‘Do we have to?’
‘No, of course not. But we’re going to. Or rather, I’m going to speak and you can choose whether to listen.’
‘You’ve always been a silver-tongued bastard. I don’t suppose I stand a chance.’
‘Yeah, ’cause you’re such a weak specimen of a man.’ The two exchanged fond looks, looks that only a lifetime of knowing each other can bring.
‘I do hope you’re not defining me based on outdated stereotypes, Chase Cooper. Go on then, seeing as me and my child are staying in your house, I guess I should hear you out. Plus, the way you’re slicing that fish, I don’t think I want to tangle with you.’
Chase smiled and waved the knife around whilst making faux martial arts moves, and even stranger noises, before he continued to speak.
‘Excellent, it’s nothing to worry about, buddy. It’s just I think it would be good for you to take a bit of time out from work at the moment.’
‘Don’t disagree, that’s what I’m doing.’
‘Yeah, I know, but I’m thinking a bit longer than a couple of weeks. Put down some roots, not for-ever roots, but maybe just commit to a short amount of time and see what happens. Ellie has to be ready for school soon, if not already, and I wondered if you’d thought about what to do?’
‘Well, yeah, obviously. I thought I could send her to board.’ Chase’s eyes went wide and Alex couldn’t believe he had taken him seriously. ‘Obviously that was a joke, no boarding school would have her, not just yet anyway!’ He pushed both hands in a downward motion, the international gesture for calm down. ‘No, seriously, I appreciate your concern, but I had looked at a couple of great schools in London. I’ve talked to the team and they’re happy to give me an anchor job. If I got a nanny to help out, then if I do need to shoot off for a story, I’d have cover.’
‘Your tone sounds like you know that’s not ideal.’
‘You know me way too well. Truth is, the school stuff is sorted, but professionally, I don’t know so much. What I love about my job is that on-the-ground, in-the-moment feeling. I’m a bit ambivalent about working from a studio full-time. A small team on the ground, great, the politics of working in central London, being more presenter-y and less investigative-y – I mean, don’t get me wrong, I respect what those guys do, and it’s just as adrenaline fuelled – but I’m just not sure it’s for me. If I’m going to be deskbound, and I’m happy to do that for Ellie, then I’d rather be deskbound and getting my teeth into something I’m passionate about. Focus in on one issue, really get stuck into it, you know?’ Alex paused, waiting for his friend to respond, but Chase merely nodded wisely and carried on slicing fish. Alex knew the technique, he used it himself, silently waiting for the other person to fill in the gap. He guessed if Chase wanted him to continue he could do so.
‘So, I think where I am at the moment is stay in London, pop Ellie in a good school there, still get a nanny just to help a bit soI don’t go stir crazy, and find something, a project I can really get my teeth into. I’m juggling a couple of ideas at the moment. Maybe a book. Um… that’s an awful lot of fish you’re doing weird shit to.’
‘Preparing, I’m preparing. Not really weird shit. But OK, I’ve heard you. Sounds like a plan. A pretty good one. Now, Mr Ten Plans at a time, how do you feel about another one? An alternative to consider.’
‘Go on.’
‘OK, well, London’s great, some good schools. Cultural melting pot, lots of like-minded people, can always be busy. Or you could go the other way.’ Chase looked up from his prep. ‘And I’ve got another way that you might like.’
It was Alex’s turn to stay silent and let Chase fill the gap. His friend smiled at him – they knew each other inside out.
‘Stay here. Now before you react, think. I mean it. Stay here. It’s not London, not by a long shot, but it’s damn heavenly. Ellie may not grow up going to violin lessons and freaky Japanese maths classes, she could just chill on the beach. When she’s not on the beach she can build dens in Penmenna woods, learn to surf, kayak, sail, and if that’s not her thing there’s the moors, vast open space to get lost in, horse riding.’
‘I don’t think getting lost is going win me over.’ Alex said, the teasing clear in his tone.
‘And I’ll tell you what else – if you were to stay here, we’ve got an amazing village school, you’ve got a network of… oh, hang on, that’s the door.’
‘Are you expecting someone?’
‘Well, I don’t want you to feel bombarded, but you have options, and to make sure everything is covered I’ve invited some friends over to answer any questions you may have. You’re going love them. One I think you may already know.’ Chase grinned so wide that it looked like his ears might fall off as heheaded to answer the door. And Alex, for all his death-defying, alpha-male, action-hero ways, felt a teeny bit scared.
He was right to be. For only a minute later a hazy memory from years gone by tripped through the door. She was accompanied by a smaller, dark-haired woman with a face that spoke of apple pie who, in turn, was followed by a man with curly dark hair and a great big smile on his face.
‘Darling, so good to see you again, it really has been years.’ Marion – he thought that was her name – enfolded him into an embrace and he was struck by the cloying nature of her scent. Ugh, that could really do with being taken down a notch. She was more heavily made up than he remembered, much blonder and very thin, her skin taut across her cheekbones, her clothes a little too tight. And with a lot of pattern.
‘It certainly has, how lovely to see you again.’ He avoided using her name, just in case. ‘Fancy you being here as well, I had no idea.’
‘Yes, we were so happy when Chase bought a house down here. Absolutely fabulous. Richard would love to see you again as well, Alex, but he’s away with work at the moment.’ She laughed a tinkly, slightly insincere laugh and it took him right back to university days, when he had visited Chase at Oxford and met his closest new friend, Richard, who had, if he recalled correctly, only just started dating this woman; she had been in her final year then whilst they were just freshmen and the age gap had seemed huge. At some point they had all gone away together, holidaying as a large gang at one of Hector’s many houses. It was a long time ago and the memories were very hazy but he knew he had found the laugh as off-putting then and couldn’t quite believe she and Richard were still together.
The man accompanying them stretched out his hand.
‘Pleased to meet you, I’m Matt. I believe you already know my sister, Angelina. And this is Rosy, my partner.’ He said thelast bit with pride, as those in the first flush of romance do, as if he couldn’t quite believe his luck. Alex couldn’t help but smile, it was nice. It also reminded him that it was something that he did not have. However, that passed in a millisecond – he had Ellie and that was more than enough for now. Way more than enough. He was fairly sure two females in his life would be beyond his capabilities at the moment.
‘Hello.’ Rosy leant forward and kissed him on the cheek in greeting.
‘Hi, nice to meet you both. Angelina is your sister, huh?’
