Chapter Fourteen
KALLEN
‘We’ve got a bit of an update today, team,’ Lisa announces during our Monday morning meeting, unable to hide her grimace. ‘Freddie’s been moved from marketing to sales, so he’ll be working from home moving forward, and only coming into the office for meetings with Christian once a week.’
She moves on without another word on the matter, letting us know about a new system where we’ll be submitting our rideshare reimbursements from media shoots. Blake and I pass each other a suspicious look.
‘And special shout out to our newbie Dan,’ Lisa goes on. ‘He had the highest performing content last week, which is amazing for a first week. Well done.’
My fist tightens under the table. No mention of the fact that my reel from the art exhibition came in second according to the analytics report. And it was original content, not siphoned from a press release.
Dan goes red in the face when Lisa starts clapping. Cherry also claps, then Blake, and finally, me, who does so with a pang of pain.
‘What was th e winning article?’ Cherry asks, surveying her screen. ‘My laptop is having a fit.’
‘Didn’t you install your updates?’ Lisa queries her.
‘Uh, no,’ Cherry replies, caught off guard.
‘Too many tabs open?’
‘No, Lisa. It’s just old. I could do with a new one.’
‘I’ll see if Christian can sort that out,’ Lisa says, typing a few words on her keys. ‘Anyway, the winning article was an Italian festival happening by the river this summer. One thousand comments, five k likes, reach…five hundred thousand.’
‘Take a trip to Venice without leaving Brisbane,’ Blake quips, lifting her hands and curling her fingers into inverted commas.
I attempt to hide a snigger. I’d already seen the article’s social metrics earlier this morning, so the numbers aren’t a surprise.
What did catch me off guard, though, was a Reel posted on the work socials over the weekend – Dan’s , from the food and wine festival. His videography skills shining through in crisp angles and transitions that might even trump mine.
‘Anyway, we’ve got some big partnerships at the moment, so Dan will be helping me with sponsored content this week,’ Lisa then tells us.
Until now, I’d forgotten about that little conversation between Dan and Christian in the men’s bathroom.
Even Blake’s brows furrow a small bit at the announcement that someone who’s been working here for a week is already gettin g assigned sponsored content.
Which is, to be frank, promotion material.
I take some deep, silent breaths and think to myself: Kallen, just remember, you’ve got a cute guy to hang out with now.
Work can get fucked. I’m not even sure why I care so much, getting all worked up as Dan sits there typing away, likely on an important project I’ll never be involved in.
My blood boils a few degrees higher every time he taps his pen on the desk with those disgustingly gorgeous fingers of his, and when he asks me a question because he’s still new and doesn’t know all the programs from the top of his head like me: the robot.
Why am I like this?
*
‘Why are we like this?’ Blake repeats back to me on lunch break. I told her all about my jealousy issues with Dan and the new job position. She’s starting to feel the under-appreciation, too, but tries to tell me it’s just a job. That it’s about as replaceable as we are.
‘Yeah, honestly, why do I always feel like I’m unworthy at any hint of competition?’ I groan.
She shrugs. ‘Well, we survived high school being queer. Of course competition feels personal.’
‘Yeah, at least you have a family who loves you though,’ I let slip.
A lengthy silence follows. Blake moves closer, embracing me in. ‘Awww. Nah, Dycock, you have me as family, and Connor, and Mum, even though she likes to feed us ‘til we want to die. ’
I don’t like to talk about my family, especially since it’s like I don’t have one sometimes. The family on my mum’s side prioritises money over connection, status over emotion. And some of them are extremely homophobic. I’ve never seen eye to eye with them.
Last year was the first time I didn’t go home for Christmas. Instead, I spent it with Blake’s family. Ever since I moved to Brisbane, the Patel family has taken me in as one of their own. And it truly has felt as though I could survive without my biological family. And I have.
My eyes burn for a moment. ‘I think we should go see Mumma Anika soon, maybe eat our weight in dal makhani.’
Blake’s lips curve into a smile. ‘We can definitely do that. After Pride Month, when she gets back from India.’
‘Is she liking being back there?’ I ask, genuinely convinced that being anywhere aside from Brisbane right now would be a treat.
‘Yeah, she’s having a great time seeing our family over there. I would’ve liked to go with her, to reconnect, but I used all my annual leave when Connor and I went to New Zealand.’
