Intrigue

Chapter 108

Sean's POV

It took a while before I saw Malcolm again. My semi-breakdown meant that Jeremy didn't allow me to go to the office to work on the case. I told him I was fine, but saw right through me. He even increased my therapy sessions to once a week. And Sophie replaced me at the office for a few days, which meant that Jeremy stayed home with me. The two of them were still strained.

He finally agreed to let me go back to the office around two weeks after the incident with Malcolm. He had a work event, so he'd agreed to let me drive myself there on my own - but only because he knew that Sophie would be at the office throughout the entirety of the evening. Otherwise he wasn't going to let me encounter Malcolm on my own.

The first person I saw when emerging from the lift, was, in fact, Malcolm. I stopped just out of the lift when I saw his figure, bent over the photocopier, taking some notes. The doors to the lift closed on me and I jumped, stepping away from it. He heard the commotion and looked up. And when he saw me, laptop bag slung over my shoulder, he regarded me for all of a second before tearing his eyes away. He picked up his papers and walked away without giving me a second glance.

Okay, so apparently we weren't on speaking terms now.

I reluctantly made my way to the section that had become my desk, and sat down with a large exhale. I took a look around me. Christine was here, too. She looked up at me briefly, nodded at me, and then got up and made her way to Malcolm. The two of us would never be friends; she'd suspected me from the start and had been right after all. I'd screwed her friend over and sent him spiralling. She was only working with us for his sake.

Sophie came up to me then. "Sean, thank God," she said, hugging me to her. I caught a whiff of Cole's cologne, which I'd had to get used to smelling on her now, even though the thought of it killed me. "How are you?"

I hugged her back. "I'm okay. I'm only here because Jeremy knew you were going to be here," I said.

She laughed. "He finally let you out of house arrest, then?" she asked.

I frowned. "Yeah, maybe don't joke about arrests?" I answered.

Sophie ruffled my hair. "I'm sorry, sweetie." She made her way to the coffee machine, and pressed a button. Then she brought me the cup over. I mumbled thanks. She stood, looking at me thoughtfully. "How's Jeremy? Still sulking?"

Her face betrayed her nonchalant tone.

I took a sip. "He's okay. Can't blame him for acting that way with you." I met her eyes.

"He thinks too much into things. That's just Jeremy being obsessive like he does." She scowled.

I watched her, not quite believing that she was seeing the situation this way. "Soph, he loves you, but I don't think that's just why he ended things with you," I said. I was sure that it had felt like a blow to Jeremy, her deciding to patch things up with her ex, when it had been evident that the two of them were in love, and after all they'd been through together. But the fact that her ex was Cole, and the fact that she knew what had happened between him and I, and she still decided to go back to him, was the moment that Jeremy had taken the decision.

She met my eyes, understanding perfectly that this was about the situation concerning Cole. "It's more of your business than his," she answered. I knew that she meant that I hadn't stopped speaking to her, so effectively, neither should Jeremy.

I didn't reply. I loved her too much to stop speaking to her. And I didn't have much choice, she was my only real family now. I'd said this to Jeremy.