Chagall sighed in irritation as he glanced down at his Rolex, noting it was now 2:07 p.m. "Where is he?" he asked impatiently. "Doesn't he know we're waiting for him?" He turned from his position at the front window to stare at his fiancé, not missing the slight roll of the hazel eyes as Brian huffed out a breath of exasperation.
Well, Chagall thought, he didn't care whether his demeanor bothered Brian or not. In his business, time was critical when it came to his restaurant patrons; even one minute could mean the difference between an entrée being undercooked and an entrée being prepared to perfection. It could also mean the difference between having a happy customer and an unhappy one, and he was quickly counting himself among the disgruntled group if his and Brian's wedding planner didn't get his ass down here soon. "Brian?" he asked once more in annoyance when he did not get a response from the brunet sitting on the nearby settee. "Does he think his time is the only one that's valuable here?"
Brian closed his eyes briefly as he tried to reply in a civil tone. "First of all, Robert, I'm not psychic and I can't read minds," Brian retorted wearily, as he clasped his hands on top of the jacket still draped over his lap. "Second of all, I already told you – if you had bothered to listen to me earlier – that he was down here just before you arrived and was called away upstairs for some reason. I'm sure he'll be back down shortly." That is, as soon as he can recover from our little dalliance, he thought, feeling his pulse speed up slightly just at the thought of what they had almost done, what he still wished to do. Fuck, the sensations that had rushed through him just at the touch of those pale, long-fingered hands at the back of his neck, the exquisite feeling that had rushed into him as he lay on top of the petite, slender body that he held captive, the touch of those warm, soft, sweet lips as he ravaged them hungrily…..
"Well, it's about time, Mr. Taylor."
Brian started as he suddenly heard Robert's arrogant voice and he looked up to notice the object of his daydreams slowly walking down the steps to enter the display area. He could tell by Justin's slightly damp hair that he must have splashed some water on his face; he had also changed from his previous casual attire into something a little more businesslike and less provocative. In place of the tightly fitting jeans that had accentuated every delectable part of his ass and cock, he was now wearing a more loosely-fitting pair of chinos and a long-sleeved, navy-blue cotton shirt with the cuffs rolled up slightly. Even though he had donned less revealing clothes, just the sight of Justin's pale-colored wrists and the blue eyes that stared into his for a few seconds were enough to quickly take him back to what they had been doing before Robert had so rudely interrupted them and he felt his body stir in response. He saw Justin look away guiltily before he watched him take a breath to steel himself and turn to greet the other man in the room who had virtually been ignored until then.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Chagall," Justin told him softly, refusing purposely not to look Brian in the eyes; both men knew if he did, it would immediately give their passion for each other away. "Uh….something suddenly came up that I couldn't avoid."
Brian almost choked on that statement as he tried hard not to laugh at the double entendre. He did notice Justin's face reddening as he realized what he had just said, and, trying to rescue him before he gave away too much, he said to Robert, "See? I told you – now come sit down over here and let Justin go get the materials so he can show us what he's prepared." As much as he detested the idea of inviting Robert to sit anywhere near him, he was more concerned with saving Justin from being the object of the other man's suspicions; if it meant having to tolerate having the son of a bitch sitting near him for the time being to accomplish that, then so be it. He was hoping it would be worth it shortly.
Robert stared intently at Justin for a few seconds, getting a feeling that the blond wasn't telling him everything, before he took Brian up on his invitation and walked over to sit next to him. To Brian's relief, the man sat at the opposite end from him as he said, "Brian's right – we're wasting precious time, Mr. Taylor. Let's see what you came up with."
Justin glanced over quickly at Brian, trying to convey his feeling of gratitude over saving him from further embarrassment, before he nodded silently at the other man and quickly turned around to walk over to his work desk. Brian's eyes followed him step for step as Robert continued to prattle on, blithely unaware of the intense drama going on in front of his very eyes. The pompous man jiggled his hands on his legs in impatient restlessness as he glanced out at the window to do a little people watching while he waited for Justin to return with his ideas. He only hoped that they were as good as he was hoping they would be; time was quickly running out and he wanted his and Brian's impending wedding to be the most spectacular one Pittsburgh – gay or otherwise – had seen in a long time. The publicity that would be generated as a result would no doubt result in a dramatic increase in his business and perhaps even Brian's. That would hopefully endear himself more to his rather resistant fiancé, he thought smugly. He was convinced that as soon as Brian realized the tremendous financial advantages to being married to him, he would no doubt come to his senses and decide that the best decision for him was to remain wed, even if it was in name only. That would be a start – but he would be working hard at changing that afterward into a much more physical coupling. "Here they are," he heard Justin say as he finally turned to observe the blond returning with a large, ivory-colored portfolio with his and Brian's names inscribed on the front.
