Chapter Two Kai
“Twenty pounds Nel passes out in the bathroom tonight,” Marie says gazing at Nelson from finance as he knocks back a shot of what looks like sambuca before sipping on champagne.
I cringe at the mixture.
Marie is much better, her dark skin now full of colour, her lips painted a deep shade of red. Her hand slides into Jenna’s as my best friend looks down at her adoringly before sneaking a kiss at the corner of her lips—avoiding the lipstick expertly.
“Too easy,” Connor says. “He is obviously passing out before the night ends. The better wager would have been if he doesn’t pass out.”
This would be the third year running for Nel, but luckily for him and probably everyone else, he doesn’t get handsy or say anything inappropriate. The man just loves a good drink, but he remains on his best behaviour before passing out quietly in a corner. It’s almost admirable.
“Well, I guess we should try to catch up to him,” Marie says, handing us each a shot of top-shelf tequila from the bar.
“Cheers!” Connor shouts and we all knock back a shot each .
Around us, the Peninsula Hotel’s ballroom has filled up with almost two hundred people for A-EYE’s annual Christmas party. Gold, silver and green Christmas decorations are expertly spread through the room, fairy lights twinkling around, and an imposing tree with fake presents in the corner.
I spot a few familiar faces. Erica, our manager, is speaking to Dave who works in software engineering. I also spot Nicholas Armas, Cole’s older brother. He’s the senior VP at A-EYE and he basically runs the company for his father. I’ve never met him personally, but he does share some similarities with his younger brother. They have the same green eyes and dark hair but if Nicholas is handsome then Cole is otherworldly.
I hate that my brain is veering itself towards Cole Armas, so I look back at my friends, trying to catch up with the conversation about our co-workers.
Dinner is served and the entire ballroom falls silent, too immersed in the food to speak. Only the quiet jazzy music from the D.J. sounds through the room as I try not to inhale the tender lamb shank on my plate.
By the time dinner is over, it’s like everyone is determined to get carted away in a gurney for being too drunk. Most people start on the champagne and wine at their tables or head straight for the bar. A few people even open up the floor dancing to classic 2000s hits that have people screaming that’s my song .
My stomach sloshes with the food and a glass of champagne. I’ve never been much of a drinker, so I already feel a little too warm and I have to peel off my suit jacket and roll up the sleeves of my shirt.
“Let’s go dance,” Marie says over the music .
“No way, no rhythmic bone is this body, I fear,” Connor says. “You guys have fun.
A current top-ten pop song begins to play and a few people around us shout in excitement as the beat pumps. Someone waves their jacket from their table.
“I’ll hang back with Connor,” Jenna says. “I think the champagne is going to my head.”
I open my mouth to protest but Marie is already pulling me to the onyx marble. Several people are slut dropping on the dancefloor, one of them being Mina from H.R. but the executives will be disappearing soon and it’s early in the night, no one will remember this part anyway.
By the end of two songs, I’m winded and head to the bar, leaving Marie behind. It’s nearly empty, most people mingle around, drinking or flirting with the office crushes they haven’t gotten the guts to speak to all year.
“What can I get you, mate?” the bartender with silver piercings running down his ears asks.
“Just some water, please,” I say.
He looks at me for a second, clearly waiting for me to order another drink. I just smile and he shrugs, pulling a bottle of water from the fridge and placing it in front of me.
“Already quitting?” a familiar voice comes up behind me.
I pause, the bottle still at my lips and turn. Levi Bellamy is standing right before me, that amused smile dancing on his lips.
I don’t know why, but my heart seizes for a second. I pull the bottle away from my lips and try to smile but it probably looks wrong.
He’s dressed in a black t-shirt tucked into snug black pants. The only accents are what are no doubt a very expensive gold watch and a belt. My eyes land on his right arm. It’s covered in tattoos. Black ink traces up in intricate patterns I can’t make out from here. The only thing I recognise is what looks like a falling angel without wings. Give him a few piercings, a guitar, and some black nail polish and he would look like the kind of rockstar people join cults for.
