Life is Full of Lessons
Chapter One
Rating: Adults Only
Category: Fanfiction
Pairing: Brian Kinney, Justin Taylor
Genres: Angst, AU, Romance
Warnings: None
Summary:Justin is in finanicail trouble and the only way his mother will help him is if he settles down and marries a man of her choice. Plot bunny by Judy
Disclaimer: All characters and situations from Queer as Folk are properties of Russell T. Davies, Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, Showtime, and others. No copyright infringement is intended. This story is rated by the author and not by any independent body.
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Justin sat slumped over the breakfast bar wondering what he would do next.
“How could I have been so stupid?” he sighed out loud. Bradley wasn’t taking his calls, no fucking wonder. “Shit,” he swore.
He’d met Bradley Faraday in one of the worst periods of his life. His father had just left his mother for a piece of fluff even younger than him. He was angry and Bradley was always so supportive. Justin would complain for hours about his father and Bradley would listen. When his father married that floozy, Justin almost lost it completely. His mother’s life was in pieces and it hurt him that she was so distressed. He felt helpless but there was nothing he could do.
Bradley was a broker and he knew Justin had access to the first stage of his trust fund. Justin’s grandfather’s will was very specific, only allowing Justin access to the fund every five years. When he turned twenty one, he was given the first stage. To Justin, it was a dream come true. He’d never been interested in working or making a future for himself. Justin knew he would get the money anyway, so what was the point? Besides, none of his friends had a crazy grandfather who restricted their money. When he found out the terms of the trust, he was shocked. If he didn’t double his allowance in five years, he lost access to the next stage. That meant he would have to wait until he was thirty one to start again and even then the same restrictions applied. He saw a lawyer but it was iron clad. Justin had never saved or invested before, so he naturally turned to Bradley for his advice. After all, that’s what he did.
Today was his twenty sixth birthday and not only had he not doubled the fund but he was in debt for his living expenses for the last five years. Justin had just lived on his credit cards in that time. He knew the money was coming so he had no problem getting credit. The trouble was, the money wasn’t coming now. What the fuck was he going to do? He tried to reach Bradley again but was transferred to his service again.
“I have left twelve messages for Mr. Faraday but he doesn’t ring me back,” Justin yelled at the operator. He was frustrated.
“I’m sorry, sir, but he has picked up your messages.”
“Give him this message for me….. Get fucked.” Justin slammed down the phone. He glanced at the newspaper telling him that the housing development that all his money was in. was now in liquidation. He called his lawyer about that as well but he had no recourse. Frank even scolded him for signing into something without researching it properly. Just another bill, Justin sighed.
He had no choice. He would have to go to his mother for help. Justin grabbed his keys and slowly went to face the music.
********
Jennifer Taylor was planting petunias when her son roared up the drive in his Mercedes Sports. She stood up and took off her apron and gloves. Even though it was his birthday, she hadn’t expected to see him. Justin ran with a fast crowd, which didn’t please her at all. Rich kids with too much money to ever be responsible adults, she thought. He wasn’t exactly a dutiful son. She knew he cared but when things got difficult, Justin usually ran.
“Hi honey,” she smiled and kissed him.
“Hey Mom. Listen have you got time to talk?” Justin said nervously.
“Sure, come inside and I’ll make some tea,” she smiled.
Justin followed his Mom into the kitchen and sat down at the table. “How is everything,” he said, trying to put off the inevitable.
“Fine,” she smiled. “I’ve sold five properties this month.”
“That’s great,” Justin smiled. He still couldn’t understand why his mother wanted to work. She had plenty of money; it never made sense to him at all.
“Yeah it is, I love it. I meet lots of interesting people,” she smiled. She was proud of her achievements. When Craig left, she just started again.
Justin saw the paper on the table. “Did you read this?” he asked.
Jennifer laughed. “Why would anyone want to build a housing development on a swamp?”
“They probably didn’t know it used to be a swamp. If it was all filled in how would they know?” Justin said in his defense. He knew now he should have asked his Mom’s advice. Hell, he should have asked anyone’s advice but he believed Bradley. You idiot, Justin, he told himself again.
“You always search a properties history before you buy it,” she laughed.
Justin sighed. “That was me, Mom. I put all my money into that development.”
