The Guy in the Last Cubicle on the Right
Part 1

brian


Rating: Adults Only
Category: Fanfiction
Pairing: Brian Kinney, Justin Taylor
Genres: Angst, AU, Romance
Warnings: OOC
Summary: Brian suffered intolerable mental cruelty as a child which has left him shy, introverted and very unhappy. Justin is the new Senior Exec Manager where Brian works and is trying to make a name for himself at The Ryder Agency. Brian is struggling to try find out who he really is and Justin may be just what he needs. Plot bunny by Starlight71271
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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“Ed did it again today,” Brian said quietly.

Gareth Walker sat back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. “Did you say anything?” he asked.

“What was I supposed to say?” Brian sighed.

“How about …. That was my idea,” Gareth suggested.

“I can’t say that. Ed is my friend. He knows I could never pitch my ideas to Mr. Ryder. Ed’s helping me by at least putting my stuff out there,” Brian sighed. “It isn’t his fault that I can’t do it myself,” Brian hung his head.

“If you think that way, why did you just say Ed did it again? Brian, you have to be resentful that he takes the credit for your work, aren’t you?”

“Sometimes, I guess,” Brian said quietly.

Gareth had been seeing Brian for three years now. His improvement could at best be described as ‘slow’. Brian still had virtually no self esteem or sense of self worth in his work environment at all. When Brian first came to Gareth, he was shy and unable to even articulate his problem. Gareth tried to dispel Brian’s negative thinking patterns and replace them with more productive realizations of his self worth. Brian started to document some of the many ideas that were constantly whizzing around in his head and Gareth regarded it as progress.

In the beginning, Gareth was pleased that Brian was even documenting his ideas at work. This was a big step for Brian but when Brian chose to just document his ideas and allow Ed to present them as his own, Gareth had reservations.

Initially, it didn’t matter that his friend always took the credit, as long as Brian was doing something. However, Gareth had hoped that Brian would eventually want the recognition for himself and this would encourage Brian to stand up and assert himself. It hadn’t happened. Brian had allowed it to go on for so long that his friend, Ed, had been promoted to an account executive based on Brian’s ideas. Ed now had a vested interest in keeping Brian low profile, so, as hard as Gareth tried, Ed was constantly undermining him and Brian was the big loser. Brian had never made friends easily and he valued Ed’s friendship making him unprepared to lose the only friend he’d ever had under any circumstances.

It hadn’t been easy for Brian. He was highly intelligent and because of a less than ideal home life, sought the safety of his studies at college. When he landed the job at Ryder’s, Gareth was sure, based on Brian’s academic record, Marty must have been expecting a star. However, Brian’s quiet introverted nature was a handicap in the advertising world. He started out as Marty’s protégé but Brian was just too difficult to deal with. He was nervous all the time and that led to clumsiness. He couldn’t interact with anyone at all, including Marty Ryder.

Eventually Marty gave him a cubicle at the very back of the office just to tuck him away and reduce his involvement with his co workers. He seemed very comfortable there and eventually made friends with the man in the next cubicle. Brian’s acute shyness made operating in an office environment virtually impossible. Ed was smart cookie when he befriended Brian. Ed’s work started to magically improve. Suddenly, Ed was on the fast track and because Brian wouldn’t speak out and let anyone know that he was the one really doing the work, Ed just sat back and enjoyed the ride. The part that Gareth found the most infuriating was the way Brian’s co workers depersonalized him everyday. Brian had told him they never used his name, he was just the guy in the last cubicle on the right. Ed was a little different. He had made his relationship so personal that Brian felt compelled to do his work for him.

Gareth encouraged Brian to try the net. He hoped that the anonymity the net provided would give Brian confidence which would eventually spill into his workplace. It had taken nearly a year before Brian was willing to visit the chat rooms and almost another year before he would actually talk to anyone on line. Brian didn’t have to face anyone on the net, so Gareth encouraged him to participate by setting him different characters that he could pretend to be. Although Brian liked the idea of pretending to be someone else and felt it was very freeing, his abusive childhood had made him so incredibly shy that he enjoyed the safety of shrinking into the background. Gareth just couldn’t find a way to make the fantasy of being accepted and liked real enough for Brian to want to make a shift. Brian had a faulty thinking pattern that was deeply entrenched in his mind. Brian felt that Brian wasn’t worth anyone’s attention. If he could be someone else then he felt somewhat safer to try new things but never as himself.

Brian’s parents were responsible for his emotional condition. The only words his father ever spoke to Brian were words of criticism. His father blamed Brian for his own unhappiness. There were no words of praise or encouragement in the Kinney household. His mother virtually ignored him as a child. If he cried he was smacked and told that emotions were bad. Like any child, eager to please their parents, by the time he was nine, Brian was well on the way to being the perfect quiet little robot. He never expressed any joy or happiness or excitement. If he became flustered he would get clumsy, giving his father another reason to criticize him and because he was terrified of the consequences of being clumsy, he became nervous in new situations. Unfortunately, this pattern had stayed with him into his adult life.

Brian had spilt coffee on nearly everyone at the Ryder Advertising, including Marty Ryder. He tripped often; he’d even knocked over the water cooler regularly. His confidence was constantly being eroded by new examples of his own nervousness.

“Have you been on line since our last meeting?” Gareth asked.

“Yeah once, but I get confused who I’m supposed to be lately,” Brian sighed.

“Okay, let’s design one character and you can stick with him,” Gareth smiled.

Brian nodded. That would be easier. In the beginning, he liked being different people all the time but he was having trouble keeping them straight lately and that made him nervous he would make a mistake.

“Okay, it’s probably better to stick with some standard facts.” Gareth took a sheet of paper. “You know about advertising, so keep your career the same.”

“I can’t,” Brian started to panic.

“You never tell anyone where you work and always use your screen name,” Gareth assured him.

“Okay,” Brian relaxed.

“What screen name do you want to use?”

“I can never think of names and stuff,” Brian shrugged.

“Okay, we’ll do that last,” Gareth smiled. “If you could be anyone you wanted, describe yourself for me.”

Brian scratched his head. “Anything?”

Gareth smiled, at least Brian was thinking.

“I’ve talked to some guys lately that just talking to them makes you want to …. You know,” Brian blushed.

“Cum?”

Brian nodded.

“What do they say?” Gareth smiled.

Brian rattled off about a dozen things and Gareth could see the longing in his eyes, the desire to be confident and self assured. He looked at Brian whose hair was slicked and combed flat on his head and parted in the center. His thick black framed glasses hung on the edge of his nose. Brian wore his shirts too loose and his pants too high and his belts tied him in the center like a sack of chard.

“I think we should go out for a bit,” Gareth suggested. He wanted this fantasy to become so real that Brian would be forced to act.

“Where?” Brian said, uncomfortably. He didn’t like to go out in public.

“You’ll see. Let’s go,” he smiled. The first stop was to Gareth’s stylist.

“Why are we here?” Brian asked.

“If you are going to be the perfect stud you need props.” Gareth told Brian to sit while he spoke to Gaynor. She had been doing Gareth’s hair for years. “He’s good looking Gay but he needs a total makeover,” Gareth tried to explain.

She looked at the geeky looking guy in the waiting area. His legs were too long; he didn’t even know how to sit. She motioned for Brian to come over. She smiled when Brian looked disorientated and confused. He was sitting with his back to a wall and he still looked behind him to be sure she was looking at him. Brian lumbered over to where they were standing. She introduced herself and tried to put Brian at ease. She smiled at him, removed his glasses and sat Brian in her chair.

Brian squinted.

“Have you ever had contact lenses?” she asked. Gareth was right, he wasn't bad looking.

Brian shook his head. He never spoke to strangers. They made him nervous and when he was nervous, he usually knocked things over. She ran her hands through Brian’s hair for a while then looked at Gareth and smiled. “Do you wear your hair like this every day?”

Brian nodded again.

She picked up her scissors and started to cut. Twenty minutes later, she led him to the basin and washed all the grease out and then took him back to the chair. By the time she was finished, Brian gasped in disbelief.

“Yes, it’s you” she laughed.

“I….I couldn’t wear it like this every day,” Brian stammered.

She handed him a tube of gel. “You can do it the way you normally wear it with this if you want, but you should wear it like this all the time,” she smiled.

Brian smiled but he couldn’t have his hair like this, people would look at him.

Gareth could see Brian was reluctant to leave the shop with his new haircut. He handed Brian his sunglasses. “Put those on,” he smiled. Gareth decided that it was probably best if Brian felt no one could see him. He led Brian back to the car and they drove down the block to the optometrist. He explained to the man that Brian didn’t speak any English. Brian looked relieved, now he wouldn’t have to talk. The optometrist looked at Brian’s glasses and did the examination.

“Whoever prescribed these was just taking his money. He doesn’t need glasses,” the optometrist sighed. “His vision is twenty twenty. The glass in these is just glass with a slight tint, I don’t understand it,” he shook his head.

“Well we need sunglasses because Brian is wearing mine,” Gareth smiled. “What would you suggest?”

“Well, he’s young and handsome, try these, they are very popular.” He handed a pair to Brian to try on.

Brian gave Gareth back his and put on the new ones. His eyes felt better in the glasses. He couldn’t understand why the man said he didn’t need glasses. He’d worn glasses since he was a child. The light hurt his eyes without them. He nodded and paid for the glasses.

In the car he said to Gareth. “I’ve always worn glasses.”

“Well someone was having a lend of your mother in the first place and then the others continue the charade,” Gareth sighed. He knew Brian hid behind his glasses and was frightened to not wear them.

“But the light hurts my eyes,” Brian objected.

“Why don’t you try not wearing them at home and you can still wear glasses when you go to work,” Gareth suggested. ‘The optometrist said the glass in your glasses was tinted. At work, it probably cuts some of the glare from the fluorescents. You have ordinary light at home.”

“Okay, I’ll try,” Brian frowned. “Can we go back now?” Brian just wanted to go back to the safety of Gareth’s office.

“One more stop,” Gareth smiled. “If you are going to be a hot stud, you need clothes.”

Brian frowned again. So far he’d spent more money on a hair cut and sunglasses than he’d spent in an entire year on the clothes he ususlly wore. Gareth had expensive taste. “Just one outfit, I’ll always wear the same thing,” Brian said skeptically.

Gareth laughed. “You can’t, I want you to practice at home in your new clothes, so you will need some casuals and some club clothes. Brian, you never spend any of the money you earn, indulge yourself.”

Brian frowned again. He didn’t see the point in spending money on clothes. If you didn’t want to stand out, why spend the money? Brian thought.

Gareth knew Brian would buy what he was told because he couldn’t say no to anyone. “The shop is just down here,” Gareth smiled. He felt marginally guilty manipulating Brian but it had been three years now and he still getting nowhere.

Brian had always bought his clothes at thrift shops and discount warehouses. He was nervous, this place looked expensive. Gareth smiled at the salesman. “My friend doesn’t speak any English and he needs some clothes.”

The man smiled. “What do you have in mind?” He was afraid to suggest anything based on what this guy was currently wearing.

“Something to cruise in and a pair of jeans, sweats and some tees,” Gareth smiled.

Brian had never had a pair of jeans in his life. The man went through the racks and gave Brian a pile of clothes to try on. Brian looked uncomfortable and Gareth went with him to the change room. “They are too tight,” Brian complained as he held his breath to pull up the zipper.

Gareth looked at Brian in his new tight jeans and smiled. “They are supposed to be tight.”

Brian frowned. “Not this tight, I don’t even need a belt to hold them up.”

“Good, no belts,” Gareth laughed. He wished he could throw away all of Brian’s belts. They were hideous and they held up even more hideous pants.

Brian pulled on the first tee. “This is too tight as well,” he sighed.

“Brian, they are supposed to be tight. Baggy clothes are not fashionable, they haven’t been for a long time,” Gareth sighed.

Brian put on the next tee and gasped. “I can’t wear this, you can see my chest.”

“You’ll only be wearing it at home so no one will see it, its fine.”

Brian complained that the sweats hung down too low on his hips but he put them in the pile he was taking.

“Club clothes,” Gareth smiled at the salesman. “And we’ll have these.” He handed Brian’s 'keep' pile to the salesman.

The man returned a little later with tight cream pants and a red shirt. Brian tried them on and Gareth said yes straight away. Next the man gave him black jeans and a tan silk tee.

Brian wriggled uncomfortably in the tight pants but knew there was no point complaining, Gareth was determined he had other clothes. When Brian saw the total, Gareth thought he may pass out but as usual Brian didn’t complain.

Gareth smiled. He could see an enormous change in Brian when he was dressed in the right thing. Now he could only hope that Brian would see the difference too. Brian had no idea how really hot, he actually was. Gareth almost didn’t recognize him. “I’ll take you home and we’ll finish the profile at your place. I want you to start tonight,” he smiled.

Brian was tired now and he didn’t feel like pretending anymore but as usual he did as he was told. When they arrived home, Gareth told him to change into his sweats and the tee that flashed his chest. Gareth laughed as Brian grumbled on his way to the bedroom to change. When Brian returned in his glasses, Gareth made him remove them. “Not at home, remember,” he smiled.

Brian took them off again. They worked on the profile with Brian telling him what he would like to be and say while Gareth took notes.

“Now you know what to say, you look the part, we just need a name,” Gareth smiled. He looked at Brian, he looked gorgeous. Any gay man would kill for a chance to be with him. “What about…. You should be so lucky?”

