Page 85 of London, Can You Wait?

“What did you get him?”

Alex shrugged, sadly. “It doesn’t really matter now, does it?”

Lucy picked up a heart with a crack down the middle. “Hmm, that’s fitting.”

“It’s my fault. I dropped the box in Dublin.” Stray tears trickled down Alex’s cheeks. “There was something else in the parcel, too.” She lifted the lid on the small white box. “Diamond constellation earrings. Aren’t they pretty?”

“He gave you star earrings?” Lucy snorted. “Fame is going to someone’s head. What happened to Mrs. Keegan’s humble son?”

Alex crumpled. “Oh, God, his mum. She would’ve known something was up when I didn’t answer her text on New Year’s Day…”

“It’s not your job to tell his mum.”

“I owe her a good-bye, Lucy. I can’t ghost her.”

“If she’s as empathetic as you say she is, she’ll understand. I’ll bet she freaked when she found out what he did.”

“Oh, fuck. I have to cancel our holiday.”

“The Florida one?”

“Yeah. Next month.” Alex pressed her flushed face into her hands.

“Leave it to me. I’ll take care of it.”

“I’m going to lose this place, too…”

“You’ll stay with us.”

“There’s no room.”

“Well, if not mine…Harry’s.”

“Sofa surfing? No.” Alex rubbed away the tears with her hand. “I might move to Dad’s…get my bearings, start over.”

“Moving? Not permanently?”

“It will hurt too much seeing Mark around with Freddie…”

“You won’t have to worry about that. He’s never here, remember?”

Alex snapped the lid closed on the cookie tin. “You said it yourself: friendships often fall apart when there’s a split.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yeah, New Year’s Day? I said there would be no weirdness with you dating Harry because we all knew him and you said—”

“Oh yeah…‘until we break up.’ Fuck.”

Alex sniffed. “I won’t make Freddie choose. His loyalty lies with Mark.”

“No, Freddie’s loyalty lies with me. I’ve known him a good two years longer than Mark.”

“If I go away, you guys won’t have to juggle your friends. I won’t bump into him, and maybe it’ll be easier to pull myself together again. I’ll paint on a smile, fake it till I make it…whole on the outside but in pieces on the inside.” Alex pointed at a small blue and orange box lying amongst a smorgasbord of snacks on the table. “Like that Terry’s Chocolate Orange…”

“Want it?” Lucy tossed it over. “Lex, don’t rush into anything.”

Alex tore open the box and slammed the foil-wrapped chocolate into the table’s edge. The table wobbled, swirling her untouched wine around its glass. “Mark never did fix that damn leg…”