Page 58 of Companion Required
“Kennedy.”
“Yes?”
“Does this mean I’m gay?”
“If it did—even just a little bit—does that bother you?”
Kieran thought about the question.
“No, not at all. What would bother me immensely would be if we never got to do that again.”
Kennedy laughed aloud before rolling on his side and addressing Kieran directly.
“And with such an excellent scholar showing clear promise, the master might even let the student take charge next time.”
“Really?” asked Kieran, amazed. He had unfairly assumed Kennedy would always want to be the one in the driving seat.
While they both got comfortable, with Kieran’s head resting on Kennedy’s shoulder, Kieran recounted the day he had spent visiting historic and not-so-historic sites in Okinawa, making Kennedy laugh—a sound he had begun to love hearing—when recounting their trip to a tourist market where some of the items on display were variously flavoured tins of Spam. When Kieran mentioned something Leonard had said, he noticed Kennedy quietened, waiting for him to finish.
“I forgot to tell you. Leonard phoned me today, just before I met up with you. I should have mentioned the call to you earlier but it slipped my mind. He asked me if I thought you were reliable. Sounds like he’s impressed. Something to do with you giving him advice on his websites.”
“At lunchtime today. An Okinawa noodle restaurant they took us to, between attractions. Yes, his websites are prehistoric—in both design and functionality—and some don’t work on a bunch of the new generation of browsers. So he’s naturally losing customers and income. I put him right over a couple of Asahi beers. Could do so much better, even if only by consolidating a few of them and incorporating a reliable online payment gateway. No big deal, really.”
“Apparently, it is for him. More importantly, he loves your energy and enthusiasm. Something I can definitely vouch for, especially after tonight.”
Kieran peered sidelong at Kennedy and they shared a mutual grin. But Kennedy hadn’t finished.
“And he’s about to offer you a job. As his head of marketing in their London office. His current person’s about to retire and he needs someone with fresh ideas to take the helm. Thinks you have great potential and I agreed. Told him I think he’d be a fucking moron not to offer you the job.”
Kieran stared at Kennedy for a moment, his mouth gaping open, unable to speak, before turning his gaze away. He had learned, especially from a professional perspective, to suppress his emotions where potential work was concerned, mainly because of late—apart from this trip to Asia with Kennedy—all news had tended to be bad news. Tears welled in his eyes, something that rarely happened, something Kennedy noticed immediately, because he squeezed his arm around Kieran’s shoulders.
“Shit, Kieran. Did I say something wrong? Should I have told him no?”
“No,” he replied, swiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. “Fuck, no, Kennedy. Exactly the opposite. Head of marketing? That’s my idea of a dream job. I have no clue what’s happening to me right now, everything is so crazy. In a good way. Sorry, what I meant to say is everything is amazing. All thanks to you.”
“You undersell yourself, Kieran.”
“You know that’s not true. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“Point taken.” Kennedy laughed. “Point taken. And for the record, I’m glad it’s you that’s here.”
Me too, thought Kieran.Even though it’s only for the next two weeks.
