Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:30:16 +0100
From: Adam Stewart <stewad36@gmail.com>
Subject: The Earl's Son 11

This is a love story following the life of two young men who fall in love
and have to overcome tragedies in their lives. All the characters are
fictional.

Warning - it contains some m/m sex.

The Earl's Son

11.

The contractors finished their work at the new theatre just within the
allotted period. Kyle and Jason's firm, which was called J & K Services,
had done some of the work since it had been decided that Jason, who was a
plumber by trade, would handle most of the maintenance items required. Kyle
had decided he didn't want to handle blocked drains or whatever else might
crop up since he was a qualified electrician, so Jason said he'd be the
on-call maintenance guy.

Julian congratulated Craig and Adrian for making it all happen. He knew of
course that Robin had also kept the pressure on but the guys on site had
done a good job. Having done a tour round the whole building and been shown
how everything worked, he invited the pair of them out for a slap up
dinner.

"Are you free this evening Craig or have you got someone lined up for
tonight!" Julian teased him.

Craig grinned and said he was free and would love to be wined and
dined. Robin had already checked that Adrian was available and he'd jumped
at the idea of spending quality time with the others. Julian called Kevin
and told him to meet them at the restaurant he'd booked. Kevin was more
than happy to attend since he would see Craig. They hadn't actually had any
time together for a week or more so he looked forward to it.

They first had drinks and then went in for the meal which as usual was very
nice. It was way above the type of restaurant Adrian was used to so enjoyed
every second. Throughout the meal he watched Craig and Kevin flirting with
each other and decided he couldn't really understand Craig. It was clear
that he was very fond of Kevin who in turn loved Craig yet he knew that
Craig had other guys on the side.

"If I'd found someone I loved I wouldn't behave like Craig" Adrian
commented to Robin later on when the others weren't around.


By the time the meal was finished Adrian was feeling somewhat merry. In
addition to the pre-dinner drinks they'd had wine with their meal and
brandy afterwards. Adrian wasn't used to so much drinking and Julian was
slightly concerned about him making his way back to Camden where he
lived. Knowing he lived alone, Robin suggested he come and stay the night
with them. Julian grinned and said 'yeah, good idea'.

"You and Kevin going back to your place" he asked Craig guessing that Kevin
was up for that.

The pair of them grinned and nodded so when a taxi came along Julian told
the driver to drop them off at Craig's flat before taking the rest of them
to the apartment.

Adrian had never seen Julian and Robin's apartment before and gasped when
he walked in.

"Wow, this is gorgeous" he exclaimed.

Robin was tempted to add 'and that's not all'!

Julian led Adrian into the living room and told him to make himself
comfortable. Adrian did precisely that and slipped off his shoes and
unbuttoned his shirt. He was sloshed and giggly.

"Anyone for a drink?" Julian asked grabbing hold of the bottle of brandy
and some glasses. Adrian nodded that he would and grinned at Robin.

"Do you think he should?" Robin whispered to Julian.

"He's enjoying himself; allow him to let his hair down."

Robin grinned. That was the problem, he wasn't sure he could trust himself
if Adrian did that!

"Why don't you sit beside Adrian" Julian suggested to Robin and grinned.

Robin looked at Julian wondering what he was up to but did just
that. Adrian turned to Robin and giggled as he took the brandy from Julian.

When he'd drunk it he slumped sideways and his head landed on Robin's
lap. Robin stroked his soft brown hair and looked at Julian.

"Now what?" Robin asked.

"I think we'd better put him to bed don't you" Julian grinned.

Between them they lifted Adrian and got him into the spare room. They then
stripped him of his clothes and tucked him up in bed.

"He sure is gorgeous" Julian commented admiring Adrian's naked form before
covering him with the sheet.

"You're incorrigible" Robin giggled.


The following morning Adrian appeared mid morning looking the worse for
wear.

"Sore head?" Robin grinned.

Adrian nodded, "I take it you guys put me to bed last night".

Robin grinned.

"Thanks; not used to drinking like that; hope I didn't embarrass myself."

Robin assured him he hadn't and kissed him on his cheek. Adrian savoured
the kiss for a moment before kissing him back.



On the Monday morning the Steinway piano was being delivered so Robin
wanted to be there to supervise its arrival. Julian had decided it would be
better to have their own, rather than having to hire one each time. Apart
from that he knew that Robin loved playing a grand piano so this meant he
could do so whenever he wanted. Robin had chosen a restored piano rather
than a new one and when the salesman heard where it was going to be used he
gave him a significant discount. Julian reckoned it was because the
salesman fancied Robin but either way they got a good deal.

