The Club (38 page)

Blushing, Leonard turned on his heel and walked away. That old nonsense had better not start up again. He’d had more than enough of people smirking at him before he and Tony hooked up, and he wouldn’t sit quietly by and watch as people started being disrespectful again. Especially not those sluts in there.

Letting himself into Zenith’s kitchen a few minutes later he found himself confronted by the sight of Austin, wearing nothing but his shorts as he stood at the sink, rinsing out his T-shirt.

With his back to the door, Austin didn’t see who had come in but he felt the icy draught.

‘Fucking hell! Hurry up and shut that,’ he complained, turning around, giving Leonard a full frontal of his hairless chest and pudgy little breasts decorated with gold nipple rings. ‘Oh, sorry, Mr D.’Raising a hand to his mouth, he giggled. ‘Didn’t know it was you, or I wouldn’t have said that.’

‘It’s okay,’ Leonard said, averting his gaze. ‘I know you youngsters have your own way of talking.’

‘Hey, you’re not so old yourself,’ Austin teased, leaning back against the sink. ‘How come you came in the back way, anyway? You’ve not been out there the whole time watching me, have you?’

‘God, no!’ Leonard yelped, afraid that the boy might think him a peeping Tom. ‘I’ve, er, just come round for some ice.’

‘It’s in there.’ Austin pointed out the chest freezer in the corner. ‘Is that for your secret club?’ he whispered then, letting Leonard know that he knew. ‘Don’t worry,’ he added, tapping his nose. ‘I won’t tell. I’ll carry the ice round for you, if you like?’ he offered then.

‘Oh, thank you, but no. Best not,’ Leonard said, knowing that Tony would not be pleased, even though Leonard would have liked nothing better than to take a leisurely stroll around the block and have a friendly chat right now.

Austin had been nice to him when he’d been a customer, and a positive delight since he became part of the team. In fact, he was one of the few members of staff who didn’t treat Leonard like an interfering intruder when he went into the areas that had previously been off-limits to him. Like Fabian, some of the others had been rather cool towards him, if not downright offhand. But Austin was never anything less than friendly, and Leonard found himself seeking the lad out more often than was probably decent. But what was the harm, as long as nobody commented upon it – which, so far, they hadn’t. And now that Avril seemed to have lost interest in following him around and was content to get on with her own thing, he was free to indulge himself with these friendships that would previously have incurred her scorn, if not her wrath.

‘You all right, Mr D?’ Austin asked, tilting his head to one side and peering up at him. ‘You look miles away.’

‘I’ve, er, got a bit of a headache,’ Leonard murmured. ‘Best get some . . . Ah.’ Spotting the first-aid cabinet, he pointed at it.

Darting in front of him as he headed for it, Austin took out a bottle of paracetamol. ‘There you go,’ he said, pressing it into his hand. ‘That’ll shift it. If not, just give me a shout and I’ll give you a neck massage. Kalli says I’ve got healing hands.’

‘Kalli?’

‘My flatmate. Gorgeous, bossy little thing. Works the VIP bar.’

‘Oh, yes, I think I know who you mean,’ Leonard said, remembering the pretty little Chinese girl with the highly suspicious eyes. Or maybe that was just the look that came into them when she stared at Leonard, because she certainly seemed to suspect him of something. Though goodness only knew what. ‘I didn’t realise you shared a flat.’

‘Can’t afford
not
to on my wages,’ Austin snorted.

‘Oh?’ Leonard raised an eyebrow. ‘Are they low?’

‘Try limboing under the door, and you’ll get an idea,’ Austin told him. Then, seeing the concern on Leonard’s face, he said, ‘Hey, I’m only joking. They’re not great, but they’re better than at a lot of places. Anyway, I like sharing. Better than going home to an empty place every night, eh?’

‘I expect so,’ Leonard agreed.

‘Don’t know why I’m asking
you
that,’ Austin said, laughing softly now. ‘You’ve got Mrs D waiting for you, haven’t you? She in tonight, by the way?’

‘No, she’s busy with one of her charity projects,’ Leonard replied. ‘At least, she was earlier. But I imagine she’ll be tucked up in her bed with a book by now.’

‘So you’re living it up while you can, eh?’ Giving him a conspiratorial grin, Austin turned back to the sink to wring out his T-shirt.

Trying not to stare at the tighter-than-tight shorts, Leonard said, ‘Erm, something like that, yes. Busy tonight?’

