Matsin’s expression was extremely annoying. “And what’s the prize?”

  “Proving to a certain snooty lawyer that I do have a real job. He’s bringing his brother too.”

  “Oh? Then since you’ve enlisted me into your scheme to get Mister Kani into bed, at least I’ll have a chance to meet a leading artist. I can have a cultured conversation for once.” I raised a finger at him. He’d gone to university, I hadn’t. He and Pel were intellectual snobs. They should get on great.

  Matsin kept me busy, either reading scripts, reading up about my role, or fucking me. I think he reasoned if I didn’t have time to go out and get into trouble, I wouldn’t. Ironically, I had more attention from him in those few weeks than I’d had in the five years we’d been on and off lovers. I didn’t mind. Matsin never understood that I enjoyed his company, for all he was so often a prick. I didn’t know what he thought I wanted from him, but he was almost certainly wrong. He didn’t know me half as well as he thought.

  I started work on the film, and immediately found it a much greater physical challenge than any previous gig. There were a lot of fight scenes, and it felt like a gun had to be fired on every page of the script. Three particularly tedious nights involved being submerged in a water tank for the entire night’s shooting, and immediately after that, I spent hours dangling from a crane. Stunt men, of course, handled the really dangerous stuff and I was babysat the entire time, but a carefully managed fall still went badly, leaving me with a sprained foot. Naturally, this was just before the date with Pel, and the first thing the bastard said to me as he and Urei walked across the set was, “Now who have you been tangling with?”

  “Our lead stuntman, if you must know. Hi Urei. You look...very smart.” He wore a silky yellow shirt and dark green trousers. Both colours suited him, as did the red and silver jewellery in his ears and hair. I wondered if he’d designed it himself. Beside him, Pel wore a sober blue suit and carried an ornate wooden walking stick— a rather old-fashioned thing. I couldn't imagine why he needed it.

  “You look like a cop,” Urei said, blunt as I remembered.

  “Well yeah, because I'm playing one. It’s a costume.”

  “Lying.”

  I sighed and even Pel seemed embarrassed. “If you say so. I'm glad you came,” I said, giving Pel my brightest smile. Urei stared around him at all the oddly clad people in the commissary. I’d arranged a quiet table in a corner for the four of us, but it was hardly secluded. I wondered what our artist would make of it all.

  We collected our food on trays along with the rest of the crew, and went over to the reserved table. The commissary was set up in a tent, with the sides open to the air since the weather had turned humid and hot. Pel, in a suit, stuck out quite badly, but his tense attitude was probably more to do with having been convinced to come on a date with someone he despised than anything else. I pretended not to notice, and concentrated on Urei.

  “First time on a film set?”

  “Yeah. It’s messy.”

  “It is, a bit. I'm glad you could make it tonight since we’re doing one of the big set piece stunts...oh, there’s Matsin.”

  My manager strode over without a tray. “Ah, good evening, Mister Kani. And this would be Mister Ges? Matsin Ro, at your service.” To my amazement, he bowed to Urei, who giggled. “I'm a big fan, Mister Ges. Particularly of the ‘Quirtix’ pastel series.”

  Pel and I stared at Matsin in amazement. Urei just grinned. “Yeah, people like them cos they’re accessible. The abstracts, not so much.”

  “But I think “MaSer” is one of the finest pieces of post-Argen art I’ve ever seen. Tell me, you must have studied Heule.”

  “Sure. Jaska’s a sharper talent, though.”

  “Yes, I can see how you would think that.”

  Matsin and Urei sat down, then Pel and I were forgotten, as were everyone and everything else around us, as they gabbled at each other. I’d never seen Matsin gabble at anyone before.

  Pel looked at the two of them with his mouth open for a few seconds, then snapped it shut and turned to me. “You’re fully recovered, I see.”

  “Yeah, no more bruises. The foot is from a stunt we did last night. I twisted it as I jumped over a wall.”

  “How high was the wall?”

  “Three metres.” I grinned at his reaction. “Spring board of course, mats on the other side. I just landed wrong. It happens. I'm supposed to be this superhero cop type guy so there’s a lot of running and jumping.”

