The Last Baker
Title: The Last Baker [16]
Author:![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
shorthorror
Pairing: Brian Haner & Zachary Baker
Rating: NC-17
Summary: This beautiful asshole just came around and started ruining everything for me. I was the last Baker, and I'd promised my father our name would not die with me.
Disclaimer: I am confident the readers can distinguish between what is real and what is fiction. I need not state the obvious.
Dedications: To those who took this story and made it worth something to me.
0.5
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
It had been a week since Brian had made us official and things were beginning to develop quite well between us. Each day at work Brian would maintain that professional- yet snarky disposition of his while working the kitchen like a boot camp. I had never seen somebody so motivated for work and bursting with contagious morale. My other employees seemed to like Brian a lot. They never appeared to even give a second thought to the fact that Greta was once filling that position. Everybody liked talking to Brian and working around him, especially the girls. I noticed a lot of my female staff were taking quite the liking to my newest addition. They smiled at him, giggled at his jokes and batted their lashes in his presence. I couldn't blame any one of them though. For he was quite the man. Tall, dark, funny with a face blessed by angelic structure. Keeping my remarks proved to be tougher than I expected.
When I observed my employees at work and the way the girls were attracted to Brian like bees to a rose, I bit my lip and told myself to play it one hundred percent cool and act like nothing was bothering me at all. Even when they brushed against him, thinking that they had just pulled off a very subtle and sly gesture of flirtatiousness, when I had seen every thought going through their minds. I knew I wasn't the only one to come to terms with Brian's undeniable good looks. But I wasn't expecting everyone else to as well.
To keep from banishing some of my chefs to a different part of the kitchen far away from Brian's post, I walked away and shut myself up in my office to take care of legal things and answer important calls that weren't necessarily made to the restaurant, but to me personally concerning any sort of aspect that wasn't the business itself. I had people to answer the calls for table reservations. Things like that were below me and not of any real concern. Trying to keep from making anything between me and Brian even the slightest bit obvious was making a big dent in my long overdue paperwork. At least I was getting things done while Brian had all the fun in the kitchen.
Sometimes owning a five star restaurant wasn't as fun as actually working in one.
Periodically throughout the work day, Brian would knock on my office door and then open it up to his own accord, slinking in to say hi and ask how I was doing all cooped up, secluded and somewhat distant. I would always give him the same lethargic reply and ask him what our plans were for that night, since the both of us usually stayed until closing so we could leave together.
One day Brian surprised me with what he had conjured up, or rather stumbled upon as plans for our weekend. He came into my office nearing the end of the night and sat down in front of my desk.
"I'm taking you out somewhere really nice tonight to meet a few of my friends." Brian said blatantly.
"Where?" I asked.
"It's this place in L.A. that I was invited to. My friend Jimmy asked for me to come and to bring you."
I cocked an eyebrow. "He asked for you to bring me specifically?"
"Well yeah," Brian stated. "He knows that I'm dating someone. I can't just keep you a secret from the whole world. I have friends and family that are always interested in meeting the people I'm dating."
"You make it sound like you've dated a lot." I said.
"A few people, but look, don't get antsy okay? It'll be one night out in L.A. with a bunch of my close friends. We get to dress up real nice and have fancy drinks and meet new people."
I sighed. "Please don't tell me any press will be there."
Brian tilted his head and shrugged, trying to appear as though he didn't know when I knew that he did. "Sometimes celebrities show up and paparazzi follow. You know how it is."
I wasn't so sure about going to Los Angeles. I wasn't a very big fan of the city, it being the place of both my parents' deaths and the fact the city was crawling with scumbags and weird people wanting to take your picture didn't make it sound too appealing to me anyway. But I looked at Brian and I could see that this was something important. One of those 'events' that he wanted to show me off at. Whatever he meant by that.
I let a low groan escape my throat. "Fine. What should I wear?"
"Wear that cute little sweater vest that you have and the white dress shirt. I don't know, something adorable. I want everyone to be jealous of me because you're mine."
"Okay, well then are you going to pick me up?" I inquired.
"Of course I'll pick you up," Brian said, lifting himself up from the so he could circle my desk and stop before me. "You're going to have fun. I promise. Me and Jimmy have been best friends since high school. It'll be him and his girlfriend, plus my friend Johnny and whoever he's bringing. We'll go to the bar and have a few drinks and then after that maybe... if you want, we can get a hotel room?"
The idea of spending the night at a hotel with Brian was the sinker that pulled me into complete agreement. Imagining him and I, alone, far away from everyone we knew and able to do and say whatever we wanted to each other was something I couldn't pass up. When Brian saw the smile that spread over my face, he returned the smile and bent over to press a hard kiss to my lips. "I knew you'd say yes once I threw that in."