Justin hesitated as he got closer to the settee, wondering where he should sit. The last place he wanted to sit right now was in between these two men but for different reasons. One still intimated him with his arrogant, blustery attitude and the fear that he would ascertain somehow that something was going on right in front of his nose, and the other one – well, Brian did a lot of things to him; excited him, thrilled him, made his heart beat like crazy, and still scared the living shit out of him with the feelings he engendered just by looking at him. No, that would definitely not work.
Purposefully avoiding the hazel eyes that he knew must be eyeing him curiously, he finally settled for sitting in the matching, antique overstuffed maroon chair perched directly across from the two men as he placed the portfolio upside down on the coffee table for them to study. He took a deep breath, still avoiding looking at Brian, as he addressed Robert directly, "I have organized the ideas I came up with in sections by type of activity – the pre-wedding events, the wedding itself, and the reception. I have some suggestions regarding the flowers, music, food, and your clothing for the ceremony, but I need to run them by, uh… both of you to make sure it's what you have in mind."
Justin found himself stumbling over that last part, especially the "both of you" verbiage. It sorely reminded him that despite what had just happened between him and Brian, the man was still engaged and he had no reason to think he wasn't still going to go through with what appeared to him to be a farce of a marriage. Now that he knew Brian better – in more ways than one – he knew in his gut that Brian could not love this man – hell, the way he acted around him, the more Justin realized he was barely tolerating him. So why was he sitting here with this man, still pretending that he gave a damn?
Justin sighed in resignation as Robert excitedly stared at the hard work that he had invested in planning his wedding and reception; he slowly turned the pages of the portfolio and smiled at the magically creative ideas that their wedding planner had woven into their upcoming nuptials. As he saw the suggested menus, musical selections, and sketch of his ship detailing the locations of each part of the celebration, he began to smile even more broadly. At last, his dream of having Brian Kinney as his husband was finally coming together; he could see a glimmer of hope that it really was going to happen.
His initial irritation over Justin arriving late for their meeting was quickly forgotten as he marveled at the imaginative thought that had gone into Justin's ideas; he would have never, for instance, thought of having a floating candle centerpiece at each reception table, or hanging fresh flower garlands in a twirling pattern along the ship's embarkation ladder as the guests arrived. And he would have never considered the need to make sure all the decorations were securely fastened with shipping tape which would be removable once the ceremony was over, or using low-hung decorations due to having to compensate for the stiff wind that was always present near the water. For someone who had apparently never grown up near the sea, their wedding planner had obviously done an extensive amount of research and he had grudgingly admit, he was impressed by what he saw. "These are perfect for what I had in mind," Robert couldn't help praising the blond as he continued to peer in fascination at each page he slowly turned.
"Yes…perfect," Brian finally murmured vaguely in agreement, but he wasn't looking at their wedding planner's brilliant ideas; he was looking, instead, at the wedding planner himself….
At the sound of Brian's rich, baritone, dangerously sexy voice, Justin finally dared raised his eyes to look toward the source of that irresistible sound. As he stared into the hazel eyes that were boring into his, his heart caught in his throat and his eyes filled with unshed tears of frustration and longing. What was he doing? What was Brian doing? They were playing with fire, that's what they doing and he knew he was the one who was going to get burned.
He averted his gaze, unable to keep looking Brian in the eyes. His thoughts were in complete turmoil – his heart was threatening to burst out of his chest, and he was feeling betrayal; betrayal that this man who could make his body churn with nervous desire and make him feel such an intense depth of emotion was still planning on marrying this man he seemingly detested. It was all he could do to sit there silently while Chagall oohed and aahed over his ideas to marry him to a man he wanted for himself.
After a few more minutes of occasional complimentary accolades, Robert finally shut the book and looked up at Justin with renewed respect. "This is everything I had envisioned and more," he announced in satisfaction. Turning to Brian, who just barely managed to avert his gaze from Justin in time, he asked, "What do you think, Baby? I think it's perfect. We just need to make sure it's publicized heavily in all the local newspapers and business journals, both in print and online."
