A Day in May
It's me, fansee, finally archiving the fic I wrote for the Weather/Vacation Challenge here on the Cher-See LJ. This started out to be a straight Weather fic but somehow turned out to have some Vacation in it, too. Hope you like it! FanSee
Title: A Day in May
Written By: fansee
Timeline: S5 or later
Author's Notes: Beta by the best: chering!!
You know, they say that when you have a near-death experience, your whole fucking life passes in front of your eyes. Trust me: it does.
I was sitting in the boss' office while he was on the phone with Mindy Johnston, and Mindy was hot. Not hot like, say, Jessica Alba - hot, like in angry. I was trying to be inconspicuous, not looking right at Brian or moving much or doing anything that might draw attention to myself. I wasn't sure whether or not I was supposed to be listening to Brian's end of the conversation, so I kept my eyes on the light pouring in through the glass block behind him, sort of looking over his shoulder. I thought, It's a beautiful day to get fired, which was not a thought that cheered me up much.
Brian was saying, "Mindy, I'm looking at an e-mail to you with the proofs attached." His voice was steely cold.
I leaned forward, looked down at the floor, and tried not to sweat. Brian was talking about my proofs, attached to my e-mail, which I sent to Mindy at CraftHouse. I've seen Brian lose his temper more than once since I started working here four months ago, but this was the first time it'd been me in the hot seat.
When I told Emily Garber, the art director at Vangard, that I was leaving for a job with Kinnetik, Emily warned me about Brian. "Brian Kinney is very creative, a really dynamic guy but," she said, dropping her voice, "they say he's gay." Poor, innocent Emily Garber.
Since she thought we were talking about something kind of dirty, I whispered back, "Thanks for telling me, Emmie. I don't think it will be a problem."
I guess Emily doesn't have any sort of gaydar, or that wouldn't have been what she warned me about. No, she'd have warned me that Brian knew what he wanted, wanted it done perfectly, and wanted it completed 24 hours before he asked for it. The rumor I've heard around here is that Brian has fired guys who missed their due date or didn't do really creative work, but so far that's only a rumor. I've seen him tear a couple of new assholes, but so far no one's gotten fired. Which was reassuring. On the other hand, I didn't want to be the one who proved that it was no rumor.
Just then the sound of my name made me listen even harder. "I'm looking at the work order right now. Adam wrote, 'O.K. per M.J., 10 April.' You authorized it, we produced it, it's yours."
Mindy went off into a lengthy tirade - wah, wah, wah - while Brian fiddled with his laptop. My mind, which should have been concentrating on making a list of all the reasons why I was the innocent party, started drifting into the past again.
After Emmie's revelations, I made it a point to go around Vangard and find out who might remember Brian Kinney. There'd been quite a bit of turn-over since then, probably because Gardner Vance is a cheap son-of-a-bitch who underpays his staff, but I did find three or four people who were still around. The first couple of guys I talked to didn't have much to say. They were older guys and said things like, "He was O.K.," and "I didn't really know him that well," or "I never worked with him on a project, but everybody said the clients liked him." Then I hit pay dirt with Gardner's administrative assistant, Shelley Rappaport.
Shelley hadn't ever met Brian, but she gotten friendly with Cynthia Moore before Cynthia left Vangard to join Brian at Kinnetik. Shelley said Cynthia was usually very discreet, but one Friday night they went out for drinks after work, and Cynthia loosened up.
First of all, Shelley said, "Did you know Brian was actually fired?"
No, I did not. I shook my head.
"Well, Cynthia said that first Vance asked him to leave, then there was some sort of offer to come back - she didn't know the details - but that didn't work out. But the best part is why he was asked to leave in the first part." Shelley paused dramatically.
"Why?" I asked.
Shelley said, "They caught him with an intern." She had dropped her voice. Everybody seemed to feel they had to whisper when they talked about Brian Kinney.
"'With' as in…?"
"As in…screwing."
"Oh. Was the…the girl underage?"
Shelley dropped her voice even lower. "That's the best part of it. It wasn't a girl. He was screwing a guy!"
I tried to act surprised even though I was delighted to have Emmie's rumor backed up. I asked a lot more questions, but that was basically all Shelley knew. She knew the intern was young and blond and that he got fired, too. Of course, she knew Brian went on to open up Kinnetik, but half the population of Pittsburgh knows that, so that was not a surprise.
