“Don’t call them weirdos. Sacha saved your skin this morning. Without his intervention, you’d have gone into that meeting blind.”
“Sacha now, is it?”
“Stop.” Jonah replaced Carl’s hand on his balled up T-shirt with his own. “Unless you’re mouthing off to distract yourself from the pain, in which case carry on, but at least change the subject.”
“Okay, Lord Reasonable. Still think he was checking you out, though.”
Blue lights interrupted them before Jonah could verbalise a response. Police and paramedics arrived on scene, quickly separating them. Jonah found himself corralled by a burly police officer, but had little to add to the discussion. “I didn’t see anything. I came out of the pub next door when Winona came to find me.”
“What’s your relationship to these people?” The officer gestured to Carl, Nico, and Winona whose face was still streaked with tears.
“I’m their employer.” Jonah dug ID from his wallet and handed it over. “We came out for a drink after a successful day at the office.”
“That went well,” the officer deadpanned. “What about him?”
Jonah followed the policeman’s jerked head to Sacha as Sacha happened to glance in his direction. Their eyes locked. The melee faded, and for a split, heart-pumping second, it was just them. Jonah smiled a little. “He’s my friend.”
Sacha smiled too.
* * *
It took an age to unpick the carnage of a quiet after-work drink. The assailant Nico had put down wasn’t seriously hurt. He was arrested and taken away, as was Carl in the back of an ambulance with another FG staff member for company.
Jonah stayed behind to negotiate on Nico’s behalf while Sacha remained with Winona as she gave her account to the police.
An hour had passed by the time Nico was free to leave the scene, the police believing Jonah’s assurances that they could find them all, Nico included, at FG if they needed further information.
“Thanks, boss,” Nico said. “I thought they were going to arrest me.”
“They probably would have if the door staff hadn’t backed you up. They didn’t take a blind bit of notice of me.”
Nico shook his head and rolled his gaze to the heavens. “You really have no idea, do you?”
“About what?”
“Never mind. I’m tired. I’m gonna go home. Will you make sure Winona’s okay?”
“Of course. Do you have cab fare?”
“Yes, Jonah. I’m not twelve.” Nico stomped away, leaving Jonah to find Sacha and Winona who’d decamped to a bench on the other side of the street.
Sacha regarded Jonah, his golden eyes narrowed with something Jonah was too tired to decipher. “I called a car for Winona,” Sacha said. “We go with her, yes? Take her home?”
“Of course.” Jonah dropped onto the bench and wrapped a platonic arm around Winona. “I’m sorry this happened to you. And that Carl and Nico got caught up trying to help. I should’ve been there.”
Winona snorted. “Why? We’re not your children. Stuff like this happens all the time.”
“Well, it shouldn’t. It’s not okay for random drunks to put their hands on you.”
“I know that, but you being there wouldn’t have stopped it happening, and it might’ve been you who took a bottle to the head instead of Carl.”
Sacha made a low noise and stood, drifting away from them and across the road to buy pizza from the cart by the pub.
Winona watched him go. “He’s nicer than I thought he’d be.”
“Why would you think he wouldn’t be nice?”
“Dunno. He seems kind of moody when I see him at the office, and I’ve never seen him smile.”