The Law of Attraction (16 page)

“Travelling,” the older man answered with a smile. “My wife’s been on at me for years to see more of the world. So hotels will still be a big part of my future, only staying in luxury ones in faraway places rather than running my own.”

“That sounds good. I hope you enjoy it.”

“I’m sure I will,” Mackenzie said warmly. “Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome.”

Katherine called Alec into her office shortly before the end of the day. Alec had spent the afternoon tying up a few loose ends of paperwork, but he’d been struggling to concentrate, still buzzed and elated after the events of the morning.

“Are you still on cloud nine?” she asked as he took a seat opposite her. “It always takes me a while to come down.”

“It’s a good feeling.” He nodded. “But I’m already looking forward to the next one. What are you going to give me to tackle this time?”

“There’s a retail chain acquisition in the pipeline that we’ll be pulling a team together for soon. But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” There was a smile on her face.

Alec raised his eyebrows, heart kicking up a notch as he tried to keep his voice casual. “Oh yes?”

“You’re going to get an invitation to a meeting with the board to discuss the outcome of your partner application next week. I don’t know for sure what the decision is yet, but I know you’ve impressed them, and your work on this deal was a big factor. I think your chances are good.”

Alec stared at her. A smile spread across his face and excitement rose as her words sank in. This was it. This was what he’d been working towards for years, and he was so close to getting what he wanted. He didn’t dare let himself hope too hard. “Thank you,” he finally managed.

“You deserve it, Alec. I only told them what I believe. You’ll be an asset to the firm. They’d be mad
not
to offer it to you, in my opinion.”

“Thank you,” he said again. From Katherine, that meant a lot. She gave praise sparingly, so it was all the more precious when it came.

“There’s nothing to thank me for. Now go and take your team out for a drink, they’ve earned it. I’ll talk to you next week about the new deal.”

“Will do. Have a good weekend, Katherine.” Alec stood and was about to leave when Katherine spoke again.

“Oh, I almost forgot. How did Ed perform on the team? From what I saw, he did well.”

“He did.” Alec flushed, hoping his expression wouldn’t betray his feelings. He tried to tamp them down and regain his objectivity. Ed was good at his job, and Alec wasn’t about to fuck it up for him. “He’s got a lot of potential. He’s thorough, hardworking, and was a valuable member of the team.”

“Do you want to keep him on for the next deal? It’s your call. If he’s valuable to you, then you could keep him on, or even encourage him to apply for a permanent position.”

Alec hesitated. If he seemed too keen to let Ed go, it wouldn’t look good for Ed, but his life would be easier if Ed were in a different department. “Well, he’s been an asset. But I happen to know his ambitions lie in employment law. Perhaps you could put in a word for him and see whether they have any work for him over there?”

“Okay.” Katherine nodded. “That makes sense. Maybe we can move him over to Employment. They have a sexual harassment case brewing that looks like it’s going to be a big one. They’re putting a team together for that at the moment, I believe. I’ll make some calls and see what I can do.”

Alec felt a weight lift off his shoulders. Much as he’d miss the day-to-day contact with Ed, it would be easier this way. Alec couldn’t do his job if he was pining like a lovesick schoolboy. He’d get over Ed faster if he didn’t have to share an office space with him. When Ed was in the room, it was as though there wasn’t enough oxygen left for Alec. “Sounds good. Thanks. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”

“Right, Alec. Go and celebrate, and take some time to relax this weekend. You’ve earned it.”

If only
, Alec thought. With his father’s birthday party hanging over his head like an axe, he feared his weekend would be far from relaxing. But he replied smoothly. “Will do. Thanks, Katherine. I’ll see you on Monday.”

Friday-night drinks were extra raucous that night. The culmination of weeks of painstaking work had put them in the mood for celebration. The first round was champagne, on Alec, and the three bottles he’d bought for the six of them to share didn’t last long.

James offered to buy the next round. “I warned Emily I’d be late tonight. I have a free pass, and she even promised to get up with Charlotte in the morning. I have a scheduled hangover, and I’m going to make the most of it.” He seemed well on the way already. His eyes glittered and his cheeks were flushed.