After I started at Kinnetik, I kept my ears open for snark about the boss, but there was nothing. Nada. Zero. Zip. Not a word. I know better than to fuck the boss, but…well…I'd like to know if it's a possibility. Like if he had a few too many at the Christmas party, and I was maybe a little drunk and…you know…. Brian Kinney is, like, old but he's still fucking hot. And successful. And probably fucking rich, considering that he owns both his own ad agency and a popular nightclub. I mean, how could I not be interested?
After I'd been here about a month and hadn't made any progress at all in my research, I decided to ask some questions. I started with Angelo, another one of the graphics designers. Angelo is hetero, maybe 29 or 30, with lots of dark hair and big dark eyes and is kind of attractive in a het sort of way. He's a friendly guy, so one day at lunch, I asked him, "So…the boss…is he married?" See, we'd never talked about Kinney's sexual orientation, so that was an innocent question.
I didn't expect Angelo's reaction. He froze up. He said, "Around here, it's not a good idea to talk about the boss' personal life."
I started working in high school and worked all the way through PIFA, then spent a year and a half at Vangard, and every place I worked, we gossiped about everybody's personal life, but especially the boss'. I decided to push Angelo just a little. "Why not? I mean, so I'm interested in the guy who signs my paycheck. So what?"
Angelo shrugged and turned away slightly. "I dunno. Nobody ever does, so I sorta got the message…."
I got the message, too. Direct questioning wasn't going to work.
The C.F.O., Mr. Schmidt, is also gay, but I can't see him with Brian Kinney. I guess he's a nice enough guy outside the office, but inside the office, he's pretty much a stuffed shirt. Besides, he has a partner - I've seen the boyfriend when he came in to pick Ted up - who's probably over thirty but is still pretty cute. Then another time a friend of Brian's came into the office - a big, good-looking guy about the same age as Brian - who set off my gaydar, but it turns out he was just the caterer, come to make arrangements for a luncheon Brian was giving for a big client. I got to see them together, and…I don't think so. I mean, they may be fucking like bunnies outside of work, but I only got friendship vibes off the two of them.
The sound of Brian's voice jerked me back to the present. "I can guarantee, Mindy, that in the future no one at Kinnetik will ever work on any stage of any project of yours without written authorization from you." I actually shivered. I swear, the temperature in his office dropped ten degrees, his tone was so icy.
"Wah, wah, wah…."
"I do see your point, Mindy, but only in this one case. I'll speak to Ted Schmidt, our C.F.O., and have him call you back."
"Wah, wah…."
"Thank you." Brian hung up carefully and looked at me. I sat up straight. "You heard that?" he said.
I nodded, trying to combine respect, comprehension, and total innocence in one response.
"CraftHouse's campaign is going forward, but that…that cunt is going to sign off on every step. Every fucking step."
I nodded again, ramping up my expression to include dedication to whatever Brian wanted done. Well, that's what I hoped he saw, anyway.
"I'm going to send an e-mail right now to every member…." Brian broke off scowling as I heard the door to his office open. I turned in my seat and saw a head pop through.
"What the fuck…?" Brian's voice was harsh, but when I looked back at him, I saw his expression soften a little.
The door opened further and the guy walked all the way in. Young, blond, very pretty, very sure of himself.
"I've here to pick you up and take you away from all this." The blond waved his hand at the surroundings.
"Justin, I have things I have to do today. I can't leave now. Come back..." He looked at his watch. "Come back in two hours."
"Sure I will. I checked with Cynthia and she says your calendar is clear. It's four o'clock on a beautiful Friday in May…and we sure as hell don't get many beautiful days in May in Pittsburgh…and you are leaving now."
"I have to see Ted before I can leave and I have to write an e-mail…I have to."
The guy…Justin…crossed the room and perched on the corner of Brian's desk. Brian sat back a little in his chair, looking cornered. Justin leaned toward him and said, "We have to leave now so that we get to The Inn at Lenora's in time for our 7:30 dinner reservation."
"I can't. I have a fucking business to run."
"You have a cell phone. I'll drive, you'll call Ted. The Inn has wireless internet. You'll have time to write your e-mail before we make an early night of it."
"Why would we make an early night of it?" Brian's voice had softened.
"Because we're getting up early and going white water rafting."
"The fuck we are!"
Justin grinned. "You'll love it."
Brian looked away from his attacker and noticed me. I had been being very, very quiet and unobtrusive as I sucked the drama up. "We're done, Adam," he said. "I'll copy you on the e-mail."
I thought about saying, Have a nice weekend, and decided against it. "Okay," I said and left, shutting the door quietly.
