More than a week passed since the get-together with Brian at a diner, and Justin was feeling the stress of waiting for an expected call from him.  Justin had gotten the impression that Brian was now eager to spend more time with him, yet no call came.  The nights became a torture, almost as bad as when Brian was in the hospital.  Each day, Justin lived in hope that the call would come.  Each night, he went to bed knowing it hadn’t.  Maybe Brian had changed his mind.  Maybe he had heard enough already and didn’t need, or want, to hear more.  Justin continued to attend his classes at school, but his mind was hardly on his lessons.

Justin’s mind was also not on Ethan Gold, although the guy was not getting the hint.  Justin had finished up the last touches on the portrait of Ethan for his CD cover during the previous week, primarily to distract himself while waiting for that important call he longed for.  They did see each other often in school, especially with Ethan’s practice room and Justin’s classroom being next door to each other.  Despite this, Justin did his best to avoid as much contact as possible.  Every time they did meet, Ethan brazenly flirted with him, and Justin was getting tired of it.  Justin thought the problem might be solved when he turned over Ethan’s sketch and was paid for his work.  It didn’t.  Ethan kept on turning up just outside Justin’s other classes too, or occasionally outside the building at the end of the day.  Despite being turned down for every offer of a date, Ethan wasn’t ceasing his pursuit of him.  If it wasn’t for the fact that it was so annoying, Justin could almost admire Ethan’s persistence.  After all, he reasoned, wasn’t that the way he was with Brian in the beginning of their relationship? 

There it was again.  Almost everything seemed to remind him of Brian in one way or another.  Early in the week, Justin had a class where he was required to sketch a model.  The young man was almost naked and built very similarly to Brian.  His face, of course, held nothing of the beauty or the interest that Brian’s did, but he certainly had a body that held the same appeal.  Justin was immediately brought back to those times when he was able to make a sketch of Brian, usually without him being aware of it.  As far as he was concerned, drawing Brian was the same as creating the image of an ancient god.  How he longed to be able to do that again.  But there was no chance that it would happen if he never heard from Brian again.  Justin now settled into his seat in front of the easel his mother had bought for him as a gift when he started attending PIFA.  He began sketching Brian, strictly from the unforgettable memories he had of the man stark naked.  And frequently, as his hand moved across the large pad, his eyes wandered over to the cell phone on his desk.   Ring, damn you, he thought to himself.  Ring!!!

**********************

Brian watched Mel shuffling a stack of papers around and felt like throttling her.  His patience was wearing thin, but then again it had been for more than a week now.  He wanted to get the ball rolling on his plans to mess up Chris Hobbs’ life, the way that jerk had messed up his.  Of course, he couldn’t risk doing it in the same way it was done to him.  Unlike what happened to Hobbs, he had no doubt he’d go to prison for years if he did, but there was another way.  If he couldn’t hit him physically, he sure as hell could strike at him financially.  And who better to help him deal the blow to Hobbs than his frenemy, Mel?  When Lindsay and Mel informed him of their recent break-up, they also told him of how he was directly responsible for getting them back together.  Apparently, he had held out on giving up his parental rights to Mel after Gus was born, but later used those rights as an incentive to get them back together.  It had worked too.  Not only did they reunite, but it saved Lindsay from making a dangerous mistake by marrying a Frenchman, so that he could get his green card.  That was another story that Brian found strange hearing about, and another reason he wanted desperately to retrieve his memories.  It was becoming obvious that his missing year was a complete departure from the well-ordered life he had become accustomed to in the past.

Mel finally found the papers she was looking for and handed them over to Brian, telling him to check them over and see if he approved.  She had been more than happy to support Brian with his plans to sue Chris Hobbs in civil court.  She felt she owed him as much for his help with Lindsay, even though she still felt uncomfortable with their closeness.  But more than that, she too was outraged when his attacker got off with a mere slap on the wrist after such a violent and deadly attack.  She was convinced that the judge who ruled on the case was prejudiced against gays, and that infuriated her.  The only positive thing that came out of the trial was a judgment of guilty.  This alone made a civil suit an almost certainty to be won.  Even though Hobbs was young, he was an adult at the time of the incident, so a winning case could mess up his financial future for years to come.  She felt it was the least the cocksucker deserved.

