CHAPTER 4 DEREK
DEREK
“You need to give me his number, Eddie.”
“You need to calm down,” said his best friend.
Derek had barely slept all weekend after seeing Kieran again.
It had only been for a few seconds, but the hurt in his eyes had been clear.
Derek hated what he’d seen, because he’d caused it.
It was the biggest regret of his life. If Kieran would give him a chance, he could explain himself.
He didn’t expect forgiveness, but he owed him an explanation.
He looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and if he could ease some of that for him, Derek wouldn’t hesitate.
After wallowing in his own self-pity all day Sunday before being a grumpy arsehole at work, he barged into Edward’s house on Monday morning.
He’d wanted to catch him before he headed into parliament, so it meant he’d only had a few hours’ sleep.
There had been a lot of positive coverage in the press of Edward and Milo at the Pride march.
It was the least they could do, given how they’d treated them both when Edward had been outed.
“I just need to talk to him, Eddie.”
“That should be up to him. You’re the one in the wrong here.”
“Thanks for that.”
“Am I wrong?”
“No, but I thought you’d be on my side.”
“I’m always on your side, which is why I call you out on your bullshit. Just like you do with me.”
Derek chuckled. He had done that a few times, especially in the early days of his relationship with Milo.
“Milo has let Kieran know that if he wants your number, he can have it. This needs to be up to him, Derek. I know you want to apologise and explain, but he has to want to hear from you.”
Edward was right, even though it wasn’t what Derek wanted to hear.
He’d thought so many things about what could have happened to Kieran over the years.
From what Derek had briefly seen, he looked healthy, but that didn’t mean everything was okay.
He’d been tempted to contact his ex-wife to see if she’d heard from him in all this time.
Perhaps they had reconciled. But somehow he doubted it after what she’d done, and he couldn’t blame Kieran for never speaking to his mother again.
It had been a long week of nothing. Derek hadn’t expected to hear from Kieran, but he’d still secretly been hoping he’d get in touch.
He wasn’t a man who sat by and did nothing.
Even as a kid, he’d been someone who took action, and if he wanted something, he went for it.
But he knew he had to wait for Kieran to come to him.
Right now, he had an assistant manager he had to deal with.
“This is your final warning, Neil.”
“I’m sorry, Derek, but something came up.”
“What?”
“It’s a personal matter.”
Derek could understand people wanting to keep things private, but given it happened all the time, it was feeling like bullshit.
“We all have lives outside of here, Neil, and family always comes first.” He almost winced at saying that, feeling like a hypocrite.
“But if you can’t make it, you need to tell me.
This warning isn’t about you taking emergency time off to deal with personal matters. It’s about your lack of communication.”
“Would it be best if I just resigned?”
Neil usually held himself with a confident swagger, but he had a defeated look about him today. The last thing Derek needed right now was to lose his assistant manager. He’d be really in the shit if that happened.
“I don’t want you to resign, Neil, but we’ve had this conversation before. I need you to be more reliable.”
Neil nodded, looking down at the floor. He looked really upset.
“Are you okay, Neil?”
“Yeah. Just some personal stuff.”
“And I’ll be respectful of your privacy, but you know you can talk to me anytime?”
Neil nodded again. He looked like was going to cry, which is the last thing Derek wanted.
“Are you going to be okay working tonight?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Derek wanted to let out a sigh of relief but restrained himself.
Neil went back to work, leaving Derek in his office.
He had a mountain of paperwork to get through, but that could wait until Monday when the club was closed.
Neil might handle staffing and stock, but the accounts were all on Derek.
Not that he couldn’t do it, it was just really boring, and there were always other things he could do with his time.
By ten o’clock the place was at capacity, and his security had to operate on a one-in, one-out stance.
The labyrinth was getting plenty of action, but the bar was equally packed, and Omar was proving what a great barman he was as he served drinks at such a speed that he was almost a blur.
