A Daddy for Damian by Joe Satoria

7. DAMIAN

Kristopher was a lot, but he let me ask him whatever I wanted from him. He event presented me with the expensive menu at the restaurant and told me to order whatever I wanted. I’d never been here before, everyone looked expensive and rich, probably even famous if I stared at them for a moment longer to let recognition settle in.

We were on the twentieth floor in a large restaurant, large windows with lots of light. The menu was so expensive.

“You drink?” Kristopher asked, peering over at me from the top of the menu.

“Yeah.”

“Great, I’ll grab a bottle of white wine,” he said.

There was a nervous bubble in my stomach to the question. If I said no, I didn’t drink, I wondered if that meant there would be something bad, but if I told him I drank, maybe he would think I was going out every week. I wasn’t, not every week, occasionally, I’d go out, but only for the cheap student nights where I could sneak in and pretend to be a student.

“I have an office,” Kristopher continued. “I don’t use it. Theo uses it, but I suppose I’ll give you the address for it. It’s one of those tall buildings with the office suites inside. I prefer to do business outside of the office, in restaurants, cafés, and anywhere else.” He smirked.

I lowered the menu, trying not to feel intimidated.

“Have you decided?” he asked. “I usually start with scallops and move on to the pan-fried duck.”

“It’s—expensive.”

“Goes without saying, but I’m paying,” he said.

It all seemed like a lot. I wasn’t sure I’d like any of it. “I—I—”

“There are no dinosaur chicken shapes,” he said quietly, “but let me expand the horizon in your mouth. What food do you like?”

Down the menu, I’d heard of many things, but I didn’t know what a carpaccio was, or a remoulade. “I’ve had prawns before,” I said, “and I had duck once.”

He nodded. “Well then, that’s what we’ll get. It’s fine, the portions aren’t too big, and I’m sure you’ll find more to order for dessert.”

He was right. I had been eying the dessert menu. There were mousses, and sorbets, all different things with the word chocolate. I was looking forward to that.

Kristopher placed the order for the food, another waiter arrived with a bottle of white wine. Poured it into both glasses. We clinked glasses. It was midday, I never drank so early, and I never drank wine.

It tasted a little fruity, but not sweet. “It’s nice.”

“Good, it’s an expensive bottle,” he chuckled. “So, I also ordered some sweet potato fries, on the off chance you hate everything, you’ll still be able to eat something.”

“Ok, thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” he said. “We still have things to do before the day is over.”

That was another thing. I was his assistant, and I had no idea what I was doing, or what I was supposed to be doing. Instead, he was ordering wine and celebrating a day well done. He told me I needed to be available every day, all day and night to answer his calls.

“What else do we have to do?” I asked, taking another drink of wine.

“You need a new phone,” he said, “and we need to get you all the files from the office. Oh, so I guess you’ll see that today. It’s really no special, but if you want a place to work, you can use my office.”

I didn’t know what work he was talking about, still. “Like, researching things?” I asked. “I know you said you like to research anything and everything you do.”

“Well,” he eyed me, looking me up and down from the table. “Are you good at finding dirt on people? Because that’s what I like to do, getting the upper hand.”

“If you show me,” I said. Since everyone told me this would only be temporary, I guessed I’d need to learn how to do things so I could take that experience once this was all over. And in the meantime, I needed to embrace it.

He paused, looking at the phone as it flashed on the table. “Theo got the contract signed,” he said. “I knew he would, but we’ve got the confirmation. I guess we’re also celebrating that too.”

I didn’t play a role in that, so I didn’t know what I would be celebrating, but I had started today, so that was my cause for celebration. “Congratulations.”

“Next up, we have a meeting on Monday,” he said. “Should go exactly like today. This is a rope manufacturer. Sintight.”

“Rope?”

“For bondage,” he said. “People are popping up all over the place, selling ropes, but this company had an amazing time at the recent expo in Birmingham, and they’re looking to expand operations.”

I guess, I hadn’t really realised it was heavy in the sex world. “Oh. That sounds fun.”

“You ever tried?” he smiled. He knew the answer. We’d covered this earlier in the car. “I know you haven’t. But you should try, at least, not even in a sexual way, just to see how it makes you feel.”