“Huh?” Brian stammered.

“You should be so lucky……I think it’s a great name. It’s confident and assured and it tells them up front that you are better than most.”

Brian shrugged. “Okay, they’ll never see me anyway, so they won’t know.”

“Brian,” Gareth grabbed his hand and dragged him to the mirror. “Look, you are hot and any guy would be lucky for you to give them a chance to be with you. If I was gay, I would go after you myself,” he laughed.

Brian looked in the mirror. It didn’t look like him at all. The guy staring back at him was hot. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Gareth smiled. “I know you won’t go out like this," he sighed. "But at least let yourself have some fun here with it. Now you have the profile and your new name. I’ll see you on Friday for our appointment. Promise me that when you are at home you will always look like this?” Gareth insisted.

“Okay, I promise.” Brian nodded. He let Gareth out and then came back and stood in front of the mirror. He was still stunned that he could look like this. Brian stood staring in the mirror for a long time, waiting to see if he would change back into himself and grateful that he didn’t. He went to his bedroom and stretched out on the bed. Was it really possible for him to be a stud? The clothes were very different to his normal attire. He liked the feel of these fabrics on his skin. Brian pulled a packet of smokes from his nightstand and lit one. He tried to imagine what it would feel like if you weren’t trying to please people all the time. “No,” he said loudly. “No way,” he smiled. “Not in your wildest dreams,” he laughed. “I wouldn’t fuck you with someone else’s dick.” Brian collapsed into uproarious laughter. How he wished he could say just one of those to someone.

If he logged on, why couldn’t he say those things? The people wouldn’t know it was him, he would never see anyone face to face. They wouldn’t know it was all a lie. He hit the remote and turned on the DVD. Brian watched the way the men spoke to each other in his porno. The guys that hesitated were all bottoms, the self assured and confident ones were the tops. They didn’t compromise or apologize for anything.

He was thirty two years old and he’d only had cybersex twice and both times weren’t that great. He’d changed usernames immediately.

Brian went back and looked in the mirror again. He was enjoying the way he was feeling. He didn’t feel like himself at all. Brian looked around at his apartment. He’d never been very interested in where he lived, it never mattered before. Would the top he wanted to be live here? “No way,” he smiled. He fired up his computer and looked at apartments. He searched for a while and nothing appealed to him but then one jumped off the screen at him. It was a loft apartment with a single bedroom set up on a pedestal in the center of the apartment. The kitchen was modern and open. As a matter of fact, the entire apartment was open. He looked at the listing, it was very expensive but did the money matter? He had plenty; he never spent a dime more than he had to.

If Gareth wanted him to pretend to be some hot stud at home then he should be in a hot stud’s apartment. He rang the agent who was listed and confirmed the apartment did actually look like the pictures as it was posted. On that proviso, he took a lease for six months, transferring the money by net. Brian arranged for the keys to be left with the super and he would collect them tomorrow. He looked at furniture rental companies. There wasn’t much to get. The bed was built in and the kitchen only needed some stools up to the breakfast bar. He ordered a sofa and coffee tables, electricals, an office setting and a rug. He transferred the funds and arranged for them to be delivered to the apartment. This would be his own private place where he could escape the torturous world of being Brian Kinney, the geek, the loser, him.

He grabbed the bag the clothes came in and searched for a phone number of the store. “Ahhh,” he smiled as he found the sales slip. He dialed the number. “Yes, I was in there earlier with a friend of mine, he didn’t speak any English, did you serve us?”

“Yes, my name’s Frank. Was something unsuitable?”

“No, my friend needs some more clothes. Can I order them on the phone and pay by credit card?”

“Certainly sir, what does your friend need?”

“The sweats he bought, can we have five more pair, two pairs of jeans, a pair of leather pants and a leather vest, a few dress shirts and a leather jacket. Oh, and boots in size 12.”

“Sir, are you sure your friend doesn’t want to come back in and try them on?”

“No you have the size, whatever you think would look good on him and underwear too, maybe five sets? If the size is wrong, we can return it for the right size, can’t we?”

“Of course sir, where will we deliver it to?”

Brian gave them his card number and the address of the apartment. “Any time after midday is fine.”

“Certainly sir.”

Brian ordered the food supplies on line and arranged delivery at the new place. He lit another cigarette, breathed in deeply and out again slowly. He had just spent almost two years wages on a fantasy and it was the best money he had ever spent. At night and on weekends, he could now be someone else and he couldn’t wait to be anyone other than who he was. He couldn’t sleep he was too excited. On line he organized all the utilities to be connected and packed a small bag with his toiletries, his porn, a few books and some music. By the time he finished packing, Brian still wasn’t tired.

He logged on to one of the chat sites in his old name. He logged in as a bottom and paid attention to the way the tops cruised on line. He wasn’t looking to hook up and he enjoyed not feeling the pressure. He changed to a 'bottoms' site where bottoms all talked about their tops and what turned them on, what they wanted and what they didn’t get, that they needed. He made notes so he could go back and study them later. This was like any research project and Brian was having the time of his life. He logged in as his new screen name and was immediately inundated with interest. He pretended not to be at all interested in anything other than himself.

“How big are you?” One guy asked.

“Nine and a half uncut.”

“I’m….”

Brian cut him off. “Your cock doesn’t mean anything to me. I’m gonna bend you over and fuck you till you scream.”

“When?” The words appeared on his screen.

“When I’m ready,” Brian typed, defiantly. This guy sounded interested and his mail box was buzzing. Could he really do this? What did he have to lose? It wasn’t as if he had to say it. Brian took a deep breath and typed. “Touch your cock for me while I play with your balls.” Brian was surprised how hard he was getting pretending to not give a fuck. He dropped his new sweats and began to play with his cock. “I’m so hard and my cock will make you feel so good.”

“Fuck me.”

“Not yet, I want to finger you like this.” Brian typed.

“Yesssssss, more,” the words appeared.

Brian continued to tease and taunt this guy until he was begging. “Open yourself up, that’s it, so I can slide my big cock inside you, I can’t fit it all in, relax.”

“You are so big, I’m relaxed now more; give me more,” the guy begged. “Fuck me.”

“Like this, when I pull out slowly and back it fast.”

“Yeah like that, just like that, faster.”

“Don’t cum until I say you can, I want to fuck you over an over, don’t cum yet,” Brian warned.

“I want to cum,” the guy begged. “Please let me cum.”

“I’m gonna fuck so hard, you will feel me for days. Do you like it like this? Do you like it hard?”

“Harder.”

Brian continued to push the other guy to his limit. He laughed as the typing started to be filled with typos. “Now you can cum.”

The screen went silent and Brian pumped his cock and shot his load.

“That was a big load you pumped into me.” The screen popped up the words a few minutes later.

“I always shoot a big load and you were so tight. I wanted to fuck you for hours but I could wait any more.” Brian typed.

“Can we meet tomorrow?”

“I might be here; I don’t know where I’ll be. Next time I might touch your cock, would you like that? “Maybe I might suck it, I’ll see.” Brian disconnected. Blond Artist, mmmm, that was hot, Brian thought. He cleaned up and went to bed.

Justin sat staring at the screen. Why did he just go like that? Justin wished ‘You should be so lucky’ had stayed. He wanted to suck him off. He hoped the same guy would be on tomorrow.

********


Brian woke up early and dressed in his jeans and a tee. He put on his sunglasses and grabbed his bag. He had keys to collect. The apartment was on the corner of Tremont which wasn’t too far from his old place. He drove, he wasn’t ready to appear in public like this but he couldn’t arrive at his new place looking like a geek. He parked out front and hurried inside then banged on the door of the Super’s apartment. Brian took a deep breath when the door opened. “Brian Kinney, I need keys for my new apartment.”

“Yes Mr. Kinney, if you just sign here…..” the man pointed to the lease.

Brian signed very flamboyantly and then looked over his sunglasses. “Anything else?”

The man smiled and handed him the keys. “If you need anything, anything at all.” The man held onto the keys so their fingers met for a few seconds. “Anytime.” The man smiled.

Brian pushed up his glasses. “I’ll let you know.” He turned and walked to the elevator. As he lifted the barrier and stepped into the lift, he noticed that the man was still looking at him. Keep it together Brian, he told himself. Brian looked over his glasses again at the man and smiled, “Thanks.” The elevator went up and Brian leaned on the back wall and sighed. He did it and he didn’t drop the keys or fall over, thank god. When he reached the top floor, he slid the heavy steel door open. “Home,” Brian smiled. It was gorgeous. He walked in slowly and looked around. It was perfect. It was just the sort of place a stud would live in.

“Excuse me?”

Brian turned around surprised. It was the guy from downstairs. Fuck, fuck, what should he do now? He looked over his glasses again and said “Hmmm.”

The man smiled. “I didn’t tell you my name, its Jerry and…” he handed Brian a piece of paper. “This is my number, if you… um… need anything.”

Brian nodded and said. “Thanks, see you around,” Brian tried to sound casual but his heart was racing.

The guy looked Brian up and down and then smiled. “Anything at all, remember?”

Brian grinned. Fucking hell, that guy was coming on to him. No one had ever come on to him before. “Aha,” Brian smiled. The guy turned slowly and walked down the stairs, periodically looking over his shoulder, giving Brian a real come hither look. Brian smiled at him and closed the door. His heart was pounding. His furniture wasn’t even delivered and someone was interested in him. He remembered the profile. Everyone wanted him and he didn’t care two hoots. He’d been polite but indifferent with Jerry and it worked, Jerry had come up for a second try. Could it just be dumb luck or had he really stumbled onto something? The doorbell rang and Brian wondered if it was Jerry again. What would he do now? When he opened the door, he was relieved to see the furniture.

In less than an hour it was all in place. Next the groceries came and he put them away. Brian turned on the stereo; somehow his music didn’t fit here. He turned it off and the doorbell went again. The man from the store was standing there. He smiled at Brian and tried to talk to Brian using a combination of hand signals and broken English. Brian gathered that he was worried the clothes wouldn’t be the right sizes and he wanted Brian to try them on. He helped Brian into the jacket and ran his hands across Brian’s shoulders.

“That looks fine,” he smiled. He took the jacket off Brian and motioned for Brian to try on the shirts.

Brian wasn’t sure what to do. He decided to do the same thing he’d done with Jerry and not look very interested.

The man lifted Brian’s shirt over his head and replaced it with the new shirts, one by one.

Brian had never had anyone touch him before and was battling to not get hard. Each time the guy took off Brian’s shirt; his hands ran across Brian’s chest. Brian couldn’t be mistaken; this guy was coming on to him too. He made it through the shirts and the boots but now this guy was undoing his jeans. Fuck, he thought. He doesn’t know you, he doesn’t know you, Brian kept repeating to himself. As the guy wriggled Brian’s jeans down, his cock bounced free. He looked down at it and then back at the guy and shrugged.

“You can’t try on pants like that,” he smiled. “Fuck, you are gorgeous,” he sighed. He dropped to his knees and took Brian’s cock in his mouth and Brian’s knees began to buckle.

“Sit down and you’ll be more comfortable,” the man smiled. He sat Brian down and swallowed him again. “You have a great cock,” The man spoke with his mouth full. Brian closed his eyes and willed himself not to not cum too fast. He lasted about five minutes and then blew down the guy’s throat. Brian was struggling to regain his composure when the doorbell went again. The guy stood up quickly and tucked Brian back into his pants. “I hope that isn’t your boyfriend,” he said nervously. “You try the rest on and if there’s a problem, call me.” He pressed a card into Brian’s hand. “Call me even if there isn’t a problem. Just say it’s Brian and I’ll come right over,” he smiled.

Brian let him out and then let in the cable guy. He stayed away while this guy did his work, fuck; this was too much for one day. A total stranger had just sucked his dick. He put his clothes away and thankfully the cable guy just left. Brian sat down on his sofa, amazed. He was set up in his new place, he got one offer and a blowjob and it wasn’t even three thirty yet. Suddenly he was scared. What had he done? He rang Gareth’s cell. “I need to see you,” Brian stammered. “No I’m not there; I’ll give you the address.” Brian just sat on the sofa repeating…..What have I done? What have I done?

Gareth had never heard Brian sound so frightened. He rang the doorbell, where was he?

Brian opened the door to let Gareth in.

“Whose place is this?” Gareth asked.

“Mine,” Brian said softly.

“Brian, I don’t understand, why is this your place?”

Brian took a deep breath and tried to explain. “I felt really good last night and I thought if I was going to be a stud on line, I should have a stud’s apartment too, so, I leased this place.” He gasped in a breath.

Gareth wasn’t sure he understood. “You leased another apartment?”

Brian nodded. “I thought it would be nice to have a place to escape to, where I wasn’t a nobody, and I could feel like somebody for a change.” Tears were starting to run down Brian’s cheeks.

“Brian, it is a beautiful apartment. What’s wrong?” This was not the time to tell him he had lost his mind.

“When I signed the lease, the guy came on to me,” Brian stammered.

“Did he hurt you?” Gareth’s mind was doing somersaults.

“No, he came up later to give me his number.”

Gareth waited for Brian to say something. “What happened next, Brian?”

“I ordered more clothes from the shop we went to yesterday and the same guy came and delivered them and …he kept touching me…. and….when I was trying on the clothes…. he blew me,” Brian sobbed.

Gareth knew that Brian had never had sex before. “How was it?”

“It was great,” Brian sobbed.

Gareth was confused. “What’s wrong then?”

