Page 49 of Last Christmas in London

She gave a thin, wet laugh.

‘He doesn’t realise how lucky he is. But he will. They always come crawling back.’ Josh was confident in the extreme, to the point of sounding bored, as he repeated the sentiment he and I had been pushing for the better part of two hours.

‘If he comes back,’ Megan muttered, more to herself than to us.

‘We love you, no matter what,’ I said. ‘And he hasn’t gone far.’ I’d checked the wardrobe for Alex’s things when Josh arrived and took over the hugging duties of Megan. I had quickly surmised that Alex had merely whipped around the flat for some clean underwear and shirts before he left. His passport, car keys, Xbox and Nintendo Switch were still in the house and, knowing Alex, the latter two would have been the first items packed if he had truly left Megan.

What might have been the mother of all arguments was not going to lead to divorce, not yet anyway.

‘He adores you, Megan,’ I said, smoothing some of Alfie’s tufty brown locks with my chin. ‘Both of you.’

Megan gave the briefest of smiles before falling into fits of tears again. ‘He loves Alfie more than…’ she sobbed. ‘I mean, he’s been different since I got pregnant.’

‘Megan…’ I began with no train of thought; this was out of my territory. I wasn’t a mum, or a wife – I hadn’t even been a girlfriend. How did I offer advice and support in this situation?

‘He does love you. Although…’ Josh caught my hesitancy and looked puzzled – or was it boredom? ‘Do you love him?’

Megan stiffened as if the question physically hurt her. ‘He just… he gave up on us. He said he’s done.’

I noticed how neatly she’d sidestepped the question, how she’d turned it back onto him instead. I didn’t push. Some answers needed more time than a kitchen conversation could give.

Josh, however, was far less inclined to let it slide. His eye roll could have caused him a medical emergency, it was so dramatic. ‘Honestly, some of the guys I’ve dated barely put in any effort, so I get it.’

Where was he going with this?

‘Why is it always one person? For Christ’s sake, Zach is always so sensitive, but then I think that’s because his husband has all this moon energy, so Zach has to be macho all the time at home to make it work; when really, he just wants to be emotionally cared for now and then. You get it.’ He lifted his empty glass at Megan, completely oblivious to the minefield he had just stepped into.

Megan’s brow furrowed. ‘His husband?’ Oh, no.

I shot him a severe warning look, but he was too deep in his own tangent to stop.

‘Speaking of relationships, I was talking to Zach about all this—’ He burped.

He hadn’t noticed that Megan was staring at him. ‘Who’s Zach?’

Josh grinned at the change of subject and I internally cringed. This could only go badly.

‘This guy I’m seeing.’ He blushed like a regency bride.

‘Should I put Alfie down?’ I interjected, trying to distract Megan from the car crash I was foreseeing. But Megan barely acknowledged me, eyes locked on Josh like a predator scenting blood. ‘Megan, it’s fine. Ignore him, we’re here for you.’ I spoke to Josh more than Megan, my eyes widening at him.

‘Just because you don’t like him,’ he said, his voice unnecessarily petulant. ‘You’ve never even met him; we should organise something, then you’d see.’

‘Josh…’ I began to lift Alfie from my chest, and his hands starfished as he startled at my sudden lunge.

‘Who is Zach?’ Megan repeated, which for Megan was never a good sign.

Josh was still blissfully unaware. ‘I told you; he’s this guy I’m seeing.’

‘You’re seeing a guy with a husband?’ she said, this time slower, louder, impossible to ignore.

Josh’s expression froze for half a second too long.

Megan’s knuckles whitened around her wine glass, as her words dropped like a guillotine. ‘You’re screwing a married man?’

Josh twisted his head, having realised he had mentioned Zach’s husband, not ex-husband but husband. The ‘oh-shit’ expression that passed over his face, spread to mine as Megan pounced.

‘It’s not as simple as that!’ Josh said, his voice rising just as Megan walked around the sofa.