“Nope. Do you?”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m eating,” I say.
“How can you eat right now?” Owen asks, staring at me like I’ve got two heads.
“I’m hungry,” I answer, shrugging. “You eat when you can.”
He shakes his head, that cute, bloody frown line back on his sodding forehead.
“You should eat something, too.” I point my fork at his hardly touched meatloaf. “We can’t do anything about it right now, we may as well enjoy dinner and worry about it in ten minutes.”
“My appetite has suddenly disappeared,” he says, pushing his plate away. He looks at Maria. “Sorry, Mum.”
I frown and shake my head softly. HearingMumfrom his mouth sounds so strange, and it makes me realise again how much I’ve missed.
And for what reason?
Stubbornness, fear, anger.
I put my fork down and stare at my half-eaten meatloaf in two minds. To force myself to keep eating or to stop. Because much like Owen, my appetite has also suddenly disappeared.
But it’s not because of the hard drive.
No, it’s because I’m suddenly overwhelmed by a crippling feeling in my chest.
Regret.
“And you’re sure this will work? It seems very simple,” I say, looking over Owen’s shoulder as he uses Maria’s phone to post a message on a Reddit Page.
“Why over complicate something?”
“But it’s Reddit.”
“Yes, Cookie. It’s Reddit.”
“Okay,” I say, shrugging, peering over his shoulder as he types out his message.
“u/NightFisher, your Sicilian Defence game last week was impressive—reminds me of our match in Wandsworth. You still use the Queen’s Gambit in real life? We should arrange a rematch?”
“And this works?”
“Yes, Cookie.”
“Hmm.”
Posting a message on a sub stream about chess seems too simple, but we need Luca Knight.
“What now?” he asks, closing the laptop down.
“Sleep,” I say, stretching my arms above my head. “You must be tired, Maria.”
“I’m fine, dear,” she says as a yawn comes out.
“See?” I smile.
“I don’t want to waste any more time. it’s so lovely to see you here. Both of you together.”
