Brian: Taking Courage - 26. Three's Company

In terms of seeing Kostas and Bruno doing stuff, Friday was a dead loss. The two men were out on a job; Noah and Toby found themselves in the meeting room, working there. But Toby got to quiz Noah about the Summer holidays, and where he could suggest that they might go. It turned out that Noah and his family spent a lot of time in Scotland as his Dad liked the fishing. This, Noah pronounced, was really boring but at least Noah managed to see some cool things in the streams, where the water was brilliantly clear. Noah's tales of holidaying in Scotland didn't sound much fun, for a start there seemed to be a lot of rain. But there were plenty of other ideas to talk about.

Afterwards, his Dad and Gordon were meeting Mr Russ for dinner at the Plain and Honest Burger, and Toby was going too. He decided he liked Mr Russ. The present from the centre in Italy was now in action, the leaves soaking in trays on the window ledge of the kitchen. And Mr Russ' stories of his visits to Italy, and the way he'd got Grandpa Drew and Evie to talk about their pictures had been fun.

Also, Toby was intrigued. He'd overheard his Dad and Gordon talking about Friday evening and it sounded as if they might be going to do stuff together, with Mr Russ. Part of him thought ick, he didn't want to think about it. It was his Dad, after all. But part of him was curious, how did three blokes do stuff, what did they do? He'd not said anything to Noah, he didn't feel quite comfortable with that.

During the meal, Mr Russ had chatted to him about why he liked the restaurant and let him explain everything. Mr Russ was like a teacher, or Noel at the Wetlands Centre, he paid attention and never seemed to be pretending to or making fun of Toby. Toby liked that.

He had plenty of questions, but thought it too risky to ask lots, that might stretch patience too far. And besides, he had his visit to Grandpa Drew and Evie's to look forward to, including Drew collecting him in his car.

'Dad's old banger' Gordon called it, but Toby thought the car looked cool, and Grandpa Drew was proud of it, happily chatting about the car on the drive back to the Old Mill. Once there, there'd been board games, no TV, home-made ice cream and cocoa before bed. Ace.

---

Dinner had been remarkably fun. Russ had been good with Toby, talking directly to the boy and not talking down. So, the first part of the evening was discussion of the merits of organic beef, food miles and things like that, even something about the amount of methane produced by the average cow; trust a teenage boy to come up with the ecological equivalent of a fart joke. Hardly riveting date-night conversation, but Toby was in his element.

Then Russ started telling travel stories, whilst Brian and Gordon managed to dredge up some entertaining PG-rated anecdotes of life in the Army. Somehow holidays cropped up, and Toby piped up about them looking for somewhere to go. Russ seemed to find the subject rather too interesting. Both Brian and Gordon had separate panics that the man was going to be a problem, turn stalker-ish. Thankfully the interest seemed to die down.

Drew's old Saab proved quite a hit. Gordon referred to it as his Dad's old banger, but to Brian it looked to be in excellent nick, and there was something appealing about the classic swoopy shape. Brian had joked that perhaps they should get a classic car, but that hadn't gone down well. Gordon wanted something modern and functional, though they both accepted that his little Ford was getting a bit long in the tooth. Besides they'd soon need a car with more space, Toby was getting bigger and there’d no doubt be more kit for hobbies or sports to cope with.

Russ had a car to take them to the flat, though it wasn't exactly an onerous distance. Once there, he insisted on seeing everything, commenting on the array of photographs including the ones of Brian and Gordon together. The jungle on the balcony caused a laugh and Brian had said that Toby would be most put out that he couldn't tell Russ all about it himself.

"The lad looks after all this on his own?"

Brian shrugged, "We can only take care of them after receiving special instruction. He even chose the plants, came up with a list of suitable native species. My Mum thinks that the gene has skipped a couple of generations. My Grandfather was evidently fascinated by the nitty gritty of farming, reading everything going about breeding cycles and different strains of wheat. It skipped Dad and I, but there's Toby, completely engrossed in growing things and learning about them."

Gordon appeared with glasses of wine, "He even does what we call DIY Gogglebox. He and his mate Noah."

"Who is equally obsessive about ecology and that."

