Page 38

O n Monday, Lucy discovered the most amazing arrangement of flowers on her veranda after she got home from work. When she read the card, it simply said, ‘our love S & J’. She felt all warm inside as she carried them indoors and put them in her bedroom where she could see them.

Sebastian picked her up on Wednesday evening.

He told her Jack had gotten hung up at work but would meet them for dinner.

He apologized and said if she didn’t mind, they’d eat at the restaurant because he wasn’t sure what time Jack would be free.

Lucy told him it didn’t matter, as long as she had dinner.

She thanked him for her flowers and got a surprise when he stammered that he thought she deserved them.

The drive down was quiet. She recalled Jack saying Sebastian was actually a quiet person who gave the impression of being aloof. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel uncomfortable in the silence. It felt companionable.

When they were close to the complex, Sebastian asked, “Is the new workplace still okay?”

“So far. The staff are all friendly and, more importantly, the boss is nice.”

“That’s good. You’re there for another seven weeks, and it’d be awful if they weren’t.”

“I’ll say!”

He asked intelligent questions about her work until they finally drove into the garage at the side of the restaurant. Helping her from the car, Sebastian escorted Lucy into the courtyard.

She realized there were two doorways—one directly into the restaurant storage area and this one leading into the courtyard. There was also a set of stairs, and Sebastian told her it led to their utility room in the apartment.

It was busy in the restaurant, but Sebastian guided her indoors and straight to a table with a ‘reserved’ sign on it. Pulling out her chair, Lucy sat and Sebastian sat down to her right.

One of the waitresses came over, but Sebastian told her they were waiting on Jack but could they have some herb and garlic bread plus a glass of juice each while they waited.

“Jack told me you enjoyed going to the movies again the other night. He’s so friendly, easy to talk with.”

“We both enjoyed it and, yes, he’s very easy to talk to.”

“I love that about him.” He touched her arm. “I hope you’ll find you can talk easily to me as well. I know I’m not as...” He tried to find the right word. “Gregarious?”

Lucy smiled at him. He was different to Jack yet she had the feeling he was deeper than him. She thought there were hidden things about him, and she wanted to discover them. With Jack he was always Jack. With Sebastian he was like an iceberg—more was hidden than showed. “I hope so too, Sebastian.”

“You can call me Seb, you know,” he quipped.

“Then I will.” Lucy wondered if Jack had mentioned the conversation they’d had weeks ago about her mother. She imagined he did and she didn’t want to talk about it, so she changed the subject quickly. “Have you always lived around here, or around Sydney, Seb?”

“No. I was born in the Northern Territory. But we moved to Perth for five years, then back to the territory, before finally Sydney. It was wherever Dad was posted. My mother’s family all live in the territory.”

“That’s right. You said your dad worked for the government.”

“What about you, Lucy?”

“I was born here in the mountains. I’ve never been outside of Sydney. Actually, never been outside the mountains.”

“Never had any inclination to travel?”

“Never had the time nor the money. I suppose I could now. To be honest, I haven’t really thought about it. When Allison was young, I was working two jobs. Then Mum got sick. There just hasn’t been time.”

“Nah, yeah, I can understand that. It’s only been the last five years that Jack and I have managed to take regular breaks.

The business has finally got to a point where I don’t have to be here twenty-four hours a day.

It’s finally making a nice tidy profit for us both.

Jack’s business is well established and very successful.

Plus, he has reliable staff. So now we visit Jack’s parents a few times a year in Queensland.

As I have most of my relatives in the Territory, we usually swing over there at the same time.

Then, of course we try and go down to the ski fields a few times during the season.

Before that, we were lucky if we managed to grab a weekend away in Sydney once a year. ”

“Hi, you two. How are you both?”

Jack arrived and kissed Lucy then Sebastian before sitting down. Reaching across the table, he grabbed the last piece of bread.

Sebastian looked at him. “Everything fixed?”

“Yep. Somehow or other one of our clients managed to wipe his entire website. Have no idea how he managed it,” he explained to Lucy. “Still, we got everything back. It’s up and running again with strict instructions to him not to touch anything.”

The talk turned general as they ate. It was easy and relaxed. Lucy wondered how the staff felt about the two men. They were open in their affection for each other. It must have shown on her face that she wondered about something.

“What is it, Lucy?”

“Nothing really, Seb.”

“Nothing?”

“Well, I just wondered how your staff feel about you and Jack. I mean, they must know you’re together and now you have a woman sharing your affections.”

“They know. Actually, no one’s ever said anything, to be honest. I guess they just accept it.

Probably some thought we’re a gay couple.

Anyway, we don’t tolerate homophobia here.

We have a few staff members who are homosexual and feel very happy and safe working here.

We have a zero-tolerance policy, and the staff are well aware of our stance on sexual discrimination, or any form of discrimination, for that matter.

A few know more about us. Walt, Roger, Brad, and Gordon are actually friends as well as employees.

Jack knew Brad long before he came to work for us. ”

“Yeah, Brad and I actually went to the same school. We hung out with the same crowd. Then he went off to learn to cook and I got hooked on computers. We always kept in touch. Then Seb and I got together. When we were getting organized to open the restaurant, we were looking for staff. I casually mentioned it to Brad, and he asked if we had a head chef or a sous chef. He wanted to move up this way and had been looking out for positions. At that stage, we’d interviewed a few but weren’t really impressed. I suggested he come and talk to Seb.”

Sebastian took up the conversation. “When Jack introduced Brad, I got a good feeling about him right away. He wasn’t stand-offish.

He was very upfront, plus he already had a good reputation in the industry.

We offered him the head chef position, and he jumped at it.

Over the years, he’s come up with some good suggestions, and we’d do anything to make him happy.

I’d be devastated if he left or wanted to open his own restaurant.

He and his wife live in Leura. They’ve got two grown up, married kids. We all see each other socially.”

After dessert and coffee, the two men drove Lucy home and made arrangements for the three of them to have dinner again on Friday night.

“I’ll get Jack to pick you up if that’s okay with you, Lucy. I have a late meeting with Gordon and the accountant about that damn audit. It’s all good. He just wants to go over the results with us.”

“That’s fine. If you want to eat at the restaurant again that’s okay with me too.”

“Thanks, actually that would be easier. We’ll see you Friday then.”

Once again, Lucy delighted in being kissed goodnight by both men. She was certainly getting used to being wooed by them. They were quickly becoming a habit she didn’t want to break.