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Thirty-Three
London, ten days later
“Hi, Lex. You going out later?” Tom leaned on the doorjamb leading into Alex’s room.
“Yeah, I’m heading out around five-thirty…time to mend some fences.” She looked up from her laptop.
“Please tell me you’re not off to see Mark?” He scowled as he walked in, staring at her screen.
“I’m seeing Freddie. I was away for his birthday so…” She glanced back at her work in progress. “Need me to pick up something on my way back?”
“No…” He snapped his knuckles. “Naomi’s off work tonight, so I’m planning a romantic evening, get a takeaway in…”
“Oh.” Alex sat back and nodded. “Okay.”
“I feel like a shit friend. You’ve only been here two nights and already I’m pushing you out.”
“Tom, it’s your house.”
“You don’t have to stay out all night…”
“If we’re done early, I’ll catch a late movie.”
“Aw, cheers, Lex.” He stopped cracking his knuckles and hovered.
“Things still aren’t…”
Tom shook his head. “Since it’s been confirmed, Naomi barely looks at me.”
“Give her time. It’s a massive shock.” Alex’s eyes flitted back to her laptop as the screensaver—now set to con photos with Lucy instead of Venice with Mark—took over her screen. “A two-year-old child with someone else? Not how she envisioned her first year of marriage.”
“Me neither.” Tom smiled sheepishly. “He is something, though. Want to see a photo?” He pulled out his phone. “Meet Rex.”
A redheaded toddler dressed in a Chelsea football kit grinned from the screen.
“Wow, Tom.” Alex’s eyes flew back to her friend. “You made a cute kid!”
“I know, right? My mini-me, albeit a ginger mini-me. It’s weird but kinda cool.” He laughed. “When you think about it, it’s amazing how one shag can change everything.”
Alex sighed. “Yeah, change it forever.”
• • •
“We have to take Lex here after we’re done.” Freddie leaned across the boardroom table in the Teenage Cancer Trust offices, showing Simon a website on his phone. “It’s a Tube-themed cocktail bar in Soho. She’ll die! Apparently, it used to be an underground air raid shelter.”
Simon squinted at the screen. “You only like that place because it’s Instagram-worthy. You’re not shooting a vlog there, too, are you?”
Alex peeked around the doorjamb. “Happy belated birthday, Freds!”
“Aw, come here, Sparkly Girl!” Freddie jumped up from his chair and hugged her. “You’re the best prezzie. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” Alex mumbled into Freddie’s chest, his embrace tightening by the second.
“It didn’t feel right, you being up north away from us, but now you’re back, it’s almost May, and everything is right with the world again…well, almost…oh, fuck it, you know what I mean. It’s just good to have you back.”
Alex’s heart dipped. How long would it be before that stopped happening?
Freddie released his clinch. “Okay, lady, ready to work?”