"We don't really get to be alone that much." I pointed out.
"I know. But tonight is going to be different," Brian said with a sexy wink of his glinting eye. "You know me. I know how to have a good time."
I nodded as Brian came down for another, slower and deeper kiss, sealing the deal for tonight officially.
I went home and quickly jumped into the shower to wash up. I used this exotic raspberry white tea body wash that somebody had given me as a Christmas present, except it came in a scarlet velvet carrying case with a bottle of after shave and face wash too. But I had used up all the after shave because of it's tangy fruit smell that made you want to lick it up off your skin. After my hot shower, I stepped out and wrapped a towel around my waist before going to the counter to shave. I found myself shaving more and more often since I'd started dating Brian. I tied my new found habit to my delight of soft skin on skin contact. Even when Brian had mere stubble it made me wince to touch it. I agreed with every accusation anyone had ever made about a man's face being as rough as sandpaper.
Before I left my bathroom, I heard footsteps coming into my room. I knew it was Brian so I didn't even open the door to see who it was, if any chance there was a possibility it wasn't Brian. But only Brian knew where I hid my spare key. Beneath the metal rails leading up to my front door, I'd stuck a small magnet on with super glue and used that to hold the spare key in place, safely hidden and unsuspected.
Suddenly the door to my bathroom was opened and Brian stepped in, wearing a pair of nicely fitted black pants that barely reached beneath his hips. Underneath a sleeveless hooded vest type thing he wore a shirt printed with various skulls. The shirt was also sleeveless. I'd come to the conclusion that Brian liked to let his sculpted tattooed arms show more than normal and that's why most of his T-shirts were cut at the shoulder. I glanced down at his feet and saw that he was still wearing his shoes. I grimaced and pointed at them. "Brian, why are you wearing your dirty shoes all over my clean carpets?"
Brian laughed. "It's called a vacuum babe, you've seen one before, remember? The vacuum that attacked you in my apartment?"
"The vacuum didn't attack me, it was that weird little Asian woman you keep around to clean up after you."
Brian shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a real dirty boy."
I sighed before rubbing some lightly scented after shave on my cheeks and neck. Brian came up behind me and pressed his face between my neck and shoulder. "That smells good. What is it?"
I held up the bottle and read the label. "Cobalt by Armani."
Brian grabbed the bottle, read the label and then tossed it onto the counter with a startling clatter. "Fancy shit."
"You're too much." I said, standing the bottle straight up and pushing it to the far side of the counter, back between the Calvin Klein cologne and my digital toothbrush that pretty much guided you through brushing like it was your very first time.
"You're too much. Literally. To keep up with you I'd have to run two careers." Brian said as he rubbed my shoulders.
"You're just the same. I wouldn't normally go to L.A. just to have a couple drinks at some high class bar." I said with a laugh.
Brian spun me around and grabbed my hands, pushing me up against the counter with his hips. "But that's the beauty of living a successful and free life. If you want to go to L.A. for drinks, you can. If you want to go to Vegas to gamble, you go to Vegas. And if you want to go shopping in New York, then you fucking do it. You can do anything you want. That's how you live a long and satisfying life. Doing the shit you want, when you want to do it."
I rolled my eyes. "So that's your secret for living."
"Damn straight." Brian whispered, nipping at one of my silver lip rings before pulling me into a kiss full force.
We stood in the bathroom making out for a few minutes until all the steam had cleared away and my skin had dried completely. Brian was the one to pull away with a noisy and sloppy finish and a smile as he pressed our foreheads together.
"Okay, now go get dressed cutie. We have an appearance to make."
I left dressed in dark tight ankle jeans, some slip on shoes and the black cotton sweater vest Brian liked worn over a three quarter sleeved dress shirt. I even wore a black tie because Brian said that it made me look like a 'sexy little rich school boy'. Really I was trying to make him happy. This was the first time I was going to meet his close friends, and I knew that he wanted them to drool over me as much as he did. I looked my best for Brian's night, since that's what it really was. I'd let him play his little game of haha-my-boyfriend-is-hotter-than-yours-b
"Prize winning dog!?"
I nodded.
"Zacky, you're not my prize winning dog, and I'm not using you to make others jealous of me. I'm simply showing the world that they aren't as fortunately blessed as I am."
I narrowed my eyes into slits of accusation. "Brian, that IS making people jealous."
Brian groaned and rolled his eyes as we sped down the highway. "It's a date. It's something to do. It's not like you're some rental date for me to carry around. You're my goddamn boyfriend. I'm allowed to be proud of you."
"Fine whatever." I dismissed.
"No! I will not have you thinking such corruption!" Brian exclaimed dramatically.
I laughed as I hit his thigh. "Shut up and get me drunk already."
