"Coup de Foudre" 145
By Gaedhal
Pittsburgh, July 2017
“Roberta? Roberta! Are you there?” Brian flipped the switch and then counted to ten. He was doing a lot of that lately. “Jesus Fuck!”
“Yes, Mr. Kinney?” came the chirpy voice. “Do you want something?”
“Yes, Roberta. You called me, remember?”
“Oh, yes. I did.” Silence.
Brian was ready to lose it. “So… what’s the fucking message?”
“From who?”
One. Two. Three. Four…
“The message you were going to give me when you buzzed me.”
“Oh. Just a minute. I wrote it down.”
The phone went dead.
“Roberta? Are you there?”
Brian ripped off his headset. This was too much. He’d promised to give this girl a chance, but…
He hated to do this. He hated firing anyone. He didn’t mind threatening to fire people, it was actually doing it that made him crazy.
He stalked down the hallway, his face like thunder.
“Hey, Bri…”
“Not now, Theodore. I’m on my way to kill someone.”
Ted began walking along side his boss. “Let me guess - the new receptionist? Can I watch?”
“Go back to work. This is something I’d rather not have an audience for.”
Ted sighed. “Why did you hire this girl in the first place? Everyone wants to know.”
Brian stopped and winced. “You won’t believe it if I told you.”
“Try me.”
Brian took a deep breath. “The Outlaws.”
Ted frowned. “Excuse me?”
“My semi-future-in-laws. I call them the Outlaws. Jennifer and that sports maniac she’s married to. Brad Whatsis. Roberta is his niece. Justin told me that she was having a hard time holding onto a job and asked me if I’d give her a chance. And since Phoebe was going to be pumping out a fucking kid…” Brian shrugged. “Now I know why she keeps getting fired! All she has to do is answer the fucking phone and take some messages! But this is a disaster.”
“I know,” said Ted. “The account manager for Dandy Lube finally called my cell to say that he’d left three messages for me and couldn’t understand why I hadn’t called him back. I’ve given all my accounts my direct number, but it’s a pain in the ass! I keep getting interrupted answering the phone.”
“That’s what she’s supposed to be doing,” Brian sniffed. “Monitoring calls!”
“She also keeps cutting me off. I hate to say it, but she’s cutting everyone off.”
“I know! Jesus!” Now Brian had a hell of a headache. “Now scram while I take care of this.”
“What’s Justin going to say?”
“Nothing! If Brad Whatsis is going to bitch about it, let him bitch to Jennifer. That’s her job as the wife - to get bitched at by her husband. I can’t hire every fucking relative that…” They approached the front desk. “I told you, Theodore - beat it.”
“Good luck, chief!” And Ted beat it.
“Listen, Roberta…”
“Oh, Mr. Kinney! I remembered why I called you!” she chirped. “You have a visitor. But he didn’t have an appointment, so I wasn’t sure…”
Brian turned as his visitor stood up.
“Garrett! What the fuck are you doing here?” Brian wasn’t a hugger, but he suddenly felt the urge to hug Garrett. So he hugged him… lightly. Briefly.
“It’s so good to see you, Brian! I was going to call you a dozen times, but… Then I thought I’d just come down. I mean, I was passing by and…” Garrett paused. “Is there somewhere we can talk? I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I know you must be busy.”
“It’s fine. I’m the boss, so I can do anything I want. Come back to my office so we can talk.” He turned to Roberta. “Hold my calls.”
In the office, Brian went to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle. “Have a drink?”
“It’s a bit early in the day for me,” said Garrett, settling on the couch.
“For me, too.” Brian showed him the bottle. It was Perrier. “It’s no fun being off the booze, but it’s better for my head in the long run.” He took two glasses, filled them with ice, and poured. “Sláinte.”
“Cheers,” said Garrett. “So, Brian, you look well.”
“I’m trying. I’m working out, trying to eat right. Justin monitors me like a fucking nursemaid, but I couldn’t have done it without him.”
“And you’re working full time?” Garrett noted that Kinnetik was humming.
“Yes. And we’ve opened an office in New York. Starting small, but it looks promising.”
