"You miss me?"
"Yes."
"Which part, Augustus? The girlfriend you spent the night with, or the assistant who used to make your coffee and argue about your schedule?"
He flinched.
I hadn't intended to wound him. Not quite that deeply, anyway.
"That's not fair."
"Neither was Thursday morning."
The air between us tightened.
For a moment, I expected him to retreat into his office, leaving us with another unfinished conversation.
Instead, he surprised me.
"Can we speak somewhere private?"
I glanced around the deserted seventieth floor. Everyone had gone home, but someone could return for a forgotten laptop or mobile.
"All right."
His office felt cavernous without the usual hum of Ever Tower. Beyond the windows, Shorebridge glittered beneath the evening sky.
Augustus gestured toward the chair opposite his desk.
"I'd rather stand."
He nodded, remaining on his feet too.
Only a few metres separated us. It might as well have been an ocean.
"I owe you an explanation," he began.
