A Fluffy Tale 2: Warm & Fuzzy Read online

  “Sounds like bollocks to me. You don’t have any proof of this. You really don’t want to spread this around.”

  “I won’t, but I wanted to tell you. The knives are out for this kid, at least among the admin assistants, and that’s no rumour. Someone needs to keep an eye on him. He likes you. We like him. I don’t want him to lose his job.”

  “You’re making this very personal. And that’s your bus.”

  “Shit, yeah.” Luke stuck his hand out to hail it, and the bus pulled into the stop. “Look him up on the net and you’ll see why.”

  “What?”

  “On the net. You’ll find him. See you Monday.”

  Spen waved distractedly as the bus pulled off. His own bus arrived a minute later, and he settled down in his seat, disturbed by Luke’s odd news and his strange obsession with Daniel’s safety. If true, it certainly was worrying, but Luke implied that it was more than Daniel’s youth and inexperience that might make him vulnerable.

  Annoyed at himself for giving into the urge, he pulled out his smartphone and typed in “Daniel Walkinshaw”. There were too many results to make sense of, so he just searched for images. The very first page of results showed their Daniel, pictures of him with his family, some showing him holding some kind of prize or certificate. Spen clicked through and discovered that Daniel had won prizes at his secondary school for Chemistry and Computing, and a part-scholarship for his tuition fees. So he was bright. This wasn’t in dispute.

  Puzzled as to why Luke thought this was relevant, Spen went back to the search results, and clicked on one of the pictures of a somewhat younger Daniel with a brother and sister and his parents. Spen assumed it was to do with his academic achievements. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

  This was what Luke had been talking about. Daniel’s parents had died last year in a freak accident involving a collapsing crane and a horrifyingly large block of concrete, leaving Daniel and his siblings orphaned. There were dozens of reports focussing on the misfortune of the people killed and what had caused the accident, and a certain amount of attention to the fate of the three children. But with Daniel being an adult, and with living grandparents, the assumption seemed to be that the two younger kids would manage. The press had moved on, though a coronial enquiry had been held just three months ago, deeming the deaths to be unlawful, and a recent news report said the company responsible for the crane’s maintenance was to be prosecuted for manslaughter.

  So that explained the interrupted degree, which was a damn shame. But it also explained why someone with his obvious technical talent was stuck in an office working for Tony Noble. Did it also explain why Noble had been so eager to hire him? Young, pretty...and responsible for an orphaned brother and sister. Gay or not, Daniel had flashing signs all over him saying “prey”. The question was, was Noble a predator or was that accusation purely based on the office gossip machine, never particularly charitable or accurate?

  Myko put his paw on Daniel’s picture. “What do you think, eh? Worried too?” Myko looked up at Spen and it really did look like he was concerned, especially when he patted the photo again and gave a sad little chirp. But maybe Myko was only reacting to Spen’s mood. Hard to know, with kems.

  He nearly missed his stop, he was so absorbed in his thoughts, and only Myko nipping his ear saved him from a long walk back. Even when he got back to the house, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. His mum came out as he rummaged through the fridge.

  “Hello, love. Had a nice time?” Myko squeaked in glee and jumped from Spen’s shoulder to his mother’s, so she had Vira, her kem, on one side of her head, and Myko on the other. Myko spent near as much time on his mum’s shoulder as Spen’s when he was home.

  “Same as usual. How was school?”

  “Same as usual.” She grinned. “Let’s just say that I’m glad retirement is only three years away.”

  “You’d be bored.”

  “I’d love a chance to be bored. There’s a couple of chops if you want them.”

  “No, thanks. I’ll just make a cheese sandwich.”

  “I was just going to have a cup of tea. Want one?”

  “Oh, thanks. Where’s Dad?”

  “Asleep in front of the telly. I thought I’d wake him up when I was off to bed.”

  Spen nodded. His dad was often exhausted by the end of the week. He worked for the city as an engineer, and budget cuts meant there was always more work than there were people to do it.

