A long time ago
I watched him struggle with the sea.
I knew that he was drowning,
And I brought him into me
Now today
Come morning light
He sails away
After one last night
I let him go.
Mr Chapman,
We are very pleased to extend the following offer of employment to you on behalf of Brighton & Hove City Council:
Social Worker - Child and Youth Welfare
Please see the attached brochure for details on your salary and working hours. You have thirty working days to respond to this offer, by either post or telephone.
We look forward to hearing from you.
A.P. Green
Head of Social Services, Brighton & Hove.
Grant read the letter three times, just to make sure.
Well. He really ought to be happy. Thrilled. This was amazing news. News worth celebrating. It was one way out of the mess he currently found himself in, anyway.
He shook his head, feeling terrible for thinking of Remus's life a 'mess'. Even if that was a little bit true.
He had gone down for the interview a few weeks ago, telling Remus he was working late. Not that he wanted to hide anything from Remus - more like he just didn't want to jinx things. Grant wasn't a very lucky person, generally; stuff like this never, ever happened to him.
Grant didn't believe in god, or guardian angels, or Buddha or Brahman - or anything other than his own willpower, but something about this job offer smacked of divine intervention. This was his dream job, after all. Perhaps this was the sign he was waiting for - as if old ex-boyfriends returning from prison wasn't enough of an omen.
He'd been toying with the idea of moving for years. Grant loved London; it would always be in his blood, but they were both in their mid-thirties now, and maybe it was time for a change. He wanted to get Remus out to the countryside, to fresh air and sea and space. A fresh start, away from the miserable little flat. So when the position came up, and Grant's manager mentioned it to him, he leapt at the chance.
Of course; that was all before Sirius came back.
Grant re-read the letter again, from the top. He stared at his name, in official black and white printed text. A letter with my name on it, and it's not even a court summons , he joked to himself. He wished he could show his dickhead grandfather. Show him what nancy-boy delinquents can amount to when they put their minds to it.
He was proud of himself, and no matter what the situation was right now, he knew Remus would be proud of him too. He wished he could tell him straight away, but Remus was out, and Grant was hiding in the bedroom from Sirius.
Grant was supposed to be keeping an eye on him, he'd promised, but as soon as Remus was out the door, Sirius had said something nasty about not needing a 'nursemaid' (bloody hell, how posh was he?!) and turned into a dog again.
It was so painfully obvious that Black hated Grant's guts, so hiding out in the bedroom felt like the best solution.
He'd have to wait for Remus to get home, then, to break the news. He hoped it wouldn't be too long, but he had no idea, really. Remus had gone to some sort of meeting, and hadn't given Grant any details.
He'd talked to Sirius about it, though - at length. They muttered together in the living room, thinking Grant wouldn't notice. The pitch of their whispering swung wildly to and fro - one moment angry staccato hissing, the next soothing, low apologies. Their body language was the same - Grant learnt quickly that the important stuff between Sirius and Remus was the stuff neither of them said out loud. It was all in looks, gestures, tilted heads and raised eyebrows. Impossible for an outsider to keep up with - and Grant felt very much the outsider. He had never known two people could be simultaneously so angry with each other and so much in love.