The drive to Los Angeles was about an hour, and finding the bar cost us another forty five minutes. Brian was supposed to meet his friends out front of the bar for eight o'clock. It was now close to nine and we had just pulled up, parked valet and then went in after walking up to the bouncer. It took a flash of our smiles and a mention of our last names to gain quick access.
The bar was dim and abuzz with activity. It was quite a big establishment too. A lot of women dressed in tiny dresses, too high heels and enough make up to frost a cake pranced and danced around everywhere, in every corner of the place. Most of the guys were caught up, trying to dance with these women, get their numbers or get the poor drunk girls to go somewhere with them. I laughed and held tight to Brian's arm as he guided me through the crowd, that sinister too good for life smirk rooted right where it was supposed to be. I looked up at Brian's face as we threaded through the crowd and saw the way his eyes sparkled. This was his zone. His time to shine.
"Bri! Brian!" I heard somebody calling from our left.
I looked over and saw a table with a few people seated around it. A really tall guy with wild black hair was trying to get Brian's attention, so I tugged on his arm and pointed his chocolate eyes in the direction of who I assumed to be his friends. Brian smiled and we hurriedly made our way over to the wide booth that was able to seat about ten comfortably with room for more. The tall guy stood up and came around to greet Brian. I let go of him as the guy clamped his arms around Brian, hugging him tightly.
"Jesus Bri, I thought you weren't going to show up!"
"Of course Brian has to be fashionably late." Said another guy that was seated beside a girl that I presumed to be his girlfriend.
"Yeah Brian, you really have to stop with the late appearances. Nobody likes waiting up for an hour just for you!" Said the black haired man with the small but intense blue eyes.
"But then I can make a grand entrance that everyone notices." Brian defended himself.
"Shut up Haner!"
"Anyway, Jim, this is my boyfriend Zachary Baker. Zack, this is Jimmy Sullivan, my best friend." Brian introduced me to the guy that had at least a foot on me.
"Nice to meet you." I said with a smile, shaking Jimmy's hand.
"No surprise Brian hooks up with a green-eyed beauty from Huntington."
Brian smiled proudly. "I know. Isn't he something else?"
I blushed ferociously. "I'm not that pretty. I mean, look at the people I get to meet."
"We're all just a bunch of good looking motherfuckers." Brian said, clapping Jimmy on the shoulder before taking my hand and guiding me to our seats.
I met the rest of the people at the table. The other guy, who was significantly smaller than Brian and Jimmy, his name was Johnny Seward. His girlfriend was quiet and just sipped on a martini, not even bothering to introduce herself. Jimmy's girlfriend Leana was a smiley girl that actually liked to converse occasionally. But really it was just me, Brian, Jimmy and Johnny talking as we ordered a round of beer, shots of Jack Daniels and more fruity little girl drinks for the girlfriends. I silently thanked whoever needed to be thanked that I wasn't considered a girlfriend.
"So where are you two staying tonight?" Johnny asked Brian and I.
"We're probably going to get a room at Chateau Bellamont and head back to Huntington in the morning." Brian replied.
"Oh, that's a nice place. You gonna get a penthouse with the big huge beds?" Asked Jimmy, winking and elbowing Brian.
"You know it!" Brian exclaimed, tipping his glass with Jimmy's.
"So, just out of curiosity... who takes it?" Asked Leana, much to my surprise. She didn't look like the kind of girl that would be interested in that sort of thing at all.
Johnny began laughing and pointed at Brian. "I bet Brian does! Look at how red his face is getting!"
"I'm lazy, I have to get Zack to do all the work." Brian said, to which everybody laughed.
"So like, doesn't it hurt?" Asked Johnny's girlfriend.
I stared blankly at her. She hadn't said much. Only sat there and stirred around the olive in her third martini glass. I waited for Brian to answer her because I sure as hell didn't want to.
"Well what do you think babe? Would you want a big cock shoved up your ass?" Johnny asked in a mocking way that made her scowl.
"No, that's disgusting." She scoffed.
"Actually, it's the most amazing feeling in the world. You should try shoving a dildo up Johnny's ass and see how much he likes it." Brian said laughingly.
"Yeah, Leana's shoved stuff up my ass. She loves it too." Jimmy interjected.
All of us erupted into laughter except Johnny's girlfriend. She just sat there rolling her eyes and picking at her acrylic nails. But I learned to live with the fact that some people were just natural buzz kills and ignored her little remarks and the way she just stared at any mention of Brian and I being together.
I was starting to get a little tipsy after the sixth round of shots and my fourth beer. Brian had taken a few shots but I encouraged him to stop before he forgot that he had drive a vehicle once we left.
"Bri... you have to drive tonight." I reminded him quietly.
Brian looked at me, full shot glass in hand with a smile on his face. He leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Don't worry Zacky, I'm not going to put you in danger."
