“Everything,” he answered, addressing the stillness in the room. He sat back, a palpable relief sweeping away the anxiety, pain, and exhaustion that had been gnawing away at him for years. “It has everything to do with it, dear boy. When you get to my age, you realise what’s important and that all the rest of it is a pile of white noise and stuff and nonsense.”

Mrs Oates smiled at her irascible employer.

“The true identity of Chandler will be unveiled. It’s about time.”

“Grandfather, have you thought this through?” asked Flynn. “It’s a big deal. You know that once you admit you’re Chandler, you will be deluged by the press.”

“I have thought about it, dear boy. I’ve thought about nothing else.” He gave a casual shrug. “It’s a means to an end. Once the fuss has died down over it, which it inevitability will, Lily and I can relax and enjoy our lives together.”

An awkward smile played at his lips. “And I’d like to get to know my grandson properly. So much time has been wasted and I want to rectify that.”

Flynn broke into a grin. “I’d like that a lot. First round is on you though, Grandfather.”

I squeezed Flynn’s hand, which rested on mine. Old wounds were being tended; recognised; addressed. Something told me the Talbot family would be ok.

Epilogue

Athena had been on the verge of spontaneously combusting when I told her about Flynn Talbot senior’s revelations about his ex-wife – and that he wanted to reveal exclusively to Goddess that he was the secret street artist Chandler.

“He’s insisted that he won’t speak to anyone else about it, apart from us. We will have the exclusive. All of it.”

Athena had sunk behind her desk, her face glowing. She seemed to be hyperventilating. “Oh my God! How quickly can you ladies talk to him? How fast can we get this interview scheduled?”

“Flynn said the sooner the better,” beamed Kerry with delight. “He wants to move on with his life.”

“Move on?”

“It’s a bit of a long story,” I clarified, “but that’s what Kerry and I are going to write about.”

And so, Athena called an impromptu staff meeting, confirming to our magazine colleagues that the Christmas issue would have to be revamped to accommodate something very special.

There had been a chorus of frustrated moans and groans, until she revealed why and then there was an excited chattering and gasps, with the realisation of how many copies the Chandler interview was going to sell.

She instructed that the interview with Flynn Talbot senior would be perfect alongside the Avanti cosmetics feature, photographed at Merry Wood.