Part 2



“Or maybe I do know him,” Brian muttered.  “I’m going to kill Cynthia.  She had to know.”



“Well, my boy you simply must go find him and reintroduce yourself,” Richards said.  “I have to speak with the gallery manager and then I have another appointment tonight, but I would enjoy a chance to hear how all of this turns out.  I admit that I am a nosey old queen.  Have your assistant give Shelly a call and arrange lunch.”



“I’ll do that,” Brian said with a dazed look on his face and then watched Richards walk away.  How had that happened?  He didn’t have time to really dwell on it.  He had to find Justin.  But that was easier said than done.  The gallery was a crush of people and made up of a maze of rooms.  Brian made his way around the spaces and looked at the art, suddenly more interested than before in the paintings.  Richards was right, they were very good.  Exceptional really.



Even though he knew that this was Justin, it was still a shock when he found the painting of himself.  There was no way anyone else could know who it was, since the picture showed him from the back, laying on his bed, the sheets tangled around his legs.  It was very similar to the pose that he had in charcoal on his study wall.  And the blue lights behind the bed, the furniture, the room… they were all clear signs that this was Brian in his bed at the loft.



“It’s magnificent, isn’t it?” a woman said from beside Brian.  Brian tore his eyes away from the picture long enough to see the petite redhead beside him.  “I’m Carol Bryce, Justin’s agent.”



Brian snorted with sudden amusement.  Fate really was an unpredictable bitch.  “Of course you are.  Any chance I can buy this painting?”



Carol looked amused as well.  “Unfortunately, no.  Justin refuses to sell this particular canvas.  Sentimental reasons, I believe.  There may be another painting that you might be interested in, however.  Justin chose not to hang it, but I think he wouldn’t mind if I let you have a look.”



Brian was intrigued.  “Lead the way.”



Carol took Brian to a back storage room where the clean white walls gave way to softer shades of tan that were easier on the eyes, but not as good for showing art.  Along one wall there was a desk but the rest of the room was a mess of canvases from various artists who normally would be on display in the gallery.  Carol led Brian to one corner of the room where there was a stack of canvases leaning against the wall.  Several were taller than Brian.  He helped Carol shift the canvases around until the one she wanted was in the front and turned the proper way.  Brian stepped back and got a good look.



This was another picture of him laying on his bed, but this time with his face to the front.  He had a cocky grin on his face and was obviously pleasuring himself, taunting the viewer with his blatant sexuality.  It was Brian Kinney at his most irresistible.  He could remember Justin being angry with him on more than one occasion, but finding Brian like that always seemed to break through any walls Justin tried to put up.  In fact, Justin usually gave up rather quickly and jumped him within moments.  Some of their best sex was preceded by this pose.



“So, who are you?” Carol asked with some delight.  “Besides being Justin’s muse, that is.”



“Brian Kinney,” Brian said as he held his hand out.  She took it and smirked at him in a way that reminded both of Cynthia and Daphne.  Scary.  “I own an advertising agency here in town.  Is this Justin’s first New York show?  I noticed that a lot of the pieces out there have direct connections to Pittsburgh.  Has he relocated, or is he still working at home? ”



“He’s still working in Pittsburgh, though he’s had several shows here in the last year,” Carol said.  “I don’t believe he has any intentions of relocating.  In fact, he has said on many occasions that he hates New York.”



Brian laughed.  “He would.  Has he ever told you about the first time he came to New York? No?  He was 17 at the time and pissed off at me for some reason I can’t even remember any more.  I mean seriously pissed off.  So he stole my credit cards and flew to New York.  He made me come all the way out here to get him.  And the entire way, all I could think about was how much trouble he could get into in New York by himself.  I mean muggers, homophobes, rapists… so you can imagine my relief when I got here and found that he’d holed up in a hotel and hadn’t left once.  Of course that meant he ran up my credit card with room service.”



“I paid you back,” Justin said from behind them and Carol and Brian both turned around.  “I worked my ass off at the diner to pay you every penny.”



“Took you six months too,” Brian smirked.  “How are you Sunshine?”



“God, I can’t believe you’re here,” Justin said with one of his infamous smiles that could light up a room.



Carol looked back and forth between the two men and grinned.  She knew when her presence was redundant.  “It was nice to meet you Brian.  Perhaps we’ll see each other again soon.  Justin, I think most of the major buyers have come and gone, so if you want to cut out early, you can.  Just call me in the morning.  Or afternoon.  Or whenever you actually emerge for the day.”



And then they were alone and Justin couldn’t hold back and he practically threw himself into Brian’s arms.  Brian wrapped his arms around Justin and they held each other tight for what felt like forever and yet not long enough.  Eventually, Brian pulled away, though he didn’t let Justin go completely.



“Let’s get out of here?” Justin said.



“Yeah,” Brian agreed.  “Any place you want to go?”



