A Fluffy Tale 2: Warm & Fuzzy (9 page)

“Good special effects,” Daniel said
politely.

“Yeah, but crap acting and toilet paper
plot. It’s okay. The second one is awesome. You just need to see the first one
for set up.” Spen cracked his spine. The position was more awkward for him
because of his greater height, forcing him to hunch over the computer. “You
comfortable there? You can lie down. There’s room for two. I’ll keep my hands
to myself, I swear.”

Daniel saw his face slowly turn scarlet in
the mirror on the wall opposite him. “Um...okay. Just let me...wash my face.”

He splashed cold water on his burning skin
until the colour turned back to its usual paleness. Spen had an advantage in
that way—even if he was prone to blushing, which he probably wasn’t,
every passing mood or embarrassment didn’t show itself on his dark face the way
it did on Daniel’s.

Oh God. There was no way to refuse Spen’s
innocent invitation without looking as if Daniel was reading much more into it
than there was, but was his self-control up to it? Would Spen even care if it wasn’t?

Fortunately Kani came to his rescue. The
little nuisance, after behaving like a terror during the first movie, lay
demurely on Daniel’s lap all through the second one, and didn’t move even when
Myko joined him from time to time. Daniel gave him
lots
of petting and scritches in gratitude, and was able to
concentrate on the film—which was, as promised, much better than the
first—rather than on Spen. He could even feel comfortable stretched out
next to Spen like this, almost like he would if he was watching a movie with
Alex.

Almost
. Spen’s long legs and endearingly enormous feet distracted Daniel
more than they should have. But he didn’t disgrace or embarrass himself, and
managed to enjoy the movie in all its mindless theatrics. The plot was beyond
absurd, but the pace was fast enough that it hardly mattered.

“High concept to the max,” Spen rightly
summarised. “Good fun though. Another?”

Daniel took the chance to gracefully escape
from the heavenly torment of Spen’s bed. “I’d love to, but Tony’s going to be
at me first thing again.”

“Tell him to fuck off. You don’t start at
eight in the office.”

“Right, and after that I won’t have to
worry about starting at all. You’d love it if Luke or Jyoti told you to screw
off.”

Spen grinned. “They do it half a dozen
times a day. But then I have a sense of humour and Noball doesn’t.”

“Oh thanks. Now I have to look at him with
a straight face and remember you calling him that.”

Spen made a little bow. “You’re welcome.
You should lighten up, Danny.”

Daniel growled. “I’ll lighten up when the
world stops sucking.”

Spen sat up, and his expression turned
suddenly serious. “Did it suck tonight?”

“No. No, it didn’t. Thank you. You know
what I mean, though.”

“Yes, I do. I can’t fix the rest of it, but
if I can give you a little break from the misery sometimes....”

Daniel turned away a little to hide the
effect Spen’s kind words—the warmth in his eyes—had on him. He did
not
want to cry in front of him again.
“Thanks. I’ll use the bathroom, if you want to fill out the breakfast card,
okay?” He hurried off before his voice betrayed him. Damn it, Spen was so bad
for his control in so many ways. But without Spen, Daniel didn’t know that he
would cope at all right now.

When Daniel’s mobile went off again as they
were eating breakfast, Spen cursed Tony Noble in his mind a lot more fluently
than he dared let fly in front of Daniel. Not that his feelings were a secret,
but it made Daniel’s job more difficult, and wasn’t very professional either.
He considered Noble to be abusing the privilege of having his PA at the
conference, and treating Daniel disrespectfully. Ironically, Spen’s regard for
Daniel stopped him complaining to Noble directly, even though, since they were
both the same managerial grade, he was perfectly entitled to do so. However,
complaining was all he could do, and Noble would only take it out on Daniel.
Spen was waiting for Noble to unequivocally cross the line in a way that didn’t
compromise Daniel, and then he planned to raise holy hell. It wasn’t right that
a manager in a company working with vulnerable people should treat a vulnerable
employee like shit, especially if he’d done it before.

But Spen had to be discreet, so for now he
did what he could to protect Daniel and bolster his confidence. The kid had
positively bloomed away from the pressures of the office and looking after his
brother and sister, even with his boss being a prick. If he took even a little
bit of that self-assurance and happiness back home, Spen would consider his
efforts a success, and a pleasure. He liked Daniel’s smile and his company.
He’d enjoy those as long as he could, without a twinge of conscience.

