Wyrd: Chapter 4: "Fireworks" Part 2
Wyrd: Chapter 4 Continued
Friday, January 30, 2004
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: What’s going on?
Brian, I’ve tried calling you a few times and I’ve left messages the last couple of weeks, but I don’t want to bug you because I know Kinnetik keeps you really busy. If you could just email me and let me know you’re all right, I’d appreciate it. If the reason you’re not answering my calls or emails is because you don’t want to stay in contact anymore, just tell me. Please? It’ll hurt, but I’d accept it, all right? I really hope it’s not that, and I know that we’ve gone a while without talking before, so it’s not like I’m upset or anything, just worried. Okay?
~Justin
***
“Do you ever have your cell phone turned on?”
***
Thursday, February 5, 2004
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Drama Queen
Justin,
Finally got my email up and running.
I’ve tried to call you, check your messages because every time I’ve gotten yours, you act like you haven’t gotten mine. There isn’t anything I can do about the time difference between Pittsburgh and Ibiza. You’ve called at times that I’ve been busy or sleeping. If I wanted you to stop calling or emailing, I’d tell you, but it’s your call if you want to continue… whatever the fuck it is we’re doing. I’ll answer your emails when I get the free time to do so, which happens to be right now.
Call me when you get this, I’ll be up for a few more hours working, but I’ll have my phone on.
~Brian
***
“Hey.”
“Hey. I saw your email!”
“Good.”
“So we’re good?”
“Didn’t you listen to any of the messages I left?” Brian asked. “By the way, you really need to change your generic greeting.”
“Brian I haven’t gotten any calls or messages from you,” Justin said. “Are you sure you called me? I don’t have a generic greeting for my voicemail. It’s me and I say, ‘You’ve called Justin Taylor, sorry I can’t…’”
“Shit,” Brian interrupted, his stomach flipping. “I’ll call you right back.”
“Wait!” Justin said. “If you don’t’ call me back in like two minutes then I’m calling you back.”
“Okay. Two minutes.” Brian hung up and went into his received calls list and checked the number that Justin had called from. It had said ‘Justin’ under contacts. He then went to his dialed calls list and scrolled to the last time he’d called Justin. He scrolled to the end of the logged calls and only saw one or two but none from the last couple weeks. He went back to the phone listing, pressed #3 and the phone rang.
“Brian? What’s wrong, are you okay?”
Brian almost screamed when he heard the groggy voice on the end of the line. “Ted?”
“Yeah…. Look, I figured you didn’t want me to bring it up at work or anything, but if these nightly calls are going to continue then maybe we should just get together and…”
“Ted, I didn’t mean to fucking call you, all right?”
“What?”
“Those messages, forget about them. They were for Justin.”
“That guy in Ibiza?” Ted asked, confused. “Why would you call to tell him… oh!”
Brian’s call waiting beeped and he looked at the screen. “I’ve got to go. Don’t breathe a fucking word of this to anyone or you’re fired, understand?”
“You got it, Bri,” Ted said.
Brian pressed send to transfer to Justin’s call. “Fuck!”
Justin laughed. “Now?”
“No… fuck… I haven’t been calling you,” Brian explained.
“Yes, I know,” Justin said. “I checked my voicemails again and my missed calls and there hasn’t been a single call from you since that night you called me drunk.”
“Right, well that’s because I’ve been calling Ted’s phone in the middle of the night.”
“And he didn’t mention this to you?”
“He probably just thought I was drunk,” Brian lied. He wondered if this time fate had intervened on his behalf and put a stop to the stupid idea that he’d had of telling Justin about the cancer.
“You didn’t talk dirty to me in those messages, did you?” Justin asked.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Brian joked, trying to make the heavy feeling in his heart go away.
“Did you read any of my emails because, from yours, it didn’t seem like it.”
“You never got my email telling you that Kinnetik had a virus and our mail was compromised and inaccessible until it was fixed?” Brian asked.
“No,” Justin sighed. “Must’ve gotten lost in spam or something.”
“Or something. I’m gonna go to sleep, it’s been a long day.”
“Oh,” Justin said, disappointed. “All right.”
“If I don’t answer my phone or emails don’t freak out, just keep me updated and I’ll get back to you.”
“That sounds very business-like,” Justin said wryly. “Brian, what’s going on? You sound a lot different than you did before you got off the phone and found out you’d been leaving messages for Ted and not me. Did you tell me something in those messages that was important?”
