“Did you speak to Derek last night?”
“No. I just wanted to see what the place was like. I had a look around the... facilities... and then left.”
“Did yousamplethe facilities?”
Kieran snorted. “No. Although Derek doesn’t know that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I went into the dark room and then waited until his head was turned away from the bar before I snuck out.”
“Why?”
“So he thought I was still in there.”
“Why?”
“Cos it’s funny.”
“Why?”
“Are you a fucking parrot or something? He kept looking at me, like he was worried about me. So I gave him something to worry about... and if you saywhyagain, I’ll throw this coffee on you.”
He added milk and sugar, just how Hassan liked it, and passed it over. Hassan took a sip, then gave Kieran a devilish smile.
“There are more things to throw at you in this kitchen.”
“Who are you two talking about?” asked Sarah.
Kieran shrugged and gestured for Hassan to tell the story.
“The stepdad who outed Kieran to his mum, which made her boot him out, is friends with Milo’s boyfriend and owns The Back Room.”
“Huh?”
To be fair, it was a lot to get your head around on a good day. Even more so after a twelve-hour night shift.
“And... it’s the same stepdad Kieran had a crush on when he was a teenager. Derek was his gay awakening.”
“What the fuck, Hassan?”
“You told me to tell her the story.”
“Not that part.”
Sarah clapped her hands. “How is he looking now? Do you still want to fuck him?”
“I am not having this conversation,” he said, attempting to leave, but Sarah stood up and blocked him.
“We need a project name for this,” she said.
“No. There is no project,” he said, exasperated.
“Project Stepdad is a bit on the nose, and we don’t wantpeople thinking it’s some kind of incest shit. Wait, how old were you when he first became your stepdad?”
“I was fourteen when they started going out, and fifteen when they got married.”
“That’s fine. I lost my virginity at fourteen.”
