Basking In The Bliss

Brian woke up first the next morning, shutting the alarm after only a moment of ringing.

He expected to be dead tired, but he had never felt so refreshed. Despite the fact that they had woken each other several times during the night, initiating a new round of sex, Brian didn't feel the few hours of sleep.

In the kitchen, while the coffee brewed, he put two slices of bread in the toaster.

The kitten rubbed between his ankles, purring, his tail held high.

"Morning to you too." Brian picked him up, still not believing how attached to the feline he'd gotten. "Hungry?" A loud purr was his answer, which he took as an affirmative one.

After feeding the cat and making sure he had water, Brian returned to their breakfast. Before he could head back to the bedroom to wake Justin up, he heard him making his way down the stairs.

He had on his boxers and one of Brian's shirts, which was long enough to cover all the good parts Brian wanted to see.

"You're up." Brian grinned.

Justin groaned, slumping in a chair, yawning loudly.

"Ah, I've forgotten. We don't speak English in the morning."

Justin pointed to the coffee, rubbing at his eyes.

Brian walked closer, standing between Justin's legs, wrapping his arms around him. "You have no idea how adorable you are." He kissed his slowly.

Justin's yawn ruined the kiss, making him clamp a hand over his mouth. "If you don't give me coffee, I'm going back to bed."

"He speaks!" Brian cheered, but pushed a cup of coffee toward Justin.

"I want to sleep for a week."

"You can go ahead and do that. I don't have the luxury to even think of sleeping. From the moment I'm out the door, I don't even know when I'll see my condo again."

Justin snorted. "It's not like you're going to sleep at Kinnetik."

"We never know. Toast?"

"Anything to put on it?"

Brian shrugged. "Fridge is that way."

Justin found a jar of Nutella. Brian ignored his amused looks. It was unopened, which meant it was there for him.

"This stays in the cupboard, not in the fridge," Justin told him.

Brian shrugged again, sipping from his coffee. "Are you seriously eating chocolate first thing in the morning?"

"Don't tempt me. I will eat it straight from the jar, foregoing the bread."

Brian fake-gagged. "Don't make me puke."

The kitten returned to rub his head against Brian's ankles. He used his bare foot to rub his tummy, laughing when the cat started playing with his toes.

"Did he ever scratch you?" Justin eyed the cat thoughtfully.

"Why would he do that? Even now when he's playing, his claws are in."

"It's odd. He must really like you. Cats are weird. They have no idea how to play. I remember how many times Wolfram scratched me in his playing."

"Wolfram," Brian repeated confused.

"Ethan's cat. I told you about him."

"Oh, yes. You didn't mention his name before."

"Which reminds me. We have to name this one." Justin pointed to the cat coiling up around Brian's foot, mewling.

"As long as you come up with a decent name, I'll consider it." Brian lifted his foot, picking the cat and hugging him to his chest. "Want to try touching him?"

Justin gave him a skeptical look. "Let's not anger him so early in the morning."

Brian's phone buzzed on the counter where he'd deposited it, making the cat hiss. Snorting at his reaction, Brian accepted the call, catching Justin's eye. He knew he'd seen who was calling.

"Yeah," he said into the phone, holding the squirming cat with one hand.

"I'm here," Evan said.

"Here," Brian repeated.

"Here, at Kinnetik. You said early."

Brian frowned, looking out the window. "What time is it," he whispered to Justin. "Ow. Fuck." The cat dug his claws into his hand, making Brian drop him to the floor. "Shit." He crouched to check on the small furball, but all he got was a nasty look, before the kitten trotted to the sofa where he curled up, licking at his fur.

"Eight thirty," Justin said between peals of laughter.

"It's not funny. I'm bleeding. You made him do this with asking if he'd scratched me. You put ideas in his head."

"Is everything okay?" Evan's voice reminded Brian he was still on the phone.

"I'll be there in thirty minutes. Tops." He hung up abruptly, storming upstairs.

Justin was left chuckling into his coffee while he watched the cat washing himself.

By the time Justin followed Brian into his bedroom, Brian was into his closet, selecting a suit. "Take all the time you need. You can keep the key. I'll take the one from the office," he said, buttoning up his shirt. "Also, make sure there's food and water for the cat before you leave," he added throwing several ties out of the way before settling on a red one. "And maybe you could clean after us. I still haven't found a cleaning lady, and washing dry coffee mugs and dirty plates is a bitch."

Justin stared at Brian amused. It felt like back in the day, when Brian fired instructions to Justin while getting ready for work.

"Anything else? Do you want me to do the grocery shopping? You don't have much. Nothing has changed there."

Brian caught his eyes in the mirror while he knotted his tie. "You could buy some bread, if it's not too much trouble."

"Do you want me to come back tonight," Justin said after a long minute spent in silence.

Justin saw surprise in Brian's eyes and he knew Brian had not expected that.

Brian dropped his loafers. "What?"

Justin felt foolish for thinking Brian would want him back. They didn't live together anymore. He probably needed space.

Brian approached Justin slowly, tilting his head up with a finger under his chin. "If you don't have plans, I won't mind coming home to you here."

"Really?" Justin's eyes widened at the news.

"Really." Brian smiled, dropping a kiss on Justin's brow.

"I have to go back to my apartment for a while, maybe pack a few clothes. Buy bread," he added teasingly.

"I don't mind you in my clothes. You look hot."

Justin grinned. "Weren't you in a hurry?"

"Shit." Brian stepped into his shoes, rushing downstairs. He made sure he had all he needed in his briefcase, pocketed his phone, before turning to Justin who had followed him. "How can I leave when you look like this?" He groaned, walking Justin backwards to the sofa.

