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“God, yes. When you look at where the world was at the time of the Rising and where we are now… in tech terms we’re only about ten to fifteen years ahead, because we lost so many years to finding ways to survive and adjust, and because of the refugee crisis, and all those damn wars. Now, we’re finally starting to move forward again, and regain that lost ground. I want to make up for those lost decades, Alex. I want to take us into the future.”

He led Alex away from the water’s edge, towards the tall, shining buildings. “There’s a fancy restaurant over here. It’s expensive, and not many people know about it, yet, but when this floating city officially opens next month, everyone will want to eat here.”

They walked into a huge glass-fronted building with white marble walls, decorated, retro-style, in the finest Pre-R chic.

“Look at this.” Tyler guided him over to a large glass display cabinet.

“What are they?” Alex frowned, on being confronted by an array of assorted oddments.

“Rising Remains.” Tyler smiled. “Pieces of Old London that were dislodged or dredged up while Ghost Eye City was being built. They aren’t worth anything – the government takes anything of value – but they are a little piece of the past.”

They were a strange mishmash of oddments: a plastic Westminster Palace security pass; a woman’s handbag; the number plate from a car; and a rather striking piece of stained glass, amongst other odd curios.

“That’s from Westminster Abbey,” Tyler told him, pointing at the glass.

Alex barely spared any of it a glance. Pieces of Pre-R junk surfaced all the time. You were supposed to hand them in to the government’s Rising Remains department, to determine whether there was a traceable owner – if there was, then you might receive a finder’s fee. Most people didn’t bother, and there was a thriving black market trade.

“Not a history buff, I see,” Tyler commented.

Alex shrugged. “I’m more interested in the future.”

“Then let’s go eat.”

The ma?tre d’ welcomed them, showing them into an obscenely large room where well-dressed people were dining on exquisitely presented food. With space generally at a premium, the opulence of the restaurant was clear to see from the small number of tables.

“I’m not really dressed for fine dining.” Alex gestured at his work overalls.

“I thought of that.” Tyler clicked his fingers, and one of his indies materialised, carrying a small case. “The facilities are over there.” He pushed Alex in the direction of a spacious restroom.

The clothes in the case were a smartened version of his usual style – an oversized white cotton shirt, plain black chinos, and a black leather waistcoat with a thin burgundy silk scarf to add a flash of colour.

They fitted perfectly, but he was starting to find Tyler’s attention to detail too close to Neil’s smothering style and was increasingly feeling that he was being played.

He strode back to their table, sat down angrily opposite Tyler, and threw the scarf on the table.

“It’s not my size,” he said sarcastically.

Tyler raised an eyebrow. “I seem to have pissed you off. That wasn’t my intention.”

“Yeah, well – the helicopter, the ostentatious displays of wealth, and the whole stupid ‘one day, my boy, all this could be yours’ shit – that’s all about seduction, and I should know; I’m good at seducing people.”

“Seduction? That’s an interesting word.” A small grin played at the corners of Tyler’s mouth.

“Oh, I don’t mean you’re trying to get me into bed. I mean you’re trying to impress me, but I’m not that easily impressed.”

“Sorry.” Tyler sat back in his chair and gazed at him thoughtfully. “You’re right, of course, but I simply wanted to get to know you better. Is that a crime? You were a far more charming young man when you came begging for money back at my house than you have been since.”

“It’s not about the money,” he snapped.

“Then what’s changed?”

“My father told me a different story about why you fell out than the one you told me on the golf course.”

“Really? What did he say?” Tyler leaned forward, his brown eyes sparkling in the candlelight. “Go ahead, Alex – as I said before, there are two sides to every story, and I’d like to hear his.”

“He told me you were once in love with my mother and were upset when she chose him. He said that you resented him for being able to offer her more than you could.”

Tyler gave a sharp bark of laughter. “Well, that’s the gist of it, I suppose.”

“You’re not denying it?”

“I’m not denying I loved your mother once, and I believe that she loved me, too.” His eyes blazed with sincerity. “Ah – I’ve shocked you. Let me tell you what happened, and then you can judge for yourself. It was me who introduced your mother to your father – I bet you didn’t know that.”

Alex frowned, wondering how much of this story his father had left out. “No, I didn’t.”

“I met her at university, and we fell in love. Or, at least, I did.” Tyler gave a tight smile. “I thought she loved me, too – I thought I’d met the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with. Then I introduced her to your father – we were sharing rooms, so obviously she had to meet him – and he stole her from me. He began seeing her secretly, behind my back, and to cut a long story short, she chose Noah. ”

He took a sip of the sparkling mineral water on the table, his eyes dark and wounded.

