Christopher ushered his son through the front door and stood back as he hurried past and climbed the stairs to his room. For a moment Christopher stood there, holding the door open, like a hotel doorman waiting for an invisible guest. Then he came to and closed it.

Maria came out of the kitchen. ‘Did somebody just come in?’ she asked.

It was evening before they had a chance to talk. Or before Matt was ready to talk. The meeting in London had not been a good one. He had known there were going to be shake-ups; what had not been made clear to him was that he was a part of them. A dispensable part. His job, seemingly quite secure, had disappeared due to a merging of posts. They were sorry, they said, but they could see no way of keeping him on. He had done well for them and they were grateful. They would make sure he had a good reference but they would prefer him to leave now without working his notice.

‘Why?’ Christopher had asked. ‘Why, if you’re so good, do they not even want you to work out your notice?’

‘Frightened of what I might learn,’ said Matt.

‘But…it’s all above board isn’t it?’

‘Of course.’

‘So what are you going to learn that you don’t know now?’

‘Dad, big business is like that. They want you every waking hour of every day, and then when they’ve done with you they just want you out from under their feet. In case you make waves, or make life uncomfortable for them.’

‘And would you have?’

‘No. Of course not. But they may think that my relationship would have made it difficult.’

Christopher did his best to be diplomatic. ‘In what way?’

‘The guy I live with works there, too.’

‘So why would that have made matters difficult?’

‘He got my job.’

‘Oh. I see.’ Christopher offered Matt a drink. He refused, but Christopher poured one for himself. ‘And where does that leave you now?’

Matt smiled ruefully. ‘Without a job and without a partner.’

‘Your decision or his?’

‘Mutual.’

‘But have you talked it through?’

‘Yes. He came over here, too. We’ve been staying in London. He’s gone back to the States. I’ve stayed here. I’ll go back in a couple of days. Tie up loose ends.’

‘I am sorry, Matt.’

‘Yeah. Me too. Just when I thought I’d got everything sorted. Twenty-two years old with a degree in graphic design and half a flat in New York. And I’ll have to sell that now. Not much in the way of assets, eh? Not much of a catch, in business or in…well…anything else really.’

‘Don’t do yourself down.’

‘I really thought I’d cracked it this time, Dad. The job was good, I had plenty of freedom, you know, artistically, and I had someone who wanted to live with me.’