Yours Remotely

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 21

It was easy to move around with Steven. Nobody paid us any attention when we entered the hotel lobby. He politely opened the door to Gary’s room and stepped in behind me. The thought that I might not welcome his company didn’t seem to cross his mind. I had nothing against it, but the situation was odd.

He sat down at the desk, and I sat down opposite him on the bed. Hotel rooms are all the same, and this one was no different from the one I had previously stayed in at the Victoria.

Steven reached into the minibar and pulled out a miniature beer.

“Do you want something?” he asked, opening the door wider for me to see.

I asked for a Baileys, and Steven handed me a tiny bottle and a small glass.

“Ice?” he asked. “I can get you some.”

I shook my head. I didn’t want him to go to any trouble even if I preferred my Baileys on ice.

Steven opened his own drink with a hiss and leaned back. He looked at me thoughtfully again and asked, “How did you get to know Gary?” He took a sip while waiting for my answer.

I poured my drink into the glass and explained how it had all started. Steven didn’t interrupt but listened with interest. When I finished, he shook his head.

“Three years is a long time. Don’t you ever get tired of this?” He gestured at the room around us.

I shrugged with feigned indifference. “This is what he does.”

Steven puckered his lips. No doubt he had met women like me before.

“Have you got a girlfriend, Steven?” I asked, swirling the liquor inside my glass.

He snorted. He rested his arms on his thighs and twisted the beer can between his hands. “I suppose you have no idea what it’s like when your brother is the sixth sexiest man in Britain.”

So, Gary had been voted a notch higher this time. He had to be proud of himself and his achievement. He had kept his promise.

“Everyone only thinks of me as his brother, so nobody is interested in me. It’s always Gary this, Gary that, how’s Gary, you look like your brother, you don’t look like him at all, why aren’t you in a band… It’s so annoying.” Steven gave me a frustrated look. “All Gary has and I haven’t is a good voice, and yet he gets all the attention.”

I felt sorry for him. He wasn’t in an easy position. Gary was two years older, but he had everything that a man in his twenties wanted; an enviable career in music, a fancy car, money and undoubtedly lots of women.

“I shouldn’t complain. It just gets to me,” Steven said apologetically. “But no, I haven’t got a girlfriend.”

“But surely women must try to chat you up all the time?”

He gave me a one-sided smile. “Sure. I just find it hard to take them seriously. They either want me so that they can brag about being in bed with Gary Rock All’s brother or because they really want Gary and I’m the next best thing. Then there are those who try to get to Gary through me. You wouldn’t believe how many of those I’ve met.”

“I don’t think I want to know,” I said, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

“I bet you don’t.” Steven grinned in return. “What I’m trying to say is, I don’t suffer from a shortage of women, but they’re not genuinely interested in me.”

I nodded in understanding. Gary caused trouble all around him.

“The one good thing is that all my friends envy me. And that those women have friends they can try to pull. It’s a working arrangement.” Steven straightened up on his chair. “What kind of an arrangement do you and Gary have then?”

I was dumb-founded. It wasn’t an arrangement. It was how it was.

“It works on his terms,” I explained, gulping down the rest of my Baileys.

Steven let out a sigh. “Everything is on Gary’s terms. And I thought you were different and would put up a fight.”

“I tried.” I took the new bottle of Baileys he was offering me.

“And you gave in. Well, I couldn’t blame you. The devil himself isn’t as stubborn as Gary. I don’t envy you, Lea, not one bit. I’ve known him my whole life, and he’s nothing but trouble, and the band hasn’t made him any easier.” He emptied his can and was about to look for a new one when the door opened.

“How are things?” Gary said cheerfully. He stepped further in and sat down next to me on the bed. “Has he behaved himself?” he asked me with a nod towards Steven, who was quick off the mark.

“Better than you,” he said, crunching his can and throwing it into the bin.

I nodded in agreement. “He was just keeping me company.”

“You took your time,” Steven said.

Gary stretched on the bed. “I needed a shower. I didn’t want to smell of sweat around Lea.” He glanced at me with a grin. He had got changed and smelled of shampoo and shower gel.

“Then we just wanted a beer, and that’s how time ticked away.”

I had my doubts about the number of beers that had been consumed. Gary clearly had drunk more than one even after Steven and I had left.

“One beer. Bullshit,” Steven muttered.

I could tell that Gary had heard him, but he didn’t object. His attention was on me.

“I didn’t mean to keep you waiting. I’m here now,” he said with a hand on my neck. The excitement of the show was still twinkling in his eyes. His face was only inches away from mine when he suddenly turned towards his brother.

“Steven, this isn’t for your eyes.” Although he didn’t sound threatening, his voice had a sternness to it that couldn’t be challenged.

Steven exhaled loudly but stood up.

“If I could even watch,” he mumbled on his way to the door.

Gary didn’t wait for him to leave although the door slammed shut only seconds later. He swung towards me a little unsteadily and moved to sit astride my legs.

“How’s that adrenaline doing?” I asked when he put a hand behind my neck to pull me in for a kiss.

He laughed softly. “Don’t you worry about that, it’s still going strong.” He silenced any protests by sticking a tongue in my mouth. His hands found the clasps of my bra, and within seconds, both my top and bra were on the floor. With my help, he was soon naked too. When I went for the zipper on my skirt, he held my hand to the mattress.

“Let it be. Just a skirt is so sexy. There’s so much I can do with that,” he muttered into my ear, slipping a hand under my skirt and gripping my underwear.

* * *

Gary slept like a log all night and only woke up in the morning when I returned from the bathroom. He sat up and immediately grabbed his head. He announced that he was dying from a hangover and asked for a painkiller. I shook my head. He looked disappointed.

“But there’s a way to get rid of that headache,” I suggested.

“And how is that possible?”

