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I see her immediately, leaning on the front desk, talking to the receptionist. I stop in my tracks. She’s wearing a scarlet blouse and a long black skirt, and she’s pinned her long brown hair up in a bun, although untidy strands tumble around her face and neck. I think she’s attempting to look businesslike, but there’s still something bohemian and wayward about her.
God, this girl… She drives me crazy no matter what she’s wearing.
Hana, the receptionist, glances over and sees me, and Scarlett follows her gaze and turns. I walk toward her, conscious of my heart banging on my ribs.
“Afternoon,” I say, stopping before her.
“Hello.” She tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. Her cheeks flush slightly. Our eyes meet, and immediately I’m transported straight back to the moment when I pressed into her and felt her close around me, warm and wet.
I blink, suddenly aware that about ten seconds have passed, and glance at Hana to see her studying her computer screen with a small smile, so I know she’s witnessed our silent exchange.
I clear my throat. “You want to come through to my office?”
“Um, sure.”
I glare at Hana, who tries not to laugh, then lead Scarlett through to my office. I gesture at the sofa, and she sits while I try not to remember the way she curled her toes over the edge of the coffee table last time.
“Would you like a drink?” I ask as Anne appears in the doorway.
“A coffee would be great.”
“Two lattes, please,” I say to Anne, and she nods and goes off to get them.
I flick open the buttons on my jacket and take a seat. Scarlett watches me. I can’t read her expression.
“Your father has the same white flashes at his temples, hasn’t he?” she asks.
I nod. “All the men in my family have had it.”
“Your sons will probably have it too, then.”
“I suppose,” I say with some surprise. I hadn’t given it any thought.
“I’m sorry about your mother,” Scarlett says. “You said she died six years ago?”
“Mm. Also of breast cancer.” I know her mother died of the same.
She hesitates as if wondering whether to ask me something. “Did she have Enhertu?”
It’s the more common name for Trastuzumab deruxtecan, a drug used to treat advanced breast cancer that has shown superior progression-free survival compared to other treatments. I nod. “It gave her four more years with us. What about your mum?”
She looks at her skirt and smoothes out a wrinkle. “The drug isn’t funded in New Zealand.”
Ah, fuck. There would have been other drugs available, but Dad did his research at the time, and Enhertu was by far the most successful, so that’s what mum got. Without a second thought.
We sit in silence for a while, during which Anne comes in with our coffees and a plate of brownies, glances at us both, then leaves them on the table and goes, closing the door behind her.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
Scarlett leans forward and picks up her takeaway cup. Then she smiles at me, surprising me. “It’s not your fault.”
“No… that’s true.”
She has a sip of the coffee, looking around the office. “You said you do business here sometimes with the other members of the Midnight Circle.”
“Yes.”
“After midnight?”