Free Boss by Ashley John Page B

rent for a couple of months, put some aside for bills and use the time to find yourself a job.”
    “That’s not me,” he said, “you should know that.”
    “Well, maybe it’s time it was you because from where I’m sitting, it doesn’t look like you have many options.”
    Joshua didn’t feel like he had any choice, other than to get on a plane and flee, with or without Levi. When he was far away enough, the confusion and questioning would stop and he would slip back into the comfortable life he had grown to know.
    “I travel,” he stood up, “that’s what I do.”
    “Maybe it’s time you found a new you. Go travelling but that money will run out quicker than you even realise and you’ve just lost your security blanket.”
    Joshua didn’t bother to get Levi from the coffee shop. He jumped into the first black cab he could hail and headed straight back to Violet’s with the letter burning a hole in his back pocket. When he pulled up outside her Victorian terrace, he tossed a £20 at the driver, suddenly aware of money for the first time in his life. Tobias’ warning was echoing around in his mind.
    “I have no idea what to do,” he paced Violet’s living room after telling her the whole story.
    The dress fitters glanced to each other, raising their eyebrows with small smirks.
    “It’s all very sad,” she stood as the fitters circled her, pinning and pulling the fabric around her slender body, “but I want to know what you think of my dress.”
    Joshua stopped pacing and tried to focus on the dress but all he could see was a mass of white. I should have gone straight to the airport .
    “Yeah, it’s nice,” he shrugged, collapsing into one of her Chesterfield armchairs.
    “Just nice?” she planted her hands on her hips, “This isn’t high street crap, Joshua. This is £8,000 of couture dressmaking. It’s art.”
    Joshua took another look at the dress but it just looked like a wedding dress to him. Fashion was never his thing. Travelling the world, he saw so many different styles and his wardrobe was a collection of wherever he was staying, wherever he had been and whatever he could fit in his bag.
    “It’s really nice, Violet,” he sighed, “You look beautiful.”
    “That’s more like it,” she nodded, “secondly, you need to promise me you’re not going to disappear. I’ve only just got you back. I want to keep you for a couple of weeks, at least.”
    It was a promise he didn’t want to make but he reluctantly nodded, knowing how much it would hurt her if he vanished.
    “I’ll wait until the wedding,” he pointed at her, “but the second you’re hitched, I’m out of here.”
    “That’s fine,” she winced as one of the dress fitters yanked on the corset strings, “I don’t want to walk down the aisle on my own.”
    “What?”
    “I want you to walk me down the aisle?” she winced, shooting daggers at the dress fitter, “My dad is still up in Scotland with his new family. I invited him but he said he doesn’t know if he can come, so I’ve uninvited him. He doesn’t know that yet but he will if he travels down here and he’s not on the guest list. If you don’t say yes, I’ll have to kill you.”
    Now I definitely can’t leave.
    “I’d be honoured,” he sighed reluctantly.
    He gave it a couple of seconds to sink in and he let the genuine smile tilt his cheeks.
    “Good,” she smiled right back, “because it wasn’t really a question in the first place.”
    The dress fitters finished and scurried out of the room, taking the dress and their equipment with them. Violet changed into a pair of jeans and a loose silk blouse.
    “Are you going to read that letter?” she ran her hands through his scruffy hair as she perched on the arm of the chair, “There might be some answers in there.”
    “You knew my dad,” Joshua leaned forwards, pulling the letter from his back pocket, “this is just his way of having the last word.”
    He held the letter in his hands,