After Felix - Lily Morton Page 0,90
Ivo and Henry coming towards us.
Dressed casually in jeans, jumpers, and coats, they nevertheless look expensive and poised, while I probably look like a fish sitting here with my mouth open. I’m also very aware that my hair is a mess from the wind and I’m clutching Max’s jacket around me like I’m someone he picked up off the street.
“Max!” Ivo exclaims, his face lit with a huge smile as his arms open for a hug. Max glances at me and hesitates for a too-long second. Then he stands up to embrace Ivo gingerly.
Henry smiles at me apologetically. “Sorry for interrupting your lunch,” he says. Then he does a double-take. “Felix?” he says hesitantly. I nod.
Ivo and Max break apart, and Ivo gapes at me.
“You’re here with Max?” he asks, and damn him, even astonishment looks good on him.
“For my sins,” I say evenly.
Ivo laughs, but Max steps over to my chair, his hand coming to rest gently on the back of my neck.
Ivo shoots him an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry, Max,” he says. “If I’d known you were with Felix we’d never have come.”
“Why are you here?” Max asks.
Henry laughs. “We’re on the way to Capri to spend some time with Ivo’s godfather. We were in the airport when Kevin rang Ivo to say you were speaking at the conference. Ivo insisted there and then that we change our flights and stop in to hear your speech.” He looks at me apologetically. “That sounds as if he was being supportive, but he wasn’t. He just wanted to take the piss.”
I’m surprised to hear myself laugh, but Henry has a way of putting people at ease. I noticed it at their wedding, and it’s still in evidence. He has an air of kindness about him and a smile in his eyes.
Ivo looks at him fondly. “It’s the truth,” he says unrepentantly. “Particularly as I turned the speaking job down.”
“You did not,” Max says. Ivo grins, and Max shakes his head. “Motherfucker. How many other people said no before me?”
“Well, Alice, the cleaner at the office, really wanted to do it, but she’s got a christening this weekend.”
Max shakes his head and shoves him, but he’s trying not to laugh.
Ivo smiles at me. “Well, we’ll be off. It was lovely to meet you again, Felix. Very nice,” he says.
He takes Henry’s hand and squeezes Max’s shoulder. “Max, I’m sure we’ll meet again. You haven’t christened our new guest bathroom yet.”
Max immediately flushes. “I’m sure that alcohol was off.”
“It must have been,” Henry says demurely. “It was jolly brave of you to try so much of it for us.” He smiles at me as Ivo laughs. “I hope we see you again, Felix. I really hope that.”
They turn to go. Max smiles at me and sits back down, and I find myself opening my mouth. “Wait,” I say. Henry and Ivo turn round. “You came all this way, and you’re leaving so soon?”
“Well, it’s Max,” Ivo offers. “I usually find five minutes does the trick.”
To my amazement, I laugh. “You’ve got some stamina. I’d have said twenty seconds.”
“Lovely,” Max sniffs.
Ivo grins at me, and I push out a chair with my foot. “Come and sit down and have some lunch with us.”
Ivo and Henry stare at me.
“Felix, there’s absolutely no need,” Max says uneasily.
I shake my head. “They’ve come all this way to see you, Max. And they probably won’t even try to murder you over lunch. That’s a rarity in your life.”
His eyes scan my face intently. “Are you sure?”
I shift uncomfortably. “Of course. We’re adults.”
“Well, some of us are,” Ivo says, sitting in a chair with an insouciance that I envy. Henry and Max are slower, but they too settle down. There’s a long, awkward pause, and I’m sure we’re all remembering the elephant in the room named, “Max’s Feelings for Ivo.” I wonder who will mention it. Bagsy not me, I think, sitting back in my chair as the waiter comes over to take our drink and food orders.
It breaks the silence, and once he’s gone, Henry starts to talk about a renovation they’re doing at home. Max chimes in, mentioning my boat, and within seconds we’re all talking with an ease that, quite frankly, astounds me.
I don’t think I ever imagined a meeting like this. When I used to think of Henry and Ivo after my breakup with Max, I’d fantasised about scenes where Max proclaimed his love for me and his disdain for Ivo. Looking back,