Jennifer stared at him for a long time. “Not your trust, Justin,” she gasped in horror.
Justin nodded.
“Justin, that means you forgo the next installment. How much do you have left?”
Justin shook his head. “Nothing and it’s worse than that. I thought I was getting the money, so I spent some in advance.”
Jennifer took a deep breath. “How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
Jennifer was speechless. She knew Justin always lived beyond his means but two hundred thousand plus the million dollars from the trust, oh my god.
“I need your help, Mom.”
“You want me to give you the money,” she asked. She could afford it but she wondered if bailing her son out was the best thing for him.
“Say I give you the money to get out of debt. What are you planning on living on until you turn thirty one?”
“I was hoping you would give me enough to get by. I’ll give it back to you when the next part of the trust comes in,” he smiled.
“Justin why don’t you get a job?” she asked. She could see her suggestion wasn’t well received.
Justin was shocked at his mother’s suggestion. She couldn’t be serious.
“I’ll have to think about this Justin,” she said seriously. “Come in tomorrow afternoon and we’ll talk again.
“I can’t. I’m going skiing and I’ll be gone for a week.”
“You can’t afford to go skiing,” she gasped.
“It’s already paid for,” Justin shrugged.
“Then cash in your ticket and I’ll see you tomorrow,” she frowned. This hadn’t taught her son a thing. He was planning on not altering his lifestyle at all and was expecting her to pick up the tab. This was exactly the reason her father set the trust up the way he had, he wanted Justin to be self reliant and smart not a bum who fritted his life away.
“But Mom,” Justin started.
“No but mom’s, I will see you here tomorrow at three,” she frowned again and Justin knew the conversation was over. Justin knew his mother would help him, she may make him sweat a bit but she would. He stood up and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything. Her mind was racing. She had to help Justin and she had till three tomorrow to decide what was the best way.
********
Brian was unloading bails of hay when Jennifer arrived. He was naked from the waist up and was covered in perspiration.
Jennifer smiled. Brian was gorgeous but sadly, gay. If Brian was straight, she would have pursued him herself. He was a few years younger than her but his looks made up for that. What a shame, she laughed. She called out to him and he looked up and smiled.
“Hey Jenn, how are you? I thought we were having dinner on Friday.”
“We are but I wanted to talk to you before that,” she smiled.
Brian smiled at her and gave instructions to the boys helping him to finish the job. He grabbed a towel and walked over to her. “Want some tea?”
“Sounds great,” she smiled and followed him up to the house. Jennifer liked Brian. He was self made and a hard worker. He’d started with nothing and overcome a lousy childhood to get where he was today. She wished Justin would follow Brian’s example.
She met Brian when he was first thinking about retiring and was looking for a property and she suggested the stables. It had a beautiful home attached and generated a good source of revenue. Brian thought it was perfect. They clicked immediately and had developed their friendship into a close one over the last twelve months.
Brian pulled off his boots and left them at the door then put on the kettle and made tea. “So, what’s wrong?” he asked.
“My son has gotten himself into a mess and he wants me to help him.”
Brian waited for the rest of the story. He didn’t know very much about Jennifer’s son, only that he had a lot of trouble coping with her divorce.
She explained the trust to Brian and Justin’s current situation.
Brian listened until she ran out of steam. “So, he knows nothing about making money just spending it. What sort of work does he do?”
“He doesn’t,” she shook her head.
“Never?” Brian gasped in horror.
“Unfortunately not,” she frowned. “I think he never thought he had to. His trust is over ten million, he just wasn’t prepared for my father’s provisions,” she sighed.
“Your father sounds like smart man to me. If Justin got it in one go, he would have lost it all by now,” Brian said sadly.
“I know,” Jennifer agreed. “I need to decide what to do,” she sighed.
“It sounds like a very difficult situation. What do you want to come out of this?”
“I want Justin to grow up and be responsible. He needs to stop running with that crowd of no-hopers and settle down. Justin needs to work, Brian, and to learn the value of money,” she sighed.
“Then tell him you will only help him if he settles down but don’t give him the money straight away. Make him prove himself, marry him off. A good dose of responsibility will be good for him. Is he seeing anyone?”
“I don’t think so. He subscribes to the ‘no commitments’ school of thought,” she laughed.
“Then find him a nice girl to settle down with,” Brian smiled.
