Chapter 27 Nate
NATE
The leather creaks as I climb into the black taxi and give the driver the address for the Life of Wine studios.
“No problem,” the driver says and pulls onto the road. London slides past the window, but I’m not here to sightsee.
I loosen my tie, then retighten it. My phone sits heavy in my palm. I need to call Nora and face what we did last night. Check she’s good. I wanted to give her and Ev some space, but I can’t resist calling any longer.
My leg shakes as the phone rings.
“Hi.” Her voice eases the tightness in my chest, and I can finally breathe since the screen went dark last night.
“Morning, dimples.” I force my voice to stay steady, even though I’m counting down the minutes until I can hold her. “Everything good with you?”
“Yes,” she says with a yawn, “a bit tired.” I picture her stretching with bed hair, bare legs, my old band t-shirt, Evan’s warmth still lingering in the room I wasn’t in.
“Good tired?”
“Yes. Good tired.” She exhales, a smile in her voice.
“I’m in a cab. On my way to the meeting.”
“The art studio one?”
“That’s the one.” The taxi slows at a red light.
Two men laugh on the pavement, fingers laced together.
They look natural like they just fit. I’ve never noticed public displays of affection by two men before.
It’s never been on my radar until now. Watching Evan with my wife has my brain going haywire. “Is Ev still there?”
“He’s left already for another day at the Lakehouse Grill. A few things need finishing.”
“Is he coming over later?”
“I think so.”
“Good. I’ll see you tonight when I get home. Love you.”
“Love you. Text me when you’re on the train. I’ll have dinner ready.”
“I will.”
The taxi stops outside a large, old building set back from the road, brickwork worn and proud, like it’s stood the test of time and London weather. I pay the driver, step out onto the pavement, and tilt my head back, taking it in.
I adjust my jacket, tuck my phone into my pocket, and head inside holding my laptop bag.
The smell of paint hits me first, a smell I love, like walking into the print room at work.
The studio opens up in front of me with high ceilings, exposed brick, and tall windows flooding the space with light.
Canvases line the walls. Some landscapes, some portraits, some male anatomy that catches my eye. I’m seeing a lot of that lately.
“You must be Nate Harrison.” A man in his forties with kind eyes and greying hair walks into the studio, holding out his hand, paint smudged on his fingers.
“Yeah. Mark?” I say, holding my hand out.
He shakes my hand warmly. “Yes. Thanks so much for coming down. Cal told me you’re the best to work with.”
“Thanks. We take pride in our work.” I glance around again. “This place is incredible.”
Mark’s chest lifts with pride. “We have two studios now. We’re expanding.”
Before I can respond, there’s a sudden blur of movement behind him.
“Dadda.” A laugh follows, then footsteps. A small child barrels past Mark’s legs, clutching and waving a paintbrush as if it’s a flag.
“Gotcha,” a man calls, jogging after him, breathless and grinning.
The toddler skids to a stop right in front of me, wide eyes locking onto mine.
“Well,” I say, crouching a little. “You look like you’re on an important mission.”
Mark lifts the kid into his arms. “I thought you were painting with Papa?”
“Blue,” he announces, holding up his paintbrush.
“Excellent choice,” Mark says. “Very bold.”
The other man reaches us, laughing, hands on his knees, catching his breath. “Sorry, he’s discovered independence.”
Mark shakes his head. “This is Michael, my husband,” he says to me. “And this is Leo, our whirlwind.”
Our. A smile spreads across my face and I reach my hand out to Michael. “Nice to meet you. I’m Nate from NEN Creative.”
“Please take a seat,” Mark says, gesturing to a table scattered with mock-ups, colour swatches, old logo drafts.
Michael takes Leo from Mark and says, “Do you want to finish your painting?”
Leo shakes his head. “Stay here with Dadda and Papa.”
“Sorry,” Mark says. “He usually goes to daycare at the school with his sister, but he’s bunged up with a cold.”
“Please don’t apologise.” I pull my laptop out of my bag and open a notebook that Evan bought me.
Michael holds Leo on his knee, a piece of blank paper in front of him and a jar of wax crayons.
I get straight into business talk: branding, scalability, keeping the soul of the place intact while letting it grow. I’m engaged, asking the right questions, offering ideas, but part of me keeps drifting to the two of them and their family unit. How easy they are with each other and open.
Leo tilts his head, studying me as if he’s deciding whether I’m worth his time. Then his gaze drops to my notebook. “Dinosaur.”
“Ah, yes.” I smile at the notebook with a dinosaur illustration, Ev’s joke that I’m like a dinosaur because I never use a diary. I open the notebook and flip to the back, tearing out a sheet of stickers. “You like stickers?”
His face lights up. “Rawr.”
Michael snorts. “He approves.”
Leo gets to work sticking the stickers to every surface, including his jumper, with intense concentration, then pats it like he’s sealing a deal before placing one on Michael’s cheek.
My chest aches as if a fist is squeezing my heart.
You’d think I’d be used to this ache by now.
Our dream’s almost within reach. It’s unconventional, but so are Mark and Michael.
If they can make it work and live openly without fear or judgement, then maybe there’s hope for us.
I don’t want to keep Ev a secret. I want the world to know he’s our baby’s dad.
How he helped us become parents. Well, maybe leaving out the graphic details of how exactly.
But he should be part of our lives, whether as a second dad or a fucking amazing uncle, whatever he wants his involvement to be.
