Chapter 25 – Conversations

Leo Brown reached across the table to shake Brian's hand as their meeting concluded. "I, for one, am glad you're setting up a New York office, Brian. It'll be more convenient for me since I'm in New York at least once a month."

"I'm happy to hear that, Leo. You'll be getting an invitation to the opening."

"It's going to be interesting to see what kind of space you get," Leo said pointedly, looking around the bathhouse.

"I'm not fond of working in a box," Brian agreed with a smile. "Although I may need to set up in a conventional office until I find something better."

"Let's hope not. I'd hate to have anything stifle that creativity of yours. I'll see you in a month for the new campaign." Leo Brown gave a polite nod and headed out of Brian's office.

"Cynthia," Brian snapped into the intercom, "Where the hell is my flight information?"

A man came around the corner holding an itinerary. "Here you go, sir. Your flight leaves for New York on Friday at noon. The limo will be picking up your luggage from your housekeeper, your son and his mother and then collecting you here forty-five minutes early to take you to the airport."

Brian stared in bemusement at the brunet, wondering just who the hell this guy was and why he had a Welshman in his office.

Dark gray eyes met hazel with a slight smile as the younger man continued, "After landing, a limo will meet you to take you to Mr. Taylor's interview and then back to his townhouse to change and freshen up before dinner. Dinner reservations have been made at seven-thirty at the Wiltshire where Ms. Peterson and Master Gus have their room reservations. The limousine will, of course, be available all evening and the following morning." A slight frown creased the rather handsome face, "Your return flight on Saturday will leave New York at eleven forty-five, getting you back in time for Mr. Taylor to inspect the exhibit at the Bloom Gallery before your planned meeting with Mr. Novotny at the Liberty Diner at six-thirty. Mr. Taylor's interview at the gallery is scheduled for Sunday at eleven. You are then expected at the police station at two." He looked up from reading, "Will you need the limo on either Saturday evening or on Sunday, sir? It wasn't clear."

"No, I won't need the limo. Who the fuck are you?" Brian queried bluntly.

"Your new assistant - Gareth Llewellyn." Gareth stood steady in the face of Brian's glare, "Is there anything else I can assist you with?"

"Get me Cynthia," Brian barked. "Now!"

"Certainly, sir." Gareth gave a small nod and exited the room.

A few minutes later, Cynthia rushed around the corner of Brian's office. "You met Gareth."

"Who is Gareth and why shouldn't I fill out a pink slip now?" Brian's voice was deceptively gentle.

"I had to go external to hire you an assistant for New York, since I'm taking over running the office here." Cynthia shook her head slightly, "Even though a large number of our younger staff are willing to relocate, no one wants to work directly for you?" Cynthia smirked, "Any ideas why?"

Brian glared, "You hired a gay assistant for me? Christ, Cynthia, what were you thinking?"

Cynthia glared back. "That you won't scare him away and you'd rather have him than any of the females in this office. They'll either cry because you're mean or lust after you."

Brian shuddered slightly at the thought. "You think he can keep up?"

"Probably. He's younger than you." Cynthia grinned, "More stamina."

"Bitch," Brian muttered. "Am I going to have to pay to relocate him to New York?"

"No and Brian," Cynthia turned serious, "I'm just trying to save you the hassle of finding someone yourself. I interviewed a lot of people before selecting him. Give him a chance for the next week. If you don't click, he can stay and work here and I'll find someone else."

"He reminds me of someone. I wonder if I fucked him," Brian mused thoughtfully.

"Ianto Jones," Cynthia exclaimed with delight.

"Who?"

"Torchwood. He looks and sounds like Ianto Jones." Cynthia started to laugh, "I love listening to him talk." At the puzzled look on Brian's face, she explained, "It's a spinoff of Doctor Who. Check it out on YouTube. The scenes between Jack and Ianto are really hot."

"Keep this up and I'm going to start thinking you're the ultimate fag hag," Brian quipped with a smirk.

"Liking the sight of two gorgeous men making out does not make me a fag hag." Cynthia then continued, looking thoughtful, "Being able to stand working for you, though. It's possible."

Brian smiled as he watched Cynthia leave then sat back down to work on the Nexus account. After a few moments, a message box appeared.

J.T.: Hey, Stud. You there?

Rage: What's up?

J.T.: That's way too easy. What are you doing right now?

Rage: Working, but not too hard at the moment. You?

J.T.: Just wanted to check that you, Lindsay and Gus are coming in on Friday.

Rage: Yeah. Remind me again – why am I doing this?

J.T.: To talk to a woman that's never liked anyone about buying a place you've never seen for an amount of money you can't afford.

Rage: Right. You know that if we get it and I hate the place, I'm going to spend the next thirty years taking it out on your ass.

J.T.: Sounds like fun. Too bad I know you'll like it. And I think we'll get it.