“Someplace quiet where we can talk,” Justin said.  “Maybe get something to eat.  I couldn’t eat before the opening.”



“I know a place,” Brian said and then they were on their way out the door and through the waning crowd of patrons.



Justin was stopped twice on the way out but he was able to politely extricate himself without too much fuss.  Once on the street, Brian hailed a cab and they were soon on the way to one of Brian’s favorite restaurants.  They walked in to the dimly lit restaurant and Brian greeted the hostess by name.  She showed them past the more public tables to a room at the rear of the building where there were a number of large booths.  Each booth was extremely private, and once they were seated, Justin felt like they were the only two people in the world.



“This is nice,” Justin said.  They made polite chitchat as they looked over the menu and then ordered.  Finally, after the server brought their drinks they were able to get to something more important than politics and current events.  “How did you find out about the show?”



“Believe it or not, I didn’t know whose show I was attending,” Brian said ruefully.  “I was going after a client who has been rather standoffish.  When I saw the picture of Liberty Avenue, with the diner right there, I was totally thrown.  I mean, who expects to see pictures of the Pitts in Manhattan?  I was totally off my game after that.  And then I found out you were the artist and I think Richards realized that I knew you.  He told me to go find you, and then left. But not before requesting a lunch meeting, so I guess I didn’t totally blow it.”



Justin laughed.  “I can’t imagine you fumbling over anything in front of a client.  I always thought you could shut out the apocalypse if a campaign was on the line.”



Brian was quiet when he said, “You were always able to throw me off my game.”



Justin smiled sadly, “But not enough to keep you.”



“Justin…”



Justin shook his head.  “Don’t.  I know why you left.  I know how important being here was for you.  I can’t imagine what I would do if I couldn’t paint or if I could paint, but was restricted by some arbitrary boundary.  Your career was here.  I get that.  I’m not hurt or angry or resentful.  That doesn’t mean I like it any more now than I did six years ago.”



Brian stared at the crystal tumbler of scotch in his hand.  He took a deep breath before answering.  “I don’t like it either.”



Justin chuffed a cheerless laugh.  “Great.  We agree that this sucks.  But hey, at least I’ve got a career most people would kill to have.  How about you?”



“Business is okay,” Brian said.  “I’m not sure if Debbie told you but I opened my own agency a couple years ago.  I was getting frustrated with the corporate politics that I had to play.  It’s bad enough having to kiss a client’s ass; I don’t want to rim the boss too.”



“Yeah, I guess that would suck.”  Justin said.  “I’m lucky.  I only have to kiss ass a few times a year when I have a show on.  The rest of the time, I’m safe in my little studio back home.”



“Debbie said you’re doing pretty well for yourself,” Brian said.  “Selling a lot of paintings.  Knowing the gallery you are in now, I can guess how much you make per painting.”



“More than I made in a year not so long ago,” Justin said wryly.  “It’s pretty perverted when you think about it.  What makes my art so much more valuable now than it was last year?”



“It’s all about marketing,” Brian said with a grin.



Justin lifted a glass in toast.  “To great marketing.”



Brian clinked his glass and they both took a drink.  The server returned then with their entrees.  Justin was as enthusiastic about food now as he had been six years ago.  “How can you eat steak at midnight?  And the carbs in that potato…”



Justin shrugged.  “I have a fast metabolism.  It’s genetic.  Not a fat person in the family in four generations.  And believe me, I’m not the only one who eats as much as I do.  You should see what my Uncle Eddy can scarf down.”



“You still see your family?” Brian asked.



“Just Mom and Molly,” Justin said.  “Mom’s parents moved out to Arizona years ago to be near my uncle and his family and only come back once in a blue moon.  Mom and Molly go see them every year, but I haven’t gone since I came out.  They don’t hate me, but they aren’t real comfortable either.  And Craig’s family… well, let’s just say they are about as open-minded as my father.  What about you?  You ever hear from you mom or sister?”



“St. Joan was martyred last year,” Brian said dryly.  “Though the doctors said it was liver failure, my sister assures me it was my fault.”



“So that would be a no,” Justin said with a small grin.



Brian grinned back.  “That’s definitely a no.”



The rest of dinner was rather lighthearted as they relived some of their shared memories.  When dessert came, Brian even caved and ordered a gelato.  They were just about to leave, not having yet decided what was to come next, when Justin’s phone rang.



“Hello?”  Justin said.  The name came up Daniel on his caller ID, but he wasn’t sure who Daniel was.  “Oh right, from the other night....  Yeah, that sounds interesting, but I’m with a friend tonight.  Unless you wanted to join us?”  Justin raised an eyebrow at Brian who smirked in return.  “Yeah, he’s definitely hot.  My hotel in an hour?  …Great.”  Justin ended the call and turned to Brian.  “I thought we could share for old times’ sake.”



“Sounds like a fitting way to finish a near perfect evening.”