I felt like pumping my fist in the air and decided against that, too. I couldn't control my grin, however. Brian has a boyfriend, Brian has a boyfriend. A blond boyfriend. I stopped walking. Holy shit, I thought. He's still fucking the intern.
Title: A Day in May
Written By: fansee
Timeline: S5 or later
Author's Notes: Beta by the best: chering!!
You know, they say that when you have a near-death experience, your whole fucking life passes in front of your eyes. Trust me: it does.
I was sitting in the boss' office while he was on the phone with Mindy Johnston, and Mindy was hot. Not hot like, say, Jessica Alba - hot, like in angry. I was trying to be inconspicuous, not looking right at Brian or moving much or doing anything that might draw attention to myself. I wasn't sure whether or not I was supposed to be listening to Brian's end of the conversation, so I kept my eyes on the light pouring in through the glass block behind him, sort of looking over his shoulder. I thought, It's a beautiful day to get fired, which was not a thought that cheered me up much.
Brian was saying, "Mindy, I'm looking at an e-mail to you with the proofs attached." His voice was steely cold.
I leaned forward, looked down at the floor, and tried not to sweat. Brian was talking about my proofs, attached to my e-mail, which I sent to Mindy at CraftHouse. I've seen Brian lose his temper more than once since I started working here four months ago, but this was the first time it'd been me in the hot seat.
When I told Emily Garber, the art director at Vangard, that I was leaving for a job with Kinnetik, Emily warned me about Brian. "Brian Kinney is very creative, a really dynamic guy but," she said, dropping her voice, "they say he's gay." Poor, innocent Emily Garber.
Since she thought we were talking about something kind of dirty, I whispered back, "Thanks for telling me, Emmie. I don't think it will be a problem."
I guess Emily doesn't have any sort of gaydar, or that wouldn't have been what she warned me about. No, she'd have warned me that Brian knew what he wanted, wanted it done perfectly, and wanted it completed 24 hours before he asked for it. The rumor I've heard around here is that Brian has fired guys who missed their due date or didn't do really creative work, but so far that's only a rumor. I've seen him tear a couple of new assholes, but so far no one's gotten fired. Which was reassuring. On the other hand, I didn't want to be the one who proved that it was no rumor.
Just then the sound of my name made me listen even harder. "I'm looking at the work order right now. Adam wrote, 'O.K. per M.J., 10 April.' You authorized it, we produced it, it's yours."
Mindy went off into a lengthy tirade - wah, wah, wah - while Brian fiddled with his laptop. My mind, which should have been concentrating on making a list of all the reasons why I was the innocent party, started drifting into the past again.
After Emmie's revelations, I made it a point to go around Vangard and find out who might remember Brian Kinney. There'd been quite a bit of turn-over since then, probably because Gardner Vance is a cheap son-of-a-bitch who underpays his staff, but I did find three or four people who were still around. The first couple of guys I talked to didn't have much to say. They were older guys and said things like, "He was O.K.," and "I didn't really know him that well," or "I never worked with him on a project, but everybody said the clients liked him." Then I hit pay dirt with Gardner's administrative assistant, Shelley Rappaport.
Shelley hadn't ever met Brian, but she gotten friendly with Cynthia Moore before Cynthia left Vangard to join Brian at Kinnetik. Shelley said Cynthia was usually very discreet, but one Friday night they went out for drinks after work, and Cynthia loosened up.
First of all, Shelley said, "Did you know Brian was actually fired?"
No, I did not. I shook my head.
"Well, Cynthia said that first Vance asked him to leave, then there was some sort of offer to come back - she didn't know the details - but that didn't work out. But the best part is why he was asked to leave in the first part." Shelley paused dramatically.
"Why?" I asked.
Shelley said, "They caught him with an intern." She had dropped her voice. Everybody seemed to feel they had to whisper when they talked about Brian Kinney.
"'With' as in…?"
"As in…screwing."
"Oh. Was the…the girl underage?"
Shelley dropped her voice even lower. "That's the best part of it. It wasn't a girl. He was screwing a guy!"
I tried to act surprised even though I was delighted to have Emmie's rumor backed up. I asked a lot more questions, but that was basically all Shelley knew. She knew the intern was young and blond and that he got fired, too. Of course, she knew Brian went on to open up Kinnetik, but half the population of Pittsburgh knows that, so that was not a surprise.
After I started at Kinnetik, I kept my ears open for snark about the boss, but there was nothing. Nada. Zero. Zip. Not a word. I know better than to fuck the boss, but…well…I'd like to know if it's a possibility. Like if he had a few too many at the Christmas party, and I was maybe a little drunk and…you know…. Brian Kinney is, like, old but he's still fucking hot. And successful. And probably fucking rich, considering that he owns both his own ad agency and a popular nightclub. I mean, how could I not be interested?
