A/N: This is a very short chapter.
It was the night of the masquerade ball, and Brian was getting ready. When Emmett first suggested it he was dead set against it, the more he thought about it, the more interested he was. When he finally accepted it, he figured what the hell, might be fun and we'll make more money than usual. He didn't think much beyond that. Then Cynthia came up with the contest, and then he saw the painting. Obviously it won, although he was the only one as deeply affected by that painting as he was, but Emmett and Ted were not unmoved. It brought tears to Emmett's eyes and Ted a boner… not that I said anything, he was doing his best to hide it, and while there's no way in hell I was interested, there's no gay man who wouldn't look no matter the person it's attached to. Hell, if more people were honest with themselves, there's not many people who wouldn't look.
So here he was getting ready for the ball, and actually looking forward to it. Really looking forward to it, if nothing else, he wanted to meet the artist that won the contest for the ad used. Justin Taylor, a name he won't soon forget, and a name he knows is on the guest list. Cynthia had told him that Justin had called to say thank you and was thrilled that he had been selected, but Brian had to go out of town on business… as is the life with a business man, especially a business owner. If he didn't get clients, he didn't get business, he didn't stay in business. So he had missed Justin's call. While he minded, he didn't really mind. He has no idea what Justin looks like or what he was like in person, but he has a feeling that he would like to, and he's never wrong about these things. He isn't holding onto some false hope of immediate attraction or anything, but he has a feeling that a person who can paint like that will be Brian's kind of person, even if they just become friends… or if Brian can convince this Justin to come work for him, Kinnetik will be unstoppable, even more so than he felt before.
He had purposely not called Justin back, but let Cynthia call him back and tell him that he was extremely busy and would see him at the ball. Brian didn't know why, and he knew it wasn't part of the package, but he was sending a car to pick up Justin for the night, him and a guest. Brian had no interest in including a guest, but if Justin wanted to bring a date, then so be it, he couldn't stop him. However, he was more inclined to be accepting when Justin explained it was his best friend who suggested he enter, and even packaged his painting and she really wanted to come with him. Far be it from Brian to deny a best friend anything, especially when this friend was a girl, and it would certainly account for the package his painting came in.
Brian was dressed exactly how he wanted to be, as Zorro, not only perfect for a masquerade ball, as it was a costume and had a mask, he also knew he was sexy as hell and no gay man would be able to resist him. And if Justin happened to be impressed, and was hot, then maybe the costume would impress him even more. He wore all black, tailored pants, button down shirt, leather boots, leather gloves, a long flowing cape, and a black leather mask. He looked fucking hot if he did say so himself, and he did. J Brian had never been one for being anxious or nervous (outside of his test results that is), but he was slightly nervous tonight. He didn't know why, but again, he just had a feeling that tonight something would change, something would happen.
Heads turned, mouths dropped, eyes widened, and had he walked through the backroom, pants would have dropped, when Brian entered the club. He was sex, he was power, he was hot, he was Babylon. Brian loved this feeling, reveled in the power he knew he held, but he didn't give in, he didn't partake in the bounty offered at his feet. There were just as many ridiculous costumes as there were formal costumes and attractive costumes. Queens and queers loved a reason to show off, and this type of party was a perfect excuse to be whoever you wanted to be, and fuck whoever you wanted to fuck… even more so than the usual night at Babylon.
He had to hand it to Emmett, the place looked phenomenal. He had managed to make the club almost look like something straight out of Phantom of the Opera… if Phantom involved gay men, erotic dancing, and a backroom.
[I'll leave that imagery to you.]