He’d take money from one customer, make the drink of the next, and take the order of a third, all at the same time.
Derek was happiest on the bar, but there was no time to chat to people tonight.
He was serving a customer when he heard glass smash behind him.
Not an unusual thing to happen, and the obligatory cheers from the crowd made him smile.
He turned around to see what had happened, and Omar was gone.
What the fuck?
There was broken glass on the floor. It had only been the two of them on the bar, so he’d probably gone to get a brush and pan. He noticed one of his regulars.
“Tim, did you see what happened?”
“This cunt couldn’t keep his hands to himself,” he said, gesturing to the guy next to him.
Derek didn’t recognise him, so he wasn’t a regular. But he was the type of guy Derek immediately knew was trouble. He grabbed the radio from his belt and asked security to head down, and for Neil to cover for him. He needed to find Omar.
“Get this fucker out. He’s barred,” said Derek to one of his security guards,
Before the guy could argue, he was being dragged out.
He thanked Tim, giving him a drink on the house, and served customers until Neil came down to take over.
It was only a few minutes, but it felt like ages.
Once Neil was behind the bar, he headed for the staff room.
Omar wasn’t there. He checked the toilets, and still nothing, so he called him, but it rang out.
Omar might have been freaked out by what that guy did, but he would never just take off saying nothing.
Derek headed outside through the back entrance. There was no way he’d be at street level. He hoped not, as that’s where that guy had just been thrown out. He felt relief when he saw Omar puffing on a cigarette in his courtyard.
“I didn’t know you smoked,” said Derek, startling him.
“It calms me down.”
His voice was calmer than expected, so it must have worked.
“I know what you mean, but I gave up a few years ago.”
“I’m trying to cut back. Sorry, I’ll be back in a minute. That guy freaked me out when he grabbed my wrist so tightly.”
“He’s gone and he won’t be back.”
“You didn’t need to do that. I know it’s part of the job.”
“A bit of flirting, yes, but any customer puts an unwanted hand on my staff and he’s gone.”
Omar smiled and stubbed the cigarette out on the wall.
“Why don’t you chill out in my office for a bit? We’ll be okay. I’d suggest you go home, but I don’t trust that the guy won’t hang around, so I’ll take you later.”
“You don’t need to do that. I live in East London, and you’re only up the road.”
“How do you know where I live?” Derek asked with a smile.
“Oh . . . I overhead . . . someone mentioned it.”
“Relax, Omar. It’s hardly a secret. Come on. Let’s get you a drink, and you can chill out for a bit.”
Once Omar was settled in his office, despite protesting that he could come back to work, he arranged with Neil to shift the staff around so he could go back upstairs. It was best if one of them was on each of the bars on a Saturday in case they had any other incidents.
After twenty minutes, Omar was back behind the bar, which Derek was grateful for, as there’d been no let-up in how busy it was – even more so than Pride night. But he’d been in a bit of a daze last week after seeing Kieran again after so many years.
Derek looked up and had to do a double take.
He had to be mistaken, as he’d just been thinking about him.
Looking over again, he was stunned. Could that be Kieran in his club?
Was it a coincidence, or had Milo told him he owned this place?
Had Kieran specifically come to see him?
Kieran looked up and made direct eye contact with him, and the smirk on his face told him everything he needed to know.
Derek knew a brat when he saw one. Before he could do anything, Kieran disappeared into the labyrinth.
Why the fuck was he going in there? Well, Derek knew why, but the thought of Kieran going in there made him feel funny.
He wasn’t sure what the emotion was. Maybe it was because the last time he’d seen him properly, he was a shy, nerdy kid, and now he was a fully grown man covered in tattoos and piercings and looking hot as fuck.
He shook that thought out of his head. He’d known Kieran since he was fourteen.
It would be wrong to think of him any other way.
Before he could think too much about why Kieran was here and what it meant, he was pulled back into serving customers, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off the entrance to the labyrinth, waiting for Kieran to come out.
