like I imagined? It doesn’t matter that so far Sean is just as I expected. He’s relaxed and confident, and he’s working hard to put me at ease. Of course, he’s a professional; he’s got years of experience in dealing with all kinds of people.
I decide he’s right. It will be easier if we just get it over with, so I obediently follow him through the door Andy just exited, into the aquarium café, expecting the eyes of every occupant to turn on me in silent inquisition.
“About bloody time,” someone says from the far side of the room, though I have yet to work out who. A head pops up from behind the serving counter and then an upper torso comes into view as the speaker stands up. It’s Josh. I don’t need an introduction.
“Am I late?” Sean asks. Several people look up at the same spot on the wall to my left. I take a chance and look as well. It’s a big clock, displaying enormously that the time is two minutes past eleven. Sean shrugs. “Sorry, Joshy. Deb and I were discussing the creatures in the last tank on the right, trying to decide what they were.”
“Octopus briareus,” Josh responds in a matter-of-fact tone.
“If you say so,” Sean says. “They’re blue, if that tells you anything. That’s Josh, by the way,” he tells me.
“What’re blue?” a voice asks to my left; Andy has returned.
“Octopuses,” I explain. “Octopi?” I look to Sean and he mouths ‘no idea’.
“Octopuses,” Josh confirms as he steps out from behind the counter. “It’s derived from Greek, not Latin.”
“Ah.” I nod. I understand that bit.
Josh is coming our way, but he stops en route to introduce everyone else. I find it rather amusing. I’m terrible at remembering names, and with this many people I’d usually stand no chance. But I know them. All of them. They just don’t know me. So I play along for now.
“Adele,” Josh says, pointing her out to me. She’s holding a tiny sleeping baby in the crook of her arm, a bottle in her other hand.
“Hi, Adele,” I say.
“Hiya,” she replies. Her voice is young, bright and cheerful, as are her clothes, hairstyle and makeup. “You work with Sean and Josh?” she asks.
“No, actually. I’m an author, but I do teach psychology at a university.”
“Which one?” another female voice asks. It’s Shaunna. I recognise the long, red hair. She takes something from the bag hanging on the handles of the double pushchair parked next to her table, zips the bag shut and looks at me expectantly.
I can’t help but stare at her hair and I fight the urge to tell her how amazing it is. She flicks it over her shoulder with a self-conscious laugh. I remember I haven’t answered her question and do so: “Open University.”
“Oh cool! I’m doing psychology with the Open University.”
“Wow. Small world,” I say.
“Sure is!” she agrees. “I’m Shaunna,” she adds.
“Good to meet you.”
“You too.”
“And this,” Josh continues, “is Dan.” He gestures to Dan and then to Andy, still standing to my left, just out of my sight. “And that’s Andy.”
I turn my head. Andy smiles and my brain goes all squealing-fan-girl on me. “Hi,” I manage to say, and look back over at Dan. “Hi.”
“We’re brothers,” Andy explains unnecessarily.
I shouldn’t do it, but I know the in-joke. “Not twins?” I ask, tongue-in-cheek. Andy and Dan both laugh and shake their heads.
“Are you gonna include our business in this book, Deb?” Dan asks.
“Aw, come on, bro,” Andy appeals on my behalf.
“Why not?” Dan argues. “It’s good marketing.”
“Yeah, but it’s a crap story. Unless you want to bore people to sleep.” Andy gives me a playful crooked grin. “Do you?”
“Not really,” I reply honestly, but I don’t think it’s that boring a story anyway.
Andy winks at me and I command myself not to swoon. His girlfriend is just across the room and I’m pretty sure she could seriously kick my ass.
“See, bro?” Andy tells Dan, but Dan’s attention is now on his daughter, who is pointing at one of the smaller fish tanks inside the café.
“Sea horses,” she identifies.
“This is little Shaunna,” Dan says. She pays me no attention whatsoever. Raucous laughter breaks out at grown-up Shaunna’s table.
“No way!” the man sitting next to her says. He folds his arms and rolls his eyes in exaggerated outrage. I watch, fascinated, whilst Shaunna whispers in his ear, her hand cupped as if it’s a big secret. His mouth opens in mock-horror and he laughs again.
“Ade,” Josh supplies for my benefit. Ade glances my way and mouths ‘hi’. I mouth ‘hi’ back. I already like him. He’s fun.
Ade’s boyfriend is standing behind him and I risk naming him, because most people will know who he is. “And Kris?” I ask.