  “I wouldn’t have taken you for the athletic type.”

  “See, just goes to show how wrong you can be about someone, doesn’t it?”

  He lifted his eyebrows but didn’t reply. He stared at the food on his tray. “This looks good.”

  “The food on this film is great. It’s a new catering company, Mum says. She’s doing the security for the production.”

  “Your mother does security?”

  While he ate—and was surprised at just how good the food was—I explained what Mum did for a living. Urei and Matsin were still completely engrossed in conversation, so Pel and I were as private as if we were alone. Pel seemed interested in what I told him about Mum’s company, but then he said, “You made her sound much less...competent.”

  “I didn’t mean to. She used to be a cop, actually. Really elite and highly trained. She got out when two of her closest friends were killed.”

  “That’d hit you hard, for sure.”

  “Yeah, it did. I'm named after them—they were Jesi and Nevo. So,‘Jesevo’. Stupid name.”

  “No, just unusual, and now I know the background, rather touching. She must have thought very highly of them.”

  I shrugged. “I guess. Don’t know much about them, except they were cops and died young.”

  “So what did she do when she left the force?”

  “She found she was pregnant by one of her former colleagues on the force and he offered to marry her because he said he wanted a family. The two of them started a private security firm so she could run that while he stayed with the police.”

  “So your father’s a cop?”

  I shook my head. “No way. That was her first son, but he died when he was four. Her husband took off while my brother was sick, so he’s not my father, fortunately. I’ve never met mine but I don’t think he could be as big a bastard as that guy.”

  “So she raised you on your own.”

  “Yeah, while building the business and running the household. She’s amazing, my Mum.”

  Pel smiled slightly. “Your affection does her credit.”

  “What about you and...?” I gestured discreetly at Urei. “Where are your parents?”

  “All dead—both sets. My father died in an accident when I was ten, and Mum died after a failed operation when I was twenty. We’ve been alone since.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  “Thank you, but it was some time ago.” He ate more of the salad, and went quiet again.

  Unable to scrape up any more conversation, I turned and poked Matsin. “Aren’t you eating?”

  “I ate earlier. Unlike you, I'm still on a daytime routine.” And damn if he didn’t turn around, ignore me and start chatting with Urei like he was his long lost cousin or something. Matsin chatting, Matsin being so enthusiastic—freaky.

  “I looked you up,” Pel said suddenly. “You don’t tend to play cops, do you?”

  “Nope. I'm enjoying it. I wanted to be one when I was a kid but Mum talked me out of it.”

  “So you decided to be an actor instead?”

  Like he wanted to be a lawyer when he was five, I thought. “No, then I had the typical kid career wish list—fireman, doctor, classical dancer....” He raised his eyebrows again. “Okay, not so typical, but I like dancing. Never thought about being an actor until I started doing modelling at school. Turns out it’s what I'm really good at. I make more money than a cop too.”

  I waited for him to make some snide remark, but he just broke a bread roll and crumbled some of it with his fingers. “I wanted to be a cop too,” he said. “I was all set to apply for the tertiary course, but then I...broke up a fight and took a punch to the head. I'm partly blind in my left eye now, so that put paid to that idea.”

  I stared. “Who was fighting, where?”

  “School. Some of my senior class were dealing, and fell out over it. I made the mistake of trying to intervene.”

  “Oh.” Well that explained why he wasn’t so keen on drugs or drug dealers. “Lawyer next best thing?”

  “Not really, but it turns out it’s what I'm really good at too.” He hefted his walking stick. “My tuo kem work is closer to what I want to do. That’s the martial art,” he explained. “Sticks and hands.”

  “That’s a weapon?”

  Urei’s head swivelled. “Don’t piss him off. He could kill you with that thing.” He smirked, and Matsin grinned fondly. I didn’t think it was funny.

  Neither did Pel, apparently. “Not really,” he murmured, giving his brother a look. “Urei, have you eaten? I'm sure we didn’t just come here to sit around and talk, and Jay surely has work to do.”

  “Take your time,” I said. “A runner will come and let me know when I'm needed. I ran through the set up yesterday, rehearsed what I need to do. It’ll be at least an hour. Matsin, you’re not hanging around that long, are you?”

