A Time for Friends (35 page)

‘Bro, you can say that again,’ a young American sitting beside him agreed. Without a moment’s hesitation Leon leaned over and snogged him. Jonathan nearly fell off the sofa in
shock. What the hell was going on? Was Leon behaving like this because he was plastered? Didn’t he realize how disrespectful his behaviour was to Jonathan? ‘I’m gonna hit the
floor,’ Leon grinned, winking at Jonathan. ‘First score to me!’ His eyes were bright with anticipation and alcohol and moments later he was swallowed into the heaving mass of
bodies that were bopping in the dark psychedelic light to the loud thumping music.

If he had been in the form for it, Jonathan would have lost no time in following Leon onto the dance floor. He loved dancing but right now he felt gutted. He had hoped to be back in their
beautifully appointed room with the big four-poster bed. Instead he was watching his companion kissing other men with not a care in the world, or a worry how Jonathan might feel.

He’s younger than you. He doesn’t get the chance to travel much. He doesn’t get to be free to be gay. He hasn’t come out at home yet
! Jonathan silently made
excuses for the other man as he finished his second shot, ignoring a come-hither look from a skinny, brown-eyed, sallow-skinned man who raised his glass at him. Jonathan nodded politely and turned
away. He needed to go to the loo before he started dancing.

Finally Jonathan made his way onto the dance floor looking for Leon’s distinctive silk purple shirt. He saw him bopping exuberantly in a group on the far side of the floor, and felt a wave
of relief. Maybe kissing that guy on the sofa was a one-off! Spur of the moment stuff with the excitement of being in London in Heaven. Jonathan smiled at his friend’s
joie de vivre
as he jived and shimmied uninhibitedly.
Stop acting like an auld fella
, he chided himself as a surge of sweaty, testosterone-filled bodies made him lose sight of Leon. He circled around
the edge of the undulating multitude. And then, his stomach gave a sickening lurch as a gap in the swaying mass gave him a glimpse of Leon in a deep, lusty, open-mouthed kiss with a very camp blond
young man whom Jonathan judged to be in his early twenties.

He felt as though he’d been punched in the gut, hard. He couldn’t believe his eyes. His heart lurched before starting to race and a dreadful sense of apprehension enveloped him.
Don’t say he’d made the same mistake with Leon as he had with the others. Don’t say he’d made a fool of himself again.

‘Hey, what’s going on?’ He almost had to shout over the din as he reached the embracing couple.

‘Meet Günter,’ Leon yelled, dropping an arm around the young man and grinning broadly. ‘I’ve pulled already. I
love
this place. Get out on the floor, dude,
and shake your booty.’

‘I don’t
want
to pull.’ Jonathan stood in front of Leon, shocked to his core.

‘But that’s what we came to London for, nothing else.’ Leon couldn’t meet his eye.

‘I thought we came to be together.’ Jonathan stared at him, hardly able to comprehend what Leon had just said.

‘Aw come on, man, don’t ruin my buzz. I thought we were just friends. I’m sorry if you’re into me, but I just don’t fancy you that way. You must know that.
You’re not my type.’

‘But . . . but . . . you said it was fine to book a double room.’ Jonathan was bewildered.

‘Yeah because we wouldn’t be in it much. You don’t come to London to stay in a hotel room. You come to party! Look, Günter and I are gonna split later. I’m going
back to his place. I’m sorry if you’ve got the wrong impression, Jon. I really like you as a friend. I think you’re great, but I like my men small, slender, and youthful. Older
queens don’t float my boat. I’ll see you back at the hotel tomorrow and we’ll talk.’ He shrugged, still unable to meet Jonathan’s eyes.

Jonathan felt as though he was going to faint as he stared at the man he’d secretly hoped would become his life partner. He was in total shock. Leon had held hands with him in the taxi and
kissed him in the queue and now he was telling him that he wasn’t his type, and that he was practically a geriatric!

‘You’re here. Get in the groove, dude, you might meet someone tonight. A good shag will do you all the good in the world,’ Leon said petulantly, wishing Jonathan and his long
face would disappear and leave him to his dancing and Günter.

‘You know, you’re a real bollix, Leon,’ Jonathan swore. Leon shrugged before turning away to begin dancing with Günter who simpered triumphantly, wrapping his arms around
Leon.

