We finished the dishes and decided to get into comfy clothes. Antonio took off his jeans and walked around in his underwear and T-shirt. I couldn’t take my eyes off his package, both the front and back. He caught me and gave me a wink.
“Later,” he said. “What do you want to watch?”
“I don’t know. A comedy?”
“Sounds good. I find something. Where are your DVDs?”
I pointed in the direction of them and went to change.
“Max? I don’t know if we can watch your collection.”
He had a big smile as I walked back into the room and he held up a DVD I had forgotten was even there, Scrum Orgy.
“You like rugby players?” He giggled as he read the back cover. “The lads aren’t doing well on or off the pitch, so the coach comes up with another way for them to bond.”
“Oh gosh, where did you find that?”
“It was on top. I want to know; do they learn how to play well together?”
“I really can’t remember, I guess so. There’s not much story to it.”
“You want to watch it?”
“No,” I shrieked. “Why would I need that when I have you here?”
“Yeah, you do.” He grinned and threw the DVD case down and kissed me.
It was deep and passionate, and his hardness poked at me from beneath his straining underwear. I stopped kissing him; as much as I enjoyed it, I didn’t want to rush it like we had that morning. We didn’t have to go anywhere, we weren’t going to be disturbed, and for the first time in forever I had a man in my home for more than a quickie. The moment needed to be savoured.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing. I want to take our time tonight. Be romantic, you know?” I looked away from him.
“I’ll light the candles, you pick a movie.”
My smile hit my ears and I gave him a quick peck on the cheek before I turned back to the DVDs, hiding Scrum Orgy so it could never be found again, and selected To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. As we’d met in a drag club and he’d commented on Danny as a performer, I guessed this was a safe bet. Antonio applauded my selection and we sat down on the sofa, I leant into him and loved the way his arm covered me.
We managed ten minutes into the movie before we kissed. It was soft and gentle as his lips met mine, and when our lips parted our tongues were familiar with each other. There was a knowing there, as though I could tell his kiss even if I couldn’t see him. My body reacted as it should have and soon there was too much clothing between us. I took my T-shirt off and tugged at his until he took it off. His body was warm and I only relaxed when our chests were skin-to-skin. It was safe, it was good, and it was scary. His hands raked up and down my back until he stopped kissing me so he could nuzzle at my neck. Jolts of electricity ran through my body until his lips brushed across my ear.
“I want you, Max. Inside me. Need you. Please.”
My cock swelled in reply, but I wanted to look into his eyes. They were wide and glorious to look at, and he told the truth. I kissed him one more time and then stood and held out my hand to take him to my bedroom.
We didn’t stop holding, touching, as we got inside, and it was only when I’d closed the door that we turned it up a notch and discarded each other’s underwear.
No words were spoken, but there didn’t need to be. We moved in unison, as though we knew what the other was thinking, He got the condoms out of my top drawer and used lube to get himself ready. I tapped his hand away; that was something I wanted to do.
“Go easy,” he said as he lay back down.
The conversation in Vegas ran through my mind. When we were in the shower, he told me that when someone played with his arse, it did nothing for him. However, I seemed to have changed his mind when I rimmed him. Now he was laid out in front of me, and I couldn’t wait to be inside him.
I stroked his shaft and elicited a moan from Antonio and a gasp as I took him in my mouth. Using the distraction, I circled his hole until he let me in. When Antonio’s body relaxed enough that I knew he could take me, I sheathed up and pressed the head of my cock to his hole, then pushed in. He resisted at first, but when our eyes met he gave me a nod and let me in.
It blew my mind to be inside him. He was tight, soft and it felt as though this was where I was meant to be. I took it slow with him, making sure he was okay as I rocked back and forth into him. Neither of us lasted long and soon he dragged my orgasm out of me. I landed on top of him and placed a gentle kiss on his mouth, which turned into a long, deep melding of our mouths.
“We’re gonna do that again,” he said as I broke away for air.
“Anytime you want,” I replied, then dragged myself off him so I could clean us up. When I got back to bed, he was already dozing. I laid my head on his shoulder, but he put his arm around me and kissed the top of my head.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“What time’s the meeting?” Antonio asked while we had breakfast.
He had wanted to have breakfast naked, but I’d advised against it as Gran or James could walk in at any time.
“One o’clock. I should leave at ten to make sure I make it down to Gatwick on time.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
Warmth spread through my body. The truth was I wanted him to come into the meeting with me, but it wasn’t going to be possible. I shook my head. “I don’t know how long it will take. It would be best if you stayed around here or went into London. I can meet you in town after. Either celebrate or commiserate.”
He chewed on his toast but didn’t look at me. “Okay. I’ll stay in London. But I’m not happy. I want to be there. With you.”
“It’s going to be boring. I’m only thinking of you.”
“No, you’re not. You’re pushing me out. But it’s okay, this time. Not anymore after this, okay?”
“What do you—” I didn’t get to finish my question as the front door opened. “Gran?”
