Page 121 of Fix Them Up
My heart lurched.
‘Liam—’ I started, but he interrupted.
‘Kat, I won’t be able to stay away if we’re speaking every day. It will make it so much more painful knowing you’re only three hours away. Ren was right. I’d drive down south to see you for twenty minutes. He needs me here. I owe him that, like you feel like you owe Willa. Two months, no contact, and we’ll come back together. What do you say, Red?’
‘I hate it.’
‘Me too.’ He kissed my temple. ‘But I’ve looked at this a million different ways, and this is the only thing I can think of.’
I hummed.
‘In two months… if you still aren’t sure about us. If you change your mind—’ Liam’s shoulder tensed, like the idea made him recoil. ‘Don’t come back, Kat. Don’t get my hopes up. If I see you standing in front of me, just to see you leave again. I don’t think I’d recover from that.’
‘I’m coming back, Liam.’
He kissed me again, this time, my cheeks, my eyelids, and my forehead. Tender, soft kisses that took away the sting of my tears.
‘I’ve said my bit.’
‘I’m going to miss you,’ I whispered.
I pressed myself into Liam’s chest, inhaling him, squeezing him tight.
‘I’m going to miss you too, Red.’
His hands were in my hair, his lips on my forehead.
‘Come back to me.’
I left the next morning, creeping out of the annexe so I wouldn’t wake Liam, who was sound asleep, lightly snoring with his hand over his eyes. On his kitchen island, I left a note and a USB that I knew contained a ridiculous number of files.
As promised, for HBC & Lily’s. Don’t invite nosy designers into your home if you don’t want them to redesign every aspect of your life – Red x
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Six Weeks, Four Days and Nine Hours Later
Kat’s To-Do List
Quotes for moving companies
Clean out room at Mum & Graham’s
Draft job description for Willa
Pay the last instalments for Dad’s house
Gifts from London for Abi??
Reply to Sandra
Do not text Liam
‘Kat.’ I heard a voice, but it was miles away. My attention was fixed on the logo of Organism, a computer software company. Something about the logo was off, and I couldn’t put my finger on it.
The all-male company was often referred to as ‘orgasm’, so the logo needed to be formal and masculine. Nothing that hinted at sex toys. No bright colours. Essentially, boring as fuck, like the snooze-worthy onboarding call Willa and I sat through with their team. Clients like Organism would have had me itching my skin a few months ago, and Willa would have put them with Clara orKieran. But things had deteriorated over the last few months. Willa’s dad had got involved in the business in an attempt to save it. Clara and Kieran had been made redundant. I took a voluntary pay cut that Willa reluctantly agreed to – a clear sign things were much worse than she’d let on when she visited Everly Heath.
On the outside, Willa seemed fine. Her dresses and pencil skirts were immaculate. Her tone with demanding clients was formal and professional. But I knew her better. She’d started going to Elias’s most nights. I’d go with her when I could, and she’d drink a bottle of wine, stumbling out to call a cab to her apartment in Soho. The next morning, there were no signs of her hangover, apart from the condensation of her Diet Coke on her desk.