“If everyday is gonna be like this here, I’ve wasted my whole life,” Brian sobbed again.

Gareth put his arms around Brian. This was too much for him too fast. “Do you have anything to drink?”

Brian nodded and brought back the Chivas and two glasses. Gareth poured them a drink and Brian drank his quickly.

“Take a deep breath,” Gareth said softly. Brian was very upset.

Brian nodded.

“Do you like it here?” he smiled.

Brian nodded again.

“Did you like the attention you get with the way you look now?”

Brian nodded. “But what if the next guy wants me to fuck him? I don’t know what to do and I can’t tell anyone I don’t know. This was a mistake. I should go home.” Brian started to stand but Gareth grabbed his hand and pulled him back down.

“Hang on; do you like being a stud?”

Brian nodded. “But the next guy won’t think I’m a stud when I don’t have a clue and all this would have been for nothing.”

Gareth could see Brian was scared of being exposed. “What if you knew what to do?”

“But I don’t.”

“Brian, there are services that you can call and you pay the person to show you,” Gareth explained.

“But then he’ll know,” Brian sighed.

“Okay,” Gareth thought for a few minutes. “Have you got a phone book?”

Brian nodded. He took the book from behind the kitchen counter and gave it to Gareth. He watched Gareth flick through the pages and then dial. “Yes, I want to arrange for something special. It’s a present for my husband and I want to surprise him. We’ve been together since school and he hasn’t been with anyone else. I’m afraid whoever you send will need to help him through. He loves me and he may be a little reluctant. I want someone who is very patient. That will be fine, on the counter in an envelope.” Gareth gave them the address and closed his cell.

Brian was staring at him. “What did you just do?”

“In an hour, someone is coming over to show you what to do,” Gareth smiled.

“I can’t.”

“You can. When they get here, they will find Brian the stud and he will tempt you into having sex with him. He thinks you are a faithful husband and I want you to fuck a stranger. You can make as many excuses as you like and it won’t matter. If I was you, I would just lay there and let him do his job. Now have another drink,” Gareth ordered. “The guys that came on to you today, did you encourage them?”

“No, they just came onto me.”

“That’s because you are gorgeous and every gay man’s dream,” Gareth smiled.

“You are just saying that to get me to do it,” Brian shook his head.

“Do you want to fuck someone?”

Brian nodded. “I’ve never…..”

“I know, this will be fine, believe me. How much cash have you got on you?”

“About four hundred.”

Gareth opened his wallet and gave him another two hundred. “Give it back to me later.” He pulled out an envelope from his briefcase, sealed the money inside and put it on the counter. “Now you don’t even mention the money, he’ll just pick it up.”

“But he’ll know I’m nervous,” Brian whined.

“You are supposed to be nervous, you have been married for years and you haven’t fucked anyone else. Just lay there and let him do his job. He won’t judge you and he doesn’t know who you are.”

“He’ll know where I live.”

“Brian this guy gets fucked for a living, he won’t remember. Now he’ll be here soon, go in the bathroom and jerk off, that way you won’t cum so fast.”

Brian did as he was told, as usual. He returned five minutes later.

“Better?” Gareth smiled as he poured Brian another drink. “Now get into character, you are hot and this guy is lucky if you fuck him.”

“But what if I don’t get hard? What if I’m so scared that I can’t?” Brian stammered.

“You won’t have that problem; he’s a hustler, a very expensive hustler. He will make sure you do get hard. You don’t have to do anything, he’ll do everything,” Gareth smiled. “If you’d rather not talk, don’t even speak.”

Brian nodded. He almost jumped out of his skin when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it, deep breaths,” Gareth smiled. “Call me later. You can do this Brian. Think of the guys earlier you didn’t encourage and they couldn’t help themselves. Now I’m gonna let him in. You’ll be fine.”

Brian nodded and quickly had another drink.

Gareth grabbed the envelope and opened the door. As soon as he saw the guy, he knew everything would be okay. He spoke to the guy outside and paid him. Gareth explained that he wanted this and his husband was not sure.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him,” the man smiled. “Are you going to watch?”

“No, I’ll be back in the morning,” Gareth smiled. “Maybe next time.”

“Can I kiss him?”

“I want you to do everything to him but don’t fuck him.”

“Okay,” the man smiled.

Gareth left and the man closed the door. He could see Brian sitting on the sofa. Fuck he thought, this guy is hot, this will be a pleasure. He walked over to Brian on the sofa and climbed onto his lap, his knees straddling on either side of Brian’s legs. “You are beautiful,” he smiled. He wound his arms around Brian’s neck and lightly brushed their lips together. He whispered. “Close your eyes.”

********


Brian lay in the darkness, smoking. He looked at the clock on his new nightstand, three fifteen. It was twelve hours since he’d rung Gareth in a panic. Brian smiled. What a difference twelve hours had made? What a difference the last twenty four hours had been? Brian was grateful that Gareth made him do this. That was the best money he’d ever spent. He looked at the man asleep beside him. Brian didn’t even know his name but he knew the body. He knew the body very well now. At first he was so shaky and the guy was really sweet to him. Brian cast his mind back to when the guy first arrived. His kisses were so soft, so gentle.

“I know this is difficult for you but your husband really wants this and you want to make him happy, don’t you?” he smiled.

Brian nodded.

“We’ll take it real slow and I promise it will make you feel so good.” he reached down between them and touched Brian’s cock. He felt Brian’s breath catch. “You are so beautiful. Guys must want you all the time. Your husband is a very lucky man. You must love him very much to have been faithful all these years.”

Brian nodded again.

“He wants you to do this, it will make him happy. He told me next time, he might like to stay and watch,” the man smiled.

Fuck, Brian thought. Did Gareth say that?

The guy was kneading his cock. “You don’t need any help at all,” he smiled, pleased at how hard Brian was. “Do you want anything special or do you want me to decide?” The man sighed as he kissed Brian’s neck.

“You start me off,” Brian said softly. The drinks he’d had were starting to kick in and his head was feeling nice and floaty. Brian liked the way it felt having his neck kissed.

The guy climbed off his lap and smiled. “Let’s take this into the bedroom.” He held out his hand for Brian to join him.

Brian took a big breath and let the guy lead him up the stairs into his bedroom. The guy slowly lifted Brian’s tee over his head. He had the same look on his face as the clothes guy, Brian thought as he watched the man’s eyes move across his chest. Brian felt the man sliding down his sweats and his hard cock bounced free.

The man licked his lips. His mark was fucking gorgeous. He would really enjoy this, his cock was huge. “Let’s get more comfortable,” he suggested. He directed Brian to lie on the bed and stepped back so Brian could watch him undress.

Brian watched him remove his clothes slowly. His breathing was getting faster and his cock was beginning to leak pre cum.

The man took a handful of condoms from his pocket and put them all on the nightstand except one. He ripped it open with his teeth and rolled it down onto Brian’s cock. “We’ll take care of this first,” he smiled “And then we can start all over again, slowly.”

Brian was glad Gareth had made him jerk off or he would have cum by now. The man straddled his cock and guided it to his hole.

He smiled as he dipped Brian’s cock into his entry, rotating it gently in his opening. “You’re a big boy; I just have to get ready. I want you to fuck me so many times tonight,” he grinned.

The hole was tight in the beginning but as the guy worked Brian’s cock against it, he started to loosen and Brian could feel his head moving deeper into the man. He watched the man close his eyes and then he sunk down onto Brian’s cock until it was fully imbedded inside him.

Brian cried out at the tightness all around him. It felt incredible, Brian thought and he started to pant.

“Just give me a minute to be ready,” the guy smiled. “You are so big.”

Brian liked the man telling him how big he was. Was he really bigger than most guys? He didn’t know. He’d never seen anyone else’s dick before. He always used the stalls if he had to use a public toilet, that way, nobody could look at him.

“Ready?” the man smiled.

Brian nodded.

The man rose up a little and then sunk down on Brian again. He could see Brian was nervous. “Mmmm,” I want you inside me so much,” he sighed. “Close you eyes and enjoy the ride.”

Brian did as he was told allowing the sensations to sweep over him. They started slowly and as the pace increased, they blended together until Brian was sighing. The man rode his cock until he was begging for Brian to let him cum. Brian’s nervousness was slowing him down so it was taking a deliciously long time. Brian was savoring every time he sunk inside. The man was sighing and Brian could see the pre cum bubbling from his cock. The man’s eyes were closed and Brian reached out and touched his cock. Another first, he thought and smiled. Brian closed his eyes and pretended it was his own cock and pumped it. He felt cum spurting onto his chest. As the man came, his muscles locked down on Brian and squeezed him tight. Brian felt his orgasm tearing through him. He couldn’t help but cry out. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” he moaned. He felt the weight of the body on top of him as the hustler collapsed. Brian rode the waves of his orgasm until he too collapsed, sated.

Brian smiled. Reliving the memories was almost as good as fucking for the first time. The sleeping body next to him stirred and then turned onto its stomach. Brian looked at the soft round butt wriggling in the darkness to get comfortable again and was hard all over again. He reached for the last condom and rolled it down over his cock. Brian rolled onto the man, pressing his cock against the butt he wanted so much to be inside again. As he kissed the long slender neck of the man beneath him, the man opened his eyes. “You are insatiable,” he smiled.

“Would you rather I stop?” Brian asked, wondering if it was too much for him. His dick was sore so the guy had to be too.

“Don’t stop,” he smiled. “Fuck me.”

Brian did just that. He was feeling very confident now and he liked the idea of helping himself and taking what he wanted. Brian thrust into him over and over. Every thrust had its own amazing set of sensations and he didn’t want to miss a single one. Why had he waited so long to do this? All the years he’d spent with his hand being his only source of relief were such a waste. He thrust harder and slipped his hand around to grab the man’s cock. They both came at the same time, shuddering in the darkness until their composure returned.

“You are an amazing fuck,” the man gasped, struggling to catch his breath. “I’m Jack.”

“Hey, Jack, it’s been a pleasure fucking you and I was thinking the same about you,” Brian panted. He was definitely partial to fucking, this was great. He pulled out, rolled onto his back and reached for a cigarette. “Do you want one?”

Jack nodded. He turned over and accepted the lit cigarette.

“How long have you been doing this?” Brian asked.

“A few years,” Jack smiled. “I’m studying to be a lawyer and the money helps with my tuition. I used to be very shy and this kind of work helped me get past that. I couldn’t be shy and want to be a lawyer,” he laughed.

“Were you nervous the first time?”

Jack laughed. “Who isn’t, but I took about eight customers a week, so after a few weeks my shyness was gone.”

Brian thought about what Jack was saying. It only stood to reason that the more you did something the easier it got. A week ago, if anyone had told him he would be rolling onto some guy and fucking him, he would have laughed. But that’s what he’d just done and he loved it. Brian didn’t feel nervous at all.

“What time will your husband be back?” Jack asked.

Brian smiled. “Not sure.”

“Have we got time for a shower?”

“Have you got any more condoms,” Brian smiled.

“There should be a couple still in my pocket, will that be enough?” Jack laughed. This guy was a fucking machine. He was sure he wouldn’t be able to work tonight again. He’d lost count how many times Brian had fucked him and as long as Brian could go again, so could he.

“I think we’ll manage,” Brian laughed. He sat up. “Let’s go.”

Brian could feel his confidence building. He did to Jack what he told the guy on the net he was doing to him. It was easy.

********


Brian sat eating breakfast and was grinning from ear to ear. He liked fucking and even more, he liked calling the shots. The phone rang, it was Gareth.

“Well?”

Brian smiled. “It was fine.”

“Just fine,” Gareth laughed.

“Better than fine,” Brian smiled. “I believe you want to watch next time?”

Gareth was taken back. This was very bold for Brian. “He told you.”

“I was just thinking about it,” Brian smiled.

“Would you like someone to watch you fuck some guy?”

“Maybe, I’m not sure what I’d like yet but it sounds hot,” Brian laughed.

“Then you should try it,” Gareth suggested. Was this Brian Kinney? If he’d known a few new clothes and a hair cut could start a fever pitch like this, he would have taken Brian shopping years ago.

“Maybe but not today, my dick is too sore,” Brian laughed. “How long does the soreness last?”

“I can only assume it’s the same for homosexuals, so, you should be okay by tomorrow,” Gareth laughed.

Brian moaned. “Tomorrow, I have to go back to work.”

“Are you going to be the new you?” Gareth asked, hoping Brian would take a chance.

Brian gasped. “Of course not, they all know me there. I’ll just keep this place and work separate. It’s kinda exciting having a double life,” Brian laughed. “I’ll see you on Friday.”

“I’m glad your night was a success,” Gareth smiled. He couldn’t remember Brian ever sounding so happy.

“Thanks.” Brian put down the phone. He pottered around for the rest of the day but when it was time to go home, he felt sad to leave. This apartment made him feel good. He ordered a running machine on line and arranged for it to be delivered during the day tomorrow. He pulled on his leather jacket and locked up the apartment. As he was leaving, he banged on Jerry’s door. “I have something being delivered; can you let the delivery guy in and then lock up again?”

“Oooo, what are you getting?” Jerry said excited.

“Only a treadmill,” Brian smiled.

Jerry stepped forward and ran his hands up Brian’s shirt onto his chest. “I’ll let the guy in, we have to keep that body in good condition, don’t we?” he smiled.

Brian stepped forward, his heart was pounding. He moved closer to Jerry and smiled. “Thanks.” He then stepped back and left.