  He cleared his throat. “I thought I might, just this once. After all, it’s not every day I have a chance to see one of my clients blown to smithereens.”

  “Matsin!”

  Urei giggled, and my glare had no impact. Pel smiled to himself. I glared at him too. Pricks, all three of them.

  Chapter 3 — A Fresh Start

  Matsin took over, and he and Urei were joined at the hip for the rest of the evening. The little weirdo found the entire business fascinating, and if Pel found it less so, he kept quiet for his brother’s sake. I couldn’t talk to them for most of the time since the stunt went wrong and we had to shoot it three times, as well film the close ups and dialogue. I spent a lot of the night dangling from a harness, but the big explosions looked impressive. Urei was beside himself when I finally rejoined them.

  “So real,” he cooed. “So big and real.”

  “Not really, it’s just—”

  “What Urei means, I think, is it’s so intense and primal,” Matsin smoothly explained. Urei grinned and nodded, looking adoringly at my manager being a condescending bastard again. “Most people will never see fire like that, so close.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Does it matter?” Pel interrupted quietly. “After all, you want people to believe it. Urei has.”

  “Okay.” I gave up. Beyond me, the pair of them.

  “Jesevo, sweetie, you shouldn’t be on that foot.”

  I turned and grinned as my mum came up and gave me a hug. “Hi, Mum, I’ve got guests.”

  “Oh, I'm sorry,” she said, nodding at Matsin. “Excuse my manners.”

  “That’s quite all right,” Pel said, giving her a charming smile. “Pel Kani. This is my brother, Urei Ges.”

  “How very nice to meet you. I'm Luiz Fresiz, Jay’s mother. Are you friends of Jesevo’s?”

  Pel coughed, but I stepped in. “Yeah. I met Pel at a club a few weeks ago. Urei’s an artist—I thought he might like to see the gag being shot.”

  She turned to Urei. “And did you?”

  “Yeah. I love it. I want to paint it. Pel, can I? Can we come back?”

  Mum’s expression didn’t change, probably trying to hide how seriously weirded out she was by an adult man begging for a favour like a kid. Matsin only smiled. “I'm sure that could be arranged, Urei.”

  “Actually...I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Pel sent a quelling look at Matsin and Urei.

  “Aw, Pel....”

  Mum, smart woman, decided this was more than she wanted to be involved in. “Hon, I have to go. I just wanted to see how you were. Breakfast together?”

  “Sure. My treat—I’ll take you out.”

  “That’d be lovely.” She leaned up to kiss my cheek. “And stay off your foot.”

  “Yes, Mum.”

  “Nice to meet you, Pel...and Urei. Matsin,” she said, giving him another nod. He nodded back. That’s about as friendly as they get, those two.

  Pel looked at his watch. “It’s probably time we were leaving as well.”

  “I need to piss before we do,” Urei said. “Where’s the toilet?”

  I pointed to the temporary facilities a few metres to our left. “Over there.”

  Urei trotted off. Pel, to my surprise, didn’t follow. “I can’t let him come back here,” he said, keeping his voice low. “Don’t encourage him. He’ll get overstimulated and that could be a disaster.”

  “We could keep an eye on him,” I said. The way Pel rolled his eyes was really sarcastic.

  “I'm sure suitable supervision could be arranged,” Matsin said. “After all, to have an artist in residence of Urei’s Ges’ stature would be quite something. I could sell that to the press—”

  “No press!” Pel hissed.

  “Not with any direct contact, Mister Kani,” Matsin corrected smoothly. “You would, of course, be welcome too.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “We’d make sure he didn’t get into trouble.”

  “My schedule doesn’t allow me to do this every night,” Pel said. “I had to shuffle things around quite a bit to manage this.”

  “But he’s having fun. So are you,” I pointed out.

  “Which is fine, once in a while—”

  Matsin decided to ride right over the top of Pel’s objections with his usual tact. “Mister Kani, an artist like Urei needs stimulation, new experiences. He’s already planning a series of pictures about stunt people. This is a perfect opportunity. It’s a stunt heavy film, it has two more weeks to go, and you have people willing and able to assist. It’s a rare chance. Surely you wouldn’t deny him that because of your work schedule.”

