Chapter Thirty-One
DAN
A sadness ripples through me when we check-out of the hotel on Thursday morning.
Only because I hope that when Kallen and I return to Brisbane, the time we’ve shared in Noosa can be replicated.
It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this close to someone, sharing a bed, holding them in my arms, being held. This closeness. Wanted and wanting.
As we hit the highway, I think of how, only a couple of hours ago, we’d awoken, entangled, hands linked, brushing each other’s fingers.
How I’d told him about Jean’s story – close to completing the job for her.
How he’d told me, in response, that he used to write screenplays for fun.
And now, hearing about Jean, he’s inspired to maybe get back into it.
Maybe things didn’t work out with anyone else because I was meant to meet Kallen. But now, as the Glass House Mountains protrude, worry corrupts my brain and makes me wonder whether it’s going to work out between us.
To our luck, the Thursday traffic isn’t terrible. I do, however, feel tired as we drive into the city, yawning as reality dawns in the form of taller buildings .
I pull into our apartment complex, and we park before taking the elevator up to the fourth floor.
‘What a week so far,’ I say as we stand between our apartments. He twists his head to me.
He nods, eyes meeting mine. ‘Great week.’
‘Do you…’
‘I…’
We both chuckle.
‘You go,’ I say.
‘I was going to ask if you wanted to come in if you’re not doing anything.’
‘I am keen to see your apartment.’ I then groan. ‘I have to wash these clothes, though. The last time I opened my suitcase, it didn’t smell like flowers at all. Then I gotta pick up Salem from my sister’s place. They’ve asked me to stay for dinner, so I won’t be home until late, I think.’
‘Nice, we should probably part ways anyway,’ he says. ‘We’ve been in each other’s pockets for the past three days.’
I softly clasp his hand. ‘Yeah, but…what are you doing tomorrow night after work?’
‘I’ve got a media famil with Blake to some outdoor cinema after work for a double feature,’ he says.
I let out a laugh. ‘We’re just booked up, aren’t we? Well, at least we get to hang out on Saturday.’
His mouth extends into a grimace. ‘Yeah, me, you, and my cooked family. How fun.’
‘It’ll be fine. Alright, I’ll see you at work tomorrow?’ I say.
‘See you at work tomorrow,’ he winks at me.
And with that, he shakes his head, gives me a quick kiss on the lips, and disappears into his apartment. I text Tash to tell her I’ll pick up Salem soon. Meanwhile, once my clothes are in the wash, I think about the past few days, and it sends a smile across my cheeks. Already in reminisce mode.
I continue to internally screen our movie-like week in Noosa. When I’m driving to and from Tash’s place, and when I’m tucked into bed later on, Salem at my feet, looking at the message I received from Kallen earlier:
I already miss Noosa!
My reply: Me too, take us back xx
*
The next morning, I don’t have time to think about much else other than getting ready for the office and feeding Salem. I text Kallen to ask him if he wants to head into the office together, but he says he ended up staying at Blake’s last night and won’t be walking our usual route to Eagle Street.
I hope now that he’s had some time to debrief after our trip to Noosa, he doesn’t decide against things moving further.
These thoughts, however, clear out like a temporary fog when I step into the office.
When he looks over at me, his face almost glowing against the morning light through the window.
Beaming, those big brown eyes magnetising my gaze.
I resist locking eyes with him for too long, though.
Have to play it cool, since both Christian and Lisa are in the main office area.
‘Our resident drone pilot returns,’ Christian sing-songs as I amble over to Kallen and I’s desk. Christian seems a little more tired than usual. Eyes heavy with what I presume is exhaustion, dark circles etched beneath them. Must’ve been an insanely big week for him or something.
‘Yeah, how was Noosa, Dan?’ Cherry asks.
Next to her sits Blake, whose expression is one of self-satisfied amusement.
‘It was…good,’ I say, hesitation in my tone.
‘We can’t wait to see the footage,’ Lisa choruses, tapping away furiously on her laptop.
The team start chatting amongst themselves about a new dancing trend doing the rounds on social media, but I’m too preoccupied by the handsome guy next to me. Priorities .
‘Morning, sweetheart,’ I whisper to him, soft enough for my words to not bleed into the conversation playing out before us.
‘Morning, Dan, ’ he says, stopping what he’s doing to side-glance me, lip curving just a little bit. ‘How are the clothes smelling?’