"Watch the same documentary and keep up a running commentary with each other by text message."

Brian laughed, "Welcome to our world of plants. All we have to do now, is find somewhere we can afford for a Summer holiday near a botanical garden, arboretum or something." Brian kicked himself for bringing up the holiday thing again.

Russ nodded, “Well, all I can say is that I am grateful that you and Toby share the jungle with friends. It is lovely out here.”

“Thanks, I’ll remember to tell Toby.”

Gordon smiled at Russ, "So, we're friends, are we?"

"Well, I thought that it was more than a hook-up and felt we might do more, it was fun on Saturday meeting your folks."

Gordon rolled his eyes, "I'm going to get a good grilling from Mum about that at some point."

"Come on, your Mum was great."

"But I think she had a good idea that you were more than a business colleague."

"Is that a problem?"

"Well, they've never been fazed by anything yet, so the fact that Brian and I have a friend with benefits probably won't be a big deal. But, you know, talking about your sex life with your Mother at our age?"

Russ groaned, "Don't even go there."

Brian smiled and walked closer towards Russ, "Now, have you done your homework?"

But Russ' mind was still on their conversation, "Look, I don't want you to think that I'm trying to buy my way in, it's not like that. When I met you, I knew that I fancied a bit of fun, but then thought that we got on at a different level, it wasn't just about sex. I don't want to flash my cash around, God forbid, and say if you think it's too much."

"We've enjoyed everything so far, and there's not been much flashing of cash. Frankly, Toby was so chuffed at the Wetlands Centre visit that I don't care how much you had to cough up as patron to have that sort of clout. And Drew's paintings were just a coincidence, weren't they?"

"And half. Blame my PA", he grinned, "I leave all the research to her, so she found Drew, a local artist like I wanted, and showed me the pictures. I liked them, and there we were."

"At my Dad's studio."

Brian was still standing very close to Russ, "We can't reciprocate at the same level, but if you understand that inviting you here is the best we can offer…"

Russ smiled, "Well, I'm loving it so far" and he waved a hand at the jungle around them.

Brian's hands came forward, he grinned and said "Less of the chatter, then" whilst he unfastened Russ' belt and trousers, easing them down. Russ smiled in response, he was going commando, so his dick was fully on display, already horizontal.

"I haven't quite managed your instructions though, afraid stretching the old hole has been a slow process."

Brian laughed, "Don't worry, because we were researching positions for doing it with the three of us and ended up laughing."

"Researching?"

"On-line porn, a complete category for double penetrations", Gordon leered and raised an eyebrow.

"Except that I'd swear you'd have to be an athlete to do it."

Russ leered back, "So are we allowed to see these videos or are they for personal consumption only?"

So, the three ended up piled on Brian and Gordon's bed, the two men still dressed and Russ naked, and watching videos on the laptop. They didn't do any double penetrations, but there was plenty of laughter in addition to sexual excitement and enjoyment.

"There's one thing, do you guys go to the gym?"

They were having a post-coital drink, still undressed and enjoying that there was no possibility of being interrupted, barring emergencies. Toby had texted Brian a couple of times, so all was hunky-dory there.

Brian looked at Gordon who just shrugged, "It's mainly a question of economics. We're both used to taking care of ourselves, and the sort of gyms we might go to tend to be out of our league."

Brian snorted, "Way out of our league. At the moment, we try and keep in shape ad hoc, as time allows. Why?"

Gordon playfully poked Brian's midriff, "He clearly thinks this is expanding too much."

Brian grinned, "Speak for yourself."

Russ cleared his throat, "Speaking for myself, I like a bit of meat on a man. That wasn't my point. I've taken an interest in a new gym, a financial interest. I get a good deal on memberships and a few of my staff have them. It's in my interest if the right sort of guys join" he smiled, "and I wondered if it was something I could do for you?"

Brian pulled a face, "Even a good deal is probably a bit pricey. Maintenance for Toby takes a great deal of my salary."

Russ' brows wrinkled, "I thought the boy lived with you?"

Brian sighed, "At the moment, for an unspecified time. It's all got a bit complicated; the solicitors are supposed to be sorting it out."

