Intrigue

Chapter 62

Sean's POV

I had the night shift the following evening, and, since it was close to Christmas and there was usually a spike in crime, two of us were placed at the station. And luckily, my shift was with Clark, whom I hadn't seen in a couple of weeks. So effectively, he hadn't known all that I'd gone through these past few weeks.

"Hey," I said to him with a smile as soon as I walked into the station. I grabbed his arm affectionately. "How are you, Lee?"

"Heyyy, good, and you?" He smiled back at me as he made coffee for us both.

"Good, good." I set my bag on the desk I used, and sat down with an exhale. "I haven't seen you in a billion years."

"I know, right." Clark set a mug of coffee in front of me, and also sat down. We'd briefly kept in touch over text messages, but only to ask if the other was alright. No details.

He turned to me. "So I have news," he told me.

I looked at him in interest. "Me too. You start."

Clark picked up his mug and took a sip. "So, you know we were meant to go out, you, Malcolm, me and Alice, right?"

I frowned. "Shit, I totally forgot about that." With all that had happened, the last thing on my mind had been going on a double date.

"It's fine." Clark offered a smile. "A few days ago I went for lunch at the same place where you and I had gone, down the road. And guess who was there."

I arched an eyebrow. "Alice?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah, she was with this friend... Lyla something." I recognised the name of one of Malcolm's friends. The one who had the boyfriend... Jason? I barely remembered them. Aside from Alice, the only friend of Malcolm's I remembered well was Christine, and for good reason. Malcolm had told me that he'd told her that we were still on speaking terms and trying to work it out, since she'd been the one to find out the truth about my surname first. I hadn't asked if he had told Alice about the ordeal.

"Then what happened?" I asked Clark, since I'd gotten distracted thinking about Christine.

"Well, I basically asked Alice out. I decided to go with the flow, and do what you said. We're going out tomorrow." He looked extremely pleased telling me this.

I beamed at him before hitting his shoulder affectionately. "Well done! See, I told you you could do it."

Clark smiled. "I am nervous about the date, though," he admitted.

"You'll be fine." I waved him off. "Told you you could do this without me."

"I'd have preferred a double date with you and Malcolm, I'll be honest." Clark looked at me sheepishly as he said this. "But the opportunity came up and I wasn't going to let it get away just like that."

"Good for you," I told him. I forced a smile. "It wouldn't have been the best timing for a double date, anyway."

"Why not?"

I sipped my coffee, frowning at the lack of alcohol in it. But I wasn't going to give in tonight. I glanced at the clock. 8:37pm. "Do we have enough time?" I asked.

Clark chuckled. "It's a twelve-hour shift."

"You sincerely have no idea," I muttered.

My phone beeped then and I picked it up. "One sec," I told Clark. I'd received a new text from Malcolm.

Hey, you're working tonight right? Xxxx

Yes sweetheart xxxx night shift, I replied.