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The words stung more than Leo would ever know. They were Leo’s final goodbye, always would be, so to hear them now, it didn’t matter how many lifetimes they lived, there was always the reminder that everything ended.
ChapterNineteen
Stood amongst unpacked boxes in his new house, Quint started to pull together things for the gym. Harry had texted Quint Saturday morning to tell him he’d come across something interesting with regard to Tim, Cody’s soulmate. From gathering information from one of his many sources about Tim’s date and time of death, he was able to piece together confirmation that Tim had definitely reincarnated back on Earth.
He’d told Quint that there was still some work to do to find out exactly where he could be, but Harry had an instinct that he would have been drawn back to the music business in some capacity or another.
Quint was so grateful to him for again going out of his way to help a lost soul that he hadn’t even met, but that was Harry. It seemed there was nothing the man couldn’t do, but then he had been a Player for who knew how long. If anybody was going to have the connections to find a lost soul in an ocean of Players and Reboots, it was Harry.
Quint turned his thoughts to Leo, still desperate to fathom why Leo had rebooted and not reincarnated as a Player. Surely with the intensity of their love, he would have wanted to pursue a new life with Quint, growing together in a place where they held the secrets of the universe in the palms of their hands.
Frustratingly, there was no way of finding out what happened after they had separated, certainly not in this lifetime and not until they were to grace theMediunnagain together. Patience would be an important lesson that Quint would have to master, and it wasn’t something that came easy for him, especially when it came to Leo.
He had a few things on today to keep him busy, meaning that time would fly by before he had to meet Leo for dinner later.
For now, Quint arranged to meet Cody for lunch and had booked one of his favourite restaurants to introduce him to. It was called Mona’s, tucked away in a side street in Kensington. There were only eight tables in the tiny restaurant, but it was a British institution, a staple of the Kensington borough and had existed in the same location for years, with a reputation that had attracted even the likes of royalty over the years.
The restaurant’s reputation was notorious for never being able to book a table. The food was exquisite, and Mona had made the place famous for hardly ever having the same menu twice—a double-edged sword because of how every dish was outstanding, and when it was gone, it was gone.
Of course, Mona was a seasoned Player. The recipes that she served were those that she had sourced from far and wide, thousands of dishes that she had gathered over thousands of lifetimes. Some ingredients were rare, some didn’t exist on this planet, so she had to source the closest things possible to the original to match the remarkable tastes that she carried with her in her memories throughout the centuries.
Mona’s booking policy was stringent, and the guest list was confined exclusively to Players, which accounted for the difficulty for the rest of the population in reserving a table, making the restaurant all the more desirable. All of her bookings were taken throughThe Loungeapp, with the usual booking channels left open to the general public mainly for show.
It was places such as this that Harry had introduced Quint to over the years, which was one of the reasons that prompted Quint to do the same for Cody. It would be great for him to get to know more Players and more importantly become acquainted and comfortable with the lifestyle.
But before lunch, Quint was about to drag himself to the gym, when a text popped through from Leo.
“Just checking you’re still up for tonight and where you want to meet? Looking forward to it x”
Quint read the words in Leo’s voice. It took some getting used to as he sounded completely different from when they were last together, which was to be expected, having a new body and all. To himself, Quint sounded the same, his internal dialogue never having been switched off, but to others that knew him before, he would sound different too.
It was things like this that could easily cast doubt as to whether Leo was indeed Leo, but too much added up for him not to be. It was the very essence of him that really made it clear to Quint who he was. One of the last things that Leo mentioned was that he would be able to recognise his essence, that all of his senses would be overwhelmed by it, and they surely were. The senses didn’t lie, and five of Quint’s knew that everything about Leo fitted.
Smell was the strongest, Leo’s natural scent being unmistakable. There was no way that specific smell could randomly turn up here and not be associated with his Leo.
On top of that, Quint’s sixth sense seemed to be guiding him steadily, asserting itself to him that he was definitely on the right path, that everything he was doing now was correct. That was enough for him.
Quint texted Leo back with a time and venue for the evening, making sure Leo knew that he too was looking forward to their evening together. As he released the text into the ether, a pang of guilt shot through him.
He felt frustrated for Leo that he wouldn’t ever be able to truly know who Quint was, at least not in this lifetime. Having to lie to him so that he could remain blissfully ignorant about the intricate workings of the universe was tearing him up.
Shunting those feelings away, Quint put a positive spin on this situation. It was, after all, what he had truly wanted, to be reunited with Leo. He just had to face the tribulations that came with having to deal with the Player/Reboot issue, but this was to be yet another challenge that would help him to grow.
He needed to clear his head of all of this for now, the only way to do that being an intense workout at the gym, so he filled up his water bottle, crammed it into his rucksack and headed out.
* * *
Leo mooched around Hackney,scoping out the cool markets and salivating at the food stalls of Broadway market. He’d found a place that knocked up an incredible Katsu chicken wrap, which brought out the flexitarian in him. It was worth the sin, as the wrap made his eyes roll back in his head in ecstasy with every bite.
After he’d eaten, he discovered a pub on the corner called the Cat and Mutton—a name truly fit for an East London drinking establishment.
Once he’d ordered himself a pale ale, he scooted outside and found a large beer barrel to put his drink on while he rolled a cigarette. He finished rolling it, lit it, then blew out that rapturous first puff.
Sliding his phone from his pocket, he started to plan his route to Brick Lane, adamant on picking up one of those famous bagels that he’d heard so much about. His mouth watered at the prospect, despite just polishing off a huge wrap. Leo hadn’t eaten this well in months.
He really was fully taking advantage of the generous allowance that Wrap’d had fronted him for his weekend in London, thinking it far too much in relation to what he was used to spending on food and drink every day, which was a mere drop in the ocean compared to this.
AWhatsAppmessage pinged through from Kai asking him what he was up to. Leo excitedly typed back that he had been sampling all kinds of delicacies and that he was supping a deliciously fruity pale ale in the sunshine, the hint of grapefruit tickling his taste buds.
