Page 61 of Companion Required

Chapter Twenty-Six

Kieran

No doubt about it, the suite at the Mandarin Oriental was the nicest, must luxurious hotel room Kieran had ever stayed in. Not that he’d stayed in many. The only drawback? Kennedy was not there to share the king-sized bed with him.

On the first night alone, despite getting text messages from the girls, Kieran hadn’t felt like going out, had holed himself up in his room and binge-watched HBO movies over a club sandwich room service meal, while sitting cross-legged on the bed.

His only reminder of Kennedy? After the mix-up with time in Okinawa, Kennedy had noticed Kieran wasn’t wearing a watch and had lent him one of his own—nothing expensive or pretentious, just a leather-strapped timepiece his father, Jeff, had given him as a kid. Kieran loved wearing the device, loved smelling the navy leather strap which, every time, reminded him of Kennedy.

The next day the sun shone gloriously, so with Laurie proudly clutching her Hong Kong guidebook, the three of them took the ferry ride to Lantau Island and climbed the steps to the Big Buddha. Strangely, the air of mysticism and spirituality had disappeared for Kieran, as though that particular window of opportunity had passed him by, and he simply enjoyed being in the girls’ company and seeing the sights for what they were. After taking individual and group photos at the top, admiring the panoramic views of the territory and climbing back down the tall stairway, they stopped for a vegetarian meal at the Po Lin Monastery before taking a heart-stopping glass-bottomed cable car to the town of Tung Chung. Laurie’s guide had promised outlet malls—a guide that had served her well—and the girls had then proceeded to shop frenziedly, as though their lives depended on it. By the time they all reached the hotel late in the afternoon—the girls had also booked into the Mandarin Oriental—everyone felt pooped and ready for an afternoon nap.

Len had invited Kieran, the girls and Pete and his father for a relaxed dinner and drinks in his hotel in Lang Kwai Fong. Stylish and yet still retaining some old Chinese charm, the restaurant served Peking cuisine—Peking duck with paper-thin pastry rolls, finely chopped cucumber and spring onion, and sticky hoisin sauce, huge tiger prawns cooked in a light chilli sauce, broth-like chicken soup, fried noodles, and various stir-fried vegetable dishes. Kieran enthused about everything, having only ever sampled English-style Chinese food—usually as takeaway.

Sitting between Len and Laurie, Kieran conversed genially with them all until Len leaned in to talk to Kieran. Steph must have sensed something between them, because she diverted their attention to the exploits of Pete and his father, while Len lowered his voice to talk to Kieran.

“My human resources manager emailed me an employment contract for your new job. Give me an email address so I can send it over to you. Ideally, I’d like you to look through it over the next couple of days—I don’t want to spoil your holiday, but if you could do this sooner rather than later, I’d be grateful. Let me know if there’s anything missing and if you’re happy with the package, so we can get you to sign on the dotted line and get you on board as soon as you get back. Are you okay with that?”

“More than okay.”

“The starting salary and bonus scheme might seem a little generous, but it’s only slightly above market rate for this kind of role, and besides, I am reliably informed by someone not here right now that you will not only work your ass off but are worth every penny.”

Kennedy. Even when he was not physically present, he still impacted Kieran’s life. He had to look away from Len’s gaze for a moment, to level his emotions.

“Send it over to the email address you’ve already got for me,” he said, after a few calming breaths, “and I’ll do the honours tonight. Get everything back to you first thing tomorrow.”

“Okay, that’s impressive. Are you always this efficient?”

“I’ll tell you what, Len—and we can make this official if you want and write this into my contract—I guarantee that in six months’ time, I will have increased revenues across all of your businesses by between fifteen to twenty percent at the very least. How does that sound?”

“Like I should have hired you a few years ago.”

After dinner, Len, Pete and his father opted for the hotel bar, while Kieran and the girls decided to explore the bustling bar scene in Hong Kong. In the balmy evening air, they wandered Wyndham Street, filled with bars and restaurants and people spilling out onto the pavement. Eventually they hit an outdoor escalator and decided to see where the moving staircase would take them. Steph spotted them before anyone else—Richmond, Mike, Patrick and Joey, with another male couple Kieran recognised from the cruise, standing just inside a bar called Staunton’s on Staunton Street.

“Should we go and say hello?” asked Laurie, who appeared a little unsure.

“Kieran?” asked Steph, always sensitive to his feelings.

“Honestly, I don’t mind,” he said, assessing the gathered group. “Looks like Joey might need saving.”

“Let’s grab a quick drink. And if it gets too much, tonight’s time-to-escape word is douchebag. If anyone uses the word douchebag, then it’s time for us all to get the hell out of there.”

“Since when did we have a time-to-escape word?” asked Kieran.

“Since tonight.”

“And why douchebag?” asked Laurie, frowning. “English people don’t use that word.”

“Exactly.”

When they approached the group, Patrick spotted them first and waved them over. After kissing each of the girls, he even shook Kieran’s hand and smiled in a way that appeared genuine. Would wonders never cease? Richmond and Mike simply nodded their hellos. Joey’s face positively lit up when he saw Kieran and he came straight over to chat. Once Patrick had bought them all drinks—another first—Joey and Kieran excused themselves to move away from the group to a quieter part of the bar. They shared stories about their time in Hong Kong and what they’d each seen. After a while, Joey’s face became serious.

“So, listen. I need to fess up. I talked to my sister, Chloe. She’s still friends with your ex-girlfriend, Jennifer. They catch up every other week. I hope I didn’t drop you in it, but I told her about you being on the cruise with your new boyfriend.”

Oh, hell, thought Kieran.That should go down like a heavily loaded depth charge.

“What did she say?”

“She said I must have you mixed up with someone else. Until I forwarded a photo of you and Kennedy dancing, and then she went quiet. I have to ask you, Kieran. Are you really gay, or are you putting on a show here? Richmond seems to think you’re not the real deal.”

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