“I’m sorry?” I ask.
He nods at my water bottle. “Everyone else is still going but you’re stopping?”
I look at it then back at him, at those eyes are the colour of cognac. His hair is dark and it’s slightly too long, like he might need a haircut, starting to curl behind his ears and brushing against his brow.
“Oh,” I say. “This is just a pit stop. Don’t worry, I plan to spend as much company money as I can.”
A grin spreads across his face this time, showing perfectly straight teeth. “I was going to find you soon actually,” he says, slipping his hands into his pockets. “I had a chat with Jones, and she seemed interested in the project. I think there might be a few things you and your team need to brush up on, but I can help with that before you take it up with her.”
My heart hammers against my chest. Amitra Jones is the Head of Strategy and her final sign-off is what gets you the budget. Levi speaking to her is more than I could have asked. Him offering to help us before taking it up with her? I may as well be dreaming.
I need to tell Marie.
“Oh, uh, wow,” I start, a little lost for words. “You really didn’t have to do that. You’ve already done so much.”
Levi shrugs an easy shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, I’m more than happy to help.” He waves at the bartender. “We should have a celebratory drink. What’s your poison? ”
My brain is struggling to catch up, too caught in this guy who is barely older than me but makes me feel a little small. He’s only about a few inches taller but there is something quietly dominating about his presence. It’s not overt but it’s lurking under there somewhere. Maybe it’s the intricate tattoos on his toned arms, or the way his eyes sparkle with a constant hint of humour but Levi Bellamy gravitating.
“I—um, tequila?” It comes out like a question and when he smiles my stomach flips.
Relax, he’s your boss.
He’s also in a very happy relationship.
“Two tequila shots, please,” Levi says.
The bartender pours them and Levi hands me one with a steady hand. His eyes shine and I swear I’m not trying to be an idiot, but it feels like I’m falling into them.
“To a new year,” he says, eyes never leaving mine.
I down the shot quickly because I need to think about anything else but him. The burn feels nice, distracting even and I enjoy the feel of it as it slides down my throat and to my stomach. Levi winces slightly as he places the glass back on the counter.
“Um, where is Cole?” I ask, trying to make conversation.
Maybe if I ask about his boyfriend, I’ll stop thinking about how nice his eyes are.
With Levi and Nicholas here and their father owning A-EYE, I’d have assumed Cole would be around, but I haven’t spotted him. If he was here, I get the feeling he wouldn’t let Levi out of his sight for too long.
According to the extensive Google search Jenna and I undertook after I meet with Levi, Cole works for an upscale real estate firm. There’s nothing else on him really and he seems to keep a low profile, no Instagram or any other social media at all. A few pictures of him with Levi at galas or charity events pop up on the internet and next to Levi, he looks like a brooding boyfriend, with all black hair, green eyes, and no smiles. He constantly looks bored .
Wealthy and aloof. I can admit it looks good on him.
“Oh, this isn’t his scene,” Levi says.
I can’t help but wonder what his scene is exactly.
“Do you have a partner?” he continues.
“Nope, completely single.
After my date with James, I think I’ll be completely single for a while.
Levi looks at me for a moment like he’s trying to figure out something but then he only smiles and asks, “What are you doing for the holidays? Anything special planned?”
“Just hanging out with my mother and my sisters. My mum and sister Zara love cooking so Zoe and I let them do their thing and we play very loud, very heated rounds of UNO then maybe a Shrek rewatch.”
It’s probably more detail than he needs but he has the kind of face you want to tell things to. He looks at you like he’s really listening, and you get the sense that you need to please him. It’s weird. Like he puts you under some sort of deliberate spell.
“Twins?” he asks.
I nod. The twins were born when I was six and now, they are both in their first year at university. They both want to be lawyers, and I can’t help but feel a swell of pride when I think of them. Despite all the bullshit with their dad, they’ve turned out great.
I can tell Levi wants to ask more but I don’t need him to know any more about my life. There’s nothing to know about me anyway. My own dad disappeared before I was born, and my stepdad hated my guts until he got locked up. Levi definitely doesn’t need to know about that.
