He passed Lenny his phone, and watched, fascinated, as Lenny drank it all in, muttering to himself, and doodling over Nero’s carefully scrawled notes. “This place has potential to be really fucking cool.”
Nero rolled his eyes. How many times had he heard a variant of that sentence over the years? Too many. “The big bosses are pretty open-minded when it comes to tarting these places up. Don’t be shy.”
“I’m not shy, mate. Trust me.” Lenny shot Nero a devilish grin, then went back to his scribbling and muttering.
Nero took that, and the heat in his cheeks, as his cue to piss off. He stood and turned away.
Lenny’s hand around his wrist stayed him. “Where are you going?”
“Er, downstairs?”
“Thought you were off today?”
“I am, mostly. I’ve got some admin to do—food orders and stock checks.”
Lenny let go. “Fair enough. Guess I’ll get on with this, then.”
Wondering what Lenny would’ve had in mind otherwise was enough to drive Nero from the room without further comment. He went to the office and got on with his work. Admin was a part of his job he detested, but today he welcomed the distraction of the flashy computer he’d often threatened to smash to bits with his meat mallet. Even the spreadsheets failed to irritate him as much as they normally did.
“Shit, sorry. Didn’t know you were in here.”
“No?” Nero glanced over his shoulder at Steph. Somehow he’d missed her opening the office door. “My ugly mug not give it away?”
“Can’t see through walls, can I? Besides, I can usually hear you growling from upstairs if you’re on the computer.”
She had him there. He went back to his work as she opened and shut filing cabinets, until the silence—which he normally relished—got under his skin. “So, you all right, then?”
“What?”
Nero closed the stock spreadsheet and turned around. “What’s the matter with you?”
Steph stared at Nero like he’d crapped in her handbag and sung her a lullaby. “What’s the matter with me? You’re the one being weird.”
“Whatever.” Nero spun back to the computer screen.
Steph said nothing for a while until she appeared at Nero’s side with a coffee and perched on the desk. “Where’s Lenny?”
Nero accepted the coffee and took a sip. “Lenny?”
“Yeah. You two are joined at the hip. It’s kinda freaky to see you without him.”
“Piss off. He’s only been here a few weeks.”
“Uh-huh, and you’re thick as thieves.”
“So?” Nero carefully scanned his food order one more time before he sent it off. “What do you care who I hang out with?”
Steph snorted. “I’m just making conversation. You know, that thing you’ve not bothered to do for the last six months?”
“Has it been that long?”
“Do you have to be such a wanker?” Steph slid off the desk. “Lenny keeps telling me how nice you are to him. If only he knew.”
“I’m not a wanker to you. I just can’t be arsed with you getting on my case all the time.”
“Getting on your case about what? Do you think I’m in love with you or something? Jesus, Nero. It was one shag. I don’t want to bloody marry you.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
