Page 79 of The Art of Being a Psychopath

She gave a throaty laugh, and then said, “Congratulations, by the way. It was about time you told that fucking pig to stick his job where the sun doesn’t shine. But is everything okay? I got a few messages to say you weren’t feeling well. Shall I come over?”

“No,” I jumped in. I didn’t have the energy to explain what’d happened over the phone, but I didn’t want her turning up at my door to find out I wasn’t there. “I’m okay. I just had a few days of feeling sick, but it’s passed now. I’m fine. No need to come and check on me.”

“I feel dreadful for not being there. I wish my bloody phone had been working.”

“Don’t worry. It couldn’t be helped. You had no Wi-Fi.”

“Any news on your artistic stalker?” she asked.

“That’s all over now.” I lied.

“Really? What happened?”

“He just stopped.” I replied, hoping deep down that what I said was true and Alex would work his magic and make the demon disappear. But for now, I just wanted to forget he existed and have a normal conversation with my friend.

“What, just like that? How do you know he’s stopped?”

I had to think on my feet and come up with something that sounded plausible without telling her the truth.

“Because he left me a message to say it was over.”

I didn’t want to dissect it further, so I tried to distract her by asking, “Anyway, what’s happening with you?”

Surprisingly, it worked.

“Mate, I had the strangest night, last night. I went on a date with this guy. He was so fucking hot, Em. He was wearing a suit, definitely designer, but he still had an edge, you know? I could see his tattoos underneath his collar and best of all, he had hand tattoos. You know I’m a sucker for those.”

“Aren’t we all,” I mused, thinking of Alex’s and sighing.

“Anyway, the date was going amazingly. He had crazy eye contact, asked me questions about myself and actually listened to what I had to say. He was interested. I was too. Em, I really thought this could go somewhere.”

“So what went wrong? Did his mum ring in the middle of dinner?”

“Worse,” she replied. “I got up to go to the bathroom. When I came out, some random waiter told me there was a fire drill and dragged me through the kitchens to the back of the restaurant, where no one else was, by the way. Then after moaning at him to let me back in, he finally did, and when I got to the table, he’d gone.”

“Gone?”

“Yes. Just disappeared. Left a pile of cash in the middle of the table with a note on top that said, ‘You’ve had a lucky escape. Thank me later.’ That was it. I mean, what the fuck, Em. What was that all about?”

“I have no idea, but maybe he was right. Maybe you did have a lucky escape. You don’t need to be dating a guy who can bail on you like that.”

I heard her heavy sigh.

“I suppose you’re right. I’m just so fed up with the dating pool resembling a cesspool these days. I wish we could find a couple of decent guys who don’t come with a whole heap of baggage.”

“I hear you,” I told her, even though a spark inside told me I might’ve found someone who was so far away from a cesspool, he was on another planet entirely. But I didn’t want to make her feel any worse than she already did.

We arranged to meet up for a coffee soon, and I made her promise she wouldn’t go AWOL again. Then we hung up, and I stared at the door, wondering what today would bring. Feeling nervous and excited to see Alex again.

I showered and got myself ready, putting on a nice yellow sundress that made me feel good, even though it was freezing outside, and I left my room.

I walked down the corridor, my feet sinking into the plush carpet, then made my way down the staircase. Once at the bottom, I could hear male voices and I turned left, following the noise.

As I grew closer, I heard Alex say, “I won’t be coming to Italy. I told Tobey last night.”

“But I thought you had an important business meeting in Milan?” a familiar voice asked, and Alex replied, “I’m attending by video call. They don’t need me there in person and I have too much on to leave the U.K. right now.”

I walked through the door into the dining room, where a delicious breakfast was laid out on the table, and Alex was sitting at the head of that table, with Ethan right next to him.