Page 19 of Lost Room Lawyer (Room #4)

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Hector

“And that’s why I need your signature here, here, and here,” I said finally, handing Juri the pen.

I wasn’t really surprised that he refused to take it. My detailed explanation of how things would proceed in his case had clearly overwhelmed him. He nervously fiddled with his lip piercing and kept bouncing his leg.

I had anticipated he might panic, so I arranged the meeting at my city apartment.

He had sworn never to step foot in my office again following our last lunch.

Since he spent nearly all his free time with Luca and had grown accustomed to this apartment as almost a second home after his extended stay, I thought it was a good choice.

Besides, Luca was also there, enjoying his coffee—though I sometimes wondered if he ever drank anything else.

The situation felt strange. It was the first time we were all sitting together at a table.

Three months had passed since Juri and I had been having sex two rooms over in my office.

At that time, he wasn’t yet with Luca, and Luca was far from understanding that he saw more in Juri than just his muse—something for which I could be thankful to the universe.

As Juri sat here, nervously combing his fingers through his black hair and staring at the papers in front of him, Luca sipped his coffee and placed the cup back on the table with such calmness that it even eased my doubts about whether what we were doing was right.

“Juri?” I asked gently, since the pen was still lying beside his glass.

“Yeah, I … uh …”

I was taken aback by how tense he was. From what I had known of him as a callboy, he was someone who always had everything under control. Now, he was clearly on unfamiliar ground and felt uncomfortable.

Luca brushed a platinum-blond strand from his forehead and placed his arm around Juri’s shoulder. “You don’t need to be afraid.”

“That’s easy for you to say …” Juri wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and rose to his feet. “These bastards are still out there! I live just around the corner from this Thomas. It’s only a matter of time before we run into each other.”

Luca also stood up and gently placed his hand on Juri’s back. “Calm down.”

“Luca is right,” I said, leaning back in my chair and crossing one leg over the other. “Panicking now doesn’t help. That’s exactly what those three want. But the evidence is clear. All you need to do is be patient and prepare for the hearing.”

“Hearing?” Juri’s face drained of color, making him look paler than before. “I thought we had settled that.”

“Juri,” Luca said soothingly. “It’s okay.”

Juri’s bewilderment was obvious as he blinked his eyes in confusion. “What’s okay?” He then turned his head to me. “You didn’t …? Luca too? He has nothing to do with this!”

“Noé and Alex have already agreed to testify,” I said.

“And I will too,” Luca added.

“Also, I called Flo,” I continued.

“Flo?” Luca asked. “Do we know him?”

“He’s a callboy,” Juri answered, crossing his arms as he glared at me. “Why?”

“I sent him the photos of Thomas and the two others. He’s never had the pleasure of meeting them, but he promised he’d look into it a bit.”

Unable to sit still any longer, Juri got up, opened the terrace window, and lit a cigarette. After a deep drag, he blew the smoke out loudly. For a moment, we all fell silent. I exchanged a worried glance with Luca, and he understood that sensitivity was needed here.

“Hey,” he said, going over to Juri. “We’ve got this all sorted out. You agreed to everything. And you knew there would be a moment when you’d panic. We talked about it. Do you remember?”

Juri frowned but nodded slightly.

“This is that moment. But it’s okay because you also remember what we said, right?”

Juri nervously fiddled with his lip piercing and nodded reluctantly.

“And that was?” Luca asked.

“That you’re all backing me and offering your support.”

“Exactly. And that’s what we’re doing here. You’re not alone anymore. We’re here. We’re helping you.”

It was clear that Juri was struggling to be in a situation he couldn’t control. Luca hugged him and whispered soothing words in his ear.

The two of them were so sweet together, and the fact that the three of us were sitting here was quite a story.

A wave of nostalgia washed over me. I had been booking callboys for years and had known Juri for about five. The fact that he was my last one brought me an unexpected sense of happiness.

I halted mid-thought.

My last one?

Why am I thinking that?

Maybe I should think more carefully about Nico before declaring the callboy thing finished.

