Brian: Taking Courage - 28. Naked meeting

"Let me get this right, you're suggesting that our Monday meeting could be at your office but that if it is, then we'd be naked."

Gordon had phoned Russ earlier in the week, but it had taken until Sunday morning for the man to get back to them. Apologetic, at first, because changes to his schedule had left him short of time, and then unsurprisingly rather mistrustful. Gordon tried to keep things brisk and business-like but was beginning to regret the idea of inviting him to meet at Ares, and wondered whether the cross-over between Russ, their friend-with-benefits, and Mr Russ Kahn, the client of Ares, might be more complicated than it first seemed.

"You're sure you're not having me on?"

"Sorry. It's entirely serious, well genuine", Gordon sighed, "Look, if it's problem, let's leave it. Hugh, Brian and I can drive over to you."

"No, hang on, hang on. You're completely serious. We'd do the meeting bollock naked and everyone in the office would be?"

"Yeah, we do that every Monday. Team meeting and all, extra bonding if you like. We figured that may be, as we're doing your event wearing next to nothing, you wouldn't mind following suit."

At this Russ chuckled, which was a relief, "What about that secretary of yours?"

"Philippa. Oh she stays clothed, no pressure on her."

"So she gets to ogle all that masculine pulchritude."

"Well… Perhaps not everyone's in completely fine fettle."

Another chuckle. "And do I get to meet the other guys doing duty on the evening?"

"Sorry, that wasn't part of the original plan, so they haven't been called into the office. It's very unlikely that they would be free, most guys are working full time."

"Fair enough, but maybe I'll add that as a rider next time."

Next time. Gordon liked the sound of that. Hugh was already talking about the financial upswing in their pricing that they'd been able to make as this was a custom created event.

"But Brian and I will be there of course, and we'd be happy to show you our uniforms for the night."

"Indeed", Russ sounded amused, "and who else will be there?"

"Hugh and Damian, both of whom you've met, of course, whilst we have a couple of other staff who will be around, the tech guy and the guy in charge of the workshop."

There was a pause. "I was thinking of asking whether there was anyone attractive but realised that that was unprofessional. This mixing of business and pleasure is tricky, isn't it?"

Gordon laughed, "I was thinking so myself. Serves us at Ares right, though, for doing something crazy like the naked Monday."

Russ snorted, "Like dress-down Friday but worse. Perhaps I should institute a clothing-optional day at work. Hmmm. You know, I think I like the idea. I'm quite looking forward to Monday now. I got your email, and I think we need to talk." He didn’t say more, after all it was hardly appropriate on what was supposed to be a business call.

Gordon wondered whether to bring up the other news. "There's just one more thing. It's not about work. Brian and I are getting married."

"Wow. When?"

"As soon as possible, we'll get a suitable slot and have a quiet ceremony. Just relatives. Brian's got a meeting with the solicitor on Wednesday about on-going custody arrangements for Toby, and we figured that things might be a bit easier, going forward, if we were married."

"Give you some sort of official standing. And hearty congratulations!"

When the doorbell went, late Sunday afternoon they weren't expecting anyone. They had combined a shopping trip with a walk along the river which was always a good wheeze as there was usually plenty for all three of them to see, from joggers and folk on boats, to wild-life. But Toby had also wanted to go over the wedding idea again, making sure of things, but he seemed pleased. He'd been concerned that there might be some sort of ceremony that he'd have to get involved in; evidently one of the boys at school had been roped in as a page-boy for his sister's wedding. They put him right on that, minimal ceremony and that was it. And there was plenty of life on and off the river to keep them entertained too, not so many boats but ducks galore.

Brian was trying to work out what to have for tea, how much energy did he have. Neither he nor Gordon had mentioned a take-away, yet, but they suspected Toby might be up for one from his favourite Indian. It was Gordon that went to answer the door and he reappeared with Russ.

"Sorry, I didn't want to disturb you. I only came to give you this, but Gordon insisted I come in", Russ was carrying a pair of champagne bottles. Brian took the bottles and thanked him; from the look of it, it was good champagne too.

Russ was stiff, but gave a tight smile, "Don't ask me what it's like. I usual get my supplies shipped from The Wine Society, but as this was a last-minute thing, I went to a wine place that folk recommended and let the guy talk me into something.” He smiled, and Brian thought that perhaps Russ couldn't be talked into anything he didn't want to do. Before Brian could comment, Russ ploughed on. “About the holiday. I think you have a point and frankly, I don’t want to fuck things up just because of a crappy house in a God-forsaken French village.”

The two men laughed, which broke the ice. “We thought the same. And the house is crappy now, is it?”

“We have to apologise too; it all came a bit sudden. And we feel likewise, but sometimes your money is a bit much.”

Russ gave a wry smile, “You know, previous relationships haven’t had that problem.” They stared at him; he was usually close-mouthed about his lovers, “My role seemed to be perilously close to a sugar daddy.” He grimaced.

“So we have competition, do we?”

“Not a bit. Oh, I’m not a saint, but I’d like us to be friends.”