  His mum made the tea while Spen made his sandwich, and they sat together in the kitchen while he ate. “Mum, what do you know about orphaned kids? Do they get much help?”

  “Depends on their age. If they’re under sixteen, then they go into foster care.”

  “What if one of them is an adult?”

  “Then I think the government only steps in if there’s a problem. Thinking of someone in particular?”

  “Sort of. I don’t really know the full story.” Nor did he know if Daniel was really the only adult looking after his siblings. Spen knew very little about his situation, and Daniel was very close-mouthed about it. Which was a hint, if Spen needed one, that it was none of his business.

  “Something bothering you, Spencer?”

  He shook himself. “No, not really. Someone at work was talking about a new employee, and got me thinking.”

  “Someone in trouble?”

  “Not that I know of. Not yet.”

  His mother, no fool, peered at him. “But you’re worried.”

  “I don’t know if I need to be. I’ll just keep an eye on things.”

  She patted his hand. “You do that, love. Can’t do any harm to watch out for someone who might need help.” She yawned. “Oh heavens. I think I better wake your father and go to bed. See you in the morning.”

  She lifted Myko off her shoulder and set him down on the table, then bent over and kissed Spen. “You have a good heart, Spencer. It’ll always steer you right.”

  “Thanks, Mum. Sleep well.”

  He was tired too, and should really find his own bed, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Daniel. About what it would be like to lose his parents so young, so suddenly. And about Daniel and Tony Noble, and what, if anything, was behind the departure of Noball’s previous PA.

  Spen was no innocent and had seen a few things he couldn’t even tell his mother about, open-minded as she was. Even so, he found it hard to get his head around the idea that a self-important idiot like Tony Noble—someone in the same company as Spen, someone he saw on an almost daily basis—would cold-bloodedly target an orphaned young man just to get his rocks off. Yet worse things happened every day, and all too often by someone described by neighbours and friends as “such a lovely quiet person”.

  On the other hand, Luke did occasionally get worked up about things which turned out to have no basis at all. Like the time he became convinced the new office drinking water bottles leached cancer-causing chemicals into the water, and tried to organise a petition to get the company to change suppliers again. Jyoti finally got in touch with the lab that did the quality control testing and asked them to email Luke directly to allay his fears, at which point he gave up his campaign, and Spen could stop worrying about how he’d replace an important team member who’d been fired for stupidity. Luke was sincerely worried about Daniel, but that didn’t mean there was anything to worry about.

  Spen finished his cup of tea, then washed up the plate and other things. He couldn’t do any more about this without more information, and he couldn’t get that until next week, so there was no point in fretting over it.

  “Maybe I should get you to talk to Kani and ask him about it,” he said to Myko. His kem tipped his head and appeared to be seriously considering the idea, and not for the first time, Spen wondered exactly how much kems understood about human affairs. “We can both keep an eye on him, okay?”

  Myko chirped and lifted up a paw. Spen shook it, smiling at his kem’s strange gesture. “Right, off to bed for the two of us. And
no waking me up at dawn, you hear?”

  Myko’s wide-eyed “Who, me?” expression was entirely fake, Spen knew from experience. But a very convincing fake.

  Chapter 4

  A weekend’s reflection on the subject of Daniel and his boss didn’t bring any great enlightenment. If Spen could have talked to his mother about it, it might have helped, but he didn’t like the idea of spreading rumours any further than Luke had already done, and he felt uneasy about making assumptions about Daniel’s home situation.

  The obvious thing would have been to talk to Daniel himself, but that was surprisingly difficult to arrange gracefully without revealing that Spen already knew more than he really should do. Daniel clearly liked Spen’s team, but he was rather hesitant and overawed by Spen himself, though he tended to relax once he’d been in the section for a few minutes. There was just no opening where Spen could casually say, “So, I hear you’re an orphan”, or “You know your boss? We think he might be a bit of a creeper”. How could you say that to anyone?

