Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 22:58:25 -0400
From: Cory Jackson <coryj51@mindspring.com>
Subject: Bring Your Own BSB - Part 7

This story is a work of fiction and is not intended to imply anything about
the sexuality of any actual person or persons.

This story should only be read by those of legal age who do not have an
objection to homosexual relations between consenting adults.

Once again, I am grateful to those of you who have expressed your
encouragement to me in this effort. It is my hope to create a story which is
enjoyable and on a par with some of the fine work I have myself enjoyed
here on the Archive.

Please direct any commentary to coryj51@mindspring.com


Writers Correction: I miscalculated the chronology of Alex's past a bit.
Alex's parents were killed in 1995, he swept the Summer Olympics at
Atlanta in 1996. The story is set in 1999, Alex is 20 years old. My apologies
for the oversight.


Bring Your Own BSB

by Cory J

Part 7



Alex was in a good mood, even whistling a little as he carried his friends'
laundry down to the hotel's laundry room. He paused at the attendant's
counter just inside the door, showing his key to the young man seated there.
He spent a few minutes getting the wash going and then sat down on a
nearby bench to reflect for a moment. Looking around the large room, he
watched hotel employees and guests alike as they milled around inside or
simply walked past the door.

He took particular notice of the men. Some were attractive to him, others
less so. It was so invigorating to finally feel ok about that. Alex found that
his heart was beating rather faster than normal - it was exciting to believe
that there was someone for him. That any moment someone could walk in and
turn out to be that person. He felt a little silly - the possibility had always
been there, he knew now. Still, he had lived without this hope for so long, it
was like emerging from a desert into an oasis. He couldn't seem to stop
smiling - no doubt he looking like an idiot but it didn't matter. He felt like his
life was beginning.
As the washers began to rinse, Alex was taking a good look at the attendant
seated across the room. The young man was interesting to look at, a short
mop of bright red hair and bright green eyes. He was fit and looked sharp in
his hotel shirt and khaki shorts. Feeling eyes on him, the young man looked
up, noticing Alex looking at him. He smile was nice if a bit confused, and Alex
smiled broadly in return. Yes, it could be anyone.


Back in the suite, Brian and Nick relaxed on the couch for several minutes.
They were both drained from the intensity of their reactions to Alex's song,
not to mention the notion of being engaged to one another. Nick smiled as he
noticed Brian looking at his own finger.

"So," Nick asked with a smile, "What kind of ring do you want? Are you going
to set me back a bundle?"

Brian looked slightly shocked, then smiled in return. "Diamonds, baby, show
me the diamonds." They both laughed briefly.

"Seriously, though," Brian said. "How are we going to go about this? Things
are so hectic, and it's going to get worse in June."

"I know, I know," Nick agreed. "Once we are on tour, there isn't going to be
much time for anything. Don't worry, though, we'll work it out. Do you mind
an extended engagement?"

Brian smiled. "I'll wait as long as it takes. In the meantime, we have our lives
together, and that's all I could ask for." His face became more serious. "No
rings, Nick, no tokens of any kind. Not until we are ready to go public with
the truth. It would only make things harder."

Nick looked away for a few seconds, biting his lip slightly. "You are right," he
said, finally. "It would be something else to explain, and it is so hard already
not to touch you and." he trailed off - how he dreaded the months ahead.

Brian took Nick's hand lightly. "I know, I know," he whispered. "It's always so
hard to do. But, we've done it before. During the day, we'll be so busy, but at
night, we can be together for a while. We'll make it, I promise - we just need
to be careful."

Despite his worries, Nick began to feel better about things. Brian had
always been able to soothe his doubts and fears. It was a special gift that
he had. Nick smiled, kissed Brian briefly, and then stood over and walked
back toward the stereo.

"Should we listen to the rest of the CD?" He asked.

"Sure," Brian said. "I just hope all the tracks aren't so depressing."

