LITMIR.BIZ

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groups of all kinds.

      ‘We’ll have facilities for DEXA scanning in here…’ He opened the door of one of the old science labs, which had now been reduced to a shell. ‘Along with other diagnostic equipment. There’s a space for the mobile breast-screening unit to park at the side of the building, and when the clinic’s finished it’ll be part of its regular route. We’ll be able to undertake general health screening as well.’

      ‘It’s wonderful, Alex. Everything under one roof.’

      The project was ambitious and imaginative, and would be of huge benefit to the local community.

      ‘That’s the idea. It’s a kind of one-stop shop, and although it’ll cater for complex medical needs it’s also going to be for people who just want a healthier lifestyle.’

      ‘What’s going to happen with the courtyards?’

      They were walking along a corridor that looked out onto one of the two central light wells. They were one of the few things that remained unchanged, and the dingy concrete floors were a reminder of what this place had once been like.

      Alex shrugged. ‘There are no plans for them just yet. Some planting might be nice.’

      ‘And what about the old gym?’ The annexe at the back of the school was enormous, and it seemed a waste not to use it for something.

      ‘We made a discovery. Come and see.’

      He led the way to the large double doors that opened onto the gym and Marie gasped. The folding seats had been taken out and light from windows on three sides flooded into the space. Instead of sprung wooden floors there was a large concrete-sided hole.

      ‘That’s not…not a swimming pool, is it?’

      He nodded. ‘When we looked at the plans we found that this annexe was built in the nineteen-thirties as a full-sized swimming pool. Later on it was made into a gym, but when we took up the floors we found that the pool had just been filled in with hardcore and the foundations were still there and solid enough to use. There’s room for a hydrotherapy pool, as well as the main pool.’

      Alex seemed less excited about this than he should be. Maybe he was about to tell her that they’d run out of money, or had found some catastrophic problem with the building’s structure and it was all about to fall down.

      ‘This is marvellous. Are the pool and gym just for patients or are they available to the whole community?’

      ‘There’ll be a nominal charge, well below the usual rates. Anyone who’s referred by a doctor or one of the medical staff here won’t have to pay anything.’ Alex was suddenly still, looking at her thoughtfully. ‘What about you? Would you be interested in being part of it all?’

      That sounded a bit like the stuff that fairy tales were made of. A gloomy old castle brought to life and transformed. Alex would fit in there quite nicely as the handsome Prince. But something about the quiet certainty in his manner stopped Marie from brushing the suggestion off.

      ‘You’d put in a good word with the boss for me?’

      ‘It’s more a matter of putting a good word in with you. We’d be lucky to get you.’

      Excitement trickled down Marie’s spine. This was real. In that case, Marie needed to ask a few real questions.

      ‘What exactly is your role here, Alex?’

      He frowned, as if that might be a problem. ‘It’s rather a long story… Why don’t you come to my office and we’ll have some coffee?’

      Marie followed him to a small suite of offices situated at the front of the building, off the main reception area. From here it would be possible to see all the comings and goings, and Marie guessed that Alex would have had a hand in the location of his office. He always liked to be in the thick of things.

      His office was one of the few rooms in the building that was finished, but it didn’t seem much like the kind of place the Alex she remembered would like. The cream walls and tall windows lent themselves to minimalism, but Alex didn’t.

      ‘How long have you been here, Alex?’

      ‘A couple of months.’ He looked around at the sleek wooden desk that stood at one end of the room and the comfortable easy chairs grouped around a coffee table at the other end. ‘Why?’

      Alex had been here for two months? And he hadn’t yet covered the walls with pictures and stamped his own personality on the space? That wasn’t like him at all. Perhaps the clinic had some kind of rule about that.

      ‘It just seems a bit…unlived-in.’ Marie looked around for something, anything, to comment on, instead of asking whether all that light and clear space hurt his eyes. She nodded towards the stylish chair behind his desk. ‘I like your chair.’

      ‘I reckoned I’d be sitting in it for enough hours, so I wanted something that was comfortable. Give it a try.’

      He walked over to the wood-framed cupboards that lined one wall, opening one of the doors to reveal a coffee machine and a small sink unit.

      The chair was great—comfortable and supportive—and when Marie leaned back the backrest tipped gently with her movement. She started to work her way around all the levers and knobs under the seat.

      ‘I love this. It’s got more controls than my first car.’

      She got to her feet as Alex brought the coffee and he motioned her to sit again, smiling as if it hurt his face to do so.

      ‘You’ve missed a few of the adjustments. The knob on the left lets you tip the seat forward.’ He sat down in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk.

      ‘Oh!’ Marie tried it, almost skinning her knuckles on the stiff lever. ‘Nice one. I’m glad to see the clinic practises what it preaches and looks after its staff.’

      She was just talking. Saying things that might fill the space between them and hoping to provoke a reaction. She’d never seen Alex look so worried before.

      Not worried…

      Burdened.

      It was time to grasp the nettle and find out what was going on. She leaned forward, putting her elbows on the desk as if she were about to interview him. ‘So what’s the story then, Alex? I’m intrigued, so start right at the beginning.’

      He paused, staring into his mug, as if that would tell him exactly where the beginning was.

      ‘A hundred and ten years ago…’

      ‘What? Really?’

      He gave her a strained smile and Marie regretted the interruption. Whatever had happened a hundred and ten years ago must be more important than it sounded.

      ‘You said start at the beginning.’

      ‘I did. Sorry…’ She waved him on and there was silence for a moment. Then he spoke again.

      ‘A hundred and ten years ago the King of Belkraine was deposed and his family fled to London. They brought with them a lot of very valuable jewels, the title deeds to property in this country, and what was literally a king’s ransom in investments. His eldest son was my grandfather.’

      Marie stared at him.

      She’d thought that she and Alex had shared most of their secrets over the years but he’d obviously been holding back. Marie wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that.

      ‘So you’re…a prince?’

      He gave her a pained look. ‘Belkraine no longer exists as a separate country. I’m not sure how you can be a prince of something that doesn’t exist.’

      He was missing the point. The role of many monarchies had changed in the last hundred years, but privilege and money was something that didn’t change.

      ‘A prince in exile, then?’

      ‘Strictly

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