Page 15 of Rivers of Ink
“Jason?” The man nodded, and Callan stood up. “I’m Callan.” They shook hands, and Callan noted Jason’s firm grip. “Why don’t we go upstairs for a chat?” He led the way and shut the door behind them.
“I didn’t know whether you’d want to see me,” said Jason, once they were both seated. “I heard about your brother.”
Callan nodded solemnly. “I have to admit your email came as a bit of a shock. I had no idea Isobel had contacted you.”
“Well, I haven’t spoken to her in a while, but when we were first in touch, she mentioned there were staffing issues and Xander was thinking of leaving and it might also mean she would go too.”
That confirmed Callan’s initial suspicions. If he hadn’t have found Xander and Isobel that night, they would have left anyway. He couldn’t help wondering whether Xander would still be alive if they had done. And how well did Jason know Isobel anyway? Now wasn’t the time to think about that. Callan had to look forward.
“Why don’t you tell me about some of the stuff you’ve done?” he asked instead.
As Jason spoke, Callan half-listened. He was in turmoil about whether he’d be able to work with someone else. It made good business sense, whether he was able to make sense of it on a personal level was another matter. If he decided that Jason would be a good fit, he'd need to talk it through with Aidy.
“I’ll go and get Aidy; you’d be working mostly with him and it would be useful for you to have a chat.” Callan escaped from the stuffiness of the room and headed downstairs. He had a quick word with Aidy who went up to the office.
Alicia was pulling on her jacket.
“You off?” he asked.
She stopped, a look of concern on her face. “If that’s okay?”
He wanted to ask her for a drink, to go back to his and stay with him. “Of course. Unless you want to grab a drink or a bite to eat? I never did take you out for lunch.”
“Thanks, Callan, I’d love to, but I’m going to yoga with Nell tonight and she’d kill me if she thought I was ducking out again. Maybe another time?”
Callan didn’t do a very good job of hiding his regret as he replied. “No worries. You will come back tomorrow though?”
“I’ll think about it.” Alicia’s smile was mischievous. “I wouldn’t want to disappoint my new boss two days running.”
He watched her walk out, his heart heavy. She was anything but a disappointment.
As he waited for Aidy to finish talking to Jason, he took a quick look at the appointments book for the rest of the week. There was a healthy number of clients booked in, he knew they could do better. He thought back to what Aidy had said about them not overtly advertising Xander’s role. Could Jason be the answer? His mind drifted as he waited, thinking back to the times when he, Xander, and Isobel would be bantering in between clients. Happier times, when he had no idea what was going on between the two of them. Then that image of the two of them together crept back into his head and he shuddered, trying to get rid of it again.
“Cal?” Aidy’s voice brought him back to the present. “I’ve had a good chat with Jason. Was there anything else you wanted to say?”
Jason was smiling at him. Callan guessed that the conversation with Aidy had gone well. “Not really. Let us know if there’s anything else you want to know, yeah?” He extended a hand and Jason shook it.
“Thanks for taking the time, guys,” he said. “And hopefully I’ll see you again soon.”
Aidy locked the door after Jason left, and Callan turned some of the lights off.
“You want to go get a beer?” asked Callan.
“Yeah, good idea. Let me tell Wren I’ll be a bit late.” Aidy pulled his phone out from his pocket and fired off a quick message as Callan sorted out the till.
Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting at a quiet table in the Trackside Social. Callan scanned the room for any sign of Alicia, but he guessed she must have been telling the truth about going to yoga. He took a slug of his pint. “Do you think you could work with Jason?”
Aidy mirrored his move. “I don’t see why not. He seems to have decent contacts and could pull some clients away from Cutting Ink. If he didn’t work for us, he’d end up working for them.”
“You’re right.” Callan paused. “Want to call him and offer him a job?”
“When did I become the HR department?” laughed Aidy. “Sure, I’ll speak to him later.”
They clinked their glasses.
A thought occurred to Callan. “Do you think he’s still in touch with Isobel?”
“Mate, if he is, he should know all about what’s gone on. He still chose to come and have a chat with you though.”
