"Long distance," she reminded him. "And I know you've been working hard, but I need you back in the office, Luc. There's things you can't do from half way across the country."
Like accompanying her to the radio and local TV interviews that he'd set up, or personally overseeing the charity gala that she had decided he needed to arrange. But Luc wasn't ready to go home, or even back to work. It struck him as ironic because, a few weeks earlier, he'd been a strict workaholic. Now... now he wanted to spend as much time as possible with Adam, even though it was killing him that they hadn't had more than snatched moments together in a week. All they'd managed to do was sneak in a kiss and a quick grope here and there. His body ached for more and he really wanted to fulfil his promise of fucking Adam as soon as possible.
"I'll be back into the office on Monday," he said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.
He couldn't see any way of getting time alone with Adam before he'd have to catch a train home on Sunday, at least not in a place that was appropriate for that level of intimacy.
"Great," Adrianna replied, smiling broadly at him. "It'll be good to have you back." Her smile faded a little. "I hope you've been able to help your parents out with their business."
"I think we're getting there," he said. "There's still plenty of work to be done and word of mouth takes time. But I think they'll be able to turn it around and make it successful again."
At least, he hoped so. It really was too early to tell. But he had spent all week speaking with local nurseries and had lined up workshops at different nurseries each afternoon during the coming week. He and Adam had visited each nursery, partly to show them Adam's Disclosure and Barring Service certificate, but also to introduce themselves and check out the spaces Adam would be using. Except now Luc wouldn't be able to go with him and see his stepbrother in action. He did have everything ready, though. Flyers, with all their social media information on them, and free lesson vouchers, valid for the following Saturday. If they didn't get at least a class with eight pupils out of it, he'd be pissed off.
There was only one thing left for him to do. Now that the nursery workshops were all set up, he was determined to get Adam at the dance studio, alone. Maybe they could be together there. They'd be taking the photos out of hours. There would be no one there but them. The idea gave him delightful shivers.
"I'm glad things are going well," Adrianna said, breaking into his thoughts. "I'll see you on Monday, okay?"
"Bright and early," Luc assured her, before hanging up the call.
Luc stayed where he was, staring at his laptop screen. He had work to do for Adrianna, but he suddenly begrudged doing it. Not that he could blame her for wanting him back in the office. She paid him more than the going rate for what he did, and she had been really good about letting him take time off without any notice. He couldn't abuse her generosity by delaying any longer. It just seemed so unfair that, after years of desiring Adam, he'd finally managed to get his hands on him—and his mouth—and now he had to leave again.
He forced himself to work, allowing the tasks he needed to complete for Adrianna to consume his thoughts as much as possible, in an attempt to ease the ache that was starting to form in his chest.
He emerged from his room around the time he knew Adam and their parents would be heading off to the dance school for the evening's lessons. Sure enough, he found them all in the kitchen, preparing the lunches and drinks that would see them through five hours of teaching.
"Hi, Luc," his mum said when she noticed him leaning against the doorframe. "You look thoughtful."
Adam swung round, a smile on his face at first, but it quickly faded.
"Adrianna needs me back in the office on Monday," he told them. "So, I'll have to get a train home on Sunday." He tried not to look at Adam as he spoke, but he couldn't resist the smallest glance at his stepbrother.
Adam's lips had parted and tension had flooded his body. He turned away, roughly buttering bread as though he was determined to kill it with the dull knife he was using.
"I'll keep helping out, though," he assured his parents. "I can chat with you in the evenings about how things are going and I'll keep coming up with promotion ideas." He took a breath, before hurrying on, needing to speak so he didn't concentrate too hard on Adam's angry motions. "I was thinking you could do some free performances in shopping centres and arcades. Only two or three routines, but maybe repeated every couple of hours throughout the day. Hand out flyers whilst your students are dancing—"
"With free lesson coupons?" Ken asked.
Luc replied with a dry laugh. "Yes," he agreed. "With a free lesson coupon. Everyone wants something for free, Dad. It's one of the best ways to hook people. Just make sure you don't set your expectations too high. You won't manage to hold onto every potential student."
"We know," his mum assured him. "Thank you for everything you've done."
"It'll take time to build momentum," he said. "The nursery workshops are your best chance for an immediate boost of students." He paused and picked at some flaking paint on the doorframe, watching the speckles fall through the air. He wished he could give them definite assurances that everything would be okay, but the truth was marketing involved a lot of throwing darts into the dark, whilst hoping several hit the bullseye. "If you let me know how long it would take you to come up with some routines, I'll organise the shopping centre thing for you."
"I'm not sure about putting our students on display like that," Ken muttered.
"We might have to," Luc's mum said, sidling up to Ken so she could wrap her arms around him. "Besides, I think they'd enjoy the chance to show off. And as long as we have permission from their parents, where's the harm?"
Luc was glad his mum was taking his side. They needed to try out his ideas to see if they could turn things around, something he knew they needed to do as fast as possible.
"I thought Adam and I could go to the studio tomorrow morning, so I can take those photos of him dancing," he went on, realising he was talking too fast only after the sentence had rushed out of him.
"Great idea," Ken said, in a more positive tone. "Should I come with you to help?"
"I think we can handle it, Dad," Adam said, speaking for the first time. Not that he turned around to look at any of them, as he slapped sheets of ham, cheese and lettuce leaves onto the bread he'd buttered.
"I'll just keep snapping photos," Luc said in the brightest tone he could muster. "One or two are bound to come out fantastically and that's all we need."
"Okay," Ken said, his chin dimpling as he glanced between them.
