“Are you hungry?” I asked, wanting to try and keep the ‘date’ going for a bit longer.
“Why, you going to whip out your brownies?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows, making me laugh.
I’d forgotten the brownies in my pocket and dragged him to a nearby bench, digging the now squashed cake out and handing him a slice.
“Here, before they get smashed up completely.”
We ate in silence, Beau picking small pieces off, nibbling at them slowly. I finished mine in record time, the sandwiches not having filled me up in the slightest. I’d arranged to go out with Cho and Sammy later to catch up on what we were going to do, whether we were going to carry on with the group or go our separate ways.
It was getting on for three now, and not knowing if Beau had plans, I contemplated inviting him along, but I got the feeling he’d say no. It couldn’t hurt to ask, though. Before I could get the words out, my phone rang.
I smiled at him apologetically before answering the call, but this could have been anyone; the police, Saul’s PA, my parents even.
It was a private number, and I was tempted not to answer, but of course, I was waiting for a call.
“Hello. Kwan speaking.”
“Good afternoon, this is Detective Sergeant Pascoe. We met yesterday at the hotel.”
I remembered who he was and returned his greeting.
“I have some good news for you. You and your other bandmates are free to return home. Mr Geller’s death has been ruled natural causes, so there’s no need for you to stay around. His next of kin have been informed, but I remembered yesterday that you said you all needed to get back home.”
“That’s fantastic news. Thank you for letting me know. I’ll tell the others.”
After a few more niceties, he ended the call, and I couldn’t help but feel relieved. Thank God, we could get home to our own beds and not have to stay in this shitty, cheap hotel tonight. I needed to get hold of Cynthia so she could arrange our transport home.
“You look like you got some good news.” He sounded flat. His light, flirty tone from earlier had disappeared.
Shit. I forgot this would mean leaving Liverpool and Beau. I didn’t want to lose touch, though. I felt a connection to him, the first one in a long time.
“That was the police. We can go home now. We don’t need to stay in Liverpool.”
Before I could change my words or stop him, Beau stood, brushing the crumbs from his jeans.
“I can imagine. Thanks for the food and the afternoon. It was nice.”
“Beau, please. This doesn’t mean we have to end this.”
“Yeah, well, you have things to do, and so do I. I’ll see you around.”
He turned and walked away from me, breaking into a jog before I could even stop him. I was tempted to chase after him, but instead, I let him go. I needed to get back to the guys, get our bags packed up and call Cynthia.
“Fuck.” I threw the napkin in the bin, ignoring the disapproving look of a woman holding the hand of a small child.
This hadn’t turned out the way I’d wanted it to. Damn it. I watched his retreating form before finally making my way to the hotel.