  So all he could do was wait, be friendly, watch Daniel—which wasn’t a hardship, because the kid was ridiculously cute—and hope like hell Luke was wrong. Spen didn’t even have much chance to keep an eye on him the next week, as he only saw Daniel twice, and that only in passing. Daniel looked harried and worried, but he nearly always did. One thing Luke had definitely pegged right was the hostility towards him. Spen saw the looks and noticed the comments now he was alert to them. He overheard two secretaries at the photocopier sneering about Noble’s “hopeless assistant”. Infuriating, when Spen knew how far from the truth it was, but jumping down these bitchy women’s throats wasn’t likely to improve Daniel’s reputation. Spen didn’t know there was much he could do, since Daniel didn’t work for him. Yet. He had some vague ideas about poaching Daniel for his own team, but as yet, they hadn’t resolved into something solid he could put to upper management. He needed more time to observe Daniel and his skills, and it was a political battle that would need careful planning.

  He could at least chase Daniel up for the Friday pub outing. One of the perks of being the manager of a team in a secure area was access to real-time security logs which tracked the movement of individuals’ passes through RFID checkpoints. This meant he could check if anyone had come into the IT section behind an authorised individual. So far he never had to worry about it, but the access was occasionally useful to locate members of his team who’d wandered off, without the hassle of calling and checking on them. Now it came in handy to let him know where Daniel was taking his lunch break—in the Legal and Donor Management staff kitchen.

  Spen took the lift to the fifth floor, and found his quarry. “Hey.”

  Daniel looked up in shock, nearly spilling his tea. “S-Spen. What are you doing here?” Kani, lying curled up on the table, uncoiled and squeaked. Myko jumped down for a cuddle.

  “Looking for you. Calm down. You’re not in trouble.” Spen swung into the chair opposite him. “How’s things?”

  “Fine. Busy. Did you want something? I thought the project was in client testing.”

  “Yeah, it is. I just wanted to ask you to come along tonight. It’s Friday.” At Daniel’s confused look, he added, “Pub night.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry, I can’t.” He shot a glance in the direction of his office. “I’ve been working late most of this week and I have to get home on time tonight. It’s not fair.”

  “Fair on...?”

  Daniel flushed. “My sister. She’s looking after my little brother.”

  “Parents away?” Spen felt like a bastard for pretending he didn’t know, and Myko’s glance at his words only increased his guilty feelings.

  “No. Um, there’s just the three of us. My sister’s taken on so much work since I started here and she’s studying for her exams. I have to get home tonight.”

  “I understand. Don’t stress it. Does, uh, Tony know about your home situation?”

  Daniel looked down at his sandwich. “Yes,” he mumbled. “But there’s a big meeting of donors coming up and there’s a lot to do.”

  “Right. You realise that this company has a very good reputation for supporting staff with family commitments, don’t you?” Daniel looked up, but his glum expression didn’t change. “Just saying that Tony should take them into account.”

  “I’m still on probation. There are plenty of people with kids and commitments here and they don’t ask for special treatment.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Spen, please? I’m fine.” He stood and smiled, but there was no happiness behind it. “Tony’s a good boss. I want to do a good job. I’ll try and make it to the pub next week, okay?”

  “I’ll remind you. Daniel...if you....”

  “What?”

  “You know...need advice about how the place works. You can ask me. Or Jyoti. Any of us.”

  The smile was less tense this time. “Thanks. I’m fine, really. I have to go. You should see my desk.”

  “If you can see your desk, then you’re one ahead of me.”

  Daniel gave a little chuckle. “Uh, yeah, see what you mean. Thanks for the invitation. I wish I could...you understand.”

  “I do. Catch you around.”

  Daniel dumped the dregs of his tea and picked up his plastic lunch container. Kani climbed up on his shoulder, Daniel gave Spen one last shy smile, then disappeared into the corridor.

  Myko ran after them. “Myko, no.”

  His kem turned to look, chirping a little. “No, squirt. He has to work.”

  Still Myko hesitated, so Spen went over and picked him up, nuzzling the top of Myko’s head with his chin. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on him, okay?”

