Of course, Alexander had known she was coming. And yet, at the same time, he felt pleasantly surprised that she had actually got there so quickly. Maybe he’d had her a little worried. He knew that he hadn’t been his usual self since coming back from France, and that mood had dipped even more with the arrival of Philip. But he thought he’d not done the worst job of covering it up.
“Hey, Liberty!” he smiled, his voice hoarse and scratchy from so much singing and shouting conversation over the music. Some pills? Oh. He was quite familiar with them after the bout of malaria, but for some reason it hadn’t crossed his mind that he could take them for a hangover headache too. Obvious, really.
“Thank you, that’s really sweet of you,” he told her sincerely. “And thanks for coming, I…” he led her through the living room, as he realised he didn’t have a reasonable explanation. “It’s good to see you, too,” he said, hovering and waiting for her to take a seat first.