I open my eyes. He’s not smiling.“It’s nothing to do with us,” Titus says quickly, glancing at him. Clearly, they’ve been talking about us.“It is when it impinges on our businesses,” Mack says. His gaze is direct. He’s annoyed. I know him well enough to suspect it’s nothing to do with business. He’s worried about Huxley’s feelings. Well, I’m not going to discuss that in front of Titus. He doesn’t need to know the ins and outs of my love life.“When do they need to know by?” I ask briskly.“There’s no rush,” Titus says, “I think we can take a few weeks to work it out. But obviously the sooner the better.”“Yeah.” I clear my throat. “I’ll have to give it some thought, if that’s okay.”“Of course.” Titus pulls a folder toward him. “Alan gave me a few figures to go through. Shall we take a look at them?”I nod, and he proceeds to read out the notes, and we take half an hour to discuss them.“I’d better get going,” I tell them when we’re done. “I’ve got a bit of work to catch up on.”“Yea

ElizabethPen texts me to say she’s on her way up. While the espresso fills one of the cups, I go over to the front door and open it to see her walking up the corridor. I smile. “Hey, you!”Nymph runs past me and dashes up to her, and she stops briefly to fuss her before following her up to the apartment. We exchange a kiss, and she comes in.She’s six years older and a couple of inches taller than me, but other than that we’re relatively alike, with the same light-brown hair, although hers is longer and wavier, and she often wears it up in a bun, like today.“The coffee’s nearly ready,” I tell her, going over to steam the milk. “How are you doing?”She dumps her purse on the breakfast bar and sits on one of the barstools. “Honestly?”I glance over at her. “Oh, what’s up?”She gives me a sad smile, and her bottom lip trembles. Only then do I see how pale she is, and the dark patches under her eyes, before she puts her face in her hands and bursts into tears.“Oh, no…” I run around the

HuxleyThe Crescent is a bar halfway between the club and Elizabeth’s apartment, and we all occasionally meet there for a drink. This is the first time Elizabeth and I have met on our own, though, and I head out, conscious that my pulse is racing faster than normal.The days are still humid and warm, but as we head toward autumn, the nights are cooling down, and I’m glad of my jacket. The sun has almost set, and the streets are flooded with a deep orange light and lengthening shadows.I’m looking forward to seeing her, but I feel anxious too. I’m not sure why. Maybe because we haven’t yet talked properly about what comes next. I’m hopeful, but she hasn’t texted me today, even though I’ve messaged her a couple of times, and I have an odd feeling that this isn’t going to end well.I arrive at The Crescent and go inside. She’s not here yet, so I go up to the bar and order two whiskies, choosing the Ardbeg Islay malt I know she’ll like. She’ll be walking because the bar’s not that far awa

ElizabethAfter our conversation in the bar, I do my best to put the events of the past few weeks behind me and concentrate on my career.I tell Titus and Mack that I’m going to England, and Titus calls Alan and lets him know. Everyone at Acheron Pharmaceuticals is overjoyed, and I have several long phone calls with people talking about practical details like where I’m going to live and what office I’ll use.I don’t see much of Huxley. For the first time in years, I don’t hear from him for three days—no calls or messages. I don’t speak to him at all until I turn up at the club for our usual Friday meeting. When I walk into the boardroom, he greets me with a smile. He’s polite and funny, like he always is, bustling around making sure we have coffees and food. But he avoids my eyes, and when the meeting is over, he’s out of the door first, saying he has things to do.I’m sure Mack has picked up on the mood, and I half expect him to wait behind to admonish me. But he doesn’t. He gathers u

The beautiful autumn day feels more like late summer, and the breeze that blows across us is warm and pleasant. Sidnie looks absolutely stunning today, full of joy and excitement at her upcoming wedding. Her blonde hair hangs around her head in crazy curls that bob in the breeze, and her eyes are bright and sparkling. She throws her arms around Mack, and they exchange a long kiss before breaking apart so he can greet her family.“Welcome,” I say when they’re all done. “Come with me and I’ll show you to your cabins, and then you can explore.”Mack’s put me in charge of cabin allocation. It took a surprising amount of time to organize. Couples are easy, but there are a lot of single people coming, and not everyone’s keen on sharing a cabin. I’m sharing with Titus, and Victoria’s sharing with my sister, Evie, as they’re good friends, but I’ve given Elizabeth her own cabin. I figured it’s the least I can do.The next hour is busy as everyone arrives. Even if Mack hadn’t asked me to be his