The Missing Hours by Emma Kavanagh

job,’ I offer.
    Bronwyn grimaces. ‘I took some persuading. It was a good call, though. You won’t find anyone more reliable or hard-working than our Fae. Just goes to show, I guess.’
    I look to the closed door. ‘I’d never have guessed.’
    ‘Well why would you? This was years ago. People can change, you know, Finn.’
    I look back at her. ‘Tell me about Dominic and Isaac. What was their relationship like?’
    Bronwyn plucks at an invisible thread on her sleeve. ‘When he met Isaac … it was love at first sight. For Dom, at least. And for Isaac too, I think. They made such a good couple. I was happy for them.’
    That last bit jars, sounds wrong after what came before. It is held up at me as a shield. What is it protecting her from? I raise an eyebrow.
    She studies me, considering, and then sighs. ‘Dom and I, we met a long time ago. Nearly twenty years. We were both new to the firm … a small operation, delusions of grandeur; it went bust years ago. But we clicked. I … God, I fell head over heels for him. We started dating – he hadn’t come out then. We were together for a while. A year or thereabouts. And it was good, you know? But looking back, I knew it wasn’t the same for him. You do, don’t you? When you love someone more than they love you?’
    I nod, like I have any idea about anything. Like I’m not a thirty-two-year-old man with the relationship history of a fifteen-year-old.
    ‘He admitted it, in the end. Said that he was confused, that he thought perhaps he might be gay.’
    ‘That must have been tough.’
    She looks up, smiles grimly. ‘I survived. We split, obviously. But we never stopped being friends. You can’t. Not when you love someone that much.’
    ‘And then he met Isaac?’
    She shakes her head. ‘There were others before Isaac. A couple of serious ones, but nothing really stuck for him. Not until Isaac.’
    ‘And that didn’t bother you?’
    ‘No. Well, I was married myself by then.’ She pulls a face. ‘That didn’t stick either.’ Then she considers. ‘Although, to be perfectly honest, the women bothered me. There were a few of those for Dominic too, and even when I was married, I used to think, if you’re going to be with a woman, why not me? Anyway. Then he met Isaac.’
    ‘Tell me about Dominic and Isaac,’ I say again.
    Bronwyn gives me a long look. ‘Isaac … he loved Dom. They were happy together. Dom and I, we talked about everything. He never told me about any fights, about any issues. They just … they loved one another. And I’ve never seen Dom so happy. It wasn’t Isaac, Finn. It couldn’t have been Isaac.’
    I nod. Pretend that I believe her. When really what I am thinking is what Leah said – how can we ever know what goes on inside a relationship? Can we really say for sure whether the ice under it is glacial thick or paper thin?
    ‘What about the last time you saw Dom?’
    ‘I … It was a normal day. Just any other day. I was in court. I’m not sure what Dom had on, but you should check with Fae. She can pull his diary for you. I saw him when I got back to the office. Four, four thirty, maybe. We had a quick chat, nothing special – just, you know, chit-chat – and he left about six. I keep thinking, if only I had known that it was the last time. There are so many things I would have said to him. I wish I had known it was the last time.’
    ‘Were you still in love with him?’ I don’t know why I ask this. I don’t know why it matters. I just suddenly have an overwhelming urge to know.
    But Bronwyn has looked away now, is brushing tears from her face, pretending that she hasn’t heard me.
    I don’t push it. I let it slide.
    After long moments, she turns back to me.
    ‘When he left,’ I say, ‘did he say where he was going?’
    ‘Home,’ Bronwyn says. ‘He was … No … that’s not right. He said that he had to leave, that he would have to stop on the way home.’
    ‘Where?’
    ‘He said he needed to see Beck