Annie Claydon - The Doctor's Diamond Proposal

‘Good. Very good. I was very impressed by that young woman...’

‘Alex?’

‘Yes. She sounds as if she’s a force to be reckoned with.’

‘She is. She’s very committed.’

‘That came over. And she sounds nice with it.’

‘Yeah. She’s nice too.’ Leo took a sip of his Scotch.

‘Pretty?’

‘No. More beautiful, I’d say.’ Leo chuckled. His mother’s wish to see him settled down with a nice girl, preferably one he hadn’t met at some glitzy party, was never all that far from the surface.

‘That’s nice. And she’ll be back next week, will she?’

‘You were listening, then...’ Leo laughed as his mother protested. He knew well enough that she always listened. ‘In which case you’ll know that we’re holding quite a few events over the next couple of weeks.’

‘Well, I hope you enjoy them. What’s that funny noise...?’

‘Wind, probably. I’m on the terrace.’

‘What on earth for? You’ll catch your death of cold...’

‘I just wanted to clear my head. I’m going inside now.’

Leo had accepted that, faced with the loss of one son, his mother could be a little over-protective about the remaining one. The least he could do was go along with it; there was little enough else he could do to ease his parents’ agony. Apart from keeping quiet about the five missed calls. If his parents wanted to believe that Joel’s death had been some kind of horrendous accident then he couldn’t rip that shred of comfort away from them.

He slid the balcony doors closed with a bump and threw himself down onto the sofa.

‘You sound tired, darling.’

‘Long day. I’m about ready to turn in now.’

‘Well, don’t let me stop you. Goodnight.’

‘Yeah. Speak soon, Mum.’

Leo ended the call, staring for a moment at the screen of his phone. Joel’s number was still on there, transferred from one phone to another, over the years. It was stupid, really, but it reminded him why he did what he did. Why the radio show was so important to him. He hadn’t been around to help Joel, and the only thing that made that agony a little easier to bear was the hope that maybe, as a result of something he’d done, there was another family out there who hadn’t had to grieve the way his had.

And now Alex. He’d let her down, as surely as he’d let Joel down. But there was one very big difference. There was no possibility of going back and helping Joel. But Alex... She had a future, and he could do something to change that.

Putting his glass down on the small table beside the sofa, he walked into the bedroom, picking up the key to the gym downstairs. Hard physical work would calm his mind and help him think straight. And he needed some ideas about how exactly he was going to make things up to Alex.

CHAPTER FOUR

DESPITE HAVING VOWED that Leo was going to have to take the office as he found it, Alex had been working hard since lunchtime, tidying and vacuuming the small space, cleaning the windows and putting the two most comfortable chairs on either side of her desk. Rhona was working at home today and she had the place to herself.

Her thick sweater and sheepskin boots were just about keeping the cold at bay, but she couldn’t expect Leo to freeze. When she left the office door open, some of the heat from downstairs percolated upwards and the electric heater in the corner was making some difference. By four o’clock it might be warm enough to think about taking her scarf off.

Finally, she put the envelope on her desk, still sealed. She’d wanted to look inside, but wanted even more to show Leo that she understood that he’d trusted her, and that she’d taken that seriously. Sitting down, she surveyed her handiwork. The place didn’t look too bad at all. Apart from Rhona’s mug... Alex got to her feet, grabbing the mug from the tray and hiding it in her desk drawer. Leo didn’t need to come face to face with a row of stick figures demonstrating the fourteen most popular positions from the Kama Sutra.

‘You call this accessible?’ He appeared suddenly in the doorway, tall and lean, dressed in jeans and a heavy sweater under his jacket.

‘No. We call it cheap.’ She returned his grin. He must have walked straight past the receptionist downstairs, found his way to the lift and then up the flight of narrow stairs on his own. Breezing in as if he owned the place seemed to come as second nature to Leo.

‘I brought provisions.’ He set a brown paper carrier bag down on the desk.

Alex peered into the bag and drew out a large polystyrene container, peeling back the lid. ‘Don’t tell me you made this yourself.’

He chuckled. ‘What do you think I am? Of course I didn’t; I stopped off at a place I know.’

‘Who just happen to do the best French onion soup in town?’ It smelled gorgeous.

‘Debatable. They’re in the running, but tell me what you think.’

She fetched paper napkins for the crusty, fresh baked bread and Leo tore open the manila envelope. They reviewed the list while they ate.

‘That’s a good question...’ She tapped the paper with her finger. ‘I should have said a bit more about how we weight our races so that everyone has a fair chance.’

‘He’s a regular caller. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t call again next Monday; I’ll let the call-handlers know we want to talk to him.’

‘Can you do that?’ Alex had supposed that everyone just waited in line.

‘We do it all the time. It’s a radio show; we balance the calls to provide the best broadcast we can...’ He caught sight of Alex’s frown of disappointment. ‘Don’t do that to me.’

‘What?’

‘That disapproving face. Look, I know what you’re thinking...’

‘No, you don’t.’

In the sudden silence, Alex could hear the chair creak as Leo leaned back in it. ‘You’re thinking that this is all about heightening awareness and reaching people who need the service you offer. Not about making good listening while people do the washing-up.’

That was exactly what she was thinking. Maybe not quite in those words; Leo had put it much more succinctly than she could have done. ‘And if I was thinking that?’

‘If you were, I’d tell you that my world’s different from yours. For me, it has to be all about ratings, and making sure that the show’s popular enough to survive. Being realistic is what makes me good at what I do.’

Why did he have to do this? Every time Leo did something nice, he devalued it, pretended that it was all self-serving. Or maybe he was just being honest. Maybe she was just looking for something in him that was no longer there.

‘So you’re really just a cynic?’ He wasn’t. She knew he wasn’t, or what would he be doing here, calling people back? Why had he guarded the list so jealously?

‘Yeah.’

‘I don’t believe you.’ Alex felt herself redden.

‘That’s because you’re an idealist.’ He reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out his phone and propping it on the desk between them. ‘Which is what makes you so good at what you do, and exactly why you’re the best person to help me with these calls.’

* * *

Perhaps he’d gone a little too far. Alex had seemed ready to shake him, until she heard what she wanted to hear. But that wasn’t what Leo was prepared to give.

It would be so easy, so very pleasurable, to indulge the connection between them. To reach out and touch her, knowing that their hearts weren’t so very different. He wanted that, and he had a good idea that Alex did too, but if he felt her softness he’d be unable to stop.

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