Alexei And Grace

21 | Scandal of the Century

Alexei | Grace

THE MOMENT I MET ALEX'S father I knew where he'd got it from. That cold look that sometimes flashed in his eyes, the hardness of his voice that made me shiver. All this time I'd been wondering what happened to the boy I met in the cafe years ago, but now I knew. He was slowly growing into his father. Though maybe that wasn't quite fair. Sometimes, when I least expected it, I'd catch glimpses of the real Alex—the one he didn't want people to see. The one he hid from the world.

          The one I wanted to get back.

          Dad hadn't asked too many questions on the way back home about why on earth the managing director of the hospital I used to work at and his father had both turned up and invited me to dinner. But just because he didn't ask didn't mean he wasn't thinking about it; I could feel the undercurrent or tension that flowed in the silent air between us as we walked.

          I considered what I might say. The reality of the situation was far more complex than my dad knew—far more complex, in fact, than I probably knew. What could I say? That they wanted me to take my old job back? Unlikely. That didn't warrant a personal dinner. By the time we reached our flat I could feel panic rising in my chest.

          I unlocked the door and dad finally spoke as he wheeled himself inside. "So that's why you left." Confused, I followed behind him, terrified he might know something I didn't. "You've been seeing the managing director—what was his name again..." he thought for a moment, "Mr Hale."

          I stared back across the room in silent shock. "Seeing him?" I repeated, dazed. "Alex?"

          "I should have seen it coming, I suppose."

          "Um—"

          "When he met you at that cafe when you were out the first time," dad continued his hypothesis, "I should have seen it then. But that was two years ago." He shook his head. "That's a long time to keep something like that quiet, Grace."

          I didn't like the way he said 'like that', as if I'd somehow partaken in the scandal of the century. "Dad, I—"

          "I just don't see why you let it carry on this long. Why wait two years to leave your job when you've operated against our moral values for years? And what about Jonah?" The confusion in my dad's voice was laced with a hard bitterness. His gaze was unwavering. "Unless of course..." I swallowed hard waiting for his next crazy idea. "Unless you're planning on marrying him."

          I almost choked.

          "Is that it, Grace?" dad asked. It was the closest his voice had come to being stern since mum died.

          Marrying Alexei? That couldn't have been further from the truth. I barely knew Alex, let alone intimately, and he certainly wasn't the managing director of an NHS hospital. Yet how could I explain any of that to my dad without sounding insane—without providing an alternative, credible and legitimate explanation?

          Dad and mum had always believed that working professionally in such a high-stress, high-risk environment with your partner was a recipe for disaster. That's why when they started seeing each other after working at the same hospital my dad transferred to a different one. So professional lines didn't get blurred. Who was to say the same hadn't happened with Alexei and I? Did my dad really need to know any different, at least for now?

          The one thing I prized above all else was keeping my dad safe. Telling him the truth—or what little I knew of it—wouldn't do that.