Justin creates many inspired paintings over the next few weeks, with Brian by his side as an encouraging voice and muse. The new demi-loft studio, with its great morning light and high ceilings, is a great space for the young artist. Most mornings when Brian gets up, Justin is already in the studio making the most of the early light. The senior partner will bring coffee to his artist in residence and they often have breakfast in the studio.
Lindsay is excited for Justin that he has such a great space in which to work. She comes over one day to visit and is struck by some newer pieces that he has created. She tells him that she's going to talk to her gallery's owner, and ask him to do a show just for Justin's work.
The plan comes together and "Emerging local artist – Justin Taylor" opens. Lindsay makes sure all of the art critics of any weight are there, including Sam. She hates asking him for any favors, but he does have a lot of influence in the arts. Brian makes some calls, too, and they work together on making sure this event is known in the art world and well advertised. Sam is very impressed by the works and talks to Justin at length. (He also manages to keep his hands off of Lindsay.) It's a big hit and there are some write ups in art publications.
Lindsay gets some calls the following week. One is a New York gallery owner that would like to show a couple of Justin's pieces. By the time he's done talking to her, she has convinced him to make it four large pieces and a smaller one. Brian and Justin are thrilled at the news and plans are made for transporting the pieces to NYC. Daphne offers to ride along with Justin in a rented truck. She can visit a friend who lives in Chelsea and help Justin installing his pieces in the show. They pack up a rented truck and head to New York.
The day comes for Justin's art to be shown in NYC. Brian flies out to be with his partner. They share a weekend filled with schmoosing, wine, cheese and, of course, making love in a nice hotel room. Justin sells one of his pieces for $5,000 and another for $1,000. This is a great start for him.
Brian has to fly back a couple of days later. Justin and Daphne stay for a few more days, and the young artist makes a number of contacts in the industry. Sam meets with him and introduces him to an agent, who takes him on as a client. All in all, it has been a very successful trip.
Justin phones Brian to keep him up on what's happening. Daphne and Justin leave to head back to Pittsburgh. They tell Brian that they might do the whole trip in 1 day or break it up, they hadn't decided yet. As they are driving home traffic is slowed for miles to clean up a terrible accident. As they drive past, Justin can see it is a truck similar to the one they're driving that has overturned. The cross winds had been brutal that day and he could see how such an accident could happen. They drive on, but, because of the delay, decide to get a motel room overnight in Somerset, Pennsylvania, an hour and a half out of Pittsburgh. They are so tired they don't bother calling home. They fall asleep as soon as they get to their room. (Two double beds, for those keeping track.)
Brian hears about the accident on the highway and, with the description of the vehicle, is very worried that it was Justin's truck that overturned. As he's trying to reach him, Justin is sound asleep. Daphne's phone has gone dead, so she's not picking up, either.
Finally, Justin hears the phone on Brian's tenth attempt at reaching him. It's about 1 am.
"Thank God. Are you OK?"
"Yeah. Why? What time is it?" Justin asks.
"It's 1 am. I've been trying to reach you for hours now."
"We were asleep. We decided to stay overnight in Somerset. I'm sorry I didn't call. To tell you the truth I was so wiped I just fell asleep as soon as we got here. Traffic was rough; there was some kind of accident on the way here."
"That's why I was so worried. The truck that crashed was like the one you're driving. Both the man driving and female passenger was killed."
"Oh, my God. That's terrible."
"I tried reaching you on your cell, but you didn't answer. I … was so fuckin' scared. I said, 'Please don't let anything happen to him'."
"God, Brian. I'm sorry I slept through the cell phone ringing."
"It's OK. The important thing is that you're all right. I love you."
"I love you, too, Brian."
"When will you be back home?"
Justin groggily considers what all they were planning. "We'll have breakfast, drive into town and drop the remaining canvases off at Lindsay's gallery. Then, I guess we can return the truck. I dunno; probably have lunch at the Diner. I probably won't see you until you get back from work."
"I'll drop by the Diner to see you, although I have a lunch meeting and won't be able to visit for long."
"That's OK. I miss you."
"Not more than I miss you."
Author's Note: Thanks to JustBeAQueen for beta reading this story for me.
Next up: The surprise….
