Collahan stared at the downturned corners of Brandon's lips as he sat across the table, listening haughtily to one of the partners' dull speeches, and couldn't shake the image that had been haunting him since the previous evening. His lord, caught on his way from the bathroom to his bedroom, a long towel wrapped around his hips, covered in water droplets like glitter. His wet hair was longer and streamed down his shoulders like molten tin. Gregory's jaw had dropped, and he had rushed to say something. Realizing that no words would come out of that open mouth, Lord McKinley noted with distracted dissatisfaction that there was no hot water, then calmly resumed his journey.
His mouth was dry again, and Collahan took a swig from the bottle. Judging by the tone, the speaker was finishing his tedious recitation.
"Thank you, Mr. Quinn," Lord McKinley began with the usual courtesies. "Your suggestion has undoubtedly been of invaluable service to us."
"It was my pleasure, gentlemen. See you next month," the old man sang sentimentally.
Gregory rose to shake his hand.
"And now that we've established such a good relationship," he concluded with a smile, "perhaps your partners in the holding company would also be interested in our services. Naturally, we'd reward you generously for each client you bring us, say, fifteen percent of the profits."
Mr. Quinn widened his mouth, feverishly calculating the potential gains, then shook Collahan's hand with even greater enthusiasm.
"Excellent, just excellent! We'll keep that in mind. All the best, gentlemen!"
In the elevator Gregory pressed the button for the ground floor, turned around and was surprised to find the lord staring at him eagerly. This was the first time he had ever seen that kind of expression on his face, and Collahan could do nothing but raise his eyebrows in surprise.
"That's good," Brandon commented hastily. "That's good!"
Gregory slowly lowered his gaze to the lord's impeccably tied tie and bowed slightly. He understood that such a cunning move could easily increase the firm's profits by a quarter or even a third, but refrained from showing any emotion. How his eyes sparkled with delight! Oh, that's worth a thousand compliments!
A couple of floors later, McKinley suggested,
"We have to celebrate this! How about a nice dinner? And then we can do the same at the office."
Collahan thought for a moment, then cautiously remarked, looking at the elevator doors,
"I'm afraid your subordinates won't feel entirely at ease sitting at the same table with you, and the dinner risks being less brilliant. In such cases, I'd recommend bowling, or, given your status and position, billiards. Team games bring people together."
The lord nodded, slipped his hands into his pockets, and began to study the floor with a businesslike air.
The table at the restaurant was not bad, especially for such a modest hotel. After going up to his room to freshen up, Brandon agreed to join Gregory in the living room for a smoke. Taking advantage of McKinley's absence, Gregory took four bottles of mineral water from the minibar and hid them in his room. Then he placed two tall glasses, orange juice, soda, an ice bucket, and a bottle of vodka on a tray.
They sat down silently on either side of the coffee table, lit up, and exchanged a few words. By the middle of their cigars, the thirst from the heavy dinner was making itself felt. Gregory made cocktails, and his thoughtful care, combined with the lack of any other water source, began to work its insidious effect.
"He's got a whole business," McKinley mused slowly. "But they had some kind of legal protection from another source before we showed up, didn't they?"
"Most likely. However, you saw Quinn, my lord. We couldn't find a better salesman and advertiser, and now he has a good incentive."
Gregory decided that he had the right to call Brandon his lord in private.
"Let's hope so. Let's hope, but let's not count on it," Brandon said emphatically and with some excessive zeal, turning his head, then suddenly froze, sitting motionless for a moment, staring ahead. "Damn, I'm drunk as a skunk. Everything's blurry... This is the first time I've ever let myself get this far..."
Gregory looked closely into his lord's misty eyes, stood up and approached the bar.
"I'll make some coffee."
"You're so serious and stern, Greg!" McKinley exclaimed with feigned admiration. "And, by the way... not drunk at all," he lowered his face and stared intently at Collahan from beneath his eyebrows, as if he had read him completely in an instant.
"Thank you, my lord. Years of training," Gregory avoided looking at Brandon and was glad to be busy with the coffee filter and numerous buttons.
McKinley narrowed his eyes, took a couple of deep, concentrated breaths, and threw his head back.
"You can step out of your role as a dutiful and courteous servant, Gregory. It's almost frightening how you anticipate my every wish and are always there when I need you!"
"I'm sure you'll be thorough enough to add that to the list of my shortcomings in a reference letter when the time comes," Collahan replied calmly, carefully placing the cup on the saucer, although what he wanted most in the world right now was to throw the dishes to the floor, straddle the chair along with the lord resting in it, and shut the stream of venomous bile with his own mouth.
"You always take such good care of me... always close by," McKinley's voice now carried a hysterical edge, as if he was trying to put some other meaning into his words but couldn't quite bring himself to do so and chose sarcasm as the path of least resistance. "Who knows what would became of me without you!"
Brandon jumped up from his chair, nearly bumping his forehead into Collahan, who was holding the cup out to him.
"How would I ever live without you!" the young lord finished heatedly, his sparkling eyes fixed on Gregory, who, succumbing to the spell for a second, dropped his gaze to the moist, parted lips and exhaled involuntarily.
Brandon took the cup and slowly sat down.
"Careful, Gregory, don't relax. I may be drunk, but I'm observant."
Collahan's lungs felt empty. He tried not to think about how pale he must have looked just now, glanced at the coffee table, stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray, looked at the lord, and tried to speak impassively:
"You'll feel better after your coffee. If you need anything, let me know." He paused briefly, desperately hoping that Lord McKinley wouldn't take advantage of the pause. "Good night."
He headed toward the entrance to his bedroom under the watchful, narrowed gaze of his companion, went to the bed, and pulled the belt out of the loops with such force that it whistled through the air.
Gregory did not fall asleep, even though Brandon had been snoring sweetly in his bedroom for a good hour and a half. Had he deliberately feigned drunk confusion? Lord McKinley could have done it masterfully... If he seemed sharp and smug tomorrow, then Collahan was caught. If he felt awkward, then the bartender was right... So what do we have in the end? Brandon knows. And he allows it anyway. And he's a little nervous. It could mean anything...
He's so evil! A damn, homegrown, sly aristocratic psychologist! Arrogant ass! Oh, Gregory would grab his hair and fuck him in the mouth with his tongue, just like the lord did yesterday in the bar, only for real! Usually, such reserved and cold boys wake up with inhuman passion when it comes to... Gregory, you're either drunk, overheated, or completely insane... You need to sleep before dawn, you still have to get home tomorrow...
When they met in the living room, Collahan — in trousers, a shirt, and a blue tie slung around his neck, and McKinley — in a heavy terrycloth robe, having just woken up and come out of the bathroom, the lord greeted him indistinctly, then stopped, watching Gregory meticulously tying his knot in front of the mirror, and asked:
"I didn't offend you, did I, Gregor? I don't remember much about yesterday, I think I had a bit too much, and I'm usually even more unbearable when I'm drunk than when I'm sober."
Collahan raised his eyebrows haughtily and found the lord's hesitant eyes in the mirror.
"I think I would have known if something like that had happened, sir. You have nothing to worry about."