I switch the focus to him, “How about you? Anything planned?”
He leans against the bar. “Cole and I are travelling to New Zealand with my parents. We’re going to drive through the mountains. Make a whole thing about it, and I’m a bit of a Lord of the Rings superfan so I want to see all of that too.”
Somehow, I can’t picture him as a Lord of the Rings superfan. Is there a rule against insanely hot guys also being slightly nerdy? He is pretty smart, but he looks more like the kind of guy who skipped class to smoke with his friends more than anything else.
“Orlando Bloom was my bisexual awakening in that movie,” I hear myself say.
The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them, and I desperately hope he thinks it’s the alcohol as my face flushes. Around us, the music has dulled, the buzz of voices distant. Even the bartenders have faded into the background. Everything around us has taken a soft glow. It’s like it’s just Levi and I left in the ballroom.
“Mine too,” Levi laughs. “I think he was some sort of awakening for anyone who watched the movies. My cousin had posters of him all over her room. I might have stolen one.”
I bite my bottom lip to stop any more stupid words from spilling out. He tilts his head slightly like he’s trying to read something off my face. I shift on my feet and look behind me to Jenna and Marie who are laughing quietly.
When I turn back to him, he’s still looking at me with the same curiosity. I try not to squirm too obviously and swallow. “Uh, I should get back,” I say. “Gotta continue exploiting company resources to the best of my abilities and all.”
He lets out a quiet huff and nods. “Of course. Please, I hope you do your worst.” He runs his tongue over his bottom lip, and I track the movement with my eyes. “They deserve it,” he adds quietly.
I hear myself laugh but it’s kind of like I’m stuck in place, gravity keeping me put. “Goodnight, Levi,” I say. “And Merry Christmas.”
He nods. “Merry Christmas, Kai.”
And then I turn away because if I stay standing there a second longer, I might melt into that puddle I desperately wished to be when I was in his office.
Christmas comes and passes in a blur. Jenna heads to Brighton with Marie to spend Christmas with her family and I go over to Mum’s in Greenwich. When I started working and earning a bit more money, I had her move out of our shitty council flat and to the 3-bedroomed flat. It’s not much but it’s a huge improvement from where the council flat the twins and I grew up. At least I don’t have to worry about her walking home from work at night.
Mum is still an English teacher and even though she could probably retire soon, she loves her job too much and to this day, random kids still send her emails to tell her how much they loved her class and how they are only doing well because of her.
For Christmas lunch, Zara and Mum prepare ham and all sorts of traditional food from Mum’s childhood. It’s too much for all of us and by the end of the day we are completely stuffed.
“You need to eat more, Kai,” Mum says as Zara starts Shrek. I forced my sisters to watch it until they loved it as much as I did. We can recite the movie from start to finish. “You are wilting away and you’re so pale.” She reaches up to touch my face and inspect, frowning, clearly not liking what she sees.
I nod placatingly at her, but she’s only fussing. I try to eat a good amount because Jenna insists on dragging me to the gym every other morning before work. Her training sessions which I reluctantly participate in have left me with a well-defined stomach and arms.
“He always looks like that, Mum,” Zoe says, not looking up from her phone.
She looks exactly like Zara and when they were kids, I used to deliberately mix them up to scare them. They both started wearing different colour bracelets to make sure people knew who they were speaking to. Pink for Zara and blue for Zoe.
As they’ve grown older, they couldn't be more different. Zara is all about the latest fashion and makeup and Zoe cringes at anything made in the last decade. She’s tortured —her words, not mine but they are both sides of the same coin.
“Be nice to your brother,” Mum chides.
“Sorry, Kai,” Zoe drones but I don’t miss the way she flips me off when Mum isn’t looking. I do the same and that makes Zara snicker.
We watch the movie, Zara cuddles closely to me and Zoe sits next to her. Mum falls asleep within the first thirty minutes and we clean the flat quietly before sending her off to bed. It’s nice and when I say goodbye to the twins after New Year's, my eyes sting a little watching them head back to university.