It had been little over a week since the wedding and Alicia had spent almost the entire time hiding out in her room at Nell’s flat. She had switched her phone on occasionally, only to be bombarded by messages and voicemails—most of them silent—from Callan. Every attempt he made to contact her had been ignored or deleted. Nell had told Callan that Alicia wouldn’t be going back to work for the foreseeable future and to not come by the flat. So far, he had obeyed.

Now she was back in the same situation she had been a few short weeks ago, unemployed and single. Maybe it had been a bad decision to work for a person she was—scratch that, had been—attracted to. It was time to decide what she was going to do next.

Earlier that day, Alicia had received a message from someone she had previously worked with, saying there might be an opening in their London office if she was interested. She was seriously tempted to find out more.

“Think about it though, Ali,” said Nell, “there’s either the commute or a stupid rent to pay. I’d miss you if you went.”

Involuntarily, Alicia’s eyes filled with tears. Nell had been brilliant, leaving her alone when she needed space or being there when she needed company. Moving out would be horrible. They were bingeing on wine and noodles. Rory was working late, again, and Nell was pissed off with him, which gave her a good opportunity to rant.

“I know. What else can I do though? We know that all the jobs around here are shit. Remember the job hunt we went on before I started at The Unbound Soul? Crappy holiday cover jobs or things that last two weeks before they realise I can probably run the whole department and get rid of me?” Alicia drained her glass and poured another. She had been drinking heavily; it was an easy way to dull the pain and helped her to sleep.

“You could always come and work with me. I need a capable pair of hands to chase stuff up.”

“Ooo, that sounds like fun,” Alicia teased. “I can be your secretary.”

“You were happy enough playing secretary to Callan.”

“Ouch, that’s low, Nell.” There were more than a few grains of truth to Nell’s observation. Alicia had been so happy with Callan that a lot of the things she said she wouldn’t do as a job—like getting coffee—she’d ended up doing anyway. The Unbound Soul had been easy and enjoyable, mostly down to the relationship she had with her boss. A relationship that was now in tatters.

“Why don’t you try to speak to him, Ali?” Nell’s encouragement was somewhat tempered by the fact she had a noodle hanging out of her mouth. “Find out what really went on with Isobel.”

“I can’t.”

“What are you scared of?”

Alicia didn’t know where to begin in answering that. The way things had developed so quickly and intensely in their relationship took her in one direction. The one where he could make her quiver simply by whispering in her ear or how he was so tuned in to her body that he knew exactly what to do to make her come. Had their relationship been based purely on the physical? She’d never really understood his past with Isobel, apart from the fact that she thought he hated her. What she’d seen at the wedding appeared to contradict that. Everything always came back to Isobel when there were issues.

“I guess he’s not over Isobel,” she said, at last.

Nell sighed. “And you’re not even going to fight for him?”

“He can do the fighting for the both of us.” What Callan had done to Jason shocked her. She had no idea he had a such violent streak in him. Alicia sighed. “I have to make a change for the better now. I should move on.”

She reached for her phone and found the message from her old contact. Before she changed her mind, she typed a response saying she was very interested in finding out more about the job in London. Almost instantly, she was sent a brief job description, salary information, and an invite to interview if she wanted it.

“You might need to find a new flatmate.” She waved the phone at Nell.

Nell grabbed it and scanned the message thread. “Wow, that was quick, you don’t hang around, do you?”

“What’s the point? If I’m going to make a new start, it may as well be today.”

* * *

A horrible sense of déjà vu settled over Callan as he worked through the day at The Unbound Soul. It felt like he was back where he had started the day before Xander’s funeral: down a receptionist and barber. This time, he was also down a best friend, albeit temporarily while he was on honeymoon. Miles and Aaron were rushed off their feet, covering both Aidy and Jason’s clients as well as their own. Marek and Pearl were also comfortably busy, although Pearl was making a fuss about having to cover reception again. Callan was at a loss where to start in sorting things out. He wished Alicia were there.

