‘No, I’m sorry. We’ve been here for three months and we’ve just signed another lease. The agent said that she was going abroad again.’
‘I don’t suppose you know where?’
‘No. She didn’t go back to...’ The woman clicked her fingers, trying to recall the name.
‘Montarino.’
‘That’s right. The agent did say that she wasn’t going back there.’
Okay. That was Montarino ticked off the list. It was a start. All Hugo had to contend with now was the rest of the world.
‘Would you be able to give me the name of the agent, please? I’m trying to get in contact with her.’
The woman looked him up and down, seeming to come to the conclusion that it would be okay. ‘It’s Green’s in the High Street. You know it?’
‘No, I’m sorry, I don’t. Which way is that?’
‘End of the road, turn left. Walk down to the very end of that road and then turn right along the High Street. You can’t miss it.’ The woman shrugged. ‘There’s a big green sign.’
‘Thank you.’ Hugo smiled. It seemed as if this was going to be a long journey, but this was at least the first step.
The woman smiled suddenly. ‘Good luck.’
‘Thank you.’ He was going to need it. He had to fly back to Montarino tonight, but he had time enough to speak to the estate agent and if Nell was still in London, he might be able to see her today.
* * *
This was Nell’s third job in a few weeks. Maybe this one would be a keeper.
She’d told her employment agency that she’d take any job anywhere, as long as it wasn’t in London and they would guarantee absolute discretion as regards her whereabouts. They’d taken her at her word. The first job had been a week or so as a supply doctor on nights in a busy Huddersfield A & E department. The second had taken her to Manchester for a few days, and the third had brought her to Northern Germany, where she was helping an overworked and understaffed clinic that had been set up to cater for refugees.
It might be classed as overkill, but you didn’t just walk away from Hugo. He had contacts everywhere. If he missed her one quarter as much as she missed him, he might try to get in contact. And if he did, she couldn’t trust herself not to respond.
It was better not to give him that chance. Not face the dilemma of his having tried to find her, and not to feel the heartbreak if he hadn’t. This way she could draw a line under their affair and find a way to start again. Let him start again, and have the life he deserved.
The clinic was hard work. Nell’s German wasn’t up to scratch yet, but it was improving every day, and her French and English were both useful. The families under her care tore at her heart, but it was work that was important. The director of the clinic had already asked whether she was available for another month, and she hoped that might be extended even further.
It was late, almost nine o’clock, when she finally packed up her things and grabbed her coat. Tomorrow was her one day off per week, and she might just spend that sleeping and eating, since she hadn’t had a great deal of time for either in the last couple of days.
‘I’ll see you on Thursday.’ She smiled at the receptionist, who nodded back. Pulling her coat around her against the first chill of winter, she walked outside, nodding to the security guard at the gate and making for her car, which was parked some way down the road.
He was under a lamppost, next to her car. Huddled in a thick jacket, pacing back and forth to keep warm. Hugo must have been waiting a while. Nell had one
moment to escape, but then he saw her. She saw his face in the light of the lamp, and there was no running away now. He waited, suddenly still, as she walked towards him.
‘Hugo.’
‘Nell.’ His voice was thick with emotion. It carried with it the long weeks of running and the inevitable search he must have made to find her. And suddenly that was all nothing. She wanted to fall into his arms and kiss him.
‘It’s cold.’ There wasn’t any point in asking him what he was doing here, that was obvious. And Hugo was shivering.
‘Yes. They wouldn’t let me into the clinic.’
‘Security’s pretty tight there. How long have you been waiting?’
‘A couple of hours.’
Nell unlocked her car and opened the passenger door. ‘Come and sit in the car.’ If she switched the engine on, the heater might warm him a little.