Chapter Text
Brian quickly moved his hands against the front of his suit jacket, brushing wrinkles off. Fingers moved the knot of his tie from side to side a couple of times, making sure it wasn’t loose or lopsided. The button of the suit jacket slipped through the button hole for neat appearance. Brian filled his lungs with air, counted to three while sparring himself by thinking that he was the best damn ad exec in the world, and then he let the air out through his lips. He stared at the door handle and when he felt ready, he put on a brown-noser smile and opened the door.
In the waiting area stood his most profitable client, the CEO of Hart Fragrancies, Christian Hart. Mr. Hart was in his mid-forties, his stylish short hair already had a touch of grey on the sides, giving him that sexy silver fox type of look. He was only an inch or two shorter than Brian and with the same body type they looked surprisingly similar.
Mr. Hart’s appearance was well planned all the way down to the tiniest detail. His million-dollar suit didn’t have a single wrinkle, his royal blue tie was perfectly symmetrical, his square cufflinks were lined perfectly with the sleeves, his excessively expensive watch peeked from under the left sleeve enough to cause envy in other people and his shoes shined like no one else’s. Even the cologne he wore easily brought to mind the scent of money.
Mr. Hart was filthy rich and he thought he was above everyone else just because of the number in his bank account. He enjoyed the company of people who kept the tip of their nose brown around him. Brian knew a thing or two about keeping a nose brown only because there were men on Liberty Avenue who worshiped the ground he walked on. Brian had never been a fan of the whole act but the experience did help him when he tried to keep his client happy. For bucket loads of money, Brian was ready to do surprisingly lot.
“Mr. Hart, it’s good to see you,” Brian flashed his most admiring smile.
“Likewise,” Mr. Hart took Brian’s hand into a firm handshake.
When Brian grabbed the hand, he noticed someone new behind his client. He took a step to his right and from behind Mr. Hart revealed a real blond beauty. Brian’s lips parted when he stared at the golden silky hair, the fair skin that seemed to glow under the fluorescent light and the deliciously sensual lips. His petite body looked casually relaxed in a green hoody and black cargo pants. Not once had Brian seen Mr. Hart accompany someone who dressed like that. Sure enough, the clothes had a brand name on them, but they were not formal wear.
Brian thought twice if he should step closer to introduce himself or not because the young man had his focus completely on his phone. His thumbs swiftly moved over the screen, indicating that he was either playing something or texting someone. But since this man didn’t raise his head, Brian addressed Mr. Hart. “And who’s this?”
“Don’t mind him. Shall we go somewhere more private?” Mr. Hart immediately answered.
Brian couldn’t help staring at his client in shock. Was he serious? But as the young man didn’t react in any way, nor did he lift his head from his phone, Brian decided to move things along. “Follow me” he nodded and turned around before silently mouthing wow and arching his brow.
Brian knew that Hart Fragrancies had their own marketing specialists and Ryder Advertising existed in the picture only basically to bring in fresh air. So, even though their business relationship was strong, it was still standing on a fragile ground. Hart Fragrancies could manage perfectly on their own but they brought in a lot of money to Ryder Advertising, so Brian was forced to do perfect job to keep them, included not visibly reacting to rude things Mr. Hart blurted out.
As they arrived to the conference room, Brian motioned for his guests to take a seat. Mr. Hart sat down at the table but his companion slumped on the white leather sofa five feet from the end of the table, like he was at home.
“Would you like something to drink?” Brian offered as he sat on the opposite side to his client where he had his laptop ready for presentation.
“No, thank you,” Mr. Hart shook his head.
Brian looked at young man from the corner of his eye, but because he paid no interest in anything else than his phone, he didn’t ask again if he would like something.
“So, it’s been a couple of weeks since our last meeting. We have worked on the issues on the website we talked about and I have a new version which I can show you,” Brian woke up his computer and managed the settings so what was on his computer screen, reflected on the white wall at the end of the table
“Great, did you work on the capacity issues?” Mr. Hart asked as he observed the new front page of the work in progress website.
