She thought about what Adam said about Marc and her, and she looked at him.
‘Are you going to go back to America after Christmas?’
Marc was silent for a moment. ‘I don’t know, to be honest with you. The boys have friends there and I share custody with Avian.’
She nodded, and looked down at the bench.
They were talking about things that seemed so far away but so important and yet they didn’t know anything about each other. It was silly.
‘Would you come to America? To visit?’ he asked.
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’
They looked at each other until finally Christa broke away.
Everyone was living in a fantasy, she decided, and the only reality was the people on the street who needed help, who didn’t have a choice of which country to live in, or which wine to drink.
‘Probably not,’ she said as she turned on the oven light to check the cakes. ‘America doesn’t interest me. I think I will stay here and see if I can’t get a job working somewhere that helps make a difference. That’s what interests me.’
But she knew she was lying. She would have gone to America if she loved Marc but it was too much of a risk to assume anything anymore. She wasn’t about to give up her new freedom for another man and lose herself again.
She turned around to gauge Marc’s reaction but he was gone and she was speaking to an empty chair.
I guess he didn’t want to find out, she thought as she started to clean up the bench. Not that she blamed him. Who would wait for her anyway?
23
Adam turned the laptop screen around to show Marc the figures.
‘If we buy the network withBlind Baking, then the price goes up enormously.’
Marc sat in thought.
‘Does Avian know you’re thinking of buying the service?’
Marc shook his head. ‘No, she doesn’t.’
‘Or you can buy without the show, cut them loose and save a bunch of money and still meet your goal.’
He rubbed his temples and then sighed. ‘I don’t want to pay that much, to be honest. The show isn’t worth it; it’s a risk. We already haveThe Great British Bake OffandMasterChef. Has Avian signed with Cirrus?’
‘She said she has but I haven’t seen the papers yet,’ admitted Adam.
Adam looked back the screen.
‘Find out if you can.’
Marc stood up and went to the window where he saw the boys riding their bikes around the paths. It looked freezing but their faces were red and healthy and he could hear them yelling out instructions to each other. He was glad they had them early, even if they were Simon’s idea. It was good to see them outside and being active instead of being in front of the screen playing video games.
‘Christa asked me if I was going back to the States,’ he said.
‘And your answer was?’
‘I said I didn’t know,’ he answered honestly. ‘I like her, I would like to get to know her but my life is there, not here. I can’t see how it would work and I don’t want to uproot everything for it not to work out.’
He turned to Adam who was leaning back in the chair listening intently. Having worked with Adam for ten years, he knew that his counsel would be wise and considered and always put Marc’s interests first.
But Adam said nothing.