I figured that his hangover had to be severe if his thoughts didn’t run down their usual tracks.

I climbed back into bed and pulled the duvet aside. He didn’t flinch although he was naked in the morning sun and it was chilly in the room.

“You’re not suggesting I should just get up?

I laughed at the shocked expression on his face. “Not just yet. Maybe in about 20 minutes.” I squeezed one of his n*****s hard enough to make him jump, but I had got his interest. I ran my hand down his side and across his stomach towards his groin.

“Oh, that’s what you meant.”

I struggled to control my laughter. “Well, at least you won’t think about your headache for a while.”

He groaned in response and didn’t resist his hangover cure at all.

* * *

Said twenty minutes later, I put my feet back on the floor. Gary looked relaxed on the bed, his headache having subsided. I started looking for my clothes and getting ready for work.

“Are you leaving?” he asked, lazily keeping an eye on my activities.

“For work, yes. It’s just another workday.”

“Isn’t it too early?”

“It’s half-past eight,” I said with a glance at my watch. I should make a move.

He shot out of bed like a thunderbolt and gripped his head again.

“f*****g hell. We have a press interview at nine.”

He got dressed so fast that I didn’t know what was going on and hurried to the bathroom where I had been heading to brush my teeth; the only thing I needed to do before leaving, and I needed a basin for that. I moved to the bathroom door and stared at Gary.

“I need to brush my teeth.”

He moved a little to the side but didn’t take his eyes off the mirror.

“Can’t you wait? I have to be gone in a few minutes.” He was fiddling with his hair and looked edgy. It was unlike him to even try to be on time. “I can’t be late for this, it’s a big one, and then I have to get on the bus.”

I suppressed a sigh and returned to the bedroom. Steven was right. Gary was selfish.

He returned to the room a couple of minutes later. He took his wallet and phone and kissed me on the cheek, smelling of toothpaste. “Steven can give you a lift. I have to go.” He disappeared into the corridor, holding his phone to his ear.

I went to brush my teeth. I realised that Gary had disposed of his toothbrush and paste in the bin. That was all he had ever brought to the room.

I was stuffing my things into my handbag when there was a knock on the door. I let Steven in. He looked at the messy bed and then at my neck. I subconsciously raised my hand to the spot where Gary had bitten me the night before. Steven raised his eyebrows.

“You must have been busy then.”

I flushed all the way to my ears. “I suppose you could say that.” I pushed my phone into the side pocket of my bag, which I hoisted onto my shoulder.

“Ready?” Steven asked with another look around the room.

After checking out, we walked through the revolving doors into the street where a few loyal fans were waiting for the band to show up. Steven tried to walk past them as if he hadn’t seen them, but his plan didn’t work.

“Steven!” one of the girls in the group screamed. She darted over to Steven, holding a camera. “Steven,” she repeated more quietly.

He had no choice; he had to stop.

“Are they leaving soon?”

“They’ve already gone,” Steven said, pushing his hands into the pockets of his hoody, looking uncomfortable.

“What do you mean they’ve gone?” the girl asked. Another few teenagers had gathered around us.

Steven shrugged. “Left. Checked out. Moved on.”

“Why are you still here then?” The fan gave me a merciless look. Her eyes wandered to the spot on my neck too.

The similarities and differences between Steven and Gary became clear to me in that instant. Steven possessed Gary’s arrogance and aloofness, but while Gary was blatantly confident, relaxed and natural, Steven was unsure of himself and easily confused. Gary would, put in the same position, have been a little troubled, but Steven didn’t seem to know what to do – at least not without a little help. He seemed relieved by the suggestion that my neck implied.

“I was busy with other things.”

The girl glanced at me even more viciously. She was about to ask something else, no doubt something personal and insulting, when Steven took hold of the situation.

“And now I have to go,” he said, taking a firm grip on my arm. The fangirl tried to call after us, but Steven led me determinedly towards the corner. He leaned in towards me and muttered, “Just keep walking, and they’ll give up.”

It was strange walking that close to him. He really did remind me of Gary, both in appearance and temperament. From what I could tell just by touching him through his clothes, Steven was in admirable physical shape, and I had to mentally kick myself for thinking about it. It would have been so easy to fall for him. He was just like Gary but without all the heavy baggage. It would have been so much easier…

“That was painful. I have nothing to do with this, and I didn’t learn in school how to lie for my famous brother.” Steven let out a relieved sigh and let go of me. We had rounded the corner. He was right, there was nobody in sight.

“But you didn’t lie.”

He looked annoyed when he glanced at me. “I didn’t mean them leaving; I meant you.”

I felt ungrateful. “They don’t know anything.”

“Better off that way,” Steven said. When we were in his car, he explained, “It’s just a pain pretending that you’re with me just because Gary doesn’t want anyone to know. It can only do more harm.”

For the next ten minutes, I directed Steven to my workplace. I finally asked him to pull in at the kerb. He did as I said but glanced around suspiciously. “I thought you said you work in a phone store?”

I nodded and pointed towards the pedestrian street where the shop was second from the corner.

“You can’t drive there.”

Steven gave the shop a quick glance and seemed to accept my response. I took my bag.

“Thanks for the ride. And the company.”

“Anytime. See you later.”

I waved him goodbye and got out. My feet had barely touched the footpath when I ran into Linda. She stretched her neck to see the Punto disappearing into the rush-hour traffic and then gave my neck a curious glance.

“And who was that then?” she teased.

I blushed for the second time that morning. “His name is Steven.”

“A hot one then.”

“Well, yeah, I won’t be seeing him again.”

“You never know,” Linda said optimistically. “I didn’t know you were going out last night.”

“Me neither, not until after work,” I lied while opening the door. “Sinead wanted out.” I keyed in the code for the alarm and waited for the beep. Just another day at work.