Floe de Lir

Chapter 3

"It's no use, Steve," said Dylan. "You stay with Mags and I'll look around for something."

"Maggie, you can't let him wander the streets of London at two o'clock in the morning in the middle of a hurricane warning," said Steve.

"Why not?" asked Maggie. "You wandered quite a bit there at the end; didn't you, Dylan?"

"I didn't cheat on Brenda, if that's what you're implying," said Dylan. "Not then, anyway."

"No, you just nearly got her sacked, instead," said Maggie. "Tiny detail."

"If this had anything to do with Dylan's drug addiction, he's been clean for years," said Steve.

"Sober, too?" asked Maggie.

"No," said Dylan, "and I don't intend to be, especially if Brenda stays missing."

Maggie looked Dylan over.

"Steve can stay at ours," she decided after what seemed to Dylan a moment far too outstretched, but may have been a mere second's pause. "I'll see if one of the lads will allow Dylan to stay the night. But no guarantees."

Dylan didn't want to stay the night.

He wanted to take his chances on a boat to Cork.

There wasn't enough money in the world to try something so reckless, Dylan was told by every fisherman and ferryman he called. Wait until the storm passes, they said.

Wait until the storm passes.

Dylan had spent four fucking years waiting for a storm to pass, and now, Brenda was missing.

He didn't want to wait for the storm to fucking pass.

"Who'd you end up crashing with?"

Dylan looked over at his host as he spoke with Steve.

"Gavin."

"Ouch," said Steve, "they really hate you."

"Maggie still a good cook?" asked Dylan.

"Amazing cook," said Steve, with the telltale sign of smacked lips. "I'll try to sneak you something."

"Heard from Val or Kel?"

"Also grounded," said Steve. "Kel's at an old sorority friend's, and Val managed to book the last available room in Chelsea. Or should I say sneak into the last available room."

"Of course she did," said Dylan. "The moment this damn hurricane ends, I'm on a boat over to Cork."

"A boat? How long will that take?"

"Four hours and a quarter, give or take."

"Won't a plane be faster?"

"If they're still grounded, I'm grabbing a boat. Ain't staying here a second longer than I need to."

"I thought you love London."

"Correction. Used to love London."

"What did happen with you and Brenda? You never did tell us."

"Night, Sanders."

"You hop the first plane you can get to search for your missing ex. There's got to be a story there."

"I thought Bran was the newsman," said Dylan, and hung up.

From Gavin's third-floor window, Dylan could view the layout of most of the block.

Including the flat he had lived in with Brenda, just around the corner from the chipper they used to frequent with Shane and Maggie.

Back when they were happy.