Debbie leaned over the table, carefully placing a dish in front of Emmett, who was sitting in the far corner of the booth. She reached for a second plate and laid it in front of Ted. Both men gave her a smile of gratitude as they grabbed their forks, and then began digging into their dinners. Debbie turned to her left, placing a third plate in front of Justin, who quickly offered his usual sunshine smile in return. Brian, sitting closest to where Debbie stood, looked up in anticipation. Debbie removed the fourth plate from her tray and set it down in front of Brian with a… tsk, tsk, tsk. Everyone else had a plateful of hearty food in front of them. Brian had the usual simple healthy sandwich without mayo or dressing, with a small salad on the side. Even though he was now fully recovered physically from his trauma, he still looked too skinny to her. She would have loved to fatten him up a bit. Brian just ignored her. He knew she meant well, and he loved her for it.
The banter between the four men and Debbie flowed smoothly as they began eating. Debbie reflected on how grateful she was that everything was starting to look more like the previous year. A few weeks before, Brian let everyone know about his second memory breakthrough, which came as a result of an amateur video made during Justin’s Senior Prom. Each day, since then, seemed to reveal another flash of memory from Brian’s missing year. Most of those, so far, were mundane everyday things that he recalled saying or doing. All of them seemed to involve someone different, although the majority of those involved Justin, which only helped to confirm how important the young man had become to him during that first year in which he was a part of his life.
Recently, he recalled almost deciding to move to New York City in order to work for a big ad agency there, after talking with a hottie when he was chosen to receive an award as Ad Person of the Year. He remembered how it felt when the job he wanted fell through. He also recalled his feeling of abandonment when he learned that Michael planned on moving to Portland to be with Dr. Dave, especially since he wouldn’t be leaving Pittsburgh for something better himself. He knew it was selfish of him to feel that way, but he couldn’t help it. Although, to the world he seemed like a man with an overabundance of confidence, and it was true that he believed in himself in many ways, but it was also true that there was a ‘little boy’ inside him who needed someone else to believe in him too. Michael had always provided that hero worship that kept the ‘little boy’ at bay.
His most recent flashback, which involved Justin, was when the young man won the King of Babylon dance contest at Babylon. It was simply more proof that his feelings for Justin were different than for anyone else, because when the images came to him right after making love to Justin that night, he clearly remembered feeling jealous of the trick Justin stole from him, after winning the crown. Jealousy had never been a part of his makeup in the past. This feeling concerning Justin, along with knowing now how he felt about Justin at the prom, set in stone the knowledge that he had fallen in love with Justin, despite himself.
As the foursome began digging into their meals, the bell above the diner tinkled, announcing new arrivals at the diner. Emmett, ever the most curious one of the group, turned to see who had arrived. He smiled broadly and waved his hand above his head when he saw that it was Michael. Michael acknowledged spotting his friends and turned to the tall, good-looking man standing next to him. By this time, the other three looked to see who Emmett was waving at, and saw Michael pointing to them while saying something to his companion. Moments later, Michael had joined them at the booth with the stranger in tow.
“Brian… guys, I’d like you to meet my new friend, Ben Bruckner. Ben, these are my best friends. That’s Brian, and next to him is Justin. And over here is Emmett, and last but not least, Ted,” he said, pointing to each one individually.
Emmett reached over Ted and grabbed Ben’s extended hand, shaking it vigorously. Ted followed suit, as did Justin. Brian gave Ben a rather odd look, but then also shook the stranger’s hand.
“Haven’t I met you somewhere before?” Brian asked.
Ben responded with a slight shrug of his shoulder, and then “I’m not sure, but it is possible. I’ve lived here my whole life.”
Michael spoke up, speaking directly to Ben. “Brian has suffered some memory loss this last year after being attacked by a homophobic prick. You probably read about it in the papers or heard it on the news. It happened a while back, but he’s starting to remember things now.”
Suddenly, Brian clicked his tongue and the inquisitive look on his face changed into something very different… almost like the cat who’d swallowed the proverbial canary. No one seemed to notice the difference, except for Ben, who turned to look at Michael instead.
Brian said, “Don’t forget, Mikey, that I didn’t lose all my memories, only the ones from that one year after meeting Justin. But I’m sure it will come back to me if I’d ever met Ben before. So, how did you meet Ben?”
“It was at the comic store… you know, the one that I’ve been talking about hoping to buy soon from the owner when he retires? We bumped into each other and got to talking. Ben here, is a Professor at the University and was doing research. I was able to help him with some of his questions.”
Justin spoke up next. “That’s great, Michael. There’s nothing better than making a new friend from meeting a stranger you find you click with,” he said, grinning at Brian.