"Aww, you guys are so cute together. Don't you think Jimmy? It looks like they were made for each other." Leana swooned.
"Yeah, they're adorable together." Jimmy replied.
It felt like we had been sitting at that table for hours. After a lot of drinks and some quite entertaining conversation, Johnny's girlfriend leaned over and whispered not so subtly, "Johnny, will you take me home? I'm bored."
"But babe, " The short blonde protested. "It's Brian. I never get to see Brian."
"Yeah girl! Come on. When do we ever get to do stuff like this?" Leana cried out, slapping Johnny's girlfriend's leg.
"Ow Leana! You act like such a man when you're drinking!" She whined.
Jimmy threw his arm over her petite shoulders and beamed, but Johnny's girlfriend continued to plead with wide conveying eyes at her boyfriend. Johnny tried asking her again very nicely just to stay for a little longer. She shook her head, and so Johnny was forced to leave. He got up, holding onto his woman's hand and gave us all a salute.
"Well boys, it's been great seeing you all. Hopefully we can get together another time." Johnny proposed.
"Yeah, next time with no chicks." Jimmy said.
Brian stood up to give Johnny one of those brotherly handshakes. "It was cool seeing you bro. You should come around more often."
Johnny fake grimaced and pointed to his girlfriend, who in turn scowled.
"I'll be waiting in the car." She proclaimed, before turning on her heel to leave.
"See ya Jim. And it was nice meeting you Zack, sorry we couldn't hang out more. Women..."
"That's why I ain't got a girlfriend!" Brian said enthusiastically.
After Johnny left, the table seemed smaller and was definitely emptier. But it was alright. I had the feeling we would be leaving soon too.
"But what about Zack and Brian? One of them can't come then if there's no girlfriends allowed next time." Leana asked, giggling. She had had her fill of expensive whiskey and beer for the night. I could tell by the way she clung to Jimmy's arm and randomly threw in comments rather than saying anything meaninfgul at all. But I could relate. Everybody had their drunken moments.
"The both of them have dicks, so they're in the clear." Jimmy stated.
Brian stretched. "Speaking of dick, we should probably get going soon ourselves. You two have a long drive ahead of you."
Jimmy looked at his watch and nodded. "Yeah. We should probably go babe."
"Why? Let's just order another round." Leana suggested, throwing up her arm and flailing like she had no bones.
"I think you've had enough woman." I pointed out, as we all rose and she seemingly tripped on nothing, even with Jimmy grasping her arm to keep her steady.
"Enough is never enough!" She exclaimed loudly.
"Well, at least she's right." Brian said as he threw a few twenties down on the table to pay for drinks.
All of us left the bar feeling a little different than when we had come in. I was buzzed enough that if I had taken another couple shots I would have been quite thoroughly wasted. It was safe to say Leana was nice and tanked up. Brian and Jimmy looked alright, but they were driving.
We all stopped to say goodbye as our cars were brought out to us. The conversation was light hearted and fun until Jimmy's Rolls Royce pulled up and the valet guy got out with his keys. I wanted to comment on Jimmy's classic ride, but they were already in the car by the time I thought to speak. Brian opened the door for Leana and helped her get in to the front seat beside Jimmy. He shut the door and leaned in through the window before they pulled away.
"I'm sorry we couldn't hang out for longer. Maybe next time we can all go up to the lake for a weekend. Rent a boat and go fishing like we used to?"
Jimmy pointed at Brian with a goofy smile. "I like the way you think Bri."
Brian shrugged as he laughed and bid Jimmy and Leana farewell. I waved at them as they pulled off and drove down the street, turning a corner and then disappearing. It was a matter of moments before Brian's Lincoln was brought around and we were getting inside.
"So, you still up for the hotel?" Brian asked.
I nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely. No offense, but I was just waiting for that the whole time we were at that bar. But you're friends are nice. Except Johnny's girlfriend. She was a fucking prick."
Brian laughed. "We all know that. Even Johnny knows that."
I nodded as I looked out the window and watched as the monstrously notorious city of Los Angeles swept by in a constant smudge of color and faces mixed in with the monotonous background of tall buildings and littered streets. The whole place reminded me of a steel rainforest. So deep and so vast, full of discoveries, yet artificial and intimidating. Exploring it, you might just go missing or end up dead. Sometimes you could actually find you're way through. But only if you're strong and have the street smarts to be able to survive through the city of angels. I was just glad I was being kept safe in a vehicle with Brian Haner beside me.
With him there, I could get through this city. And if I could get through this city, I could get through much more than that.