‘Much better now they’re washed and dried,’ I say, opening my laptop to find stories for the morning meeting. ‘And you?’
‘Yeah, all clean,’ he says, a sly grin playing across his face.
The office goes almost-silent again, and I continue looking for stories to enter into the spreadsheet. There’s not too much going on in the social listening department, though. The usual Friday.
After our meeting, Kallen and I are summoned to another meeting with C hristian and Lisa to present the content we captured in Noosa. Looking at the content of Kallen and I at the river doesn’t feel like work. Feels somewhat relieving, in fact, of the post-getaway blues.
‘Wow, you guys killed it with the quality content, if I do say so myself,’ Lisa says as we watch the drone footage of Kallen on the jet ski with Jerry.
‘Agreed! Good job, fellas,’ Christian commends us before sighing at his phone. ‘Sorry, I gotta take this. Lisa, you can take it from here. Also, Dan, Kallen, can you guys head down to the foyer after your meeting and pick up a delivery for me?’
Kallen and I both nod.
‘Legends,’ Christian says and proceeds to answer his phone.
Lisa gets on with telling us how we’re going to roll out the partnership campaign. Kallen will be in charge of putting together the video content so that it’s engaging for socials. I’ll be writing the sponsored articles, and Lisa will be scheduling it and running the ads.
But before we start working on our delegated tasks, Kallen and I hop inside the lift to collect Christian’s delivery.
Once the door closes, we’re silent for a brief moment before we turn and throw ourselves at each other.
His lips smash against mine, my groin hardening as he pushes me toward one side of the lift.
Remnants of the coffee he drank earlier lingers, paired with the mint he was sucking on during the meeting.
I reach down and grab the front of his chinos. His mouth drops open at this, eyes closed. I kiss him once more, hard, then we uncrease our shirts and stand beside each other, like normal people do in lifts.
Kallen huffs out a breath. ‘Now that’s a proper good morning.’
‘Oh yeah, indeed,’ I say, attempting to slow my breath, hoping my dick goes down before we reach the ground floor.
‘Now all I want to do is come,’ he says as we pass the second floor, palming down the front of his pants.
‘Me too,’ I say, having to accept that my hard-on isn’t going anywhere until it’s taken care of.
‘There’s a bathroom on the ground floor?’ he suggests.
Normally, I’m not one for public displays of affection, let alone that in a public place. That being whatever it takes for Kallen and me to end what we just started. But, ‘Sure,’ I reply. So out of character for me, but the thought of it leaks a hit of adrenaline into my blood.
When the lift door opens to the lobby, we march toward the bathroom, to find it closed for cleaning. Maybe a good thing that we’re being stopped in our horny tracks.
‘Better luck next time,’ Kallen says as we walk into the mail delivery room, which is filled with packages from the morning’s drop. Inside the mailing room is another smaller room with a lock on the door.
‘Looks better than a bathroom?’ Kallen offers.
By this point, I’m about to break through my zipper, so I lead him into the smaller room, lock the door behind us, and start making out with him again. He drops to his knees, unzips my pants, and pulls me free.
‘Oh my God, Kallen,’ I whisper as he swallows me, the feelin g of his tongue on my cock sending tingles to my chest.
After a minute or so, I return the favour and take a mouthful of Kallan as he moans, trying to silence himself as much as possible, understanding the assignment at hand: don’t get caught.
‘Where are we gonna…?’ I ask him as we slide our cocks together, both our bodies writhing. ‘No bathroom means no toilet paper.’
‘In each other’s mouths?’ Kallen suggests. ‘I’ve got plenty of mints.’
‘Okay,’ I say.
He swallows me first, then I drop to my knees and take him. It’s been a long time since I’ve done this, and usually I don’t like the taste, but Kallen is a welcome surprise of sweet and salty.
We each pop a mint before exiting to the mail room, where a woman is standing, sorting through packages. Kallen and I fall silent, and I feel my face heat.
The woman looks up at us, smile spreading across her cheeks as we scan for the packages we need. How long has she been there for? She must’ve heard us talking about orgasmic bodily fluids.
I wonder what else she heard.
We grab Christian’s boxes and escape from the mailroom in a hasty manner, laughing all the way back to the lift. Kallen tells me he’s never seen this woman before, so we don’t have anything to worry about.
If the woman does know Christian, and if rumour s start spreading, we’ll just say we were making sounds or something as a joke.
We were pretty quiet in that little room. She didn’t see anything.
Everything’s going to be fine.