It takes a moment for Richard to buzz her in, and when he opens the door of his flat, he is wiping his hands on the kitchen towel that he has tucked into his jeans to create a makeshift apron.

  

‘Am I too early?’ Cate asks and leans in to touch her cheek against his.

  

‘Not at all,’ he says, smiling, and takes a step backwards to let her in. ‘I was just running a little late.’ He closes the door behind her. 

  

‘Come on,’ he then says, and gestures towards the kitchen. ‘Dinner is almost ready.’

  

Cate hums approvingly. ‘It already smells delicious.’

  

Richard chuckles. ‘I certainly hope so. It’s your favorite dish.’ He walks over the stove and lifts the wok’s lid to peer inside. ‘Five more minutes, I’d say.’ He takes two long stemmed glasses from the shelf.

  

‘Wine?’ he asks, and pulls out a chair for her at the kitchen table that is already set for two.

  

‘Yes, please,’ she says and sits down.

  

‘I’ve a white I think you might like, French, I bought it when I was in London.’

  

He hands her the bottle for inspection and pours them a glass each when she nods. 

  

‘Good, isn’t it?’ he asks when she has taken the first sip, and Cate smiles at him:

  

‘Very.’

 

***

 

In his flat in Wellesley Hall, Sean helps himself to one of the needlessly expensive import beers that Orlando brought with him. When Orlando arches a brow at him, he opens one for him as well before he slumps down in his usual arm chair. When he lifts his bottle to his mouth, he can feel a kink in his neck from carrying Miranda's moving boxes all afternoon. 

 

Orlando sighs happily at the first gulp of cold beer and sinks a little deeper into the cushions of the leather couch. When given free choice, he still always sits on that side of the sofa, and if one looks closely, one can see the first gray hairs on Orlando’s temple. Sean massages his shoulder and feels a bit old.

 

For about half a bottle of beer they sit in silence, and when Sean snaps out of his equally spontaneous and directionless reminiscing, he finds Orlando looking at him.

 

‘What?’ Orlando asks, but Sean just shakes his head.

 

‘So, you’re seeing someone new?’ he asks back, not really to change the topic, but because that bit of information just floated back into his consciousness. Bless Mir and her lack of discretion during their breaks between hauling boxes.

 

Orlando gives him a nod. 

 

‘Yeah.’

 

‘Tell me about him,’ Sean prompts, his fingers flattening out the bottle cap of his beer. ‘Or her?’

 

‘He’s 45, 6’2’’, fourteen stone,’ Orlando reports dutifully. ‘He lives in York, works in Leeds, reads fiction, cooks Asian food, drives an Audi.’

 

Sean chuckles and shakes his head.

 

‘So, you met him on OKCupid.’

 

The bottle, that Orlando has lifted to his mouth, halts.

 

‘Huh?’

 

‘I mean you obviously learned his profile from there by heart.’

 

Orlando rolls his eyes. Then he sips from his beer, licks the taste of it from his lips, no intention to continue the conversation apparent. He hasn’t told Sean to go and fuck himself, though, which is as good as it gets. Sean therefore allows his curiosity to push. 

 

‘What’s he like?’ 

 

Again, Orlando replies without hesitation, a smile tugging at his mouth.

 

‘Fit.’

 

Sean flicks the cap of his beer bottle in his direction, and Orlando catches it mid-air, the tiny achievement enough to allow two more words to escape.

 

‘Smart. Frank.’

 

***

 

Richard turns off the heat and takes the wok off the stove. 

  

‘Voilà,’ he says, presenting its contents to Cate. ‘Broccoli and chicken stir-fry á la Richard.’

  

Cate leans back so that he can spoon some onto her plate. ‘You know, maybe you should’ve considered becoming a chef after all,’ she then says when Richard sits down across from her and fills his plate, too.

  

Richard laughs and shakes his head. ‘Thanks, but if I’m working such crappy hours I might as well get paid properly. Here, take some rice.’

  

‘Well, but you could have had your own restaurant, who knows?’ Cate says, neatly placing some rice next to her vegetables.

  

‘I’m quite happy and satisfied to be a neonatologist, as you might have deduced from my eagerness to talk about my work and tiny babies,’ Richard replies, winking at her, while he piles a generous helping of rice onto his plate. When Cate raises her eyebrows in response he says apologetically:

  

‘Don’t look at me like that, I skipped lunch.’

  

Cate laughs. ‘See, as a chef you wouldn’t go hungry!’

  

Richard shakes his head, chuckling.

