Page 72 of Unrequited Sloth

“Mum, is everything okay?”

She was dressed up, so perhaps she was going somewhere. He hadn’t seen or spoken to her in weeks.

“Everything’s fine, but I need to talk to you. Is there somewhere private we can go?”

“Give me a second.”

He walked over to Lucy at reception and asked if any of the client rooms were free, as they were the closest.

“Twelve sixty is free. I’ll book it for you. How long will you need?”

He shrugged, having no idea what his mum wanted to talk to him about.

“I’ll book it until five. Most of the other rooms are free from four so there won’t be any problems Use it as long as you need to.”

He thanked her and took his mum to the room, asking if she wanted a coffee on the way from the barista station they had in the office. She ordered a flat white, and they said they’d bring it in. Gabriel didn’t want a coffee, but he grabbed a glass of water as soon as they were in the room.

“Gabriel, I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you,” said his mum, choking up.

He pulled her into a hug, smelling her flowery perfume. He’d missed her hugs so much. Gabriel knew they needed to talk about why she’d believed Alex over him, but she was apologising, so something must have happened. That made him concerned about Alex. Given how she’d been the last time he’d seen her, he wasn’t sure why he was considering her feelings at all, but he couldn’t help it. She was still his sister, and he’d always love her.

“What’s happened?” he asked, the two of them taking a seat.

“Your sister showed us the note Bobby wrote for you.”

“You mean the private note she and Dillon took after barging into my home?”

“Gabriel, don’t get yourself worked up,” she said, taking hold of his hand. “Your sister has never been the sharpest tool in the box for common sense.”

Gabriel chuckled. If anyone else said that about Alex, his mum would be quick to jump to her defence, but she could slag off her children as much as she wanted.

“The note was clear that whatever was going on between you and Bobby was new. It referred to a ‘first date,’ and she said the note had been written that morning.”

“It was.”

“See what I mean? Anyone with some street smarts would have said it was an old note and more proof that you two had been together for months behind her back.”

“Or you could just have believed me.”

“I know, sweetheart, we’ve been so shitty to you.”

Gabriel gasped. His mother rarely swore. She was smiling, which made him laugh.

“What does Dad make of it?”

“He believes you aren’t the reason Alex and Bobby broke up, but he refuses to believe she’s in the wrong. He’s not keen on Dillon, though.”

“What do you think of him?”

“Don’t trust him as far as I could throw him. Even if what they’re saying is true, what kind of person gets together with their best friend’s ex-fiancé a few weeks after they broke up?”

“Well, you could apply the same opinion to me.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened there?”

“It’s new. It only happened this weekend. I don’t want to jinx it before it’s even started.”

“Because you love him, and have done for a while?”