wait for Thierry? I can grab something to eat at school,” Justin said petulantly.

“I don’t want to wait for Thierry. I want to have lunch with you.”

“You sure didn’t act like it,” Justin accused.

“Why? Because I asked Jane to look after Thierry? You know I would do that for any client coming to Triskele.”

Justin stopped walking and turned to look at Brian. Was he being ridiculous? Brian was right about how he would handle a new client, especially if that client had to wait. “Do you really want to have lunch with me?”

“Would I be out here right now if I didn’t?” Brian asked.

Justin smiled just a little bit. “Okay,” he said, “then let’s go to the pub.” He reached out and took Brian’s hand in his, squeezing slightly.

“Ow!” Brian reacted.

“What?” Justin asked dropping Brian’s hand.

“I, um, I hurt my hand.”

“Hurt your hand? How?” Justin gently took hold of Brian’s hand and held it up so he could see. “What did you do?”

“I, um, was frustrated last night when my idea turned out to be a bust. I slammed my fist into the desk.” Brian hoped Justin would accept that explanation. He didn’t want to talk about his indiscretion at Primavera.

“How hard did you plow that desk?” Justin asked, noting the bruised knuckles, one of them split. “You should have a bandage on that one.” He pointed to the split knuckle.

“They’re fine,” Brian replied pulling his hand away. “Can we go to lunch now?’

“Sure,” Justin said regretting his former jealousy. He could believe that Brian had been at Triskele and had been so frustrated about his idea not working that he had actually injured himself as a result. “Brian, I’m sorry your idea was no good. Maybe if we worked on it together…”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Brian said quickly. “We got the account. And yes, we should work on things together. That’s when they turn out best.”

Justin gave him a blistering smile as they entered the pub and found a booth.

“I’m sorry, Brian,” Justin said after they had placed their order.

“Sorry? For what?’

“For being jealous,” Justin admitted sheepishly.

“You don’t need to be sorry. I’m quite flattered actually,” Brian said with a smirk.

“Asshole!”

“True, but a loveable asshole, you have to admit.”

“I don’t have to admit any such thing,” Justin averred. He took a sip of his beer that the waitress had just set down in front of him. “Just remember that you come home to me after work today.”

Brian grinned. “I thought I was picking you up at the art school?”

“You are, and we’re going home … together.”

“Is that an order?”

“Yes.”

“Justin, I don’t want anything from Thierry Desmarais … except his advertising business.”

“I believe you, Brian.”

Brian let out a long, slow breath. He wondered if he should say anything more. Then he decided that it was best to leave things on the good terms that they seemed to have arrived at. Thankfully their meals arrived at that moment.



*****



Justin washed up his brushes and rolled his shoulders to loosen his muscles. Sometimes when he got inspired, he painted until his muscles almost seized up. He had been inspired today.

He had decided to stay after class, having had a great idea for the assignment they were given during the lesson. He looked over to where his almost finished painting stood on its easel. He really liked what he had done with it.

“That looks great, Justin,” Maria said from across the room.

“How’s yours coming?” Justin asked.

“Not as good as yours, but it’s okay.”

“Let me see,” Justin said as he finished wiping his brushes and tossed the towel and brushes into his open portfolio. He walked across the space to where Maria stood at her easel. “Wow!” he said as he studied what she had done.

“You like it?” Maria asked shyly. She seemed pleased with Justin’s reaction.

“It’s … great, and so different from mine. It always amazes me how the teacher assigns everyone the same thing, and the results are all so different.”

The assignment had been to take something in the room they were in, and look at it from a different perspective. That was just specific enough, and yet vague enough, to make the results quite interesting. Most of the art students had taken the assignment quite literally. They showed people drawing or painting – some from overhead, some looking up from below, some with a painting on an easel but painting an abstract on the canvas in the picture, or painting the room on the picture on the easel.

Maria’s painting was of the sink where Justin had been washing his brushes. He liked the whimsical quality of the paint blotches on the sink. Maria had turned many of them into tiny pictures, showing flowers or a landscape or a portrait. Her painting wasn’t as finished as his was, but it would be wonderful when she completed it.

“That was an inspired idea,” Justin said honestly. He really admired Maria’s creativity. He wished he had thought of something like that.

Maria chuckled. “You like my paintings that are going down the drain?” she teased. “That’s what I’m going to call it Down the Drain.”

“Good title.”

“Thanks, but your painting is brilliant too. I love what you have between the easel’s legs.”

“I’m calling it Examining the Empty Spaces,” Justin said.

They both stared at Justin’s canvas. It showed three bold brown stripes like a huge tripod, dividing up the page. They were the easel’s legs. In each section of the painting, Justin had placed a different aspect of the room where their class was held. One section was the floor – wood with scuff marks and drips of paint that looked like small scenes much like what Maria had done. The middle section showed the scene outside the window of the studio they were in, but hazy and blurred like looking at it through the dirty old glass that kept the students from really seeing what was out there. One section was empty representing the idea yet to be found, but it had swirling mist in it waiting to be formed. The last section showed Brian’s face, the way Justin remembered him from breakfast that morning. Brian had been quiet and distracted, Justin remembered. He had loved the look of … uncertainty on Brian’s face. Brian was rarely uncertain about anything. In this case, it worked well in the painting. Brian looked like he was uncertain about why he was there, in between the legs of an easel.

“He creeps into a lot of your work, doesn’t he?” Maria said gently.

“Yeah, I love him so much.”

“The look on his face is perfect for this painting.”

Justin grinned. “I thought so too. I wanted to represent how imagination and memory come together to create something new and unique.”

“I think you did that perfectly.”

“Thanks, and yours will be brilliant when it’s done.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Maria said.

“You always underestimate yourself.”

“I guess I never think I’m good enough.”

“You’re way better than good,” Justin replied. “I better finish cleaning up. Brian should be here soon.”

“I’d like to meet this guy of yours one of these days,” Maria suggested.

“If he’s not in a hurry, maybe that could be today,” Justin said as he removed his canvas from the easel and slid it into the slot that had his name on it. It would be stored there until the next class.

“I’d like that,” Maria said as she did the same with her painting.

Justin placed his brushes in the slots in his portfolio and folded his towel. He was zipping up his portfolio when his cell phone rang.

“You’re lucky that thing didn’t go off during class,” Maria told him. “Professor Granger would skin you alive.”

Justin laughed. “I had it shut off till everybody left,” he said. “Hello, yep, I’m ready. I’ll be right down.” Justin flipped his phone shut. “That was Brian. He’s just pulling onto campus. Want to come meet him?”

“I’d love to, but I need to finish cleaning up.”

“Okay,” Justin said with a shrug. “Maybe next time.”

“Yeah, maybe next time,” Maria muttered as Justin disappeared out the door.