ten years of my life, and managed not to catch AIDS or anything that couldn’t be sorted out with a course of penicillin. So, I called my uncle and asked him for help. None of his three children have a head for business. Or maybe they decided they’d be happier doing something else far, far away from him. So off I went into rehab and emerged just in time to start my MBA at Harvard. So my official CV? A load of bullshit. But the MBA, that was real. Just about killed my will to live, too.”
“I hadn’t checked that out.”
“There was a profile on me in the news when I became the designated Crown Prince of LeBeau Mining. Was voted ‘most eligible bachelor in Canada’ one year in Forbes .”
“Only that you’re gay.”
“Well, I could marry a guy in this country.” He shrugged. “But it hasn’t come up.”
Nikolai mulled that while the waiter took their order. Again, Henri made the decisions regarding wine and Nikolai put the food-related decision in his hands, too. Since Henri was a regular, he knew what was good.
Nikolai watched Henri charm the waiter with an easy smile and wondered why he hadn’t found a long-term partner. No traces from an ex or even current boyfriend in that bachelor pad. Not so much as a second toothbrush. But as the CEO-in-waiting, he might simply be too busy. “I assume your schedule doesn’t really allow you much in the way of relationships?” Nikolai asked.
“I’m very often just too tired, but yeah, sex is easier to get than a good conversation.”
Henri smiled at him, which oddly warmed Nikolai, and he wasn’t sure why he cared. Then again, Henri seemed like a really nice guy, and he was flattered and honestly hoped he’d find somebody who offered both great conversation and sex. From what he could tell, Henri deserved better than he had.
“You should take the time to find a boyfriend. It does change everything.”
“Like?”
“I don’t know. Stability. Peace. My father—” He stopped immediately, then grasped for something to save himself. He didn’t actually want to talk about Vadim, though he wasn’t ashamed of his father’s living arrangements. Or was he? No, he just didn’t talk about him with strangers. Not even with friends or work colleagues. Vadim resented sharing his life—or his thoughts—with anybody but his husband, and Nikolai was never sure if even his husband knew what was going on under the surface.
“Yes?” Henri prompted.
“My father married a guy in 2006. Once it became legal in Britain. He’s . . . at peace. He’s happy. I’m going to see him next week.”
Henri rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Is he bisexual?”
“No, he’s gay. Just took him a while to be able to live it. Despite what Putin’s doing in Russia, these days it doesn’t seem like such a big deal in the rest of the developed world, but back in the seventies, eighties . . . that was different. He was in the military. Soviet Army.”
“Ah, yes, that would be complicated.” Henri regarded him. “And what are your feelings about that? He must have left your mother?”
“She divorced him when I was very young and didn’t really get it.”
“You think she knew?”
“My mother’s not easily fooled. I’d expect she saw through him immediately. I don’t know, seems like a horrendous thing to do, doesn’t it?” And that’s just the things I can talk about in polite company.
“I think we all do things in our lives that seem a bit mad in hindsight.”
Nikolai chuckled. “For an ex-pothead, you still have the philosophy down pat.”
“I spent my twenties thinking deep thoughts. Some of that was bound to survive an MBA.”
“You don’t make it sound very appealing. I was considering it, but I’m not very academic.”
“Oh, I made friends and I worked hard and I can even use some of that these days. Mostly, it’s a method to solve problems, a way of thinking. But there’s also the danger of them crushing what’s you and putting their own
“I hadn’t checked that out.”
“There was a profile on me in the news when I became the designated Crown Prince of LeBeau Mining. Was voted ‘most eligible bachelor in Canada’ one year in Forbes .”
“Only that you’re gay.”
“Well, I could marry a guy in this country.” He shrugged. “But it hasn’t come up.”
Nikolai mulled that while the waiter took their order. Again, Henri made the decisions regarding wine and Nikolai put the food-related decision in his hands, too. Since Henri was a regular, he knew what was good.
Nikolai watched Henri charm the waiter with an easy smile and wondered why he hadn’t found a long-term partner. No traces from an ex or even current boyfriend in that bachelor pad. Not so much as a second toothbrush. But as the CEO-in-waiting, he might simply be too busy. “I assume your schedule doesn’t really allow you much in the way of relationships?” Nikolai asked.
“I’m very often just too tired, but yeah, sex is easier to get than a good conversation.”
Henri smiled at him, which oddly warmed Nikolai, and he wasn’t sure why he cared. Then again, Henri seemed like a really nice guy, and he was flattered and honestly hoped he’d find somebody who offered both great conversation and sex. From what he could tell, Henri deserved better than he had.
“You should take the time to find a boyfriend. It does change everything.”
“Like?”
“I don’t know. Stability. Peace. My father—” He stopped immediately, then grasped for something to save himself. He didn’t actually want to talk about Vadim, though he wasn’t ashamed of his father’s living arrangements. Or was he? No, he just didn’t talk about him with strangers. Not even with friends or work colleagues. Vadim resented sharing his life—or his thoughts—with anybody but his husband, and Nikolai was never sure if even his husband knew what was going on under the surface.
“Yes?” Henri prompted.
“My father married a guy in 2006. Once it became legal in Britain. He’s . . . at peace. He’s happy. I’m going to see him next week.”
Henri rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Is he bisexual?”
“No, he’s gay. Just took him a while to be able to live it. Despite what Putin’s doing in Russia, these days it doesn’t seem like such a big deal in the rest of the developed world, but back in the seventies, eighties . . . that was different. He was in the military. Soviet Army.”
“Ah, yes, that would be complicated.” Henri regarded him. “And what are your feelings about that? He must have left your mother?”
“She divorced him when I was very young and didn’t really get it.”
“You think she knew?”
“My mother’s not easily fooled. I’d expect she saw through him immediately. I don’t know, seems like a horrendous thing to do, doesn’t it?” And that’s just the things I can talk about in polite company.
“I think we all do things in our lives that seem a bit mad in hindsight.”
Nikolai chuckled. “For an ex-pothead, you still have the philosophy down pat.”
“I spent my twenties thinking deep thoughts. Some of that was bound to survive an MBA.”
“You don’t make it sound very appealing. I was considering it, but I’m not very academic.”
“Oh, I made friends and I worked hard and I can even use some of that these days. Mostly, it’s a method to solve problems, a way of thinking. But there’s also the danger of them crushing what’s you and putting their own
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