Brian winced outwardly at the endearment; how many times had he asked this man NOT to call him that? And in front of Justin, it made it a thousand times worse. As he glanced over at the younger man, his worst fears were realized. He saw a look on his pale, beautiful face as if he had been physically struck before somehow, he managed to hide it from him and actually force a smile on his face. But Brian knew – it was a smile without any soul to it.
"Robert…." He began icily, barely able to control his fury over this man's complete disregard of his wishes or the utter contempt he felt at that moment for him. Something inside of him snapped just then; he realized the total stupidity of what he was continuing to do to both him and Justin and he hated himself at that moment almost as much as he hated this arrogant man smiling back at him with so much condescension. He no longer gave a flying fuck if he wound up penniless – he was never going to marry this pretentious, conceited blowhard – not even if it meant he would wind up living on the streets.
Brian stood up and exploded in rage. "That's it, Robert! I've fucking HAD it with you!" His eyes flashed in fury as Justin stared at him from his place on the chair, eyes wide with shock at this sudden outburst.
"Brian," Chagall said in a placating tone as he stood up to face him. He should have known the 'baby' name was a mistake based on how Brian had reacted before when they were alone, but they were still in a relatively private setting. What did it matter if this little imp of a wedding planner overheard him? After all, they were engaged….couples used pet names for themselves all the time.
He reached to place a soothing hand on Brian's arm but Brian jerked it away as if he had been struck. "Keep your arrogant, grimy hands off me, Robert!" he fumed. He began to actually back away from Chagall, although the next state would be too close for him at the moment. He could hardly even look at the other man, who stared back at him with lips pursed together in irritation.
"Come on, Brian, it was a little slip up – don't make a fucking big deal out of it! It's not like I called you something insulting!" he growled in disgust, peering over at Justin with a look of awkwardness on his face. "We will discuss this later privately," he added as a warning; he was not going to air their dirty laundry in front of their employee.
"Wrong, you asshole!" Brian hissed at him loudly, his hands perched stiffly on his hips. "I am done with this whole fucking sham of a marriage, do you hear me, Chagall? Done! D-O-N-E!"
Chagall looked over again in humiliation at Justin; he was not going to hash this out with Brian here. "I will overlook that ridiculous comment, Brian, because I know you've been under a lot of stress," he said haughtily. "We will talk about this after we get home."
"WE are not going anywhere together, you son of a bitch!" Brian snarled, his eyes flashing with such anger that they were almost black in color; the veins on his neck bulged out as he continued to rage at this man, the emotions of the past few months finally culminating in an explosion of outrage. "Not now, not ever! What part of fucking English do you not understand? Would you prefer another language? Then how about we are finished….done….kaput! Capiche?"
Justin stared as Brian continued to erupt with pent-up anger; he had never seen him this furious before, and now he was even more confused. What in the hell was going on? And why was Brian so angry all of a sudden over just an annoying but relatively innocuous endearment?
"Uh….maybe I should excuse myself," he said hesitantly as he began to rise from his chair; he was feeling more and more like an uninvited party. He had been having enough problems being able to sit still while Brian was staring at him so intently; this extremely intimate and strained conversation between these two men was quickly becoming very contentious between them, and frankly, as much as it hurt to think about it, it was none of his business.
"No," he heard Brian roar vehemently, however, as he began to rise from his chair. "You're not going anywhere – not until we hash this out!"
Justin figured he was talking to his fiancé when he made that last comment, but he noticed Brian was looking directly at him when he said it and he pointed an index finger at him to boot. What was going on here? It was almost like a surreal scene out of someone else's life as he swallowed a hard lump in his throat and silently sat back down in his chair, wincing at the explosive confrontation playing out in front of him. It was almost like watching an auto accident before the head-on collision occurred, but something told him he was about to be a reluctant eye witness.
Robert's face darkened into anger and embarrassment at Brian's defiant remarks; how dare he expose their differences in front of this insignificant little twink? "Brian….I think you'd better think twice before you say anything else, because you're the one who stands to lose the most here. One more word and I swear to fucking God, I will bounce you and your company out on your ass so fast you won't know what hit you. Now I suggest we go somewhere and discuss this sensibly…..in private." To emphasize his meaning, he looked over at Justin disdainfully as if he were a piece of lint flicked from his Hugo Boss suit before turning his icy stare back to his fiancé.