Brian scanned the sheaf of papers.  They seemed well in order.  Mel was a damn good lawyer.  He always gave her credit for that, even when they locked horns.  Now all they needed to do was file their suit.  A little smirk lifted the corners of Brian’s mouth when he pictured the look on Hobbs’ face, after being served with the papers.  Although he couldn’t recall having been served himself when one of his fellow employees sued him for sexual harassment, he was certainly able to imagine how it must have felt.  He had learned that Mel handled that case for him too, although it never went anywhere for some unknown reason.  No one was able to tell him why it was dropped.  He figured it didn’t matter now, but he was extremely glad to hear that it had been dropped.  He knew that a suit like that could have ruined him, in both future business opportunities and financially.  With any luck, his suit against Hobbs would end in his favor too.

Brian thanked Mel for all her hard work and hurried away.  Now that the business of getting his suit against Hobbs was finally moving forward, he could concentrate on the other task that had been occupying all his thoughts for some time now.  That was his desire to spend some more time with Justin Taylor.  The young man kept popping up in his thoughts ever since they parted at the diner.  And for some reason he found himself beginning to wonder what was so attractive about Justin, which had once made him want to fuck him more than one time… quite a bit more than once, according to so many who were in the know.  Maybe it was time to explore those answers too.  One thing was definitely certain, it was about time he touched base with Justin and set up another meeting.

***********************************

It was a lovely Saturday morning.  Fall colors stood out in all their colorful beauty on trees outside the dining room window.  It wouldn’t be long before the chill of Winter arrived, but today was unseasonably warm.  Justin, who had an eye for beauty in all its forms, would normally have enjoyed the scenery while digging into his hardy breakfast, but his thoughts had nothing to do with Mother Nature, or what he was eating.  It was only a couple of days short of two whole weeks since he had been with Brian, and no call had been forthcoming.  Every day was becoming more of a trial to get through while waiting for that all-important call. 

He had the house to himself for the moment.  His mom had taken his little sister to the mall for a shopping treat.  She had invited him to go along with them, even bribing him with a clothes shopping spree for himself if he came, but Justin wasn’t in the mood.  There was only one thing he wanted to do, but he had to wait.  Patience was never his strong suit.  He was about to take another bite of the French toast his mom made, when his cell suddenly rang.  Justin nearly jumped out of his skin.  He kept the cell right beside him no matter where he was, so it only took a split second to grab it to check who was calling.  There it was!  Brian Kinney was on the other end of the line.  Justin took a deep breath to calm his nerves.  He pressed the answer button, putting it on speaker.  He was afraid he’d drop the phone otherwise.  He was shaking.

“Hello,” he tried answering coolly, as if his heart wasn’t racing a hundred beats a second.

“Hello.  This is Brian.”

“Oh, I know.  I’m glad you called.”

“You were waiting for my call?” Brian sounded slightly amused.

“Well, you did say you’d call to set up a date… I mean a get-together again.”

Brian smiled to himself.  He could hear the eagerness in Justin’s voice, despite his obvious attempts to conceal it.  He decided to give the kid a break.

“I did, didn’t I?  And I’m sorry it took so long to get back to you.  I’ve had one hell of a week taking care of business, but I’m free now.  So how about that… ah, get-together?”

“Of course.  Just tell me where and when and I’ll be there,” Justin answered, not even trying to hide his enthusiasm any longer.

“Okay, but I’ve been thinking about this.  When we met, it was at a place that meant nothing to either of us.  I’m thinking that it might help jog some memories if we meet somewhere more familiar to both of us.  What are your thoughts on that?”

Justin’s heart skipped a beat.  Images of times spent with Brian in so many places flashed through his mind.  He wondered how he would be able to handle being in those places with Brian now, even though the times they spent there would mean nothing to him.  Yet, if Brian thought it would help him with remembering, Justin would go along with it gladly.

“That sounds good to me.  So where would you suggest we start?”

Brian didn’t hesitate.  “How about the same as we did in our first conversation… start at the beginning.  I thought we could go back to the place we spent our first time together.”

This time Justin’s heart seemed to stop for several heartbeats.  Was Brian actually suggesting they meet at his loft?  The thought sent tremors throughout his whole body.  Memories of his time spent at the loft were as clear and sharp as they ever were.  Knowing those memories were not shared by Brian anymore was devastating.  But if being at the loft would shake loose even one of those memories for Brian, Justin was prepared to go along with his suggestion.  Justin agreed to come to the loft.  They agreed on a time and place for Brian to pick him up, with Justin using Herculean efforts to hide his conflicting emotions.  As they hung up, they both wondered what would come of their second meeting.

