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When Chloe wakes she’salone and, from the feel of the bed beside her, she’s been alone for a few hours. She showers quickly and gets dressed. There’s no sign of Tate in the living room or the kitchen so she goes outside and walks around the back of the house. She finds him leaning on a stable door talking to Jove.
‘Does he have any words of wisdom?’
Tate turns around to face her and makes a face. ‘If he does he’s keeping quiet.’ Jove lifts his head over the door and rests it against Tate’s chest. ‘Thought about taking him out for a bit but I’d be sorely tempted to keep heading down the beach and not come back. That was a joke by the way. I’m not planning on doing a runner. I don’t think it would help.’
She rubs Jove’s head. ‘No. It’s not like you can hide. You sort of stand out.’
‘Guess I’m screwed then.’ He smiles to take the sting out of his words, but he’s right. There’s no escaping or running from this.
‘Have you seen Dillon?’
‘Yeah. I apologised to him before I came out here.’
‘What did you say to him?’
Tate makes a face and looks out towards the sea. ‘Just that I’m remembering shit from my past and I freaked out. He’s fine with me, but it shouldn’t have happened.’
They both look around as Ellen walks over to them. ‘That’s not a happy face.’
‘No, Tate. I’m afraid it’s not. I need to speak to you both inside.’ She turns and walks briskly back towards the house.
Chloe holds out her hand and he looks at it for a minute before he reaches out and takes it. ‘Knew I should have rode off into the distance.’
When they get back to the house Ellen is sitting at the kitchen table, her hands clasped in front of her. Tate sits opposite her and Chloe next to him. The feeling of dread is weighing heavily on her. Something has happened and it’s far from good. ‘I’ve asked the others to give us a minute so I can talk to you in private.’
‘What is it?’
‘As you know the press are all over this story. You’ve made the front pages today - which isn’t a surprise. Unfortunately there’s also a video of your arrest on the net.’
‘What? Who the fuck recorded that?’
‘We don’t know. It shows them taking you out of the studio and putting you in the back of a Garda car. The video is decent quality. There’s no denying who it is I’m afraid. It’s not looking good, Tate. We’ll do what we can to diffuse the situation, but social media is already running rife with comments about you relapsing.
‘Now, my team are working on a few possible statements we can make about it, whether you like it or not. It’s not just your career on the rocks, Tate. Dillon, Gregg, and Luke deserve for you to take this seriously.’
‘You think this is some joke to me?’