Secretly, I hope he’ll become part of our family and co-parent with us.
Mark continues with his brief and ideas for the rebrand, and I make notes, then pause, my fingers tightening around the pen.
For the last month, I thought love was stepping aside, but love is infinite.
There’s a place for me and Ev to coexist with Nora, and what we’re doing might actually fit into a world like this.
Mark continues to talk. “You should come to one of our Life of Wine workshops.”
“Yes,” Michael says. “Bring your partner, friends, colleagues. We can host corporate events too.”
I twist my wedding band and let out a small laugh. “We’re actually trying to conceive, so my wife isn’t drinking right now. Neither is my partner.”
“Business partner?” Mark asks.
“Yeah, of course.” I want to say it out loud and tell someone what we’re doing, but I need to speak to Ev first. “It sounds like a great event. Nora would love it.”
“Cal’s wife, Steph, comes now and then when she can.”
“We don’t see enough of them,” Michael says.
The door creaks open and a tall brunette staggers in with headphones on, hauling a huge portfolio and a rucksack. “Sorry, I’m a little early, I know, but the—” Our eyes meet. She drops her bag on the floor and slides her headphones to hang around her neck.
“This is Nate from NEN Creative. Nate, this is Emilie, our resident artist and one of our teachers.”
I rise from my seat, my palms sweaty. “Emilie?” My voice is a little too high as I take in the woman before me. She’s different from before, but the same smile and sparkle in her eyes.
“No way, Nate?” She drops her portfolio and closes the distance between us, her ponytail bobbing with each step. “I can’t believe it’s you.”
I hold my hand out in front of me, but she goes in for a hug.
“Wow, you’ve beefed up.” She pats my back as if she’s testing out how much is muscle and how much is, well, chunk.
“Yeah, and you…” I pull back, taking her in: nose ring, lip piercing, head shaved on one side. Total badass. “Look at you. This is new.” I point to the tattoo on her neck.
She smooths a hand over her inked skin. “One of many.”
“You two know each other?” Michael asks.
“We went to uni together, well not on the same course, but we bumped into each other from time to time.”
My cheeks heat and I clear my throat. Fuck.
“How’s Evan?”
“Good.” My voice gets higher the more I speak.
She nods. “I’m glad. You two still see a lot of each other?”
“He’s my partner.”
Her eyebrow lifts along with the ring piercing there. “I always thought you two would end up together. I’m glad you finally figured things out. You’re the perfect couple.”
Couple? “No.” I drag a hand over my face, my heart racing along with my mind. “He’s my business partner.”
Emilie glances at the ring on my hand. “Oh, sorry, I just assumed—”
“It’s all good. I’m married to Nora. You remember Nora?”
“Right. The illustrator. Yes, I remember. I’m sorry, I thought—”
“Don’t worry.” Did she see something in me and Ev?
Does everyone just think we should be together?
It wasn’t that hard to convince Ev’s ex-girlfriend at the wedding, and the lads always joke about us being fuck buddies because we’re always together.
Though I thought it was just banter because they liked to wind Ev up and they know he bites.
“So, is Evan married too?”
“Nah, he’s single.” But taken. It’s complicated.
“You should give Evan my number. It’d be nice to reconnect.” She grabs a leaflet from the work surface behind her and writes her mobile number on there.
“Sure. I’ll pass it on.” You can’t have him. He’s ours.
“I teach pop-up classes across the country, so the next time I’m up north we could hang out if you’re up for it.”
“Sounds good.” If you’re meeting up with Evan, I need to be there. I fold the leaflet and place it in my inside pocket.
“Wow, what a coincidence,” Mark says, stepping closer to the two of us.
“Small world. It’s like déjà vu.” Michael laughs as he sets Leo down with his stickers.
“Déjà vu?” I regard the three of them.
Michael waves a hand towards Mark. “I was modelling for a Life of Wine workshop and Mark’s first love was one of the clients.”
“She wasn’t my first love.” Mark laughs, shaking his head.
“She?” My eyes widen. “So you’re not completely…”
“Gay?” Michael laughs. “Oh, he’s as gay as they come, but before he was out, he dated Cal’s missus.”
“Steph?” My eyes bug out of my head. “No way!” I laugh along with them. “It really is a small world.” There are so many questions buzzing around in my head, but their sexual preferences and how they knew they were in fact gay is none of my business. I need to keep things professional here.
“Well, thank you for your time.” I check my watch, hoping I can still make the train and get home in time for dinner. “I’ll talk this through with the team, and we’ll get costs over and some ideas.”
“Sounds great.” Mark reaches out his hand.
I shake it, then shake Michael’s, and then Emilie’s. I gather my laptop from the table, now adorned with the odd dinosaur sticker.
Leo’s decorating the table with said stickers. “I’m so sorry, Nate. Leo, I love your creativity, but can you stick them on the paper?”
“Please don’t worry about it. I think it’s an improvement.” I grab the notebook from the table and slide it into my bag. “Next time, Leo, I’ll get you a sticker book.”
“Stickers!” Leo waves his hands.
“Thank you so much. Leo, do you want to say thank you?”
“Fankoo.” Leo waves from his seat.
“You’re welcome, kiddo.” I make a mental note to stock up on stickers at the office for when we need to bring our little one to work with us. Warmth spreads in my chest along with hope that very soon, we may get to experience what that’s like.