"Amen to that," Nick responded, starting the CD playing once again. He then
rejoined Brian on the couch. The songs that followed ranged from uplifting
to bittersweet, though none approached the intensity of the previous song.
Most of the songs were duets with Alex and presumably his mother, though
there were a few that were solos on both their parts. The boys leaned back
together on the couch, and enjoyed them quietly.


Down in the laundry room, Alex removed the boys' laundry from the washers
and put them into the nearby dryers. He could still feel a bit of soreness in
his limbs. He would definitely need to focus on some relaxation and
meditation for the next couple of days - it wasn't good to push himself so
hard. Still, he couldn't help but be somewhat pleased at the feeling of being
pumped up. Every serious athlete got hooked on that rush to some degree -
you couldn't work that hard and not feel it. The need to push themselves and
be the best had led more than one athlete down some bad paths -
overexertion, injury, and other mistakes such as steroids. Alex had always
been proud that he had avoided those things, and had still managed to come
out on top. Alex smiled, flushing slightly at the memory of standing on the
highest platform, a forest of medals hanging from around his neck and from
each of his upraised hands. In that moment, he had felt like he could do
anything, anything at all. Since then, the feeling had eluded him. Standing
there, though, Alex believed that he might have that feeling again one day.

The other people in the laundry room were curious at seeing the athletic
young blond standing tall suddenly with both arms raised and more than a
little startled when he launched himself into a forward somersault to land
neatly next to a row of dryers.

Alex smiled, that was fun. He didn't do things like that nearly enough - just
for the joy of it. Maybe now things would be different. He grinned at the
stares of the other people in the room, blushing slightly at the attention. He
shrugged and walked out of the room, leaving the two empty laundry bags
behind. How ironic he thought - there were two dryers full of BSB souvenirs
there for the taking, if only their fans knew. He laughed as he headed up the
stairs back towards the suite.

Alex opened the door and walked in, pausing as he recognized the song being
played. It was his mother's voice, as perfectly clear as it was in his
memories. He smiled at those memories. They would always warm him, even
though they brought the pain of loss as well. He stepped through into the
room and closed the door.

Nick and Brian were still sitting on the couch, and got up as Alex entered.

"Your clothes are in the dryers," Alex said. "They should be done in 30
minutes or so. There is an attendant in the room so I don't think there will
be any problem leaving them there until they are ready."

"Thanks, man," Brian said. "You didn't need to do that yourself."

"Yeah," Nick added, "we could have done it."

"Oh, I don't mind," Alex said. "It's always been important to be to be able to
take care of myself, and it's probably better not to have you two hanging
around in the open too long. Speaking of which, do you guys have something
you do to disguise yourselves in public?"

"Sort of," Brian said. "Nick wears a hat and we both wear sunglasses. That
seems to do the trick."

"Yeah," Nick added with a laugh. "No one knows me when the hair isn't
showing."

Alex went over and stopped the CD. "So, what did you think? Should I keep
my day job?"

"It's really good, Alex." Nick said.

"Yeah," Brian said. "We'd like to play it for the rest of guys, if that's ok?"

Alex looked dubious for a moment, and then shrugged. "Sure, why not? You
can have the CD if you want. So, any ideas for dinner?" He sat down in a
nearby chair, and the boys resumed their places on the couch.

For the next several minutes, they discussed their food options, which were
numerous in a city as large as Atlanta. They agreed that going formal wasn't
a good idea, as it would be hard to dress up and look inconspicuous. After
glancing through a handy travel guide, they settled on a nice but informal
Italian restaurant. At that point, they hear a phone ringing in the master
bedroom.

"That's my cell," Alex said. "Hold on a second - I should get that." He rose
from his chair and headed out of the room. He returned a few minutes later.
He was wearing a headset which was plugged into a cellular phone. The phone
was attached to his belt.

"Hold on a minute," Alex said into the headset, and clicked a button on the
phone. "Guys, why don't you go ahead and get your laundry from downstairs?
There are signs to the laundry room and your clothes are in the back two
machines on the right. I've got to settle some business here." He released
the button on the phone and began speaking once again. After a few
moments, he headed back into the bedroom and closed the door.