“I’m fine and it wasn’t anything important, I’ll talk to you soon.”
“I guess you don’t feel up to phone sex, then?” Justin asked.
Brian squeezed his soft cock and imagined Justin naked, but not even that could make him sport an erection. “Not tonight. But if you jerk off, you can take pictures and send them to me… if you want to.”
“Do you want me to?” Justin asked, hesitantly.
“Yes.” Just because he couldn’t get it up, didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate sexy pictures of Justin getting off while thinking about him.
“Okay,” Justin said, a little perkier. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Yeah. Bye.”
“Later, Brian.”
Brian ended the call and grabbed his laptop. He was leaving tomorrow for surgery and doubted he’d be able to sleep. He logged onto his computer, located his picture folder and opened the file containing all the pictures he had of Justin. Some were pictures Justin sent him and there were many of the two of the them together. Brian’s eyes lingered on those the longest and just as his body gave into exhaustion, he received a new email from Justin. He wouldn’t open it tonight, he’d save it for after the surgery, it would be something to look forward to.
March 2004
Justin dialed Brian’s cell phone with one hand while his other wiped away the tears in his eyes. He put the phone to his ear and after two rings it went directly to voicemail. “After talking for three hours last night you don’t think you could’ve told me that you were cancelling your trip this year? What the fuck is going on, Brian? This is not me being a drama queen; this is me being seriously concerned and hurt. I know you’ve never promised me anything and we’re not even in a conventional relationship by any means… but just last night you let me sit there and talk to you about all the things I wanted to do with you this year… our last year here together and…”
BEEP!
Justin ended the call and then dialed it once again, determined to finish exactly what he had to say to Brian. “I thought you wanted to do those things with me too. You sure sounded like you did. What changed between last night and tonight? Were we getting too close? Yeah, that’s probably it, isn’t it? You know, I never asked you to tell me about your fucking parents, about how you feel about your son, about your friends, or any fucking thing! You decided to tell me about that stuff and now you’re just afraid to face me, now that I know the real you. That’s fucking bullshit! I think you’re a god damn coward!”
BEEP!
“Feel better?”
Justin jumped and turned around. “Aaron, I know how you feel about him and I really don’t need you to tell me ‘I told you so’ right now.”
Aaron walked out onto the balcony, shaking his head. “Justin, do you really think that I wanted to be right?”
Justin felt like it wasn’t just his heart breaking but his entire body felt like it were shattering. “I don’t know,” he said.
Aaron put his hands on Justin’s shoulders and then drew him into his embrace. “I didn’t want to be and I thought he was pretty determined to prove me wrong, actually.”
Justin backed out of the hug and dropped down into the recliner. He looked up at Aaron and asked, “Is that why you had Matt come tell me?”
Aaron nodded and took a seat in the recliner beside Justin. “When I saw his name on the cancelations list, I thought that maybe he’d finally done it.” Aaron grimaced. “I guess I was wrong.”
“What do you mean?” Justin asked. “Did what?”
“I thought he finally realized that it was pointless to go on pretending that he came back here for any other reason than to see you. That he’d told you that he didn’t need,” Aaron pointed to the empty suite beside Justin’s, “that room and would be sharing yours.”
Justin blinked rapidly. “Do you think that’s it?” he asked hopefully. “Maybe that’s all it is. Oh shit!” He opened his cell phone. “I have to call and…”
“No,” Aaron reached over and took Justin’s cell phone. “That isn’t it. He cancelled his flight, Justin. Believe it or not, your uncle told me not to get my hopes up. He called the airlines and found out Brian cancelled his flight.”
“I don’t understand,” Justin said. “Just yesterday we were talking about going snorkeling and whale watching and he really sounded like he wanted to. He’s been so busy at work. Every night we talk he’s exhausted, but he stays on the phone with me until he’s almost asleep. He listens to me, Aaron, he encourages me and he… I really thought he loved me. But you don’t act like this… you don’t just cancel a trip without telling someone… not if you love them.”
“Or maybe you do cancel it if the reason you did is because you’re scared that you do love him,” Aaron said in a sad voice. “Maybe you were right in calling him a coward.”
“I don’t want to be right,” Justin said, tears falling now. “I mean, if he’s going to be like this… what’s he going to be like when we move there? Is he even going to want to be with me?”