‘
I
am, but I can’t say the same for that lazy lot out there. If I had to count the times I’ve been asked to do someone else’s dirty work tonight, I’d run out of fingers, toes,
and
eyelashes.’

‘They’re not taking advantage, are they? I’ll get Mr Allen to have a word, if you like.’

‘Hey,
nobody
takes advantage of me,’ Austin said indignantly. ‘I might look like a pushover, but this boy’s got balls – pardon the expression.’ Giggling again, he turned to face Leonard. ‘So, how about you, Mr D? Reckon anyone could take advantage of
you
– apart from the wife, of course, ’cos that’s a woman’s prerogative, isn’t it? To make our lives as miserable as possible.’ Biting his lip playfully now, he said, ‘Oops! Me and my big mouth. I shouldn’t be saying stuff like that to a happily married man, should I?’

‘You’re entitled to your opinion,’ Leonard said, feeling a little uncomfortable with the subject matter, yet thrilled that the boy felt able to speak so openly to him. ‘So, do you have a . . .
partner
?’

‘Not now,’ Austin said, shaking the damp T-shirt out and pulling it over his head with a grimace. ‘I did, but he cheated on me with one of my friends. And one of his.
And
some lad he met on holiday.’

‘Oh, dear, I’m terribly sorry.’

‘Don’t
you
be sorry,’ Austin said, reaching for a tea towel to wipe his hands. ‘You didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, you’re such a decent bloke, I can’t imagine you ever doing the dirty on anyone. I just wish there were more fellas like you out there. But oh well . . . we can’t get everything we want, can we?’

‘No, I don’t suppose we can,’ Leonard said quietly.

‘Right,’ Austin said, clapping his hands. ‘Best get back to work before Fabulous comes looking for blood.’

‘Fabulous?’ Leonard repeated.

‘That’s what I call Fabian,’ Austin whispered. ‘But for
gawd
’s sake don’t tell him, or I’ll be out on my arse.’

‘Wouldn’t dream of it,’ Leonard assured him, smiling conspiratorially. ‘Mum’s the word.’

‘Jeezus, you wouldn’t say that if you’d met
my
mum,’ Austin said, shuddering as he headed for the door. ‘She scares the absolute
crap
out of me. Bit like your man in there – the big fella.’

‘Eddie?’

‘Yeah,
him
. He gives me the
right
willies. Doesn’t he bother you?’

‘I haven’t really thought about it,’ Leonard said, realising that it was actually true. He’d been so busy focusing his attention on Tony that he hadn’t really noticed Eddie. ‘I suppose he can be a little intimidating, now you mention it.’

‘A
little
?’ Austin gasped. ‘Wow, Mr D, you’re a bigger man than me. Tell you what, you should come out with me some time, only I could use someone fearless like you to put that useless ex of mine back in line.’

‘I really don’t think I’d be much use to you,’ Leonard chuckled.

‘Worth a try.’ Austin said, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. ‘But, seriously, if you ever fancy coming down to one of my clubs, give me a shout, ’cos I reckon you’d get a kick out of it.’

‘I don’t really think I’d fit in,’ Leonard said, folding his arms as his heart picked up speed.

‘Rubbish,’ Austin scoffed. ‘Everyone’s welcome down there. Gay, straight, bi.
Curious
.’ Smiling when Leonard dropped his gaze, he said, ‘No pressure, but I reckon we’d have a laugh.’

‘That’s very kind of you,’ Leonard said. ‘I’ll keep it in mind.’

‘You do that,’ Austin said, adding in a whisper, ‘only do us a favour, and don’t tell anyone, ’cos I don’t want them lot out there gossiping. They’re too thick to understand that gays and straights can actually be
friends
. And while we’re on the subject of keeping things quiet,’ he said then, ‘any chance of me getting a sneaky peek at this new club of yours?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Leonard murmured. ‘Tony – Mr Allen – well, he kind of wants to keep it exclusive.’

‘Oh, right,’ Austin said, obviously disappointed. ‘Never mind.’

‘I would if I could,’ Leonard assured him, feeling guilty now because Austin had been kind enough to offer to take him out – as a friend. ‘Maybe . . .’ Hesitating, he shrugged. ‘Well, maybe one day, when no one’s around.’

‘For real?’ Austin grinned. ‘Cool!’

‘But you won’t tell anybody I said that?’

‘God, no!’ Austin promised. ‘Right, well, give me a shout when you’re ready – for my club,
or
yours. See you later, Mr D.’

‘Yes, bye.’