"Brian has a meeting next week, but any dealing with his ex-girlfriend seems to be fraught."

"I see, sorry about that. Hope things get sorted out. But the gym. That's not what I meant. It would be my present to you two, a joint membership."

"You can't."

Russ' mouth quirked, "Look. I can afford it. I know you two aren't the type to be showered with gifts and that, and frankly I'm not the man to do that either. But I thought the gym might help, and you might make some useful contacts. Besides", he rolled his eyes suggestively, "We might meet up there, sometimes."

Gordon and Brian looked at each other, "You sure?"

Brian rolled his eyes, but Gordon laughed, and they agreed.

"There’s something else, though I fear you may think I’m speaking out of turn. I have a suggestion about your holiday plans”, the two men both stiffened but didn’t interrupt Russ, “I recently acquired a company, good firm but run by an idiot, and for reasons best known to himself, his girlfriend's business is part of the deal."

"Couldn't they have sold it separately?"

Russ shrugged, "Couldn't or wouldn't, I don't know. Anyway, it’s a holiday property business, and we're in the process of disposing of the properties. Not my bag at all. But there's a couple that are a problem. Bought as development opportunities, and not yet developed. There's one that's in decent nick, lived in until recently, just not to rental standards. I'd be happy for you to use it."

"How much is the rental?"

"Oh, sorry. It's free. Currently it's unoccupied and so we need to sort something out and my PA suggested that maybe, instead of using a firm to house-sit, it might be of interest to folk, for a holiday."

"You certain?"

"Of course. I can get my PA to send you details, but I've got the address here. There's a forest nearby, with walks, and a canal, and I did a quick bit of Googling", he grinned, "and I think there's an arboretum too. I figured that it might be enough. Not sure how you feel about long-distance travel, but there'd be the possibility of getting into Paris. It's in Normandy, so within driving distance of the tunnel." He fiddled with his phone, "Here we are, it's at Pont-Audemer and is near the Marais-Vernier and the Foret de Montfort, the one's a huge area of wetlands, the others woodland, and there's a canal and the Seine is nearby. 45 minutes' drive from Rouen if you want a bigger place, couple of hours to Paris." He grinned, "That's all I know, and most of that came from my PA." He stared at them expectantly.

Gordon sighed, “Look, we like you a lot, but this all feels a bit like you taking over our lives. Things are complicated what with Toby…”

Russ pulled a face, “I like the boy, and he’s great to be round, there’s no problem…”

Brian let out a big sigh, “It’s not that. We have to be careful”, he stared at Russ, “I have to be careful. There’s my custody to think about. If we go careering round France with you, it might not look good.”

“And there’s the feeling that you are trying to buy your way in”, Russ started to say something, but Gordon continued, “I know you mean well, but the gap in our incomes is huge. As friends, or friends with benefits”, he shook his head, “I don’t know.”

Russ stood up, “I’m sorry you feel like that.” He started to get dressed, and though they continued chatting there was the sense that the visited ended on a rather sour note.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.”

Gordon and Brian were sitting on the sofa, mulling over Russ’ visit.

“Could we have handled it better?”

Gordon wrinkled his nose, “Look, the bloke gives us a gym membership and says he’s not trying to buy his way in. Then promptly offers us a free holiday cottage, with strings.”

“Strings?”

“Oh, come on. What’s the betting he’d casually drop in.”

“Casually?”

“Yeah, you know. Meetings in Paris and almost driving past. That sort of bull.”

“What if he’s genuine?”

“You mean, what if he really likes us and isn’t trying to buy us?”

“Something like that. I mean, he might be. And, well, Toby’ll be pissed if we don’t see him anymore.”

Gordon gave an ironic laugh, “Bloody hell, organising our friendships and love life around a teenage boy.”

Brian smiled, “Believe me, I’ve heard worse stories.”

“OK. Let’s draft an email and send it.”

“Saying what?”

Gordon pulled a face, “Short and to the point. Sorry things ended on a sour note. We’re on edge because of the meeting with the solicitors on Wednesday, and whilst you think you are being helpful, the sheer difference in our incomes makes life tricky. That sort of thing.”