“Friends with benefits?”

“That too. If it was possible. And I will make sure I ask.”

“Ask?”

“Before throwing money around.”

The two men nodded, “You'll stop for a glass? Hang on, are you driving?"

"Remember, I don't have a car?"

That was one of the odd things about him, he did without a car, relied on his driver from work, limousines or an Uber. It seemed to work for him, and Russ said that it meant he could work on the longer distances. As far as Brian was concerned, it made last-minute arrangements tricky, and their life was full of those.

"So, yes. If I'm not disturbing anything."

Toby finally appeared, having managed to not hear the bell and thus not know Russ had arrived.

"Dad, when are we eating, I'm…", he stared, "Hello, Mr Russ."

"Hello, young Toby. Gordon told me this morning that he and your Dad were getting married, so I brought a little celebration gift."

"Wow. That's great. This morning?"

Russ shrugged, "I've been travelling, so Sunday morning was work." Toby sympathised by pulling a face.

Brian stared at his son. Toby's hunger wouldn't disappear. "Russ is going to stop for a drink, open the champagne. If you're hungry, what do you say to popping to the Co-op with Gordon and getting some cold meat or something to go with the cheese, hummus and bread that we have. Is that OK?" Toby nodded and grinned.

Brian looked at Russ and Gordon, "You all right with that. Thought it'd go better with bubbly than Indian", Gordon grinned, "get some olives or something too."

Gordon and Toby disappeared quickly, and Brian made sure Russ stayed put. That way the man couldn't offer to buy the extra food. He sat at the kitchen table as Brian sorted packages out of the fridge, "Are you sure this is OK?"

"Sure, no problem. We needed to eat; you heard the ever-open maw."

"What?"

Brian rolled his eyes, "For his size, Toby eats a ridiculous amount. Just before you arrived, I was thinking that I couldn’t be bothered cooking, so this is great."

Russ picked up one of the cheeses, "This doesn't say it's organic, or anything."

Brian grinned, "Ah, but it's made at a local dairy. Toby is learning the gentle art of compromise. Most of the organic cheese we can get easily is either bland and cheddar-like or bloody expensive. Toby likes tasty cheese and local is good. Last year the school even went on a trip to visit the dairy, they had a whole visitor centre and that. He was, I may say, well impressed." Brian sighed.”

“Deep sighs, is there a problem?”

“I need to admit that the holiday is a good idea. Toby’s keen.”

Russ laughed, “And that’s what counts, is it?”

Brian nodded, “To a large extent. You ever tried to go on holiday with one pissed-off teenager.”

Russ’s mouth quirked, “I’m beginning to realise, it’s a lot more complicated than you think.”

“Welcome to my world.”

“The meeting on Wednesday, is there anything I can do?”

Brian shook his head, “Thanks, but no. If things change, then I’ll let you know. To go back to the holiday. Erm, we'll be on our own, won't we?"

"Bugger yes, of course, just the three of you. Thing was, would you object if I dropped in, just for a day or so?"

"And stay?"

"Well, there's space. It's just I enjoyed hanging out on Saturday at your folks’ and wondered if you'd be up for a visit."

They looked at each other, Brian recalled his Mother's comments. "We wouldn't be able to do anything, I don't want Toby around, even in another room, if the three of us are going at it."

"Bloody hell, no! Besides, that's certain to put me off my stride. No, I'd just drop in."

"We'd have to check everything with Toby, as it's his holiday too. He might prefer his Dad to himself, what with the way things have been."

"Shit, of course. Look, I just thought it might be fun. I'm not usually around children, I've never had friends with kids, certainly not one like Toby that I can talk to."

Brian laughed, "Talk to or be talked at?"

Russ smiled, "There is that, but it beats having to try and make conversations about the latest Transformers or something", he made an exaggerated groaning noise. "And I've never had friends that I fuck, things have always been separate. So…"

Brian nodded, "Toby is definitely up for going to the house in Normandy, and I think he’ll be happy with you staying; he seems to have taken quite a shine to Mr Russ. So, yes, and thank you very much."

"Look. I promise there won't be anything else. The holiday cottage really is just a bit of serendipity. You'll no doubt find my PA's Auntie taking a couple of weeks after you. The gym is a gift pure and simple, but one I thought you'd enjoy and find useful. And, as I said, having you two on-board would help counteract the posers."

It wasn't a late evening and they only opened one bottle; Russ insisted they keep the other for special. It was tasty and even Toby was allowed a thimble-full. They sat out on the terrace, grazing and chatting.

---

Gordon had messaged Damian, Hugh and Philippa to confirm that Russ was coming to them and that he was cool with the dress code. This got a wry retort from Philippa 'Undress code, more like'.

When Russ appeared at Ares on Monday, Brian and Gordon had to laugh, the man had evidently decided that it wasn't worth dressing properly, so he was wearing t-shirt, shorts and trainers. And, indeed, nothing else. Philippa had asked if he wanted to undress privately, but Russ had said that it was hardly worth it and simply slipped his clothes off, folding them neatly and putting them into his briefcase. They could tell that Philippa was paying great attention, but she was far too professional to comment, at least until Russ had left.