“And yes, I always thought that was because he had money, and I was just the son of an IS without a penny to my name. Your mother grew up in a work camp, and her family had nothing, so your father must have seemed like a better bet than an impoverished dreamer like me.”

“Nobody would ever accuse my mum of following her head rather than her heart,” Alex refuted.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe she simply loved him more than she loved me.” Tyler shrugged. “There’s more – if you want to hear it. Your father might not know this bit, but I’ll tell you as a gesture of my good faith, so you can be sure I’m holding nothing back.”

Alex nodded. “All right – but don’t bullshit me. I’ll be able to tell.”

“Of course you would – and I wouldn’t dare.” Tyler leaned back, a rueful smile on his lips. “As you know, my mother was the housekeeper at The Orchard. Your father was fond of her, and even when she became old and frail, he said she could remain in the rooms that she and my father had shared before he died.”

“Mrs Tyler was kind to me when I was a little boy. She used to give me sweets,” Alex said. “I’d make up reasons to run past her room just so she’d open the door and let me eat the humbugs in the little glass dish on the sideboard.”

“That sounds like her.” Tyler gave a fond smile. “A few years after I left Oxford, I was starting to make a success of my business – nothing like it is now, or even like Lytton AV was back then, but I was doing okay. Then Mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I asked her to come and live with me, so I could take care of her, but she wanted to stay in her own home – The Orchard.” He paused, his lips pursed and thin.

“I did understand; it was where she felt close to my father. So, in her final few weeks, I moved in there, to be with her. Things were strained between your father and me, but he was busy at work, so I didn’t see much of him. He agreed to me being there, of course, which was kind of him, given that we were no longer friends. You must have been about five at the time, and your mother was run ragged looking after you, and your brother, and the house, and my mother, and all the household servants. During those few weeks, Isobel and I became close once more.” He gazed into the candlelight, lost in thought.

“What happened?” Alex prompted.

“I fell in love with her all over again, and I believe she was in love with me, too. I asked her to leave your father and come away with me, but in the end, she felt she had to stay. I would have welcomed you and your brother – I wasn’t asking her to leave her children behind – but she didn’t want to hurt Noah or uproot you and Charles for the sake of her own happiness, so…” He trailed off. “That was the end of that.”

Alex sat back in his chair. There had been something honest, sincere, and ultimately very human about Tyler’s story. It was the story of grown-ups, with no good guys or bad guys, unlike the way his father had presented it.

“So, Alex – what’s the verdict?” Tyler asked quietly. “Do you believe my version of events, or your father’s?”

“I think both are probably true, in their own way,” he said slowly.

“You’re probably right. Anyway, it was all a long time ago.” Tyler shrugged. “I’ve moved on since then. She was a special lady, but it was just not meant to be. I’ve enjoyed the fruits of my success since then, and I can see now that being in a committed relationship at that time in my career would have held me back, although obviously it hurt when it happened. I never saw her again after that, and it’s all for the best.”

“What about my father’s other accusation – that you’ve only invested in my designs because you want to drive a wedge between him and me?” Alex demanded.

“That’s simply not true. Noah is being paranoid. He’s jealous of my success, so he assumes I have an ulterior motive for everything.”

“Then why did you invest in my designs? Because of my mother?”

“No,” Tyler insisted. “Your name only got you through the door. If your designs had been crap, that’s as far as it would have gone, but they weren’t, and that’s why we’re here. No other reason.”

Alex lapped up the praise. He wasn’t sure why it mattered that this man liked him, but it did. He began to relax and assumed a less hostile attitude .

As they ate dinner together, enjoying the delicious food and drinking a little too much of the expensive wine, he listened with enjoyment to Tyler’s stories about the various business deals he’d pulled off over the years. Tyler was entertaining, and his anecdotes were finely honed and often hilarious.

Over coffee, he felt mellow enough to open up and confide his problems fitting the Tyler engine into the frame he’d originally designed to house the Lytton Classic.

“Let me take a look,” Tyler said unexpectedly. “I might have a solution.” He stood up.

“What – now?”

“Why not?”

“Uh, because it’s the middle of the night, and I’m kinda drunk?” Alex said, with a hazy grin.

“So? I’ve had some of my best ideas while drunk.” Grabbing his arm, Tyler led him outside, gesturing to one of his indies to take care of the bill. Alex made a mental note to one day have enough money to pay servants to take care of all the boring stuff, too. It made life so much easier.

They flew back to the workshop and spent the next three hours poring over the engine of the fledgling AV.

Alex was acutely aware of the proximity of Tyler’s body as they worked. He could feel the lean strength of the man and liked watching his long, tanned fingers caressing the machine.

