Closer by Saul Bosworth

Author:Saul Bosworth [Bosworth, Saul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-03-27T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

It had been an uneventful week and Thursday afternoon had come round pleasingly quick for Astor. He had been to the cinema with Mason on Tuesday night, taking advantage of two-for-one tickets to see a comedy they had both fancied. He had also enjoyed a particularly good lunch with Holly the day before – an American barbecue shack tucked away down a side street just ten minutes from the office. To cap it off, James had been on annual leave and he had been left to research a pitch all by himself. As far as working weeks went, it had been a pretty good one. He was now looking forward to a quiet weekend with Mason. It was a rare couple of days with no plans. And the thought of being able to do whatever took their fancy made him look forward to it more.

The clock edged towards three. It was a grey, drizzly day in Central London. Early autumn had arrived and with it brought five consecutive days of rain. Astor daydreamed of a holiday abroad as he worked on PowerPoint slides. An up-tempo dance track played through his earphones, only heightening his desire to be drinking cocktails on a warm beach somewhere. He vowed to spend some time looking for cheap flights that night.

Astor’s heart dropped when he noticed his phone light up. Dad calling.

He didn’t know whether it was acceptable to actually answer his phone in this office – the situation hadn’t arisen thus far. He never spoke to his family at this time. His nanna got fifteen minutes on his Monday morning walk to work and his dad’s preferred communication method was text and Facebook messenger based - it always had been. He knew instantly that something wasn’t right.

“Hello?” Astor asked quietly and cautiously, walking into the corridor in search of a more private space.

“Hi A. Can you go somewhere you can speak?” His dad’s voice was shaky and gruff, like he hadn’t slept much recently. There was definitely something wrong.

“Give me a minute.” Astor found a small meeting room empty and ducked inside. “Right I’m on my own now. Is everything OK?”

His dad hesitated for a second, took an audible breath then spat it out. “You asked me to let you know if grandad deteriorated. Well he did.”

Astor’s heart pounded as tears formed in the corners of both eyes. “Did?”

“He passed away in his sleep this morning. At home, warm and comfortable in his bed. I’m so sorry.” His staunchly stoic father, usually so devoid of visible emotion, let out an audible sob.

Astor’s heart broke there and then. It was a feeling every bit as intense and gut-wrenching as when he was told his mother had passed away all those years ago. He wondered if anything would ever feel as awful as that moment, his fourteen year old mind utterly consumed with total devastation – but this matched it and more. Perhaps it was because his nanna and grandad had been like parents since it happened.

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