Nicole is across the street, looking into the window of the off-license. She is wearing the beret, of course. She has professionalised her following, increased her skill in being covert – all night, she must have been watching me, without me seeing her. Mustn’t she?
I approach her from behind. Before I can get too close, she turns.
‘Dan!’ she says. ‘What a surprise! What are you doing here?’
I hadn’t thought about that before I crossed the road. Perhaps deflect.
‘Rather than in police custody?’ I ask.
She lowers her gaze.
‘Adam said he’d speak to you,’ I say. ‘Did he?’
She nods. ‘He said we needed to move on.’
‘And you agreed?’
There is a slight pause, and then another nod. That’s all I’ll get from her, for now.
‘So, what were you doing here?’ I ask.
‘Oh, you know,’ she says, ‘just mooching. Bit of window shopping.’
‘For wine?’ I ask.
She looks at the shop window she was gazing at, as if for the first time. I see Ally’s door mirrored in it.
‘For ale,’ she lies. She has been window shopping for reflections. ‘Adam likes unusual ales. Thought they might have some.’
I’ve never seen Adam drink ‘ale’. Premium lager, single malt whisky, vintage wine, maybe. Not ale.
‘He offered me champagne earlier,’ I say. ‘To draw a line under the past few days. All the misunderstandings.’
She says nothing.
‘Lobster, too,’ I say. ‘I could come round, to yours, again, if you don’t want to go out.’
Nicole shivers. It must be the cold. Shame I have no jacket to offer her.
‘No, don’t worry about coming to ours. Let’s go out. The three of us. You boys can have a good drink. Really relax, have a chat. How about tomorrow?’
‘I’m busy then.’
‘Day after?’ she asks.
‘It’s a date,’ I say. And it could be. Because by then, Luke will be ready.
Nicole turns to leave. Before she does, I catch hold of her arm, and kiss her on the cheek.
‘Bye, Nicole. Nice to bump into you.’
‘Sure,’ she says.
As she walks off, I see her rub her face with her sleeve.
Rub away all you like, Nicole. But soon you’ll be covered by me. Inside and out.