Aaron shrugged. “I think you need to find that out, because I know you’ve been accepted to NYU and that might be a better place for you to be. Of course your sister, Matt and me want you in Pittsburgh with us, but it’s going to be hard going back to Pittsburgh and dealing with all the memories you have of your parents. I wouldn’t want you to have to worry about what will happen if you run into Brian too.”
“But he won’t talk to me,” Justin said. “I’ve called him like six times since you told me he wasn’t coming. Before I left him messages, I even called his work. His assistant told me he was out sick for the day and wouldn’t put me through!”
“As of today, you’re done with the semester, right?” Aaron asked.
“Yeah, I was supposed to send Brian pictures of my final projects but I doubt he’s even going to care to…”
“Then go to him,” Aaron interrupted. “Show him the pictures in person if you need to.”
“Huh?”
“Take the pictures of your work to him because they’re all about him, aren’t they?”
“Yes,” Justin whispered.
“If Brian doesn’t see how much you love him and doesn’t want to accept that love from you, then he’s an idiot and he doesn’t deserve you to waste your talent or your heart on him.”
“You’re saying you want me to just go to Pittsburgh and find him? Uninvited?”
Aaron grinned. “That’s what I’m saying.”
Justin’s eyebrows crinkled together. “Did Matt put you up to this?”
“No, he didn’t. Justin, I love you like you’re my son, I want to see you happy and if that’s with Brian Kinney, then you have my blessing.”
“To just hop on a plane and go to Pittsburgh to find Brian?” Justin asked.
Aaron laughed. “Yes.” He took his cell out of his pocket and asked. “I’ve still got the number on my phone. Do you want me to call the airlines and make a reservation?”
“Yes,” Justin said adamantly.
***
After the layover in Madrid, Justin had slept the whole flight to New York. After that, he had a short layover before boarding the next plane to Pittsburgh. Daphne picked him up from the airport and they immediately drove to her apartment so Justin could shower and change clothes while they came up with a game plan.
“I know right where Kinnetik is,” Daphne said. She’d googled the address while Justin had showered. Before he’d arrived she’d tried to find an address for Brian Kinney but the only Kinney in the phone book was Joan and Justin had told her that was Brian’s mother, but that he would never go to her for help.
“But I can’t go there,” Justin said. “I know how Brian feels whenever his friends show up at his work ‘demanding his presence’ while he’s busy. I can’t do that to him.”
“But you don’t even know where he lives,” Daphne said.
“He lives in a loft, the top floor,” Justin told her.
Daphne gave Justin a blank stare. “So, we’ll just drive around the city all day and find all the lofts?”
“He lives near Liberty Avenue,” Justin said, pulling his favorite Armani exchange t-shirt over his head. He gave himself a once-over in the mirror. “Do I look all right?”
Daphne laughed. “Before you worry about how you look we need to know where to look. Even if he lives close to Liberty Avenue, in a loft, that still leaves a lot of ground to cover and he may not even be home.”
Justin sat beside Daphne on her bed and thought for a moment before a brilliant idea hit him. “You’re going to call Kinnetik for me. Tell them you’re Daphne Martinez, Vernon Martinez’s sister and that he recommended Kinnetik to you for your small start-up business. Tell them that you’ll only be in town for a day and would like to meet with Brian Kinney.”
“Who the hell is Vernon Martinez?” Daphne asked.
“He’s the guy that’s buying our resort and he’s a big client of Kinnetik’s, remember I told you about that?”
“Oh, right… well, I should have a name for my business then.”
“You won’t need one. In fact, if they ask, tell them that’s why you need help. Tell him it’s for anti-aging products or some shit, but I doubt they’ll ask. They’ll hear Vernon’s name and they’ll either get Brian on the phone with you right away, have him call you back right away or they’ll set up a meeting with you.”
“But you don’t want to go to Kinnetik,” Daphne said.
“No, that’s why you’ll suggest ‘Travis’,” Justin said. “That place still exists, right?”
“Yeah, for people who want to spend hundreds of dollars on an appetizer,” Daphne snarked.
“Which is the type of place a big client would want to meet with Brian. And I will be there instead of you.”
“Okay,” Daphne said reluctantly. “So, should I talk in an accent or something?”
“Nah, Vernon doesn’t really have one.”
Daphne picked up her cell phone, dialed Kinnetik’s number and turned it to speaker phone so Justin could hear the whole call.
“Kinnetik, this is Danielle, how may I direct your call?”
“I’d like to speak to Brian Kinney, please?” Daphne said in her best professional voice.
