Page 86 of The Friend Zone Experiment

Stephen shrugged. He was frightened, Ket Hau could tell. So was Ket Hau. They hadn’t talked about it, each of them trying to put a brave face on for the other.

“I was thinking, right,” said Stephen. “All I wanted was to save some plants. That’s it. I just want them to leave a bunch of trees alone.” He shook his head, blowing out a puff of air. “Crazy, man.”

“Everything all right?” Ket Hau said now.

Stephen made a noncommittal noise. Once he’d got his shoes on, he said, “I might not come to IKEA. Better keep my head down.”

Ket Hau glanced back at the house. He could hear the distant clatter of cutlery from the kitchen, the gush of a tap, the screech of chair legs scraping the floor as Ket Siong got up from the table.

He lowered his voice. “Has something happened?”

Stephen hesitated. “Johan’s worried. I don’t know who’s said what to him, but he’s scared they’re going to out him to his family.” Stephen’s source was a married Malay-Muslim householder with four kids. Johan was less svelte now than he’d been at uni, but noless closeted. “He’s not suited to a life of corporate espionage. Got too much to hide.”

Ket Hau swallowed, his mouth dry. He hadn’t been too happy when Stephen first reached out to Johan, for more than one reason, but he’d already said his piece on that. “So how? You going to be OK?”

“Yeah. But that’s why I came over. Wasn’t just because I love handling your large appliances.” Stephen gave him a crooked smile. “Will you hang onto this for me?”

Ket Hau took the USB drive from him. “What’s this?”

“That’s got a copy of everything Johan gave me,” said Stephen. “I’m going to give him back the hard drive he passed to me. Maybe that will calm him down. And I thought, your mom has some opposition contacts, right? You think they could do something with this stuff?”

Ket Hau turned the USB drive over in his hand, frowning. “I’d want to ask Ma what she thinks. You never know with politicians. It’s rival one day, ally the next.”

“Don’t tell her yet,” said Stephen quickly. “Not that I don’t trust her, but… let’s wait first. See how things play out.”

“Of course.”

Stephen still looked worried. “Is it OK?” He nodded at the USB drive. “I don’t want to drag you into this, but I wasn’t sure who else to ask.”

“I’m in it already.” Ket Hau took hold of Stephen’s shoulder and gave it a gentle shake. “It’s fine.”

He slipped the USB drive into the pocket of his shorts. It wasn’t heavy, but he could feel its rounded edges against his thigh, through the thin fabric.

“You want to stay over?” he said. Ma wouldn’t ask any questions. She was used to putting out a mattress on Ket Hau’s bedroom floor for Stephen.

But Stephen said, “Not tonight. Lady from theStar’s coming to the office tomorrow morning. I’ve got to prep for the interview.”

He got into his car. Ket Hau opened the gate at the end of the drive, as the Myvi stuttered reluctantly to life.

“You need to get a new car,” said Ket Hau.

“It’s OK,” said Stephen, as he did every time they had this conversation. “It’s going now. See? Told you. Only takes three Hail Marys to start.”

He backed out into the road and paused, rolling down a window. “You take care of yourself, Hau. And your gang.”

He jerked his head at the house. Right now, it contained nearly everyone Ket Hau loved most in the world.

Not quite everyone.

“You too,” said Ket Hau. “Good night.”

He locked the gate and stood there watching as Stephen drove off, till the car rounded a corner and was lost to sight.

24

After she leftKet Siong at the restaurant, Renee took a taxi home. She smiled dry-eyed at the night-shift receptionist as she passed through the foyer, and went up in the lift to her empty flat, where she lived alone.

She sat down on her pink velvet sofa and burst into tears.