September 8 2040 “Welcome to Grandma Linda’s Coffee. What brings the two highest officers of the Kinney-Taylor Ad Agency to my humble coffee emporium at the same time?” “Do you have time to talk with us Jay?” “Sure Mr. Taylor, I always have time for the landlord. Are you planning to raise my rent?” “No nothing like that, this is personal.” “Then the two of you take a seat and I’ll get us some coffee. Anything in particular?” “No Jay I’ll get the coffee, why don’t you and Gus talk while I’m getting it. What do you take?” “Just tell Helen to give me my regular.” “Well Gus are you going to tell me what this is about?” “It’s kind of embarrassing Jay.” “We’ve been having coffee breaks together for weeks now, what could be embarrassing?” “It’s kind of awkward Jay, why don’t we wait for Papa and the coffee.” “I guess we'll just have to wait until Mr. Taylor gets here with the coffee. Happy Birthday Gus.” “How did you know that today was my birthday?” “Gus, 75% of my business is from your employees; you’re a smart man do the math.” “Thanks I guess it would be strange if you didn’t know.” “How old are you if you don’t mind me asking?” “40 though it’s hard to believe that I’m that old. Of course it's even harder to believe that my son turns 15 next month.” “How is Tay? He's going to be quite the terror when he starts dating. My clerks were talking about him for days after the last time he was in here. I don’t think they realized how young he is. He's very tall for his age and I‘m sure the girls thought that he was in college.” “We’re pretty sure that he's going to end up being the tallest in the family, something my Dad isn’t thrilled with. Dad was happy that I stopped growing ½ an inch shorter than he is. He thinks that having to look up at a descendent is just not right. Is Tay going to be safe coming here if your clerks talk about him for days and can‘t tell that he's just a freshman in High School?” “No Gus the next time Tay comes here I’m sure one of the girls will throw him down on the floor and have her way with him. Even straight twenty something girls have heard about the legendary Brian Kinney and they figure that Tay must have taken after his grandfather in some ways.” “Sorry Jay I guess that was a stupid thing for me to say, I’m just worried about the boy, he's getting to that age where he's starting to think about sex. As a father I don’t want him to ever think about sex. I’m beginning to understand why my Dad was so uncomfortable dealing with my sexuality when I was Tay’s age.” “How's your Dad, he doesn’t get to the office very often anymore does he?” “He would come more often but somehow Papa has convinced him that he should stay home and that the decision was his idea. The love those two have for each other is amazing. I’ve been around them as long as I can remember and they have to be the perfect example of lovers, whether straight or gay, in the world. Considering the life my Dad led before he settled down with Papa it's even more amazing. From the King of Liberty Avenue to the perfect suburban husband.” I didn‘t mean anything by my comment about Tay and my clerks. I can certainly see why you're worried about him. I hate to add to your worries but you're also going to have to worry about other boys as well as the girls.” “Papa told me just a few minutes ago that he thinks Tay is going to be bi. I’m sure that whether his first fling is a boy or a girl won’t really matter to me it will just be the fear that my little boy is becoming a man. I do have the advantage of having Dad and Papa around to help me deal with Tay’s growing up. Tay's so close to his Granddaddy it’s almost scary. I’m glad that Tay took after his mother instead of me since I know how hard it was growing up looking like Brian Kinney. I don’t want you to think that I resented looking like my Dad but there were times when it was a pain.” “Gus we all had times when we had problems with having the parents we had. My biggest pain was when my mother decided that she was going to find me the perfect man. She must've set me up with every gay or bi-sexual man within 10 years of my age and 50 miles of Reading. How she found them all I never knew and I was never brave enough to ask. Your Dad is a good looking man for his age and since you're almost the spitting image of him you've a pretty good idea of how you're going to age.” “Jay you're embarrassing me. But you're right, Dad is an attractive man, as is Papa and to see the two of them together is breathtaking. When I was little I would trick them into kissing each other in my presence.” “What does that mean?” “For some reason Dad was afraid that people would think he was trying to recruit me if he and Papa kissed in front of me. I would pretend to look away and they couldn’t help but steal a kiss. I would always sneak a look because I was just so happy to see them loving each other. Of course as I got older I realized that they were doing much more than kissing when they thought I was asleep.” “Now you have my curiosity stirred up. What does that statement mean?” “Now Sonnyboy you shouldn’t be telling family secrets.” “Papa, don’t embarrass me in front of Jay.” “Doesn’t he turn an attractive shade of red Jay?” “Papa, you aren’t helping.” “I’m not trying to help Gus I’m just having a little fun on my coffee break.” “Is he like this all of the time Gus?” “Well he has spent almost 40 years living with Brian Kinney so I suppose I should've expected some of Dad to rub off on him.” “You little scamp, how long have you been waiting to say that?” “As long as I can remember. Everyone in the family was always saying that you rubbed off on Dad but I seemed to be the only one that saw him rubbing off on you.” “I imagine that all of this family talk is boring Jay. Gus are you always so free with double entendres?” “What do you mean Papa? Oh shit.” “No Mr. Taylor I find it quite interesting. I might have grown up in Reading and attended Penn in Philadelphia but I’ve lived in Pittsburgh long enough to have heard about the King of Liberty Avenue and his consort.” “Call me Justin and is that nonsense ever going to go away.” “No Papa I don’t think you'll ever be able to live down the reputation as the twink that tamed the King.” “Here's