‘You okay?’ said Mel, waiting for him to get nearer before she asked the question.
He didn’t answer.
They both got into the car at the same time. Aaron slammed his door and she could feel the tension coming off him immediately. There was blood on his sleeve, but she didn’t say anything.
‘There has been something going on, even at The Midland. I can’t fucking believe it.’ He hit out at the door, rubbing his fist afterwards.
Mel sighed. She wasn’t sure how to respond. ‘Well you don’t know for sure if that’s the truth, Aaron. Speak to Karin first.’
He was like an unexploded bomb, and the bottle of whisky he had finished off on the way over hadn’t helped either. That was on top of what he had drunk at the launch.
Mel had received the phone call towards the end of her shift. Aaron was insisting on driving over to Morecambe this evening. ‘I have to confront the bitch, Mel. I can’t leave it any longer. Just me and her, have this out.’ He said that if Mel wouldn’t give him a lift then he would drive himself anyway. It was plain from his voice that he had been drinking, even at that point, and so she really didn’t have any choice. But it was fine.
Mel faced the steering wheel, gripping it tightly, and then let go of it again. Maybe she ought to try and calm him before they set off.
‘You can’t trust anything that comes out of her mouth, you know,’ she said.
‘Whose? Karin’s?’
‘I meant Louie. Well of course she’d say something’s been going on. Because she wants you out of the picture, doesn’t she?’
Aaron fired an angry jet of air from his mouth, tipping his head backwards and pressing his fingers into his eyes. With an extended groan, his chin flopped down onto his chest again. ‘Can we just go please, Mel? I really want to be in Leeds now.’
Mel started the engine and pulled away, watching his reaction as they drove past The Midland. She was about to remark on how impressive it looked, curving into the bay as if it belonged to the landscape. Instead she put her hand on Aaron’s shoulder to acknowledge his pain, leaving things until they were well clear of Morecambe before asking him any more questions.
‘So did she say anything about Will?’
Aaron still seemed distracted. She repeated the question, this time adding: ‘Poor Will.’
He was staring out of the window, lost in his turmoil. ‘What?’ he said, turning to her. ‘No. No, she didn’t say anything, and I didn’t ask.’
‘And so what about Karin’s money? Can we get it back for her, do you think?’
Aaron said that he just wanted to sleep now. Or maybe he closed his eyes so that he didn’t have to answer any more of her questions.
The roads were quiet. Mel put the radio on low to keep herself awake. As they approached Leeds a couple of hours later, queuing to come off the roundabout, she applied the brakes harder than she needed to in order to wake him, as by that time he clearly was asleep.
‘Almost home,’ she said. ‘Do I drop you at yours?’
‘I wish you’d told me, Mel.’
‘Told you what? I knew no more than you did.’
‘You knew about Louie, that they were once an-an item. Jeez. You could have said something about that at least.’
‘I was hoping Karin would do that herself. Look, it wasn’t my place to say anything. Come on, Aaron, you still love Karin and she loves you. Am I right?’
He didn’t answer.
Mel dropped him in front of his apartment building and told him to go straight to bed. ‘And if you need me, either of you, I’m right here. Okay? You take care.’
He stumbled out of the car.
‘Hey,’ Mel shouted, forcing him to come back again. She hadn’t quite finished but didn’t want to broadcast what more she had to say. Aaron staggered over, stuck his head through the window, hanging onto the roof like he might fall over otherwise.
‘What I can tell you about Louie is she’s pretty unpredictable. Unhinged, even. I’m just warning you. Goodnight, Aaron. Try and get some sleep, you look shattered.’