“Great.” Dom beamed at him, hand brushing the back of Henry’s. “What villa are you in?”
“Um...” Henry fished the key out of his pocket. “192.”
Dom’s smile got wider, and he nodded like he knew exactly where that was. “That’s not too far from the dome. It’s a good location to be in. I’m 256.”
“Which is where?” Henry had no idea if that was close to him or not without looking at the map. The numbering scheme made no sense.
“A bit further up the road, but not too far.” He fished his keys out of his pocket. “How about I come get you in a couple of hours? That should give us time to unpack, and you can come to the shop with me on the way back to mine.”
Two hours? How much stuff did Dom think he had? But Henry nodded. “Sounds good.”
They parted ways after exchanging phone numbers, and Henry managed to find his car without too much trouble. He followed the signs to his villa, weaving past parked cars busy unloading what looked like a month’s worth of stuff. Henry had brought a small suitcase and his rucksack.
Clearly holidaying with small children meant you had to bring half your house.
Finally, he found number 192, and parked in the small space just off the road. The villa itself was set back from the road and staggered with the villas either side of it.
Pulling his suitcase and with his rucksack over his shoulder, Henry walked up the path to his front door and let himself in. His phone rang as the door clicked shut behind him, and he rolled his eyes when he saw his sister’s name on the screen.
“I’ve just this second stepped inside the door. How did you know?”
Laughter met his words. “I’m just that good. And hello to you too.”
“Sorry. Hello. What can I do for you?”
“Since you’re already inside, you can FaceTime me and show me around.”
“Fine.” Henry ended the call and immediately FaceTimed Ella, flicking the camera as soon as she answered so she could see everything. “This is the living area.” He panned around while she ooh’d and ahh’d. It was all open plan—making the most of the space. Not huge but bigger than Henry had been expecting. Everything looked modern, and as he walked over to the patio windows, he saw his villa overlooked a small pond in amongst the trees.
“Oh, nice view,” Ella cooed. “You might get squirrels and ducks visiting you there.”
Henry huffed and flipped the camera around to raise an eyebrow at her. “So I won’t be sad and lonely on my own, you mean?”
She tsked at him. “No. I just meant you’ll probably see a bit of wildlife while you’re there.” She grinned. “You’ll still be sad and lonely; a few squirrels won’t change that.”
“Fuck off.” His mind immediately went to Dom, and a smile formed without his permission.
“What’s that little smile for?” Ella’s eyes narrowed and then went comically wide. “Oh my god, I know that smile. But surely you can’t have met someone in the few hours you’ve been there?”
Henry blushed and Ella’s laughter filled the room.
“Only you, Henry.” She shook her head, eyes dancing with amusement. “Only fucking you.”
“It’s not like that,” he grumbled. It was totally like that.
Her raised eyebrows called bollocks. “Tell me how it is then?”
He sighed, but knew she’d never let it drop without getting all the details. And he’d be exactly the same in her position so he couldn’t even be mad. “His name’s Dom, and he’s here on his own after splitting up with his boyfriend. He’s thirty-two and lives in Somerset somewhere.”
She let out a squeak, smiling widely at him. “It’s fate.”
Henry rolled his eyes.
“When are you seeing him again?”
“In a couple of hours. He’s walking over to pick me up. Then we’re going back to his villa for some chilli.”
“Wow. Well done, Henry. Way to make the most of your week.”
