Both damaged souls, we’d healed ourselves. I’d got clean and, thanks to Sully, got the break I wanted. Combine that with meeting Harvey, and my life had turned around.
As for Harvey? Well, who knew what happened there? He was doing so fucking well until he wasn’t.
I threw open the door, Duncan’s hand raised to knock again.
“Are you okay? You look awful, if you don’t mind me saying so. Did something happen?”
“It’s okay. I’m fine. I saw someone outside, and it brought back a few bad memories.”
“Harvey?” Duncan knew all about him and what had happened. When I was lost in the bottom of a bottle, he’d been the one to listen to me. With his help, I’d kicked the habit again and stayed dry.
“Yeah. How did you guess?”
“Because he left his number with security. Normally, I throw them away, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted it.”
“After what he put me through? You think I want to see him again?”
“I think he could answer the questions no one else could. Maybe it’s time to put the past behind you and move on.”
“I have moved on. What are you talking about?”
“Look, Killian, I’ve known you for three years now. I’ve seen what the memory of him does to you. Surely, you owe it to yourself to get some answers.”
I took the piece of paper from him and gazed down at the number. It wasn’t the same one as before, but he didn’t seem the same person as before.
In that brief interaction, he’d seemed confident and happy. Seemed things had changed for him, too, standing out in the open, arm in arm with a man.
The number of times he’d moved away from me or dropped my hand when he imagined someone was watching us.
Wasn’t I at least interested?
Fuck, no. He’d almost ruined my career before it had even started. I wouldn’t forgive him for what he did to me.
I screwed up the paper and threw it onto the dressing table. “I’m going home. Call me tomorrow.”
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
I patted him on his shoulder. “I’ll be fine, thanks.”
The journey back to my place wasn’t far from the theatre. I’d bought an apartment down on the docks, with views looking out over the Mersey. I’d always been most at home there, so it was only right that I moved here when I had some money.
I owned it outright, with no mortgage to pay. Jesus, another memory of Harvey with the house his parents had left to him.
But what was he doing in Liverpool? He didn’t live here, or he hadn’t. The place we’d met was a way from here.
Coincidence?
Of course it was. No way would fate bring us back together again.
No, our fate, if you believed in that, was written a long time ago, and it didn’t end with our happily ever after.
I’d given up on those a long time ago.
Since almost losing Harvey and being ignored, I’d thrown myself into making the best of what Sully had been offering. The albums, the festivals. I’d been determined to make it work.
I was comfortable now, and if it all ended tomorrow, I’d be happy with what I’d done. It had come late in life, but I’d fucked around so much in the beginning, coping with fame would have finished me.
I settled down in front of the TV with my hot drink and flicked through the many channels. Tired of murder mysteries, I turned my attention to a cooking show. Harvey used to love cooking. Did he still?