Jerry almost came in his pants; Brian was so close to him. He decided to be more persuasive next time. Brian was hot.

Brian could feel Jerry watch him all the way out into the street. He wasn’t wrong, Jerry wanted him. He climbed into his car and felt geeky again. He detoured on the way home and completed his delusion. He bought a new black jeep. Behind the wheel of the jeep, he didn’t feel like a geek. He told them to deliver it to his apartment when it was ready. He needed to keep his geeky car for work. When he went back into his old place, he felt like shit again. He put out his clothes for work the next day and looked at them on the sofa. They were awful and he looked awful in them. The next morning he even felt awful in them.

He drove to work slowly; he didn’t want to go there. He couldn’t wait for the day to pass so he could get back to his apartment and his new life.

Ed was pacing when Brian arrived.

“Brian, you’re late. I thought you’d be in ages ago,” Ed smiled. Brian always came in early and left late; he’d been doing it for years.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t get motivated this morning,” Brian apologized. “I’m still earlier than I need to be here,” Brian smiled. Was Ed angry with him for being late?

“Yeah, I know, I’m just used to you being here early every day. I miss our talk before everyone else gets in,” Ed smiled. “Have you had a chance to think about the accounts we have scheduled for this week?”

Brian handed Ed the file. He’d finished the briefs before he left on Friday.

“I’ll look these over and do some polishing. My meeting with Marty is at nine,” Ed saw Brian frown. “That is of course unless you want to pitch them to Marty,” he added quickly, knowing full well that Brian wouldn’t want to do that at all.

“No you do it,” Brian smiled. “You know Mr. Ryder makes me nervous.”

Ed put his arm around Brian and walked him down to the last cubicle on the right. “I’ll always take care of you Brian,” he smiled.

“I know Ed, you’re a good friend.”

Ed handed Brian another file. “I thought this company looked interesting. Can you do some research and find out what their advertising needs are and work me up a campaign?”

“Sure Ed, I’ll work on it this week. Will Friday be okay?” Brian smiled.

Ed smiled and nodded. “We are a good team, Brian.”

Brian smiled. “I better get to work.” Brian sat down in his cubicle and Ed hurried off to his office. They used to work side by side until Ed was promoted and got his own office. Brian missed Ed working next to him. It was nice being able to just turn and have a conversation with someone. Everyone said Ed was on the fast track, that he had Mr. Ryder’s ear. Brian was happy for Ed. It made him feel good that he was helping Ed make a name for himself but sometimes Brian would be a bit envious about Ed’s confidence. He was never nervous and Brian wished he could be the same. Brian opened the new file and studied it.

********


Marty Ryder stood up. “Ed, come in. I want you to meet Justin Taylor, our new senior account exec.” Marty smiled.

Ed smiled and shook Justin’s hand. “Please to meet you.”

Marty turned Justin. “Ed is our rising star, no one sniffs out accounts like Ed,” Marty laughed. “He has the best conversion rate of all our execs, Justin.”

“I’m looking forward to working with you, Ed,” Justin smiled.

“I’ll introduce Justin around to everyone, Marty,” Ed said confidently. “What about lunch, Justin, it will give us a chance to talk?”

“Sure,” Justin smiled. Everyone he’d met so far was so nice and Ed seemed like a good guy, he was going to enjoy working here. Justin’s career was very important to him. Landing this job was his big chance. He’d worked at other small agencies but Ryder’s was big and he had nine execs under him. The company had clients all over the country. There was an opportunity to travel and make his name at the same time. He knew he would have to prove that Marty’s faith in him was justified but hard work never fazed him, Justin enjoyed it.

As they were coming out of Marty’s office, there was commotion in the hallway. Ed just rolled his eyes. Justin saw a geeky looking guy trying to mop up the water that was flooding down the corridor.

“What’s going on?” he asked Ed.

Ed sighed. “That’s the guy who works in the last cubicle on the right, he’s a little clumsy and he must have walked into the water cooler again,” Ed sighed. “We move it all the time but he still manages to knock it over.”

Justin laughed. The geek had a mop and was trying to get up the water but then he stepped in the bucket and more water went everywhere. It was like watching the three stooges with one guy playing all the roles. “What does he do here?”

“He’s an analyst, he’s good at that but he isn’t very coordinated,” Ed laughed. “I’ll have to help him. The more flustered he gets, the clumsier he gets and if I don’t stop it, it can go on for hours,” Ed sighed. “I’ll come and get you at one for lunch.”

Justin watched Ed walk to the end of the hall and grab the geek’s hand.

“Brian, stop and take a breath.”

“I have to clean this up; I don’t know how I didn’t see it. Was it always there?” Brian whimpered.

“Brian,” Ed said firmly. “Let maintenance do it.” He took the mop from Brian’s hand. “Come on, let’s leave them to clean it up,” Ed smiled.

“Are you sure?” Brian sighed.

“He’s sure,” growled a small elderly woman who had been trying to get the mop from Brian for the last five minutes. “I’ll do it, just go,” she growled again.

Ed took Brian to the bathroom. “Your pants are all wet; do you have something to change into?”

“No, oh Ed, I don’t mean to knock things over all the time,” Brian sighed.

“Brian, it’s okay,” Ed tried to calm Brian down. “You haven’t done that for a while now,” Ed smiled. “Listen, I can’t have lunch with you today. Ryder wants me to take the new exec manager to lunch.”

“New manager?”

“Yeah, his name is Justin Taylor. He just moved here from out of state.”

“I’ll eat at my desk. My pants are wet anyway so I don’t want anyone to see me,” Brian sighed.

“Just take a deep breath before you go back out there,” Ed smiled.

“Thanks Ed.”

“Are you okay now?”

Brian nodded. The walk back to his cubicle seemed like the last mile. Everyone either smiled nervously or looked away. His clumsiness was well known. If they would just stop moving it all the time, he would know where it was,” Brian sighed to himself. His pants were soaked. He just wanted the day to be over.

********


Brian stayed back to work on a new list of possibilities for Ed. This was the time of day he liked, everyone was gone and he could relax and get some work done. His pants were dry now; trying to work all day in wet pants was awful. The fabric was scratching his skin and he wished he had his new sweats here. They felt so nice.

“Excuse me?”

Brian looked up. There was someone he didn’t know speaking to him, fuck, what would he do? He started to panic.

“Are you okay?” the man asked. Fuck, thought Justin, this guy is gonna have a heart attack. “I’m sorry I interrupted you.”

“No, it’s okay,” Brian choked out. “Do you want something?”

“I’m Justin and I’m new here. You’re……” Justin realized everyone referred to him as the guy in the last cubicle on the right. He didn’t know this guy’s name. “What’s your name again, I’m sorry,” Justin smiled.

“Brian.”

“Brian,” Justin smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Brian. I’m Justin.”

Brian nodded.

“I need some research done and I spoke to Sue and she said it would take a week. I really need it faster than that, would you have time?”

Brian shifted uncomfortably. “I guess, what do you need?”

Justin explained what he wanted.

“How long will you be here for tonight?”

“Another hour or so,” Justin smiled.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Brian said quietly. He was really about to leave but the guy looked like he needed it. He could do it for him. “Where is your office if I have a question?”

“Next to Marty’s,” Justin smiled.

Brian nodded. He turned his computer back on and started the searches. He used the computer in the cubicle next to him and the one in front and downloaded all the information at the same time. Twenty minutes later he was compiling the report and within the hour he went to give it to Justin. He knocked on Justin’s door.

“Do you have a question?” Justin smiled.

“No, it’s done.” Brian handed Justin the report.

Justin flipped through the pages, amazed. “Finished?”

Brian nodded. “Do you want anything else?”

“No, this is wonderful,” Justin smiled. “Thank you, Brian.”

Brian nodded. “Okay.” He closed Justin’s door and happily left for the day. Brian wanted to go home to his apartment and log on and get off.

Justin now understood why Brian here. He’d been told a week and this guy had done it in an hour. It was beautifully presented and contained everything he needed. Ed said that Brian was difficult to work with and it was best to run any work though him. He’d laughed when he said that he handled Brian well. Brian was geeky but he didn’t seem to need any instruction or guidance. In fact, Brian seemed to be the most capable analyst Justin had ever seen and this was certainly the best report he’d ever had. He made a mental note to talk to Ed about it tomorrow. He threw the report into his briefcase and turned off his computer. He wanted to go home, log on, get off and go to sleep.

Brian got in so late that Jerry wasn’t around. He saw his treadmill had been delivered. He showered quickly and washed the gel out of his hair. He shook it dry, changed into his sweats and logged on as ‘You should be so lucky’ His mailbox was jammed for attention. He fucked someone called ‘Why not me’ and then saw Blond Artist was waiting for him in the queue. He deleted names until till Blond Artist jumped to the top.

“Hey,” Brian typed.

“Hey, you weren’t here last night,” appeared on the screen.

“You know how it is, so many men, so little time,” Brian smiled.

“Do you fuck many men?”

“Only if they’re hot enough to turn me on,” Brian laughed.

“Am I hot enough?”

“Why don’t you tell me what you look like?”

“I thought you weren’t interested.”

“That was the other night. I wanted to fuck you and I couldn’t wait. Tonight, I can wait, so tell me,” Brian ordered.

“I’m five nine with blond hair and blue eyes. I’m not big but I’m still muscular and I like being touched and kissed,” Justin typed. “How about you?”

“I’m six two, brown hair, hazel eyes, I like to touch and kiss beautiful things, I’m big and I like to fuck.”

“You sound perfect.”

“I am.”

Justin smiled. He wondered if this guy was half as good as he thought he was. The other night was great but could he do it again?

“Where do you like to be kissed?” Brian asked.

“Where do you want to start?” Justin replied.

“Mmmm, I think, you should sit back and let me start with your toes. What are you wearing?”

“Jeans and a tee.”

“Take them off. I want you naked so I can touch you. NOW”

The bold word NOW made Justin hard. He took off his clothes and lay back on the sofa. He looked at the screen then typed. “Ready.”

**********


The guy in the last cubicle on the right prepared a few reports for Justin over the week.

There was so much to familiarize himself with that Justin kept forgetting to talk to Ed about Brian and gave the work to him directly. He heard everyone say that Brian was difficult but Brian’s work didn’t deteriorate, it was always excellent. Brian was still very nervous when Justin spoke to him but he got the work done. Justin could see that his nervousness had landed him in his current situation. He asked Marty about Brian and Marty just sighed. “According to his grades, he is a genius but he just can’t deal with people. Ed has him under control though. He always gets the best out of him. People won’t work directly with him; they use Ed to get the work done.”

Justin frowned. “I’ll work with him, directly” he offered. “Ed’s busy with the new cat food people; and I have a ton of research to be done. It will be convenient to have Brian close to me. Transfer Brian to my office, it will give Ed a break,” Justin smiled. “If I’m the manager, then it’s my responsibility, not Ed’s. It should free up Ed’s time to hunt down other new accounts,” Justin smiled

“Would you mind? That’s very nice of you, Justin,” Marty smiled.

“Just doing my job, Boss,” Justin saluted. “Will I tell him or will I do memo?” Justin smiled. Brian was geeky but he was a good fast worker. He didn’t have the same problems everyone else seemed to have with Brian.

“You better tell him, Brian is so nervous that if he reads it in a memo, he may knock the building down,” Marty laughed.

Justin left Marty’s office and walked down the hallway to Brian’s cubicle. “Hey,” Justin smiled.

Brian half smiled and nodded.

“I was just talking to Marty and we decided you will be working directly for me from now on,” Justin smiled.

“Me?” Brian gasped. “Why, did I do something wrong?”

“No,” Justin laughed. “Everything you do is really great. I want you to work more closely with me.”

“I don’t understand,” Brian was confused. No one had ever wanted him before. He usually did most of the work in the office and everyone else took the credit. “You asked Marty for me?”

“Yes, I told him I like your work,” Justin smiled.

“Marty?”

Justin nodded. It was as if no one had ever complimented Brian on his work before. He looked stunned. “Do you do the same sort of work for everyone?”

“They always want extra things,” Brian said softly.

“Like what extra things?” Justin asked.

“Like slogans and story board set ups and stuff like that.”

Justin stopped. Was Brian serious? “Okay, Brian. Would you work for me?”

Brian nodded.

“I’ll get maintenance to move your gear this afternoon, just come with me, I want you to work in my office from now on,” Justin smiled.

Brian followed Justin. Did Justin really tell Marty he liked his work? He tripped in the corridor and dropped his files. Justin stopped and helped him pick them up. “I do that all the time, it isn’t even under the carpet here,” he smiled.

Brian nodded and followed Justin into his workroom. Justin took Brian into the office next to his. “This will be your office.”

“I have an office,” Brian gasped.

Justin smiled and nodded. “You will be my analyst. You don’t have to work for anyone else anymore.”

“But I have projects that I’m working on for everyone. I can’t leave things in the middle,” Brian objected.

“Brian, who are you doing work for at the moment? Show me what you’re working on?” Justin asked. What was going on here?

Brian showed Justin all the different things he was doing.

Justin couldn’t believe it. Brian was almost running the entire office. “But Brian some of this work isn’t your responsibility.”

“I don’t mind, I have time and they need my help,” he smiled.

“Okay. How long will it take to finish what you have?” Justin’s mind was racing.

“If no one gives me anything else?”

Justin nodded. “Just this.”

“There’s more back at my desk,” Brian admitted.

“How much more?” Justin gasped.

“About the same again,” Brian said nervously.

