‘I’m just looking, thank you,’ I said, glancing up and noticing that ‘looking’ was actually the focus of the entire window display, which was filled with a collection of mirrors in a variety of shapes and sizes. At least twenty ‘me’s were visible to anyone passing the furniture shop. It was, without doubt, the very worst shop doorway I could have chosen to hide inside. Through the multitude of reflections, I saw the crowd in the concourse continue to surge past. Perhaps Nick wouldn’t glance this way. Perhaps he’d be distracted, or be occupied on his phone, or—
‘Lexi? Is that you?’
I watched my shocked face being reflected back from a great many angles. Nick was weaving through the shoppers towards me and there was no way to pretend I hadn’t seen or heard him. The mirrors proved otherwise.
I summoned up a smile as I turned, noticing as I did that Nick wasn’t alone. His hand was tightly clasped in that of his companion, who was looking at me with open curiosity.
‘Hello,’ I said cheerily, making sure I included the girl standing at his side in the greeting.
‘Who are you?’ the girl asked with the unfiltered curiosity that only the very young or the very old are allowed to get away with.
Nick looked a little uncomfortable at his daughter’s directness, but I was determined not to be fazed. I set down my collection of carrier bags and held out my hand to the young girl. ‘Hi. My name is Lexi. And you are?’
‘Holly. Because I was born at Christmas,’ the girl replied, linking her hand in mine, as though we were going for a walk, rather than shaking it. I saw Nick’s lips twitch, but he was too polite to say anything about my obvious inexperience with children.
‘This is my daughter,’ he explained, and I remembered just in time that he would have no idea I’d already identified the girl, having recognised her from the photo I’d spotted on his desk.
‘It’s very nice to meet you,’ I said, gently disentangling my hand from Holly’s when she showed no sign of letting it go. It was impossible to stop my gaze from straying into the crowd, waiting for the pretty blonde from the other side of the picture frame to complete the family group. Had Nick told her about me and my crazy proposition, I wondered? Had she been outraged by my request, or had they laughed about it – and me – together? The thought stung and made my voice sound a little sharper and brisker than it had been before.
‘Well, it was very nice bumping into you again. But I’m running late so I should go. I’m… I’m meeting a friend for coffee,’ I said, lying very badly indeed.
‘Of course,’ said Nick, stepping back and tugging his daughter to one side so I could make the hasty exit I so clearly wanted. ‘Nice to see you again.’
I glanced back just once as I disappeared into the melee of shoppers, surprised to find his eyes were still on me.
Two boutiques and three shoe shops later, I’d finally stopped my thoughts from straying back to my encounter with Nick and his daughter. I’d bought more new clothes than I probably needed, but I still wasn’t sure how long I was staying in England and was getting a bit bored with recycling the same old outfits. And hopefully, sooner or later Amelia would come out of hospital and want to reclaim her own wardrobe.
The boots I’d worn for my shopping trip were pinching my toes and, given that my mythical friend had clearly stood me up for coffee, I decided to treat myself to an early lunch. I’d spotted a small pizza place at the far end of the concourse that looked really tempting and happily they still had several free tables. I picked one beside a gurgling fountain and a potted tree. The overhead awning was painted sky blue and dotted with fluffy white clouds, and if you shut out the milling shoppers you could almost imagine you were dining al fresco in a real Italian piazza. MyQuattro Formaggiwas delicious, and I was debating whether ordering a gelato was pushing the boat out too far when I heard a commotion coming from the upper level of the mall.
Someone was calling out loudly. Their words were distorted by the building’s acoustics so I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but the urgency with which they were being spoken was impossible to ignore. I glanced to one side, where the downward escalator was spilling people out on to the mall’s lower level. Someone was at the top of the escalator, hurtling down the steps as though their feet weren’t even making contact with the metal treads. Disgruntled shoppers were frowning as the figure flew past them, but he was beyond them in seconds and appeared too distraught to either notice or care.
I was on my feet, with no recollection of pushing myself away from the table. The figure leapt from the escalator when they were still some distance from the bottom, looking for all the world as though he was flying through the air. Something that, ironically, I’d once jested about.
He was already at a run, and initially didn’t hear my cry.
‘Nick. Nick. What is it? What’s wrong?’
He screeched to a halt, the rubber soles of his shoes leaving actual skid marks on the vinyl. He spun around and beneath the panic on his face was a tiny flicker of relief on seeing me. At least, that’s what I thought it was.
His long legs covered the distance between us in seconds.
‘It’s Holly. Have you seen her?’ He looked like a man who didn’t panic very often or easily, but he was certainly doing so now.
‘Is she lost?’ I asked, stupidly glancing all round as though he might possibly have missed seeing that his daughter was actually right there beside him.
His face was curiously ashen and flushed at the same time. ‘I don’t know,’ he said, raking a hand through his hair. From the state of it, his fingers had obviously travelled that path several times already.
‘I don’t know if she’s lost, or just wandered off somewhere… or if someone’s taken her.’
I wanted to pooh-pooh his last suggestion, but from the terror on his face I didn’t dare. Wasn’t this every parent’s worst nightmare?
‘When did you last see her? How long has she been missing?’
Nick looked almost irritated by my questions, as though the time he needed to expend answering them could be better spent running up and down the escalators like a madman.
I reached out and laid my hand on his forearm. I could feel the tension pulsating through him like voltage through a pylon.
‘Think, Nick,’ I urged.