“I think—I think it would make me feel claustrophobic, not being able to move.”

I noticed Kristopher attempt to move his brows. “That can be a big turn on for some people,” he said. “Some people love being constricted and constrained, they love the idea that they can’t move and that someone else could do whatever they wanted with them.”

The idea gave me butterflies, so there was a ticklish truth to what he had said. “Are you into it?”

He stayed quiet on the question, only smiling. I knew what a smile meant, especially in this instance. He picked up his glass, raising it to me. “That’s a secret, I suppose.”

As food arrived and we drank more, Kristopher opened up more to me. I didn’t expect it to happen.

“So, the last guy, before you, Rick, we started out like this, and then we ended up in bed,” he said. “I guess it’s the curse of recruiting from dating sites.” He stabbed his fork into the food on his plate. “Sometimes, I feel used, because it’s happened, time and time again. So, I don’t assume anything more anymore.”

“I’m not a user,” I said, almost trying to defend myself from the way he saw me.

“Not yet,” he said, “but I offer too much to people, they like it, and I have a problem with having people like me. It’s why I pay for everything. It’s—” he paused, a hand at his head. “Think I might have had too much wine.” He grinned at me. “But it’s a Friday.” He picked his glass up, drinking more.

Ok, so I was quickly building an image of Kristopher in my mind, from what I was told by my brother, and by Marsha, I assumed he was going to be strict and demanding, but instead, he was almost paying to have someone be his friend, to have meals with him, and to travel with.

I dipped the king prawn into the sauce, realising maybe I wasn’t the biggest fan of them. They didn’t taste how I remembered, with or without the sauce provided.

By the time the main was served, Kristopher was slurring his words, and my head was growing increasingly lighter. I hadn’t eaten breakfast today. I was too nervous waiting for him to arrive, and I didn’t want to feel sick on the drive. So, I didn’t eat, and now, I was almost regretting it since the wine was making me feel dizzy.

“You know,” Kristopher began, “I told Theo this time would be different. So, don’t be getting any ideas. You might be cute, and attractive, but—” he paused as he pressed himself over the table at me. “We’re not going to sleep together.”

I wasn’t sure if I needed to be shocked or relieved. Sure, he was hot. He wore expensive suits constantly, and smelled like someone I wanted to fuck me, but he was telling me he didn’t want to have sex now. Almost like I wasn’t up to par with the rest of the people he’d been with or employed.

“That’s good,” I told him.

“Good,” he scoffed. “You don’t think I’m attractive?”

“No, you are—I’m just saying—it’s good because it’s—it’s a good change, right?”

He looked me up and down, his squinting eyes, his almost closed gaze. I wasn’t sure what was going on. I felt like I was under interrogation. “Let’s eat up,” he said. “We still need to visit my office.”

I opted for water as I ate the duck. It was divine. I’d eaten nothing like it. There was something about it that made my tongue smack against the roof of my mouth when I ate it. It was heavenly. Kristopher appeared to sober slightly too as he ate.

“We’ll take dessert to go,” he said. “So, no ice cream or sorbets.”

“I don’t mind,” I said. I was already full, and with the wine swishing around in my stomach, I wasn’t sure I needed any more added to it.

“Fine, no dessert,” he said with a smile. “The driver is downstairs, so I’ll pay. You head down.”

I nodded. Nervous to follow his instructions. I didn’t know what was going to happen, or where we were going. I was still a little tipsy, and I was sure he was too.

Outside, in the cool air as it washed over me, I caught Carl, the driver, waving over at me.

It was a surreal feeling to see the expensive car again.

In the back of the car, I clutched my messenger bag close, looking through it to see my things, including the phone I’d left in there. There were missed calls and texts from my mother and brother, both wanting to know how my first day was going. There was even a text from Emile, my best friend.

Several texts.

—He’s inviting you to Germany?!

—I don’t think I read that first part.

—You can bring a friend? Me?

—Seriously?! Damian!

—HELLO?

—Is this a joke? Because I’ll have a bag packed.

As I waited for Kristopher to arrive at the car, I sent him another text. It was true, but that’s if I even made it to the end of next week.