********************************

Justin waited with bated breath, very much as he had a year earlier, for Brian to slide open the door to his loft.  Unlike the previous year, however, his anxiety had nothing to do with a fear of the unknown.  He knew what Brian had to offer.  Of course, he knew he was presuming too much.  Brian hadn’t said a single word about having sex with him.  He was probably only thinking of talking about the past, not reliving it. 

Justin walked in, and all the old familiar sights and smells of the loft flooded his senses.  His mind’s eye flashed countless images of the two of them together as he scanned the interior of the place.  He caught his breath and forced himself to relax.  Without being told, he strode over to the couch he had shared with Brian so many times before and settled in.  Brian watched him carefully, getting the sense that Justin felt comfortable in the loft.  Brian joined him on the couch.  He was the first to break the silence that had fallen between them as soon as Brian picked Justin up at his mother’s place.

“Would you like something to drink?” he asked.

Justin seemed startled.  He composed himself and answered.

“Water, yes, just some water will be fine.”

The moment he said it, Justin regretted it.  An image of Brian splashing water over his half naked body, not long after they entered the loft on that very first night, caused the front of his jeans to become uncomfortably tight.  His eyes instinctively drifted down to his groin to see if what was happening was obvious.  It was.  He quickly looked up and noticed that Brian’s eyes had followed his gaze.  Justin’s face turned beet-red as blood rushed to his cheeks.  Brian decided to give the poor kid a break.  He jumped up from his seat and made his way to the fridge, taking out two bottles of cold water.  He returned to the couch and handed Justin his bottle.  Justin gulped the water, praying it would cool his body down.  Brian waited a moment, then continued.

“Would you now like to describe what happened here on the night I picked you up?”

For a brief moment, Justin froze.  Then, as if a light switch had been turned on in the dark, the boy from a year ago emerged.  That Justin had been unafraid… nervous yes, but eager to become a part of a world he knew he belonged in.  Justin stood up, straightened his shoulders, and locked his eyes on Brian’s.  He stepped towards Brian, pulling his T-shirt over his head as he did.  He tossed it over to the couch. 

“Why don’t I show you how it went down, rather than trying to describe it?” he boldly suggested.

Brian, never being one to turn down such an offer from someone who looked as good as a shirtless Justin did, didn’t hesitate.  He followed suit, removing his shirt too.  Justin moved in closer, unsnapping the fly of his pants as he did.  Brian copied his movements again, then unzipped his fly.  Justin reached out and grabbed the waistband of Brian’s pants, pulling them down his long legs until they lay on the floor at Brian’s feet.  Brian stood with only his briefs on.  Justin rose from his crouched position, stopping for a split second halfway up to admire the package he saw already filling out.  Once he was face to face with Brian, he reached forward and pulled him closer, placing his lips firmly on Brian’s. 

Brian’s breath caught in his throat.  He found himself kissing back with an intensity he couldn’t recall ever feeling before.  He had kissed more men than he could count in the past, but somehow not one of those had ever affected him in quite the same way.  Their tongues met, and Brian felt the heat rising throughout his body.  His manhood was suddenly raging inside his underwear.  It was obvious that Justin was feeling the same thing, because Brian could feel the stiffness pressing against his thigh.  The kiss seemed to go on forever, becoming more intense with each passing second.  Justin was the first to break from it.  He pushed himself away, then proceeded to unzip his own pants in order to discard them too.  Brian’s eyes filled with hunger.  Justin’s body was slim, but perfectly formed.  There was no disguising the generous package inside his underwear either.  Justin took Brian’s hand and led him to the steps leading up to the bed.

“I confess that it was you who led me to this room the first time around, but I was a virgin then and had no idea what I was doing.  I needed a teacher to show me the way.  I’m not a student any longer, thanks to your excellent instructions.  This time around I’ll show you what, and how you taught me.  Maybe then you’ll understand why I found it impossible to walk away from you after that first night.”

And so it began… the student became the teacher.  There would be time enough for talking later on, but for now body language was all that was needed or wanted.

To be continued……