Actually, there wasn’t much to think about, as the thing with Nico was just a bit of fun.

Damn … Who am I kidding?

Nico was like a drug! Where work had once dragged me out of bed in the morning, for the past two weeks, Nico had been the reason.

Just knowing I would see him in the office …

Fuck . It wasn’t even the prospect, the hope, or the anticipation of sex with him.

No, it was just the fact that I would see him.

In some twisted way, I was even looking forward to dinner with Viktoria and Leo. I knew I’d be going with Viktoria. With my wife. But Nico was there, and that made my heart race even now.

“There’s something different about Hector,” Luca said as he sat back down at the table.

Juri was still standing by the window, smoking. From his expression, he had calmed down again. The way he nodded silently as he glanced at me showed he agreed with Luca.

“I’m no different,” I said dryly, pushing the pen closer to the papers Juri was supposed to sign.

Juri only smiled and took a drag from his cigarette; he made no attempt to sit back down and sign anything. “Do you have a new callboy?” he asked, straightforward as ever, and blew the smoke out of the open window.

I frowned and stared at him for two seconds. My mind was blank. Well, not entirely blank. Nico was there.

“Why do you think that?” I asked, amused.

“Yeah,” Luca said. “I’d like to know too.”

Juri scanned me with his moss-green eyes, then raised his eyebrows. “No, you don’t have a new callboy. It’s something else.”

“What?” Luca was already excited.

I felt cornered, even though I was a pro at this, a top-notch actor. I never had to put on a facade with Juri, so it wasn’t surprising that he saw right through me.

“You’re happy,” he said.

I sat there with my mouth agape, staring at him. I hadn’t expected that—and even less that I’d feel so caught off guard.

“Have you met someone?” Juri asked in such a serene way that I could almost feel myself trusting him.

With just a single stern look, he even managed to silence Luca and prevent any foolish comments.

As I crossed my arms and leaned back thoughtfully, a look of great surprise spread across Luca’s face.

He knew me well enough to understand my dismissive stance.

I needed a moment to find the right words, but the two of them waited patiently. Damn, Juri had grown up way too early. He was only twenty-three! And I, twenty years older, was playing hide and seek with myself and the rest of the world. Only these two guys knew this other side of me—and Nico.

I rubbed my face and released a heavy sigh that seemed to carry all my frustrations. “It’s complicated.”

“Isn’t it always?”

“He … is my intern.”

I braced myself for laughter, but none came.

“Is he cute?” Luca wanted to know instead.

His question made me pause, and before I could answer, Juri spoke up.

“Is it that long-haired guy with the wheat-blond hair?”

“You’ve seen him?” Luca asked. “When?”

“I picked up Hector when we were meeting for lunch.”

“Ah … And how was he, this intern?”

“Hot. Looked like a model. Is he Dutch or Swedish?”

I laughed, realizing how much this conversation was both necessary and completely wrong. “He’s half Italian, half Swedish. Or no … wait … a quarter Greek?”

“You seem to know him quite well,” Luca noted with surprise.

“And how did it come to this?” Juri asked with interest.

“Oh God …” I sighed and ruffled my hair. “He’s the son of my former mentor.”

“Oops,” Luca said.

Quite aptly.

“And is it serious?”

“That question … No,” I said in a weary tone as I shook my head.

“I remember him. I took a wrong turn and ended up in his office. He seemed a bit out of it.”

“That was his first day at work, and everything was a bit crazy anyway.”

“Yeah, you weren’t exactly all there either,” Juri remarked with a wink.

“We ran into each other at a poker game the Friday before and … well … we were both attracted to each other. God! Why am I even telling you this?”

“Hold on,” Luca interjected. “You didn’t realize you were hooking up with your future intern?”

I rolled my eyes. “We hadn’t met before.”

“Who hires someone without meeting them first?”

“Since he’s the son of my mentor, nothing else mattered. I tried to find him online, but it didn’t lead to anything. And with my website being revamped, he couldn’t find me there either.”

