Be Careful What You Wish For - 6. Chapter 6 'Love's the Drug'

Kris fussed about arranging the items on his office desk, and liberally spaying a cloying air freshener around the room. He’d just learned that the boss was due to visit him in five minutes, purpose unknown.

A knock - Kris sprang up and answered the door. It was Miss Haggard,

‘Oh, it’s just you’

‘Mr Davidson’s due to see you, presently, and I just wondered if you needed me to take notes’

‘Hardly’ came the tart reply, ‘and I suspect it’s confidential’

‘Very well, I’ll leave you to it, but I think you might want to consider removing that’ she added, gesturing towards a shelf that housed the prized, Jeff Stryker, limited edition butt plug.

Her boss’s face was vinegar,

‘I don’t see any problem with my displays, it’s a rare Polynesian pink toadstool, presented to me by the grateful people of Tonga, a reward for bringing drugs to their island, and curing foot fungus’

Miss Haggard wasn’t convinced. The item bore the porn star’s signature and read, ‘Think of me every time you sit down on this’

Miss Haggard withdrew silently. Hardly had she closed the door when the Managing Director Stuart Davidson bustled past her and into Kris’s room.

‘Don’t get up, Karton’ he said to the senior pathologist, who was still on his feet,

‘It’s only me, let’s keep this informal. Fact is you’ve had a pretty rough time lately, with the media and all that. I must say it was touch and go whether or not to keep you. But I said to the board, ‘everybody is overloaded with work at one time or another, and nobody can take a bigger load than Kris Karton, maybe we should keep him’

Anyhow, to cut a long story short, we’ve decided to send you across the pond for a while, see how they do things in Milwaukee. You could learn a lot. Just remember, you’ll be in the States; stay away from churches and children, co-operate with the management, and if you must keep your head down, don’t do it in public rest areas!

Six months there sound alright? I’ll start the paperwork right away’

Davidson clumped out, leaving the door ajar, Miss Haggard entering at once, like they were both revolving figures in a German weather clock.

‘How are you Dr Karton, can I get you anything. You look like you need to sit down?’

But Kris was struck dumb. He hadn’t even the wherewithal to retaliate for being addressed ‘doctor’ which he hated. And he could not have been in a state of more shock, had he sat down on Jeff Stryker himself

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Times Square, New York - newsroom of Vapid News.

An incoming phone call from the UK was taken, asking for Jezebel Roth. It was Roberto.

‘Take a message’ barked the harpy,

‘Says he’s gotta talk with you, Miss Roth’

‘Ask who it is’

Pause.

‘Some guy called Javier Sanchez’

Extra long pause. The vixen sauntered over, faking nonchalance.

‘OK, I’ll take it’

She moved to a place as discreet as the environment allowed.

‘Right, you son of a bitch, I’ll give you ten seconds then I’m done’

‘Easy Jez, I know you’re mad, but we’re working together here’

‘Fuck YOU! You used me to get material for your story, then bailed. And you let me walk into all that shit over there’

‘There was a change of plan that day, you must believe me, I didn’t know they’d wheel out that wimpy, little guy’

‘Really? My reputation sucks, thanks to that worm Karton. I’m a journalist, but right now my phone rings 24/7 with offers to do dry clean commercials, and Vogue want me to model a new range of vomit resistant street wear’

‘Be reasonable Jez, I couldn’t know he’d puke all over you’

‘You were the one who told me Kris Karton was behind all this, I had to give it a shot’

‘He is! I’ve met the guy and got to know him. And I know I can go in deep. He’s definitely behind all this. Just trust me’

‘Yeah, I know how deep you go in, remember? I just didn’t realize it meant anything with a pulse’

‘Trust me on this, Jez’

‘Trust you? Are you freakin’ crazy?’

‘It’s better if we work together. I know you’ve done a lot of good work on Canis Carcinoma in the States. But the operation in the UK is in deep shit, and it’s nearly all down to Karton. I can bring this’

‘I need time. Right now I don’t know what to think. Leave your contact info, and whatever name you’re using right now’

She put down the phone abruptly.

At the other end Roberto smiled. The exchange with Ms Roth hadn’t gone as badly as he’d feared. He’d clearly lost none of his charm. He checked his organiser for Kris Karton’s number. The Latino love god had not seen his puny amour since their una noche de pasión, despite several pathetic pleading messages from the latter. Perhaps it was time to make Kris’s heart beat faster once more?

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Kris’s long suffering partner Gordon got home, parked up and went to the rear of the house. He always entered by the back door. He hoped Justin was home and he was glad when he discovered he was right. The boy made such a difference to the house.

‘Justin!’

Gordon set down his books, briefcase and shopping and slumped into a comfortable chair. A frantic clumping on the stairs announced the young lodger’s approach,

‘Cup of tea, boss?’ asked the youth, enthusiastically,

‘You’re just trying to get on my good side’

‘Do you have any other side?’

‘Flatterer!’

Gordon read the paper until the tea was ready, then, cradling the hot cup gingerly, he got serious,

‘I need to have a talk with you’

‘Uh oh!’

‘Kris and I have been discussing this’

‘Oh fuck!’

‘HEY, language!’

Justin looked faux-sheepish. Gordon took a sip of the hot tea,

‘You really need to tidy up after you. I noticed this morning that you left the house bathroom in a hell of a mess. And what’s all that wet cardboard lying about in the basket?’