“I’m sorry but Mr. Kinney is unavailable to take calls at the moment,” Danielle replied. “I can take a message and he can get back to you next week.”
“Next week?” Daphne asked. “I’m sorry but I’m only in town for the day. This is Daphne Martinez, my brother, Vernon Maritinez is Mr. Kinney’s client. I was hoping I could meet with him today to discuss…”
“Oh,” Danielle interrupted.
Daphne grinned hopefully at Justin.
“I’m so sorry, Ms. Martinez, but Mr. Kinney is not in the office today. He’s come down with a bout of pneumonia but if you’d like I could transfer you to his partner, Cynthia Prescott, and she can…”
“No, no,” Daphne said. “That’s all right. I’ll be back in town soon and I’ll make an appointment then.”
“Well if you know when you’ll be available I can make the appointment now.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t,” Daphne said. “But I’ll be sure to call whenever I do know. Thanks for your help. Bye.” Daphne ended the call and looked at Justin sadly. “So, he’s not at work.”
“This is the third day he’s been sick,” Justin said worriedly. “Do you really think he’s got pneumonia?”
“I don’t know, Justin,” Daphne said. “You talked to him hours before he cancelled, I doubt it would come on so fast and you said other than him sounding tired he didn’t seem sick.”
“He did have a stomach bug a few weeks ago,” Justin said, remembering the time that Brian had quickly ended a telephone call but hadn’t hit the end button and Justin heard him getting sick, heard the toilet flushing and then hearing Brian groan in pain. He’d debated staying on the line and calling out to Brian to make sure he was okay but decided upon ending the phone call and never brought it up with the man, thinking that Brian might think he was invading his privacy. Brian did end up telling him the next night that he’d caught a stomach bug and until now Justin hadn’t thought of it again. “I guess he could have developed something worse, but it just it doesn’t seem right. Why wouldn’t he just tell me? It’s not like I’d be mad that he was sick. He could’ve just said he was sick and couldn’t come and I would’ve understood.”
“Maybe he’s on vacation already. Maybe he went somewhere else.” Daphne didn’t want to say it, but she couldn’t stop herself.
“No.”
“Justin, I don’t mean to be a downer, but it is a possibility.”
“Maybe he’s just sick. Maybe he does have pneumonia and he is scared of coming to Ibiza, because he’s realized he has feelings for me. Maybe that’s all it is.” Justin picked up Daphne’s phone and handed it to her. “Call Kinnetik again. Tell them you talked to your brother and he suggested you speak with Ted Schmidt if you can’t talk to Brian.”
Daphne sighed. “All right. But why this Ted guy?”
“He’s Brian’s friend and Kinnetik’s accountant. And I want you to tell him that you’d like to meet him.”
“But he’s an accountant,” Daphne said.
“A few days ago, Brian told me that Ted took over for him when he had to be in another meeting and Ted pitched to Dandy Lube and got the account for him. He’s on his way to being an ad exec, that’s what Brian said.”
“Why don’t you just talk to Cynthia? Isn’t she Brian’s partner in Kinnetik?”
“Yeah, but she’s not his friend like Ted is. If I can meet with Ted and plead my case with him, he might at least give me Brian’s address or tell me where the fuck he is if he, god forbid, isn’t still here in Pittsburgh.”
“Okay, okay,” Daphne said soothingly, dialing the number, “here goes nothing.”
***
Justin wasn’t dressed appropriately for the restaurant, but Daphne was. She looked like a million bucks and the host didn’t bat an eye when she told him that they were there to meet with Ted Schmidt. Daphne had told Ted that she would be bringing her assistant along with her, she wouldn’t leave Justin alone with Ted until she knew whether or not the man was going to help Justin. Justin was glad to have a friend who would give up her first day of college break to help him with his love life.
Justin tried to hold his head high as the host led him and Daphne toward the table where Ted Schmidt was already seated.
“Mr. Schmidt, your guests have arrived,” the host said, gesturing the Daphne and Justin. “I’ll be back to take your order in a few moments.”
Ted’s eyes were fixed on Daphne as he rose from his seat. “Ms. Martinez, it’s good to meet you.”
“You too,” Daphne said, shaking his hand.
Justin held out her chair as she sat down and then reached to shake Ted’s offered hand. “I’m…”
“Justin?” Ted gasped the name and his hand dropped away from Justin’s outstretched one. He slowly sat down in his chair and looked at Daphne and then stared at Justin.