Tyler had a quick brain and understood engineering the way Alex understood design. Maybe it was the combination of the artistic and technical, or the fact they were both a little drunk, but the ideas flowed with exhilarating ease, and they had a breakthrough just before 3a.m.

“We’ve done it. Shit – we’ve done it!” Alex let out an excited whoop.

“We are bloody awesome!” Tyler took hold of Alex and spun him around the workshop, dancing manically with excitement.

Alex laughed, enjoying the feeling of Tyler’s hard body against his own. Was he imagining this, or was there a vibe between them? They stopped dancing and grinned at each other stupidly .

“Now, it’s over to you. Don’t fuck it up.” Tyler winked at him.

“I won’t. I’ll make it work. I’ll make you proud of me, I promise,” he said earnestly.

“I’m sure you will.” Tyler put his hands on Alex’s shoulders and gazed intently into his eyes. “I have total faith in you.”

“You know – you didn’t have to try and impress me with the helicopter, the floating city, and the fancy restaurant. This, here, what we just did – that’s impressed me far more.” Alex waved his hand at the prototype duck.

“It looks like I’ve found what makes you tick, then. Noted – for future reference.” Tyler grinned. “Now c’mon – it’s late.” He shoved Alex jokingly towards the door. “I’ll drop you at Solange’s house – she’s been complaining that she hasn’t seen much of you since you started working with me.”

When Solange opened her front door sleepily a little while later, Alex picked her up and swung her around. “Your godfather is awesome,” he exclaimed.

“Hmm, yeah, I know that.” She wrapped her arms around him. “What brought this on?”

“I’ve never worked with anyone who really got me before. We were just riffing off each other, y’know? It was fantastic. Hey – d’you have any croc? I want to celebrate.”

He spent the next ten minutes inhaling the drug off her beautiful belly, and then made love to her, crocodile tears flowing steadily down his cheeks.

Afterwards, he picked her up in his arms and held her close, and she snuggled into him, warm and soft.

A little thought crept, unexpectedly, into his mind. What it would be like to be holding George Tyler in his arms instead? How would it feel to bury himself in Tyler’s body and make that powerful man scream his name with pleasure? Or to be held down by Tyler’s tanned brown hands while the man fucked him hard? To be caressed by Tyler the way he’d caressed that engine back at the workshop would be quite something.

“Do you think George is bi?” he asked suddenly .

Solange sat up. “Alex – he’s my godfather! I don’t think of him that way. Why? You haven’t got a crush on him, have you?”

Alex gave a guilty laugh. “No. It’s just a vibe he gave off tonight. Also, I’m nosey. Who does he hang out with? He’s never been married, has he?”

“No, but he’s not exactly a monk. Women throw themselves at him all the time, and some men, too. I don’t think he turns them all down. I’ve seen him having private dinners with beautiful people, and I always assumed…” She shrugged.

“I know he’s old enough to be my father, but there’s something about him,” Alex mused idly.

“You find him attractive?” Solange looked up at him curiously.

Alex hesitated. It felt taboo, not least because of Tyler’s history with his family. “Yes,” he admitted at last. “I like his energy and drive, and I feel this weird compulsion to impress him all the time. He also looks pretty hot for a man his age. Is that weird?” He looked down at her anxiously.

“No,” she sighed. “Plenty of people have fallen for him, and I can see why.”

“You’re not jealous, are you?” he asked. “I mean – you and me – it’s never been serious, has it?”

“No. It’s never been serious.” She shook her head, making her wild curls bounce. “You’re not really available, are you, Alex? Not in here.” She rested her hand on his chest, over his heart.

“Nor you.” He picked up her hand and kissed it, and she put her head on one side, gazing at him quizzically. “You walk around like you’re locked up in your own little world, Solange,” he explained. “There’s always this distance between you and everyone else.”

“That’s why you like me so much,” she said sadly. “You’re the same.”

“At least you have your godfather.”

“Yes – and now you do, too. Don’t do anything stupid to fuck it up.”

“I won’t. I just want to make him proud of me. I want to build the best AV in the world and make a huge success of it. Nobody believed in me before he came along; I want to repay him for that.”

“Oh, Alex.” She kissed his lips gently. “That’s really sad. ”

“No – it’s fantastic. I’m happy.” He paused, feeling astonished. “I’m actually happy for the first time since Mum died. It’s been so long, I’d forgotten how it feels. I’m fucking happy, Solange.”

“That’s great.” She smiled at him, her eyes bright with tears.

“You’re still crying. That croc must be really good stuff,” he exclaimed, wiping away her tears with the edge of the pillowcase.

She snuggled into him, tears still running down her face. “I’m so happy for you, Alex. This is the start of something wonderful, I know it.”