He had to take this opportunity to speak to him, or at least get him to agree to a time when they could talk.
On Sunday, Derek was still thinking about Kieran.
He hadn’t seen him again last night. Derek had been watching to see if he’d left, but there had been no sign of him.
It had been busy, so his eyes hadn’t been on the entrance to the labyrinth the whole time.
Why had he been here? He looked directly at Derek and smiled.
He’d clearly wanted to fuck with Derek, and he’d been successful.
How long had he been in the labyrinth, and had he been with anyone?
Was he into that scene? There were other gay sex clubs in London, but The Back Room was the most popular.
Did Kieran have a partner of his own? He had a submissive vibe to him, so was there a dom taking care of him?
That wasn’t Derek’s business, but he still couldn’t help feeling protective of Kieran.
If he had a partner, Derek knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from doing a background check on the guy.
After Edward hadn’t given him any information on Kieran, he’d done his own digging and found out where he worked.
He was still using the name Kieran Hailer, which had been his mother’s maiden name.
Kieran was a tattooist, which explained all the ink.
Perhaps getting his own tattoos had inspired him to do that as a job, and he’d always been drawing as a kid.
It wasn’t the career Derek had expected from a straight-A student who had gotten into one of the top medical schools in the country, but he wouldn’t make assumptions.
Kieran was an adult and could make his own choices.
So, why was he standing outside the tattoo shop where Kieran worked on a Sunday?
It was closed, and the city was deserted, as it often was on the weekend.
Not wanting to look like he was some kind of deranged stalker – although can you stalk a shop? – he headed to Knights Corner for lunch. He knew it was open on Sunday and could be popular, so hopefully he’d get a table as he hadn’t booked one.
“Hello, Derek, are you here to meet someone?” asked Langdon.
“Just passing by and thought I’d see if I could get a table.”
“Give me a few minutes and I’ll sort something out.”
Derek had known Langdon since the days when he worked at Madame Hoes in Soho, and once this place had opened, he’d gotten to know him more.
As fellow owners of queer venues, it was important that they supported each other.
There was a network Derek had set up, and Langdon had joined.
There were two other owners of Knights Corner, but they were more behind the scenes.
Langdon was the face of the place, which was why he typically acted as host, but Derek had often seen him behind the bar.
He was the type who’d jump in and do anything that needed doing, which was exactly what Derek did too.
The way the place had been done was stunning.
One side had floor-to-ceiling windows, which flooded the whole venue with lots of natural light.
On the other side, the windows were a lot smaller and frosted.
Booths ran alongside that entire wall, and they were a way to have privacy without hiding in the corner.
All the seating wrapped around the whole venue on the edges, with standing tables in the centre and plenty of space for those who only wanted a drink.
The bar was against the back of the venue, in a semi-circle.
Derek couldn’t believe how busy the place was for a Sunday, but then, he’d heard the chef made an excellent Sunday lunch.
Perhaps he’d give it a try. He needed to be back at the club by four o’clock, and Sunday could be surprisingly busy, so having a big meal now would mean he could work through.
“Follow me, Derek,” said Langdon.
He took him over to one of the booths, which was perfect. He hadn’t been expecting anything like this, given he’d just shown up.
“You know how the app works for ordering, don’t you?” asked Langdon
“Yeah.”
“Great, enjoy your lunch.”
“Can I ask you a quick question?”
“Sure.”
“I only ask this because you’re covered in tattoos.”
Langdon smiled and flexed his arms. The guy really was gorgeous. If Derek were inclined to give up control in the bedroom, this would be the guy he’d want to do it with, but he was getting sidetracked, and besides, Langdon had a fiancé.
“Do you know Eclipse Ink? It’s close to here.”
“Yeah. That’s where I go.”
It really was a small world sometimes. What were the chances?
“How long have you been using them?”
“I followed my tattooist there.”
“Someone you’d recommend?”
“Absolutely. Kieran is excellent.”
Well, how about that!