In The Golden Age of TMI, a good yarn is hard to find. And the moment Kane claimed he and Jordan didn't have sex the first time they met, I knew: Thereby hangs a tale.
"We met in Kudos," Kane begins.
"It was the birthday of a friend," Jordan pipes in. "I don't usually go to Kudos."
"Neither do I," Kane rejoins. "It's a hook-up joint for chopsticks and walking sticks."
"Chopsticks," apparently, is slang for skinny Asian twinks. "Walking sticks" are the geriatrics who chase after them.
At first glance, it's easy to box Jordan and Kane exactly into the Kudos type. Jordan is in his early 20s. He's a slender drink of chilled awesomeness, a hair stylist whose street cred is visible everywhere: the obscenely healthy head of hair, the radioactively white teeth, the perfect polo shirt that's bang-on for Sunday brunch on the beach. Kane, on the other hand, is in his 30s. He is socially suave, a smooth operator. He has mastered the art of tapping away at his Blackberry whilst never missing a beat in the conversation. And when his phone rings, he picks up immediately: "Hello, mother dearest." (It really was his mum.) Kane excuses himself from the table to speak with mum.
Jordan, although ethnically Asian, is more British than Chinese. He has hardly done an extended period in Asia beyond the occasional vacation. "I have been to Manila - I had a Filipino boyfriend," he shares. But the night he and Kane met each other, it was instant attraction.
"We didn't have sex straight away," Kane reminisces. "Everything was so perfect, I was afraid it was going to be a dud root." Then, a high pitched, boyish laugh. The sound's a bit disconcerting - and it's a fine counterpoint to the steely air of tenacity one develops from years in the trenches of financial services.
Kane is more keenly attuned to Asian sensibilities than Jordan, having spent years in Tokyo and now, Hong Kong. A month after they first met, they arranged to get together in Bangkok where they discovered, to their mutual relief, that the other was a satisfying lay, after all.
What's most disarming about the couple is the plain sweetness. They call each other "babe," they light each other's cigarettes up, they serve food onto each other's plate. And it's all so fluid, quiet and instinctive - considering that Jordan has just recently moved to Hong Kong and is still in the process of getting to know Kane's world. There's something to be said about the infinite adaptability of the young.
It was the day following Will & Kate's wedding.
"We all had to have royal names," Jordan smiles, recounting a Royal Wedding gathering at a friend's place. "I didn't have a royal name." He grabs Kane's hand. "He already treats me like a princess."
Kane lets loose with his distinctive laugh yet again, turning bright red. It was Jordan's cue to head over to the bar to fetch a fresh round of drinks
"What made you realize you wanted to have Jordan with you here in Hong Kong," I ask Kane whilst we await Jordan's return. Kane drinks like a fish; Jordan doesn't drink alcohol at all. He likes Sprite.
"I felt..." Kane stops to think, "lucky."
Another pause.
"I am lucky."
With Affection,
James
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