“He’s gay.”
Brian stopped. He remembered their conversation last week when he said he wanted to get married but didn’t have time to find the right person. “You aren’t thinking what I think you’re thinking, are you?”
“It did cross my mind,” Jennifer smiled. Brian would be so good for Justin, he could learn so much from him. She pulled a picture of Justin from her bag. “This is Justin,” she smiled.
Brian looked at the picture and felt his cock twitch, the kid was hot.
“You said you wanted your life to be more interesting,” she smiled. “Justin is very interesting and he really needs the help, Brian, so do I.”
“How do you know he’ll even go for it?”
“If he wants the money, he will,” she laughed. She knew she had Justin right where she wanted him. “Think about it and let me know. I know it’s a big decision but believe me Brian, he has so much potential. It’s such a waste. He’s just flushing his life away.
“Does he ride?”
“Since he was four,” Jennifer smiled.
“Why don’t you bring him over tomorrow? We’ll go for a ride and have dinner. Let me get to know him.”
“What time?”
“Five?” Brian suggested.
“You have a date Mr. Kinney,” she laughed.
“If I do this, Jenn, I want a pre-nup and a legal assurance that I am not financially responsible for him. I can’t take a chance that he’ll just start spending my money too. I’ve worked too hard to lose it like that,” Brian sighed.
“I totally understand. Whatever you want but please, Brian, help me with him,” she pleaded.
“Let me meet him tomorrow,” Brian smiled. “More tea?” he smiled.
********
“You can’t be serious, Mom,” Justin gasped after his mother explained her plan to marry him off.
“I’m very serious, Jus. You need to settle down and be responsible.”
“You are suggesting selling me into slavery.”
“We are meeting Brian at five so he can get a look at you. If he likes what he sees, then he’ll marry you and I will make the first payment on your debts.”
“First payment?” Justin stammered.
“I won’t do it all at once,” Jennifer shook her head. “You will need to make him happy and do as you’re told. If you do that, the money will keep coming. If Brian tells me he isn’t happy, the money will stop. Brian will teach you how to invest and plan your money so when the next installment of the trust falls due, you won’t piss it away too,” she frowned.
Justin was shocked to hear his mother talking this way, another thing he could blame his father for. Maybe he could talk this guy around to just living together in name only. Surely this guy didn’t really want to marry a total stranger, Justin thought. “Mom, I don’t understand, I came to you for help and you want me to ruin my life by marrying someone I don’t even know.”
“Justin, I love you. It’s why I’m doing this. Baby, you can’t keep coasting through your life expecting other people to pick up the tab. You are twenty six years old not five. The trust is your security and by the time the next installment falls due, I will make sure that you are ready for it. I know it seems harsh but I know this is the best thing. Brian is a self made person. He will give you the benefit of all his knowledge and he will teach you the things you will need to know to be a good person.”
“I am a good person,” Justin gasped.
“Justin, you are spoilt and selfish and irresponsible. I love you honey, but you are,” she sighed. “You are always looking for an angle to get your own way,” she shook her head. “Instead of just putting your time into getting on with it, you have to do the right thing eventually anyway. It’s such a waste of time.” she sighed.
Justin could see that he wasn’t getting anywhere with his Mom. Maybe he would have some luck with this guy, perhaps they could make a deal. If he could convince the guy to have them live separate lives then his Mom would keep paying his bills and nothing would have to change. “Why does he want to get married anyway?”
Jennifer smiled. “He wants someone interesting in his life and he never finds time to go out and find someone. I told him, you are about as interesting as it gets,” she smiled.
Oh my god, Justin thought. She is making me marry a dog who can’t get anyone else. “How old is he?” Justin asked. He was scared now that he was gonna be fucked every night by some creep.
Jennifer smiled. “He’s forty two. If he wasn’t gay, I’d marry him myself,” she laughed.
This was worse than he thought. His mother had fantasies about this guy and with his mother’s track record; this guy was probably just like his Dad, Ughhhhh. “Do I have to sleep with him?”
Jennifer laughed. “What’s the difference, you’ve slept with everyone else,” she shrugged.
Justin couldn’t believe this whole conversation and with his own mother, no less. “Are you saying I’m a slut?” he gasped.
