Page 75 of Love Is: Two Bodies One Soul

ChapterTwenty-Four

Friday 21st October.Owen stayed so long in the office finishing work, he had to be pushed out by George and Kate. Then they piled him, protesting he still had work to do, into a cab. He really didn’t want to travel further than Brighton … spend the weekend with Lexie. Just one day and one night apart, and he missed her. How would he survive a whole two weeks?

‘Makes a change for you to be sober when I’m loading you into a taxi,’ George laughed.

Kate said, ‘Have a great time. Enjoy yourself.’ Her eyes sparkled at him and Owen wondered how the hell she expected him to enjoy himself, trapped on a remote island with Lexie’s brother.

George and Kate stood together on the pavement and waved at him.

Owen shook his head at them as the cab pulled away. He didn’t expect to enjoy himself. He didn’t want to go. If the Paradise assignment hadn’t been so important to George, he would have diverted the cab to Victoria Station and set off for Brighton, and Lexie. He missed her so much. Just one day separated from her, and he was bereft.

As West London flashed past him, Owen tried calling Lexie’s phone, but there was no answer either on her mobile or her landline. Perhaps it was better that she couldn’t come to see him off. But one last hug, one final kiss … would have been good.

With limited time, he sprinted into the colossal steel and glass structure of terminal five. Travelling light, boarding card printed out, he ran straight to security, avoiding the attention of a woman who thought she recognised him. He queued and filled the time by scanning the crowds, searching for someone who looked like Lexie, wishing he was actually looking for her. She would have come to see him off if she could. She’d said she wished she could, but there was somewhere she had to be – she had her business and her own life to live. Again on the underground train to the departure gate, Owen searched for Lexie’s twin, but there was no sign of Xander. Probably well ahead of me, Owen thought as, breathless from running, he joined the tail-end of the boarding queue for the Airbus A380 to Hong Kong. No hanging around now. The queue was moving, the plane loading. He had only just made it in time.

Five minutes later, Owen found his way to the twin seats allocated to him and Xander. Both were empty. He looked down the cabin. No sign of Lexie’s brother. A nasty doubt sneaked into Owen’s thoughts. Was he alone? Where the hell was Xander? Shaking his head, Owen slumped onto his seat and buried his face in his hands. He didn’t want to be here. It was too late to call anyone. Soon he would be in the air, and eleven plus hours later, he would be in Hong Kong, travelling on to Thailand’s Sawan Islands, without the photographer George thought vital for the project. ‘Grist, I wish Lex was here,’ he muttered and closed his eyes.

‘Owen?’

Like an answer to his prayers he thought he heard Lexie’s voice.

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