The condescending look he saw Robert give Justin was the last straw; he could handle this pompous jackass railing at him – he was used to it by now and he normally just ignored it – but to insult Justin, who was a totally innocent participant to their drama was too much. "I am not going anywhere with you," he said with deadly calm as he walked up to Robert and stared at him from only inches away; his eyes were filled with seething rage as he added, his voice increasing in volume with each subsequent word, "You have five seconds to leave here before I fucking throw you out myself! Now get out of my fucking face and out of my fucking life!" To emphasize his point, he grabbed Chagall by his lapels briefly before physically shoving him backward; the other man barely managed to right himself before he would have stumbled promptly on his ass as he stared back at Brian, agape in astonishment.
Justin's eyes grew wide as he watched Chagall back away from Brian almost in shocked fear; there was no doubt that Brian meant every word he had just said. Chagall stared at him indignantly before growling, "Don't come groveling back to me tomorrow, Kinney – this was a mistake from the start! I can do a lot better than YOU! He attempted to smooth down some of his hair before he added scornfully, "Good luck in the unemployment line, you asshole!"
Justin's face flushed as he watched Chagall turn to stare at him pointedly and shake his head. "And you…..you've been the cause of this since the beginning! Well, you can kiss YOUR job goodbye, too, Taylor!" he threatened smugly as he turned to leave. He had enough clout in the restaurant industry to totally destroy Justin's fledgling business, and he was intent on doing just that. Justin may not have been the intentional cause of Brian's abrupt rejection of him, but he had certainly been the incentive.
Justin's eyes filled with tears of frustration; what had HE done to cause this? He didn't even understand what was going on, and now Chagall was about ready to destroy whatever chance he had of making a successful go of his struggling business. He turned to look at Brian helplessly, but Brian was more focused on the man about to walk out and make good on his threat.
Chagall gasped as Brian painfully grabbed his arm before he could take more than two steps away from him and spun him around to face him once more; this time Brian's face was dark red and apoplectic as he warned him, "If you so much as breathe one unflattering word about Justin's work, I will go to every media in the fucking state and tell them just how desperate you were to have a piece of eye-candy walking around on your arm. How do you think that will affect your business, Robert Dear?"
"You wouldn't dare….." Chagall knew Brian had a lot more to lose than he did; if he ever wanted to get his now-bankrupt business off the ground again without his help or his money, no client would have anything to do with him after they stopped laughing in his face over his desperate attempt to obtain an influx of capital. Brian would never stoop to divulge their secret deal to the media for fear he would follow through on his own threat…..would he?
Brian smiled widely now – it was a smile that made Chagall's heart drop. "Oh, wouldn't I? Don't flatter yourself….Robert," he assured him, his voice dripping with ice. "Taking you down would be worth every fucking penny I have left, as well as my reputation. The question is – do YOU want to take that chance?"
Chagall stared into the dark-green eyes still flaming with hatred for him and he knew….he knew Brian meant every word. He had worked too hard to attain the success he had, had moved up through the ranks of his father's business until he had either earned or bought the respect of every restaurant mogul in the city. He couldn't afford to take the risk of losing that – for any man.
He snatched his arm away from Brian before saying, "You were never worth my time anyway." He gave Brian one last smirk of conceit before, straightening out his suit jacket and pulling it down firmly, he spun on his polished, outrageously-expensive Armani dress shoes and stomped over to the door, flinging it open and rushing out.
The door banged furiously against the interior wall of the storefront as Justin jumped at the sound; a few seconds later, he heard the chirp of a car alarm being deactivated and the screech of tires on the pavement outside as Chagall's Lamborghini came to life and roared away.
Brian stared after him for a few seconds, taking several breaths to slow his breathing down. Now that Chagall was finally gone, he felt a tremendous weight lifted from him – for a second, he could imagine how Midas would have felt as he held up the world. That tremendous albatross known as Robert Chagall had finally, blissfully, been removed from around his neck and it felt wonderful – it felt liberating – it felt incredible.
As he turned to stare in triumph at a wide-eyed, silent Justin, however, the smile on his face clouded over. Justin was gazing at him, his eyes shining with unshed tears as he tried to frantically digest what had just happened.
As he looked at him sympathetically, he realized that at last, he was free to tell Justin exactly what had been happening – and what was in his heart. "Justin…." he whispered gently, almost afraid to say his name too loudly for fear he might spook him. He held out his hands wide as he softly implored simply, "Come here." He waited anxiously for the blond to respond, worrying that he might reject him as well; that would be the epitome of irony after what had happened, but in a way, he supposed he couldn't blame him. He hadn't exactly been upfront with him so far. His heart leapt, however, as Justin finally rose from his seat and slowly walked over to him until they were only a few feet apart.
