Justin had been bitching all day about his life, and he was sick of hearing it.
"Stop complaining, you wouldn't be able to last one day in my shoes", Brian informed Justin.
"You're on", Justin challenged. "How 'bout all day tomorrow, I'll be Brian Kinney." Brian smirked, the kid was in for a rude awakening.
"There is just one condition", Justin added.
Brian frowned and asked him, "And what might that be?"
"While I'm living the life of Brian, you have to live the life of Justin Taylor." "It's only fair", Justin reasoned.
Brian rubbed his chin. "And I should agree to this why?"
"Because we're practically living together, and this exercise will improve our relationship."
"Try again", Brian advised.
"Okay", Justin pondered. "If you do it, I'll be your sex slave for an entire day. I won't say a word, I'll just fulfill your every whim."
"Deal", Brian quickly agreed. He was going to enjoy having an obedient Justin to attend to his needs without question.
As per their plan, Brian and Justin both informed their boss/employees that they would be participating in an experiment of sorts. Justin also explained to his friends at PIFA what was going on.
The next day...
Brian and Justin showered together as usual. However, this time when they got dressed, Brian wore jeans, a blue tee shirt, and sneakers, and Justin was decked out in a chocolate brown designer suit. 'Shit', Brian thought. Justin looked amazing in a suit and tie. Justin also appraised Brian's selection of wardrobe, and inwardly assessed, 'Damn, he looks hot!'
They shared a goodbye kiss, and went their separate ways.
Brian's POV
Brian began his day by riding the bus to the diner. 'God how he hated public transportation.' He was already beginning to regret his decision to partake in this experiment. The bus was crowded, and a big fat queer guy managed to squeeze next to Brian, and was now ogling him. However, he was determined to endure the lewd stare, and the smelly body odor, if only to prove his point to Justin.
When he arrived at the diner, Debbie was waiting for him. She offered him an apron with a smirk, and told him to get to work. Brian walked over to a table to take orders from his first customers. After the initial shock of having Brian Kinney wait on them, they dictated their choices for breakfast. Brian diligently handed the tab over to the kitchen staff, and turned to take the next table's order. After successfully waiting on two more tables, Brian smiled to himself, pleased that he was performing his job well. His thoughts shifted to Justin, wondering how he was coping.
Justin's POV
Justin parked his Corvette (at least for the day), and strolled into his company (he was the one who named it after all). He thought to himself, this shouldn't be too difficult. Justin had already interned at Vanguard, so he was familiar with working in the advertising industry. He had an advantage over Brian since he not only knew the staff personally, but the inner workings of the business as well.
Ted greeted him as he walked in. "Good morning Justin." "My illustrious boss imparted the purpose of this charade, and made me promise to remain impartial. I'm not to help you with anything, except to obey your requests, or as he so nicely put it, he'll have my balls." "On that note, I'll take my leave so you can get acquainted with your new kingdom."
Without skipping a beat, Cynthia came storming in. "I don't know what you and Brian were thinking, but I have 3 messages here that need Brian's, correction, your immediate attention, the rest can wait. Justin looked at the slips of paper Cynthia had shoved at him. There were seven messages already, and it was only 8:35 in the morning. Shit! If this was any indication of what his day would be like, he was in deep shit trouble. He sat down at Brian's desk, and began to familiarize himself with the clients' folders that had been prepared for him to review. (Brian being the control freak he was, had insisted he peruse their files.)
Brian's POV
Other than getting propositioned by every queer in the place (which he was accustomed to anyway), Brian felt he was doing a decent job. He had not spilled anything, or screwed up anyone's order. When the first customer had dared to complain that his eggs were too runny, Brian gave him the Kinney death stare, and the guy shut up very quickly.
The part he objected to the most, was cleaning up after everyone. He had figured gay guys would be neat. Was he ever wrong! They were absolute slobs, just like the breeders. And the tips...after the terrific service they got, cheap was the only way to describe it. Brian couldn't fathom why Justin would continue working in this establishment when the pay was meager, and the tips sucked. He'd been on his feet for almost two hours without a break, and had another two and a half hours to go. Ugh!
Justin's POV
How the heck did Brian juggle everything? The phone was constantly buzzing, employees were continuously interrupting him with questions, and every time he turned around, Cynthia presented him with another emergency to handle. It had been two and a half hours, and Justin was stressed to the max already!