Jennifer rolled her eyes. She was fully aware of her son’s tricking habit and so was everyone else. All her friends had told her at some stage. She knew Justin was better than the way he was living. Now she had to make Justin know it too. “Honey, let’s just say your reputation precedes you at the country club,” she smiled.
Justin slumped down onto the table. What could he say to that? “When do I meet him?” he sighed.
“At five, we better get going,” she smiled. “He’s asked us to go riding with him.”
Riding, Justin thought, you’ve got to be kidding. He smiled. “Will we take my car?”
“No, leave it here; I have someone coming to see it tomorrow.”
“Why?” Justin gasped.
“It’s an unnecessary expense, Jus. You don’t need an expensive car like that. We can sell it and reduce your debt level, not to mention, you can’t afford the payments on it anymore.”
Selling his car too, would it never end? What was he supposed to drive, some shit box? He thought about walking out but what would he do then. His needed his mother’s help. He was trapped.
“We’ll take mine,” she smiled. “It’s a good little car and gets me around, you really only need something like it.”
Justin rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything. Next she would want him to give up his apartment. Fuck, he thought suddenly. If I have to marry this joker, of course she will want me to give up my apartment. Now his life would really be over. He felt sick. “I don’t know if I can ride today,” he paused. “I’m feeling queasy.”
Jennifer knew why he felt queasy; he knew the free ride was over. “Don’t worry honey; you’ll get over it as soon as we get out of the city. Fresh air is what you need,” she smiled.
“Out of the city?” he stammered. Justin was sure he really didn’t want to know just how far out of the city they were going. He followed his Mom and sat in the passenger seat in silence. They drove for an hour and pulled off the road then followed a long drive up to a big house on top of the hill. She pulled the car around to the back near the stables. It seemed like a busy place, there were people everywhere. They got out the car and Jennifer waved to someone. Justin couldn't see who she was waving at; there was a group of people in that direction. She kept waving until a man started to walk towards them. He must work here, Justin thought. He’d seen him carrying bales of hay when they arrived. He was hot and Justin noticed him straight away. The man walked towards them smiling.
“Jenn.” He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her in close to kiss her on the cheek. “How are you?” he smiled.
“I’m fine, thanks, Brian,” she smiled. “This is my son, Justin.”
Brian…. holy fuck……this was the loser who wanted to marry him. Mmmm, Justin thought. It couldn’t be, she said he was old.
The man held out his arm to shake Justin’s hand, “Pleased to meet you, Justin, I’m Brian Kinney,” he smiled.
Justin shook his hand and smiled weakly. Now he was confused. Why would this guy be prepared to do this? He had to be weird or something.
"Why don’t we all change and we go for a ride,” he smiled. He motioned for a guy to come over to them. “Sam, can you get Jennifer and Justin some gear?”
“Sure boss,” Sam smiled.
“I’ll meet you back here,” he smiled at them.
“Thanks Brian,” Jennifer squeezed his hand.
Justin followed the man and his mother to get changed.
Mmmm, Brian thought. His picture didn’t do him justice. This kid was hot. He’d spent a long time thinking about Jennifer’s proposal. He hadn’t slept at all, in fact. The idea of having a protégé that he could teach everything he knew fascinated him. He said he wanted an interesting partner. You couldn’t get more interesting than that. Justin was a challenge and Brian loved challenges. He knew Justin tricked, hell, everybody knew, so sex wouldn’t be a problem. The kid was hot and he cared about Jennifer and wanted to help her. Brian could see Justin wasn’t exactly pleased with his mother’s proposal. The kid still looked a little shell shocked, he laughed to himself. He had Tom coming for dinner later just in case. Brian knew if he decided to do this, he’d want to start straight away. Mel already delivered the papers an hour ago. He rang her this morning and told her what he wanted. This was the greatest challenge he’d ever faced and he was excited.
When Jennifer and Justin returned, they went for their ride. Brian could see Justin was out of practice but it was coming back to him by the end.
When Jennifer saw Tom waiting for them as they returned, she knew Brian had made his decision. She felt relieved that finally Justin would have a strong male influence in his life. His father had never been that and Justin was suffering because of it. She jumped down and ran over to Tom and hugged him.
Justin wasn’t too sure about all this hugging his mother was doing. Mother’s weren’t supposed to touch other guys, it was creepy. His Mom introduced Tom. He seemed nice enough.
