Drink Me

64. LEON

LEON

The man stumbled backwards as his legs absorbed the shock from Alice's friendly assault. He quickly recovered and held the woman tight in a hug, a big grin on his face.

"Isn't this a surprise?" he said, eventually letting Alice on the ground. "The great Absolem."

"It's so good to see you!" Alice held the man's shoulder as she studied his presence in front of her.

The man was just about a span taller than Alice but sturdy, his muscular shoulders and arms almost entirely covered in tattoos peeping from his grey t-shirt. His chiselled face and sharp jawline were embellished by a well-groomed, light brown beard like his short, messy hair. Despite his general tough looks, his green eyes gave away a placid kindness as they lifted with the smile he reserved for Alice.

Finally, the man's eyes landed on Riley, silently standing a few feet from the two.

"Who's the pretty boy?" he asked in a very thick London accent.

Alice turned to Riley with a growing smile.

"His name is Wilsher," she replied. "And this is Leon," she added, gesturing toward her friend.

The man closed the distance to Riley and offered his hand.

"You can call me Gabriel," he said.

Riley shook his hand,. "Riley."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Gabriel replied. "But where are my manners? Come on in," he added, gesturing for the two to follow him inside.

The flat was small and dim; the room that functioned as a living space, a kitchen and a dining room, was only illuminated by two windows, one of which occupied the wall right of the entrance door. To the left a corner kitchen and a dining table of polished oak took most of the space. The only other items of furniture were a large blue sofa against the opposite wall to the entrance, a modern TV and a desk with what looked like an expensive computer.

"Do you work together?" Gabriel asked, closing the door behind him. "Please, sit." He gestured for Riley to take one of the chairs around the table, and the man obliged.

"He's my partner," Alice replied with a hint of pride.

Gabriel's eyes moved from the woman to Riley and studied him for a long moment.

"Your partner? For how long?"

"Just over a month," Riley replied, trying to decipher the expression on the man's face.

Gabriel tilted his head to the side as a clearly impressed look appeared in his eyes.

"Well, you must be quite something," he murmured. "This lovely lady likes to work solo. What's the longest any of your partners lasted?" he teased, looking back at Alice.

The woman shot him a fake smile.

"Don't listen to him Riley, he's just being a dick," she said.

But Riley was somewhat inclined to believe him.

"I invite you into my humble home and you call me a dick?" Gabriel teased. "Now, that's not nice."

Alice walked to him and took his chin in her hand.

"Oh, you know I'm always nice to you," she cooed, her posh accent now completely gone, replaced by a thick Northern drawl and suddenly Riley felt the need to know everything about their relationship.

"So, what brings you here?" Gabriel asked, gently removing Alice's hand from his face and walking to the counter where he turned on the kettle.

Alice took off Riley's jacket and let it fall on a chair, revealing the now dry stains on her white suit.