 

'Eat, before it gets cold. Bon appétit!’

  

‘Thanks for having me.’

  

‘Glad you could come. It’s a shame that Andrew couldn’t, though.’

  

Cate nods. ‘He says hi, by the way. As do the boys. And we'd like to have you over for a barbecue during the weekend, if you don’t have to work?’ Cate lifts a piece of broccoli onto her fork and lets it disappear in her mouth. ‘This tastes amazing, Richard.’

  

‘Thanks,’ he says with a smile. And in answer to her question he adds: ‘I’ve already made plans for Saturday, but Sunday would be great.’

  

Cate interrupts chewing for a second to scrutinize him. Then she lowers her eyes to her plate again and while she pushes some rice onto her fork, she asks lightly:

  

‘Plans, hm?’

  

Richard laughs. ‘Don’t you even start! All I said was that I can’t have dinner with you on Saturday and you go and assume who knows what.’

  

Cate grins at him. ‘You said you made plans.’ The word is dripping with innuendo.

  

‘I certainly didn’t say it like that!’ Richard protests.

  

‘You didn’t have to,’ Cate answers and goes for another bit of broccoli.

  

‘I have no idea what you are talking about,’ Richard says quickly, maybe a little too quickly.

  

Cate winks at him. ‘Of course you do.’ She props her elbow onto the table, resting her chin in her hand. ‘Tell me all about it!’

 

***

 

‘How’d you meet?’ Sean asks.

 

Again, Orlando’s response is immediate.

 

‘I fucked him in a public restroom.’

 

Sean instinctively pulls a face as a series of images instantly presents itself. Somewhat frantically his brain tries to shut that down, not entirely successful. Of course Orlando’s response would be deliberately crude as if to make up for earlier admissions.

 

‘Lando. I didn’t need to know that.’

 

Orlando smirks, satisfied, and takes a sip from his beer.

 

‘You know what they said in US military. Don’t ask, don’t tell.’

 

Sean chooses to bypass the deliberately false contextualization of that quote. 

 

‘You’re making a bit of a habit of that,’ he says instead.

 

‘Of what?’

 

‘Shagging people in loos. First the bloke in that club Karl dragged us to, now this one?’

 

This time, Orlando doesn’t reply right away. The fingers of his right hand wriggle steadily, making the bottle cap dance back and forth between his fingertips like a cockroach on the run. His face is expressionless but his eyes are trained on Sean. 

 

It’s not disconcerting or off-putting, though sometimes - maybe in a moment like this - Sean wonders what it must feel like for people who haven’t known Orlando for three decades. His own fingers rub over the label of the bottle, feeling the glossy paper slowly disintegrating under the gentle pressure.

 

***

 

When Richard doesn't answer immediately, Cate repeats her question with more emphasis: 'Tell me about it!'

 

Richard sighs, but there is a smile tugging at his lips. ‘You’re not going to let this go until I do, won’t you?’ he asks and takes a sip of his wine.

  

‘I certainly won’t,’ Cate replies with the most amicable smile.

  

‘You’re impossible!’ he says, but there is no heat in his voice.

  

Cate beams at him. ‘That’s what Andrew says, too, but I’m pretty certain that it’s part of why you love me.’

  

Richard just shakes his head, but the grin he doesn’t care to hide gives him away.  ‘Fire away, then.’

  

Cate’s smile widens. ‘So, you’re still seeing Orlando?’ she asks, cocking her head to the side.

  

Richard forces his face into a neutral expression. ‘I never said his name was Orlando. What kind of name is that even?’

  

Cate laughs. ‘Don’t let him hear that now! And drop the act already. He’s smelling of your cologne.’

  

Richard’s fork stops halfway to his mouth. ‘What?’

  

‘He’s got your scent all over his clothes,’ Cate repeats, looking like the cat who ate the canary.

  

‘Woman, what did you do?’ Richard asks, incredulous. ‘Did you break into his room and sniff his clothes?’

  

‘Who said anything about breaking in?’

  

‘But you actually sniffed his clothes?’

  

Cate shrugs. ‘I don't sniff and tell.’

  

Richard shakes his head. ‘You’re impossible.’

  

Cate just smiles at him. Then she gently nudges his foot with hers under the table.

  

‘Tell me about it, now, hm? You must be dying to.’

  

‘I’m dying of mortification for being associated with a woman who sniffs peoples’ clothes.’

  

Cate laughs. ‘You’re being overdramatic. And I wouldn’t have had to devise a strategy for finding out in the first place if you simply had told me.’