Brian, whose arm had been resting behind Justin on the booth, slapped him gently on the back of his head, while Ted and Emmett grinned too, being in on the not-so-subtle joke. Just then, Debbie came striding down the aisle and spotted her son. She had a tray full of dishes for her other customers, but gave a little shriek at seeing Michael and hurried over to stand next to him. She held tight to her tray as she reached up to kiss her son on the cheek. Just then, she heard her customers, two booths away, calling for her.
“Hey, Debbie, we’re starving here,” they called.
“Keep your pants on, boys. I’m coming,” she answered them back. “I’ll be right back,” she told the gang, as she hurried to deliver the orders. She dropped the plates off and rushed back to her boys. Debbie, who had eyes like an eagle when it came to her boys, had noticed the way Michael stood so close, almost intimately, next to the gorgeous tall man she had never seen before. She stopped short in front of the booth, just as everyone was moving over as tightly as they could to make room for the newcomers. With an inviting smile, Debbie spoke to Michael.
“So, Mikey, are you going to introduce me to this tall drink of water?”
Michael smiled sheepishly. He still felt uncomfortable with the way his mother always seemed to be judging the few men he brought around. Of course, she had thoroughly approved of Dr. Dave, just because he was a doctor. She had been very disappointed in the unpleasant way that relationship ended, and since then he had become a little reticent about introducing someone new to her. With fingers crossed, he gave the introductions and explained again how the two of them met. Surprisingly, Debbie seemed pleased to see her son becoming involved with someone again, which helped Michael to relax.
After she hurried off to fill Michael and Ben’s dinner order, the men chattered on about anything and everything. Sometime, as the meal and conversations were winding down, Brian sat back in the booth and took in the scene in front of him. It felt so comfortable… so familiar… so right. After long, confusing months of pain and struggle to get back to normal, Brian was finally feeling that the world had righted itself. Fresh memories of his missing year seemed to appear at a steady pace now. At last, he was starting to believe that he could put all the trauma behind him. He only had one more task left to accomplish before he could truly say it was over… nailing Chris Hobbs’s skin to the wall with his lawsuit. Destroying that man’s future felt like a fair punishment for him stealing Brian’s past, and trying to end his future. He turned to see Justin smiling at him with that radiant look that earned him the nickname ‘Sunshine’. Brian returned the smile. Yes, he was feeling fucking good, and the best part was having Justin in his life, and his future
**********************************************************
Hobbs pulled out the sheets of paper that had all his plans written down in detail. If he was to succeed in stopping Kinney from destroying him in court, his cohorts would have to study the plans, and follow them to the letter. If even one of them screwed up, it would put all of them in jeopardy. His plans finally firmed up in his mind after weeks of stalking Brian Kinney’s every move. Luckily, the man was pretty much a creature of habit, having his favorite pastimes and visiting the same places pretty regularly. An added bonus was that much of his activities, outside of work, involved being with Chris’s old nemesis, Justin Taylor. If his plans worked, he would be able to take out both of them at the same time… two perverted birds with one blow. At least, that was what he hoped would happen.
One thing in his favor was that the parking lot for Kinney’s apartment building was in the back of the building. It was well lit, but that could be taken care of when the time arrived. Another thing that fell into his lap was when he learned last week that one of the apartments in Kinney’s building was up for rent. The next day, he was given a tour of the building and empty apartment when he knew Kinney would be at work. It gave him the chance to see the layout of everything inside, including the exact location of Kinney’s apartment, and how to reach it by either elevator or stairs. The following day, he paid a visit to a paternal uncle. He knew the man had a number of guns locked away in a safe, which he had always loved taking out and showing off to his young nephew when he came for a visit. He was unaware that Chris had memorized the combination when he was in high school, so that he could ‘borrow’ a gun to show off to friends, before sneaking it back into the safe after serving its purpose.
Recently, Chris used the excuse that there was something wrong with the way his car was running to get his uncle out of the house, since the man fancied himself an expert with engines. He was relieved to find that his uncle hadn’t changed the combination on the safe, so he hurried to remove four of the guns inside. He vowed to return them before the old man ever knew they had gone missing. Now that he had the weapons to threaten Kinney and Taylor with, in order to get their cooperation for Step Two of his plans, Chris was ready to put those plans into action. All that was needed now was to make sure his entire gang of cohorts were on the same page, and ready to help him carry out their parts in the mission… that and pick the right day to carry them out. By the end of whatever day they picked, Chris would never have to worry about his future finances again. And, as a bonus, the world would be a better place without the two perverts polluting it ever again.
To be continued…………..