Nick and Brian slipped into some shorts and old T-shirts. Nick put on a
baseball cap and they both put on their sunglasses. They then walked toward
the door. Nick was about to open it when he realized that he and Brian were
holding hands. He grinned and disengaged himself, wagging a teasing finger
at Brian. "We are going to have to stay focused, you know."

Brian smiled ruefully. "I know. We can't let ourselves get out of practice.
Let's go."

The boys headed out the door and down the stairs. They found the laundry
room and their clothes without a problem. Nick started to stuff the clean
clothes back into a bag as usual, and as usual Brian snagged his arm.

"How many times to I have to tell you?" Brian said with some exasperation "I
hate it when my clothes get all wrinkled. We need to fold these things while
they are still warm." He snatched a shirt back out of bag and turned to a
nearby folding table.

Nick smiled broadly. He didn't really care one way or the other about the
laundry, but it was great fun to watch Brian get all flustered over it. Nick's
grinned grew in a way that would have pleased The Grinch as he was
presented full view of Brian's shorts-encased bottom. A nearby towel called
out to him - how could anyone resist? Nick took the towel, wound it up, and
scored a loud crack of a hit on Brian's defenseless backside. Nick burst out
laughing as Brian yelped in outrage and whirled. He snatched up another
towel and closed on Nick with murder in his eyes. For several minutes after
that, the room resounded with snapping towels. The laundry room attendant ,
trying to separate the two, received an accidental whack of his own and
joined the fray. All three boys finally ended up laughing and panting for
breath at the same time.

By way of apology, Nick helped Brian fold the laundry without complaint, and
helped the attendant, who introduced himself as Karl, get the baskets they
had overturned back in order. Then, they bundled up their clothes and
headed back to the suite. When they arrived, they saw Alex seated back in
his chair, the phone and headset on the small table at his side. He had a
slightly exasperated look.

"Trouble at work?" Brian asked, as he and Nick put their bags on the floor.

Alex shook his head. "No, not really. Just some updates - business schedules,
projects, meetings, etc. It's really funny, I am not even officially in charge
yet, and they still seem to come running to me for an opinion an awful lot."

"What do you mean?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, I thought you would be running the company, didn't you inherit it?"
Brian asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Alex said. "My folks made a point of buying up
outstanding shares of their own companies whenever they could, so they had
clear majorities in nearly all their large holdings. They left everything to me,
but in trust until my 21st birthday. Until then, there is a Board of Trustees
who oversees the operations of the estate. It's not a problem. I have plenty
of money in my own right which I can get to if I need it. Plus I get a lot of
regular support from the trust itself."

He got up and walked over to the garment bags, which had been delivered
earlier. Rummaging briefly though the `normal' bag, he produced a small
bundle that he tossed toward Nick, who caught it. "There, check that out."

Nick examined the small bundle curiously. Peeling back the cellophane
wrapping, his eyes widened as he realized that it was a tightly wrapped stack
of cash.

"Geez," Brian said, also looking. "Those are 100s - there must be a couple
grand here."

Nick grinned at Alex. "You really are filthy rich, aren't you?"

Alex looked slightly sheepish, nodding. "Yes, I've got more money than I'll
ever need." He caught the cash bundle as Nick tossed it back. Turning it over
in his hands for a moment, he then turned and dropped it back into the bag.
"This is emergency money, in case I lose my plastic and such. I have a money
clip that I am supposed to carry this thing in - it's in my suitcase. Big, tacky
thing, so I don't carry it much." He paused for a moment. "If I were
overseas, there would have been a bundle of the local currency as well. I
used to joke that someone would think I'm a drug buyer or something, with
that much cash stowed away like this - I've never had any problems though.
There is a small corporation that my mother started that did nothing but
coordinate all these things to make traveling easier for us. Now of course,
there is just me. Sometimes I think they go the extra mile just to keep me
from thinking of shutting down the service."

