Page 26 of Asking For a Friend

Connor stays long enough to help me unpack the car on Sunday, but he’s meeting someone later in the evening. My own bed is a welcome place on Sunday night, even if it’s too empty without Hesketh. I didn’t hear anything from him, and my text messages have still gone unread. I’m guessing we’re over. If only I knew why. After our lazy lunch out, we spent the rest of the day in bed. Not just for sex, but we cuddled up in the quilt as we shared more stories of ourselves. I’m so confused. This isn’t the Hesketh I’ve fallen in love with.

Sleep takes a long time to pull me under.

It’s back to work as usual in the coffee shop. I open my laptop and concentrate on my work. By mid-afternoon, I’ve had enough of the coffee shop and pack everything up. The walk home is better in the daylight than the dark winter night. The sun actually has a little warmth in it as it touches my face. I get to the crossing and press the button.

What the hell? Is that Hesketh on the other side of the road? Dammit, it is. He’s laughing as he looks over his shoulder and says something to the man beside him. Would that be Ellis? My breath catches in my throat. The stranger grabs Hesketh’s arm and pulls him into a hug. He wraps his arms around my boyfriend and touches his cheek, then kisses his forehead. I’m frozen in place. The beeping signalling to cross comes as if through a fog. People jostle around me to get across, but I can’t tear my eyes from the sight of Hesketh with his arms around another man. A man who looks like him: tall, broad, well dressed. The only difference is his hair. It’s red, just like mine.

After a few more words, they let go of each other and go their separate ways. Hesketh looks around. Will he see me? I wait, not moving a muscle, but no, he walks away. I grab my phone and call his. It goes straight to voicemail again.

That fucking cheating fucking arsehole! God, I need to get home. I can’t have a meltdown in here. The crossing alert starts again, and numbly I cross, barely able to stay upright. I lean on the wall, tapping my phone on my chin. Which call should I make first? I pick the most recent number after Hesketh’s mobile.

“Hesketh Trent,” he answers in his deep, sexy voice.

As I try to speak, I clench my eyes closed, holding the burning tears back from spilling down my cheeks. “Don’t come near me again.”

“Lando?”

“You did the one thing that’s a hard limit for me. Stay away from me, Hesketh. I mean it.”

I make it indoors and to my sofa, the new one I bought to impress Hesketh, and bury my head in the cushions. Sobs rack my body. Deep shudders that border on painful rent through me, tearing a hole in my chest where my heart should be. My phone buzzes in my back pocket, but I ignore it. It will be Hesketh, with a shit-ton of excuses. He can shove them right back where the sun doesn’t shine.

Why am I even surprised this has happened to me? Every man I’ve fallen for has moved on before telling me. Usually, they liked to gloat before kicking me out. To tell me all my shortcomings and the reasons why it’s my fault he went looking somewhere else. I really did think Hesketh was different.

A paw taps my head. Flanaghan wants attention, or does he sense I need him tonight? I scoop him up and cry into his fur as he purrs.

“It’s just you and me again, buddy.” The tears don’t stop for a long time.

As I put the last of my things in my case, my phone rings. It’s a London number I don’t recognise, but I answer anyway. A voice I haven’t heard for over fifteen years knocks my whole world off its axis. What I don’t understand is why or how he got hold of me.

“Rory? Jesus, Rory. What the hell? How…what? I mean, how, why?” Is he back?

“I want to see you to explain. Can you come meet me?”

I snort. “You’re kidding me, right? It’s been fifteen years, and you want me to drop everything and race to your side. I have a life and a job, you know. I can’t just take time off. I’m busy this weekend.”

“I don’t know how long I’ll be around.” I can picture him shrugging nonchalantly. He always was aloof. The outsider, even though he wasn’t. He was integral. He was the glue that held the family together. His leaving splintered us apart, our differences too great without him.

“Still being dramatic.” A chuckle that shouldn’t be there broke free.

“You know me, always the showman.” He’s trying to sound indifferent, but his clipped words are rife with tension. He’s hiding something.

I sigh. “Where are you?”

“I’m here in town.”

Okay, that makes it easier for me. “I can give you an hour.” That should still give me time to get back here, then to Lando’s in time.

He doesn’t say anything, but I know he’s still there. He’s back for a reason, but I’m damned if I know. “It’s good to hear your voice again, Hesk.”

My throat thickens with emotion. “Yeah, you too.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. Can you come over now? I’m at The Connaught.”

I hold back the splutter of surprise. What the hell has he been doing to afford to stay at such an exclusive hotel? “Okay, I’ll be there soon.”

“I’m in the Connaught Suite. Just come straight up.” He pauses. “Thank you, Hesketh. I can’t wait to see you.”

I’m not sure the same goes for me.

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