Page 84 of The Good Neighbour

It really had come to that. Josh had been plagued by that moment when he’d avoided Winston’s kiss. For a split second, he’d wanted to. Right there in the middle of the hotel lobby. He supposed it must be like a form of muscle memory. Mere habit.

He carried on making the last-minute adjustments. The models had had their final fittings. Everything was on course.

“How much more do you have to do?” Suzanne asked.

“Couple of hours probably,” he replied. “You?”

“Same. Shall I go and get us a bottle of wine?”

“Now you’re talking.”

He didn’t usually drink on the job but these adjustments were minor. Besides, nerves for the collection were starting to take a hold.

“White, red or fizz?”

“Oh fizz I think. And maybe call into the Thai on the way?”

He gave her his best puppy-dog expression.

“How can I resist that face?” she asked, kissing his forehead. “What do you want?”

“Surprise me.”

She grinned. “You’ve got it. Get plates and glasses ready. We’ll have a break then take this motherfucker home.”

With that, Suzanne bounded out of the studio. Josh flicked the lights to more of a glow than the bright work lights. As he got the things out of the cupboard, he hummed away to himself.The music for the little show had been chosen by him and Hugh. He realised it was dangerous to give Hugh access to everything in his life.

When has that ever stopped me?

Someone cleared their throat behind him. Josh spun round and almost dropped a glass.

“Fucking hell, Winston,” he exclaimed. “You have to stop doing this. I’m sure it’s against the law.”

“I was waiting until your little friend had gone.”

“Yeah well, she’ll be back in no time so make whatever this is quick. She won’t take too kindly to seeing you here. That’s for sure.”

Winston walked into the studio. “I can imagine the stories you’ve told her.”

Josh still had hold of the glasses. He shoved them on the kitchen counter and turned to face Winston.

“Like I said, what do you want?”

“I wondered if you’d thought any more about what I said.”

“Us getting back together? Yeah, I thought about it. No thanks.”

Winston came forward and grabbed hold of his arms. “Do you want me to beg? Is that it?”

This time the close proximity to Winston had the opposite effect on Josh. All he had was revulsion for this user he’d wasted too many years on already.

He shrugged Winston’s hands off him and staggered away.

He will never touch me again.

“I don’t know why you’re making this harder,” Josh said. “Go to Nice, Winston. We’ll come to an agreement and that will be that.”

Before Winston replied, Josh heard movement downstairs.