“Yes, dear. Are you decent?”
“Of course,” Antonio answered with a smile. Grateful for the distraction I supposed.
“Good. Have you had breakfast? I know you’ve got your meeting today. Wanted to make sure you’re all set.”
“Having some now. Come sit down and I’ll make you a cuppa.”
“I won’t say no to that,” she said.
I got up from the table, gave her a kiss on the cheek and went into the kitchen. Gran waited until I was out of earshot before she started talking to Antonio. She tried to whisper but was still as loud.
“How’s he been?”
“Good. He’s hiding how scared he is. Won’t let me go with him.”
“He’s always like that, thinks he knows best. Leave him be this time. Next time you want to be there with him, you do it.”
Antonio chuckled and then they talked about the weather.
I reflected on what Gran had said, but more on what Antonio had said. We hadn’t spent much time together, but guessed it was enough to pick up on each other’s mannerisms, which soothed me more than I thought it would. But where was it going? He’d be in LA and I had no idea where I would be. Could I have any kind of relationship with him?
“Where you getting that tea from? India?” Gran called out.
“Yes. Just coming,” I said and returned with her tea in a china mug, the way she liked it.
“Gran, can you do me a favour and keep Antonio company while I go for this meeting?”
“I know I told him to leave you be, but you should let him go with you, love. He’ll be as worried here as he would be there. And you’ll see him as soon as you come out of there.”
Antonio sat back in his chair with smug written all over his face.
I stopped myself from rolling my eyes and looked between Gran and Antonio. I wasn’t sure I liked being ganged-up on.
“It’s going to be boring. I don’t know how long it’s going to take, and if the worse happens I’ll have to do a load of paperwork and ever
ything.”
Gran said something under her breath and Antonio looked like I’d staked him in the heart.
“Please don’t look like that. This time I need to do it on my own.”
“This time.” Antonio said the words with a determined look.
I nodded slowly, and then excused myself so I could change and get going. The bus from Heathrow to Gatwick for staff would be leaving on the hour, and I wanted to make sure I got a spot. When I walked back into the living room, Gran and Antonio stopped talking.
“All good?” Gran asked.
“Yeah. What were you two talking about?”
“Nothing.”
“The weather.”
“No planning anything,” I said to them both.
“Of course not, love. Get going, you don’t want to miss the bus,” Gran said.
I put my coat on and walked to the door. Gran came up and gave me a kiss on the cheek and then went back to the sofa and turned the television on.
“I wish you’d let me come with you,” Antonio said.
“I know, but I need to do this. Please, and thank you for letting me do this. I’ll get the train back from Gatwick, and we can meet in Victoria.”
“Okay. Call me as soon as you finish.”
“I will.”
His eyes shone with my promise, and he tilted his head and kissed me. His hand snaked into my hair and I melted into him. In that moment I knew I had to go out fighting in this meeting, because I had to have him in my life. Somehow.
We both adjusted ourselves as we broke away and giggled. I was sure Gran could hear us, but she didn’t show it.
As soon as I closed the door, my phone beeped with a message from Antonio.
Thinking of you.
I replied with a smiley face emoticon and walked quickly out of the building and towards the bus stop.
Jane was already outside the meeting room when I got there, and I was surprised when she got up to hug me. We’d never done that before.
“How are you feeling?”
“Okay. I think. Just need to get this over with.”
“You’ll be fine. I’m sure.”
“I hope so.”
The door opened, and Lesley stepped outside. “I thought I heard voices.” Her smile was warm. “We’re all here, so we might as well get started.”
We followed Lesley into the office and took the seats assigned to us. Graham sat to the left side of Lesley, while another lady sat on the other side with a clipboard.
“This is Kathleen. She’ll be the note-taker for today. The meeting is to discuss the performance of Max on the recent flight to Las Vegas. Okay with everyone?”
We all nodded.
Lesley went through the initial incident on board with the ovens. I told them what had happened from my side: the temperature on the oven was higher than when I’d left it, and that Amanda confirmed the same. Graham scoffed at the comment, but it was Jane who spoke up.
“The ovens are all pre-set at the same temperature. We don’t change them throughout the flight because all food requires the same setting. The only way they could have been changed from the default would have been by a crew member. No passenger could have changed it.”
“What are you saying Jane?” Lesley asked.
“Someone must have changed it on purpose while Max was serving drinks. The machines can’t change themselves.”
“Agreed,” Lesley said. “Graham, any thoughts?”
“I don’t believe someone would go out of their way to change the settings on the oven. Max must have set it wrong.”
“But I didn’t.”
“There’s no other explanation but negligence to perform his duty, which puts passengers’ lives in danger.”
“With burnt food?” Jane scoffed. “No, this was a deliberate change. I’ve seen Max in Premium. He checks the galley before he leaves for the drinks service.”
“Okay. Noted,” Lesley said. “Now, the second incident. Graham you’ve reported Max being drunk and disorderly in Las Vegas and threatening.”