“Yes, we also made it a little lighter so now it works much more smoothly and the experience is much more user friendly. We moved the side bar to the top, as agreed and did the changes to the animations as you asked,” Brian explained and watched as Mr. Hart observed the reflection on the wall.
From the corner of his eye, Brian saw that the young man’s thumbs had slowed down and even though his head was directed to the phone, his eyes were on the website.
“When will you get the different language settings done?” Mr. Hart asked.
“The translations should be finished next week and after that we can implement them into the website. I can give you a call once we have them ready,” Brian nodded.
“Looks good, Kinney,” Mr. Hart nodded in thought. “You don’t disappoint,” he grinned charmingly.
“It’s not my style to disappoint,” Brian grinned back as he turned his computer around and pushed it towards his client. “Here, you can take a look yourself. Get a feel of the website and see if there’s still something that needs tweaking.”
Mr. Hart pulled the computer closer and Brian leaned his right elbow on the arm of the chair. He tried very hard to keep his eyes on his client and ignore the beauty on the sofa but he couldn’t help stealing a glance every now and then. He just couldn’t help observing the most beautiful person in the world. How was it possible to look like that? It wasn’t human to be that beautiful. And then blue eyes met his hazel ones and stared shamelessly back. Brian’s breath got stuck in his throat and since when does his heart stop beating when someone hot looked back at him? He had met plenty of hot men before and he had fucked all of them, not once had his heart taken a notice.
“I think it looks good. Just get the language settings implemented and I think we’re done. When did we plan on launching the website?” Mr. Hart asked as he didn’t remember what they had previously agreed on.
“At the beginning of next month, that will give us a little over three weeks but I assure you, everything will be done by then,” Brian assured his client.
“Great,” Mr. Hart nodded. “I also wanted to talk to you about online ads, banners,” Mr. Hart gave the computer back.
“Okay, how can I help you there?” Brian asked interested.
“We are attending next year’s World Perfumery Congress and we’re the main exhibitor there,” Mr. Hart explained. “For now, we only need a banner that will be placed on the congress’ website but later we will need other marketing material too.”
“I see,” Brian nodded. “Give me a little time and I’ll gather my team together. We need to think the whole concept through. All marketing material including the banners should match. I don’t recommend creating just banners now and then other material around it. That might not work later, concepts that work on the internet don’t always work on print,” Brian explained. “Should we schedule a meeting for next week?” he opened his calendar and checked what his next week looked like.
“Actually, next week is not good. We’re taking a little getaway vacation to Italy,” Mr. Hart said and Brian noticed the warm look he gave his companion. “I own a house just by a beach. It’s absolute heaven there.”
Brian rolled his lips into his mouth as he saw the young man glance at Mr. Hart and give him a hint of a smile. The corners of the lips curved up a tiny bit and Brian’s dick suddenly took notice of it. Brian quickly moved his eyes to his computer screen and cursed his cock. What the hell was it thinking? His client’s… boyfriend or partner or whatever this man was to Mr. Hart, was a big no, no! Although by the looks of it, it seemed like there was quite the gap between their ages. But then again, what did age have to do with anything? Brian had lived long enough and he had been part of the gay community long enough to know what kind of relationships went on in this town. But still, Brian didn’t fuck anyone he saw during office hours. “Sounds great,” he cleared his throat a little. “How about the next week then?”
Mr. Hart pulled out his phone and tapped it a few times. “I have free time on Thursday afternoon.”
Brian saw that he had a meeting then with another client but since Mr. Hart filled his pockets with bigger bills than Brown Athletics, he booked the time for Mr. Hart and made a mental note to reschedule with Mr. Brown.
“Great, then I will not keep you here any longer. We are clear on how to proceed and we’ll see again in two weeks,” Brian smiled.
“Can I use your restroom?” Mr. Hart asked. Brian immediately nodded and gave him directions to the nearest restroom. The man left and Brian noticed that the young man stayed on the sofa, still very interested in the phone. He looked at him and this time stared more openly. The man lifted his eyes up as he felt Brian’s stare. “What?”
“What’s your name?” Brian asked with a gentle voice.
The man looked at him for a moment. “Didn’t you hear Christian?” referring to the moment when the older man had told Brian to ignore him.