Once it had been unpacked and tuned, Robin sat down to try it out. He
played part of Liebestraum by Franz Liszt which was one of his pieces for
the concert. At the time, Adrian was checking the newly refurbished seats
which had been re-upholstered in the original dark pink that they'd once
been when the cinema first opened. Julian had researched the original
colour scheme which had been cream and dark pink so he'd decided to use the
same colours. The only thing he couldn't find out was what the carpet had
been so they chose a dark grey with a dark pink fleck in it.

"Rather apt don't you think now that two poofs own it" he'd joked with
Robin.

As Robin played, Adrian was spellbound. He'd never heard Robin play before
and the beautiful music almost brought him to tears. He stopped what he was
doing and just stood to listen.

"Beautiful" he muttered to himself.

"Robin or the music" Julian suddenly said. Adrian turned not realising that
Julian was standing behind him.

"Both" he grinned.

"I'm a lucky guy aren't I?" Julian whispered, "He's talented, gorgeous and
has a beautiful personality, what more could you want". Julian had nearly
added `and brilliant in bed' but decided that was probably too much
information to share.

Adrian just nodded as a tear started falling down his face. Julian placed a
hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.

"I can see we're going to have to find a nice young man for you to love
Adrian" Julian said sensing Adrian's thoughts.

"If only I could" he replied thinking the chances of finding another like
Robin was probably very slim.


When Robin had finished playing he ran over to where Julian was still
standing. Adrian had been called away because his two new recruits had
arrived for their induction.

"How did it sound?" Robin asked excitedly.

"As beautiful as always" Julian replied pulling Robin into a tight embrace,
"I love you so much".

Robin grinned and felt a stirring down below but now was not the time to
let his sexual desires get the better of him, "And me you" he replied.

"I'd better go and say hello to the two new recruits" Robin said and made
his way out into the foyer.

They'd recruited two people to help Adrian. A girl who seemed jolly enough
and a young guy who admitted that he too was gay so was looking forward to
being part of the team. The plan was that between the three of them they'd
manage the ticket office and the cafe bar area. Robin had set up an online
booking system which allowed people to print off their own tickets so it
meant the ticket office didn't have to be open for hours on end.

The four of them sat down at one of the low tables they'd purchased for the
cafe bar area and Robin welcomed the two newcomers to the team and went
through his induction list.

"Any questions?" Robin asked when he'd gone through everything.

The two shook their heads and said everything was fine.

"And don't forget" Robin added, "Always smile at the customer and be nice
however much they may annoy you". The two giggled and said they would.

"Right then, I'll leave you with the lovely Adrian for him to show you the
ropes so see you both on Friday for the grand opening."

Adrian grinned and felt his face go red for a moment so quickly got up and
took the two new recruits over to the counter where he started to show them
how the electronic till worked, where everything was situated and how to
use the new coffee machine. Robin watched for a few moments but was soon
satisfied that Adrian had everything under control. He'd laid the stock out
beautifully and Robin was impressed. It looked attractive and had been done
logically. As he left to go and find Julian he decided he was pleased he'd
recruited Adrian to do the job in more ways than one!


On the Wednesday evening the orchestra arrived for the first of their
rehearsals on the new stage. Everyone was very impressed with the venue and
once they'd settled they got down to work. Everything went well and Robin
was pleased with his contribution. Kyle was also there to test out the new
computerised lighting system that had been installed in what had originally
been the projector room. They had also installed a radio intercom system so
that he could communicate with the stage area and those behind.

The musical director was delighted with the way everything had gone but
they decided to come back the following evening just to go through one or
two things again since the first night on the Friday was important to all
of them. Julian had invited a number of local dignitaries as well as
members of the local and theatre press. In addition he'd invited the lady
who'd previously owned the Old Cinema to officially open the new theatre.

The new `Drayton Theatre' sign was now in place outside along with posters
advertising the opening night for the concert and the play that would be
opening the following week. Ticket sales were already doing well and the
first two nights for the concert were fully booked. It seemed the new local
theatre had caused a lot of interest and people were keen to see what these
two guys had done to the place.


Finally the moment came to declare the `Drayton Theatre' open and the
little old lady cut the ribbon that had been fixed across the entrance. As
she walked in on Julian's arm she gasped as she looked round the foyer and
saw what had been done. On one wall Julian had organised a collage of old
pictures of the cinema in its heyday along with a script describing its
history.