Alec was drinking slowly, spinning out his second glass of champagne and making it last. Partly because he didn’t trust himself to be around Ed if he was drunk, and partly because the last thing he needed when dealing with his parents was to be feeling under par. He found spending time with them difficult enough at the best of times.

Ed wasn’t drinking much either. He’d accepted a drink from James, but after that he switched to lemonade when the others ordered a round of cocktails.

Maria asked Ed about his weekend plans.

“I’m going home to see my family,” Ed replied. “I haven’t seen them since Christmas because I’ve been so busy with work. My littlest sisters have been pestering me relentlessly via iMessage for the last couple of weeks. I can’t take the emoji-induced guilt anymore, so I’ve given in.” Ed smiled. “Seriously, though, I can’t wait to see them all.”

Alec wondered what it must feel like to have a family that made you smile when you thought about visiting them.

The party started to break up around half past nine, with Maria making her excuses first, followed by Jon and Jen.

“But the night is young!” James protested, waving his glass a little wildly and slopping whatever he was currently drinking onto the floor. James had been working his way down the cocktail menu and was rather the worse for wear. “You chaps aren’t going to desert me, are you?” He made puppy eyes at Alec and Ed. “Stay for another?”

Alec met Ed’s amused gaze. Ed shrugged. “I don’t need to rush off.”

Alec wanted an early night, but looking into the clear blue of Ed’s eyes and seeing the smile curving those familiar lips, he couldn’t bring himself to leave.

“You twisted my arm,” Alec said to James. His glass was empty, so he caught the eye of one of the servers and they placed their orders.

James ordered yet another cocktail and didn’t seem to notice or care that Alec and Ed both ordered soft drinks.

“I’m going to wring out a kidney,” James got up, wobbling unsteadily. Alec put out a hand to stop him lurching into the table and watched as he wove his way towards the toilets.

Ed laughed once he’d gone. “Someone’s going to be feeling rough in the morning.”

“Yes.” Alec shook his head ruefully. “He doesn’t usually drink much, so he’s not used to it.” He picked up James’s glass, which was still half-full of orange liquid. “Do you think he’ll notice if this disappears?”

“I doubt it.”

Alec took a sip of the potent mixture and wrinkled his nose. “Ugh. I was going to try and save him from himself, but this is disgustingly sweet. I think it involves peach schnapps. Can you stomach it?” He offered the glass to Ed, who took it, looking dubious.

Ed sniffed it, but that was as far as he got. “God, it’s definitely got peach schnapps in it. So that would be a no from me.” Before Alec realised what Ed was doing, Ed poured the disgusting concoction into a large potted plant that stood beside their table. “Best place for it.”

“Poor plant.” Alec laughed. “It will probably kill it.”

Ed shrugged. “Better the plant than James. It will be a miracle if he makes it home without throwing up in the taxi as it is.”

The next round arrived just as James got back from the toilet. He picked up his new drink—luckily he seemed to have forgotten the existence of the one they’d disposed of.

“I’ll probably regret this in the morning,” he said before taking a huge slurp.

Alec thought he was going to regret it rather sooner than the morning, but he kept that to himself.

By the time they’d finished the final round of drinks, James was practically falling asleep on the table. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “It’s not jus’ the booze. Late nights and early mornings… you know how it is.”

Alec patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. He knew the strains of the job only too well, and he didn’t have an early-rising toddler to add into the equation. “Let’s get you into a taxi and send you home to Emily.”

James nodded owlishly, his head propped up on one hand.

“Where do you live, James?” Ed asked.

“Stoke Newington.”

“That’s on the way out to where I live. I’ll share a cab with you.”

“You sure?” Alec asked him quietly. James’s eyes had slipped closed; he was past paying much attention to the conversation around him.

“It’s probably for the best. I’m not sure he’ll make it home otherwise. James, what street and what number?” Ed nudged James until he opened his eyes and mumbled out his address while Ed typed it into his phone.

They supported James out of the bar. He could barely walk now. With one arm around each of their shoulders, they practically carried him down the road to the taxi rank.

“I’ll come with you,” Alec said, shifting James’s dead weight. “He’s completely out for the count. You’ll never be able to get him to his own front door.”