‘Do you miss your family over in India?’
‘Yeah, sometimes. Haven’t been in years, though. I’d love to go back someday for a visit.’
‘You should,’ I encourage her, slapping my phone down on the seat next to me with a sigh. ‘Times like these, I wish we could work from home. At least then we wouldn’t be surrounded by bullshit, you know? The only thing I’d have to deal with would be Dan’s cat meowing.’
‘Yeah,’ she agrees. ‘Out of sight, out of mind, right? ’
I nod, biting into my chicken wrap, which has been irreversibly squished by the container I kept it in.
‘Talking about work from home,’ Blake segues, a smirk playing on her face. ‘I heard some tea from Cherry this morning.’
‘Here we go,’ I say. ‘Please, enlighten me like a trip to Byron Bay does.’
‘Okay, so, I was talking to Cherry in the bathroom just before lunch, and she got into work early this morning and overheard a pretty heated conversation between Lisa and Christian in Christian’s office.’
Blake pauses, but I don’t let it linger. ‘Go on.’
‘Apparently last Friday, Freddie and Lisa were flirting, and Christian had a chat with Lisa about it. He pretty much made the executive decision to move Freddie to sales because of it. But get this, right – apparently there was an incident in the office a few years ago, and that’s why Christian is completely against coworkers hooking up and will do everything in his power to stop it. ’
‘What happened a few years ago?’ I investigate, a true devotion to this story in full force.
‘Well, before you and I started at Untold, there was a married couple who worked here on the editorial team together. Cherry was telling me they were having issues in their marriage and were bringing drama into the office, so Christian made the husband move to the sales team, and ever since then, workplace romance has been his pet peeve.’
‘What happened to the married couple?’ I ask.
‘Turns out they ended up divorcing.’ Blake’s mouth extends into a winc e. ‘The wife resigned immediately. The husband stayed for a while longer, but then also left.’
I raise a curious eyebrow and pause before saying, ‘Wow. You weren’t wrong. That is some serious tea. Freddie has a girlfriend too. Yikes.’
‘ Yeah,’ she emphasises.
‘I mean, fair enough for Christian to be against it after that,’ I’m quick to tell her. ‘I guess he’s trying to run a business, and those kinds of workplace shenanigans can…complicate things.’
‘Oh, big time,’ Blake agrees, her gaze drifting to the pigeon shit alleyway.
*
‘Kallen,’ Dan breathes in my ear before lunch the next day, right as I’m about to check my phone to see if there’s been a message from Hudson.
Nothing. My message to him – what are you up to tonight? – stays unread. Since our date two days ago, I’ve noticed he’s been taking longer to respond to my texts. When we first started talking, the texts would be constant throughout the day. Now, they’re much more staggered.
‘I’ve been invited to this spritz bar in the Valley for their Italian lunch thing,’ Dan goes on.
‘But I’m not big on spritzes ‘cause of the bubbliness and my stomach. Reflux. Anyway, did you want to come along if you have time? I just, uh, don’t want them going to waste when I don’t drink them at all. ’
I look over at Blake, who’s sitting and typing at an inhumane pace. ‘Blake love spritz cocktails. Why don’t you ask her?’ My lips quirk into a smug kind of smile.
‘See, I’ve already asked her and Cherry and they’re both full up with media invites this week,’ Dan continues. ‘Anyway, it’s for lunch this Friday.’
I death-stare at Blake. Even though it’s not her fault, she’s got too much on her plate to go to a spritz cocktail bar with Dan. Since our chat yesterday, I’ve been trying to take Blake’s advice, to not take this job too seriously.
‘We definitely need video footage of Brisbane’s most expensive spritz cocktail,’ Lisa chimes in. She’s scary when she appears behind you, prowling about like a cougar does its prey.
The supplied photos of said spritz cocktail are outrageous, and it’s no wonder when Dan wrote up the story last week, it hit our top ten.
The drink is pretty, pink, and served in a fancy gold-encrusted glass with marshmallow, fairy floss, and gold flakes.
Anything “most expensive,” “largest” or “Brisbane’s first” usually sparks attention, and this cocktail, which is priced at three hundred and sixty-nine dollars, has been no different.
When Lisa hints that I have to go, I realise I’ll be able to try a cocktail I would never be able to afford. It might not be so bad after all.