***
My bad for taking so long with the update. I've been so swamped and stressed out. I went and tried many times to write this but just ended up shutting off my computer. My mind hasn't been where it's supposed to be. But I'm alright now, at least for a little while :) Thanks for reading <333
Author:
shorthorrorPairing: Brian Haner & Zachary Baker
Rating: NC-17
Summary: This beautiful asshole just came around and started ruining everything for me. I was the last Baker, and I'd promised my father our name would not die with me.
Disclaimer: I am confident the readers can distinguish between what is real and what is fiction. I need not state the obvious.
Dedications: To those who took this story and made it worth something to me.
0.5
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
It had been a week since Brian had made us official and things were beginning to develop quite well between us. Each day at work Brian would maintain that professional- yet snarky disposition of his while working the kitchen like a boot camp. I had never seen somebody so motivated for work and bursting with contagious morale. My other employees seemed to like Brian a lot. They never appeared to even give a second thought to the fact that Greta was once filling that position. Everybody liked talking to Brian and working around him, especially the girls. I noticed a lot of my female staff were taking quite the liking to my newest addition. They smiled at him, giggled at his jokes and batted their lashes in his presence. I couldn't blame any one of them though. For he was quite the man. Tall, dark, funny with a face blessed by angelic structure. Keeping my remarks proved to be tougher than I expected.
When I observed my employees at work and the way the girls were attracted to Brian like bees to a rose, I bit my lip and told myself to play it one hundred percent cool and act like nothing was bothering me at all. Even when they brushed against him, thinking that they had just pulled off a very subtle and sly gesture of flirtatiousness, when I had seen every thought going through their minds. I knew I wasn't the only one to come to terms with Brian's undeniable good looks. But I wasn't expecting everyone else to as well.
To keep from banishing some of my chefs to a different part of the kitchen far away from Brian's post, I walked away and shut myself up in my office to take care of legal things and answer important calls that weren't necessarily made to the restaurant, but to me personally concerning any sort of aspect that wasn't the business itself. I had people to answer the calls for table reservations. Things like that were below me and not of any real concern. Trying to keep from making anything between me and Brian even the slightest bit obvious was making a big dent in my long overdue paperwork. At least I was getting things done while Brian had all the fun in the kitchen.
Sometimes owning a five star restaurant wasn't as fun as actually working in one.
Periodically throughout the work day, Brian would knock on my office door and then open it up to his own accord, slinking in to say hi and ask how I was doing all cooped up, secluded and somewhat distant. I would always give him the same lethargic reply and ask him what our plans were for that night, since the both of us usually stayed until closing so we could leave together.
One day Brian surprised me with what he had conjured up, or rather stumbled upon as plans for our weekend. He came into my office nearing the end of the night and sat down in front of my desk.
"I'm taking you out somewhere really nice tonight to meet a few of my friends." Brian said blatantly.
"Where?" I asked.
"It's this place in L.A. that I was invited to. My friend Jimmy asked for me to come and to bring you."
I cocked an eyebrow. "He asked for you to bring me specifically?"
"Well yeah," Brian stated. "He knows that I'm dating someone. I can't just keep you a secret from the whole world. I have friends and family that are always interested in meeting the people I'm dating."
"You make it sound like you've dated a lot." I said.
"A few people, but look, don't get antsy okay? It'll be one night out in L.A. with a bunch of my close friends. We get to dress up real nice and have fancy drinks and meet new people."
I sighed. "Please don't tell me any press will be there."
Brian tilted his head and shrugged, trying to appear as though he didn't know when I knew that he did. "Sometimes celebrities show up and paparazzi follow. You know how it is."
I wasn't so sure about going to Los Angeles. I wasn't a very big fan of the city, it being the place of both my parents' deaths and the fact the city was crawling with scumbags and weird people wanting to take your picture didn't make it sound too appealing to me anyway. But I looked at Brian and I could see that this was something important. One of those 'events' that he wanted to show me off at. Whatever he meant by that.
I let a low groan escape my throat. "Fine. What should I wear?"
"Wear that cute little sweater vest that you have and the white dress shirt. I don't know, something adorable. I want everyone to be jealous of me because you're mine."
"Okay, well then are you going to pick me up?" I inquired.
"Of course I'll pick you up," Brian said, lifting himself up from the so he could circle my desk and stop before me. "You're going to have fun. I promise. Me and Jimmy have been best friends since high school. It'll be him and his girlfriend, plus my friend Johnny and whoever he's bringing. We'll go to the bar and have a few drinks and then after that maybe... if you want, we can get a hotel room?"
The idea of spending the night at a hotel with Brian was the sinker that pulled me into complete agreement. Imagining him and I, alone, far away from everyone we knew and able to do and say whatever we wanted to each other was something I couldn't pass up. When Brian saw the smile that spread over my face, he returned the smile and bent over to press a hard kiss to my lips. "I knew you'd say yes once I threw that in."
"We don't really get to be alone that much." I pointed out.
