‘Would you like to join me for one?’
She declined politely but searched for a way to prolong the conversation. ‘Are you from around here?’
‘I live just along the beach although I’ve been staying in London recently.’
‘Which part of London?’
‘Usually the west, Kensington, Notting Hill, etcetera. Are you familiar with them?’
‘A little,’ she replied vaguely. She was a south-of-the-river girl, but she had spent many hours in Notting Hill traipsing around Christopher’s neighbourhood trying to get a flavour of him. ‘I went to university there,’ she lied.
‘What did you study?’
‘Business.’
Karczewski had assured her that if anyone was to check, her name would be in the records of the London Institute for Business and Finance, along with her grades, lecturer’s comments and faked photographs.
‘Business? Let me guess, you went on to make your fortune in the stock market and took an early retirement.’
‘I probably wouldn’t be working behind a bar if I was loaded.’
‘I’m Elijah,’ he said and held his hand out to shake hers. She liked his name. There was something heartening, even biblical, about it.
‘What are you writing?’ she asked, drawn towards his notebook. It was unusual to see someone with a pen and paper instead of a tablet and stylus. He closed the cover.
‘Nothing important.’
‘Gone a little shy, have we, Elijah?’ she teased.
‘If you won’t let me buy you a drink, then let me take you for dinner one night,’ he asked.
His offer caught Flick off-guard. ‘Oh, well, thank you – but no, thank you,’ she replied.
‘You’re not even going to make an excuse to let me down gently?’ he joked. ‘No “I’m just getting over a break-up” or “I’ve just started seeing someone”? Just a flat-out rejection?’
Guilt pricked her. She couldn’t deny an attraction to the stranger, but that’s exactly what he was. He could have been anyone and without his full name or access to anelectronic device to complete a background check on him, she couldn’t risk it. Besides, emotional connections were strongly advised against by the programme.
‘It’s just a flat-out rejection, I’m afraid.’
He raised his glass to her. ‘To honesty,’ he said and took a swig.
Flick became distracted by a handful of new customers and moved to the other end of the bar to serve them. As they paid, she turned to take a sly glance at Elijah. Her chest deflated at the sight of his empty stool. All that remained was a scrap of paper on the bar top. She unfolded it to find a sketch; a portrait of her. It was incredibly detailed, even down to the strip of freckles across her nose that she’d assumed were invisible under make-up. Elijah had even spotted the slight indent of a teenage ear piercing in her right lobe.
An unexpected warmth rushed through her body as she folded the drawing in half and slipped it into her pocket.
Chapter 27
CHARLIE, MANCHESTER
‘Mate, what have you done to your leg?’ asked Milo, staring at the red, horizontal wound across Charlie’s thigh.
Charlie had forgotten to cover up it with a bandage that morning and hadn’t noticed it when he had changed into his football kit to play a seven-a-side match either. He turned away from Milo and faced the tiled shower wall.
‘Oh, nothing,’ he said casually. ‘I fell off my bike and landed on barbed wire.’
‘Where?’
‘Somewhere along the canal path by the undeveloped section, I forget what it’s called.’