“Yes,” Josh confirms.
At the sound of his name, Kris comes over to greet me in person. He shakes my hand and kisses my cheek, and it’s very charming.
“Hi, Deb,” he says. “This is a bit different.”
I smile, assuming he’s joking. He’s a TV star. He’s used to giving interviews, but that’s not why I’m here. There’s nothing I don’t know about these people. The Circle. I just wanted to meet them.
By now, Sean and Andy are back to discussing octopuses, and it’s a very weird conversation that I’m trying to ignore, because Kris is still looking at me. He holds firm eye contact as he tells me, “Ade and I are in a new series. It would be fab if you could include it in your book.”
“OK. I think I can do that.”
“Great.” He smiles in relief. “I’ll explain it all later, once you’ve got a drink and stuff. In fact, what would you like? Coffee, tea?”
“Coffee, thanks,” I confirm. Kris squeezes my arm and departs for the serving counter, arriving at the same time as the box-laden proprietor: Cordelia Kinkade. I can feel it emanating from her: command, respect, no-nonsense tolerated here. She sets the boxes on the counter and lifts her chin to observe the entire room. I smile at the familiarity as she and I sense it in each other. Once a teacher…
Josh finally reaches my location. He briefly mutters something to Sean, who nods in response. I don’t catch what Josh says and he’s standing closer to Sean than he is to me, but it’s me he’s studying. I’m aware of Sean and Andy’s conversation continuing across us; they’re still talking about octopuses, specifically blue-ringed octopuses and how they’re poisonous and there’s no known antidote. I hear the door to the café open and close, see Josh’s eyes briefly flit to the new arrival, and I know who it is, but it’s outside of this moment, this connection. I’m being mind-probed and it should feel invasive; yet it doesn’t.
I can’t estimate how long Josh and I stand there; it could be less than ten seconds or as much as five minutes. Our eyes are locked, and I note that his irises are the palest blue I’ve ever seen. I’m looking for things without to anchor the things within that are already a part of my own conscious and unconscious. A strand of sandy-blonde hair flops over his right eye, but he doesn’t brush it away until our staring contest is over, at which point he offers me a small smile and his hand.
“Hey,” he says with quiet excitement, like we’re long-time penpals meeting for the first time.
“Hey,” I reply in kind.
Warm hands touch my shoulders as someone moves behind me. I don’t bother looking to see who it is.
“Excuse me.” George edges between Sean and me to reach Josh. He wraps his arms around his husband and kisses him.
Josh’s cheeks turn pink. I smile and I think this is George. Josh smiles and looks at his husband. “Yes. All done?”
“Yep,” George confirms. “Soph and Lib are on their way.”
“Are you going to say hello?” Josh asks, tilting his head my way.
George wrinkles his nose as if he’s about to refuse, and then grins. He releases Josh and gives me a
hug. “Hi, Deb. You joining us for our Easter Egg hunt?”
For all of one second I consider how much work I’ve got to do, and how little time I have to do it. But then it hits me where I am and who I’m with.
“I’d love to,” I reply.
* * * * *
Also by Debbie McGowan
LGBTQ Romance and Relationships
Champagne (novel)
First Christmas (novella)*
Breaking Waves (novella)*
Crying in the Rain (novel)*
Hiding Out (novella)*/**
Blue Skies to Forever ~ co-written with Raine O’Tierney*
Checking Him Out (novel)**/***
Sugar and Sawdust (short story)**
Checking Him Out For the Holidays (novella)**
Coming Up (short story) ~ co-written with Al Stewart
Cherry Pop Valentine (short story)
Leaving Flowers (novel) ~ co-written with Raine O’Tierney
When Skies Have Fallen****
*Stand-alone stories from the world of Hiding Behind The Couch
**Part of Checking Him Out
***Part of the Love’s Landscapes Anthology
(Don’t Read in the Closet 2014)
****Part of Love is an Open Road
(Don’t Read in the Closet 2015)
MMRomanceGroup.com
General
‘Time to Go’ in Story Salon Big Book of Stories
Sci-fi/Fantasy Light
And The Walls Came Tumbling Down
No Dice
Double Six
Checking Him Out Series
Checking Him Out (Book One)
Checking Him Out For the Holidays (novella)
Hiding Out (novella)
Taking Him On (A Noah and Matty novel)
Checking In (Book Two)
Hiding Behind The Couch Series
The ongoing story of ‘The