"I know. But tonight is going to be different," Brian said with a sexy wink of his glinting eye. "You know me. I know how to have a good time."
I nodded as Brian came down for another, slower and deeper kiss, sealing the deal for tonight officially.
I went home and quickly jumped into the shower to wash up. I used this exotic raspberry white tea body wash that somebody had given me as a Christmas present, except it came in a scarlet velvet carrying case with a bottle of after shave and face wash too. But I had used up all the after shave because of it's tangy fruit smell that made you want to lick it up off your skin. After my hot shower, I stepped out and wrapped a towel around my waist before going to the counter to shave. I found myself shaving more and more often since I'd started dating Brian. I tied my new found habit to my delight of soft skin on skin contact. Even when Brian had mere stubble it made me wince to touch it. I agreed with every accusation anyone had ever made about a man's face being as rough as sandpaper.
Before I left my bathroom, I heard footsteps coming into my room. I knew it was Brian so I didn't even open the door to see who it was, if any chance there was a possibility it wasn't Brian. But only Brian knew where I hid my spare key. Beneath the metal rails leading up to my front door, I'd stuck a small magnet on with super glue and used that to hold the spare key in place, safely hidden and unsuspected.
Suddenly the door to my bathroom was opened and Brian stepped in, wearing a pair of nicely fitted black pants that barely reached beneath his hips. Underneath a sleeveless hooded vest type thing he wore a shirt printed with various skulls. The shirt was also sleeveless. I'd come to the conclusion that Brian liked to let his sculpted tattooed arms show more than normal and that's why most of his T-shirts were cut at the shoulder. I glanced down at his feet and saw that he was still wearing his shoes. I grimaced and pointed at them. "Brian, why are you wearing your dirty shoes all over my clean carpets?"
Brian laughed. "It's called a vacuum babe, you've seen one before, remember? The vacuum that attacked you in my apartment?"
"The vacuum didn't attack me, it was that weird little Asian woman you keep around to clean up after you."
Brian shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a real dirty boy."
I sighed before rubbing some lightly scented after shave on my cheeks and neck. Brian came up behind me and pressed his face between my neck and shoulder. "That smells good. What is it?"
I held up the bottle and read the label. "Cobalt by Armani."
Brian grabbed the bottle, read the label and then tossed it onto the counter with a startling clatter. "Fancy shit."
"You're too much." I said, standing the bottle straight up and pushing it to the far side of the counter, back between the Calvin Klein cologne and my digital toothbrush that pretty much guided you through brushing like it was your very first time.
"You're too much. Literally. To keep up with you I'd have to run two careers." Brian said as he rubbed my shoulders.
"You're just the same. I wouldn't normally go to L.A. just to have a couple drinks at some high class bar." I said with a laugh.
Brian spun me around and grabbed my hands, pushing me up against the counter with his hips. "But that's the beauty of living a successful and free life. If you want to go to L.A. for drinks, you can. If you want to go to Vegas to gamble, you go to Vegas. And if you want to go shopping in New York, then you fucking do it. You can do anything you want. That's how you live a long and satisfying life. Doing the shit you want, when you want to do it."
I rolled my eyes. "So that's your secret for living."
"Damn straight." Brian whispered, nipping at one of my silver lip rings before pulling me into a kiss full force.
We stood in the bathroom making out for a few minutes until all the steam had cleared away and my skin had dried completely. Brian was the one to pull away with a noisy and sloppy finish and a smile as he pressed our foreheads together.
"Okay, now go get dressed cutie. We have an appearance to make."
I left dressed in dark tight ankle jeans, some slip on shoes and the black cotton sweater vest Brian liked worn over a three quarter sleeved dress shirt. I even wore a black tie because Brian said that it made me look like a 'sexy little rich school boy'. Really I was trying to make him happy. This was the first time I was going to meet his close friends, and I knew that he wanted them to drool over me as much as he did. I looked my best for Brian's night, since that's what it really was. I'd let him play his little game of haha-my-boyfriend-is-hotter-than-yours-b
"Prize winning dog!?"
I nodded.
"Zacky, you're not my prize winning dog, and I'm not using you to make others jealous of me. I'm simply showing the world that they aren't as fortunately blessed as I am."
I narrowed my eyes into slits of accusation. "Brian, that IS making people jealous."
Brian groaned and rolled his eyes as we sped down the highway. "It's a date. It's something to do. It's not like you're some rental date for me to carry around. You're my goddamn boyfriend. I'm allowed to be proud of you."
"Fine whatever." I dismissed.
"No! I will not have you thinking such corruption!" Brian exclaimed dramatically.
I laughed as I hit his thigh. "Shut up and get me drunk already."