Yeah, Brian had heard Christian. He had practically said this man was no one. “Yeah, I did. What’s your name?” Brian asked again.
“Justin Taylor,” he answered and went back to his phone.
“What do you do?” Brian asked.
Justin furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m playing solitaire,” he said with a hint of sour tone in his voice.
“No, what do you do for living? I assume you are of age?” Brian corrected.
Justin was used to people thinking he was a little boy and not a 23-year-old man. “I fuck him,” he said boldly. He wanted to add without pay but considering who had bought all his clothes and the phone he was holding, gave him a place to live with multiple luxuries, rode him around Pittsburgh in expensive cars and occasionally other cities and even countries and let’s not mention the private jets, that statement was not exactly 100% true. Justin kept his slight harsh tone on purpose because he was used to the disgusted looks thrown his way when someone found out the nature of the relationship he had with Christian. So, he stared at Brian and waited for it, but for some reason, it didn’t come. Instead, Brian pulled his cheeks in as he looked at his computer and nodded. Justin found himself completely surprised.
Brian noticed the conversation was clearly over. He wasn’t sure if Justin had just tried to test him with that comment. Being in a relationship with someone who was much older couldn’t be easy. Other people usually had way too many opinions and were not afraid to express themselves.
They waited in silence as Mr. Hart returned and when he did, Brian watched curiously as Mr. Hart just snapped his fingers and Justin was right beside him in seconds. Brian had really hard time believing what he was seeing. It was like Justin wasn’t a human being. And also, making things happen by just snapping fingers was a douchebag rich people thing. Brian was not a fan of it.
“Let me show you the way out,” Brian got up and escorted the couple to the front lobby.
Justin finally decided to put the phone away and casually looked around once they reached the lobby while Brian shook Mr. Hart’s hand once again. But as Mr. Hart turned and walked towards the front doors, Brian caught a very subtle sly smile and a wink of an eye from Justin. That left Brian speechless from surprise but he managed not to react to the gesture as their eyes connected. He watched the couple step outside and noticed how Mr. Hart took a hold of Justin’s hand like an actual couple.
Brian was not sure how to read them. They were definitely one of a kind and he would just have to observe more until he could decide what he thought about them. Brian hummed a little as he turned around and headed back upstairs. What a curious thing.
*
“I don’t know what to pick,” Michael mumbled as he leaned his elbows on both sides of his dirty plate. He was sitting in one of the green booths at the Diner and observed a fan deck of paint samples.
“Why do you have to get rid of the violet in the comic book store?” Ted asked as he cut the remainder of his meat into little pieces.
“It’s getting old and boring. It’s good to do something every once in a while, to brighten up the place,” Michael explained and looked more closely at the different kind of whites. He leaned back in the green bench and felt frustrated because picking up a color was a really dull job. “I think white might be too boring.”
“Your customers don’t come there for the interior design,” Ted pointed out as he gave a smile to Debbie who was rushing past their table every now and then.
“But Comic Centre across the town did a whole renovation and it brought in so much more customers, some of my regulars took their business there! If I don’t do something, soon all my loyal customers will go there!” Michael sounded worried.
“You worry too much, sweetie,” Emmett said as he munched on his fries after dipping them in ketchup.
“I need to worry, sales decreased 10% last month, if this keeps up, I’ll be in serious debt soon!” Michael insisted. “I won’t be able to even afford the barrel and suspenders.”
“What it needs is good marketing,” Brian arched his other eyebrow, pulled closer the magazine someone had left on the table and turned the cover. “Your weekly adds in Pittsburgh Out are not enough.”
“Maybe you could do it?” Michael immediately asked, his expression brightening up a little.
“Ryder has an annual revenue limit when it comes to the clients, you don’t make the cut,” Brian shook his head.
“I know that, but you. You could help,” Michael insisted. “We don’t need to mix Ryder into this.”
“Sorry, no can do. I’m an ad exec. I tell people what to do and I sweet talk the clients. I don’t make ads appear just by myself,” Brian shook his head.
Michael slumped his shoulders disappointed.