Justin took a deep breath. “Okay,” he smiled. “How long will it take to clear your desk?”

“Three days.”

“Okay,” Justin said slowly. Fucking hell, three days for all of this, he thought. “You can work on it in here but you can’t take anymore from anyone. If someone asks for your help. I want you to send them to me.”

“They won’t like it,” Brian shook his head. “I work for everyone and if I don’t they won’t talk to me.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Justin smiled. “Don’t worry about it. You will be in here now. Go and get what you need straight away and I’ll have the rest moved soon.”

Brian nodded. Ed wasn’t gonna like this. He hurried to get his files.

Justin went back to Marty’s office. “Marty, I need a memo to everyone saying that Brian is not to be used to do their work anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Marty said.

“I’ve just seen what he’s working on. He’s doing half the work for the whole office. Wait, I’ll show you.” He ran back to Brian’s office and picked up the files on his desk then ran back to Marty. “See?”

Marty flicked through the files. There were all but completed campaigns here that he hadn’t even seen yet. Brian was certainly smart enough but Ed had been telling him for years that Brian lacked focus. Justin was right, if this was Brian’s work….. “Let’s just see how it pans out,” Marty said thoughtfully. “Tell Brian to finish what he’s working on but before he gives back the files to the people concerned, you want to see them.”

“He says it will take three days to finish everything.”

“All of this?” Marty gasped.

“Marty, there’s more,” Justin frowned. “I know I’m the new guy here but if this is really all Brian’s work then what happens to him here is bullshit. He’s treated like the office idiot and he’s the only one doing any work.”

“I can see that,” Marty scowled. “Okay, I’ll put out a memo to the department heads. Brian is working on something for me and isn’t to be disturbed.”

“He’s afraid that people won’t like him if he doesn’t do their work for them,” Justin shook his head. “I think that’s how this started in the first place. They have preyed on Brian’s desire to be liked and exploited him,” Justin said sadly.

“What time does he start in the morning?” Marty asked.

“I don’t know, he’s always here when I get in and he does work for me up to ten some nights.”

Marty frowned. “You like his work?”

“It is excellent.”

“Okay, leave it with me.”

An hour later, Marty came into Justin’s office and closed the door. “I’ve booked you a suite at the Marriot. Take Brian with you and he can finish his current work there. I’ll see you both back here on Monday.”

Justin could see Marty was furious. He wanted to say, he wasn’t a babysitter but Justin was sure his revelation about Brian had really shaken Marty. Brian came back with his arms full of files. He saw Marty and nearly dropped the lot. Both Marty and Justin ran to help him.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it,” Brian stammered.

Marty smiled at him. “Its okay, Brian, Justin has been telling me how pleased he is with your work. I have an assignment for you. Justin will explain it to you. You are doing a great job, Brian, keep up the good work,” Marty smiled and patted him on the back. “I’ll arrange that suite, Justin.”

Justin nodded. He looked at Brian. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Brian was shaken that Marty even acknowledged him. He excused himself and went to the bathroom and locked himself in a cubicle. He didn’t want anyone to see him crying.

“That poor bastard,” Justin said out loud....... simple praise was too much for him. When Brian returned, Justin told him he would be finishing his work at the hotel, this week.

“I don’t understand,” Brian stammered.

“Marty is giving you a quiet place to work to finish your projects. There won’t be any interruptions and when you come back, you’ll just do work for me, okay?”

“Ed won’t like this,” Brian muttered, shaking his head.

“Brian, Marty and I know you have been doing Ed’s work for him.”

“I didn’t tell you that,” Brian cried out.

“You didn’t have to, Brian. I can see you do his work and the work of half the people here,” Justin sighed.

“I don’t mind helping,” Brian stammered.

“It’s not helping if you do it all,” Justin tried to explain. “When you work for me, you will get the credit for the work you do.”

Brian nodded.

“You deserve the credit Brian, your work is excellent. Are these all the files?”

Brian nodded. Justin helped him put them into file boxes. They picked up their laptops and they wheeled it all to the elevator. “Do I really have to stay in a hotel?”

“You don’t have to but it shows how much Marty thinks of your work. He doesn’t want people exploiting you either. If you work at the hotel, no one can give you any more and you can finish what you have.”

Brian nodded.

Justin hailed a cab and they filled the trunk with the boxes. He didn’t dare let Brian out of his sight. He looked so nervous, he could have a breakdown. “We’ll go past my place and I’ll grab a bag and then we’ll go to your place.”

“My place, why?” Brian said in a panic. He didn’t want Justin seeing either of his places.

“You’ll need clothes,” Justin smiled.

“No, it will be faster if I get another cab, then we’ll get there at the same time,” Brian gasped.

Justin could see that Brian didn’t want him to go to his place. “Will you be okay?”

“Yes,” Brian nodded. “I’ll be fast, I promise.”

“Okay,” Justin smiled. “Please Brian: don’t ring Ed or anyone else?”

“I have to ring my friend Gareth, can I tell him to come to the hotel? He doesn’t work at Ryder’s.” Brian stammered.

“Sure,” Justin smiled. “We’re at the Marriot,”

“Okay, I won’t be long,” Brian tried to smile but he was feeling sick.

Justin watched Brian hurry away.

In his fluster, Brian forgot that he had his car in the car park. He jumped in a cab and went to his new apartment. He threw some sweats and tees in a bag. He couldn’t let Justin see his awful clothes. Justin thought he was doing a good job. He showered quickly and changed into his jeans then grabbed his jacket. As he was leaving, Jerry ran after him. “Brian your car arrived, it’s in the basement,” he smiled.

“Really?” Brian smiled. He’d forgotten about the car.

Jerry stepped close to him. “It’s a hot car. It suits you,” he smiled.

“Thanks,” Brian smiled. Jerry was always good for his ego.

Jerry gave Brian the keys. “Wanna take me for a ride?”

Brian laughed. “I could think of nothing better but I’m on my way out, my boss is waiting for me. Maybe when I get back, I’ll be away till Monday.”

“Monday, then,” Jerry grinned.

Brian went to the basement and jumped in the car. He had to get to the hotel. Justin would be waiting for him. Everything was happening too quickly and Brian wasn’t sure what to do. Justin told him he couldn’t ring Ed but Ed was his friend and he didn’t want him to get into trouble. He tried Ed’s cell but it was off and he hadn’t come back from lunch with his client yet. Brian didn’t leave a message. He rang Gareth. “I need to see you,” he whimpered. “Stuff at work, no, neither. I’m at the Marriot downtown. They said I had to. Gareth, I really need to see you. Okay.”

Gareth finished up his patient and then headed downtown. Fuck, Brian sounded awful.

Brian let the valet park his car and strolled into the hotel. It felt good driving his new car. He hadn’t dried his hair and it was mussed up and messy. He slung his bag over his shoulder and approached Justin who was standing near the counter waiting for him.

Justin almost didn’t recognize him. “Brian?” Justin gasped. It couldn’t be Brian, this guy was hot. His tight jeans clung to his body in all the right places and his tee showed the outline of a very muscular chest. He was wearing Serengeti’s and the jacket made him look more than cool, he looked sensational.

Brian looked over his glasses. “Mmmm, I’m here.”

Justin gasped. “You really are." He recovered quickly, not wanting to make Brian feel uncomfortable. "I have the keys, let’s go up.”

“I just have to tell them about Gareth, I rang him and he’s coming over.” Brian walked over to the counter and the man behind it smiled at him.

“I’m expecting a Gareth Walker; can you send him up when he arrives?” Brian smiled at the clerk.

“Certainly Mr. Kinney.”

Brian’s gaydar was getting better every day. He smirked at the guy behind the counter. “Thanks.”

“Anything at all Mr. Kinney, just call.”

Justin looked at the hotel clerk. He was positively salivating over Brian. Brian? Justin couldn’t believe it.

Brian went back to Justin. “Do you wanna go up?”

Justin nodded.

The suite had two bedrooms and they both settled into their rooms. When the door bell rang, Brian bolted to the door. “Gareth,” he sighed. “Come to my room.”

Gareth followed Brian to his room and sat down while Brian closed the door.

“What’s going on?” Gareth asked.

“Everything at work has turned to shit and it’s all my fault,” Brian sighed.

“Start at the beginning, what happened at work?”

“Justin wanted me to work for him. He’s the new manager and asked me to work just for him. I told him I couldn’t because I had tons of work outstanding. He looked at what I was working on and he went to Mr. Ryder and told him I was doing everyone else’s work.”

“So why are you here?”

“Mr. Ryder doesn’t want anyone disturbing me or giving me anymore work so he sent me here to finish what I have.”

Finally, Gareth thought, Brian would get the recognition he deserved. “This sounds like a good thing, Brian.”

“Ed will be furious with me. He won’t want me to work only for Justin. Justin says he knows that I do Ed’s work.”

Gareth liked this Justin immediately. “But Brian, you do most of Ed’s work, Justin is right.”

“He’s my friend. I help him when he needs it,” Brian whined. “He helps me too.”

Gareth shook his head. Brian could never see that Ed was using him. “I notice that you are wearing your stud clothes, how come?”

“I couldn’t let Justin see my other awful clothes. I’m only working in the hotel so I’m more comfortable in my sweats,” Brian explained.

“Do you think that maybe because Justin realizes that there is more to you than what the people at Ryder’s see, you thought you would be a bit more honest with him about who you really are?”

“I don’t know, I have a lot of work to do. Do you think Ed will blame me?”

“If Ed is a real friend he’ll be happy that you are getting the attention you deserve. You’ve worked hard for that company and you deserve the pat on the back,” Gareth smiled.

“Mr. Ryder did pat me on the back and he said he was happy with my work,” Brian smiled.

“How did that feel?”

“Wonderful,” Brian grinned. “I couldn’t believe it. No one ever tells me my work is good and then today, first Justin and then Mr. Ryder.”

“You do know that it is wrong for all those people to get you to do their work for them.”

“But I’m just…..”

“Helping is not doing it for them. Brian in a business situation, people are paid based on their worth. These people are being paid based on your worth and that isn’t fair to you. They can make it sound okay but it isn’t. Passing someone else’s work off as your own will never be okay,” Gareth shook his head.

“But what if they won’t talk to me because they’re angry that Mr. Ryder knows I’ve been doing their work?”

“Brian, they barely talk to you now,” Gareth sighed. “Jerry, in your building, do you have to do things to make him like you?”

“No.”

“It’s the same thing. If you have to do their work so they’ll like you, you are better off if they don’t. You would have a lot more time to find a much better bunch of people. What did you have to give Justin for him to like your work?”

“Nothing.”

“He didn’t stand to gain anything by going to your boss and exposing the users, did he?”

“I guess not.”

“Sounds to me, like Justin is worth knowing, some people just aren’t worth knowing, Brian.” Gareth could see Brian was getting upset. “Why don’t you forget about everything and just get your work done. Get started and I’ll see myself out,” Gareth smiled.

“Okay, thanks for coming,” Brian smiled.

“You call if you want me.”

Brian nodded.

When Gareth left Brian’s room, he was about to leave when Justin introduced himself. “Justin Taylor.”

“I’m Gareth Walker, Brian’s friend,” Gareth smiled.

“I’m concerned about Brian,” Justin frowned. “Do you know about his situation at work?”

Gareth scowled. “I’ve known for a long time now. Justin, can you tell me why you brought this to Ryder’s attention? Do you intend to exploit Brian as well?”

Justin smiled. He liked Gareth; he was straight to the point. “I don’t need anyone to do my work for me and I told Marty because I believe, if Brian is doing the work, he should get the credit. From now on, everything Brian does he will be recognized for?”

“I’m glad, Brian deserves it; he works very hard.”

“Can I ask you something else?”

“Depends,” Gareth smiled.

“Why is so nervous all the time?”

“Wouldn’t you be if you had been exploited for years and had no idea of your real worth?”

“And the clumsiness?”

“The truth?”

“I think that bastard, Ed, moves the water cooler all the time so Brian will knock it over. Brian constantly complains that if it stayed in the same spot he would know where it was. Brian’s mind runs faster than other peoples. He’s very intelligent and when he’s concentrating on something, he tends to block everything else out. Have you seen the size of the workload he juggles?”

Justin nodded. He was still astounded at the amount of work Brian was doing.

“Brian has been told he’s a klutz for so long that now he believes it. Its worse when he gets flustered or he’s nervous, which for Brian is most of the time,” Gareth said sadly. “His confidence needs to be rebuilt but that was always impossible when he was being exploited. I hope now things are out in the open, he’ll get a chance to feel good about his achievements,” Gareth smiled. “The conditions he works under are far from ideal. Imagine how creative he would be if he had more order and less stress in his day.”

“You’re his therapist, aren’t you?”

Gareth debated what he should say.

“Don’t say anything, my cousin’s one, I recognize the terminology,” Justin smiled.

“Brian needs more real people and fewer users in his life. It was nice to meet you, Justin.” Gareth opened the door. “Here’s my card, if you are worried about Brian, call me.”

Justin worked for a few hours and felt hungry. He knocked on Brian’s door. “Hey,” he smiled. “Are you hungry?”

Brian thought for a moment and said. “A bit.”

“What do you feel like?” Justin smiled.

“Whatever you’re having,” Brian shrugged. “I don’t care, I eat everything.”

“But if you could choose, what would that be?” Justin pushed for Brian to choose.

Brian took the menu and studied it. “Thai Chicken Stir Fry.”

