Chapter 23 – House Hunting

Justin let out a worried sigh as he sipped his coffee in the diner where he and Miranda Avery were taking a break from house hunting. The first four locations they'd looked at were either perfect for Brian or perfect for Lindsay. "None of the locations we've looked at so far today are going to cut it."

Miranda, a middle-aged brunette with an easy smile, gave Justin's hand a reassuring pat. "I know, what's more important, I know why. Don't worry, Justin. We're just getting started. Now that we've spent the morning talking, I've got a much better idea of what you guys need in homes. I'll have better choices for you tomorrow."

Justin gave a slight smile. "Well, I'm going to add Brian's business office to the mix. He asked me to get you to start looking." Justin outlined the requirements. "He won't want to set up in a standard office building, even the nicest in New York. He'll want a building with some history, serious personality. His office in Pittsburgh is built in a gay bathhouse."

Miranda choked slightly on her coffee. "A bathhouse? Okay, that's different. Do the clients know?"

Justin chuckled. "It's hard to miss the shower fixtures on the walls. The clients find it interesting. As an office, it's brilliant. Brian's advertising motto is; sex sells, the explanation gets the client thinking the right way to sell his campaigns to them."

Miranda looked thoughtful for a moment then started to smile, excited. "I think you may just be the solution to a long-term problem for me." She gathered up her purse and coat, swallowed down her coffee hastily and stood. "Come on, let's go."

"Okay, I'm coming." Quickly finishing his coffee, Justin grabbed his coat and headed for the door. "Where are we going?"

"The Church of Angels," Miranda grinned. "I think it might meet all your needs. Even if it doesn't, as an artist, it's worth seeing."

Justin's smile faded. "Brian will not want to have his business in a church, no matter how much history it has."

Miranda sparkled as she walked quickly to her car. "That's good because the Church of Angels wasn't really a church. Let's see if I can put this delicately - it was a house of ill-repute disguised as a church."

"A whore house?"

Miranda chuckled at the question. "A little less delicate, but accurate. It was a place where angels of both sexes prayed for the wealthy and helped them achieve redemption." Miranda explained with a twinkle in her expressive brown eyes as they drove west, "The church was built at the turn of the twentieth century by the current owner's grandparents. They met when he was a client at her previous establishment. He was an artist. She was a… well, let's call her a very wealthy entrepreneur. She'd made a fortune as a madam to New York's elite, but was getting some pressure to close down. The church disguised the activities. Her granddaughter, the current owner, married one of the wealthiest Avery's in the nineteen fifties."

"You're kidding, right?" Justin asked. "A two generation move from a brothel to the New York A-list?"

"By the nineteen fifties when Aunt Tilda got married, the church was no longer taking clients. Lucian and Claire Breen were considered quite respectable."

"Lucian Breen? I love his work."

"Then you're going to love the church. He spent most of his youth designing and painting it. The building is an historic site because of his work." With that Miranda pulled into the parking lot of a circular church. The two story building had clear glass windows on the second floor near the front with stained glass around the sides and on the first floor. A bell tower at the front capped the entryway. A small brick house sat near the back of the church with a covered walkway connecting the two.

"When the church was first built, the Breen's lived in the back of the building in an apartment. After their daughter was born, they built the house to move into. It's a much more traditional place, and in the style of the times, not that large. They used their old apartment for entertaining and didn't need a big home."

Justin looked worried. "I really want to see the art, so thanks for bringing me. But this is a huge property in Manhattan. We're well off, but this is going to be out of our price range. It has to be."

Miranda smiled softly. "That's the interesting part. I have no idea what the asking price is. Aunt Tilda told me to find the right people for it and let her know when I did." Her face was a study in affection and frustration. "I've brought about fifty people to the church and sent about half of those to her. Of those, she only interviewed half and never gave any of them a price. She turned them all away."

"You're telling me not to get my hopes up."

"Definitely." Miranda looked at Justin. "But it's worth seeing anyway." With that Miranda opened the double doors of the church, gesturing for Justin to enter.

Justin walked into a small room with double doors made of oak leading into the main church. Miranda took his coat and walked around a corner to hang it up. Both the walls were hung with pictures showing the history of the church.

Justin's eyes lit up as he walked through the doors. The church was bright as natural light streamed in through the second floor windows and bounced off the light walls and marble floor. The outer section of the first floor held a series of rooms and open areas separated by eight pillars extending all the way to the ceiling. The second floor consisted of open lofts running the circumference of the church with pillars extending from ground floor upward. The center of the church was a large oval room with a two story ceiling. A scaffold stood in the middle of the room allowing access to the ceiling. As Justin looked up, he gasped in shock.