They fell on it, making the cat hiss annoyed, retreating to his basket. Neither man seemed to notice it, though.

Brian pushed Justin's boxer briefs down, while Justin undid Brian's pants. It took Brian a few moments to locate the supplies hidden under the cushions, then put them to good use. Justin was already ready from the previous night's sessions, so after a little probing, Brian pushed into him.

It didn't take as long as they would have liked, but quickies were called that for a reason. Besides, when Brian pulled out, his phone rang from his breast pocket.

Justin took over the job to pull the condom off, clean Brian with his boxers, before tucking him back in his underwear and zipping his pants up, while Brian answered his phone.

He bit on his cheek to keep from laughing when he heard the agitated voice, demanding where was he, because everyone was waiting in the Meeting Room 2.

"I'm coming," Brian snapped, standing slowly. "You have the main plan on my desk. Run over it with the teams."

"You didn't even leave the house, did you?" Evan groaned.

"I'm caught in traffic." Brian rolled his eyes at Justin, kissing him quickly. "Later," he mouthed, grabbing his briefcase and turning to leave. "Ten minutes away," he told Evan.

Right outside the condo, Brian turned around happy to find Justin with the elevator card in his hand, shaking his head.

"I found the papers. Drive carefully," Evan said.

"Good. I'll be there soon. I might lose you, I'm in…" He caught himself before he gave away his current location.

"In the elevator. I figured you'd be late, but this is insane, Brian. This is important. I thought you were more responsible about work."

Brian groaned internally, not ready to start another fight with Evan. Over the phone too.

He thanked all deities above when he lost the signal.

He had a sound reason to be late, Brian thought to himself. He was in love.

In the car, caught in traffic, he pulled a new message. Miss you =) He clicked send, before he realized he shouldn't have Justin's new number.

His reply was prompt. Why, if it isn't my stalker! How did you get my new number? Daphne?

Don't be mad at her.

Are you at work yet? Shouldn't you be leading a meeting?

Crawling in NYC traffic. Bored to tears.

There was no reply after that, making Brian wonder why Justin decided to ignore him. He didn't have time to find out, because he arrived at work.

He went into Meeting Room 2, smiling broadly. "Good morning," he greeted everyone.

His cheerfulness earned him odd looks and murmured awed greetings.

Brian sat on the other side of Evan, at the far end of the table, gesturing for him to continue since he had started.

Sorry about that. I took a shower. Fuck. Your bathroom. I'm going to move in there. xoxoxo

Brian grinned while reading Justin's newest text message. I hope you noticed the two sinks. One is yours to keep as dirty as your heart pleases. If I see dry toothpaste or little blond hair in mine, I'm going to murder you in your sleep.

Which one is mine? I took liberty and brushed my teeth into one, then shaved in the other. Joking! =))

TWAT!

"Don't you agree, Brian?"

Brian's head shot up upon hearing his name. He felt like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. Deciding to play it cool, he nodded. "Sure."

Everyone eyeballed him on different levels of amazement.

"What exactly did I agree to," Brian managed to ask, ignoring his phone vibrating on his lap.

"To run naked through Times Square," Evan said seriously, making everyone turn to gape at him.

"Fuck you, Steele." Brian had no idea what was in his head to agree to work with Evan. They had created great things together in the past, but the process was nerve-wrecking.

Brian's eyes found Mark, one of his best men, still watching him surprised. "What did he just say, Mark?"

Mark peeked nervously at Evan, before meeting Brian's eyes. "You agreed to hand him over sixty percent of the profit after this campaign."

Brian glared at Evan. "I take back my word. Forget I said anything." He returned to his phone, ignoring everyone else.

WHERE is the cat food?

Nevermind...found it. Thanks for answering.

Do you have any idea where you dropped the keys last night? I can't find them.

Again...found them.

I guess you're busy with your meeting. Sorry.

One more thing… I'm going to borrow some of your clothes...you ripped my shirt :) My Sugar Daddy won't be impressed.

Me again (I bet you hate me by now) I locked the cat in the bathroom while I cleaned his bed. Uh, we have a problem...there's toilet paper everywhere… he sort of rushed out when I opened the door to check on him.

"Shit," Brian muttered, but couldn't help laugh.

A ball of paper hit him in the shoulder. Brian looked up to find Evan staring at him shocked.

"Pay attention, man! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Hold on." Brian held a finger. I'll call you when the meeting is over. I feel like a berated teenager texting under the desk with the teacher breathing down my neck. "Done." He smiled at everyone.

Evan pushed across the table a portfolio. Brian opened it, just as his phone vibrated with an incoming text message. Glancing at the others, seeing them caught in the papers under their noses, he bent over his phone.

Tell him to go easy on you. Love you. xoxo

Love you too =)

The phone disappeared from Brian's hand, before he could hit send. Evan stood above him, eyes narrowed.

"Are you five years old, Brian? What's up with you?"

"Press send for me. Then I promise to be into this one hundred percent."

Evan looked at the phone, then at Brian. He shook his head, sending the message, returning to his seat.

"My phone!" Brian pointed out loudly.

"You're not getting it back until the end of the meeting. On this matter, how about we have all the phones here?" Evan added, pointing to the empty chair next to him. "Now."

No one dared to comment, or throw Brian angry looks.

Brian was aware of how important and crucial their meeting was, but for all that was worth, he couldn't focus on anything. His mind kept wandering back to the previous night, to the past two days, and how beautiful and wonderful Justin was.