“One, Thai Chicken Stir Fry, coming up,” Justin smiled. “I’m partial to cheeseburgers myself,” he laughed. “What do you want to drink?”

“Water,” Brian smiled.

“I’ll order it now.”

“Anytime is fine.” Brian returned to work.

Forty five minutes later, their dinner arrived. Brian was going to work straight through but Justin forced him to stop. “It’s eight o’clock Brian, that’s enough for today.”

“I like to finish something when I start it, otherwise I have trouble sleeping,” Brian admitted.

“Okay, well have dinner and then go back to it,” Justin smiled.

Brian sat down to eat. “It’s good,” he smiled.

“So is the burger,” Justin smiled. They both seemed to be smiling but the conversation didn’t flow freely. They ended up eating in silence. When Brian was finished, he excused himself and went back to work.

Justin watched a DVD and then had a shower. Brian was a workaholic. Justin sighed, he probably had to be to get through the amount he had of it. He thought about Ed. What a bastard? Justin wondered what Marty intended to do about Brian’s situation. He could see that Marty was furious about it all. Brian had already finished two files. One belonged to Ed and the other was for another of the account execs. Justin flicked through the pages. Brian even wrote up the requirements for the art department. He shook his head, lazy asses. Justin wondered why nobody had ever noticed that all the work was the same. It was obviously done by the same person but with so many handing it in as their own, Brian’s work was the style that Ryder’s was renowned for. Poor Brian, Justin couldn’t imagine working all those years and getting nowhere, fast. He must really love the work to have persevered for so long. He wrapped a towel around him and flopped onto the bed. He logged on and cruised the chat rooms. Nothing special, he thought. He wondered if ‘You should be so lucky’, would be on later, it was still early.

Brian closed the file he was working on, another one down and nineteen to go. His back was getting sore. He picked up the phone and checked what floor the gym was on. He needed to run for a while. It helped slow his mind down so he could sleep. He grabbed a towel and his key and went down to the gym to run some miles. An hour later, he returned and hit the shower. He wanted to see if Blond Artist was on, but he didn’t feel comfortable with Justin in the next room. Brian jerked off in the shower and then went to bed.

********


When Justin woke up, Brian was already at work. Justin looked at the clock, it wasn’t even seven. Brian must work somewhere in the vicinity of a hundred hours a week. Justin wondered how long that had been going on. No wonder his only friends were his work colleagues. There was no time to meet anyone else. He checked with Brian and wrestled his preference for breakfast out of him. While Justin was waiting for breakfast, he swam some laps, arriving back just as the meal arrived.

Brian was just as preoccupied with work as he was last night. He’d planned his day and really didn’t have time to stop to eat. Justin suggested they go downstairs for dinner tonight. It took some convincing but Brian finally agreed but only if Justin ordered a sandwich for lunch and let him work and eat at the same time. Justin agreed, it was worth it to get Brian out of the room. Justin made the reservation for seven thirty. He showered and sat down to work. The phone rang at ten. “Justin?”

“Yes Marty.”

“How is Brian going?”

“Marty, he’s like a machine, he doesn’t stop. I finished at eight last night but I’m sure Brian was still working at ten and when I woke up he was already back into it,” Justin laughed. “He’s doing the work of ten people.”

“I know, I called a meeting this morning and the only one who had all their files at work was Genevieve. Justin this is a conspiracy. I have two execs that do their own work, the other eight socialize with the clients but that’s it. I’ve been looking at old files, all the work is the same.”

“I noticed that last night. Brian is the Ryder style.”

“When Brian first started with me, we worked together closely. I showed him what we wanted but he was so damn nervous all the time and he dropped and spilled everything. I just lost patience with him. He can’t present at all,” Marty sighed.

“But Marty you could cut back to two execs and employ someone to do presentations and handle the clients. You would probably save six salaries that way. Brian may not be good at everything but he’s good at everything that matters. You just need some salesmen to sell his ideas, he’s brilliant. Wait till you see the work he’s doing here.”

“Impressive?”

“Dazzling, I’m jealous it isn’t me,” Justin laughed.

“I know your work is impressive Justin, that’s why you’re here,” Marty laughed. “I met with Genevieve after the meeting. Se gets Brian to do her research but she works up her own campaigns. She has asked Brian for his opinion in the past but she likes to do the work herself.”

“Good for her,” Justin laughed. “Shame the rest of them don’t feel the same way.”

“Exactly. Hang on to those files. I’ve called a meeting Monday morning and I’ve said all files and their progress will be discussed. I’ve never seen such a busy bunch. Everyone wants to know where Brian is.”

“What did you tell them?”

“He’s taking some personal time and won’t be back until Monday,” Marty chuckled.

“You have a mean streak, Marty,” Justin laughed.

“I’m the boss; I can do what I like. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Thank you for your help Justin, I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, bye Marty.” Justin put down the phone. The shit was about to hit the fan at Ryder’s.

Marty looked at his client list. He checked to see whose contracts were close to being up and made a list. He started to make phone calls and lunch dates. He’d been made fool of by these people and he was determined that he wouldn’t lose a single client because of this.

********


When Brian finished, he looked at his completed files and smiled. He took them out to Justin who was already waiting to go to dinner. He looked at what Justin was wearing. Justin always looked nice. “I’ll just have a quick shower and we’ll go,” Brian smiled.

Justin looked at the files, fuck, there was eleven completed campaigns here. He flicked through the pages. He could recognize Brian’s work now. It was all so fucking good. Brian was starting to feel more comfortable around him. Justin could tell. He didn’t stammer when he spoke and Brian was looking at him when he spoke and not at Justin’s feet. Justin was pleased. If a bit of effort was put into Brian, he could really be something special.

Brian was so comfortable in his new clothes now that he didn’t even think about it anymore. He hated his old clothes and decided that he didn’t want to wear them anymore. He pulled on his black jeans and tan silk tee. He blew his hair dry, roughly and went outside. He was a little nervous in case Justin commented on what he was wearing.

Justin smiled, fuck, Brian looked hot. He remembered what Gareth said about Brian hating to be noticed so he didn’t say anything. “Let’s go,” Justin smiled. As they were walking out the door, Justin turned. He took Brian’s glasses off. “You aren’t working now, you don’t need those,” he smiled and put them on the hallstand. “You can still see, right?”

“Yes, I can see. I don’t need them,” Brian said softly.

“Good,” Justin smiled. “Let’s eat.”

Brian smiled. Justin had a way about him that made him feel comfortable. They went downstairs to the restaurant. Brian could feel all eyes on them and started to feel nervous.

“What’s wrong?”

“Why is everyone looking at us?” Brian said softly.

“They’re probably wondering who the two hot guys are,” Justin laughed. “It always pays to advertise, you know that,” he laughed again.

“Doesn’t it worry you when people look at you?” Brian asked.

“Not at all, it usually means I’m doing something right,” he smiled. “My mother used to always say…. When they look, you are doing something right and when they stop looking, you need to find out, what you have to do, to get them look again,” he laughed.

They both ordered steak. Brian asked Justin about his family and school and how he decided on advertising. Justin asked a few questions but gathered quickly that Brian didn’t like to talk about himself. Justin kept the conversation on his family and what he did and Brian wasn’t nervous at all.

Justin noticed that the waiter stood very close to Brian all the time. “He’s coming on to you,” Justin smiled.

“No he isn’t,” Brian went coy.

“Yes he is,” Justin laughed. “Like the hotel clerk when we checked in. I thought he was gonna climb over the counter just to get to you and then drop to his knees.”

“You don’t mind that I’m gay,” Brian blushed.

“Why would I mind?” Justin laughed. “Being gay makes no difference to your work. Your work is excellent.”

“My friend, Gareth, says it’s important to be who you are, that you should never be ashamed for the world to see the real you. He says, if people don’t like you, fuck them.”

“Gareth is right. You will never please everyone. You can spend your whole life twisting yourself inside out to try and suit everyone or you can suit yourself.”

“I guess that’s what I was doing at work,” Brian said softly.

“It’s tiring isn’t it? Also I don’t think you get anywhere when you let other people dictate the direction of your life. You’ve been jumping through hoops to please a bunch of people who don’t matter.”

Brian nodded.

“Brian, you should be the senior ad exec at Ryder’s.”

“I couldn’t. That’s your job, I can’t present,” Brian said quickly.

“I can’t do research, I’m lousy at it, that’s why I came to you. You are brilliant at it. We all aren’t good at everything,” Justin smiled.

“Maybe,” Brian said and changed the subject. “Do you want dessert?”

“Dessert is my favorite part of ever meal,” Justin laughed. He knew when to let a topic go now.

“I like it but they always give me too much,” Brian smiled. “I hate wasting so I don’t order it very often.”

“Well, don’t worry when you eat with me, I’ll eat anything you leave, I love dessert,” Justin laughed.

“Really? You wouldn’t mind finishing it?” Brian sounded excited.

“Not at all.” There was no such thing as too much dessert, Justin thought.

Brian ordered strawberry shortcake and Justin had chocolate mousse. When it arrived, Brian carefully cut his in half and ate one side.

“So, you like chocolate mousse?”

Brian smiled.

Justin scooped some out of his dish and put it on the side of Brian’s plate. “This is great chocolate mousse,” he smiled.

Brian tasted it and agreed. The conversation flowed freely tonight and they both had a good time. Justin finished Brian’s dessert and announced that he was finally full.

“I think we need to walk some of this off,” Justin laughed.

“I try to run on the treadmill every night,” Brian laughed.

“How long do you run for?” Justin asked.

“An hour,” Brian smiled. “It helps me sleep.”

“If I could manage to run an hour, I’d probably drop dead from the strain,” Justin laughed.

“It was hard in the beginning but I’m used to it now. I really love it.”

Justin glanced at Brian again. No wonder his body was so good, an hour, fuck.

They walked a lap of the block and came back.

“I should probably do my run now,” Brian said. He really didn’t want to stop talking to Justin, he was enjoying himself.

“I’ll come down with you. I’ll swim some laps while you run,” Justin smiled.

“How long have you been swimming?” Brian asked.

“All my life. I had asthma when I was a kid and swimming helped. I don’t get it now but I have a bunch of allergies. Swimming helps my breathing.” Let’s go and change and do something healthy,” Justin smiled

Justin swam laps for half an hour and then watched Brian run for the other half. He was mesmerized watching Brian’s body move. He glided along like a panther. It was beautiful watching him going through the motion of running. Justin found it difficult to take his eyes off Brian. It was like watching a moth turn onto a butterfly. The office loser and resident geek was a fucking miracle. Justin was angry at the way the people at Ryder’s had treated someone who was so special. Brian was only a klutz because Ed made sure he was. Justin hadn’t seen Brian trip or drop anything since they arrived.

Brian stopped running and wiped the sweat away. “That was great,” he smiled. “I should get to bed. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

Justin smiled; this new relaxed Brian was a pleasure to spend time with.

When they went back to the room, Brian thanked Justin for making him go out to dinner. Justin smiled. “Marty has given us here till Monday. So we can have dinner again, tomorrow.”

“But I don’t have enough work to last till Monday,” Brian frowned.

“You don’t have to work on the weekend,” Justin smiled. “What do you usually do on the weekend?” What did you do last weekend?”

Brian thought. He got blown first and then he fucked a hustler but he couldn’t say that. “Just relax, I guess.”

Justin wondered if Brian ever got laid. If he didn’t, it was terrible waste. What a shame they worked together? “Don’t worry, we’ll find something to do,” he smiled. “I need a shower. I’ll see you in the morning. Do you want the same thing as today?”

“Yeah, I like fruit for breakfast. Goodnight.”

Brian went to his room and peeled off his clothes. He needed a shower. The water felt terrific on his sore muscles. They were sore but it was ‘good’ sore. Brian liked the feeling of tiredness that came after exercise. When he finally climbed into bed, he was asleep almost as his head hit the pillow.

Justin was cruising the chat rooms looking for ‘You should be s lucky” He hadn’t been around for a few days now, probably was fucking in person, Justin smiled. He needed more of that too. Since he arrived in Pittsburgh, he was so caught up in working at Ryder’s that cybersex was his only outlet. There was something about ‘You should be so lucky’ that made Justin hard, over and over again. They’d had sex a few times now and each time, Justin wanted more. He wondered if he should ask for a meeting. If his fantasy turned out to be four foot three with a pot belly and a bald head, it just wouldn’t be the same anymore. He decided to let the fantasy continue.

********


Brian finished his files early and Justin explained what he would be working on next week.

“I can do it now,” Brian smiled.

“No, now you relax,” Justin laughed. “I know, have you ever had a massage?”

“No,” Brian frowned. He’d never even thought of having a massage.

“Go and have a shower and I’ll arrange it. That’s one of the great things about hotels, massages,” Justin smiled. He picked up the phone. “This is suite 249; can I get a couple of masseurs up here? Yeah, half an hour is fine.” He put down the phone. "You have thirty minutes to shower.”

“I don’t know, Justin, I’ve never done that before and I don’t know if I’ll like it.”

“Well, after you’ve done it, you’ll know,” Justin laughed. “You can’t guess what you’ll like and what you won’t. You have to try and then you know for sure. Go and have a shower and jerk off.”

“Why?” Brian asked.

“So you can relax and enjoy it instead of being afraid you might cum all the time.”

“What sort of massage is it?” Brian asked, concerned.

“The therapeutic kind but sometimes that feels too good,” Justin laughed. “Just do it, I know what I’m talking about.”