“Let’s go up to the house and get cleaned up for dinner,” Brian suggested.
Jennifer and Tom walked away arm in arm and Justin followed behind with Brian.
“You don’t look too thrilled with your mother’s proposal,” Brian smiled.
“Would you be?” Justin rolled his eyes.
“Probably not,” Brian laughed. “You don’t have to go through with it, you know.”
Justin shook his head. “Yeah I do, I have no other choice,” he said sadly.
“There are some papers I need you to sign.”
“Papers?”
“Yeah, they say that you are not my financial responsibility and I don’t have claim to your trust. Even though we will be married, we will still be financially independent,” Brian smiled.
Well at least the guy wasn’t already spending his next installment. That had to be a good thing. He thought about mentioning that they keep separate lives too but he decided to wait until his Mom wasn’t there to have that conversation. “How long do we have to stay married?” Justin asked.
“Our contract will expire on your thirty first birthday, so five years.”
“And then I can walk away?”
“Yep,” Brian smiled.
Well at least it wasn’t forever, Justin thought. He would have his next installment then he would be free.
“So what do you think?” Brian asked.
“You know what I think. I have no choice. What do you think?”” Justin laughed.
“Read the contract before you decide,” Brian smiled.
“What’s in the contract?” At least after that property debacle he’d learned to ask questions.
“You work here; you get paid for what you do in the stables. As my husband you are expected to be a husband. No tricking, no disappearing, no grand gestures to embarrass me. For the next five years, I want a husband in every sense.”
“I have to sleep with you,” Justin sighed.
Brian didn’t realize that sleeping with him would be so much of a bother and couldn’t help but be annoyed.
Justin could see he’d struck a nerve. “It’s not that I’m not attracted to you, I am but the situation is a real turn off,” Justin tried to explain. He didn’t want to kill this deal before it started.
Brian showed Justin to his room. “Get cleaned up. The contract is here on the desk.” Brian pulled a pen out of his pocket and flicked through the pages. He found what he was looking for and crossed out one of the paragraphs and initialed it. “Read it. This will be your room and dinner will be in an hour.” Brian closed the door and went to shower. He’d never begged anyone to sleep with him before and he wouldn’t start now.
Justin picked up the document and looked at the paragraph Brian had crossed out. He thought about the look on Brian’s face. He wasn’t angry, he looked hurt. The paragraph only said they would share the same room. How was he supposed to feel horny under these conditions? Justin threw the document on the bed and went to shower. He stayed in there for a while. When he finally came out, he flopped onto the bed and began to read.
Brian was still in the shower a half an hour later. He would need thicker skin when dealing with Justin. He was surprised that Justin had actually hurt him with his reaction. Brian supposed he couldn’t really blame him. Justin’s whole life was being reorganized without his consent. It would have been nice to wake up next to a warm body again, oh well, he would miss the closeness. He knew Justin would be banging on his door for sex eventually, he couldn’t trick but Brian had hoped for something more intimate. Anyway the challenge to turn Justin into a real human being was still there. Just putting him to work would build Justin’s character; give him a sense of achievement. Brian turned off the shower and dried off quickly. He looked at the time, dressed quickly and went downstairs to meet Jennifer and Tom.
Tom had already poured drinks and he and Jenn were chatting on the sofa.
“Did you talk to Justin?” she asked.
“I gave him the contract to read, it’s up to him,” Brian shrugged. “I’ll be back, I want to check on dinner,” he smiled.
Jenn could see something had happened between them. Brian was far too quiet. She wondered if she should ask him about it but decided that Brian could handle anything that came up. She had to trust that Brian knew what he was doing. There was so much her son could learn from Brian. He was a wonderful man.
Brian went into the kitchen and lifted on of the saucepan lids. A small woman came out of nowhere and smacked his hand. “Don’t touch that Brian, you’ll ruin my dumplings.”
“Sorry Gertie,” Brian laughed. “It smells so good and I forgot myself for a moment.”
“See that you don’t do it again,” she scolded. “It will be ready in twenty minutes so don’t go talking and forget.”
Brian kissed her on the forehead. “I won’t.” Gertie had been with him for twelve years and didn’t put up with any of his shit. He loved her to death. She was a diamond in the rough. “The table looks wonderful,” Brian smiled.
