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He shakes his head, unable to take his eyes off me. “You’re more beautiful than I remember.”
“Careful—I’ll get a big head, and then maybe, I’ll have to knit myself a new hat to accommodate my aforementioned huge head. It’ll match my scarf that you love so much.”
“I do love it,” he confirms. He grabs my small suitcase, stowing it in the boot before slotting my garment bag on a hook. “I hope there’s a sexy dress in there.”
“My pyjamas like to travel in style,” I sass, my mood upbeat now that I’m with him again.
As we pull into traffic, Max asks, “Did you see Dave?”
“Yeah, this morning. It was a good session.”
“Does he have any advice?”
I laugh ruefully. “To carry on doing what I’m doing.”
“Is that me?” he quips, reaching for my hand and threading our fingers together.
I laugh, loving the young, carefree look on his face. “Mostly, yeah. Whatever is going on between us is helping, so as long as I’m okay with that, he said to do what feels right.”
“Well, okay then,” he leads. “If the doctor says so . . .”
I chuckle, before it dies away as I remember something Dave imparted as I left. “Um, just so there are no surprises, I should make you aware that relationships, those of friends or otherwise, can be hard for people with my diagnosis. It won’t always be easy, not that it’s been plain sailing so far, it’s just that—”
“Ava, it’s fine.” Max looks across at me before concentrating back on the road. “I’m ready to fight for this, so don’t stress over it. Highs or lows, we’ll work it out.”
He always seems to know what to say. “Thanks.”
We head towards Highgate, notably Hampstead Lane where Max pulls into a drive with enormous, sturdy security gates. The house beyond is something out of a film set, a huge modern-built mansion set in acres of land.
“Is this you?” I ask incredulously.
“Yup.”
“Is this another rental?”
He laughs at that. “No.”
The black gates open to reveal a gravel driveway with a midnight blue Porsche 911 parked to one side. There’s a double garage, mature trees, and well-established shrubs and hedging, including my favourite—box. Tall black fencing seems to run from the front gates all around the property from what I can make out. Security lighting is angled towards the house from the landscaped grounds.
I can’t take my eyes off his home, gazing up at it from my car window. It’s a three-story, ultra-modern new build with a mansard roof. Inside, lights give me a brief preview of an elegant, design-focused house.
“Head of Design pays well,” I remark. “I can’t wait to look around.”
Max connects his car to an electric charging point and then grabs my things from the car. After keying in a code and using a key, we head through the front door. The glossy shine of it reminds me of 10 Downing Street, and I think it must be reinforced steel.
Inside, Logan greets us. Delighted to see him again, I give him a lot of love. Once he’s checked us out, he heads off and I concentrate on my lavish surroundings. The entrance is broad and double-height, probably making it light and airy in the daytime with its limestone flooring and pale walls.
“Cloakroom,” Max says, pointing to a room the size of my bedroom. I remove my boots while he hangs up my coat and garment bag. My overnight bag is set down to one side.
Another arm extends, pointing to a room opposite the cloakroom. “Security stuff.”
We move deeper into the house, a wide staircase curving gracefully upstairs. Max points to a nearby room. “This is where my house manager, Jeremy, works from. You’ll meet him another time.”
We move on. “Living room.” Dark wood floors, modern, bespoke furniture, huge sofas and fancy lighting dominate. Patio doors lead outside to landscaped grounds and a long, wide lawn.
We cross the hallway. “WC is here.” More pointing. “Another reception room.” We move on. “This is the panic room. If you ever felt unsafe or threatened, you need to go inside and push this button. It’ll immediately close, then lock the door.” Max points out a mounted control system on the inside wall, the button I need to push a red rectangle. “Use the comms panel here to call the police or anyone on this list of numbers.”
There’s a wall of cameras, a TV, a satellite phone, a sofa that could easily sit six.
