Page 71 of Endgame

Was Caleb with you?

This is weird.

Yes, with Honey and Lara.

Ok. Good. Head home. I’ll fly with Kevin.

I’m sorry we were running late.

Don’t worry about it. Mel didn’t make it to brunch and Kevin is losing his mind because he can’t find her.

She couldn’t have gone far. How was she this morning?

Our groom may have spent his wedding night with someone other than his wife. Delete this.

I swipe right, select the last message and hit delete immediately. Another message follows.

Get home safely. I’ll drop you a message when I’m back.

‘What did he say? Is he coming?’ Caleb asks.

‘No, we’re going home alone. Melissa is hiding from Kevin and they are trying to find her. Your three-week prediction might have been too generous.’

After we land, I head back with Caleb to spend some time with him before he goes to London for the week. He takes care of our supply issue with an overenthusiastic restock and the afternoon unfolds with a beautiful ease around us. We spend it swimming, stealing kisses, napping under the sun by the pool and picking at the spread of food he has ordered in for us. This lazy day with him is what I need before he prepares to fly to London for the Harrison-replacement interviews in the morning. When we get into bed that night, everything feels quiet and normal. It’sa feeling I have craved since I arrived in Singapore, and for the first time I allow myself to see past our lives here.

‘Caleb, when all this is over, what do you want to do?’ I ask as I climb into his bed.

‘I don’t know, but I apparently now own two boxing gyms, which funnily enough will leave me homeless in Singapore.’

‘What do you mean, homeless?’

‘I’ve liquidated everything in Singapore and moved it back home. That includes this apartment, so I have to move out by the end of next month. Let’s hope that’s not a sign of things to come.’ He laughs.

‘Want to move in with me?’

‘You don’t think it’s too soon?’

‘It’s not soon enough. This is what I wanted when I took the job, Caleb. I wanted us to live together and to have a big adventure.’

‘I think we got the big adventure in spades.’

I laugh as I shake my head. My boyfriend plants a sweet little kiss on my lips. ‘And it looks like there’s more adventure to come with your gyms. It’s wonderful but it’s also a huge commitment.’

‘We’ll see. I’m not sure what to do with them, to be honest. The plan for now is to rent them. Obviously, whoever leases them needs to guarantee that Phillip and the boys will have a place to train, but that’s it. Have you been thinking about what you want to do?’

‘I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about the shelter a lot and I might volunteer full time for a little while until I decide.’

‘Would you consider working with food? Jack’s idea wasn’t bad.’

‘I’m not good enough.’

‘First of all, you are definitely good enough. And maybe there are other ways that we haven’t thought of yet.’

‘I’m not. I haven’t cooked properly in months and things are only going to get busier at work as we grow.’

‘We can find the time to get you cooking again. That’s the easy part…’ he says, closing in and tracing a finger up my leg.

‘Caleb, we’re not going to find the time at the top of my thigh.’

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