What he was, though, was loyal and genuine. And giving. Qualities that Fire could not always ascribe to Ian. As a result, there’d been a time when Phil had replaced Ian as the person closest to him.

As he’d recently written to Blanche, second to her, Phil was the person who knew him best. Ian had known him longer, but not as deeply. There were a few reasons for this, he had written. In some ways he and Ian were rivals. Ian was the more gifted artist. And as a result Fire’s father had paid him more attention, seemed to encourage him more, and to have higher expectations; that was one reason why he and his father had begun to drift apart. Also, Ian had lived apart from Fire during crucial periods of his life, had not traveled with him on many important journeys and waited with him at crucial junctures. During college and the years immediately following, they had mostly written, and in fact had lived together only as adults in Lisbon—only for about two and a half years. He’d lived with Phil for five. And Phil had seen him through his artistic breakthrough and triumph, and had watched over him during all of Blanche … Although Phil couldn’t offer any meaningful advice as Fire tried to unravel himself from the memory of Blanche after she’d left him for her husband that very last time, his support was unfailing.

“So when are we going to have a drink, then?” Phil asked when he’d finished telling Fire about his tour.

“Maybe next week,” he replied, getting out of bed now, as he heard the urge crunching up the stairs to the landing and stopping at his door.

“Well, you know I’m going to New York on Monday, don’t you?”

“No, I didn’t. What for?”

“An audition for the New York Philharmonic. Keep your fingers crossed. Hopefully I’ll get hired so I can stop living hand to mouth. By the way, has Courtney spoken to you about the rent?”

“No.”

“I’m two months behind, but I’ve got some money coming in. I’ll catch up in the autumn. By then a number of things should have straightened out.”

“Hey, man,” Fire told him. “Come on, Phil, how often did I have my rent that first year when we lived together? Pay it when you have it. Otherwise don’t worry about it. If you want something to worry about, worry about your audition. You need a place to stay over there?”

“I’ll be staying with Ian.”

“Are you sure he knows this?” Fire asked. “He didn’t mention anything to me. I’d double-check with him if I were you. Plus you know his situation … it’s up to you, really. I played it safe and stayed in a hotel.”

“Well money’s a bit tight at the moment, and I’ll only be there for a few days. I guess I could manage it if I had to. The audition is what really matters to me. I just have to do what I need to do to get through it. I need this one bad, man. If I don’t get it, I don’t know what I’ll do.”