Waving as Austin danced out, letting a loud blast of Kanye West in before the door swung shut behind him, Leonard put the paracetamol bottle back in the cabinet and went to get the bag of ice that he’d come for. Alone now, paranoia reared its mocking head, and he wondered if Austin’s invitation had been innocent or if he were playing some sort of game. But surely not, because he’d never been anything but polite, so why would he suddenly turn on Leonard now? And Austin had asked Leonard to keep it quiet, so it was unlikely that
he
would run around starting sordid rumours. But you never could tell, so maybe it was best not to think about it for the time being. Not until he was sure that there was no ulterior motive behind it, because the last thing he needed was for anybody to get the wrong idea.

‘What on earth have you been doing?’ Maurice demanded when Austin got back behind the bar. ‘And what on earth do you think you
look
like?’ he said then, looking him up and down with a sneer of disgust. ‘This is
my
bar, not some sleazy little dive running a wet T-shirt competition!’

‘Keep your hair on,’ Austin snapped back. ‘I was talking to Mr Drake, if you don’t mind. And as for this –’ he plucked at the T-shirt. ‘Some dickhead spilled red wine all over me, so what did you want me to do? Carry on serving in it?’

‘Don’t swear,’ Maurice hissed, stomping away. ‘You sound and
look
like a little guttersnipe!’

‘Let’s not
mince
our words, eh, Maurice?’ Austin called after him, grinning knowingly.

Turning on his heel, Maurice marched back to him and thrust his face into his, spitting, ‘Fuck off! I don’t want you on my bar.’

‘Tough tits!’ Austin spat back. ‘Jenna
told
me to come down, because
you
’re not capable of running the bar without JoJo, and I’m the next best thing – so there!’

‘If you do not get out from behind my bar right this instant, I will not be held responsible for my actions,’ Maurice warned, his eyes bulging from their sockets.

‘Oh?’ Austin folded his arms, his head wobbling like a
Jerry Springer Show
guest. ‘And since when was it
your
bar? Did
you
pay for it? No, I didn’t
think
so. It’s
Jenna
’s bar, and
she
sent me down.’ Holding his hand up palm out when Maurice opened his mouth to reply, he said, ‘Say it, don’t spray it. And, anyway, I’m not interested. I didn’t want to work on this poxy bar to start with, so I’m going back to
my
bar, and you can explain to Jenna why
your
lousy bar fell apart without me!’

Flouncing out from behind the bar then, Austin walked away with his head held high until he was sure that Maurice could no longer see him. Then, giggling, he ran the rest of the way up the stairs.

Frowning when Austin came bounding over to the bar, Kalli swiped her hair back from her face with the back of her hand. ‘I hope you haven’t come to bother me. You might not be busy downstairs, but I’m run off my feet up here.’

‘Well, Cinders, you’re in luck, ’cos Buttons is home from the ball,’ Austin said, leaping over the bar.

‘Pack that in,’ Kalli scolded, glancing around in case anyone had seen.

‘Oh, don’t you start,’ Austin moaned. ‘I had enough of that off Maurice. I was made up when he kicked me off his bar, but I might as well go back if you’re just gonna be miserable.’

Tutting, Kalli pushed him out of the way so she could get at the spirit bottles behind him. ‘What happened?’

‘I got red wine knocked all over me,’ Austin explained indignantly. ‘So I had to go and rinse it out, yeah? Anyway, the minute I get back, the ugly cunt starts having a go at me, saying it’s not a sleazy club doing wet T-shirt competitions, and calling me a guttersnipe – whatever the fuck one of
them
is. And then he tells me to fuck off out of his bar, or he won’t be responsible for his actions. So,
I
said, “Oh, right, so it’s
your
bar now, is it? I don’t
think
so, matey!”’

‘Great,’ Kalli murmured, rolling her eyes. ‘Just what Jenna needs right now. She sent you down there because she knew they’d struggle, so who’ll suffer if it gets out of hand now?’

‘Maurice,’ Austin declared self-righteously.

‘No,
Jenna
,’ Kalli corrected him. ‘Her bar, her club,
her
profits dropping because her staff are unreliable. And if her profits drop, so will your wages. Remember how bad it was getting before she took Mr Allen on as a partner?’

‘Oh, per-
lease
!’ Austin groaned. ‘Let’s not
exaggerate
, or anything.’

‘Are you going back down?’ Kalli asked, pushing him aside again.

‘No, I am
not
,’ Austin stated adamantly. ‘Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t, ’cos Maurice is out for my blood now – the big fat poof!’