The drive to Los Angeles was about an hour, and finding the bar cost us another forty five minutes. Brian was supposed to meet his friends out front of the bar for eight o'clock. It was now close to nine and we had just pulled up, parked valet and then went in after walking up to the bouncer. It took a flash of our smiles and a mention of our last names to gain quick access.
The bar was dim and abuzz with activity. It was quite a big establishment too. A lot of women dressed in tiny dresses, too high heels and enough make up to frost a cake pranced and danced around everywhere, in every corner of the place. Most of the guys were caught up, trying to dance with these women, get their numbers or get the poor drunk girls to go somewhere with them. I laughed and held tight to Brian's arm as he guided me through the crowd, that sinister too good for life smirk rooted right where it was supposed to be. I looked up at Brian's face as we threaded through the crowd and saw the way his eyes sparkled. This was his zone. His time to shine.
"Bri! Brian!" I heard somebody calling from our left.
I looked over and saw a table with a few people seated around it. A really tall guy with wild black hair was trying to get Brian's attention, so I tugged on his arm and pointed his chocolate eyes in the direction of who I assumed to be his friends. Brian smiled and we hurriedly made our way over to the wide booth that was able to seat about ten comfortably with room for more. The tall guy stood up and came around to greet Brian. I let go of him as the guy clamped his arms around Brian, hugging him tightly.
"Jesus Bri, I thought you weren't going to show up!"
"Of course Brian has to be fashionably late." Said another guy that was seated beside a girl that I presumed to be his girlfriend.
"Yeah Brian, you really have to stop with the late appearances. Nobody likes waiting up for an hour just for you!" Said the black haired man with the small but intense blue eyes.
"But then I can make a grand entrance that everyone notices." Brian defended himself.
"Shut up Haner!"
"Anyway, Jim, this is my boyfriend Zachary Baker. Zack, this is Jimmy Sullivan, my best friend." Brian introduced me to the guy that had at least a foot on me.
"Nice to meet you." I said with a smile, shaking Jimmy's hand.
"No surprise Brian hooks up with a green-eyed beauty from Huntington."
Brian smiled proudly. "I know. Isn't he something else?"
I blushed ferociously. "I'm not that pretty. I mean, look at the people I get to meet."
"We're all just a bunch of good looking motherfuckers." Brian said, clapping Jimmy on the shoulder before taking my hand and guiding me to our seats.
I met the rest of the people at the table. The other guy, who was significantly smaller than Brian and Jimmy, his name was Johnny Seward. His girlfriend was quiet and just sipped on a martini, not even bothering to introduce herself. Jimmy's girlfriend Leana was a smiley girl that actually liked to converse occasionally. But really it was just me, Brian, Jimmy and Johnny talking as we ordered a round of beer, shots of Jack Daniels and more fruity little girl drinks for the girlfriends. I silently thanked whoever needed to be thanked that I wasn't considered a girlfriend.
"So where are you two staying tonight?" Johnny asked Brian and I.
"We're probably going to get a room at Chateau Bellamont and head back to Huntington in the morning." Brian replied.
"Oh, that's a nice place. You gonna get a penthouse with the big huge beds?" Asked Jimmy, winking and elbowing Brian.
"You know it!" Brian exclaimed, tipping his glass with Jimmy's.
"So, just out of curiosity... who takes it?" Asked Leana, much to my surprise. She didn't look like the kind of girl that would be interested in that sort of thing at all.
Johnny began laughing and pointed at Brian. "I bet Brian does! Look at how red his face is getting!"
"I'm lazy, I have to get Zack to do all the work." Brian said, to which everybody laughed.
"So like, doesn't it hurt?" Asked Johnny's girlfriend.
I stared blankly at her. She hadn't said much. Only sat there and stirred around the olive in her third martini glass. I waited for Brian to answer her because I sure as hell didn't want to.
"Well what do you think babe? Would you want a big cock shoved up your ass?" Johnny asked in a mocking way that made her scowl.
"No, that's disgusting." She scoffed.
"Actually, it's the most amazing feeling in the world. You should try shoving a dildo up Johnny's ass and see how much he likes it." Brian said laughingly.
"Yeah, Leana's shoved stuff up my ass. She loves it too." Jimmy interjected.
All of us erupted into laughter except Johnny's girlfriend. She just sat there rolling her eyes and picking at her acrylic nails. But I learned to live with the fact that some people were just natural buzz kills and ignored her little remarks and the way she just stared at any mention of Brian and I being together.
I was starting to get a little tipsy after the sixth round of shots and my fourth beer. Brian had taken a few shots but I encouraged him to stop before he forgot that he had drive a vehicle once we left.
"Bri... you have to drive tonight." I reminded him quietly.
Brian looked at me, full shot glass in hand with a smile on his face. He leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Don't worry Zacky, I'm not going to put you in danger."
