‘I know you do. It’s not you I don’t trust, it’s rogue governments and rebel militia.’
‘I’ll have to go back. There’s something bad spiralling there.’
‘Don’t tell me that now,’ Molly shuddered, ‘let me pretend it’s over. At least for a few days.’
She had been hurt by my absence. I studied this realisation for a moment and then was struck by another: I was hurt by it too. The strange angst I’d felt being separated from her had gone deeper than just ‘missing’. It was a pain and a wrongness – something which had only been made right in that very moment when she was back in my arms.
‘What is this, Leo?’ Molly whispered suddenly.
‘This?’ I whispered back.
‘Us.’
It was the first time we’d addressed our relationship directly – the first time we’d needed to. I drew in a deep breath, and shook my head. ‘I don’t know. I thought we were just having a fling,’ I was speaking to myself as much as I was speaking to her. Perhaps it indicated my lack of self-awareness when it came to Molly, but it was only now that we were back in the same room that I realised how deeply relieved I was that she was beside me again. I met her gaze. ‘This isn’t a fling.’ We stared at each other. ‘Do we have to know what to call it?’ I asked and after a while, she shook her head.
‘Of course we don’t.’
‘Let’s just call it “us”, then. And when the time feels right, we’ll give it a proper name.’
‘Okay,’ she agreed softly, and then I kissed her again.
From that moment on we were inseparable. I didn’t spend much time thinking about what the future might hold for us but I was absolutely sure that our present was pretty bloody amazing. My life looked lighter and brighter than it ever had before.
Just a few weeks after my return from that first trip, we realised we’d be at the same industry function together the following Saturday night. We didn’t discuss the logistics, but we both understood that we would be at the same event – separately. I wasn’t thrilled about this situation, but just like her request that we avoid public affection, I understood where it came from.
The ceremony was held each year at a plush function centre on Darling Harbour and it was a glittering event – black tie, formal dress. That Saturday morning, we stayed in bed until noon and then Molly spent the afternoon at a day spa, having her hair and make-up done.
I walked into the city centre from Molly’s apartment and had a haircut and a long overdue clean shave. Afterwards, I took a shower then pulled on the tux I’d hired. I stared at myself in the mirror of Molly’s stupidly oversized bathroom. I looked good, I supposed – but I felt uncomfortable. The tux was much more constricting and felt much less natural to me than my body armour.
‘Dear God! Someone has broken into my apartment and swapped Leo for a handsome, clean-cut stranger!’ Molly’s lightly teasing voice came from the door and I turned back to her. She was wearing the skin-tight red sheath dress she’d laid out on the bed earlier that day, with some heavy jewellery that I figured was probably worth more than my bike. I ran my eyes over her body and settled them on her face, and had to force myself to breathe.
‘You look amazing.’
‘Don’t I always?’ she did a playful pirouette, and then came close to brush her lips very lightly over mine. When I tried to kiss her properly, she laughed and swivelled her head away from mine.‘Hell no! I can’t fix this make-up if you mess it up but if you behave tonight, I’ll let you mess it up properly later.’ She leant on the bathroom counter and stared at my reflection in the mirror, then said a little reluctantly, ‘Leo… you know Dad is going to be there tonight, right? He always comes to this dinner. I’ll have to sit at his table.’
‘I did assume you’d be seated with the important people.’
‘You’re important.’
‘I’m not exactly “Torrington” important. It’s fine, I can admire you from afar.’
‘You can come home with me, if that’s any consolation.’
‘I like it better when you come home with me.’
Molly stood behind me, and wrapped her arms around my waist. She rested her head against my back and murmured, ‘Okay, your place tonight.’
There were hundreds of people in the function room by the time I arrived. I automatically scanned it, looking for Molly, and saw her standing next to her father at the front of the room by the stage. We’d probably been to this function at the same time in previous years, but I’d never even said hello to her in the past, so I knew it wasn’t all that likely I’d find myself at her end of the room. Instead, I found my place-setting at the News Monthly table and started chatting with some colleagues. Brad’s wife Penny was beside me. I took a glass of wine from a passing waiter and glanced at her.