  

‘No, no, no, don’t you try blaming this one on me. I was just minding my own business.’

  

Cate is quiet for a moment and just grins and him before she says, teasingly: ‘Yours and Orlando’s, you mean.’

 

***

 

‘It’s the same guy,’ Orlando offers after several minutes.

 

Sean’s brows arch.

 

‘You’ve been seeing him since Karl’s birthday?’

 

There’s something in his voice that Sean didn’t mean to put there, not as plainly anyway, and maybe not at all. It’s there, though, has been lingering in his previous responses as well. He hears it, and so does Orlando. 

 

The bottle cap stops its dance between Orlando’s fingertips. He doesn’t even acknowledge the actual question. His eyes narrow minutely. 

 

‘I know what you’re doing.’ There isn’t even a trace of doubt in his statement. ‘I don’t like it.’

 

***

 

Richard picks up his glass and regards Cate over the rim before he takes a sip.

  

‘This is one of those moments where you’re turning into a weird little dachshund that refuses to let go of its prey,’ he then asks, clearly amused.

  

‘Exactly.’ Cate’s smile doesn’t waver.

  

‘Alright,’ Richard says and sets down his glass. He pushes his plate away from him so he can place both forearms onto the table. Leaning towards her a little, he then offers: ‘Ask me, then. What do you want to know?’

  

Cate’s smile widens, and for a moment she is just regarding him, the laugh lines around her eyes deepening. But when she then ventures to speak, the playfulness in her voice is replaced by seriousness: 

  

‘This really is doing you good, isn’t it?’

  

Richard arches his brows in surprise at her question and contemplates it for a moment before he answers:

  

‘I think so, yes.’

  

Cate nods. ‘Good. Tell me about it.’

  

Richard absentmindedly scratches the back of his hand. ‘There’s not really all that much to tell. We’ve basically just met.’

  

‘Oh, come on now, you’ve been seeing each other for a month or so!’

  

Richard’s eyes travel to the photo calendar on the wall. ‘You’re right,’ he then says, and a smile is playing around his lips when his eyes met hers again. ‘It doesn’t really feel like such a long time.’ He pauses and shrugs. ‘Or well, maybe it does.’

  

Cate cocks her head to the side. ‘How often have you seen him?’

  

‘I don’t know. Four of five times, maybe. Once a week.’

  

‘And have you been talking in between?’

  

‘Not really talking, no, but we text, occasionally.’

  

Cate sighs. ‘Do I have to worm everything out of you?’

  

Richard chuckles. ‘You might actually have to. This is all a bit- I don’t know. New, maybe. Unexpected.’

  

‘But good?’ Cate asks quietly.

  

Richard smiles at her. ‘I think so, yes.’

 

***

 

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

 

‘You always know what I’m doing,’ Sean says in very much the same matter-of-fact tone of voice that Orlando used. ‘Doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop, does it.’

 

Orlando huffs, unimpressed.

 

‘I’m not sixteen, and I’m not in your house.’

 

‘Technically you are right now,’ Sean jokes.

 

Orlando rolls his eyes again but then decides to humour him. 

 

‘I used protection. Like I always do.’

 

Sean shakes his head.

 

‘You know I never worried about that with you, I -.’ He cuts himself off. 

 

He knows he is fussing. He could try telling himself it was because he’s being a mate, but that wouldn’t be true, not entirely. 

 

***

 

‘What’s good about it?’ Cate asks, but then lifts up her hands in a deflecting gesture. ‘Wait, but don’t launch into details about the sex, I don’t want to deal with weird mind pictures every time I pass Orlando in the teachers’ lounge!’

  

Richard just grins at her for a moment before he says in a conspiratorial tone: 

  

‘The sex is fantastic.’

  

He laughs at the face she pulls and picks up his fork again. Around a piece of broccoli he then chides:

  

‘Don’t look at me like that. It’s true and there really is nothing weird about it whatsoever.’

  

Cate shakes herself as if to get rid of an unpleasant thought. ‘Only that we’re talking about one of my colleagues.’

  

‘Well, you asked,’ Richard deadpans.

  

Cate sighs. ‘I know. And I do want to know. It’s just a little difficult to imagine the two of you together.’

  

When Richard raises his brows in mock shock, she huffs indignantly:

  

‘Not like that, you pervert!’

  

Richard winks at her. ‘More wine?’ he then asks and just pours her a second glass before she has the chance to nod.