Brian did as he was told and to make sure, he jerked off twice.

The masseur systematically worked his way through all of Brian’s major muscle groups. He concentrated on the stiffness in Brian’s lower back. Three days of solid work in less than ergonomic conditions had taken its toll and Brian’s back was stiff and sore. By the time the masseur was finished, Brian was feeling stretched out and relaxed. Justin was right, Brian was glad he listened about jerking off and Justin was right again, massages were great. His muscles felt all floaty and soft, he would definitely do that again.

They had dinner again, this time, in a restaurant around the corner. The food was great and, like the night before, Justin finished Brian’s dessert. As they were leaving, a voice called out to Justin. Brian froze.

“Justin, hi, how are you?” Sue smiled. “We’ve missed you at the office.”

Justin could see Brian was uncomfortable but he knew Sue wouldn’t recognize him. “I’m having a few days off to get settled.” He laughed. “Sue, this is a friend of mine.” He slipped his arm around Brian’s waist to steady him. “Brian, this is Sue, she works at the same agency,” Justin smiled at Brian. He gripped Brian’s waist tighter, hoping Brian would speak and not fall over.

Sue smiled at Brian. “Why are all the gorgeous men gay?” she laughed. “Pleased to meet you, Brian, are you from out of town like Justin?” she held out her hand to Brian.

Justin held his breath, hoping that Brian could pull it off.

Brian took her hand and kissed it. He looked deep into her eyes, searching to see if she recognized him then smiled. “Happy to meet you, Sue.”

“Ohhhh, Justin, I can see why you needed some time off,” Sue grinned.

Justin smiled. Sue was salivating over Brian, this was great. “I’ll be back on Monday. It was nice to see you,” Justin smiled.

“It was lovely to meet you, Brian,” Sue flirted.

“Hmmmm,” Brian smirked.

They walked out, Justin’s arm still around Brian’s waist. He could feel that Brian was walking mechanically. When they were safely outside, Justin started to laugh. “She didn’t recognize you.”

Brian shook his head. “I have worked with her for seven years,” He gasped in disbelief.

“She is in there right now giggling with her girlfriends because you kissed her hand,” Justin laughed. “She even said you were gorgeous.”

Brian was amazed, Sue hadn’t recognized him. This was incredible. He didn’t have to worry if he saw someone. Odds were they wouldn’t know who he was anyway. He felt free. “Fascinating,” Brian gasped.

“You are so incredibly hot, I thought she was gonna lose it,” Justin smiled. “Have you ever been dancing before?”

Brian shook his head. “I don’t know how.”

“Then it’s about time you learned,” Justin grinned.

Justin hailed a cab. “Babylon, please.”

********


Brian followed Justin into the club. He kept his amazement in check and strolled behind Justin casually. He was feeling a lot more confident now.

Justin knew that all eyes were on them. He stopped at the bar. “Drink?”

“Chivas, neat,” Brian smiled then turned around and casually lounged against the bar. He was intrigued at the clientele. The men were all beautiful. There were hundreds of hot, sweaty, gorgeous men all writhing against each other and Brian felt his dick get hard.

Justin handed Brian his drink. “The only things you have to know are…. Safe sex only, the backroom is down there and you make the rules,” Justin smiled.

“What’s the backroom?” Brian asked.

“In gay dance clubs there is always a place to get off,” Justin grinned.

“Is it like a hotel?” Brian queried.

“No, its one big room that’s dark and you can have sex in public,” Justin smiled.

“In front of everyone,” Brian gasped.

“That’s what makes it hot,” Justin laughed. “How long since you had your dick sucked?”

Brian swallowed. “Last weekend,” he said softly.

“Way to go, Brian,” Justin smiled. “Well for me, it’s been a lot longer than that.”

“Are you gay?” Brian said quickly.

“I’ve been out since I was in high school. Does anyone here appeal to you?”

Brian looked around the dance floor. His cock was already hard. It was like choosing at a smorgasbord. “How do I know he’ll be interested?”

Justin laughed. “He’ll be interested alright. That’s what this place is all about.”

Brian pointed. “Him?”

“Good choice,” Justin smiled. “Go get him.”

“I can’t Justin,” Brian stammered.

Justin saw Brian’s confidence waning. He needed to do something fast or geek Brian may return. “Wait here and look like you don’t give a shit,” Justin smiled. Brian leaned on the bar and dropped back into character. He watched Justin walk up to the guy he’d suggested and whisper something in his ear. The guy looked over at Brian so Brian smirked at him, he saw the guy nod. Justin motioned for him to come over, so, Brian strolled over to where they were standing.

“Brian, this is Sam,” Justin smiled. “He wants us to fuck him, honey.” Justin batted his eyes at Brian, trying to keep a straight face.

Brian was getting used to Justin’s sense of humor now. “Why not?” Brian shrugged.

Justin held Brian’s hand, he knew he was nervous. If he hadn’t had a massage before, he probably hadn’t fucked anyone in a backroom before either. Justin led them to an empty piece of wall. He stripped off Sam’s clothes and pulled a couple of condoms from his pocket, handing one to Brian. “Honey, do you want to go first or should I?” Justin smiled.

Brian was freaking on the inside but he shrugged and said. “Whatever.” He watched Justin pull out his cock and roll the condom over it, then lube up. Justin was really hard.

Justin looked at Sam. “Is this okay?” he smiled.

Sam smiled and pushed Brian against the wall and said. “Are you kidding?” He undid Brian’s jeans and took out his cock. He smiled longingly at it and dropped down onto his elbows and his knees.

Justin knelt behind him and prepared him quickly while Brian watched. “Suck him,” Justin ordered Sam and Brian felt Sam take his cock in his mouth. Brian closed his eyes. This was like something out of one of his porn movies. Brian opened his eyes when he felt Sam gulp more of his cock into his mouth. He could see that Justin was fucking him. Justin’s eyes were closed as he hammered into Sam. Sam had his ass pushed out so Justin could fuck him deep and hard. Brian found that by concentrating on Justin, he had better control. Justin was sweating and Sam was moaning around Brian’s cock. Brian stroked Sam’s head, winding his fingers into Sam’s hair. He was breathing hard himself now as he felt his orgasm get closer. Brian moaned loudly and Justin opened his eyes. Justin reached for Sam’s cock and pumped it, making his cum. Sam sucked harder on Brian’s cock, sending Brian over the edge which in turn made Justin cum at the same time.

Justin pulled out and stood up. It had been nearly two months for him, he needed that so much. He smiled when he saw that Brian hadn’t lost his erection. Brian was full of surprises. Brian’s eyes were closed and he looked like an angel. Sam was slumped on the floor, breathing hard. Justin took the condom from his hand and rolled it down over Brian’s cock.

Brian opened his eyes startled.

“Fuck him for me, baby” Justin said seductively.

Brian wasn’t sure if they were still playing the game or not. The look in Justin’s eyes was more than appealing. He reached down and pulled Sam to his feet, pressing his lips over Sam’s and tasting himself in Sam’s mouth. Sam hungrily responded. Brian kissed his neck and whispered into his ear. “Do you want me inside you?”

Sam nodded and moaned. “Oh yeah.”

Brian turned them around and leaned Sam against the wall. He stepped forward and used his cock to open Sam up again. Sam was still loose from Justin so it didn’t take any time at all. Brian thought about sliding his cock into a place where Justin had just been and felt himself getting even harder.

As Brian slid inside Sam, he cried out from the sheer size of Brian filling him. “Ahhhh, you’re so big,” Sam panted.

“Do you want me to stop,” Brian whispered into his ear, concerned.

“God, don’t stop,” he sighed. “Just give me a minute,” he panted.

Brian waited; kissing Sam’s neck with soft wet kisses until he was pushing back on Brian’s hard pulsing cock.

“Fuck me,” Sam sighed.

Brian started slowly. He pulled out and thrust back in at a snail’s pace a few times, making sure Sam was ready to accept his girth.

“Mmmmm,” Sam groaned.

Brian built his rhythm slowly despite Sam’s pleas for more. He wanted to take his time, he wasn’t in any hurry. Brian slid out and re-lubed before sliding back in harder next time.

Justin stood leaning against the wall. He marveled at Brian’s soft, gentle touch. He was obviously a thoughtful and considerate lover. Watching Brian was making him hard all over again. He’d never considered that Brian would know what he was doing and a million questions began to run through his head. His rule had always been, never to have sex with anyone he worked with but watching Brian thrust into Sam was making his rule very blurry until he began thinking it was a stupid rule and wondering why he ever adopted it. Justin watched Brian increasing his pace and Sam leaning against the wall begging for Brian to keep fucking him.

“Don’t stop, don’t stop,” Sam kept repeating and Justin could tell that Brian was more than happy to keep going. He saw Brian was watching him intently. Justin turned so his back was pressed against the wall and took hold of his cock, fondling it. Brian’s eyes were darting between Justin’s eyes and watching Justin play with his cock. Fuck this was so hot, Justin was so turned on at Brian watching him that he hoped he could wait.

Brian thrust hard into Sam as he watched Justin touch himself. He couldn’t take this much longer, watching Justin was driving him crazy.

Justin felt his mouth go dry. Brian was a machine and Justin wanted Brian to be fucking him. His body was crying out for Brian to touch him. He closed his eyes and pumped his cock.

When Justin licked his lips, it was too much for Brian and he came hard. His eyes remained glued to Justin. Justin was pumping his cock and Brian felt like every nerve ending in his body was on fire. He pulled out and removed the condom. Brian stepped to the side and pressed his lips to Justin’s.

Justin opened his mouth as he felt Brian’s tongue entering his mouth. He blew his load and wound his arms around Brian’s neck.

Brian held Justin while his body shook uncontrollably. He buried his face into the side of Justin’s neck and rode the waves of the orgasm that was still ebbing through his body. Justin heart was pounding and Brian wished he was inside Justin instead of pressed against him.

They stood holding each other for a long time. Brian didn’t want to let Justin go.

Sam was sitting on the floor now, watching Brian hold Justin in his arms. The emotion between them was intoxicating. He hoped someday that he could find something like that.

Justin sighed and opened his eyes. “Mmmm,” Justin moaned as he enjoyed feeling Brian against him. He hugged Brian tighter and felt Brian relax into his arms. “We should go but I think I came all over you,” Justin sighed.

“You weren’t the only one,” Brian smiled, holding Justin had made him cum again. Brian stepped back a little nervous.

Justin smiled at Brian to reassure him. He tucked himself back into his pants, zipped them then watched as Brian tried to clean up. Justin grabbed a handful of tissues to help, but as he moved he realized, he had cum all over his pants as well. Fuck, Justin thought, Brian came again when he was holding him. He smiled at Brian. “I just found something for us to do for the next two days,” he smiled.

Brian grinned as he tucked his cock into his pants. He helped Sam to his feet and kissed him softly. “Thanks, you were great,” he smiled then took Justin’s hand to leave. “We both need a shower,” Brian laughed.

Justin nodded. They walked hand in hand through the club and out into the street. Justin hailed a cab and they returned to the hotel, still holding hands but without a word being spoken. By the time they entered their room, they were both feeling a little awkward. Justin could feel Brian hesitate. “Does it matter to you that we work together?”

“I don’t understand,” Brian said softly.

Justin smiled. “I’ve never been with anyone I worked with before. I know we shouldn’t but I want you so much.”

Brian said softly. “I want you too.” He was scared. This wasn’t just sex for him. Back at the club when he held Justin, he didn’t want to let him go. It was more than sex. Brian sifted through his feelings to try and understand. He was grateful to Justin for saving him. He would never have been brave enough to do half the things he’d done, without Justin’s encouragement. Justin was the one who went to Marty on his behalf, Justin liked his work and gave him the acknowledgement that he’d always craved but was never brave enough to take. It was his unwillingness to let Justin see him as a geek that forced him to wear his new clothes in public. Justin always encouraged him to try new things and never made him feel self conscious. Was he just grateful? He didn’t think what he was feeling was gratitude. It was more than that. He knew what lust felt like and although he did feel incredible lust for Justin, he was feeling something else as well.

“We should take that shower,” Justin smiled.

Brian followed Justin into his bathroom. They undressed each other slowly. Brian wondered where this was leading. He knew they would make love and he knew that it would be wonderful but what would happen then? Would he fuck Justin and would it be over?

Justin could feel Brian wasn’t completely with him. As much as he wanted Brian to fuck him, he also wanted Brian to want him. He wanted Brian to be so consumed with passion for him that he was obsessed with being inside him. Justin wasn’t feeling that from Brian right now. He’d seen it flash through Brian’s eyes at the club and he wanted to see it again. Justin soaped Brian up. He ran his hands across Brian’s chest. Brian was hard and strong and Justin remembered what it felt like to have Brian’s arms around him. His cock jumped to attention as he handed Brian the soap.

Brian ran the soap over Justin’s skin. Touching Justin was making his heart race. His head was saying he should be cautious but his cock was telling him something else. Justin turned around for Brian to soap his back. Brian looked longingly at Justin’s firm round butt. He wanted to just grab him and throw Justin down on the floor of the shower and fuck his brains out but something was stopping him. He wrapped his arms around Justin’s waist and kissed his neck. “I want you so much but I think we should wait.”

“Okay,” Justin said softly and nuzzled back against Brian. “If we can’t make love, will you hold me tonight instead?”

Brian turned off the water. He wanted to hold Justin. He dried Justin tenderly then dried off himself. “Let’s go to bed,” Brian smiled.

