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“You heard her,” I tell Jolene, stepping past her, over the threshold. “Get in before it rains.”
We follow Mara into the house. It’s been renovated into a modern, minimal flat, with white walls and concrete flooring, like my place back in London. We follow her to the industrial-style kitchen in the back, as I keep an eye out for any signs of Hugo. “As you can see, it’s in bad nick,” she says, gesturing to a huge, ugly china cabinet that looks wildly out of place in the sleek, modern space. “I found it at a charity shop, and always planned to DIY it, but… Well, five years later and I can’t stand the sight of it. Maybe you can do something with it.” She smiles, friendly. “Did you have a dolly to help you move?”
“We’re not actually here about the cabinet,” Jolene speaks up. “Which, wow, that is ugly.”
“What she means is, we’re looking for someone. Urgently.” I step in. “We were told he would be here. Hugo Chambers?”
Mara brightens. “You’re friends with Hugo?”
“Yes!” Jolene blurts quickly, beaming. “Good friends. Is he still here?” she asks hopefully, glancing around the room like the man himself might be hiding in the damn china cabinet.
“No, sorry, you missed him.” Mara begins to clear dishes from the breakfast table.
“He’s already gone?” Jolene gasps. “But, what about the big reunion? Don’t tell me he was too late!” she presses a hand to her chest in distress. “You moved on? You got married? The weekend in Vegas didn’t mean anything to you, and you had to break his heart and send him off into the dark night alone?”
Mara blinks at her, confused. “Weekend inwhere?” she asks, looking to me for some explanation.
“You, and Hugo,” I explain slowly. “We were under the impression… Well…”
“That you’re the love of his life, and he came running off to Scotland to be with you!” Jolene cries.
Mara bursts out laughing.
“You thought… Hugo… Withme?” She giggles. “Oh my God, no. Can you imagine?”
We can, and we did. I grit my teeth. “If you’re not together, then why the hell would he go haring up here to find you?”
“It wasn’t me he was looking for,” Mara replies. “It’s my brother, Max.”
14
JJ
Her brother?
I stare at Mara in confusion, until suddenly, it clicks.
“Oh.Oh.” My eyes widen. Hugo wasn’t talking about a mysterywoman. In fact, I can’t remember him ever mentioning pronouns at all. “Your brother!He’sthe love of Hugo’s life.”
Mara suddenly seems to realize her mistake. “I didn’t say that,” she blurts quickly, looking panicked. “They’re friends. Mates. Good mates. That’s all.”
“It’s OK,” I reassure her quickly. “We’re not going to expose him or anything. Honestly, we couldn’t care less who he’s with. The only thing that matters is finding outwhere.”
Mara shakes her head. “I think you should go now.”
“No!” We’re too close now to give up, so I whip out my phone. “I wasn’t lying before, we know him. From the movie! See?”
I scroll through, showing her the behind-the-scenes photos I’ve been snapping all week on set. “There’s Hugo doing his sheet mask during rehearsals, and him with our Lizzy Bennett, and there’s me with him, and our director, Reeve. That’s why we’re here,” I add, beseeching. “Hugo ran off and left the production to come see your brother, but there’s going to be a whole world of trouble if we don’t get him back. Like, now. Please tell us where he went,” I beg. “I have to talk to him.Please!”
Mara pauses, wavering. “He did give me a number, for emergencies…”
“Yes!” I cheer. “This is one, I swear. Just let me talk to him. I promise, we just need to straighten this out, and then we’ll be out of your hair.”
OK, so maybe ‘straight’ isn’t the right word, but clearly, my desperation shows. Mara wavers another moment, then nods.
“I’ll call him,” she agrees. “But if he doesn’t want to talk…”
“That’s fine!” I blurt.