  

Grateful for the distraction, Cate raises it to her lips.

  

When she sets it back down, she has regained her composure. ‘Okay. So, the guy is some kind of sex god. And besides that? Do you have anything to talk about?’

  

‘Talk?’ Richard asks, feigning a lack of comprehension, but doesn’t manage to remain serious.

  

‘Come on, you know what I’m trying to ask! Don’t make this so hard.’

 

***

 

The silence that has enveloped them this evening has not once been interrupted by trampling battalions storming up and down the staircases of Wellesley. The football pitch outside his sitting room window lies abandoned. It’s the first week of the summer holidays, and it’s not Sean’s favourite.

 

‘Never mind,’ he says.

 

Orlando’s only reaction is to lift his bottle to his lips.

 

Sean chuckles and shakes his head at himself and at what Orlando repeatedly called ‘Mr B’s fucking patronizing nannying” on previous occasions. He gets up, and Orlando’s eyes follow him.

 

‘You’re right, and I’m sorry,’ he acknowledges with a smile. He makes a haphazard gesture at the kitchenette. ‘You want a sarnie?’

 

Orlando puts his empty bottle onto the coffee table and uses the momentum to get up from the couch.

 

‘I’ll give you a hand.’

 

In the limited space of the kitchen they work around one another - Sean gets out the bread, Orlando hands him the butter, Sean fetches plates, Orlando knives, Sean butters the bread. Orlando looks down at the unevenly serrated side of Sean’s cheddar, then starts cutting off even slices from the other end.

 

‘Is everything all right with you and Ashley?’ he asks abruptly.

 

Sean’s thoughts, engaged with the question of cheese or ham or cheese and ham, grind to a halt as his girl-friend takes precedence over food in his mind.

 

‘Huh?’

 

‘Is everything all right with you and Ashley?’ Orlando repeats verbatim and in the exact same tone of voice.

 

Sean thinks of her and her wit, her sense of humour, her sensuality until Orlando gestures him to get out of the way. He steps aside and leans against the counter.

 

‘Why?’

 

***

  

‘You kind of deserve it for sniffing Orlando’s clothes, though,’ Richard says teasingly, but then adds in a more serious tone: ‘But yes, we do have things to talk about.’

  

‘And what’s that?’

  

‘Now, who’s not making this easy? I don’t know, what do you talk about with Andrew? Work, his and mine, cars, motorbikes, holidays, philosophy… chose one.’

  

Cate nods. ‘Good. And?’

  

‘And what?’

  

‘And is this going anywhere? Or is this just sex and talking?’

  

Richard is quiet for a long moment while he thinks about her question.

  

‘I really don’t know,' he then says with a sigh and shrugs, an almost apologetic smile on his lips. ‘And of course I’ve been thinking about that. But it’s- I really don’t know.’

  

‘How are you feeling about him?’

  

‘I honestly don’t know that, either. I mean, the sex is great and I’m very much drawn to him, physically. And I like spending time with him, too. But other than that? I really don’t know.’ He pauses. ‘Is that weird?’

  

Cate shakes her head. ‘Not at all. You’ve really only just met him. I don’t think you have to know anything right now.’

  

Richard nods.

  

‘Have you talked to him about this?’

  

‘No. But he hasn’t asked, either. And if I'm not even sure about what I want--'  He swallows and when he continues his voice is a little hoarse: ‘And then I really don’t want to drag him into this whole messy Lee-aftermath.’

 

***

 

‘Why do you want to know about Ashley all of a sudden?’ Sean asks.

 

Orlando places his stripes of cheddar neatly onto half of the slices of bread that Sean laid out. 

 

‘8 out of 10 times when you drill me like that, it’s because you’re projecting and want to talk about your emotions.’

 

He turns away to get the chutney. Sean blinks repeatedly.

 

‘Really?’

 

‘Yes,’ Orlando says, and the light bang of the closing wall cupboard conveniently works as an affirmation.

 

‘8 out of 10?’

 

‘It’s a rough estimate,’ Orlando concedes, opening one of the jars. 

 

‘Huh.’

 

‘Yeah.’

 

‘We’re fine,’ Sean answers the original question with a nod. ‘She’s wonderful.’ 

 

He can’t keep himself from smiling again. It registers with Orlando, confirmed by a quick glance before he starts spreading Major Grey’s onto Sean’s half of the sandwiches. 

 

‘Cheers for asking,’ Sean says.

 

Orlando nods and licks a small smear of mango chutney from the side of his index finger before he moves on to Branston’s and his own tea.