Justin smiled. He knew Brian was inwardly conflicted but he wasn’t sure what obstacles Brian was facing in his head. He was sure Brian wanted him. He lay in Brian’s arms and felt peaceful. Justin had never thought about being in a relationship, he’d always been too busy with his career. He knew he was getting ahead of himself. They’d only kissed once and already he was behaving like some love struck schoolboy. Did he just use the word love, had he lost his mind? ………. But it was love, Justin knew it, he could feel it bubbling inside him. It was official, he was crazy. Justin knew Brian was an intensely complicated person. He snuggled closer but thoughts of the first time he saw Brian near the spilled water cooler, floated into his head and Justin froze.

He could feel Brian breathing deeply and Justin knew he was asleep. He moved away gently, edging away gradually so not to disturb Brian’s slumber. Justin sat in the chair next to the bed and watched Brian sleep. He needed to talk to someone and thought of Gareth. Justin debated for a long time, trying to decide what to do.

********


“Honey wake up, it’s someone called Justin,” Mary Walker shook her husband.

Gareth sat up and took the phone. “Justin, what’s wrong with Brian?”

“I didn’t know who else to call,” Justin stammered. “I need to know what’s wrong with him.”

“Justin, I can’t discuss Brian with you.” Gareth looked at the clock; it was four fifteen in the morning. “What’s going on there?”

“I think I love him,” Justin stammered.

“Where is Brian?” Gareth asked. Justin sounded awful. How did work turn into love?

“He’s asleep in my bed.”

Gareth took a deep breath, shit. Brian was only just starting to find himself. He didn’t need the complication of an emotional entanglement. If it didn’t work out, Gareth didn’t want to see Brian retreat again into himself from a failed love affair. Brian was a cautious man. If he was sleeping with Justin, he must have considered all the consequences. “Does Brian feel the same way?”

“I don’t know how Brian feels. He said he wanted to wait.”

Gareth felt relieved. Brian hadn’t just jumped in, which was a good thing. “Why is he in your bed then?”

“I wanted him to hold me,” Justin said softly.

“But now you’re on the phone to me, what’s wrong Justin?”

“I’ve watched Brian turn from a moth to a butterfly in only a few days. Will he become a moth again?”

“You tell me you think you love him, but what if he did, would you still care about him?” Gareth asked.

“I’m not sure,” Justin admitted.

“Then you have some thinking to do. Don’t start anything with Brian that you aren’t prepared to finish. He isn’t like other people, he won’t bounce back easily. Brian has made some miraculous progress lately and I don’t want that to be lost. Think carefully Justin,” Gareth warned.

“I’ll think about it. I’m sorry I disturbed you Gareth,” Justin apologized and hung up.

Gareth spooned in behind his wife.

“Is everything okay, honey?” she said sleepily.

“Yeah, baby, go back to sleep,” Gareth wrapped his arms around her. He would call Brian tomorrow and check what was happening.

Justin poured himself a drink. Gareth was right; he needed to think this through. There was no question that his feelings for the Brian in his bed were strong, stronger than he had ever felt before. Could he still love the other Brian? The one who was ridiculed and maligned every day, the doormat that everyone at Ryder’s wiped their feet on. Could he stand by and watch as the man he loved, couldn’t stand up for himself? Could he respect Brian if he was like that again?

The progress Brian had made in just a few days was amazing. Brian had blossomed before Justin’s very eyes, but the other Brian, the helpless Brian that he first met had touched something in Justin too. It wasn’t pity, Justin respected Brian’s talent; he was even impressed by it. Brian was incredible in so many ways. Each time Justin peeled back another layer he found more of Brian to marvel over, more examples of just how special Brian was.

Justin went back to bed and climbed on top of Brian.

Brian opened his eyes. “What?”

“I don’t care how you dress or who you are, how you behave or what you do, I love you,” Justin smiled.

“Justin, what do you mean?” Brian stammered, still half asleep.

“I wanted you to know how I feel. I want us to be together. I’m not just talking about sex, I mean like this,” he rested his head on Brian’s chest. “I love you.”

Brian smiled. Feeling Justin against him made him happy. Was that love? He needed to be sure. “Get dressed; I want to show you something.”

“Now?”

Brian nodded. He lifted Justin off him and dressed quickly. Brian rang for his car to be brought around.

Justin wondered what Brian wanted him to see.

They picked up the car downstairs and Brian drove in silence. They pulled up at a dingy building and Brian took him inside. He opened the door of one of the apartments and turned on the lights.

Justin walked in and looked around. “Is this where you live?” Justin asked. It was old and drab and cluttered.

“Sometimes,” Brian admitted. “Come on, I have something else to show you.”

Justin watched Brian lock up the apartment and then they drove a few blocks away to another building. They went up in the elevator. Brian opened the door and switched on the lights. Justin wandered in. This apartment was beautiful. “Where are we?”

“This is my private place,” Brian smiled.

“It’s beautiful, Brian but I don’t understand. You have two apartments?” Justin said.

Brian nodded. “The first one is who I was and this one is who I am.” Brian told Justin about the last few years and his sessions with Gareth, the problems he’d faced as a child and how the way he was treated at Ryder’s affected him. He described his transformation and what it had meant to him. Brian talked for hours and Justin listened intently. When Brian finally said everything he felt needed to be said, he paused and took a deep breath. He looked into Justin’s eyes. “How do you feel about me now?”

Justin smiled. What he’d heard had just made him love Brian more. “I told you before, I love you.”

Brian took Justin in his arms. He’d told Justin everything and Justin still loved him. Brian felt safe to admit now that he loved Justin too. The sun was up but neither man cared. They made love over and over, declaring their feelings as they were locked in each other’s arms.

At six o’clock they went back to the hotel to collect their things then returned to Brian’s apartment and spent the rest of their weekend making love. When the alarm went off Monday morning, Brian didn’t know what to do.

“What’s wrong?” Justin asked.

“I need to call past my old place for clothes,” Brian said softly. He wasn’t sure how Justin would react to going to work with him that way.

Justin knew how difficult this was for Brian. His lover would continue to change in his own time. “Yeah, we will need to go past my place too,” Justin smiled. “It’s a good thing you just spent the last two days fucking me, I’d run out of clothes.”

Brian held Justin close to him and smiled. He knew now that Justin wouldn’t pressure him and he was relieved.

“We have to hurry; Marty wants me to meet him at nine,” Justin smiled.

“Then I guess fucking in the shower is out of the question,” Brian smirked.

Justin looked at the time and grinned. He jumped out of bed. “Hurry,” he called back at Brian who bolted after him.

********


Ed was at work at seven, hoping that Brian turned up. He’d tried continuously to get Brian at his apartment but his landlady said he was away. Ed couldn’t understand it. Brian never took time off work. He decided to tell Marty there was a problem in Central Filing. That would work and when Brian came back, the files could turn up. Marty had called the meeting in the Board Room, so, he tidied his desk and hurried to the get there.

Justin and Brian arrived to work a few minutes to nine. Brian had never arrived so late. He went to his office and Justin went to meet Marty.

Marty looked at the files Brian had completed over the past few days. “Did you help him?”

“Not a bit,” Justin smiled. “There wasn’t even a question. This is all Brian’s work. Marty, he’s a miracle. I’m not just talking about the quality but the sheer fucking volume in amazing,” Justin sighed.

“So I see,” Marty frowned. “If Brian did all the leg work, would you do his presentations if need be?”

“Sure, what have you got in mind?” Justin asked.

“I’ve arranged a meeting for all execs at ten. Is Brian in?”

“He’s in his office.”

“Tell him to stay there,” Marty ordered. He looked at his watch. It was a few minutes to ten. “The meeting is in the Board Room, I’ll see you there.”

Justin nodded. Marty looked like he was on a mission so something big was going to happen. Justin went back to his office and told Brian he was to stay put.

Brian knew something big was about to happen too and he felt guilty because he felt it was his doing. He felt sorry for Ed but he now realized that Ed was using him and he always had been. He knew that he would never be the same desperate fool again. Gareth was right. You shouldn’t have to buy someone’s affection for you. If you did, then that person wasn’t really worth knowing.

The execs all filed into the Board Room. Marty was seated at the head of the table with Justin at his side. “We have decided to streamline our operations here,” Marty announced. “From now on, Justin and I will be the only one’s to deal with clients and do presentations.”

The meeting erupted into chatter.

Marty ordered they all be quiet. “I want to see what you are all working on currently. Genevieve, you go first.”

She stood up and explained she was carrying a client base of six. She handed the files to Marty. He flicked through the pages, smiled and handed her a memo saying that she would still be doing her own presentations then told her to go back to work. She left quickly, knowing that she didn’t want to be there for the rest of this meeting.

Marty looked up. “I’m sure the rest of you have had a lot of difficulty bringing your files to this meeting. Does anyone have any of their files?” he asked.

Ed stood up boldly. “There is a problem with Central filing and some of the files are missing, Marty. We just need some time to locate them,” he smiled.

“Who has files?” Marty said coldly.

Two people had one each. Marty held out his hand for the files. He glanced through the pages and recognized Brian’s work immediately. He closed the last file and tapped the folder. “All current clients are now controlled by Justin. You each have a clean slate and a month to find and develop two new clients. You can use Sue, Shane and Mira for research. We will meet back here in a month’s time and a warning, anyone who comes to the meeting without meeting their quota will be given notice. If you pass my test and have your clients at the end of the month, depending on the size of their business you will be given a quota of business by Justin, you will need to meet. You will have three months to meet that quota or again, you will be given notice. I realize some of you won’t make it and I will be sad to see you go. Are there any questions?”

Ed stood up again. “What about Brian, he can do some good work, sometimes, Marty. It would help the other guys cut through some of the work. I can handle Brian,” he smiled.

Marty looked at the faces around the table. The others knew exactly what he was saying, Ed just didn’t get it. “I don’t want you handling Brian anymore. Brian now works exclusively with me. He’s been given another job to do and all his time will be devoted to it. He’s been instructed not to do any more projects for any of you, under any circumstances.”

Ed stood up to say something and Marty glared at him.

“Let’s cut through the bull, shall we?” Marty growled. “I know what you bunch have been up to and the free ride is over. You all earn good salaries and Brian had been doing your work for you. Not only that, but each of you has gone out of your way to paint him as the village idiot so I wouldn’t discover your dishonesty. Well, I have news for you boys and girls and it’s all bad. Because of all the work you have been giving him, Brian has been promoted and he is now Mr. Kinney to each and every one of you. You will show him the same level of courtesy and respect that you show me. Brian is a valuable asset of this business and if he has a single sad moment………well I’m sure you all get what I am talking about. I am happy to accept resignations for the people who feel they can do better somewhere else. The rest of you, get out of here and do some work,” Marty growled again.

The room emptied quickly. Marty looked at Justin and smiled. “I’m expecting to keep three of them.”

Justin raised his brow. “Did you mean it about promoting Brian?”

Marty shook his head. “Give Brian an artist and someone who can present and he is an agency all my himself. Word will spread fast about his skills, when some of this lot move out into the market place. I can’t take a chance on losing him.”

“What are you going to do?” Justin asked.

“I’m making him a partner.”

Justin was stunned. He’d expected Marty to just tie Brian up with a contract.

“He deserves it,” Marty smiled. “Can you tell him I want to see him?”

“Sure,” Justin smiled.

Brian looked up from his work and smiled at Justin. It was peaceful working in Justin’s office. He enjoyed not being interrupted all the time.

“Marty wants to see you,” Justin smiled.

Brian frowned. “What about, have I done something wrong?”

Justin grinned. “No, you did everything right. Go and see him, you’ll like what he has to say.”

Brian stood up. His heart was racing. Marty made him nervous.

Justin kissed Brian softly. “Go on, it’s good, I promise,” Justin smiled.

********


When Brian returned, he was pale. He sat down in Justin’s office and looked at his lover. “I can’t believe it,” he gasped.

Justin smiled. “Believe it, congratulations, Brian.”

“Marty told me I can work on anything I want.”

“I guess I work for you now,” Justin smiled. “Have you thought about what you want to do?”

“I told Marty, I like what I do and I want to keep working with you,” Brian smiled.

“Do I have to call you Mr. Kinney at work?” Justin laughed.

“Don’t be an ass,” Brian growled softly.

“Can I call you Mr. Kinney in bed? The idea of it is turning me on.” Justin smirked.

Brian laughed. “I’ll play any game that turns you on Mr. Taylor.” Brian reached across the desk and kissed Justin until Justin was breathless. He stepped back and smiled. “I have work to do, we’ll continue this when we get home tonight.”

Justin didn’t comment on Brian’s ‘home’ remark but the sound of Brian saying the words made him feel warm inside.

Brian had a ton of work to do but he needed to ring Gareth again. Gareth had rung to see how the weekend had ended up while Justin was in his meeting. Apparently, Gareth had been trying to reach him for a couple of days but he’d been so busy fucking Justin, he’d forgotten to charge his cell. Brian told Gareth what happened with Justin and how happy he was. He told him that he’d showed Justin both his apartments and how Justin understood and wasn’t rushing him. Gareth was pleased. Brian dialed him again. “Marty just made me a partner,” Brian bubbled.

“Brian, that’s wonderful,” Gareth was thrilled. Finally Brian was getting the recognition he deserved. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Me too,” Brian laughed. “I’ll see you Friday.” Brian went back to work. A few hours later, Justin interrupted him.

“Ton