  Pel’s sneer could have frozen lava. “You have no idea what you’re talking about, Mister Ro. You can’t even keep your own clients under control.”

  I turned to him and used my eyes to plead with him not to tell Matsin about the specifics of that night. Pel glared but said nothing more.

  Matsin was unmoved. “Jay makes his own arrangements for his social life. Your brother requires special attention and were you to allow this, he would receive it. It would be an honour to assist him.”

  I took Pel by the arm and dragged him aside. “What exactly is wrong with Urei?”

  “He’s schizophrenic. Under control when he takes his medication, but he’s very easily stressed and frightened. You saw that. I have to be with him, and I just can’t spare the time.”

  “You mean the poor bugger is stuck in that shitty apartment of yours because of your job?”

  Pel stiffened. “I do my best and he understands. He’d be furious at your implication.”

  “Maybe, but this is a chance that doesn’t come along every day. How often does he ask you for things?”

  “Almost never,” he admitted. “Don’t you see? I want to give him this, but I'm all he has.”

  I put my hand on his shoulder. “A couple of hours a night? Only when there’s a gag definitely happening? He’ll probably get bored anyway—filming is mostly sitting around and waiting for shots to be set up.”

  “I—” He looked over my shoulder. “He’s coming.”

  “You all done talking about me?” Urei said cheerfully.

  I stared in surprise. “How did you—”

  “The voices in my head told me,” he said, still cheerful. “Pel, it’ll be okay. I just want to do some sketching, take some photos, get a feel for it. I won’t get too involved, promise.”

  “I would make all possible arrangements to facilitate the work of such an important artist,” Matsin said. “And perhaps a donation of a sizeable nature to your advocacy centre might be in order?”

  I felt like gagging at the smarminess. Pel’s lips thinned. “You’re under the mistaken impression I can be bought, Mister Ro.”

  “Forgive me.” Matsin made a slight bow. “I only thought that a sufficiently large amount would allow you to hire a locum for a few hours to cover the time you would spend here. I wouldn't want Urei to feel he was harming your activities by pursuing his own.”

  It was shitty of Matsin, because it boxed Pel into a corner and made anything but acceptance look mean. Yet I knew from what I’d seen of the two, Pel was motivated only by what was best for Urei.

  “Give it a try,” I said in a low voice. “A couple of nights, maximum. We’ll fit in with you as best we can.”

  “Why?” His shoulders bunched as if preparing for an attack and his knuckles whitened where he gripped his cane.

  “Because I owe you and he’s got a real gift. I don’t know much, but I know when someone’s special. Think about it. Do what you think’s best.” I lifted my voice and turned to my manager. “Pel needs time to arrange things and see if it can work out. Don’t lay any more pressure on him, Matsin.”

  Matsin gave me a supercilious glare, but Pel and Urei relaxed. “We should be going,” Pel said, walking to his brother’s side. “We’re grateful for this evening.”

  “It was fun for me,” Urei said. He looked up at his brother. “Boring for you.”

  “Not...all of it.” Urei grinned. “Jay, can you tell me where we can pick up a taxi?”

  “Allow me,” Matsin said. “I was just leaving, so I can drop you off in my luxar.”

  Pel’s fixed, barely polite smile indicated he’d have preferred a taxi, but Urei agreed happily. I watched the three walk off and wished I’d been able to learn more about the attractive, intriguing and occasionally pleasant Mister Kani.

  I didn’t finish until four but Mum was still on duty, so the company arranged a driver for me. I crawled into bed and slept like a corpse until nearly eleven. I heard Mum in the kitchen, so I poked my head out, mumbled, “Shower,” and went off to let the water wake me up.

  More used to weird hours than me, she was perky and looking forward to breakfast—well, brunch—with me at Kula’s Café, a popular diner down the block from us. In the neighbourhood we had plenty of places to choose from where we could eat undisturbed by reporters, and where ‘Jay Langse’ earned no more than a glance. Most of the people had seen me around since I was a brat, so I knew better than to pull any celebrity behaviour on them.