Page 56 of Sun, Sea and Spotted Squid

“I love you too.”

He finished the call. Perhaps he would listen to Wolfgang’s story. Although his mother was right. Everything would have to wait until the morning.

He’d only just climbed under the covers when a knock at the door made him jump. A hard purposeful rap on wood that could only come from one person. Sam sighed and plodded over to the door.

Might as well get this out of the way now.

He opened the door to find Wolfgang standing before him.

“You took your time,” he said. “I half expected you to be naked in my bed surrounded by hydrangeas in the shape of a squid.”

“Can I come in?”

Sam walked away from the door, leaving it open for Wolfie to follow.

“You don’t mind if I get into bed, do you? Considering I’ve flown here and had a knackering evening?”

He dithered in the centre of the room. “Shall I go, then? Talk another day?”

“I don’t fancy staying awake worrying about what it is you have to say. Sit down and get it out of you.”

He perched on the end of the bed and waited, like he needed permission to begin.

“Go on then. Bloody hell.”

The frustration was like a volcano but they had to find a working relationship. No matter what.

“Okay,” he said, clasping his hands together. “First of all, I am so very sorry for leaving Valencia the way I did. I lay awake all that night watching you sleep. I couldn’t bear that I had to leave you and that would be it. I kept running scenarios of us saying goodbye. I know you will think I am weak. That’s because I am.”

His face a picture of pain and awkwardness. With his mother’s career advice ringing true, Sam resisted the temptation to agree with him. He didn’t even roll his eyes.

“Instead, I ran,” he said simply. “I knew if you woke up, you would follow me. You are not one to shy away from confrontation. That we know.”

Sam wanted to protest then gave up immediately. He had a point.

“You weren’t there when I got back,” Sam said. “Did you hide in Astrid’s room?”

“No. I sat in the park. For four hours. I didn’t dare come out in case you were roaming the streets.”

That time Sam did roll his eyes.

“Actually, when I woke up, I went straight to the airport and sat there for six hours. I would rather have been there than in any room we’d made love in.”

Why on earth didn’t fate step in and let us meet at the airport?

“When I got home, I couldn’t settle,” he continued. “I missed you so much. It was as though I’d lost a part of me.”

“So what did you do?”

“I finally did the right thing,” he replied. “I broke it off with Claudia. And I told my parents what happened between us. What a conversation that turned out to be.”

If he’s after sympathy, he can knock on next door.

“Then I contacted Ruben. I begged him for your address but he wouldn’t give it to me. I did try to call and the number didn’t work. Sam, I was at my wits’ end. You have to believe me.”

The tears were flowing freely down his cheeks now. His hands were shaking as they fiddled with the zipper on his hoodie.

“In the end, after I’d pestered him every day for a week, Ruben did me a deal. He suggested I apply for this place. He told me that I might never know who I’d bump into and that he’d been asked to provide a reference for it recently.”