He saw little of Daniel during the day, and
when he did, it was usually as Daniel was rushing out of the hotel or into the
lift, carrying bundles of papers, or talking on his phone. Noble was the only
manager at his level to have his PA with him, a concession because of the
importance of the Cross-Channel project. Spen’s regional colleagues had commented
unflatteringly on that fact during their informal meetings. Spen didn’t know a
single person who held Noball in high regard and yet he was senior management’s
fair-haired boy. Spen could easily run the IT department for a company a
hundred times the size of the one in which he worked, but he would never
understand that kind of business politics.

Finally Wednesday afternoon arrived, and
the presentation to all the regional managers and the national office was held.
Daniel and Spen sat at the back, managing the audiovisual. Noble spoke
apparently extempore, though Spen knew from Daniel how carefully rehearsed the
speech was. The act worked, and Spen had to grant the man a grudging admiration
for talking with apparent fluency about a topic on which he was hardly an
expert, making it sound like he had skilfully initiated and guided the project,
when all he’d really done was throw the right people at it. Which, of course,
required a talent too, though it wasn’t the one Noble wanted to display.

Spen handled the more technical questions
during the Q&A, but Noble coped with the rest pretty well, Daniel having
moved to his side to hand up this or that sheet of facts and figures. They
appeared like a well-oiled machine, even if in reality Noble was the squeaky
wheel and the lubricant was more like Daniel’s blood, sweat...and tears.

At the end Noble sat down, flushed with
pleasure at the applause. Daniel smiled, more relieved than delighted. Spen
understood why—the pressure was off for a little while, and Noble’s good
mood could only be a bonus.

As the room cleared, Noble clapped his hand
on Spen’s arm. “Come for a drink. That went very well.”

“Thanks, but I’m meeting Eastern for drinks
and then dinner. Sorry.”

“Ah, never mind. Daniel? I owe you a glass
of something expensive, I think.”

“Oh, it’s okay—”

“Now, Daniel. You have to let me crow a
little. Perks of the position. I insist.”

Spen wanted to kick the bastard in the
knee, but Daniel gave Noble a sickly smile. “Sure, why not. I’ll see you later,
Spen?”

“I won’t be late. No way can I keep up with
Eastern. Take it easy, Daniel.”