"Justin…" he repeated again fervently, trying to impart as much meaning as he could into that one word; there was a pregnant pause before the younger man walked the rest of the way over and melted into Brian's embrace as the brunet sighed in relief. God, this felt so good, so right, so perfect, he thought as he wrapped his arms possessively around the slim back. After a few seconds, he was gratified to feel Justin's hands shyly snake around his waist to settle at the small of his own back as he hugged the blond even tighter, never wanting to let him go now. How could he have ever even considered a life with that other man when this felt so indescribable? He breathed out in contentment as Justin burrowed his head into his chest in response.
With great reluctance, knowing that he had a lot of questions to answer, he finally loosened his hold on Justin to peer down into the soft blue eyes that were gazing up at him curiously. He knew Justin had to be totally confused by now, but the most amazing part was that he was still here, still waiting for him to tell him what he needed to know. With a vast sense of understatement, Brian curled his lips under and softly said, "We need to have that talk now, I think."
Justin huffed softly before a slight whisper of a smile appeared on his lips. "Yeah….I think that might be enlightening."
Brian smiled back at him, relieved to at least see a hint of the other man's smile and a teasing tone in his voice. He was so grateful that he hadn't destroyed what could very well prove to be the most important relationship he might ever have in his life – and the most important man he would ever have the privilege to know.
"Yeah," Brian agreed as one hand left Justin's back to travel upward to the back of his neck. He briefly fingered the soft blond hair located there before he whispered huskily, "After I take care of something else first." Seconds later, his mouth came crushing down onto the waiting lips as his hand pushed Justin's head firmly against his and he heard a sigh of pleasure in return. His tongue quickly began another exploratory journey into the warm, wet mouth of his companion as his hands pushed Justin hard against his body, letting him know in no uncertain terms just what he was doing to him. He groaned as they came up for air, only to plunge immediately back in like a man in the desert who had been deprived of life-sustaining water for far too long.
He wanted nothing more at that point than to drop them both onto the cold, hard floor of Justin's business for a little hands-on demonstration on behalf of Justin's potential clients, but his need to tell Justin everything superseded that craving as he forced himself to pull apart from the now fully-kissed, swollen lips of the man he worshipped. Justin's flushed face peered up at him, his eyes almost a royal blue full of desire.
It would be so easy…so easy to fuck this man to within an inch of his life right now, Brian thought, as he peered into those mesmerizing pools of dark blue. He let out an exhale of breathy air through his own lips as he tried desperately to control his own desire for this delectable-looking man as he finally broke apart completely from him; that was the only way at the moment that he could trust he would follow through on what he needed to do. He was not going to let anything – or anybody – prevent that this time.
"Justin….Can we go somewhere more private?" At Justin's look of surprise, he explained, "I want to explain everything to you – but I don't want us interrupted again this time."
Justin nodded, feeling the same way. It was time that Brian told him exactly what was going on; he now knew that he and Chagall were definitely history now, but he had to know just what had transpired to get them to that point in the first place. "Let's go upstairs," he suggested, holding his arm out for Brian to lead. "I'll just lock the door and put the 'closed' sign out for a while." He didn't want anything to prevent them from engaging in what would no doubt be a very interesting discussion between the two of them.
Brian nodded as he took short pants of breath to calm himself. Just holding Justin and kissing him had set him on fire again, and he urgently wanted to take care of a little problem he had as a result. But it was more important to explain fully to Justin why he had done what he did. He turned toward the steps and stood at the landing, waiting for the blond to join him.
Justin walked over to the door and turned the deadbolt to lock it. Turning the plastic sign around so that it said 'closed,' he stood there for a few seconds with his back to Brian. He knew that something dramatic was about to happen in his life – something he had never anticipated – but he had a feeling it would be something that just might change his life forever.
"Justin?" he heard Brian calling him softly from across the room.
Taking a steadying breath as he felt the rush of excitement surge through him at simply the mention of his name, he turned around to smile at the handsome man anxiously waiting for him with his hand outstretched. As the last rays of the sun began to stream in through the storefront windows, he walked over to his destiny and clasped Brian's hand in his. "I'm ready for our talk now," he said confidently.