“Whatever! If you’re having fun together, that’s good,” Juri said casually.

“I’m married, have two kids, and have been living a double life for years,” I reminded him. “Next Wednesday, we’re going out to dinner with four of us. Viktoria, Leo—my mentor—and Nico and me.”

“That sounds like a recipe for your facade falling apart,” Luca observed dryly.

Juri stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and rejoined us at the table. “Somehow, I’m missing the sympathy here.”

“Thanks. My house of cards is slowly collapsing, and the only two people who could support me don’t care.”

“Your house of cards will stay stable as long as you don’t make a mistake,” Juri said. “The question is more about how long you want to keep hiding in it.”

Juri was clearly too mature for his age. “We’re forgetting why we’re here,” I said, nodding toward the papers.

“You’re deflecting,” Luca remarked in a sing-song voice with a wide grin on his face.

“Because there’s nothing more to say about it.”

“Let me know when your house of cards falls,” Juri said, taking the pen and finally signing.

“And how’s your internship going?” I asked as I slid the papers back into my briefcase.

“Good,” he answered, examining my expensive pen more closely. “Tomorrow, we’re traveling through Europe with Nightrain for ten days, capturing a bit of life on tour.”

Surprised, I raised my eyebrows and turned to Luca. “You too?”

He waved his hand dismissively. “I’m only joining for Easter. I have work and need to prepare a few things for the diploma exhibition. By the way …” Luca rummaged in his jacket pocket and pulled out a flyer, its edges slightly worn. “This might interest you.”

I grabbed the flyer, expecting an invitation to the diploma film night, but it was for an exhibition at a gallery nearby. The bold text read: HIDINGS – Photography, Painting, and Light by Alex Winter, Lucien Gilliéron, and Kilian da Silva.

“What is that?” I asked with interest.

“There are all these bizarre paintings hanging around,” Luca said, pointing to the empty room where Juri had been staying for a while. “I thought you might be interested. Plus, Juri’s interning for Alex, the photographer.”

“Ah,” I said, placing the flyer on the table. “Coincidentally, the painting at the back is by Lucien Gilliéron.”

Luca raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Sounds exciting,” I said. “Can I keep the flyer?”

“Of course! I brought it for you.”

“I brought it for you, Luca,” Juri corrected him lovingly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Luca said mischievously. “I can totally remember those kinds of appointments. Hector’s older and super busy, so he could really use the flyer more than I do.”

We laughed, and I knew Luca was just joking, but I couldn’t help wondering if Nico minded that I was sixteen years older than him.

My gaze shifted to Juri, who was smiling affectionately at Luca. For years, Juri had only been with older men as a callboy. As far as I knew, I was still one of the younger clients he had.

I would have liked to talk to Juri in more detail, but that wasn’t possible with Luca around. Juri probably wouldn’t have minded, but I would. Just seeing the two of them together made me want to visit Nico; even though it had only been two hours since we were together in the office.

It had been like this for two weeks now. Gerry had been in Vevey almost the entire time working on the Canonica case. Two weeks during which Nico and I could hardly keep our hands off each other. Not a day had passed without us falling into each other’s arms.

I felt dizzy at the thought of Linda returning on Monday. As I reached for my glass, I noticed it was empty. I stood up and grabbed a ginger shot from the fridge. As I downed it in one swift gulp, I leaned against the kitchen counter and tried to focus on something—anything but Nico.

“Are you okay?” Luca asked with concern.

“Yes,” I answered. “Just been working a bit too much lately.” Which wasn’t even a lie.

“Then why don’t you stay here today?” Luca suggested. “Have dinner with us and relax a bit.”

“That sounds good, but I need to go home. My wife … It’s our anniversary today.”

The two of them sat in their chairs, observing the extent of my discomfort.

“Can you even get it up with your wife?” Juri asked directly, leaving Luca at a loss for how to react.

I shook my head in exasperation. “We’ll find out tonight.”

I’m just the worst.

Screwing my intern on my wedding anniversary.

You really can’t sink any lower.