“But it’s in the wrong direction for you. You’ll be miles from home.”

“That’s what taxis are for.” Alec sighed.

“Good thing they pay you well.”

“I should claim this on expenses. Katherine told me to take my team out and celebrate. Though I’m not sure she had this level of celebration in mind.”

Ed laughed. “Celebration or drunken debauchery. There’s a fine line.”

When they made it to the front of the queue, another black London taxi pulled up within minutes. The cabbie frowned when he saw the state of James. “He’s not gonna throw up, is he, mate? Because there’s a clean-up charge if he does.”

“He’ll be fine,” Alec assured him. He wished he were as confident as he sounded.

Miraculously, they made it to James’s house without mishap. James slept the whole way, his head back and mouth hanging open, seated between them. Alec asked the driver to wait while they manhandled James out of the back of the car. The sudden shock of cold air after the warmth of the cab woke James up a little and he managed to stand, albeit unsteadily.

“Where are we? Oh!” The surprise on his face at realising he was on his own doorstep was comical. He fumbled around in his pocket for his key but couldn’t manage to line it up in the lock, so Ed did it for him. Finally the door opened and James staggered in with one hand on the wall for support. Alec glanced inside to check whether there was another locked door he needed to get through, but it looked as though James lived in a maisonette that had its own front door, which they’d just passed through. There was a light on in the hallway, and Alec saw a shoe rack and a line of coats on hooks, including one small pink one. They were in the right place, then; their duty done as far as Alec was concerned.

“Night, James,” Alec said. Then he closed the door behind James and made sure it locked.

He turned to Ed. “Your place next, then, if it’s close to here? And then I’ll get the driver to take me all the way back to Pimlico.”

“Okay.” Ed yawned, covering his mouth.

James obviously wasn’t the only one who’d been short on sleep this week.

Back in the taxi, there was a space between them where James had been. Alec desperately wanted to slide over, to take Ed’s hand or put an arm around him. But Ed wasn’t his to touch, and he didn’t have the right. For the first time in the weeks that he’d known Ed, Alec had a glimmer of hope. Next week he was getting the promotion he’d been waiting for. Maybe once he’d got the job, he could begin to dismantle the mess of lies and omission around his personal life.

“We probably won’t be working together now this deal is over,” Alec said.

Ed turned his head to look at him. “Oh?”

“Katherine asked me, and I recommended they move you to a different department.” Ed’s brow furrowed, so Alec added hastily, “Not because you did a bad job, far from it. I told her the truth. You did really well. But she’s going to see whether they have anything for you in Employment. I know that’s where you’d prefer to be working, anyway.”

“Oh, wow. That’s great, thank you.” Ed said, and then he gave a small smile. “I suppose it’s probably for the best… for other reasons too.”

“Exactly.” Alec didn’t elaborate. The other reasons were making him want to pull Ed into his lap in the back of this taxi right then.

They fell silent, and Alec couldn’t help wondering whether Ed’s mind had gone to the same place his had—to that hotel room in Scotland and the night they’d spent together. His yearning for Ed was so strong it was hard to resist, but Ed had made it very clear it was over between them. Alec couldn’t blame him, and in a weird, twisted way, he was glad. Ed deserved better. Alec didn’t want to drag Ed into his lonely closet.

His heart heavy, Alec let his head fall back against the headrest and allowed the exhaustion of the week to overwhelm him. He closed his eyes and his thoughts drifted, lulled by the hum of the engine.

When the taxi lurched to a stop, Alec sat up, blinking. He’d dozed off, and for a moment he’d forgotten where he was.

“This is where I get out.” Ed got a twenty pound note out of his pocket and tried to give it to Alec, who waved it away. “No, take it. It’s for my share of the taxi. It’s going to cost you a fortune to get all the way back to your place from here as it is.”

“James will chip in on Monday, I’m sure.” Alec took the money anyway. He sensed Ed’s pride would make him argue, and the longer the driver had to wait, the more the numbers ticked over on the meter.

“Goodnight.” Ed hesitated for a moment, and then he put his hand on Alec’s leg and squeezed. “Good luck with your dad’s birthday thing tomorrow.”