Page 38 of London Inked Boys: The Complete Trilogy
“Thanks, then,” I say, adjusting the strap of my bag on my shoulder and giving them one final smile.
“Bye, Holly.” His mouth opens and then closes again.
Does it seem like he was about to say something else but then didn’t? I turn away, sensing another moment between us, but not quite sure where it came from.
And as I walk towards the front door, in the reflection in the glass, the American elbows Kane in the side and he throws his hands up in the air in a ‘What can you do?’ gesture.
I don’t know what’s going on there—not that it’s any of my business. I step out onto the street and take a breath of the not-so-fresh London air. I hold myself tall, carrying my new artwork on my hip. I got it in that place so I can show it off when I’m on holiday on the beach but can also easily hide it if I want to. Right now, however, I wish I could tear off the cling film dressing and reveal it to the world.
I don’t particularly need to get home for once, everything’s being taken care of, but I don’t really have anywhere else to go. It feels good to have a free weekend and be able to do whatever I want when I want. When I’d been with my ex, Mike, he’d wanted to know exactly what I was doing every minute of the day. Every second had to be accounted for to make sure I was doing something productive—cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping—and not just lying in a hot bubble bath with a good book, which was often all I felt like doing after a long day at work. I want to do that now, but Kane warned me that I wasn’t to be taking any baths for at least a week, at least not until the scabs have all healed up over the tattoo. Still, I could curl up on the couch and read or binge watch something on Netflix.
The journey home only takes about thirty minutes. I catch the Tube, rocking and swaying with the train on the Northern line, then walking the ten minutes to my small, terraced, north London house. I’m glad I managed to keep hold of the property in the breakup. I’d worried Mike was going to put up more of a fight to keep it, but, with the money he made, he saw it as an investment. The way London house prices are going, by the time we’re ready to sell and move on, we’ll have both made a decent sum on the place. I also think Mike is secretly pleased to be able to leave our shabby little terrace behind. He’s renting a modernflat on the Isle of Dogs now, and that suits his new lifestyle far better than this place.
Trouble is, because his name is on the deeds, Mike has a way of thinking this house is still his and that gives him the right to turn up whenever he feels like it. I haven’t quite had the heart to change all the locks, though it’s tempting. It’s early days yet, and I’ll have to see how things play out.
Either way, I think, as I place the key into the lock, I’m glad to be home.
6
KANE
“Ican’t believe you didn’t ask her out!”
Tess’s palm smacks against my hard shoulder, and I flinch, even though it hadn’t really hurt. “Yeah, I know. I’m a chicken.”
“Big chicken,” she agrees. “And there I was thinking you were one of these super confident guys who plays around.”
I give a shrug. “She just seemed different. I didn’t want to look like an idiot.”
Tess puts her hands on her hips. “Well, youdolook like an idiot, but to me, not her.”
“It’s fine. I lost my moment. There was probably a reason for that.”
Tess rolls her eyes, and I know it’s the end of the conversation. I do feel like an idiot for not asking Holly out, but the moment’s gone now. Maybe I’ll see her again, in different circumstances. London isn’t such a big place. Only eight million people or so.
I walk back into my studio and stop short, my gaze fixing on something.
Holly’s mobile phone. She’d put it on the table when she’d received a text message before we’d got started, and she’dforgotten to pick it up again. I step forward and pick up the slender, silver device. An idea comes to me. I’d only just been thinking that I’d have asked her out if we’d met in different circumstances, and here’s fate throwing the opportunity of a different circumstance right in my lap. I’m generally not a superstitious kind of guy, but this seems wrong to ignore.
Turning back the way I came, I go out to reception. Tess lifts her head in surprise at seeing me again so soon, and I wave the phone at her.
“Do we have any contact details for Holly McCarty? She left her phone.”
“Sure, she left her mobile number, but I’m guessing that’s not much use.”
We both glance down at the phone in my hand.
“No, I guess not.”
“But she must have put her address on the waiver form she filled in.”
My pulse steps up a notch in anticipation of the plan which is starting to pull together in my mind. “She did?”
“Yeah, she did.”
“Maybe I should drop it into her, then,” I say. “I mean, she might not remember where she left it, and she might be stressing out.”
Tess presses her lips together and nods knowingly. “Yes, that’s true.” She looks at the computer screen where we have the client list for the rest of the day. “And you don’t have anyone else due in with you today. So you’re free to take it to her.”
