Page 5 of Companion Required

Chapter Three

Kennedy

When the final candidate left at four-thirty—bisexual Leon, who had been drawn to the idea of a cruise but had not realised the holiday entailed long-haul flights and had admitted to suffering from an acute fear of flying—Kennedy sat back and mulled over who he should select. As shortlists went, this one could easily be labelled concise. Two choices actually, between the twenty-three-year-old, quiet but good-looking and gym-fit blond, Francis, who spoke very little but looked cute and would fit the bill fine, and the twenty-one-year-old ginger Ed Sheeran lookalike called Steven—’call me Ven’. Unlike Ed, he came across as talentless, camp and over-groomed, but could chat incessantly about media fluff and other mindless trivia, and had an infectious if slightly immature sense of humour. So the choice fell to two very different twinks, one of whom would fill the quiet moments with mindless banter, or the other who would say little, but look good by his side.

Kennedy pushed his laptop lid down, to find the guy from across the coffee shop—Keegan?—sitting in the chair opposite him, his jacket and bag hung over the back, which did not bode well. If Kennedy was going to be brutally honest, this older man—yes, he was definitely a man compared to the non-shavers he’d interviewed so far—was easy on the eye. With palpable discomfort, the poor guy squirmed in his seat, wearing an earnest, if anxious, expression.

“I’m in,” he said decisively, tossing the single sheet of paper containing the advert onto the top of the laptop, the document landing face down. Kennedy noticed that, on the back, he had written out a number of answers to questions in neat handwriting.

“You’re in…what?”

“I’d like to apply for the role.”

“You’re…” Kennedy reached down, flipped the paper over and spun the advert around on the table. “Can you read the headline back to me?”

“Gay holiday companion required.”

“Gay holiday companion.Gay. We’ve already established you don’t qualify.”

“Not necessarily. I read that as Gay Holiday.” For effect, the guy produced air quotes around the two words then paused. “Companion Required. What I mean is, it’s not clear whether you’re asking for a companion, someone to accompany you on a gay holiday, in which case surely I’m still eligible, or whether you’re asking for a gay companion to go on holiday with you.”

Actually, the guy had a point. Had he shown them, Kennedy’s marketing and legal managers would have had a field day with the wording.

“I told you already. The person needs to be gay.”

“You do realise that’s discrimination.”

“What?”

“Just because I’m not gay doesn’t mean I can’t do the job.” What was with this man? No fear, no hesitation. Assertive and straight to the point. Kennedy liked those traits in work colleagues. Just not in his fake beaus. “Anyway, just how gay would you want this person to be? My uni friend is gay and he’s neither blond nor muscular.”

“Get him to apply then.”

“He has a boyfriend. And anyway, he doesn’t need the job. I do.”

“Look, Keegan…”

“Kieran.”

“Kieran, then. I’m sure there are other jobs out there for you—”

“There aren’t. And I don’t care, anyway. I want this one.”

“Look—”

“No,youlook. I’m reasonably good-looking. I am sociable with all kinds of people in all sorts of situations. I am not homophobic—far from it. Yes, I might be older than your stated requirement—which is a bit ageist, by the way—but if you want someone to pass as a legitimate companion, then I am a way better choice than that queue of blond Justins you’ve just seen. How old are you, anyway?”

“I’m forty-two.”

“As far as contemporary age gaps are concerned, twenty-nine and forty-two could be deemed acceptable. Anything under twenty-four could be seen as questionable. Does the contract include these guys having to have sex with you?”

Kennedy paused for a second. Was this guy trying to catch him out?

“Of course not. Sex would be by mutual consent only.”

“Excellent. So instead of worrying about whether this companion is going to put out or not, hire me and you can be sure right off the bat that I won’t.”

“And how exactly do you intend to convince my friends you’re gay?”

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