The Mystery is Killing Me

On a Thursday that followed a long night with one of Simon's wildest party Justin had ever attended, he was sleepy and not ready for his shift at Raging Bull.

As he left the building, he intercepted the delivery guy, now being on name basis with him. Jimmy smiled brightly, handing Justin his flower.

This time it was a yellow Chrysanthemum, and the note read 'secret admirer'.

You don't say? Justin snorted, amused.

Chrysanthemums weren't his favorite flowers but he kept smelling it and stroking its petals all the way to Raging Bull.

Once there, he put it in an empty beer bottle, placing it behind the bar.

"Your birthday?" Oliver asked.

"No. It was in December, and you know that." He could still remember the secret party and how nice everyone had welcomed him that day. Though, he'd been depressed as fuck back then, he still enjoyed their effort for a small party.

"I just saw the flower." Oliver shrugged.

"Can't a cute guy get flowers just because?" Justin teased.

"Of course. New beau?"

Justin gagged at the term. "It's my mysterious secret admirer."

"Sounds serious."

"As serious as it can get with someone I don't know." Justin laughed. "Now, shoo! What would the boss say if he saw me slacking?"

Oliver chuckled, departing while shaking his head at Justin's mood.

Justin's good mood stayed most of the night. Until someone stepped into the bar.

He'd escaped to the toilet for a few moments, and when he returned, he found Evan propped against the bar talking with Oliver.

Justin passed his flower, taking all the calming energy from it, before plastering a smile on his face and grabbing a bottle of Jack.

"Hello," Justin said in greeting, placing two glasses on the counter.

"Oh, the feisty hellcat!" Evan grinned cunningly. "Double on rocks."

Oliver eyed them curiously, having suspected for weeks that there was tension between his friend and his bartender.

Justin threw a few cubes of ice in Evan's glass, restraining the urge to spit in it. After pouring whiskey in the glass, he pushed it to him harshly, slouching the liquid inside.

He poured a decent amount for Oliver, handing him the glass, before turning to serve other customers, though he was hyper aware of the devil's presence.

"Congrats are in order, huh?" He heard Oliver say. "You sealed the deal with Apple, huh?"

Justin glanced in their direction, catching Evan looking at him. "I couldn't have done it without my talented friend's help. He's a genius in the ad world." Evan never took his eyes off Justin as he talked.

Oliver was stunned into silence. His friend never praised anyone, especially in his area. He was the best and no one came close to his greatness.

Evan turned to Oliver, smiling. "You should see the things we can come up with. This ad will blow their minds."

Justin blinked back tears. He had no idea why he was so upset. He had no right to be jealous.

As the hours passed, he managed to distract himself with serving the tables and steering clear from the bar. Until closing hours, when he had a strong sense of dejà-vu by finding himself alone with Evan.

"Do I have to be the mean bartender and kick you out? I have to close," he told Evan.

"Is it five already?"

"Fifteen more minutes, but Oliver's rule is if no one comes in after four thirty, and there are only a few patrons inside, I can close early. So it's just you and I'd like to get home and sleep. For a week."

"Been busy lately? I saw in the paper you have a show coming up."

Justin accepted the black AmEx, swiping it over the card reader. "Yeah. It's gonna be pretty big."

"Are you going to invite Brian?"

The casual way he asked made Justin gape at him. "Why the fuck would I do that? We're nothing."

Shrugging into their jackets, they went outside. Justin held his flower between his teeth as he locked the door, then turned to head into the opposite direction he knew Evan was going.

"Nice flower." Evan followed him.

"Thanks."

"So did you get a new boyfriend?"

"Why? Are you going to report back to Brian? Tell him I have a secret admirer who does more than he ever did. And before he worries for my safety, tell him I'd rather die a tragic death by the hands of my admirer because he cares for me more than Brian ever did. He brings me flowers, he even got me liquor filled chocolates, and let's not forget about tickets to the Dali exhibition."

Evan gasped, stopping in his tracks.

"Cat got your tongue?" Justin asked smugly. "So please do tell Brian all that. I'm sure you're close. You tell each other everything."

"Apparently not," Evan muttered, narrowing his eyes at Justin. He couldn't believe the kid hadn't discovered who his secret admirer was.

He had no idea Brian had gone to such lengths to win him back.

Justin was an ungrateful little shit for not even trying to find out who was doing such nice things for him. He seemed to take them for granted.

"Whatever. It's late...or early. I have to go." Justin tried making a hasty retreat, but Evan was hot on his heels. "Are we back to this, sir? You following me around?"

Evan grabbed his arm. "This time you have no excuse. There's no boyfriend in sight."

"Only a secret admirer. Anyway, even if you were the last man on earth, I wouldn't accept your advances. So, drop your hand."

"Ah, what happened to the hellcat? Is your voice shaking? Are you scared?" Evan almost cooed, walking Justin backwards until he hit a wall.

"S-sir…"

"Stop calling me that. Look, I've wanted to tell you for too long that I regret that I persuaded Brian into sleeping with me in Miami. Though, I'm sure you don't care about my lame excuses. It was on New Year's night when I realized how much he loved you, and that I'd possibly destroyed something strong."

"Should your words bring comfort?" Justin sneered. On the inside, he tried hard not to let the panic overwhelm him. Evan was too close, and he didn't like it.

"Like I said, this is something I should have told you long ago."

"You shouldn't have pursued your last hooray fuck with Brian! You knew he loved me. You knew we were together. You saw us. You saw how happy he was."

"He's suffering, you know? And I thought you were too."

"Oh, I am. I've learned how to mask the pain," Justin snapped. He pushed against Evan's chest. "Now let me go."

"If you cared, you'd have done something to show him he was forgiven. I'm sure you've forgiven him, and you accepted that it's human to make mistakes."

"You ruined us!" Justin made to punch him, but Evan caught his flying fist. "You destroyed what I've worked for years to build!"

"Listen to me, you little hellcat. Brian doesn't deserve such an ungrateful little shit like you, but he still loves you. Think about this next time you see him. You have no idea how hurt he was when you returned the brushes."

"Do you usually discuss me before or after fucking? Or maybe it's small talk during the act?" Justin had no idea what made him say that, but he regretted it when he saw something flashing in Evan's eyes.

"For your information, nothing happened between us since Miami. Our relationship nowadays is more professional and the only release we get is through shouting at each other over this new account." Evan shoved Justin back, making him slam into the wall. "You don't deserve this." He made to snatch the flower from Justin's hand, but he cradled it to his chest, barely saving it from Evan's savage rage.

He left Justin shaking, leaning against the cold wall.

His head spun as he walked to the first available cab.

Justin was too tired and mentally drained to make sense of Evan's words.

There was a knot in his throat when he pictured a sad, hurt Brian waiting for any sign from Justin.

If he'd known Brian's address, Justin would have gone straight there. But he didn't. And the only person who could help him, terrified him.

He'd never thought much of Evan, but the way he acted back in the alley near Raging Bull, made him shudder.

In his room, Justin looked at the last two flowers he had yet to press in his album. A delicate, pale blue forget-me-not, which didn't even need a card for its meaning, and a deep purple hydrangea for perseverance.

As he put his new battered flower in a bottle, not finding another vase, Justin stopped to stare at it. For the first time, he entertained the thought that Brian was behind all his beautiful and romantic presents. It was so unlike him.

oOo

With a day to his big art show, Justin received a navy blue cashmere sweater. It was elegant enough to be worn with a dress shirt.

He hoped to find Brian amongst the crowd the next night. He had no idea how he'd react, but he had to know if Brian was the mysterious guy.