“With me. She’s been offered a job in New York, she’s just not sure if she’s going to take it yet or move, so she’s staying with me until then and helping…” I stopped before I gave anything away.
“Helping with what?”
Seph didn’t miss a trick.
“Me get settled in. So, what else did David Hartford tell you?” It was not a smooth change of subject, but it worked.
Just before five,Max pushed open the door to our office and blocked the entrance. Seph had just finished a phone call to David Hartford and I was at the point of seeing stars from the amount of cross referencing I’d being doing as I went through a pack sent from an opponent’s solicitor before we were in court next week.
“It’s Friday. It’s happy hour at Whisky Ginger and I need a drink. Victoria’s meeting us there too with Vanessa.” Max’s hair looked like he’d spent much of the afternoon pushing his hand through it.
Seph sat back and put his hands behind his head. “Is that an order to come with you?”
“Since when have you taken any orders from me?” Max looked questioningly at him. “Georgia, would you like to join us all for a drink? Payton’s coming too, and various other people.”
“By various other people he means people whose names he can’t be arsed to remember.” Seph stood up, lost his suit jacket and grabbed his leather one that was hung over the back of his chair. “I’m done anyway. Alcohol sounds good. Come on, Georgie, I’ll buy you a drink.”
I faltered. I’d had drinks with colleagues at my old firm when Rose had been with my mum, a quick glass of prosecco or even a French Martini, before going home and then making my own cocktails with a good book and a take-out. But tonight I had until about eight before I needed to pick my daughter up.
There was no excuse. I could get to know my colleagues better, and I knew that Payton had endured a tough week with her pregnancy, and I could at least be a sympathetic ear.
“Sounds good.”
“Excellent.” Seph picked my coat off the hanger and passed it to me. “Whatever you’re doing can now wait till Monday, even if you say it can’t. Drinks.”
Max frowned.
“What? Is your grumpy self uninviting us now?” Seph frowned at his brother.
“You called her Georgie.” Max frowned at me. “Did you check first? Did he?”
“Ignore him, Georgie. He’s always weird. Let’s go. I’ll get you two cocktails to make up for Max being a tool.”
I laughed and shrugged at Max who looked pretty much exhausted. I knew he’d been in early every morning and I’d seen him leave with a bag full of work most nights. Payton had told me he was trying to close a few files quickly so he could take extended paternity leave when his wife had the baby, which made sense.
We walked over to Whisky Ginger, spring just about starting to defrost the frigid February air. Friday evenings around Borough were busy; office workers fell away from their desks into the bars, tourists migrated to the city for a weekend break and everyone who needed to escape from their everyday lives into an evening of fun and freedom. There was a bohemian atmosphere, where everyone and anyone were welcome.
The bar was busy, but not overly so. I figured it would be later, when more people had headed to the area or finished an early dinner.
For a moment, I forgot about the rest of me as we walked up to the bar, Payton already guarding a table with her fiancé, Owen. I was out socialising with no responsibilities for the next couple of hours and I could almost relax.
I pulled my phone from my bag and set an alarm for seven fifteen, giving me time to finish a drink and get to Elspeth’s before eight to collect what would be a very sleepy Rose by then.
“What would you like?” Seph smiled at me. At some point between the office and here he’d lost his tie and undone the top couple of buttons on his shirt. Amelie from the café was a lucky woman.
I glanced at the cocktail list, knowing exactly what I’d have if they made them, and they did. “A French martini, please.”
He ordered, getting himself a Tom Collins, which made Max pass some comment about wussy drinks. Seph didn’t respond, just giving his brother a wink and a smirk, and Max stropped off to where his wife now was.
“Have you met Victoria yet?” Seph lifted a hand to wave at the woman standing next to Max, her belly slightly rounded with what I guessed to be her third or fourth month of pregnancy.
Was everybody pregnant around here?
“No. I’ve heard a lot about her. Apparently she keeps Max in line.” I smiled at Seph. I’d seen how he and Max interacted over the course of the week and they were closer than brothers. It was cute.
“The only person who can. She had him wrapped round the tip of her little finger from the moment they met. Fuck knows what he’s going to be like once she’s had the baby.” Seph passed me my cocktail. “Enjoy.”
My phone vibrated before I could even take a sip. I rushed to fish it out, guilt hovering over me like a black cloud.