Justin wasn’t sure how to feel about Ted recognizing him. He thought that none of Brian’s friends but Lindsay and Melanie had ever seen a picture of him. “Ted…”
Ted laughed and grabbed Justin’s hand and shook it enthusiastically. “It’s good to meet you. Brian didn’t tell me that you were Ms. Martinez’s assistant. Aren’t you still in school?”
Justin was caught completely off guard by the knowledge Ted had of his life. “Um… no I mean I am still in school but I’m on break and Ted… this meeting…” He took his seat beside Daphne. “Daphne isn’t really Vernon’s little sister and she doesn’t have a business of any kind.”
“Unless you count wanting to see your best friend happy a business,” Daphne added, smiling. “Ted, I lied to you.”
Ted looked back and forth, his brows knit together. “Is this some test Brian’s set up?” he asked.
“Brian doesn’t know I’m here,” Justin explained. “Ted, we’re sorry, we shouldn’t have used you, but I didn’t know what to do. I don’t know where Brian lives and I didn’t want to just show up at the office if I didn’t have to. He won’t answer my call and I just don’t believe him having pneumonia is the reason he suddenly cancelled his trip to Ibiza.”
Ted frowned as he took in what Justin told him. “So, you arranged a meeting with me to…”
“I need you to help me,” Justin said. “I don’t know what you know about me and Brian, but I guess you know a little more than he’s told his other friends…”
“He doesn’t even remember telling me about the real you,” Ted cut in.
“The real Justin?” Daphne asked. “What does that mean?”
“Brian’s told everyone about Justin, in stories, at least up until recently. We all thought he was just a friend. But one night when I was over at Gus’ mother’s house, Melanie let it slip that Brian had gone to see you for New Year’s Eve and he’d told the rest of us that he was going to Mexico. He didn’t want anyone to know that you, Justin, were more than just a friend.”
“Why?” Daphne asked, angrily. “Is he embarrassed of him or something?”
“No,” Justin and Ted told her together.
“I told you how he is,” Justin said. “He just didn’t want anyone to spoil what was going on with us. He doesn’t look at relationships the way most people do.”
“Except now he’s spoiling it,” Daphne pointed out.
“I’m completely lost,” Ted said. “What happened between you two? Why are you here and why doesn’t Brian know?”
“He cancelled his vacation,” Justin told him. “We were talking about it three days ago and a few hours later, my uncles who own the resort told me he cancelled the trip. I tried calling him on his cell, at home and at Kinnetik and he won’t return my calls. He didn’t sound sick when I talked to him. He sounded tired, he’s been really tired lately, but if he really does have pneumonia, why wouldn’t he just tell me? It’s not like I’d be mad that he was sick and couldn’t make it.”
Ted’s face paled. “I thought you knew.”
“Knew what?” Justin asked and swallowed thickly. “Why did he cancel, Ted?”
“I can’t tell you,” Ted said softly, running his hands through his hair. “You need to talk to him.”
“Is he with someone else?” Justin asked. “Because if he is, I don’t want to talk him. If he’s found someone here, I don’t even want him to know that I was…”
“He doesn’t have anyone,” Ted said quickly. “He’s talked about you, a lot. Justin, you’ve got to understand that I’ve promised him that I wouldn’t tell anyone and I have to keep my promise to him. I owe him that. I know you know what Brian has done for me this year, he told me that he told you about my addiction.”
“Yes,” Justin said, his head spinning. “So, he’s here in Pittsburgh?”
“Yes,” Ted said. He stood up from the table and motioned for Justin and Daphne to get up. “I’ll show you where he lives. I just stopped by there to drop off some work stuff before coming here, so I know he’s home. You need to talk to him.” He glanced at Daphne. “But I think you need to go alone.”
Daphne opened her purse and handed Justin her keys. “You can take my car,” she glanced at Ted, “do you think you can drop me off at my apartment?”
“Of course,” Ted said. “And as far as we’re concerned, this meeting never took place.”
“I can’t lie to him,” Justin said as they walked out of the restaurant.
“You’re right,” Ted agreed. “Just do me a favor and do whatever you can to make him not fire me.”
“I’ll do my best,” Justin said. He only hoped that his best would be good enough for Brian, because he would fight for him. But he was worried about what exactly he had to contend with, because, from Ted’s insinuation, the reason Brian had cancelled was something big and something really bad.
TBC in Wyrd Chapter 5 Part 1