“That’s so wonderful!” said Garrett, smiling. He’d forgotten how attractive Brian was. And how attracted to him he’d been. And still was. But that’s why he’d come. “And how is Justin?”
Brian laughed. “He’s doing great. He’s in charge of the Art Department now and he runs it like a fucking dictator - just like I would! The minute he walks in they all jump ten feet. He makes me very proud.”
“So you like working together?”
“It’s working out. We’re trying to make everything work out, both here and at home. You know what they say - baby steps.”
“You love him,” Garrett said. “And he loves you. That’s why it will work out. I know it will.”
Brian bit his bottom lip. “You’re right. It took us a long time to get here. It’s like we’ve picked up right where we were before the wedding went south. And now we’re raising a kid. Working together. We’re even building a fucking house. Now that’s a real nightmare! But Justin is in his element. He’ll have his own studio. He even wants to get a fucking dog!”
Garrett grinned. “Oh, of course! I don’t know how you’ve lived all these years without one. Or two.”
“I forgot about your two mutts,” said Brian. “And Ron did have a dog, so I’m familiar with the concept. I’m not a completely heartless bastard, you know?”
“I know.” Garrett set down the glass of Perrier. “I don’t want to take up your whole day with chitchat, Brian, so I’ll say what I came to say.”
“Oh,” said Brian. “Then shoot.”
“I… I wanted to say goodbye.”
Brian’s face fell. “Goodbye?”
“I’m going back to England. I’ve been offered a job at a small university in Yorkshire. It’s not far from my family in Newcastle and it’s lovely country.”
“You’re really leaving?” said Brian. “But you’ve been here for years!”
“I know,” said Garrett. “I thought about leaving after… after Simon died. But the house… the neighborhood… my job… I couldn’t bear the thought of making a change. Of… of leaving all the memories behind. But I think the time has come. I want to go home.”
Brian felt a pang in the pit of his stomach. He realized that he’d had stronger feelings for Garrett than he realized. It wasn’t anything like what he felt for Justin, nothing even close. But Garrett had been more than just a convenient and comfortable fuck, he’d been a real friend. And when Brian was at his lowest point, after the accident, Garrett had been there when he was needed. Quietly and unassumingly there. When he thought of where he’d been a year ago - destroyed. Or close to it. But Garrett hadn’t shied away.
“After Ron… died…” Brian shook his head. “I wanted to come home, too. I thought I was escaping, but I was really coming back to where I belonged. Coming home, too. As painful as it’s been, it was the right decision.”
“I knew you’d understand.” Garrett stood up. “Perhaps under different circumstances, at a different time, a different place…” Garrett stopped. He couldn’t say he was in love with Brian, but…
“Are you taking the mutts?”
“No, I thought I’d give them to Justin!” Then Garrett saw the real horror in Brian’s face. “Of course I’m taking them!”
“Thank God!” Brian whispered. “Well, we have to have a going away party for you. A big fucking blow out!”
“No,” said Garrett. “I’m leaving the day after tomorrow. I only have a few more things to pack and minor affairs to settle and I’ll be gone. No muss, no fuss.”
“But the house…”
“I’ve sold the house. And my car. There was nothing more to do than… unfinished business.”
“Me,” said Brian. “I’m unfinished business.”
“For me you are,” said Garrett. “But for you I will always be a brief encounter. Which is as it should be. I know you and Justin will be happy. And Gus, too. Perhaps one day you’ll all come and visit me in Yorkshire.”
“What’s the name of the place?”
“Snowfell St. Mary.”
It sounded to Brian like a place where little old ladies solved gruesome murders. “It sounds cold.”
“Well, the Yorkshire moors can be cold. But I’m used to Pittsburgh, so it won’t get the better of me!”
“I know it won’t.”
They both stood there awkwardly for a moment.
“I must be going,” said Garrett.
“I’ll see you out.”
They walked to the big glass doors in the reception area. Garrett put out his hand to shake, but Brian grabbed him and hugged him, tightly this time. And then he kissed him. Just once. And then Garrett left without another word.
Brian stood, watching him go. Then he turned and headed back to his office, passing the reception desk.
“Oh, Roberta?”
“Yes, Mr. Kinney?” she said brightly.
“You’re fired.”