  Myko trilled, affectionately wrapping his tail around Spen’s wrist. His kem’s trust and approval were lovely, but Spen wasn’t at all sure he knew what was going on here. One minute Noble was worried Daniel was burning out, next minute he had him working overtime on multiple nights. All the managers used overtime when they had big meetings and projects, so it wasn’t strange of Noble to do that. Just...the inconsistency.

  Maybe Spen was making something out of nothing, like Luke was prone to doing. He really was busy and if he wanted to get away on time himself, he should shift his butt. He wished Daniel could come along tonight. It would be good for him—but only if he wasn’t stressing about home. Still, now the subject had been broached, Spen could pry a little more out of the kid, see if he could do anything.

  He smiled ruefully. Now he was doing it—making it personal, like Luke. He couldn’t help it. Daniel had the touch of the lost puppy about him, yet he seemed determined to do it all by himself. Spen had worked with young people for too long not to be affected by that.

  Right now, Daniel was okay. Spen couldn’t do anything for him until he asked for help, which he might never do.

  ~~~~~~~~

  “Mr Godwin? I’m Mr Noble’s assistant.”

  The pleasant-faced, sharply suited young man in the foyer stood and smiled at Daniel. “Julian, please. And you’re...?”

  “Daniel. Daniel Walkinshaw.”

  Julian held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Daniel. This is Pyon,” he said. The black kem on his shoulder squeaked at the sound of his name.

  “This is Kani. Say hello, Kani.” Daniel’s kem jumped across from his shoulder onto Julian’s. Daniel reached out for him. “Gosh, I’m sorry—”

  “Don’t apologise. Pyon loves company, don’t you?” Pyon chirped and changed shoulders so he could perch precariously and cuddle Kani. Julian simply adjusted his stance to accommodate the lop-sided load. Daniel tried not to look as amazed as he felt. None of their other clients had been this relaxed. “So, shall we go meet your boss?”

  “This way.”

  Still bearing both kems, Julian followed Daniel to the lifts. “You’re new, aren’t you?” he said as they waited. “I think when Leo...that’s my boss, Leo Underwood...first got me to look into this, someone called Jan was working for Tony.” />
  “Yes, he left. I’ve been here two months. Still learning the ropes.” Though the thrilling question was, would he ever finish learning them?

  “I’m sure you’re doing fine.” They stepped into the empty elevator and Daniel pressed the button. “Kani’s a sweet little fellow, isn’t he?” Julian gave Kani a pat and earned an earlick.

  “Is he bothering you? I can—”

  “Oh, please don’t. He’s keeping Pyon out of mischief.” Pyon looked up and gave his human an indignant squeak. Julian laughed and stroked the swaying black tail. “Just teasing, brat. Here we are.”

  Daniel liked Julian, but he wasn’t the client—his boss was. Maybe the boss was a lot less pleasant, if he couldn’t even bother to come along and see where his money might be going. Daniel wondered if Julian liked his job and his boss, or if he wished he could be doing something completely different, like Daniel did, but couldn’t. At least not now.

  Daniel knocked at Tony’s door. “Mr Noble? Julian Godwin for you.”

  Tony stood, smiling broadly. “Oh, Julian, please do come in. Nice to meet you finally.” They shook hands. “Tea? Coffee? Water?”

  “Green tea would be nice if you have it.”

  “Daniel, would you?”

  Daniel left to fetch the tea. Rather to his surprise, Kani stayed put, grooming a quietly trilling Pyon as if his life depended on it. Nice for him to have someone new to play with. Kani didn’t like the office much, except when they visited IT. None of the office kems seemed inclined to play with him, though they weren’t as unfriendly as their humans were to Daniel. If it were possible, Daniel would have left Kani at the house, but to be honest, without Kani’s company and the occasional visits to Spen’s lair, Daniel would have gone a little crazy from loneliness by now.

  When he returned, Pyon and Kani had moved to the floor and were tumbling around in a play fight. The sides of Tony’s mouth were drawn down disapprovingly as he glanced at the kems. Daniel could have picked Kani up and asked him to behave, but Julian showed no signs of being bothered, listening with apparent attentiveness to Tony’s spiel about the company’s current projects.