Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHARLEY
“Do you want to be in on the interviews?” I ask Gabriel as I walk into the staffroom.
He hands me a coffee and follows it with a kiss.
We’d only parted an hour ago. It was absolutely wonderful to wake up with him in my bed this morning, as much as it was for him to curl himself around me last night.
We shared some morning kisses and breakfast, but then he went back to the house to get changed and ready for work.
This morning I have four people coming for the bar manager post.
“Not a chance,” he laughs. “You have Simon with you, right?”
“Yes, he knows the right questions to ask. I don’t know that much about catering and hospitality.”
“Then you’ll be fine,” he says.
“Gabriel, I’ve never interviewed anyone in my life.” I reason with him.
“I trust your judgement.” He moves closer and I have to put down my mug as he holds my hips and nuzzles into my neck. It’s certainly distracting me from thinking about the interviews. “You’re good with people, baby.”
I hear the door open and shut behind us but I ignore it as he kisses along my jaw. When I look over I see Andrés making a coffee. He turns and gives us his customary smirk as he takes his mug with him and goes in the direction of his office.
“I understand how Andrés can’t keep his hands off Simon now. That’s how I feel about you,” Gabriel murmurs and I melt a little. I’m loving this affectionate side of Gabriel. I’ve never known him like this, and it feels like I’ve unlocked a bonus level.
Once he’s left, I grab my notes and meet Simon in the bar area. We’ve decided to hold the interviews there as it’s quiet and we can also give the candidates a tour.
“Thanks for the recipe and wine suggestions yesterday,” I say to Simon as we wait for the first person to arrive.
“Glad I could help, and congratulations, I’m happy you and Gabriel got together.”
“Thanks, it seems slightly unreal. We’ve only been reconnected for a few weeks.”
“You can’t help when love strikes. I was obsessed with Andrés after about three seconds, and we only had five days together before he left to come here. I was lucky enough to get this job and now I’m able to be with him.”
I love their story, real attraction at first sight. I guess in a way, it was for me with Gabriel too, it’s just taken us a lot longer to get it together. But now we have, I know we can make it work.
Just then the first candidate arrives, and we spend the next few hours going through our questions, showing each person around.
Except the third one. He’s dreadful, arrogant, but with no real knowledge.
He also utters a few comments which are borderline homophobic as well as some very obvious misogynistic ones.
“I say we get rid of him as soon as we can,” I whisper to Simon and he stands.
“Thank you for your time, Mr Banks, but I don’t think you’ll be a good fit here.”
The guy doesn’t move. “I’m just what you need. People respect me, I run a tight ship.”
“Our first event is a ladies only night,” Simon says, which I know isn’t true but I want to see where he’s going with this as the guy has already ignored our dismissal.
“Oh, I’ve run a few of them. Those chicks can get pretty rowdy. Do you have male strippers lined up as well? I have some good bouncers who can stop them getting mauled,” he drawls.
“I don’t think you understand. The ladies are here to be together. They’re lesbians.”
The look on the guy's face is absolutely priceless as he works that through in his brain.
“No, that wouldn’t be allowed. We can’t have that here.”
“We aren’t,” Simon says. “We won’t be offering you the job. The door is that way.”
He stalks out, still arrogant in defeat.
“Sorry about that. I have no idea how he got through the selection process. His CV was impressive,” I say.
“It might not have been real. The really impressive ones rarely are.”
“I have so much to learn.” I stand suddenly, needing a coffee, as we have a little time before the last person.
“You’re doing fine,” Simon says. “The first two were good. Nothing jumped out at me as perfect for us, but they’re both competent enough to do the job.”
“Well, we’ll see the final one before we make a decision,” I say, but I feel a bit down after the last one.
His homophobia wasn’t directed at us but it still made my skin crawl.
I haven’t felt like that since I last saw Miles.
I shudder, not allowing those unwelcome thoughts in.
The inclusive and friendly environment here just makes a greater contrast. I realise I feel safe here and I endeavour to make sure it’s safe for everyone.
We walk back through towards the bar and see a person in the reception area. The final candidate.
“Hello, I’m Felix. Have I come to the right place?
” The voice belongs to a dark-haired guy, hard to age, he could be roughly the same as me, but the scant scruff of hair on his jaw makes him look younger.
He’s not tall, around five-seven, maybe a couple of inches shorter than Simon.
But something about him makes me warm to him in a way that I haven’t to the others.
“Yes, we’re expecting you,” Simon replies.
“I’m Simon and this is Charley. We’ve just made a coffee, can we offer you one as well?
” I turn to look at Simon. He must be getting the same vibes as me, as we’ve not offered a drink to any of the earlier candidates.
He gives me a little smile and a wink, which confirms it.