‘Looks like we’re spritzing then,’ I say, masquerading a fake smile. ‘Well, I’ll be spritzing. You won’t.’
‘I’ll eat the pasta,’ Dan says.
And with that, talking about spritzes has gone into lunchtime, and the thought of watching Dan eat pasta has me feeling weirdly…warm inside .
A message from Hudson pushes the feeling down: No plans yet for tonight. Want to hang out? ;)
*
There’s a firm knock on my door at seven o’clock, the exact time Hudson said he’d be here. Even though his communication this week has been sporadic, at least the man is on time.
His voice through the intercom sent flutters to my chest two minutes ago. I wonder what it’s going to be like when I’m with him again.
When I open the door, he’s standing there wearing cream chinos and a flowy white linen shirt.
‘Hey!’ I blurt out, embarrassingly loud.
‘Hey, you,’ he says with the same sumptuous grin he had when we were on the beach.
Stepping forward, he places his hand on my neck and kisses me with about as much passion as the other day. Which leaves me, well, stunned. But I don’t not like it.
‘Been wanting to do that since Sunday,’ he admits with a wink.
‘Same, come to think of it,’ I say, following him inside. ‘How was your day?’
He doesn’t reply right away – he’s too busy inspecting my kitchen and living space like he’s a pest controller or something. Weird, considering my place is clean. I even gave it a spruce up before he arrived.
‘Yeah, good,’ he says, turning back to me with an eager smile. ‘The company I work for has expanded to the Sydney boat market, so I ’ve been working on listings for some yachts down there.’
‘Oh, true,’ I say, smirking as I step forward to him. ‘Any that you can take me for a test ride in?’
He shakes with laughter for a second, then, eyeing me as though I’m his prey, ‘Unfortunately not. But you can take a ride on me if you want.’
I bark out a laugh, but my chest tightens at Hudson’s comment of wanting to fuck me.
I haven’t told him that I don’t like anal sex yet. Hopefully, he doesn’t see it as an issue like others before him have.
‘Maybe,’ I play along.
And without another word, he crashes his lips on mine. Hints of mint and coffee linger in his mouth.
My cock twitches as his body grinds against mine. But when he runs his hand down my arse crack, I wish I would’ve just told him I’m a side – before we start doing anything else.
When we pull away, gasping for air, he says huskily, ‘Want to go to your bedroom?’
‘Yeah,’ I nod. Hudson was charming enough to get into my pants with such ease on Sunday, and tonight is no different.
We kiss our way to the bedroom, Hudson’s hardness pushing against mine as I grab at his hair.
Once we reach the bedroom, he lifts my shirt off and throws it beside the bed as I squeeze his bulge.
He gently pushes me onto the bed, then de-shirts before going back to kissing me hard, moving to my neck, down my chest and belly.
He unbuttons my chi nos and kneads my cock through my jocks, making me huff with pleasure.
All of our clothes end up on the floor, including our underwear. He starts jerking my cock, runs his mouth along my neck again, then whispers something in my ear which sounds along the lines of, ‘I wanna fuck you so badly.’
He says it almost inaudibly through his moans, so I think for a moment that it’s just him saying, ‘I fucking love this’ or something. But then he starts circling my arse with his finger, causing my penis to deflate quicker than it maybe ever has.
‘I forgot to ask…are you a top, bottom, or vers?’
‘Uh, none of those,’ I reply. ‘I should mention…I don’t get any pleasure from anal.’
As though he’s heard the most shocking news of his life, Hudson stops what he’s doing and meets my gaze, his smile wavering.
‘Really?’ he asks. ‘Like, not at all?’
‘Y-yeah. I hope that’s okay. We can do, like, lots of other things.’
He takes a pause, and I think this is going to be the moment he grabs his shit and leaves. But surprisingly, that same model-worthy grin returns. His eyebrows shoot up as he says, ‘As much as I’d love to fuck you, I suppose it’s okay. Besides, I do love sucking your dick.’
‘Well, cool,’ is all I say. ‘I like it when you suck my dick too.’
‘Good.’ He descends my torso with his mouth down to my bellybutton, before meeting my gaze again. ‘I reckon I can make you love anal one day, but this’ll do for now…’
‘Maybe.’ And without another word, I close my eyes, relieved and aroused. That’s all that matters, right?