Justin looked vaguely embarrassed,

‘Can I be frank with you, Gord?’

Gordon thought, ‘Oh no, here we go’, he’d come to realise that their house guest was nothing if not forthright. Justin continued,

‘You know when you finish off a toilet roll or kitchen roll, you’re left with one of those cardboard tubes?’

Gordon nodded, but was puzzled.

‘Well, when I have a bath I make loads of really thick soap suds, fill the cardboard tube up with them, and slide it up and down over my hard cock’

Gordon buried his head in his hands. Justin was on a roll, literally,

‘It’s great; I just imagine it’s the best blow job. But kitchen rolls are even better, they’re longer, so your bell end stays inside and rubs against the tube, wow! It’s wild, and a great way to recycle!’

Gordon lifted his head up, raised his eyebrows, could there be more?

‘But the tube gets wet and comes apart, so you’ve pretty much got to blow your wad before the cardboard turns to mush, and gets mixed up with all that soap and spu..’

‘Yeah, YEAH! I’ve got it’ Gordon held up his hand, saying stop.

‘You’re an attractive young man, surely you’d have no trouble getting a blow job?’

The teacher instantly regretted what he’d just said, but Justin was unconcerned,

‘Yeah, probably, but I don’t fancy guys my age. It’s like whenever I go to ‘Spurtz’ or any of those places. I have an OK time but those guys aren’t my thing. I like older men. I want a real man to blow me’

Gordon could hardly believe this conversation was happening, much less the part he was playing,

‘Justin, listen to yourself! A ‘real man’ as you put it doesn’t perform oral sex on men’

But Justin smiled coyly,

‘Maybe they should. I’m in no hurry anyway. I’m waiting for a sexy, older guy to have a shit load of fun with, that’s me’

Gordon needed to change the subject quickly. How could this kid so easily unsettle him? He knew instinctively that any easy, convenient reply he gave Justin would be rejected automatically, but at the same time he couldn’t really talk to this boy as an equal, could he? He pressed on,

‘Anyway, as I was about to say, Kris and I have been talking about this, and we’re happy to have you stay here until you get yourself sorted’

‘Yeaaahhhhh!’

Justin jumped from his chair, leapt over to Gordon, and threw his arms around the big man’s neck, kissing him on the cheek. Gordon was left breathless,

‘But you’ve got to keep the place clean. And try to find a more hygienic way to wank!’

‘Thanks so much Gord. I love you man, LOVE you! You are the best!’

What is it about words; uncut diamonds scattered over the beach of life, without significance except to those who are so desperately looking for it? Gordon realised that nothing he’d just heard meant a thing, but to his starved heart the young man’s words shone a treacherous glimmer of false hope.

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‘Penny for them, Greene’

‘Since when have my thoughts ever been worth a penny?’

Alison stopped the ironing. In truth few people had ever been that interested to know what Greene was thinking, but she was not like other people,

‘I know there’s something troubling you, let’s have it’

She switched off the iron and sat down beside her brother.

Greene explained the lot, the illicit meetings with Roberto, the opportunity he’d taken to download from his tutor’s laptop, the commodious material about Canis Carcinoma, and the many references in the documents to Kris Karton, whom Greene had met on only a few occasions but whom he knew to be Gordon’s partner.

Alison listened attentively then inspected the files herself; she admitted that she was unable to make any sense of it.

‘There’s only one thing for it, we’ve got to let Gordon have a look at all this. If it seems to say what I think, then he has a right to know’

Greene was anxious not to involve Kris, but Alison was able to reassure him. Gordon was returning to school that night for an adult evening class, an English degree course, discussing the various merits of Jane Eyre with a class of mature women students who looked old enough to have met Charlotte Brontë.

But the Gordon whom Alison spoke to on the phone seemed oddly abstracted, compared to the dear friend she’d joked with at school earlier that day; that said, he kindly agreed to meet up and help if he could.

When his class was wrapped up, around nine, he located a quiet room and sat down with the couple and their data. As the minutes ticked by Alison tried to look constructive by making cups of hot chocolate, Greene just studied the classroom walls. Gordon’s face grew graver and graver.

After forty minutes or so, Gordon asked Greene if it were OK to make a copy. Greene complied and asked if there was anything else he could do to help. Gordon hesitated for a moment, everything about his body language appearing ready to say ‘no’ But Greene looked so sincere.

‘Yes, I think you might. Ring me tomorrow, and we’ll sort a time for you to come over to my place. Kris will be out at his flower arranging class’

Greene looked genuinely pleased to be included, but the smile on Gordon’s face was weak and short lived. As he turned away, Alison saw her friend’s countenance change, and that craggy, characterful face crease up with anxiety.

Gordon bade them goodnight and drove home. It was a hellish journey, not simply because of the dreadful Manchester traffic. His mind was burdened with concerns he could never have dreamt of hours earlier. Then, the worst he had to deal with were his ill conceived feelings about Justin. But tonight’s revelations threw him into a new league of despair.

If the documents given him by Greene Carter were true, the man he’d spent the last twenty years with was complicit in a major drugs cover up at a global pharmaceutical firm, involving the lives and careers of thousands of co-workers, and sums of money that no-one could yet conceive of.