3 Chapter 3

“Hello?” he said before his gaze found the neatly wrapped box in Alexander’s hands. “Ah, it’s arrived.”

He reached out in readiness to receive his delivery.

”It’s quite heavy,” Alexander said. “I could bring it inside for you.”

Christian smiled and shook his head as his hands made contact with the parcel. “No thanks. I can manage.” He took the parcel from Alexander.

“I’ll also need your signature.”

Christian bent down and placed the package on the floor just inside the door. As he did so Alexander peered into the dimly lit space behind. It was difficult to see anything apart from the fact the man obviously liked his indoor plants. The shadows were full of palm fronds and large leaves.

“Where do I sign?” Christian asked, and for the first time Alexander noticed a slight accent.

Alexander handed him the clipboard. “At the bottom near the X.”

He watched as the man scrawled his signature across the bottom of the page, noticing he was left-handed.