Jonathan turned away, unable to watch them smooching, and made his way through the swarm of dancers towards the exit. The blood was roaring in his ears. He felt sick, shocked and utterly drained
as he left the club and walked past groups of revellers under the arches beneath Charing Cross Station. He walked in a daze, stunned at the way things had turned out and Leon’s cruel, almost
calculated rejection of him, berating himself for being a romantic fool and wondering how he could have been such an idiot.
You did it again. You fool. You eejit! You sad bastard. Will you
never learn? You are unlovable!
He was beyond gutted! He felt completely dead inside.
A good shag will do you all the good in the world.
Clearly Leon had come to London with that very
agenda, and not to spend time with Jonathan.

It started to rain lightly, bringing him back to reality, and he hailed a taxi and gave the name and address of the hotel.
You’re not my type. I don’t fancy you
. Older
queens don’t float my boa
t. The words clanged like clashing cymbals over and over in his head and he tried desperately not to cry as the elderly black taxi rattled and bumped down
the Strand towards the Mall. Even the glory of the illuminated Admiralty Arch and the sight of Buckingham Palace, resplendent ahead, could not move him as it usually did and he barely glanced out
the window as the taxi rounded the Victoria Memorial heading for Knightsbridge and the urgently needed sanctuary of his hotel room.

Hilary gazed bleary-eyed at the text that had pinged on her phone, waking her up.

I need to talk
!

Need! Was that good or bad? It certainly wasn’t like the giddy texts Jonathan had been sending her yesterday, Hilary thought, yawning as she glanced at her bedside clock. Quarter to eight!
He was up early after his night of unbridled passion.

The house was uncharacteristically silent for that hour of the morning. No one frantically running around, no rushing to shove breakfast down necks, no looking for school books, or keys and
phones, just blissful peace. And then she remembered, the girls were on school holidays, Niall was in Dubai and she was only going to drop into the office for an hour or so later on. Hilary gave a
luxurious stretch. She’d make herself a cuppa and a slice of toast and bring it back to bed and settle down for a gossip with Jonathan. Twenty minutes later, propped against the pillows,
sipping her tea, she picked up her phone and dialled Jonathan’s number.

‘Hi,’ came a muffled voice.

‘What’s up?’ she asked, instantly alert to something being wrong.

‘Leon went off with someone else last night. He told me that he didn’t fancy me. He told me that he liked his men young, and slender, and that older queens didn’t float his
boat,’ Jonathan said dolefully.

‘What!’ Hilary was stunned. ‘He said
what
?’

Jonathan repeated Leon’s words.

‘Oh my God! I don’t know what to say, Jonathan.’ She couldn’t believe her ears.

‘What
is
there to say?’ he said dully. ‘I’ve made a complete, an absolute fool of myself, and kidded myself yet again that there’s someone out there for
me.’

‘There
is
someone out there for you,’ Hilary exclaimed, grieved at her friend’s desolation and shocked at his totally unexpected news.

‘I give up, I just give up.’ Jonathan was near to tears.

‘Where is he now?’

‘Shagging young Günter somewhere, I suppose,’ Jonathan said bitterly. ‘I’ve spent a fortune to be treated like the biggest idiot going. I
am
the biggest
idiot going.’

‘Well you can’t stay in the same room as him,’ Hilary said decisively.

‘I have to wait until he comes back – all his stuff is here.’

‘Feck that for a lark! Pack it up and leave it in reception and check out! Let him go and bunk in with this Günter yoke!’ Hilary was raging for her friend.

‘I suppose I could do that and just get a flight home,’ he said flatly. ‘But I just don’t think I can face an airport though. I’m afraid I’ll start bawling
and make a spectacle of myself in public.’

‘I’m coming over,’ she declared, surprising herself.

‘You’re going to come to
London
!’ Jonathan exclaimed.

‘Yes I am. I don’t want you jumping into the Thames. It would be far too inconvenient right now,’ she teased, and smiled when he managed a laugh. ‘That’s better.
Let me come over and be with you.
A little help is better than a lot of sympathy
.’ She reiterated her mother’s oft-quoted saying.

‘I’d love it if you did,’ Jonathan said with heartfelt gratitude. ‘Are you sure? Where will you stay?’

‘Where will
we
stay,’ she corrected him. ‘Go book yourself into that hotel we stayed in when we went to that lighting exhibition a few years back. The one in
Kensington near where Colette lived. It’s lovely.’