He looked up and smiled. "Not that I ever would - it's kind of fun and it
reminds me of the good times when my folks were still around. You should
have seen the kinds of stuff we got when we traveled together. It didn't
happen often, but when it did - look out."

"Isn't there any problem with the international stuff?" Brian asked.

"Not really," Alex said. "The carriers are pretty good, especially these days.
They had researched most of the major destinations in the world ahead of
time. If there were some question of getting things to us, they would use
corporate transports. Mom used to joke that Dad spent more money on
planes, helicopters, cars and boats than he did on her."

"Did he?" Nick asked.

"Well, he did really like traveling," Alex said. "Of course he got around that
by `giving' them to her as presents when he bought them."

They all had a laugh at that.

"Anyway," Alex said, "The Board of Trustees has some overlap in
membership with the Board of Directors of the main corporation. So I get a
lot of mixed family and business stuff from the same people."

"What's the name of the company?" Nick asked.

"The Imperial Corporation," Alex said, "Or `TIC' as we call it. Mom used to
joke that they had created the world's biggest bloodsucker." He grinned
slightly.

"Wow," Brian said. "That's a pretty big company."

"Is it?" Nick asked. "I've never heard of it before - of course I don't read
Wall Street or anything. It isn't like it's Microsoft or IBM, though, right?"

"It doesn't have much of an image publicly, that's true." Alex said. "Like I
said, Dad didn't trust the media that much, so he kept as low a profile as he
could. The corporation is larger than most anyone suspects, though. Even I
don't really know how extensive it or the family estate is - there are a huge
number of people working just to keep track of it all." He shook his head
slowly. "The pressure is really been on since my 20th birthday, it's like all
these people think that I have to be taught how to do everything that my
parents did in a single year."

"I bet there's a lot of kissing up to you, too." Nick said.

"Yeah," Brian said. "I bet some of them are afraid you'll fire them if they
piss you off."

Alex laughed and shrugged. "Maybe, though I don't think anyone who knows
me at all thinks that. I'm not out to tell anyone how to do their jobs - not
when they've been doing them for years and I've been an overachieving jock
running around the world most of my life. I have faith in the people that my
parents chose to run things. I do keep tabs on stuff and try to stay in the
loop, but that's all."

"It's important to me that all those things that my parents worked so hard
to build are taken care of - if that means taking control of things personally,
then I will. Until then, though, I'll leave things as they are. I don't really
have that much interest in business. I'm more likely to take an active role in
Mom's work - charities, public relations, and stuff like that. I do plan on
getting the organization more into the media, though, I think it's too
valuable a resource to ignore any longer."

"You don't feel like your father did?" Brian asked.

"Not exactly," Alex said. "The press can be a nightmare, but it can also be a
great tool for bringing about positive change. I think if I am going to go
forward with all the good ideas that my folks started, I am going to need to
get those ideas more into the spotlight."

"They can make or break you, it's true." Nick agreed.

Brian nodded also. "Yeah, we put a lot of effort into good PR, both with the
press itself and with the fans."

"I bet you do," Alex said. "I may have to get some pointers from you guys. I
am trying to put together a plan for a new public relations strategy for TIC.
Though I haven't claimed the throne yet, so to speak, I'm trying to get
things ready to move."

"Kevin handles that kind of stuff, he's the planner." Brian said.

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "Kevin is the grownup of the group."

They all laughed.

"I am looking forward to meeting them all at some point. " Alex said. "I would
like to ask ." At that point, he was interrupted by the ringing of his phone
once again. He answered with a look of exasperation, spoke for a few
minutes, and then put the call on hold.

"Guys," He said. "I have to go take this and I may be a while." He looked over
at the clock, which showed that it was about 5:30. "Why do you guys go out
for a while and have a look around - the city is pretty cool. We can meet at
the restaurant around 8, ok?" He looked a bit anxious. "I'm sorry, but I have
to take this call - let me give you my cell and pager numbers in case you need
them." He scribbled down the numbers on a piece of paper and handed it to
Brian.

Brian and Nicked looked at each other and shrugged.

