“Exactly! So then I thought, I’ll take a picture of it through the window and prove it’s there. But by the time I got back, it had gone. She must have hidden it.”
“OK, that’s creepy,” says Seb firmly. “Really creepy. Was she still working for you?”
“No, not by then.”
“Thank God. She sounds like a sociopath.”
“I wouldn’t have minded, except it was a present from Mum and Dad, and since Dad was gone…” I trail away. “You don’t want to lose stuff like that.”
“Of course.” Seb’s eyes soften. “I’m only teasing. I’d have been livid. And you don’t need to explain about the matching set either. We always had this wonderful family story that my great-great-grandfather had an antique chess set. One Christmas Eve, a queen was stolen and a ransom note was left in its place.”
“A ransom note?” I can’t help a giggle.
“It demanded two pounds, to be left inside the grandfather clock. I guess that was a pretty big sum back then. The only people in the house were my great-great-grandfather, his wife, and their four sons, aged between twelve and twenty-three. It could have been any of them.”
“So what happened?” I ask, agog.
“Apparently my great-great-grandfather paid the ransom, the piece reappeared, and no one ever said anything about it.”
“What?” I stare at him. “OK, that is so not what would have happened in our family. Didn’t your great-great-granddad want to know who it was? Didn’t he want to catch them? Didn’t he want to find out why they were kidnapping chess pieces?”
Seb thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. “I think he just really wanted his chess piece back.”
“Wow,” I say incredulously. “Families are the weirdest—” I stop as I suddenly remember. “Sorry.” I bite my lip. “Sorry.”
“What for?”
“I know about—” I swallow, searching for words. “Your family. What happened.”
I have no idea how to put it and I know I’m messing up, but Seb lets me off the hook.
“I’ve been unlucky,” he says, in his straightforward, honest way. “Unlucky. At least, when it comes to my family.” He breathes out and I catch a fleeting pain in his eyes. “But please don’t apologize.”
“Hey, Seb! Man! What did they do to you?”
The curtain swishes back and the face of a guy in his twenties peers in.
“Andy!” exclaims Seb, his face lighting up.
“Oh,” says Andy, looking at me. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m here with the guys,” he adds to Seb. “You like all varieties of Krispy Kreme, right? Because we had a row in the shop.”
“I should be going,” I say hurriedly.
“Don’t on our account,” says Andy with a friendly smile. “Have a Krispy Kreme.”
“No, I need to go. Thanks, though.”
“We’ll let you say goodbye, then,” says Andy, withdrawing from the cubicle, and I get to my feet.
“So…get well,” I say to Seb, feeling suddenly awkward.
“Thanks for coming.” His eyes crinkle at me in a smile. “Thanks for everything.” Then a thought seems to strike him. “Hey. Have you still got the coffee sleeve? Because I need to make a new entry.”
“You don’t.” I shake my head, laughing.
“I do! I want to record my debt of gratitude. Have you still got it?”
“I think so,” I say, wrinkling my brow as though I’m not sure. “I think it’s somewhere around. I could come and see you again tomorrow, maybe?” I add casually. “Bring it in?”
“I’d like that.” He nods. “In fact, I’d love that. If you’re not too busy.”
“Of course not.” I pick up my bag. “So I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“With the coffee sleeve,” he insists.
“OK.” I nod, rolling my eyes with a smile. “If I can find it.”
Of course I can find it. It’s on my dressing table, right where I can look at it every day.
The three guys waiting patiently outside the cubicle smile at me politely, clearly wondering who I am. I recognize one of them from Seb’s office and fervently hope he doesn’t recognize me.
I walk away through the ward, listening to their voices as they greet Seb:
“Oh my God.”
“Man! They really got to you.”
“Yeah, but you should see how they look. Right, Seb?”
They sound so easy and affectionate, I can’t help smiling inwardly. And as I’m traveling back down in the lift, I remember all the stories I read online about Seb building up his company, cooking pasta for his staff, creating the amazing atmosphere that he’s got. He needed to make a family, I realize.