THE FIRST NIGHT ALEX is gone, Liam sends Paul a message — through the goddamn f*****g app, which Paul finds hilarious — inviting him over for the evening in case he doesn’t want to be alone in the house. Paul appreciates the thought, and tells him so, but as much as he hates Alex’s absence he wants some time to himself. Besides, he has Claudia with him, so the place is hardly empty the way it used to be when Alex travelled.
Cool, Liam messages him back. What about tomorrow?
Paul chuckles at his determination. Sure, he replies, in part because he suspects Liam won’t let up until he agrees.
The next day Paul has meetings that run long and a spat between writers to sort out. He doesn’t get to Liam and Carly’s house until well after any sort of reasonable dinner time. Liam’s out, and Ali an
