‘Even though there might be job redundancies?’
‘We need anadminofficer.’
‘I see.’
‘I suppose I have nochoicebut to ask her to do the Word doc.’
‘Tell her it’s Excel, and she’ll be good to go.’
‘Sorry?’ Clive asks. ‘I lost you there. Did you say shewouldexcel?’
‘I did, Clive, yes. She will excel.’
‘I’m glad youthinkso. Well, keep meposted, and get well soon.’
He hangs up and I sigh with relief, grateful to return to my plague-free life. It’s 9 am, the day only just starting in the city. Boats gather excited people for the day cruises, including the pirate ship, where memories of getting close to Sam are now so far away.
‘Oh, it’s you.’
I turn to see who has spoken.
‘Hi, Lydia.’
The early morning sun highlights the contours of her skin, the freckle on her cheek and her red lipstick.
Her black hair is tied up, exposing her sleek neck, where a golden necklace glimmers.
‘You’re not nude,’ she comments.
I look at my body, glad I remembered to put on clothes. I’m naked so often in the hotel that it’s feeling like second nature. ‘Should I be?’
‘Tim and Jemima,’ she says. ‘They told me all about the life drawing class that they went to, and how sorry they were I wasn’t there.’
Tim and Jemima. Not only are they so open, but they’re bloody gossips. In one horrible second, I realise that somewhere, both of them possess a portrait of naked me.
‘You were meant to be there?’
‘Oh, they didn’t tell you?’ Lydia asks. ‘I recommended the class to them. I was supposed to be the life model.’
My mouth drops. Lydia, the life model?
With a flash, I remember the leaflet Lydia gave me, life drawing classes advertised inside. What an entrepreneur Lydia is.
‘Wow. What a small world.’
‘Yes, I thought so, too,’ Lydia says. ‘Jemima and Tim had very kind words to say about you.’ I cringe at the memory of Tim’s description of my anatomy. ‘Thank you for stepping in at the last minute.’
‘I didn’t have a choice,’ I say. ‘My boy… friend, my friend’s mum…’
Are we boyfriends? Sure, Sam said he’d like to be, but we haven’t confirmed it.
‘His mum asked me to step in,’ I manage.
Just because you suck a man’s dick and then get fucked by him doesn’t mean you’re instantly boyfriends and getting readyfor a life of matrimony. No, this could be gay culture striking again. Sam could be one of those casual, open guys. We could be just fooling around and that’s that.
Or maybe we are on the other side of the gay coin, at the early stages of working each other out in new settings. With Ollie, it took some weeks before we had ‘the talk’. That talk was over too many sambuca shots and ended with us agreeing to be boyfriends. With Sam, I feel like it would be different. Should be different.
‘Are you cruising?’