Daniel waved him off, before Noble firmly
steered him in the direction of the hotel bar. At least two other managers
caught up with them, which eased the sudden worry Spen felt. Noble wouldn’t try
anything in front of his colleagues, and the worst Daniel would suffer would be
terminal boredom.
Sorry, kid
.
Can’t rescue you tonight.

~~~~~~~~

The trick with dealing with
Eastern—and Northern, and Southern and Isles—was not to get into
buying rounds, which was harder than it sounded. The idea of someone quietly
nursing a pint of bitter while the rest were downing tequila shots and vodka
mixes was anathema to twenty excitable, loud and slightly drunk nerds who could
make a lot of noise when they wanted something. Spen bought a round early, held
up his nearly full glass as an answer to “Do you want another?” for as long as
he could, and ignored extra pints arriving unwanted by his elbow. He wasn’t the
only one taking it easy—the older veterans of the national conference had
learned their lesson years ago as he had, and since they were the ones he most
wanted to talk to, it was natural enough to move away from the louder, larger
group to chat.

Spen was deep in a raging debate about the
merits of server architecture when he felt his phone vibrate. “Sorry, I should
get this,” he said to his companions. The call was from his mother. “Hi, Mum.
Hang on, I can’t hear you.” He moved outside and closed the glass door behind.
The damp weather meant he was alone out on the deck. “What’s up?”

“Spencer, Dee’s been trying to call Daniel
for half an hour or more. His phone keeps going to voice mail. Is he there with
you?”

“No, he was having a drink with his boss
and some other people. Supper too, I guess,” he added, looking at the time.
“Let me see if I can track him down and get him to call. He probably just
forgot how late it was.”

“Yes, I’m sure that’s what it was. But the
child is worried and I thought I’d see if I could help.”

“No problems, Mum. I’ll call you back as
soon as I find him.”

The presentation had been over for nearly
two hours. Daniel was either having dinner with Noble or up in their room. Spen
called his mobile, but immediately went through to voice mail. Daniel never
turned off his phone, he said. Dee or Alex might need him. Was he talking to
someone? For half an hour? Unlikely,
but not impossible.

He went back inside the bar and found his
friends. “Sorry, guys. I just need to duck out for a bit. I’ll find you at the
restaurant if you’ve gone by the time I get back, okay?”

He headed back to the hotel. The hotel bar
was largely empty—certainly no Noble or Daniel. The restaurant was also
quiet, and the bistro was closed.

He returned to the bar, and caught the
attention of the bar attendant. “Hi. I’m looking for a friend of
mine—young man, red hair. Would have been with an older man, maybe a few
of them, an hour or so. All guests of the hotel.”

“About twenty, wearing a suit and tie? They
all left an hour ago.”

“Did you notice if they went out or upstairs?”

Her forehead wrinkled in concentration.
“Uh, three of the older men went out the front. The young guy and another older
guy went towards the lifts. I can’t be sure they didn’t follow the others out
though. The toilets are that way too.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Did you want a drink?”

“No, I’m fine.”

She nodded and went down the other end of
the bar to empty the glass washer.

Spen bit his lip, thinking. Myko jumped
onto the bar and meeped in distress. Spen patted him. “Where’s Kani, squirt? Do
you know?”

Myko squeaked, jumped down, and ran to the
lifts. Did that mean he thought Kani—and Daniel—were in the hotel?
Spen had nothing else to go on, so he followed his kem and took the elevator to
their floor. He tried their room—empty. He tried Noble’s mobile—no
answer.

Okay,
now
he was worried.

Myko climbed up onto his shoulder and bit
his ear. “Ow! What did you do that for, you menace?” Myko jumped to the floor
and stamped his foot. “All right, I’m listening. Where?”

Myko ran back to the elevators. Spen followed,
confused as to what his kem wanted. In the elevator car, he picked Myko up.
“Okay, where?” Myko went to bite his finger in frustration, but Spen yanked it
out of the way. “No, you don’t. Wait.” He held his kem near the buttons for the
floors. “Which one?” Myko nudged the one for the floor above with his nose.
“Noble’s room?” Myko squeaked. “Shit.”

He pressed the button and as soon as the
car arrived, bolted out and down the corridor. Myko ran ahead of him, squeaking
in distress, and at Noble’s door, actually disappeared through it. Spen banged
on the door—no answer. “Tony? Are you in there?” Still
no answer.

Myko reappeared through the door. “He’s not
there—” Spen started to say, but stopped. Behind Myko, a small grey form
appeared. “Kani?”

The little kem squeaked faintly and fell
over. Myko meeped in distress, licking Kani’s face and
nudging him. Spen picked them both up. Kani was conscious, but severely
disoriented.

The only way to do anything to a kem was to
hurt its human. Which meant....

He cuddled the kems with one arm, and used
his free hand to bang on Noble’s door again. “Daniel! Tony! Open this door!”

No response, even though he kept it up for
over a minute. He turned, intending to look for a manager, only to discover a
manager—and a burly porter—had found him first.

“Sir, you’re disturbing our guests,” the
manager said. Behind her, the big porter flexed his impressive biceps.

“Yeah, too bad. My friend’s in there, and
he’s sick. Look at his kem.” He held Kani out. The lolling head and panting told
the story better than he could. “I know he’s in there, but I can’t get anyone
to open the door. Please—he’s probably unconscious.”

The manager’s expression changed from
annoyance to concern. “I have a master key. Let me.” She knocked once on the
door. “Sir? If you’re in there....”

The door opened before she had a chance to
pull her keycard out of her pocket. Noble stood there, somewhat untidily
dressed. “Spencer? I was just about to call someone.”

Spen pushed past him. “Where’s
Daniel...shit.” He ran over to the bed where Daniel lay face down. “Daniel?
Wake up, kid. What the fuck did you do to him, Noble?”

“Nothing—don’t be ridiculous. I was
just about to call an ambulance. He turned up ten minutes ago in a confused
state, said he felt unwell, so I let him lie down since he wasn’t in a fit
state to return to his room. I only realised he wasn’t simply asleep a minute
or so ago when you knocked.”