"Sure, Alex, that's ok." Brian said.

"We can find an arcade around here somewhere I bet." Nick said with a grin.
Brian rolled his eyes.

Alex gave a thumb's-up and smile, turning back to his phone call. Nick and
Brian got up and filed out of the room, Brian checking his cell phone on the
way out.

Nick and Brian walked around the hotel for a while, then grabbed some
tourist info on the city and got a cab and headed out.

Atlanta was a city of many sites, some few of which Brian was able to see
before Nick insisted on dragging him to a mall and the large arcade within.
There, Brian was repeatedly beaten cruelly by Nick in various video games
until he saw the basketball free throw game in the back. Nick was crushed
five games in a row. During the sixth, he rescued himself by noting that it
was nearly 8 and they needed to get going to meet Alex. During this time,
the sunglasses and hat seemed to do their jobs well. No one seemed to give
them a second glance. They hailed a cab and headed out towards the
restaurant.


Alex spent nearly an hour on the phone, dealing with the seemingly endless
stream of decisions, plans, schedules and other details of the corporation
and family estate. When he finally was able to put down the phone, he felt
drained. If it was like this now, he wondered, how bad would it get once his
birthday came and he received his full inheritance?

"Well," he said, "no sense in dwelling on this now - I'd better get dressed and
head out."

He went over to the `normal' garment bag, and pulled some clean jeans and a
shirt out. Holding the shirt up to his torso, he went over to a large wall
mirror and looked at his reflection. Shaking his head, he dropped the shirt
and ran his hands futilely through his hair. "That is it - this mess is getting
cut," he said firmly.

Alex picked up the shirt once again and began to change clothes. Midway
through the process, he stopped and looked across the room with a grin.
Heading back across the room, he closed the `normal' bag and opened one of
the others. Still grinning, he walked over to a small table and picked up the
suite's phone. "Front desk? This is Alexander - I need to get my hair cut in
the next 45 minutes - do you know of anyone local who can take care of me
on such short notice?" There was a minute or two of silence on the other
end, then Alex smiled and began writing on a notepad which was beside the
phone. "Oh good, tell him I'm on my way and call me a cab please. Five
minutes? Thank you very much - and your name is?" Alex scribbled down the
clerk's name and put down the phone and quickly finished putting on the shirt
and jeans. Then he grabbed one of the garment bags, slipped the cell phone
into it, and headed out the door in a hurry.


Nick and Brian made their way to the restaurant without a problem, and
were waiting in the front for a table.

"I wonder if Alex is here already?" Brian asked. Both boys craned their
necks around, trying to look at all the tables.

"I don't see him," Nick said "why don't you give him a ring on his cell phone?"

"Good idea," Brian agreed. "If we hear it ringing we'll know that he is here at
least." Brian got out his cell and dialed the number Alex gave them earlier.
The phone rang a couple of times and then was picked up.

"Alexander, here." Alex's familiar voice said.

"Hey, Alex," Brian said. "It's Brian."

"Oh, hi Brian," Alex said. "How's it going? Are you at the restaurant yet?"

"Yeah," Brian said. "We are waiting to get a table - I just wanted to make
sure that you weren't already here in the back or something."

"No, I'm in a cab on my way. I'll be there in about 10 minutes."

"Cool," Brian said. "We'll get a table for three and wave if we see you."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Alex said "I think I will stand out a bit."

They said good-bye and Brian closed his phone. After relaying what had been
said, Brian shook his head. "I wonder what he meant by that?"

"I have no idea," Nick said. "But I bet it will be fun to find out."

A moment after that, a server came and led them to a table.

They talked quietly for the next few minutes, mostly about the upcoming
tour and what a mixture of excitement and dread they both felt. Nick
nibbled on a breadstick and was considering playing a bit of footsie under
the table when a figure entering the restaurant caught his eye. He grinned
and shook his head.

"Brian," he said. "I think Alex is here."

Brian turned to look in the same direction, his eyes widening at what he saw.
"Oh, boy" he said.