"Aww, you guys are so cute together. Don't you think Jimmy? It looks like they were made for each other." Leana swooned.
"Yeah, they're adorable together." Jimmy replied.
It felt like we had been sitting at that table for hours. After a lot of drinks and some quite entertaining conversation, Johnny's girlfriend leaned over and whispered not so subtly, "Johnny, will you take me home? I'm bored."
"But babe, " The short blonde protested. "It's Brian. I never get to see Brian."
"Yeah girl! Come on. When do we ever get to do stuff like this?" Leana cried out, slapping Johnny's girlfriend's leg.
"Ow Leana! You act like such a man when you're drinking!" She whined.
Jimmy threw his arm over her petite shoulders and beamed, but Johnny's girlfriend continued to plead with wide conveying eyes at her boyfriend. Johnny tried asking her again very nicely just to stay for a little longer. She shook her head, and so Johnny was forced to leave. He got up, holding onto his woman's hand and gave us all a salute.
"Well boys, it's been great seeing you all. Hopefully we can get together another time." Johnny proposed.
"Yeah, next time with no chicks." Jimmy said.
Brian stood up to give Johnny one of those brotherly handshakes. "It was cool seeing you bro. You should come around more often."
Johnny fake grimaced and pointed to his girlfriend, who in turn scowled.
"I'll be waiting in the car." She proclaimed, before turning on her heel to leave.
"See ya Jim. And it was nice meeting you Zack, sorry we couldn't hang out more. Women..."
"That's why I ain't got a girlfriend!" Brian said enthusiastically.
After Johnny left, the table seemed smaller and was definitely emptier. But it was alright. I had the feeling we would be leaving soon too.
"But what about Zack and Brian? One of them can't come then if there's no girlfriends allowed next time." Leana asked, giggling. She had had her fill of expensive whiskey and beer for the night. I could tell by the way she clung to Jimmy's arm and randomly threw in comments rather than saying anything meaninfgul at all. But I could relate. Everybody had their drunken moments.
"The both of them have dicks, so they're in the clear." Jimmy stated.
Brian stretched. "Speaking of dick, we should probably get going soon ourselves. You two have a long drive ahead of you."
Jimmy looked at his watch and nodded. "Yeah. We should probably go babe."
"Why? Let's just order another round." Leana suggested, throwing up her arm and flailing like she had no bones.
"I think you've had enough woman." I pointed out, as we all rose and she seemingly tripped on nothing, even with Jimmy grasping her arm to keep her steady.
"Enough is never enough!" She exclaimed loudly.
"Well, at least she's right." Brian said as he threw a few twenties down on the table to pay for drinks.
All of us left the bar feeling a little different than when we had come in. I was buzzed enough that if I had taken another couple shots I would have been quite thoroughly wasted. It was safe to say Leana was nice and tanked up. Brian and Jimmy looked alright, but they were driving.
We all stopped to say goodbye as our cars were brought out to us. The conversation was light hearted and fun until Jimmy's Rolls Royce pulled up and the valet guy got out with his keys. I wanted to comment on Jimmy's classic ride, but they were already in the car by the time I thought to speak. Brian opened the door for Leana and helped her get in to the front seat beside Jimmy. He shut the door and leaned in through the window before they pulled away.
"I'm sorry we couldn't hang out for longer. Maybe next time we can all go up to the lake for a weekend. Rent a boat and go fishing like we used to?"
Jimmy pointed at Brian with a goofy smile. "I like the way you think Bri."
Brian shrugged as he laughed and bid Jimmy and Leana farewell. I waved at them as they pulled off and drove down the street, turning a corner and then disappearing. It was a matter of moments before Brian's Lincoln was brought around and we were getting inside.
"So, you still up for the hotel?" Brian asked.
I nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely. No offense, but I was just waiting for that the whole time we were at that bar. But you're friends are nice. Except Johnny's girlfriend. She was a fucking prick."
Brian laughed. "We all know that. Even Johnny knows that."
I nodded as I looked out the window and watched as the monstrously notorious city of Los Angeles swept by in a constant smudge of color and faces mixed in with the monotonous background of tall buildings and littered streets. The whole place reminded me of a steel rainforest. So deep and so vast, full of discoveries, yet artificial and intimidating. Exploring it, you might just go missing or end up dead. Sometimes you could actually find you're way through. But only if you're strong and have the street smarts to be able to survive through the city of angels. I was just glad I was being kept safe in a vehicle with Brian Haner beside me.
With him there, I could get through this city. And if I could get through this city, I could get through much more than that.
***
My bad for taking so long with the update. I've been so swamped and stressed out. I went and tried many times to write this but just ended up shutting off my computer. My mind hasn't been where it's supposed to be. But I'm alright now, at least for a little while :) Thanks for reading <333
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