Rage: Great. Then I can fuck you in every available room in a whorehouse. That works, too.

J.T.: I like that plan. Maybe we can replay collecting on the bet.

Rage: That was hot. I really liked letting you win that one.

J.T.: Let me win? You knew it was Todd?

Rage: Of course.

J.T.: I knew ;-)

Rage:…

J.T.: Brian – you still there?

Rage: You knew I lost on purpose.

J.T.: When you went to talk to Todd I figured it out. I loved that you wanted me to win.

Rage: Had to see what your plans were ;-)

J.T.: About what you expected?

Rage: Better. Using all those toys on you – knowing you were going to use them on me the same way the next night. Christ, I'm getting hard again just thinking about it.

J.T.: Had to win two nights. You're so fucking non-verbal I had to get you to show me how far I could go topping your ass.

Rage: And now you know.

J.T.: Yippee! Want to do it again?

Rage: Once in a lifetime experience.

J.T.: Wanna bet?

Brian leaned back in his chair, laughing as Gareth came around the corner. "Sir, there's a Detective Horvath here who wishes to speak with you."

"Carl?" Brian looked up, concerned. "Send him in." He turned back to the computer.

Rage: Hold up a minute, Jus. Carl's here to talk to me.

J.T.: Carl? Weird. No prob. I'll wait.

Brian stood, wondering what could bring the detective to the doors of Kinnetics.

As Carl entered the room and nodded cautiously, "Brian. Interesting office you've got."

"It suits me." Brian smirked slightly, "Somehow I don't think you're here to talk about my office."

"Of course not. I came to warn you." Carl shifted uncomfortably. "You might want to talk to Justin as well."

"Warn us about what?"

"This Sunday's meeting with the police is a set up. They want to bring Justin and Hobbs face-to-face."

"What!" Brian paused for a moment, collecting himself. "What the fuck are the cops up to?"

"Not all the cops are in on this or even approve. That's why I got warned and I'm warning you." Carl smiled grimly. "Hobbs is insane. The DA believes that if he sees Justin in person, he'll flip and we'll be able to put him away without a trial. He won't be able to resist bragging. It takes away the risk of homophobic juries or judges influencing the outcome."

"So Justin has to confront Hobbs because he's gay and our own district attorney thinks Hobbs might not get sent away because only gays got hurt."

Carl looked uncomfortably to the side, "That about sums it up."

"That is totally fucked up, Carl, and you know it."

"At least this DA is trying to put the bastard away."

"Unlike last time," Brian calmed down, slightly mollified, staring at Carl. "Will it work?"

"Probably. I talked to the warden at the prison. He agreed that Hobbs will lose it. He'll confess in front of a room full of cops. At that point he'll need to bargain down to avoid the death penalty."

"Shit." Brian reached over to the computer.

Rage: Call me. Carl needs to talk to both of us.

A few minutes later, Justin's voice came over the speakerphone. "Hey, Carl. What's going on?"

"Hi, Justin. I came by to warn you boys about something." Carl went on to explain the situation to Justin. As the explanation concluded there was a long silence from the other end of the phone followed by a long sigh.

"Carl, tell me the truth. Will this help put Hobbs away?" Justin asked.

"I think it might help a great deal."

"Tell them I'll be at the police station on time, but that I expect a lot of space between Chris and me. I do not want to get up close and personal. I've had enough close encounters with that man."

"I'll pass the message along, Justin." Carl nodded at Brian as he started walking out, "I'll be going now."

"Brian," Justin's voice continued. "You alone now?"

"Yes. Are you sure you're okay with seeing Hobbs?"

"I'm sure. I'm also sure I don't want to talk about it between now and then. There are better things to spend our time on."

"Like what?"

"Do you want to know what I'm wearing?"

Brian's voice deepened, "Absolutely."

"Nooothing!" Justin's voice surrounded Brian, warming him, distracting him from the conversation with Carl.

In the outer office, Gareth quickly set the phone down. His new job was proving quite interesting – more so than he would have expected. Things seemed to happen around Brian Kinney. As his own line rang, Gareth answered.

"Gerald. How is your new life panning out?" Gareth winced as he recognized the voice on the other end of the line.

"The name is Gareth, sir. And my new life is fine. The only problem with it at the moment is this phone call."

"I'm sorry about that, but I wanted to touch base one last time to see if I could get you to change your mind."

"No, sir, you can't. I've left the service. I am looking forward to living a normal civilian life." Gareth's voice darkened considerably, "I will thank you to respect my wishes in this matter. I believe I have earned that."

"Yes, you have, son." The older voice sighed deeply, "I won't call again. If you ever need anything, just call us."

"Thank you, sir. What I need most is for you to forget I ever existed." With that, Gareth hung up the phone. Leaning back in his chair, he closed his eyes briefly, letting go of the past.