Page 18 of The Mission

He shook hand after hand with three of Arlo’s brothers, their wives and then all the kids who were introduced as One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and Seven. Not their age but order of birth. Just as well he hadn’t been given their names or told which brother they belonged to because of who he could see looming on the other side of the room. Really?Really!Passing out seemed a possibility.

Do not pass out!Arlo grabbed Conrad’s hand and clung tight as he tugged him in front of Rurik Lehner, Conrad’s boss’s boss. The guy in charge of the whole company.Jesus Christ. Almost literally.And Conrad was holding the hand of his baby brother.I feel sick.

“This is my oldest brother,” Arlo said. “I think you two might know one another.”

Think?And defineknow.

“You don’t have to call himsirhere. Or your majesty. Or pain in the neck.”

Rurik held out his hand. Conrad shook it, awash in a maelstrom of emotions. It felt as if his body didn’t know which to go with. Embarrassment? Annoyance? Regret? Disappointment? Anxiety? Fear? Throwing up?

“Hello, Conrad,” Rurik said.

“Hello, Mr Lehner.” Had that come out right?

“Call me Rurik.”

I don’t think I can!

“Yes, you can,” Rurik said.

Arlo elbowed Conrad. “He reads minds.”

Oh God.Conrad was rerunning what Arlo had said, that he was sorry but didn’t regret it.So Arlo already knew Conrad worked for Rurik’s company. At what point had he known that? Conrad hadn’t told him the firm’s name on the plane. They hadn’t exchanged surnames which might have clued Conrad in, but not… How much of a stalker was Arlo really?

“Would you prefer that I left?” Conrad asked Rurik quietly.

Rurik widened his eyes. “Are you kidding? Arlo would never forgive me.” Rurik put his hand on Conrad’s shoulder, pulled him in close and put his mouth to his ear. “Be kind to him, please.”

“What did you say?” Arlo demanded. He tugged Conrad away. “What did he tell you?”

“That he’d beat the shit out of you if I ended up resigning.”Oh shit. Open mouth. Insert foot.But Rurik laughed and so did Arlo. Conrad’s anxiety eased. Slightly.

Arlo guided Conrad over to the window to a spot near the Christmas tree, a space free of people, and held out both his hands. “Sorry.”

Conrad put his hands in Arlo’s. “So…you planned everything, Mr Man-On-A-Mission? Getting behind me in the queue at check-in. Dropping your passport. Making sure there was a seat next to you. Did you persuade your father to buy a chalet in Kitzbühel when you knew I was coming here on holiday?”

“Yes.”

Conrad gaped until Arlo rolled his eyes. “No. Not the last, obviously. And I did drop my passport accidentally. The head clash wasn’t intended.”

“But youarea stalker.”

Arlo winced. “That doesn’t make me sound very appealing.”

“Explain then, in a way that does make you sound appealing.” Though Conrad was sort of flattered that Arlo had made so much effort. But how and why?

“Only Rurik knows what I did, so please be careful what you say. Everyone else thinks I met you in line for the plane. I did. The first time I spoke to you was in the check-in queue, but it wasn’t the first time I’d seen you. I came to the office one night to meet Rurik to go for a meal, and everyone had gone home except for you and him. I don’t think you even knew he was still there. His office was dark. You were…crying.”

Conrad knew when that was. The evening he’d walked in on Mark and Ernesto.

“I wanted to go and hug you but I knew I shouldn’t, couldn’t. Rurik told me to leave you alone. I cried too. I know that sounds pathetic, but you were hurting and somehow that hurt me and I didn’t even know you, but I knew that I was going to get to know you. If I could.”

Conrad swallowed hard.

“I know it doesn’t make sense. Well, it makes sense but it doesn’t make me sound good. You probably think I’m some weirdo now, but I felt a connection. There’d been a time when I’d sat in the dark and cried like that too. Men aren’t supposed to cry, are they? You’d found a place where you thought you’d be on your own and I’d done the same a few months before, except there was no one watching me.”

“I didn’t think anyone was watchingme.”

---