‘The Royal Garden?’

‘That’s the one! You go sort yourself and check out, and I’ll go and see what’s the story with flights. Talk to you in a while.’

‘Are you
sure
, Hilary? I don’t want to put you out,’ Jonathan said, but she knew by his tone that he wanted her to come.

‘Of course I’m sure. Unless you really want to come home immediately?’

He groaned. ‘I really don’t think I could stand in that ghastly queue in Stansted or even change my flight and fly out of Heathrow today,’ he confessed. ‘But honestly I
don’t expect you to fly over here.’

‘You’d do the same for me. Wouldn’t you?’ she demanded.

‘Of course I would. The next time a gay man breaks your heart I’ll be there straight away.’ He showed a glimmer of humour and she felt relief. She knew Jonathan occasionally
suffered from bouts of depression and she was worried that in his current state of despair he might do something rash.

‘Right, I’d better get up and at it, OK? I’ll check out the flights. Stay calm, and get the hell out of that hotel. Love ya, Harpur!’

‘I love you too, Hilary,’ Jonathan said gratefully and she knew he was crying as she hung up.

She lay back against the pillows, thoroughly upset for her friend. She had met Leon several times and had liked him. Like Jonathan, she too had thought that he had finally met someone who, in
time, might become his partner. She knew Leon hadn’t come out to his family yet. That was a drawback to their relationship, but she’d hoped with Jonathan at his side he would have the
courage to become the person he really was, and be true to himself.

And Jonathan had been so measured this time. He hadn’t rushed in, like she’d seen him do before. He’d taken Hannah’s advice and played it cool, for all the difference it
had made. She hadn’t planned on a trip to London, but she knew once she explained the reason to the girls and Niall they’d understand. A thought struck her and she flung back the duvet
and jumped out of bed. She climbed the stairs to the attic conversion and knocked on each of their doors.

‘Girls! Girls! Get up! How do you fancy a trip to London?’

‘Whaaa!’ Millie raised a sleepy tousled head from the pillow.

‘Wow, Mam, what’s going on?’ Sophie bounded out of her room, liking the sound of what she’d just heard. Hilary went in and sat on the side of Millie’s bed. Sophie
sat on the other side expectantly, thrilled at the idea of going to London.

‘Jonathan’s had an upsetting experience. You know he was going to London with Leon for a few days and was hoping that this time he might have finally met the love of his life?’
She gazed at her daughters who were suddenly all ears.

‘Yeah,’ Sophie said while Millie nodded.

‘And?’

‘Well it didn’t work out as planned. Leon told Jonathan that he didn’t fancy him and ditched him and went off with someone else,’ Hilary explained ruefully.

Sophie’s hand flew to her mouth in dismay and Millie sat bolt upright.

‘Oh
no!
’

‘That’s
awful!’

‘Oh poor Jonathan! Of course we
have
to go to London to rescue him.’

‘Let’s get going!’

Hilary’s heart lifted at her daughters’ kind and heartfelt responses. They were great girls, she thought proudly. They loved Jonathan dearly. He had been a big part of their lives
and they were always eager to spend time with him. He was their confidant, their older brother, their fashion adviser, their cheerleader, and their relationship was one of mutual love, respect and
great friendship.

‘OK then, let’s get the show on the road.’ Hilary stood up. ‘I’m going to see what flights are available, but we won’t tell him you’re coming.
We’ll give him a surprise!’ She gave them the thumbs-up. ‘Our boy needs us. Let’s go.’

Sophie scrambled off the bed, aglow with excitement. ‘The Hammond girls are off to London on a rescue mission. Tally HOOOOO!’

‘What’s going on? Everything’s all packed up!’ Leon gazed around the bedroom noting the two travel bags, and the case, side by side on the floor. There
were none of his clothes draped on the chair where he had left them the previous evening, and nothing of Jonathan’s on view. Jonathan had been sitting at the small coffee table flicking
through a complimentary
Times
, staring out at the elegant, red-bricked, six-storeyed houses that lined the street, and the views of the Brompton Road, and the Oratory further down.

‘I’m checking out,’ Jonathan said quietly, noting Leon’s bleary-eyed, dishevelled, unshaven appearance. ‘There’s an envelope in your bag with the money you
paid for my fare. You can put it towards a room in Jurys.’