"It's like walking back in time" she declared as he led her into the
auditorium and she saw the original colours. "It's beautiful" she declared,
"My husband would have been so proud to see what you've both done" she
added and gave Julian's hand a squeeze.


The concert was a great success and there was a standing ovation at the
end. The conductor brought Robin out to the front and allowed the audience
to applaud him once again. When that had died down he invited Julian to
join them on stage.

"I feel we should thank Julian and Robin here for saving this wonderful
place and for bringing it back to life" the conductor announced, "Without
people like them, places like this would just die and be turned into
another boring supermarket or bingo hall". This caused the audience to roar
their approval and stamp their feet with more applause. Julian and Robin
looked at each other and grinned. It had been hard work but it looked as if
it was all worth it.


The next two nights of the concert were just as successful with a full
house for each. The play that opened on the following Wednesday was also
successful and ran with a full house for the first week. That ran for a
further three weeks and although there were some empty seats during those
weeks it was still successful. The local press had praised what Julian and
Robin had done to the Old Cinema and gave good reviews for the concert and
the play. They even had a write up in Time Out which was always a good
advert!


Whilst the play was running, another was in the process of being rehearsed
in the room upstairs. It was a gay play that Julian had come across and had
asked one of his fellow class mates he'd met at the drama school to direct
for him. Giles was chuffed at being asked and when he saw the theatre he
was going to work in he couldn't believe his luck. In response, he flung
his arms round Julian and kissed him, much to Robin's amusement. Giles was
as camp as Christmas and a lovely guy to work with so Julian was happy to
give him as much help as he needed!


"You okay Kevin?" Robin asked one day when Kevin seemed very much under the
weather and by no means his usual bouncy self.

"Think I've picked up a bug of some sort" Kevin replied trying to push the
matter to one side but Robin could see he was not at all well.

"Perhaps you should see the doctor" Robin said looking rather concerned.

"Nah, I'm fine really" Kevin replied but Robin was not convinced.

He decided to leave the matter for the moment but kept a tight watch on how
things went over the next few days. He spoke to Julian about his concerns
and he agreed that Kevin didn't look at all well. He was looking drawn and
thinner. They also noticed that he wasn't eating as well as usual so in the
end they told him they were going to march him along to see the doctor.

The doctor agreed that something was wrong so immediately arranged for
blood tests to be undertaken. Kevin still said everyone was fussing too
much and it was only a bug of some sort but Robin could see the doctor did
not agree. It was agreed he would see Kevin in three days' time when the
results of the blood tests would be back.


"The good news is" the doctor was telling Kevin three days later, "is that
the HIV test we discussed is negative". The doctor then paused before
continuing and Robin could sense Kevin becoming concerned.

"The bad news is that you have a rare blood disorder and you are anaemic"
the doctor eventually continued.

"Is it serious?" Robin asked seeing that Kevin was speechless.

"Could be unless we get him on treatment immediately" the doctor replied,
"the anaemia is simple to treat but the other is not so; we may have to try
several different drugs to see what works best".

"Any idea how he could have picked it up?" Robin asked trying to get as
much information as possible.

"Not sure, it is extremely rare in this country but it's possible he picked
it up in Sri Lanka where I understand it is more common and it has remained
dormant for some while. But what has triggered it I can't say."

By this time Kevin was almost in tears so Robin held his hand and tried to
comfort him.

"We'll get it sorted for you Kevin but it may take time" the doctor said
trying to be positive, "I've discussed it with one of the leading blood
specialists at UCL and he's suggested two drugs; one to improve the anaemia
and another to combat the other problem but you need rest and good
wholesome food for a while".

The doctor then asked if it would be possible for Kevin to spend a few
weeks at Julian's estate since that would provide rest and would be in the
country. Robin said that could certainly be arranged and he would drive him
down the very next day. Even if he couldn't stay to look after him he knew
Thomas would and no doubt Julian's mum would too.

They left the clinic armed with bottles of pills and strict instructions on
when to take them. The doctor said he would contact Julian's doctor in
Abingdon and fill him in so that he could visit once a week to take more
blood tests and monitor things. It was agreed that Kevin would come back in
four weeks so the doctor could see how things were going. It seemed it
would take that time to see whether or not the drugs were having any
effect.

"You'll be okay" Robin told Kevin as they made their way home to break the
news to Julian but secretly he was as worried as hell. Surely they wouldn't
lose someone else who was close to their hearts.

___________________________________________________________________________

The next part of 'The Earl's Son' will be available shortly.

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See Prolific Authors for a list of other stories by Adam Stewart