Page 7 of The Good Neighbour

Josh looked down.

“I’ve not been there since…”

“What do you do?” Nick asked.

“He’s a fashion designer,” Mercury replied on Josh’s behalf. “Surely you’ve heard of Josh Winterton and Cut?”

Nick shrugged. “Sorry, Josh. Fashion isn’t my strong point.”

“Evidently,” Madeline chimed in.

They all looked at her before she laughed.

“Mum!” Mercury said.

“What? For a handsome man, you don’t show yourself off very well, Nick. Have no fear, you’re in the right place.”

Nonplussed, Nick took a gulp of champagne.

“I don’t have your budget, Madeline. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Pah,” Madeline said, waving him off. “The richer you get, the less you pay. It’s unfair yet it’s true.”

Mercury nodded sagely. “Since I put him on my insta, we’ve had loads of offers.”

“For modelling,” Nick reminded him. “Not my bag. The kids at work would never let me live it down.”

Nick ran a youth project in South London. That was where he and Mercury had met when Mercury had been sentenced to community service for a crime he didn’t commit.

“To be fair, that’s true,” Mercury said. “They can be pretty brutal.”

Josh enjoyed watching the conversation. He had been out of circulation too long. He realised he’d been starved of this except for Madeline’s regular visits. Even their nosy neighbour, Mrs Wimpole, had given up trying to get an answer from his door.

“So, Josh,” Madeline said. “What have you been doing if not working?”

Again, the focus fell on him. Josh sat back on the sofa, willing it to swallow him up. He has news and he might as well tell them.

“Winston has filed for divorce.”

Those words were loaded with pain.

“What?” Madeline cried. “Already?”

Josh nodded. “He didn’t even contact me. I got a letter this week from his solicitors.”

“Cold bastard,” Nick said.

Madeline moved up the sofa and wrapped her arm around him. He flinched at first. Then leant into it, a lump forming in his throat.

“When?” she asked.

“Monday or Tuesday. I can’t remember.”

The time was merging into one for Josh now. Every day since Winston left had been the same.

“Oh, darling,” Madeline soothed whilst rubbing his shoulder. “You should have said.”

To Josh’s amazement, his tears weren’t forthcoming.