After I'd been here about a month and hadn't made any progress at all in my research, I decided to ask some questions. I started with Angelo, another one of the graphics designers. Angelo is hetero, maybe 29 or 30, with lots of dark hair and big dark eyes and is kind of attractive in a het sort of way. He's a friendly guy, so one day at lunch, I asked him, "So…the boss…is he married?" See, we'd never talked about Kinney's sexual orientation, so that was an innocent question.
I didn't expect Angelo's reaction. He froze up. He said, "Around here, it's not a good idea to talk about the boss' personal life."
I started working in high school and worked all the way through PIFA, then spent a year and a half at Vangard, and every place I worked, we gossiped about everybody's personal life, but especially the boss'. I decided to push Angelo just a little. "Why not? I mean, so I'm interested in the guy who signs my paycheck. So what?"
Angelo shrugged and turned away slightly. "I dunno. Nobody ever does, so I sorta got the message…."
I got the message, too. Direct questioning wasn't going to work.
The C.F.O., Mr. Schmidt, is also gay, but I can't see him with Brian Kinney. I guess he's a nice enough guy outside the office, but inside the office, he's pretty much a stuffed shirt. Besides, he has a partner - I've seen the boyfriend when he came in to pick Ted up - who's probably over thirty but is still pretty cute. Then another time a friend of Brian's came into the office - a big, good-looking guy about the same age as Brian - who set off my gaydar, but it turns out he was just the caterer, come to make arrangements for a luncheon Brian was giving for a big client. I got to see them together, and…I don't think so. I mean, they may be fucking like bunnies outside of work, but I only got friendship vibes off the two of them.
The sound of Brian's voice jerked me back to the present. "I can guarantee, Mindy, that in the future no one at Kinnetik will ever work on any stage of any project of yours without written authorization from you." I actually shivered. I swear, the temperature in his office dropped ten degrees, his tone was so icy.
"Wah, wah, wah…."
"I do see your point, Mindy, but only in this one case. I'll speak to Ted Schmidt, our C.F.O., and have him call you back."
"Wah, wah…."
"Thank you." Brian hung up carefully and looked at me. I sat up straight. "You heard that?" he said.
I nodded, trying to combine respect, comprehension, and total innocence in one response.
"CraftHouse's campaign is going forward, but that…that cunt is going to sign off on every step. Every fucking step."
I nodded again, ramping up my expression to include dedication to whatever Brian wanted done. Well, that's what I hoped he saw, anyway.
"I'm going to send an e-mail right now to every member…." Brian broke off scowling as I heard the door to his office open. I turned in my seat and saw a head pop through.
"What the fuck…?" Brian's voice was harsh, but when I looked back at him, I saw his expression soften a little.
The door opened further and the guy walked all the way in. Young, blond, very pretty, very sure of himself.
"I've here to pick you up and take you away from all this." The blond waved his hand at the surroundings.
"Justin, I have things I have to do today. I can't leave now. Come back..." He looked at his watch. "Come back in two hours."
"Sure I will. I checked with Cynthia and she says your calendar is clear. It's four o'clock on a beautiful Friday in May…and we sure as hell don't get many beautiful days in May in Pittsburgh…and you are leaving now."
"I have to see Ted before I can leave and I have to write an e-mail…I have to."
The guy…Justin…crossed the room and perched on the corner of Brian's desk. Brian sat back a little in his chair, looking cornered. Justin leaned toward him and said, "We have to leave now so that we get to The Inn at Lenora's in time for our 7:30 dinner reservation."
"I can't. I have a fucking business to run."
"You have a cell phone. I'll drive, you'll call Ted. The Inn has wireless internet. You'll have time to write your e-mail before we make an early night of it."
"Why would we make an early night of it?" Brian's voice had softened.
"Because we're getting up early and going white water rafting."
"The fuck we are!"
Justin grinned. "You'll love it."
Brian looked away from his attacker and noticed me. I had been being very, very quiet and unobtrusive as I sucked the drama up. "We're done, Adam," he said. "I'll copy you on the e-mail."
I thought about saying, Have a nice weekend, and decided against it. "Okay," I said and left, shutting the door quietly.
I felt like pumping my fist in the air and decided against that, too. I couldn't control my grin, however. Brian has a boyfriend, Brian has a boyfriend. A blond boyfriend. I stopped walking. Holy shit, I thought. He's still fucking the intern.