Part Seven



“The write up in the Times was really good,” Justin said on Sunday morning as they read through the papers and ate a late breakfast. Brian had gone out early to pick up copies of all the papers that had sent critics to the gallery the night before. Brian had read the Times first before passing the paper to Justin.



Brian sipped his coffee and set aside the Pittsburgh paper he was reading. “Frank must have had a very late night going through the news archives. We didn’t give him that much detail about the attack.”



Justin nodded and said, “But he was pretty sensitive about it, not making it the center of the story. It’s more background information than anything.”



“He practically gushed about your collages,” Brian said. “Though his review of the prints was a little less enthusiastic, it was still encouraging overall.”



Justin smiled. “It’s a good start. What did the Post-Gazette say?”



“More of the same,” Brian shrugged. “But they didn’t mention the attack or any personal information about us. They included a picture of my portrait.”



“Just imagine,” Justin teased, “people all over Pittsburgh are waking up to the sight of your cock. That’s a good way to start any day.”



“Seems to keep you in a good mood,” Brian responded with a leer.



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Justin’s reputation as an artist grew in the following months, along with his profits from sales of the collages and prints. Terry decided to have a second showing in February and Justin provided more collages and prints, but also a few more traditional paintings as well. Because of his unique style, these sold almost as well as the collages. There was interest from galleries in New York, London and Paris for shows in some of the best galleries in the world, and Brian couldn’t have been prouder if he had done the work himself.



Justin was somewhat humble about his success, saying to Brian often that the art world could be a fickle place, but Terry encouraged them both to keep supply of work coming because demand would eventually slow down. If they could make it past that initial slump, Terry believed that Justin would eventually be considered one of the best artists in the world. Of course, that would take years.



In the meantime, Kinnetik was flourishing under Brian’s guidance. Brian, however was becoming restless. There was something that was bothering him, and Justin wasn’t able to figure out what that was. He was rather surprised, one night, when Brian broached the subject without prompting, though Justin didn’t realize right away what the subject was.



They were lying in bed, the only light in the loft the soft blue light around their bed. They were tangled in each others arms, and Justin was about to drift off to sleep when Brian asked, “Do you like living here?”



“Huh?” Justin asked sleepily. Brian repeated the question and Justin shifted around to look at Brian. “You mean the loft? Yeah. I like it.”



“Is there anything that you would change if you could?” Brian asked, unwilling to let the subject go or let Justin sleep.



Justin paused to consider the question. “It’s a bit cramped at times. Especially when I’ve got a model posing and you’re trying to work. There isn’t much privacy. Oh, and there’s not enough closet space. Your wardrobe is fucking huge; I barely have room to hang a jacket.”



Brian nodded thoughtfully as if Justin had confirmed his thoughts. “I think we should get a bigger place.”



Now Justin was fully awake and a bit shocked. He sat up and looked down at Brian. “I thought you loved the loft.”



“I do,” Brian said as he sat up as well. “But, like you said. There’s no privacy, there’s not enough storage…and…”



“And?”



“And it’s not ours,” Brian shrugged. “It’s a part of my life from before and I feel like that’s the only reason I’ve held onto it for this long. I knew before you came home from the hospital that it would be cramped, but I didn’t want to consider moving then.”



“But you want to move now?” Justin asked. “Why?”



Brian looked around the dimly lit loft as though seeing ghosts from his past. “Because I’m sure that that part of my life is over now. I wouldn’t go back even if I could.”



“And you weren’t sure before?” Justin asked warily. He had thought Brian’s doubts had been set to rest long ago.



“I knew I wanted you in my life,” Brian said. “But I couldn’t trust that it would last. That I wouldn’t suddenly fall back into old habits.” “But you’re sure now,” Justin said. Brian looked him in the eye and nodded. “And so you want to move.” Brian nodded again. “So we can build a life together in a place that belongs to both of us.”



Brian nodded a third time.



“Okay.”



Brian blinked at Justin. “Okay?”



Justin shrugged. “I don’t remember anything from before, Brian. I don’t have the same attachment to this apartment that you do. If you want to move to a place with more storage and more privacy, I’m fine with that. I just don’t want you to regret it later.”