“All right, son?”

Drew’s voice broke into his reverie.

“What are you doing here?”

“I spoke to Isobel. She told me what happened.”

“Did she tell you everything?”

Drew nodded. “Everything.” He patted his son on the shoulder. “Shall we go get a drink?”

“It’s too early for beer.”

“I meant a coffee. I spotted a shop in the arcade.”

Callan sighed. “Okay, you go ahead. I need to let the others know what’s going on.” He watched Drew walk away. He needed someone to talk to.

Books ’n’ Beans was busy, Drew had managed to find them a table. Callan ordered and headed over to him. He sat down opposite his father.

“What happened? You’ve never done anything like that before.”

So many things ran through Callan’s head that he wanted to say. Things about the past, his mother, his brother, Isobel. Losing Xander had hit him hard, and he didn’t know how he should react.

“I’ve never lost a brother before,” he said finally. “I guess I haven’t dealt with that yet.”

“Cal, no-one would expect you to simply move on from something like that. What happened between Xander and Isobel shouldn’t have. I told him he needed to be straight with you and tell you before you found out for yourself. Then you did and in the worst way possible.”

“You knew about them and you didn’t tell me?” The betrayal hit Callan like a sack of bricks. His head reeled from his father’s confession. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Xander promised me he was going to talk to you and come clean. I believed him. I was wrong.” Drew looked up at the waitress as she set their drinks down. “Thanks, love.”

Callan grabbed his coffee and took quick gulps, ignoring the fact the liquid was scalding the roof of his mouth. The fact his father had been complicit in Xander and Isobel’s deception was too much to take in. More than ever, he wanted to make things right with Alicia. If she was with him, he knew he would be stronger. He had to find a way to get through to her. If he talked to Nell, she could pass on a message.

“Why didn’t you tell me when you first found out?” Callan asked.

“It wasn’t my place. They had to take responsibility for what they’d done.”

“If I’d have known, maybe I could have stopped it.”

Drew laughed. “I don’t think there’s anything you could have done. Xander fell pretty hard, and Isobel can be quite persuasive.” He paused. “I’m sorry, Cal. I should have been straight with you.” He reached out and placed a hand on Callan’s arm. “I don’t want to lose another son.”

The shaky emotion in Drew’s voice hit Callan directly in the heart. Despite everything that had happened with Xander and Isobel, his father had still suffered the same way he had, maybe more so. Now it was just the two of them, and they had to stick together, whatever had gone on in the past.

“You’re not going to, Dad,” said Callan, and he thought he saw Drew choke back a tear. “You want to get a beer later? I have some things to sort out at the shop, but I can meet you at the Trackside Social around seven? We can talk about where to scatter Xander’s ashes. He always wanted to be a motorcyclist, so maybe we should take him to Donington Park.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” said Drew. “Both the beer and your idea. I’ll see you tonight.”

They stood and embraced in a slightly awkward hug.

Callan walked back to The Unbound Soul feeling a lot lighter than he had done in a while. He and Drew needed to stick together now.

“Didn’t realise you were coming back, Callan,” said Miles, as Callan entered the shop. “Do you want me to lock up?”

“No, it’s okay. I’m going to hang out here for a while. Got a couple of things to look at. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Sure, boss, have a good night.”

When he was alone, he locked the door and turned off most of the lights. He settled down on the sofa by the window, laptop open in front of him. He opened Alicia’s marketing strategy document and began to reread it. As he went through, he made notes on a pad beside him, highlighting things he wanted to action quickly. The hours slipped past, and Callan hadn’t noticed the darkness drawing in. Once he’d finished the business side of things, he got out his sketchbook and started working on some new designs. As usual, he was so absorbed in creating that he didn’t hear the crack as the capacitor in the upstairs fridge ignited, nor did he feel the heat of the flames.

It was the smoke that did the most damage.