Just then Cynthia buzzed him. "Yes?"
"Brian's on the phone", she announced.
"Put him through." Justin said eagerly. "Hey."
"Hey yourself, Sunshine." "Thought I'd check in on you to see how things were going."
"Great, everything's great. And you? How did you survive the morning rush?"
"Fabulously. I think word has gotten around that I'm waiting on tables, business seems to have doubled today." "I'm even thinking of opening up a quaint bistro myself."
Justin hung up the phone confused. From his short conversation with Brian (because he was on his 15 minute break), he seemed to be enjoying his adventure. Maybe Justin was wrong, and Brian really did have the more difficult life. He returned to approving the layout before him...."Christ, why the heck had they used blue for the lettering? He had told them to use orange, because orange was the new blue." Justin was getting the feeling that Brian's staff wasn't taking this seriously. He would have to go into the art department and ream out a few people. Wait, did he actually think that, he was definitely channeling Brian Kinney.
Brian's POV
Brian was exhausted. 'Fuck, now he knew what an indentured servant felt like.' Four and a half hours of physical labor, and now he had only 45 minutes to get to Justin's first class. All he really wanted to do was go home and take a shower. Shit, he must stink!
He practically sprinted all the way to the building that housed the art history class. The damned bus had taken forever to come. Brian reached the classroom with only two minutes to spare. Phew that was close! He recognized one of Justin's friends, and hurriedly took a seat next to him.
The ensuing lecture was boring. Brian's eyelids began to feel heavy, and they started to close. Justin's friend had to nudge him to keep him awake. He was sure that Justin was going to get a full report from the kid. But, what the fuck, Brian couldn't help it if the professor was a complete snooze.
Brian didn't fare much better in Justin's next class. He was forced to suffer working on a project with a group of immature, obnoxious college kids. Brian found himself admonishing his fellow classmates on their behavior, and their lack of progress. He shook his head when he realized he sounded like a father yelling at his kids. 'Fuck, another hour of this shit.'
Justin's POV
Justin was only able to finish half of his sandwich and soup because there was too much to do. Who had time to eat? There were phone calls to return, and decisions to make. He was even forced to referee an argument between two of the queens that worked for Brian. Dealing with all this bullshit was making his head spin!
At last, 5:00 had finally rolled around. However, Justin spent another 40 minutes finishing up things he was working on, and ensuring that the work he had approved was completed to his satisfaction. He couldn't wait to get the fuck out of there!
6:45 that evening...
Justin opened the door to the loft, and entered wearily. However, his eyes soon lit up when he spotted Brian passed out on the sofa. Justin walked over to him, and started nibbling on his neck. Brian woke up with a smile, and kissed Justin on the forehead. "And how was your day Mr. Taylor?"
Justin briefly thought about lying, but then decided to be honest. "It was rough. I never knew half the crap you have to deal with when you own your own business. I'm sorry Brian, you were right. I won't ever complain about my life again."
Brian looked at a worn out Justin and said, "Oh yes you will. But I'll try to be more sympathetic in the future, because being you is draining and frustrating Sunshine." "How ever do you ride those disgusting buses all day, deal with those insufferable pigs at the diner, and listen to those boring, egotistical professors?"
Justin was shocked at Brian's candidness, as he appeared to be just as wiped out as him. "Seems like we both learned something the hard way today." Justin put his arms around Brian and scrunched his nose. "Jesus, you stink", he proclaimed.
Brian sniffed, and then glared down at Justin and said, "I may stink, but you, you've done the unforgivable."
"What?", Justin asked perplexed.
"You've managed to ruin your only Armani suit with food stains and sweat." Justin examined his marked attire, and they both shared a chuckle. Justin snuggled up to his man on the couch and suggested, "I'm starving, let's order some Thai."
"I can help you if you're hungry", Brian mused while motioning towards the huge bulge in his jeans. "First take care of me blonde boy, I deserve that much after living your atrocious life for a day. Then, I'll see about feeding you." "Well?" Brian said with a raised eyebrow.
"I think I can handle that." Justin remarked eyeing his erection with a wicked grin. Sometimes being Justin Taylor did come with its advantages.