you coffee Gus, latte made with cream, does your Dad know that you drink something so fattening?” “No for some reason he thinks I drink the same thing as he does, low fat latte.” “I wonder how he got that idea.” “It’s a mystery Papa.” “Gus did you talk to Jay about why we came down here this morning?” “No Papa, I didn’t find the courage to ask.” “That certainly sounds interesting Gus, what do you want to ask me that takes courage?” “Gus just ask him the question.” “Justin why's Gus blushing again?” “That's one of the traits he takes after me. We blush at just the thought of something embarrassing, and Gus’ Dad has taken advantage of that fact on many an occasion. I remember that after Gus’ 6th birthday party every boy in the neighborhood called me a beautiful creature for 6 months just to see me blush.” “Why would they do that?” “Brian told them he could do magic, that he would cause me to turn red. He then asked them if they'd ever seen a more beautiful creature than me and of course I turned bright red. Some of them really thought it was magic.” “I imagine you and Mr. Kinney have led an interesting life.” “That's putting it lightly Jay. There've been times that I wouldn’t want to live over but most of the time has been wonderful. Gus are you capable of asking the question now or do you want me to ask Jay for you?” “Papa you promised that you wouldn’t embarrass me that way.” “Well Gus I can’t take all day for a coffee break waiting for you to gather the courage to ask a simple question. I've work to do before I leave early to go help your Dad finish up the preparations for the party.” “Gus I think we're good enough friends that you don’t have to be worried about asking me a question.” “Alright I guess it really isn’t that big of a deal. It's just that I’ve not had much practice asking people out on dates.” “Justin are my ears working correctly; did your straight son just ask me out on a date?” “Yes Jay he did, in a very round about way I might add but yes he's asking you on a date.” “Gus, I don’t know what to say. In case you haven’t noticed I’m a guy.” “Yes Jay I noticed that the very first time we met. I know it's out of the blue but then the first time I had a dream about you came out of the blue to me. I’ve always considered myself to be 100% straight but I can’t deny that I find you very attractive and I want to see where it can go. Hell I had these thoughts and I had no idea whether you would even be interested. Papa assured me that you wouldn’t run away into the night if I asked you out. I hope that I haven’t ruined our friendship.” “No Gus we'll be friends tomorrow no matter what happens tonight, or doesn’t happen tonight. I have to say that what you've said has taken me by surprise. I’ve certainly never gotten any gay vibes from you and of course I’ve known since I met you that you were a widower with a teenage son so I never even considered you in a romantic light. Sure I’ll go out on a date with you, we can just play things by ear and go with the flow. Like I told you earlier, I’ve lived in Pittsburgh long enough to know all about Brian Kinney and I’m certainly not brave enough risk his wrath by hurting his Sonnyboy.” “Jay I’m 40 today I don’t need my Dad to protect me but that has never stopped him in the past.” “Now Gus you know your Dad has always done what he thought was right for the both of us.” “Yes Papa I know that but you can’t deny that there've been times when it bothered you when he acted like you were a little boy when you were a grown man.” “No I won’t deny it but I’ve done it to him too. Don’t forget about our little plan Gus.” “Papa do you think it's a good idea?” “Sure, it never hurts to give Brian a surprise.” “What're you two talking about?” “Well I’m asking you to come with me to my birthday party tonight. Papa had the idea that just after I introduce you to Dad I pull you into my arms and give you a big sloppy kiss.” “That certainly'll surprise anyone that sees it I would think, but I’m game. But Gus I have to tell you that just because I kiss on the first date doesn’t mean I put out.” “Gus he certainly will fit into our family.” “Justin he really does turn red quickly.” “Well guys I have to get back to work. Gus take whatever time you need. You're the boss after all so you don’t have to explain to anyone why you're taking an extra long coffee break.” “Good bye Justin, I’ll see you at the party then.” “Bye Jay but don’t worry I'll be standing behind Brian so that I can catch him when he faints because his Sonnyboy kisses another man in front of him.” “Papa is that really a possibility?” “No Gus, your Dad isn’t going to faint because he sees you kiss Jay. He’ll probably make some joke about you finally coming to your senses and realizing that cock is better than pussy.” “That I can believe; then he'll realize he's said something sexual to me and then he'll faint. I won‘t take long Papa since we do need to talk about the Bear Company account before you go home this afternoon.” “Gus just give me your address and the time you want me there. I need to go over the counter and see what's going on. Can you believe that guy's wearing a coat when it's supposed to get to 92 degrees today?” “JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP BITCH AND GIVE ME THE FUCKING MONEY!” “HELEN JUST OPEN THE DRAWER AND GIVE HIM THE MONEY.” “WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?” BANG BANG BANG “Gus GET DOWN.” BANG BANG BANG Alarms start going off. People are screaming and running out of the Coffee Shop. A disheveled young man in a camouflage coat stands in front of the counter looking at the results of his gunfire. The clerk who didn’t give the money fast enough is lying in a pool of blood behind the counter. A woman who was sitting at the bar is crumpled face down on the surface of the counter. The man who startled him is lying at his feet. Farther away a pair of blond men are lying on the floor with the older one on top of the younger and is moving in pain. The young man realizes what he's done and hears police sirens in the distance and he runs out of the Coffee House and into the street. In a suburban house a man feels a pain in his heart but puts it off as one of the twinges you get as you age.