They went into the meeting room and Philippa said she'd bring in coffee, in fact it was Connor who brought it in, smiling cheekily and clearly enjoying showing off. When Gordon introduced him as their tech guy, Connor retorted, 'And occasional tea boy'.

Damian and Hugh were funny, they'd been gung-ho for the idea but now it was actually happening, were clearly somewhat unsettled at being naked with a client. Russ, on the other hand, seemed to be loving it. But once the meeting proper started, Hugh started going through his spread-sheets and Damian got into the nitty gritty of logistics. When the meeting was coming to a close, Hugh cleared his throat. "How often do you have this sort of event, Russ?"

Russ laughed, "Well, I have some sort of entertainment every month or so, sometimes more often, sometimes less, but this is the first one where we've been able to have anything like this type of theme."

"You've had other themed ones?"

"Yeah, actors dressed as characters doing the serving, that kind of thing. No flesh."

"Would we be in line to do the next one as a special like this?"

"I think so, I'm anticipating it being popular. Why? I'd already mentioned the possibility to Gordon and Brian."

"I was wondering whether you'd be interested in some constructive feedback from our point of view."

"You mean what could be done better?"

"That, and what other extras we might include and what type of venue might work more efficiently. We have a lot of experience, and as Gordon and Brian are going to be actually working the shift, strutting their stuff in their scanties, so to speak, we thought that giving you the benefit of our ideas might be a good idea."

Russ broke into a smile, "Sounds great. And speaking of scanties, I thought you gentlemen were going to give me a show?"

Gordon rolled his eyes, but the two men went out to put on their uniforms for the evening. When they returned, Russ simply grinned. From the back, the jocks were pretty standard looking though the straps were quite narrow, but from the front it was clear that the pouches were made of some sort of stretchy, clingy fabric. Both men's dicks and balls were hanging almost freely and lovingly outlined in full detail.

Hugh, however, pulled a face then shook his head, "Are you sure that you could not have found something a bit briefer!"

Damian had clearly been torn, but laughter won, "I don't know, perhaps our esteemed client likes them like that."

Russ smirked, "Perhaps I will request something like that for all the men, next time. I'm sure we could come up with a suitable fee. And besides, as I know you are aware, I happen to have a private showing of these gentlemen's assets as they have mine". With that, Russ stood up.

The other four were a picture of consternation. For Damian and Hugh, knowing that your client had been intimate with two members of staff was one thing, but having him broadcast it was something else again. As for Gordon and Brian, were they ready to have everything put out there quite so openly, and without Russ asking.

---

"You OK with that?"

"Russ simply coming out with it?"

"Yeah. I mean, I know that Damian and Hugh know, but we haven't been exactly keeping them up to date on every encounter."

Brian sighed, "I don't really mind people knowing, its more that he simply came out with it without ever asking us. What are we going to say?"

"Don't fucking do it again?"

Brian wrinkled his nose, "Do you reckon he's as open with his staff?"

"What, you mean that half his office knows that he's banging us?"

Brian waggled his head, "Well, strictly speaking, we're banging him."

Gordon laughed, "Perhaps we should send him a postcard of thanks."

"Really enjoyed banging you, looking forward to the DP next time!" The laughed.

"Glad something's funny", Hugh had come over. Like Gordon and Brian, he was dressed, ready to go home.

"We were just thinking of sending Russ a postcard to his office, saying that we really enjoyed banging him."

Hugh stared, "You didn't know he was going to come out with it?"

"Hell, no. We've seen the man a few times, once by accident at my Dad’s and of those we've done it three times."

"And will there be more? Do I need to be worried."

"He's a friend first. And if he's going to pull tricks like that, that's the end of any extra benefits. But", Gordon shrugged, "it's fun and we enjoy it." He stared at Hugh, "As a bit of light relief, nothing more."

Hugh nodded, "So, I don't need to be worried about one of our clients getting pissed off because he's no longer getting his oats."

"Not at bit."

"Good. And thank you for today, including the fashion show. I think we managed to strike the right note. Though the lads won't thank us if they have to parade around in those revealing bits of fabric got up as jock-straps."

Brian laughed, "If the pay's good…"

"Danger money!", the men laughed.

---

"Seriously though? Text him or phone him?"

"Text, we can follow it up if necessary."

"You want to do it now?", Gordon was driving them home.

"OK", Brian got out his phone and started to type, "How does this sound. 'Hope you enjoyed the meeting, we thought we covered everything. As you see, Ares is pretty relaxed. But it would have been nice to have notice that you were going to tell our bosses about our threesomes. Things are fine but ask next time. Please.'"

"Yeah. Send it. It's a bit uptight but then, I think we have a right to be."

The answer, when it finally came, was a message back, sent at some silly time in the early hours of the morning.

>Shit, I'm sorry. I'd had such fun at the meeting and with the naked thing, it just slipped out. If your bosses really are cool, then great, but if there's any come-back, it’s really on me. Sorry, RK