“Thank you, that would be great,” Felix replies, and Simon goes back to the staffroom to make it while I show Felix to the table we’ve been using.
“This is an interesting building.” He looks around, taking everything in including the beamed and vaulted double-height ceiling in the reception area. “What was it before?”
“Stables and a hay barn. Gabriel wanted to keep it as original as possible. So much so that if you look at the beams on the mezzanine floor you can still see where he and I carved our initials into them when we were kids.” I don’t know why I told him that detail but it came out anyway.
“That’s pretty cool.” He grins and accepts the mug Simon hands him, and I invite him to sit. He answers all the questions about his experience and qualifications. All the time there’s something niggling at the back of my mind. A familiarity I can’t place.
“Why do you want this job?” I ask.
“I had been offered the bar manager job at the Rainbow Room,” he explains.
We knew he worked there from his CV. It’s a gay club in Oxford and one of the reasons we shortlisted him, not that I’ve ever been there.
“But my mum is sick and I want to be close to her, so I’ve moved back home to help my dad care for her. ”
“I’m sorry about your mum,” I say and he nods, acknowledging my words. “Are you local, then?”
He smiles. “You could say that. I grew up in Larchdown.” The strange niggling feeling gets stronger but I can’t place him.
“I grew up in Larchdown too. Have we met?”
“We went to school together, in the same year. I think we might have been in the same English class.”
I frown. I don’t remember a Felix at school. Granted, I didn’t make many friends there as I had Gabriel for the holidays and helped Pete the rest of the time. School was just something to be endured. But Felix is a distinctive enough name, surely I would’ve remembered.
“I’m really sorry, Felix. This sounds really bad but I don’t remember you. Though, since you walked in, I’ve thought I’d seen you before somewhere.” I can’t keep the confusion from my voice, but Felix doesn’t look bothered. Instead he gives a little laugh.
“That actually pleases me. I don’t expect you to remember me. But do you remember Fiona?”
“Fiona?” I scrunch my face up, forcing my mind back.
Flashes of memory come to me. I do remember Fiona.
A quiet girl, never mixed with the popular girls.
A bit of a loner like me. She always looked sullen and weary, so many people stayed away from her.
I look at Felix again and the dots finally connect in my brain that he was once Fiona.
“Fiona West? Wow, I mean . . .” I don’t know what I should say and I don’t want to be rude, so I say the first thing that comes into my head. “You look happy.”
“Thank you,” he laughs. “I am very happy. I’m still on my journey but now I feel like me.”
“That’s amazing,” Simon says, and he somehow manages to bring the interview back on track and we close it out with a tour.
“Thank you, Felix. We’ll be making a decision later today so I’ll give you a call then.” I offer my hand and he shakes it firmly before leaving.
“Do you want some lunch and we can discuss everyone we’ve seen?” Simon asks and I agree. Although I liked Felix a lot, I think talking about them would be a great idea.
“Give me fifteen minutes then and see if you can find Gabriel. We should talk about it as a group.” He’s already pulling out his phone, no doubt texting Andrés.
I shoot off a quick text to Gabriel and he says he’ll be there, then I quickly go to my office to check if anything urgent has come in during the morning and get caught up with emails until Gabriel knocks on my door.
“Good morning?” he asks as I follow him to the restaurant where Simon has set a table.
“I can’t wait to tell you,” I reply and he grins. I don’t know what sort of magic Simon possesses, but in just a short time he’s managed to make a Moroccan style dish of chicken and couscous with flatbreads.
Andrés joins us, and as we eat Simon and I talk through each of the candidates with them. They both pull faces when we talk about the arrogant prick.
“We don’t need people like that,” Gabriel says gruffly.
“Simon managed to scare him off, though,” I say, and they laugh when we describe it.
“I like Felix a lot,” I say. “Not only because being trans I think he’ll fit in here—for us as well as him—but also he gives off a friendly yet competent manner as well.
He has an interest in staying in the area with his family, and he’s also worked his way up to almost being bar manager at the Rainbow Room, turning down the job to come back home. ”
“The Rainbow Room?” Gabriel asks.
“Yeah, do you know it?” Now my curiosity is piqued.
“I’ve been a couple of times.” He shrugs like it’s not a big deal, but his face clouds over a little and I think there’s a story in there. I knock my knee against his and his mouth curls up a little at the side. He knows I’m going to ask him about it sooner or later.
“I take it you plan to offer Felix the job?” he asks.
“If everyone else agrees.” I look around at the rest of the team.
Simon is nodding enthusiastically, Andrés quirks a smile to show he has no objections, and Gabriel squeezes my hand.
As I make my way to the office I reflect on how different meetings are here to anywhere else I’ve worked.
They’re not just a team; it feels like we’re a family. I know I’m lucky to have them.