“And why wouldn’t it?” she growled. “Go back to your guests and leave me to do my work.”
Brian backed out of the kitchen. Gertie was in a mood. Brian returned to the living room and poured himself a drink. He smiled. Gertie always put things into perspective for him. Shit was shit and that was all it was ever going to be. He had a job to do and as always he would do it.
Justin came into the room with the contract in his hand. He looked at Brian and asked for a pen.
“Is there anything you don’t understand?” Brian asked.
“No, it’s all very clear,” Justin said. He signed the document. “I need two witnesses.” He turned and handed the pen to his mother so she could sign. Justin was still reeling from the fact the he had to get up at six and be at work by seven. Who gets up at six anyway? The contract spelled everything out, it left no blurred lines at all. He would try and propose separate lives later but he didn’t think he had a chance in hell of that happening. He would just have to suffer through the next five years. When he got his next installment, he could get out of here. He watched Tom sign as the other witness.
“We have ten minutes before dinner is ready,” Brian smiled. “Tom, do you want to do the ceremony now. Just the quick version, we don’t need any romantic gestures.”
“You have to hold hands,” Tom smiled.
Brian came out from behind the bar and took Justin’s hand.
Tom said a few words about commitment and trust and asked them if they agreed to share their lives. Thy both said yes and he pronounced them husband and husband. “You have to kiss or it won’t be real,” he sighed.
Brian looked at Justin who was rolling his eyes. He bent down and pulled Justin in close.
Justin felt his breath catch as their bodies were pressed together.
Brian looked into his eyes. He could feel that Justin was hard as soon as he took hold of him. He slowly lowered his mouth to meet Justin’s and brushed his lips across his new husbands, then pecked him on the forehead and released him.
Justin felt his knees go weak and struggled to stay standing but Brian had already walked away and was talking to his Mom. She was smiling. She walked over to Justin and hugged him. “Congratulations honey,” she grinned.
Gertie appeared in the doorway. “Dinner is on the table.”
Brian smiled. “Great, I’m starved. Brian walked into the dining room with Tom happily discussing something that Justin wasn’t interested in at all.
Justin looked at his mother. “Okay, I did it. What happens now?”
“Sweetie you are married to Brian now. Shouldn’t you be asking him that?”
“I meant about my bills,” Justin scowled.
“Just give me a list and I’ll have a look at them tomorrow. I’m hungry,” she smiled. “Gertie is a fabulous cook.”
They followed Tom and Brian into the dining room. Everyone chatted happily through dinner except Justin who was silent. When Brian had held him that way, it really knocked the wind out of him. He was still hard all through dinner just reliving the moment over and over. What would happen now? Brian had crossed out the paragraph about them sleeping together. He wished he had just signed and shut his mouth about the sex. When Brian held him that way, he was making a statement. Showing him what he was missing out on.
They had coffee in the living room after dinner and an hour later Tom and his mother were ready to leave. Justin waved good bye with Brian at the door. When their guests were gone, Brian began to turn out the lights.
“I’ll see you in the morning. Breakfast is at six thirty and Gertie hates it if anyone’s late,” Brian smiled. “There should be clothes in the closet that will fit you. You just need jeans and a shirt.” He turned and to walk away but Justin reached out and grabbed his arm. His cock was still hard and he needed to get off. “I’m sorry about before.”
Brian looked at him blankly.
“We are married now, can we start again?” Justin said softly.
“Which part?” Brian asked with interest.
Justin stepped forward and pressed his body against Brian’s. “This part.” He could feel Brian was as hard as he was. He wound his arms around Brian’s neck and pulled his head down so their lips touched.
Brian felt his heart start to race. He did want Justin but he knew Justin was just testing him. If he lost now, he would never win with Justin. “I don’t feel like tricking tonight, maybe some other time.”
“We married, it isn’t tricking,” Justin objected.
“If we don’t sleep together, then it’s tricking. We have an early rise in the morning, you should get some sleep.”
Justin was shocked that Brian was rejecting him. He released Brian and stormed up the stairs to his room, banging the door. Some fucking wedding night, he growled. It was bad enough being married but to not even get laid was bullshit.
Brian smiled and continued to turn out the lights.