“I won’t,” Brian told his partner before he kissed him.



“Can we afford a new place?” Justin eventually asked.



“The agency is doing quite well,” Brian told Justin. “As are your art shows. The loft is mortgage free and has risen in value quite a bit since I bought it. If we sell it, we’ll have a sizable down-payment for whatever we choose to buy.”



Justin shrugged and laid back down, pulling Brian down with him. “House, penthouse or another loft?”



“I’m not sure,” Brian said. “But whatever we find, it has to have a studio for you and a study for me.”



“And a bedroom for Gus,” Justin added. “He’ll want to spend the night sometimes now that he’s getting older and should have his own room.”



“It’ll have to have parking,” Brian mused. “And security.”



“I wouldn’t mind a nice view either,” Justin said. “Maybe a place with a balcony or deck.”



Brian chuckled. “I think we’re limiting our options already. I doubt we’ll find a loft with a balcony.”



“A house would be okay,” Justin said.



“But the kind of square-footage we need along with a view will take us out of the city,” Brian said.



“Which limits my options for getting around town,” Justin said. “Sounds like we’re down to penthouses. I do like living in the city.”



“Well, your mom’s a realtor,” Brian said. “Maybe she’ll know of a loft with a balcony or a house in the city with a view. Wherever we end up, I’m sure it will be perfect for us.”



“I have plans to go out with mom in the morning. I’ll tell her we want to put the loft on the market,” Justin said with a yawn. “And ask her to start looking for a new place. Now, can we sleep? I’m fucking exhausted and mom will be here at an ungodly hour tomorrow.”



“Sleep,” Brian sighed. He felt as if a weight had been lifted from him and he was soon joining Justin in dreamland.



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“I know the perfect place,” Jennifer said excitedly as soon as Justin finished explaining what he and Brian were looking for over breakfast the next morning. “Tom, a developer I’ve worked with a few times, is just finishing up a project. He converted several old warehouses on the South Side, near East Carson Street. It overlooks the Monongahela and downtown, has great lighting, since it has floor to ceiling windows, and the two largest units which take up the top floor have balconies. He showed it to me last week and I’m sure Brian will love it.”



“It’s a loft?” Justin asked.



Jennifer nodded with a grin. “Tom reused a lot of the original materials, but updated the look. For instance, he salvaged the old plank wood floors and had them planed and refinished. After the new concrete floors were poured for structure and sound proofing, he re-laid the old floors. And you should see the old brick alongside the whitewashed concrete interior walls. It has style and character and more space than you can imagine.”



Justin thought it sounded too good to be true. “Is it in our price range?”



“Tom owes me a favor or two,” Jennifer smiled enigmatically. “I think I can get him down to where you and Brian want to pay. I’ll call him and see if we can get in today.”



“What about the museum?” Justin laughed. It was always fun to see his mother on a mission.



“It will still be there next week,” Jennifer said wisely. “This property might not. Now let me call him and then we’ll head over there.”



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Justin called Brian while Jennifer called Tom and the four of them met up outside the complex of old warehouses. The ground floor of each of the buildings was taken up by upscale retail stores and services, though not all of the locations were filled yet. There was ample parking, with four reserved spots for the loft they were there to see. The building had a doorman for security and each apartment was wired with an alarm system. Brian liked the neighborhood. Though it wasn’t far from downtown, it was in a better area than the loft. It also had on-site amenities like a gym, spa and pool.



Justin grabbed Brian’s hand as soon as they entered the loft’s front door. The entryway was separated from the rest of the space by a glass block wall that created a privacy barrier without making the space feel enclosed. The ceilings in this part of the loft were only about 12 feet, but as soon as they walked around the glass wall, you could see the breathtaking view of Pittsburgh and the river, and even Point Park.



“The other fifth floor loft only has one guest bedroom,” Tom said as they all took in the view. “Other than that, the two spaces are identical.



