Moving On by Stephen Kessel

When Terry and Luke meet at a remote mineral exploration camp in Malaysia they know there is an attraction, but a remote camp is not the place to have a relationship. When they are both in Kuala Lumpur though, and have only a short time before they may never see each other again, their feelings come boiling over and they spend four days as passionate lovers.

After that they have to be together, but too soon fate and Luke’s past come back to separate them. Terry is left alone and retreats to the Australian desert until he is ready to return to stately Oakton Park in England to say farewell to Luke’s ashes. There Luke’s cousin and the past come rushing back into his life.

EXCERPT

It had finally happened one night when we had both had to fly to Kuala Lumpur for different reasons. Me to go on to Jakarta for a job interview. Luke to go for a management meeting in KL.

The plane had been crowded and terrorized from wheels up in Sarawak by a crying infant. Both of us had worked hard right up to the last minute for boarding as well, Luke because he was behind in preparing for his meeting and me on pins and needles about being ready for my interview. The taxi rank at the KL airport had also been deserted and we were forced to take a slow bus into the city. Unfortunately, the crying infant from our flight was on the same bus and still in full voice. The last thing we wanted to hear when we reached the hotel reception desk was:

“Two rooms? I’m sorry, sirs, but we only have a booking scheduled for one room in the name of MM Mining and Exploration. Is perhaps another room booked under another name?”

It took mere seconds to discover this wasn’t so.

“But do you have another room available?” I asked. I had expected Luke to ask the question, but he had remained uncharacteristically silent.

“No sir, and I’m sorry, but the hotels all seem to be booked. We have a convention here and the city is hosting the Asian Games this week—we’ve just tried to find other accommodations for a gentleman who was here just before you, and we had no luck.”

The three of us stood there, each expecting one of the others to come up with a brilliant solution. But no one was doing so. At last the reception clerk cleared his throat and said, “There are two double beds in this room, though. If you gentlemen would be willing . . .”

“I have the first flight out in the morning,” I turned to Luke and said. “It’s perfectly fine with me if I go back to the airport and just wait it out there.” Luke was senior to me, and I didn’t like the chill that went up my spine at the suggestion of one room—not because the idea of sharing a room disgusted me, but because my attraction to Luke was too great for my own good, and I knew nothing could come of this attraction. It was a major reason why I was choosing to move on.

“Nonsense,” Luke said. “If the room has two beds, we’ll just share it. You would be in no shape for an interview after spending a night in the airport we just went through.”

We both knew why I was going to Jakarta, and the knowledge we might only see each other for a few weeks more and might never meet again had me anxious and relieved at the same time. I had every reason to believe that Luke felt the same way. It was no secret to either of us that the attraction was mutual. Electricity had been produced on more than one occasion when our hands had touched or we had looked into the other’s eyes at an unguarded moment.