“You've had other things on your mind.Do you know yourlines?”
“Yes, of course.Or...”Laurie paused, for the first timeanalysing the difference.“It feels like they knowme.That's weird, isn'tit?”
“Very.Useful, though.It's what you do.”
Lauriefelt better now, the chilly panic receding.He became aware of theugly breezeblock space around them, and Sasha's beauty by contrast,glowing with light from a different source than the neon stripabove them.“I wish I could focus,” he said involuntarily.Yes,he'd had other things on his mind, but he hadn't meant for onesecond to let Sasha think any of it was to do with him.“I justmean—”
Theinner doors swung open.Between them, propping them stiffly on eacharm, Laurie's new backstage manager stood framed, his littleclipboard swinging on a cord from round his neck.“Mr Fitzroy!I'vesearched the building for you.”He spared one glance at Sasha thendismissed him.“I'm afraid that, under the terms of your contract,your break times must be set by Sir Ralf and are not toexceed—”
“Right.”Laurie straightened his shirt.Hardworking pro or not,he needed more time.Helplessly he thought of how Alison Joneswould have swung it for him, given him a conspiratorial wink andrun off to implement delaying tactics.“Sorry, er...Bill, isn'tit?”
“Neil.”
“Oh.I'm on my way.”
“You'd better come with me.Regulations state that backstagemanagement is responsible for the whereabouts and safety of staffat all times.You may have been used to a less formal system, MrFitzroy, but...”
“Just a minute.”
BothNeil and Laurie swung round.Sasha was standing with his armsfolded, his expression at once mild and subtly dangerous in a wayLaurie hadn't seen before.If a Roma warlord had been crossed withClement Atlee...“Sasha,” Laurie said, a quiver of amusement in hisvoice.“It's okay.”
“As I understand it, Neil, Mr Fitzroy's contractual terms havenot yet been agreed.Until they are, he stands entitled to suchtime as he requires to deal with personal and family emergencies,under working-time regulation six-five-eight, paragraph three.Areyou attempting to deny him that right?”
Neil didan impression of a startled goldfish.“Deny?No.Of course not.I'mjust...”
“Please don't sayfollowing myorders, or I'll be forced to give you ahistory lesson.Now, off you trot, and Mr Fitzroy will be back withSir Ralf in five minutes.”
Thedouble doors closed.Laurie leaned back against the wall, horrifiedlaughter shaking him.“Oh, my God.”
“Poxy little jobsworth,” Sasha said carefully, savouring asalways his second language's rich store of insults.“Rip his littleclipboard off and make him call you Sir Laurence.”
“Regulation six-five-eight...I never knew I had one ofthose.”
“You don't.I invented it, so don't rely on it in court.”Sliding his fingers inside the waistband of Laurie's jeans, Sashasmiled up at him, stern gaze turned suddenly wicked as hell throughdark eyelashes.“Having got rid of him, shall we make good use ofour five minutes?”
Laurie'sjaw dropped.“What?”
“You said you needed to focus.I can help withthat.”
“Sasha Petrica...You're the devil incarnate under that velvetyhide, aren't you?”
“Hush.Live in the moment, ves'tacha.Just think about the jobin hand.”
Laurieswallowed and breathed shallowly.Sasha was folding to his knees onthe concrete.“The job in where?”Laurie rasped.“This is meant tohelp me concentrate on Romeo?”
“Mm-hm.Mindfulness, it's called.You think about nothing butthe instant you're experiencing right now.It's an effectivetechnique for—”
“Oh.You saw your new counsellor.”
Sashalooked up at him.Laurie's fingertips were resting lightly on hisjaw.The London afternoon was continuing its symphony of soundbeyond the fire doors—cars rushing by, the scrape of feet onpavement.And here they were in this featureless box, empty ofeverything but their own two lives and the web they'd spun betweenthem.Laurie was smiling, a brightness of relief putting summer-seablue into his eyes.“Yes,” Sasha said.It was the first serious liehe'd told him in two years.It didn't matter.He could disappearsomewhere for a couple of hours each week.He'd read aboutmindfulness in a waiting-room magazine, but that was no problem.Now Laurie might breathe again, enjoy his new job.“Yes.”
“Oh, that's great.Is he kind?Is he good to you?”
“Yes.”One lie spawned others instantly, didn't it?Nogestation time required.“Very good.”Sasha released Laurie's cockfrom its imprisoning fabric and immediately recaptured it, guidingit into his mouth, deep into his throat where it could push thelies back where they came from, stopper them up, drown them.Hegripped Laurie's backside, squeezed and encouraged his shudderingthrusts for a moment then slipped a hand down the back of hisjeans.There was the delicious, sweat-damped hollow where histailbone curved in.Desperately sensitive there for some reason,his Laurie.From there to the crease between his buttocks, and theupper curve of his anus, where a sudden caress or pressure couldmake him forget his manners and...
“Oh, Sasha!God!No!”
Sashaheld on tight.He forgot about truth and lies, achieved a state ofmindfulness more perfect than any he'd been trying to sell toLaurie.He was nothing but convulsing throat, hot hard muscleclenched round his lover and making him come.Laurie jetted andspent, finishing with a groan of wrung-out shock as Sasha's fingercoaxed a last rush from him.