“Anyway, you know what I did last night?” Emmett grinned. “I met someone with a ten-inch cock.”
“You measured it?” Brian furrowed his eyebrows but looked amused.
“No, but I blew him and this mouth knows a lot about cock sizes,” Emmett pointed to his face. “It was a pleasure to serve that kind of beauty.”
All the men chuckled around the table. Ted patted his friend on his back. “Way to go, Em.”
“Why did you suck him? I would have fucked him,” Brian smirked.
“I like to be tight for a reason,” Emmett grinned back.
Brian shook his head with a small grin.
“What about you? Any new exciting men in your life?” Ted asked Brian.
“I met this weird couple,” Brian said and turned a page of the magazine. Everyone around the table fell into silence.
“A couple?” Michael wondered confused.
“Yeah, I think they might be a sugar couple,” Brian mumbled.
“What’s so weird about that?” Emmett asked as he squeezed more ketchup on his fries from a bottle. “I know like ten sugar couples back in Hazlehurst.”
“But when the sugar baby comes on to me in a business meeting, it’s weird,” Brian pointed out, raising his head from the magazine for a second to look at his friend.
Emmett oohed at the idea excitedly, while Michael furrowed his eyebrows and Ted snickered. “Look at that, you’re finally old enough that you’ve started to attract sugar babies.”
Brian took one of Emmett’s fries and threw it at Ted.
“Hey!” Emmett tried to slap Brian’s wrist but missed.
“In a business meeting? What happened?” Michael got curious.
“You all know Mr. Hart,” Brian knew they did.
“Ah, tall, gorgeous, broad shoulders, firm body. I’d love me a piece of Mr. Hart,” Emmett sighed dreamily. “I’m wearing his Passion-fragrance today.”
“Yeah, turns out he has a sugar baby. He brought him into a meeting yesterday,” Brian turned a page of the magazine again.
“I’d love to be his sugar baby,” Emmett kept his dreamy voice. “I would swim in money, have passionate hot sex every night, drive around in expensive cars…”
“I’m sorry to break it to you, Em, but you’re a little too old,” Ted pointed out.
“But I would still love it,” Emmett smiled.
“So, what happened?” Michael asked.
“He showed some interest behind his daddy’s back,” Brian muttered and faked being interested in one of the articles in the magazine.
“Was he cute?” Emmett grinned. “Did he have a baby face? A twink?”
“Blond, blue eyes and a bubble butt. Really young looking. If that’s your definition of cute, then yeah,” Brian kept his voice boring. Yeah, Justin was cute but also so fucking beautiful and hot.
“Sounds adorable. So, is he looking out for another sugar daddy? Has Mr. Hart’s stamina lowered and he’s prowling for a younger model but still old enough, rich enough and experienced enough to please his every need?” Emmett ate a couple of fries.
“I certainly hope not,” Brian twisted his mouth. He will never become someone’s sugar daddy, no matter how beautiful they were.
“Think about what would happen if the kid decided to switch to you. That would blow things up. Mr. Hart would definitely not approve. He has a reputation of having a bit of a temper,” Michael thought out loud.
“Well, nothing’s going to happen. I’m not available,” Brian shook his head. Except… Justin was tempting, but stealing his client’s sugar baby would certainly drive his most profitable client to another agency. He closed the magazine and dug his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. He pulled out a few bills and tossed them onto the table. “Let me up,” he tapped Michael’s upper arm a couple of times with the back of his hand.
Michael got up but looked confused. “I thought you were going to help me pick up a color for the comic book store?”
Brian got out of the booth and pulled on his leather jacket. “No can do tonight. There’s somewhere I need to be,” he looked like he got no choice. Well, in a way he did have a choice, but his needs came first and unfortunately Michael’s store’s walls came second.
“Don’t worry sweetie, I’ll help you,” Emmett offered.
“See you,” Brian said as he turned toward the front door. He gave Debbie a little wave and then stepped out into the dark evening. He walked to his Corvette and headed for the baths. For some reason he kept on thinking about Justin. His face popped up into his mind every now and then. He was not sure what was happening, but it surely wasn’t anything a good fuck wouldn’t fix.