“Bullshit,” I cried out. Jane tapped my hand. “Sorry, but that’s not the case.” I explained my side of the story again, that I was out with Antonio and missed my step and bumped into Graham. “I wasn’t drunk, but tired. I even have a photo of me with the rest of the crew to show I wasn’t drunk. Antonio and I were going back to the hotel room, but I wanted to see the fountain show when I bumped into Graham.”
“Hadn’t you seen it before? You’ve been to Vegas, surely?” Lesley asked.
“Yes, but this time was different. I was with someone.” My cheeks flushed with warmth.
“I see,” Lesley’s voice raised a notch. “There isn’t a record of you taking a guest on the flight.”
“No, I met Antonio in LA. He flew up to Vegas to meet me.”
“Oh, he’s keen then.” Lesley shuffled in her seat with a smile.
“He’s also here in London, I met him last night,” Jane added with a smile of her own.
“He must pay well,” Graham said.
I wasn’t sure if he meant for us to hear him or not, but four pairs of eyes shot daggers at him.
“That was uncalled for, Graham. I’d like you to apologise now.”
Graham stuttered before he mumbled an apology.
“Louder, please.” Lesley had lost her smile now.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”
“Clearly. Right, we won’t be taking the incident in Las Vegas into consideration. Max wasn’t in uniform and therefore merely a tourist and if it was that serious Graham can file a police report in Las Vegas. Which I don’t think would be necessary based on that last comment.”
I wanted to snigger, but it didn’t seem to be the right time. I’d celebrate the small victory later.
“Last point, the missing of a briefing. Max, would you give us your account?”
I told Lesley what had happened. How James had called me to say there was an earlier briefing than originally scheduled, and when I did turn up I was refused entry.
Lesley’s lips pursed. “What were your reasons for refusing entry, Graham?”
“He was late. Everyone else was there on time. We took the bus from the hotel at the arranged time.”
“How did the rest of the crew know to meet at the new time?” Jane asked.
“I called them.”
“Did you call Max?”
Graham shifted in his seat. “I tried.”
“But Max has no missed call from you. Just from James,” Jane said.
“His phone couldn’t have been on.”
“Yes, it was, or he wouldn’t have had missed calls from James.”
“What’s your point?” Graham snapped.
“Can I see your phone, Graham?” Lesley asked.
Graham protested but Lesley didn’t say anything until he passed it over. She had to request him to unlock it before she could go through the phone logs. She checked something against the paperwork on her desk, and then looked back at the phone.
“Graham, you have Max’s number in your phone, but no record of calling him. I can see you called every other crew member in here, but not Max. Why is that?”
“Silly phone, mustn’t have worked properly.”
Lesley handed the phone back to Graham and then wrote a couple of things down on her pad of paper and then turned her attention back to me.
“I think I have all the information I need for the moment. Please step out of the room for a few minutes while I make my decision.”
Jane and I got up to go, but Graham stayed in his spot.
“That means you too, Graham.”
I could have laughed but didn’t think it would have helped my case. Instead I held the door open for him. Jane and I walked in the opposite direction to him and she whispered to me, “That went well. He doesn’t come off good in this, which is what we could have hoped for.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Kathleen popped her head out of the door a
couple of minutes later and called us back into the room.
“Max, your record isn’t great with the flight swapping and occasions of turning up hungover. Had this all gone the wrong way I would have had to have fired you. However, I don’t think you were at fault on the flight to Vegas or for missing the briefing, so I’m not going to hold this on your record.”
“That’s preposterous,” Graham spat.
“I will note that Graham, but you don’t look good. You held back an employee from a briefing and didn’t give proper notice. We will discuss that later.” She turned back to me. “Max, your record of swapping flights and turning up hungover can’t go unnoticed though. I know you want to go up to First as well, so I’m going to put you under supervision for the next three months, with a review after those three months are up. Is that okay?”
I nodded, but my heart sank, even though it was a better outcome than being fired.
“I’d like to offer my services as supervisor, Lesley,” Graham said.
“Noted, but not necessary. Jane will be supervising Max for the next three months as she is also on the upgrade board for First. It will mean you will be on the same roster until the supervision period is over. Any questions?”
“That’s hardly punishment to fit the crime,” Graham cried.
“Don’t push me, Graham. Your actions on the return flight from Vegas put passengers’ lives in danger.”
He made to say something until Lesley shook her head.
“If that’s all, then I’ll let you all go.”
“Thanks, Lesley,” Jane said.
I added my thanks as well and we left the office.
Graham stayed behind, and I could hear him start a tirade at Lesley, but he left the office a few seconds later and stormed past Jane and me.
“Thank you for what you did in there,” I said. “I would’ve been sacked if it weren’t for you.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve wanted to have a go at Graham for some time now.” She had a look of pure satisfaction on her face. “Let’s sort out the roster while we are here, and you can get the details on where we’re going. Just promise me you won’t give me any reason to report you.”
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