he should present her with some kind of peace offering. In fact, thinking about it, her birthday could provide the perfect excuse.
He’d seen her reading an article about a new play in a magazine one lunchtime last week, and when he picked it up later he noticed she’d put a ring around the box office number, as if to remind herself to book tickets.
After dispatching her back to the office with a list of clients to chase up about invoices, he called the theatre, only to find the play had sold out weeks ago. Not prepared to be defeated that easily, he placed a call to his friend James, who was a long-time benefactor of the theatre.
‘Hey, man, how are things?’ his friend asked as soon as he picked up.
‘Great. Business is booming. How about you?’
‘Life’s good. Penny’s pregnant again,’ James said with pleasure in his voice.
Max ignored the twinge of pain in his chest. ‘That’s great. Congratulations.’
‘Thanks. Let’s just hope this one’s going to give us less trouble arriving into the world.’
‘You’re certainly owed an easy birth after the last time.’
‘You could say that. Anyway, what can I do for you, my friend?’
‘I wanted to get hold of tickets for that new play at the Apollo Theatre for tonight’s performance. It’s my PA’s birthday and I wanted to treat her, but it’s sold out. Can you help me with that?’
‘Your PA, huh?’ There was a twist of wryness in James’s voice that shot a prickle straight up his spine.
‘Yeah. My PA,’ he repeated with added terseness born of discomfort.
His friend chuckled. ‘No problem. I’ll call and get them to put some tickets aside for you for the VIP box. I saw it last week—it’s great—but it starts early, at five, so you’ll need to get a move on.’ There was a loaded pause. ‘It’s good to hear you’re getting out again.’
Max bristled again. ‘I go out.’
‘But not with women. Not since Jemima passed away.’
He sighed, beginning to wish he hadn’t called now. ‘It’s not a date. She’s my PA.’
James chuckled again. ‘Well, she’s lucky to have you for an employer. These tickets are like gold dust.’
‘Thanks, I owe you one,’ Max said, fighting hard to keep the growl out of his voice. To his annoyance, he felt rattled by what his friend was insinuating. It wasn’t stepping over the line to do something like this for Cara, was it?
‘Don’t worry about it,’ James said.
Max wasn’t sure for a moment whether he’d voiced his concerns out loud and James was answering that question or whether he was just talking about paying him back the favour.
‘Thanks, James, I’ve got to go,’ he muttered, wanting to end the call so he could walk around and loosen off this weird tension in his chest.
‘No worries.’
Max put the phone down, wondering again whether this gesture was a step too far.
No. She’d worked hard for him, under some testing circumstances and he wanted her to know that he appreciated it. If he wanted to retain her services—and he was pretty sure now that he did—he was going to have to make sure she knew how much she was valued here so she didn’t go looking for another job.
Cara was back at her desk, busily typing away on her laptop, when he walked into the room they used as an office. Leaning against the edge of her desk, he waited until she’d finished and turned to face him.
‘I’m nearly done here,’ she said, only holding eye contact for a moment before glancing back at her computer.
‘Great, because a friend of mine just called to say he has two spare tickets to that new play at the Apollo and I was thinking I could take you as a thank you for holding the fort so effectively whilst I’ve been away. And for missing your birthday.’
She stared at him as if she thought she might have misheard. ‘I’m sorry?’
He smiled at her baffled expression, feeling a kink of pleasure at her reaction. ‘We’ll need to leave in the next few minutes if we’re going to make it into town in time to catch the beginning.’ He stood up and she blinked in surprise.
‘You and me? Right now?’
‘Yes. You don’t have other plans, do you?’
‘Um, no.’
He nodded. ‘Great.’
Gesturing up and down her body, she frowned, looking a little flustered. ‘But I can’t go dressed like this.’
He glanced at her jeans and T-shirt, trying not to let his eyes linger on the way they fitted her trim, slender body. ‘You’re going to have to change quickly then,’ he said, pulling his mobile out of his pocket and dialling the number for the taxi.
* * *
Cara chattered away in the cab all the way there about how the play had been given rave reviews after its preview performance and how people were already paying crazy money on auction websites for re-sold tickets to see it. Her enthusiasm was contagious and, stepping out of the car, he was surprised to find he was actually looking forward to seeing it.
The theatre was a recently renovated grand art deco building slap-bang in the middle of Soho, a short stroll from the hectic retail circus of Oxford Street.
It had been a while since he’d made it into town on a Friday night and even longer since he’d been to see any kind of live show. When he and Jemima had moved to London they’d been full of enthusiasm about how they’d be living in the heart of the action and would be able to go out every other night to see the most cutting-edge performances and mind-expanding lectures. They were going to become paragons of good taste and spectacularly cultured to boot.
And then real life had taken over and they’d become increasingly buried under the weight of work stress and life tiredness as the years went by and had barely made it out to anything at all. It had been fine when they’d had each other for company, but he was aware that he needed to make more of an effort to get out and be sociable now he was on his own.
Not that he’d been a total recluse since Jem had died; he’d been out with friends—Poppy being his most regular pub partner—but he’d done it in a cocoon of grief, always feeling slightly detached from what was going on around him.
Doing this with Cara meant he was having to make an effort again. Which was a good thing. It felt healthy. Perhaps that was why he was feeling more upbeat than he had in a while—as if there was life beyond the narrow world he’d been living in for the past year and a half.
After paying the taxi driver, they jogged straight to the box office for their tickets, then through the empty lobby to the auditorium to find their seats in the VIP box, the usher giving them a pointed look as she closed the doors firmly behind them. It seemed they’d only just made it. This