 

***

 

Cate reaches over the table and wraps her fingers around Richard’s arm.

  

‘It’s time you stopped thinking about Lee,’ she says quietly.

  

Richard nods, and swallows again, shrugging. ‘I know.’

  

‘He’s a dick.’

  

‘I know that’s what you think, I know that. And if anybody would treat you like this, I would say the same thing, but I- I can’t do this, Cate, it’s not a comfort to me, the thought that he’s an arse. Because that would mean that those five years were a complete waste of time. And I can’t deal with that.’

  

Cate tightens her fingers around his arm.

  

‘He didn’t make you happy.’

  

‘Not in the end, no. But he did in the beginning. We just didn’t happen to fall out of love at the same time.’

  

‘No. And the affair was uncalled for.’

  

Richard sighs. ‘Yes.’ He places his other hand on top of her arm. ‘And that’s all I want to say about Lee today.’ He squeezes her hand. ‘Keep eating, there’s more. And there's dessert, too.’

  

Cate looks at him for another moment and then nods and picks up her fork again. They eat in silence until Richard says:

  

‘The thing with Orlando is that he makes me feel good about myself, in a way. Or maybe it’s just that I’m beginning to feel like my old self again. My pre-Lee self.’

  

Cate doesn’t point out that he is back to talking about Lee and just nods.

  

‘That’s good, isn’t it?’

 

***

 

Orlando spreads Branston’s Pickle onto his sandwiches.

 

‘You got time for a drive before you leave for Italy with Cate?’

 

It’s the second remark in a row seemingly without a transition which Orlando usually excels at. Sean would ask about that, but the question reminds him of Monday and Orlando’s half hour rant about his motorbike trip to Shropshire with Dom.

 

‘You’re not going for a follow up with Dom?’ he asks with a chuckle.

 

Orlando slices the sandwiches with possibly a little too much force.

 

‘He’s an idiot who can’t read maps.’

 

‘Terrific trait for a geography teacher.’

 

Orlando snorts and hands the knife to Sean to put it into the sink. Sean licks the remainders of chutney off it instead. He grins when Orlando shakes his head in response and indicates Sean to shift, so he can get to the fridge and the beers.

 

‘So, you want to go for a drive or not?’

 

‘Sure,’ Sean agrees. The weather will be ideal for an extended motorcycling trip, and Christ, it was March when they last did that.

 

‘I can do you tomorrow or Sunday,’ Orlando offers as he cleans away the supplies.

 

‘What are you doing on Saturday?’

 

‘Richard.’

 

Sean pulls a face, Orlando smirks.

 

‘Urgh. I walked right into that one, hm?’

 

Orlando’s amusement is evident, but instead of following that up with something else to give Sean nightmares, he uncaps a bottle and hands it to Sean.

 

***

 

Richard nods. ‘It is. Good. And it’s not even something he does, I think, it’s maybe something he doesn’t do. He doesn’t seem to expect anything, really, and it’s just really uncomplicated and doesn’t require any effort at all, you know? It’s just so easy, somehow, and I’m really enjoying that.’

  

Cate smiles at him warmly. 'That sounds great, Richard. And you certainly deserve it.’

  

Richard shrugs. ‘Well, but maybe that's why I am a little bit reluctant to start poking around and asking questions about what this is all about, I guess.’

  

‘And maybe you don't have to, hm? If it feels good like that.’

  

‘It really does,’ he says with a smile. 

  

Cate mirrors it effortlessly. ‘Cheers to that, then,’ she says, raising her glass. 

 

 

***

 

‘Can I meet him?’ Sean asks instead of drinking.

 

Orlando uncaps the second bottle and tosses the opener back into the small wooden box containing knickknack.

 

‘Richard?’ he asks, somewhat redundantly.

 

‘Yes,’ Sean confirms.

 

Orlando picks up the plate with his sandwiches, regards Sean.

 

‘You want to?’

 

‘Yes,’ Sean confirms for a second time.

 

Orlando silently regards him for another moment, his head slightly cocked. Sean leans back against the fridge, sips from his fresh beer, waits. 

 

Orlando’s brows even out, and the corners of his mouth twitch.

 

‘You’re gonna lecture him about using condoms, too?’

 

Sean barks out a laugh.

 

‘Yes,’ he says for a third time.

 

Orlando nods, then nudges Sean’s shoulder to get him to move before he walks past him, back into the sitting room.

 

‘Yeah, sure.’