“I like her more and more.”
“You’ll meet her one day if you keep that bracelet on. How long are you going to be in Russia?”
“Until tomorrow,” Sacha said. “Then I need to come back for work. There is a small problem with the app interface that only I can fix, and I did not bring my laptop with me. It is still at the office.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Yes, Jonah Gray, but you are doing it already.”
Sacha hated airports. Sometimes it seemed every flight he ever took was delayed, and his lunchtime flight from Moscow to London was no exception. It was late by the time he pushed his way out of Heathrow, and fell into a cab. Too late to visit the office, even for him.
Sacha: I am home. Sleep. See you tomorrow?
Jonah Gray: I’ll find you x
Sacha pondered what that meant, and accepted the flutter in his chest. After long days spent with his step-siblings and Russian lawyers, he appreciated the warmth more than he ever had. Clung to it. Embraced it as he crawled into his bed and shut his eyes on a thundering headache.
Tired, but wired, it took a while for sleep to come. Jonah’s voice kept him company. Last night, they’d talked until sunrise about everything and nothing, and standing on the balcony of his father’s cold, empty home, Sacha had felt a true yearning to be somewhere else. Not anywhere else, but with Jonah.
So what? You are his friend, he is yours, and you still want to fuck him?
No. It was more than that now. Sacha wanted to wake up with him too. Eat with him. Decorate a yolka with him after a morning spent wandering the markets together. It scared him, but he liked the feeling. To be afraid of it was a thrill, and he didn’t stop to wonder what had changed. It didn’t matter. Sometimes the heart wasn’t as complicated as people wanted it to be. Sacha wanted Jonah, and Jonah wanted him. It was enough, at least until Sacha fell asleep.
The next morning, he rose before dawn and took a car into the office. He didn’t stop for breakfast, with the app launch looming, there was no time. Loaded with coffee, he hunkered down in the alcove and set to work fixing the teething problems the interface had thrown up in his absence. Time became the tap of his keyboard and the blue light of his computer screen.
“You’ll go blind if you squint like that.”
Despite the feminine voice, Sacha still glanced up looking for Jonah. Helga met his frown with a wry smile. “Nice to see you too. When did you last shave?”
Sacha’s scowl deepened. “Why does that concern you?”
“It doesn’t. I like the bearded look. I’m just wondering if you’re okay. You didn’t say much in your emails.”
“You did not ask if I was okay. Why would I answer a question that wasn’t there?”
“You couldn’t read between the lines?”
Sacha shook his head. “I do not know what you want from me.”
Helga sighed and produced a paper coffee cup from behind her back—the good stuff that bore no resemblance to the crap in the break room. “Never mind. How was Russia? Do you have to go back for your dad’s funeral?”
“No. It is today.”
“Today? Then why are you here?”
“Because I did not want to go. My father was a drunk asshole. I only go to give away all his money.”
Helga blinked, caught off guard by Sacha’s rare candour, and Sacha felt bad about that. He liked Helga. Her dry humour suited his own.
“I’m sorry,” Sacha said. “It has been a long week, no? But do not worry about my father. It wasn’t as important to me as it would be for someone else.”
“Is that your way of telling me to mind my own business?”
“No. It is the truth.”
Helga nodded. “Okay. Drink your coffee then. Do you want me to grab you some breakfast?”
“No.”
“Sure? You get angry when you’re hungry and we have a hell of a day ahead of us.”
She wasn’t wrong, but Sacha’s head was still killing him, and nausea had started to roil in his belly. “Thanks, but I’m not hungry. Could you do something for me, though?”
“Of course.”
“There’s some medication in the desk by your computer. It’s mine. Could you bring it to me?”
Helga frowned. “Do you mean the prescription bottle? If so, I threw it away yesterday. It was empty.”
“Was it? Damn.” Sacha sighed. “Never mind.”
“Are you sure? I can send someone out to the pharmacy if you have your prescription?”
“No, no. It’s okay. I will go at lunchtime.”
“We have a meeting at midday, and another at two. You might not have time.”
“Then I will be fine,” Sacha said. “Do not worry. You said it yourself, we have a big day, yes? No time for headache. I will probably forget about it.”
Helga seemed unconvinced, matching how Sacha felt, but he was right about one thing: there was no time.
She left him alone to get on with her own mammoth to-do list. Sacha soldiered on, putting out fires until the first of a dozen meetings came around.
It was the first time he’d left the alcove since he’d arrived. The Blutecc office was a frantic hive of activity, and the frenetic energy made Sacha’s brain buzz. He winced and automatically looked for Jonah, but the FG side of the office was deserted.
“Christmas party,” Helga supplied. “Their boss took them out for lunch. I don’t think they’re coming back.”
“What? At all?”
“Not today. Are you ready?”
“For what?”
Helga nudged him. “For the meeting, Sacha. Jesus, you’re on another planet today.”
Sacha glared. “I am not that lucky.”
“Whatever. Come on, we need you.”
“That is sweet, but not true. You do not need me in this meeting.”
“Then don’t come. Go back and finish whatever you’re doing. Regardless, stop blocking the door.”
Dazed, Sacha stepped aside and let Helga pass. Then, unable to face his computer screen again just yet, he followed her into the meeting and took a seat at the end of the table.
He fished his phone from his pocket and typed out a message.
Sacha: You are not here. Perhaps it is me who must find you?
Jonah Gray: You won’t have to look far. I’ll be bankrupting myself across the road for the rest of the day.
Sacha: Never ending lunch?
Jonah Gray: And then some. When will you be done?
Sacha: The app goes live at 5pm. I will watch and wait for a little while. Then I am finished until the new year and…I will find you.
Jonah Gray: Counting on it, Ivanov.
So was Sacha. Hour by hour, minute by minute. His team was counting down for the launch, but Sacha had already checked out. The app was finished and it worked. He’d delivered, and now he was free, of more than just the bad days and late nights of a shoddy fitness app.
With his father gone, and Christmas looming, there was nothing in Sacha’s heart but yolkas and Jonah Gray.
18
It was gone seven by the time the first Blutecc employees began to filter into the pub. Jonah watched, trying not to track them, and whip his head around every time the door opened.