The entire ceiling was covered with a single painting of heaven. The angels were of all races and both sexes and were all naked except for their wings and engaged in a wide variety of sexual activities. The work displayed none of the prurience that one might expect, rather an innocent joy forcing the questions. Why would angels need clothes anyway? and How do you think we spend our time? Off to one side of the heavens sat God, smiling with delight at the universe he had made, an angel in his arms. Justin couldn't help himself, he started to smile back. With a quick look at Miranda for permission, Justin climbed the scaffold to study the work closely.

"He must have spent years painting this. The brush work is incredibly detailed." Justin couldn't hold back his delight as he stuck his head over the edge of the scaffold to look down at Miranda. "Why haven't I ever seen any pictures of this? This is amazing."

"Aunt Tilda was afraid of right wing religious groups objecting to the content and burning down the church. She's never allowed pictures to be taken." Miranda laughed as Justin kept moving around the scaffold. "Why don't you come back down and I'll show you the rest."

After Justin's descent, Miranda led the way into a hallway running the length of the church.

"This hall allows access for clients to the private rooms without being seen by everyone in the gathering area. For those who value discretion," Miranda tossed out with a small grin. On the outer side of the hallway, doors stood open, the daylight passing though the colored glass windows casting unique and beautiful shadows, illuminating the murals held in some rooms. Justin's favorite was of a gleeful Eve, holding out an apple to Adam with a mischievous little smile as her other hand reached for him, already hard at the sight of her. In the background of the picture multi-race couples and groups, gay and straight, angel and human were making love in an assortment of wild positions.

Miranda remained silent as Justin admired the artwork in each room. At the end of the hall, she gestured toward a door. "That door leads to the lower level. It's where the angels lived. There's a large communal bath, a kitchen, living area and about a dozen smaller rooms. The other side on the main floor has the same basic layout as this side but no paintings. Come on – let's head up to the lofts." With that, Miranda led Justin to the front of the church where she opened a well-hidden panel leading to a winding staircase. At the top, she stepped out onto an open loft with an oak railing that ran the length of the church. The loft on the other side was identical. Moving to the back of the church, they crossed a narrow walkway to a third loft. In this area, natural light flowed through clear glass, illuminating the entire area.

"Welcome to Lucian Breen's studio."

Justin looked at the wide open space with awe, wandering over to a window looking out on the city before moving back to the rail. "This is spectacular. Anyone could work here." Justin frowned slightly, looking down into the main room. "What are those lines in the marble floor?"

Miranda followed his gaze down, seeing the grid pattern. "They're tracks designed to slide objects in and out easily and support them. You have to pull up the covers. I believe they used them for floors, false walls, tables, sexual props."

Justin shook his head with delight as he looked down. "You could set up whatever floor layout you wanted for Kinnetic. Thank you so much for bringing me here. Even if we don't get it, and I know we probably won't, it was worth the trip to see Breen's work."

"We're not done yet," Miranda said as she moved down the stairs and back through the church. She opened another hidden panel, took out a key and opened a door leading into a short hallway. At the end of the hall, she unlocked another door and announced, "Here's the apartment."

Justin walked through and looked around in awe at the open space. "He really was ahead of his time, wasn't he?"

"Very much so, the apartment has three large bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen, library and living area. The kitchen badly needs modernizing as do the bathrooms. The living area is huge, easily able to accommodate their entertaining a dozen or more friends." Miranda continued on with a smile. "They were famous for their dinner parties when they were younger. This would work for you and Brian. There is a small servants apartment on the lower floor with it's own external entrance. They had a live-in housekeeper."

Miranda opened another door leading to the covered walkway. "Claire built the house because she didn't want her daughter to be raised in a brothel. It's modest and very traditional. This was their private space."

"Lindsay would love this." Glancing around, Justin wasn't sure how to feel. "You're right, you know. This is absolutely perfect for us. I loved seeing it." Justin smiled sadly, "After your Aunt Tilda turns us down or it's out of our price range, it's going to be impossible to find anything I like as much. You know that, don't you?"

Matilda patted Justin's arm reassuringly. "It's funny. I've brought dozens of potential home owners here and they just didn't click. I have a funny feeling, though, that that's about to change. We'll have to see what Aunt Tilda says."

With that, Miranda opened her cell and placed a call. Wandering away from Justin, she spoke softly into the phone. After a few minutes, she called over. "She'd like to have dinner with you, Brian, Lindsay and Gus on Friday night. Can you make it?"

"Brian was planning to come in anyway and Lindsay's not working, so it should be doable. I'll give Brian a call, he'll make it happen."