11. Bobby
BOBBY
“Daniel would like to see you in his office,” said Claudette.
Bobby wished he hadn’t picked up the phone, but when the executive assistant of the managing partner calls, you pick up.
“What time?”
“Now.”
“Fuck!” he muttered under his breath.
The laugh from Claudette as she hung up told Bobby he hadn’t been as quiet as he thought.
Daniel was on the floor above. Harper and Co.
had three floors in The Gherkin. The top floor was all client meeting rooms and the reception.
There was also a large space where they hosted all-staff updates, which were usually followed by champagne.
Daniel looked after his people. Bobby was on the main floor where most people were based.
The floor above housed the senior associates and partners.
It was all open plan, with only a few of the senior staff having an office.
Daniel being one of them. The bossman would often walk around all the floors and chat to people, although his diary always looked slammed.
How he was everywhere at once was a mystery.
He was fifteen years older, and Bobby felt exhausted just looking at the guy’s calendar.
Bobby took the stairs so he could get himself worked up even more.
Why did the managing partner want to see him immediately?
It could have something to do with the Rainbow Futures case, but they had a meeting in the diary about that tomorrow.
Was he taking Bobby off the case? Had he done something, or missed an important point?
Daniel had said that if he were going to fire Bobby, he would do it in his office.
He chuckled. That wasn’t what was going to happen.
There were procedures to follow if that’s what was happening, and Daniel Harper did not make reckless decisions that left him open to being sued.
The floor was busy with people, but Thursday was the new Friday for socialising after work.
Nobody looked at him as he walked across the floor to the back, where Daniel’s office was.
Claudette’s desk was outside, and she looked at him with a smile before signalling with her head for him to go in.
The door was open. He approached tentatively and peeked through.
Daniel was at his desk, typing something at such an incredible speed that his hands were almost a blur.
“Sir, you asked to see me?”
Daniel looked up and raised an eyebrow.
“I can come back later if you’re busy.”
“Why are you calling me sir, Bobby?”
“Oh . . . I’m not sure.”
He could feel his whole body trembling with nerves, unsure what was about to happen.
Daniel stood up and walked towards the board table in his office.
The place was immense, and Bobby knew he had meetings in here.
If the office rumours were true, Daniel had also done other things on that table with his boyfriend, Josh.
He flushed, imagining what that would look like.
Bobby wasn’t blind, Daniel was a very attractive man, but why was he thinking about him ploughing his boyfriend?
“Can you close the door, Bobby, so we’re not disturbed, and take that panicked look off your face as well. You’re not in trouble or anything.”
He exhaled a huge breath of relief as he closed the door. Claudette winked at him, the bitch. To be fair, she hadn’t said anything to make him think he was in trouble. That was all him.
“Have a seat, Bobby, and tell me what’s going on.”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard that you’d cancelled the handover meeting before your wedding, and your annual leave as well. Is everything okay?”
Yesterday had been his first day back. His manager was away, but he’d cancelled his leave in the system, as well as the handover meeting with his colleague who’d been going to cover the Rainbow Futures case while he was off for two weeks.
The last thing Bobby wanted to do was take time off work with nothing to occupy his mind.
He should probably start looking for a place of his own, but Gabriel had said there was no rush, and Bobby knew that wasn’t him just being polite; he genuinely meant it.
“The wedding isn’t happening. We broke up.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Bobby. Do you want to talk about it?”
Did he want to talk about something so personal with Daniel?
He didn’t want to look like a twat, but then he’d done nothing wrong, and with everything Alex was saying, what if word got back to his employer?
That could damage his career. If someone’s behaviour outside work brought their credibility, trustworthiness, or professionalism into doubt, they could be sacked for it.
Especially in an industry so heavily regulated.
“Can I get your advice on something?” asked Bobby.
“Of course.”
“I found out Alex has been having an affair with my best mate, Dillon, since October, and a lot of my friends knew about it. When I came back, she’d changed the locks and packed all my stuff. She then accused me of having an affair with her brother.”
Daniel didn’t look surprised, but then he had a better poker face than anyone Bobby had ever met.
“Is the property you share with Alex in both your names?”
“No. She never changed the lease.”
“Can you prove you paid half the rent?”
