Chapter Nine
It had been a surprise when Bradley RSVP’d yes to the launch gala for J&B Works. But Jason’s shock increased ten-fold when he brought three potential new clients with him.
As far as Jason was concerned, the night succeeded in every way. The idea to turn the event into a fundraiser for the charities and the foundations Ben already represented got their upstart agency much needed attention. Now he looked for Ben because they needed to deliver their remarks.
His eyes darted around their small but well appointed space, which had been donated by the company that leased the building. The idea to secure their office space as a trade for creating and managing a charitable foundation had been brilliant. They had a half floor in midtown, featuring floor to ceiling windows looking out on the Empire State building. There was a private office they shared, a couple of desks out in the open space, and three couches that formed a seating area for informal meetings. They also had a glass-enclosed conference room. The space had the modern yet comfortable vibe they wanted.
Jason thought Ben should be easy to find, given his height. As he headed toward their office, he saw Darren, their assistant, standing at his desk.
“Ben in the office?”
“I think so. He went in a few minutes ago, but he may have slipped out when I was talking with guests.” Darren glanced at his watch. “You guys need to talk soon, since you wanted to do it about an hour after people started to arrive.”
“Yeah. We’ll be out in a second.”
Jason knocked lightly as he opened the office door, in case Ben was on a call or meeting with someone. Ben stood in front of the window looking south to the Empire State and downtown. Jason closed the door behind him so they could have a moment.
“Hey you.” Jason came up behind Ben and got his arms under Ben’s so he could wrap his boyfriend in a hug.
“Hmmm. Jay.”
“Everything okay?” Jason moved to stand next to Ben.
“Yeah.” Ben continued to look out the window. “It’s kind of mind-blowing, isn’t it? Four months ago this was an idea on a piece of paper. Now here we are. We get to live in the same city, work together, and build something great.”
Jason rested his head against Ben’s shoulder. They stood quietly for a moment with the muted hum of the party coming through the walls. Jason leaned up and kissed Ben on the cheek.
“We need to go out there and welcome these people,” Jason said.
“I know. It’s so nice in here though. Quiet. The glow from the Empire State. You standing right here.”
Ben turned and kissed Jason full out, tongue plunging deep into his lover’s mouth. Jason pulled Ben into a tight embrace. Even though they were living together now, their need for each other was as intense as when they had to get all their physical needs taken care of during weekend visits.
Jason pushed Ben backward until he sat down on his desk. Jason grabbed Ben’s crotch and found exactly what he expected.
“Jay.” Ben kept his moans to a minimum since sound traveled in the office. “We’ve got guests.”
“They’ll wait a few more minutes.”
Jason crouched on his knees...
[Jason and Ben quickly have some sexy times in their new office...]
“Jay, I can’t believe you did that with a room full of people out there.”
“I needed you, man.” Jason stood and adjusted his pants to make his arousal less obvious.
“How many people do you think we entertained through the window?”
Jason laughed. “Well, if anybody watched, I hope they enjoyed it.”
There was a knock on the door. It had to be Darren. They looked at each other with goofy grins, like kids almost caught doing something wrong.
“Just a second.” Jason walked to the door. Ben stayed facing away from the door, making sure he was presentable.
Jason opened the door a crack. He’d guessed right.
“Guys, you really should come say something. We’ve had a few people—” Darren raised an eyebrow and reached out to remove something from Jason’s face. He showed a short, curly hair to Jason before letting it fall to the floor. “I’ll stall. You’ll be out here soon, right?”
Jason turned a few shades of pink across his face, but tried to keep his composure. “Absolutely. Thanks.”
Darren smiled as he closed the door.
“We should give him a raise.” Jason returned to Ben. “I suspect we’re going to be a handful.”
He stood in front of Ben to straighten his tie.
“Do I look okay?” Jason scrubbed his hand over his face. “Nothing else embarrassing?”
Ben looked him over and nodded. “Perfection.”
They shared a gentle kiss before heading to the door.
Entering the main room, Jason caught Darren’s eye and gave a slight nod to thank him again. He drank down a glass of champagne as he and Ben crossed to the windowed area of the office. They decided the backdrop of the New York skyline was perfect for their quick speech.
Darren stepped behind a camera on a tripod that was set up to stream the speech on the firm’s website. He nodded when he was ready for them to speak.
“Good evening, everyone.” Jason started with a louder voice to get everyone’s attention. “Thanks for coming out tonight to help us kick off this new venture and raise some money for some good causes.”
The crowd applauded.
“J&B Works started out as a Christmas present last year,” Ben picked up. “Jason needed a change, and we both wanted to spend more time together without going back and forth between here and Chicago. Jason proposed creating a marketing and event agency that specialized in working with clients who are doing projects that we want to support.”
“As most of you know,” Jason said, “Ben’s made a name for himself doing work for Chicago area non-profits as well as clients he’s chosen over the years for their efforts to do good works. I’m excited to join him and combine his planning excellence with what I hope is an equal skill to create buzz around the projects, companies, and people we care about.”
“I want to thank my clients who made the transition to J&B,” said Ben. “I’m thrilled about what we can offer you with Jason on board. We hope you’re excited about our partnership and will help spread the word. To those of you here who are not working with us yet, let’s talk about your goals and what we can do to help you meet them.”
“We know we did an unexpected take on a launch party by actually charging you to show up,” continued Jason. “A dozen charities are benefiting from tonight, and between individual contributions and the generosity from some of your companies, we’ll be distributing over $110,000.”
The audience clapped loudly along with some hoots and hollers of appreciation.
“Now we’ll let everyone get back to the talking, drinking, and eating,” Ben wrapped it up. “Thank you again for joining us. Jason and I look forward to working with you all.”
The audience applauded again, and some people surrounded Jason and Ben to shake hands and offer good wishes.
By the time the last of the guests departed two hours later, Jason was exhausted. He sat on the edge of one of the desks in the main office area and watched Ben talk on his phone while he paced in front of the windows. Darren organized the cleanup with the caterers.
Ben finally keyed off his phone, dropped it in his slacks pocket, and joined Jason. He leaned his head against Jason’s and watched the cleanup happen around them. Jason’s hand found Ben’s and gave it a squeeze.
“We did good tonight, Jay.”
“Yeah we did. I’ve got a ton of meetings next week because of the people that were here. Besides Bradley, Julia was here too. She wants to suggest us to some of her division’s clients who have corporate foundations.”
Ben gave a smile that Jason recognized as a sleepy one.
“Darren, you got everything under control?” Jason asked as Ben closed his eyes.
“Yeah, I’m just getting these cards and appointments into the system during the cleanup. You two get out of here.”
“Thank you. Have a good weekend, Darren.” Jason shrugged his shoulder to get Ben’s attention. “Come on, sleepyhead. Let’s get home.”
“I took the liberty of calling a car so you wouldn’t have to deal with a cab or subway,” Darren said. “It should be downstairs now.”
“Coming through yet again,” Jason said. “Thanks.”
Darren nodded and went back to his work while Jason and Ben grabbed their coats from the closet before heading for the elevators.
Fun fact: The office in this scene is based on a place I worked when I did the ride the first time. I loved the big windows and open space. In the winter evenings, when it’d get dark at four, the glow of the Empire State Building could be seen from the wall of windows if you looked up—we were only on the 17th floor and the ESB is 102 floors tall. You could still see what colors the top of the building was and I’d often take a look before I headed out for the night. That type of office was the perfect place for Jason and Ben to begin their new business.
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