The view was the most eye catching thing, but the rest of the apartment was pretty nice as well. The living dining and eating areas were all open to each other. Off the kitchen were doors to the laundry, guest bath and a storage and utility room. On the other side of this open room, doors led to the two guest bedrooms and there was a staircase to the loft area. The living room area, which was by the wall of twenty foot windows, opened up to the upper space with ceilings twenty-two feet high. On either side, the wall of windows continued into another room, though these rooms were not enclosed by doors.



“We could use one for your studio and one for my office,” Brian said.



“I want to see upstairs,” Justin replied and didn’t wait for the others to reply. He simply ran up the floating stairs to the master bedroom. The room was huge, taking up the same square footage as the kitchen and dining areas directly below. There was glass block wall about three and a half feet high that ran the length of the room, allowing anyone standing in the room a perfect view out the wall of windows. Justin smiled when he saw that heavy drapes had been installed to enclose the space and block out the light in case one wanted to sleep late on a Sunday morning.



“The curtains work by remote,” Tom said when he noticed Justin eyeing the drapes. “You don’t even have to get out of bed if you forgot to close them the night before.”



Justin grinned at Brian who smiled back. Then they separated, each one exploring one of the two doors in the room. On the left, where Brian entered, was the master bath. It had a huge steam shower, a bathtub that would easily fit two grown men, and two sinks. The fixtures were top of the line and very sleek and modern. And on the wall over the tub and in the shower, there were more glass blocks which let in light from the wall of windows beyond.



“Brian!” Justin shouted from the closet. “You have to come see this!”



Brian entered the closet and froze in his tracks. It was a fashion queen’s wet dream. It was the size of the two guest bedrooms combined and had built in shelves and racks for shoes with an island in the center with dozens of drawers and a seating area. Everything was made out of cherry wood and stained a deep rich red color. And the interior wall in here had more glass blocks to allow in natural light. He would have to buy a lot more clothes to fill this closet.



“I think we should buy the place just for the closet,” Brian whispered, so Tom couldn’t hear. “Although the master bathroom comes in a close second.”



They looked at the balcony next. It ran the length of the loft and had three sets of French doors leading to it from the living area, the studio and the office. There were built in teak benches and several planters that Justin could imagine filled with flowers. Brian imagined having Gus over to ride his trike on the smooth concrete area.



Tom insisted that they look at the other loft to see if they liked it better, and while it was nice, Brian and Justin both liked the idea of having a separate room for Gus. In the end, they put in an offer on the loft, ten percent below the listed price and Tom accepted it without hesitation. Now they just had to sell the loft, which Jennifer assured them would not be difficult in the current market.



She was right. Within a week of listing the loft, they had small bidding war with three buyers and ended up selling at almost ten percent above the list price.



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“We’re going to need more furniture,” Justin said a few weeks later as he and Brian watched the movers carry their sofa to the elevator. There were only a few boxes left in the entire apartment. “The new loft has four more rooms and an extra bath that we didn’t have here.”



“Not to mention the balcony,” Brian reminded him. “I can’t wait to spend our evenings out there.”



“We’ll need a grill,” Justin said. “And a nice table and chairs for out there. Maybe a swing of some sort, or one of those glider things.”



“I called a designer,” Brian said as the movers returned for the final load of boxes. “Her name is Patty and she’ll be by on Monday. I’ll take the morning off so we can both meet her and tell her what we want.”



“Then it will be up to me to make sure she gets it right,” Justin said wryly.



Brian turned to Justin with a grin. “Well, you do work from home, so it makes sense. By the way, is your mother still coming tomorrow to help us unpack?”



“Along with Debbie, Vic, Lindsey and Emmett,” Justin said. Brian frowned. “Hey, I know it’s a bit much, but the more help we have, the sooner it will be done. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to spend another month living out of boxes.’



Brian sighed. “You’re right. I guess I can put up with an invasion from the gang for one day.”



They were both silent in the now empty loft. Finally Brian said, “Well, I guess we should get going or the movers will be standing around waiting for us.”



“You okay?” Justin asked as Brian continued to look around the loft, not having moved at all.



Brian looked at Justin and smiled. “Yeah. I am. Let’s go.”