“I paid two-thirds.”
Bobby earned more than Alex, so he felt it was right that he paid a higher proportion of the bills.
“Okay, so we have grounds there if you wanted to pursue it.”
“Could I have this conversation with the guy who isn’t Daniel Harper, the shit hot lawyer?”
Daniel smiled. “Of course. Are you staying with one of your brothers?”
“I was in a hotel, but I’m staying with Gabriel now.”
“The brother you’ve been accused of having an affair with?”
Bobby snorted. He had a point, but he would not turn down staying somewhere that felt safe.
It had only been a couple of nights, and he already felt settled in a way he hadn’t since he’d left home at eighteen.
He wasn’t sure what that meant, but the fact he’d never felt the same in Alex’s flat spoke volumes for how things might have ended up if the wedding had gone ahead.
“I see your point, but my brothers all have flatmates. My friends knew about Dillon and Alex, and Gabriel looked after me when it all blew up in Vegas.”
“Looked after you, how?” asked Daniel with a smirk.
Bobby laughed, but also felt his face heating. He wasn’t sure why, but if he was going to be accused of sleeping with a guy, then there’d be no one better than Gabriel.
“Nothing like that. If Alex found out about the fake wedding, she’d lose her mind.”
“What?”
“Neither of us remembers it, but after it all came out about Dillon and Alex, I went out with Gabriel. We must have gotten wasted, as we woke up wearing wedding rings.”
“Are you serious?”
“It was harmless fun. It’s not legally binding.”
“Who told you that?”
“A friend got married in Vegas, but they still had to do the legal ceremony in the UK. We didn’t have a licence or anything. Here you have to register your intention to marry at least two weeks before the ceremony in the UK.”
“That’s all true, but if the wedding was done under Nevada law, it’s legally binding and recognised in the UK.”
“What?” Bobby was dumbfounded.
“Do you have any paperwork? Was there a certificate or anything?”
“I chucked it away. It didn’t look like a marriage certificate here.”
“Can you remember anything about it?”
Bobby shook his head and then remembered something. “It said we’d chosen Mensah-Kavanagh as our married surname.”
He couldn’t help but smile, unsure why. Could Daniel be right? Was he legally married to Gabriel? What would that mean for them?
“Do you know Gabriel’s full name and his date of birth?” asked Daniel.
Bobby nodded.
“Let me look into this for you. Hopefully, it’s like you said, and if you were so drunk that neither of you remembers it, it may just have been ceremonial.”
“No offence, boss, but you’re a bit out of my budget.”
Daniel laughed. “Don’t be a smart arse. Give me a day, and we’ll talk tomorrow. Do you need some time off to deal with all this?”
“I’d rather keep my brain busy.”
“The offer’s there if you change your mind. Send me Gabriel’s details now, and I should have something tomorrow by the time we catch up on Rainbow Futures.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I don’t offer if I’m not sure, Bobby. Let’s talk tomorrow,” he said, standing up.
That meant their meeting was over. He wasn’t sure why he’d told Daniel everything, but he was glad he had. Hopefully, he’d been right about their “wedding” meaning nothing, because if he was legally married to Gabriel, he was fucked!
Bobby’s head was spinning as he walked into Knights Corner that evening.
There was no way he was telling his brothers about the whole real or not real marriage thing with another man.
There was no reason to say anything until he knew if it was true, and besides, his brothers would probably be pissed off that he’d married a man before they had.
Given what he’d learnt today, he had thought about cancelling, but this had been arranged when he got back from Las Vegas.
Bobby needed to tell his brothers he wasn’t getting married, and they needed to hear it from him face to face.
He wasn’t sure what they were going to say, but he had a feeling Ryan might suggest beating the crap out of Dillon, and Martin would consider Bobby’s legal rights.
There were times his brother, the professor of law, forgot Bobby was a practicing solicitor, or ignored it when he was giving him advice.
Martin was sitting in a booth, engrossed in his phone. There was no sign of Ryan, but then he was working until seven, which is why they were meeting here.
“Bro,” said Bobby, knowing Martin hated being called that.
As expected, Martin looked up and glared at him.
“Move up, then,” said Bobby.
“Sit on the other side.”
“Me and Ryan on the same side is not gonna work.”