Ford could not help the sharp, dry laugh that escaped him at his mother's question. The idea that any part of last night could be described as fun was patently ridiculous, though of course she would have no reason to know that. What did she think he'd been up to, he wondered? He could have easily claimed to be out at the club (though if that was the case, he would have come home first and told them where he was going). He could have made up a social event (though she would have wondered about not having heard of it before).

She probably thought he'd been up to no good, he supposed. Probably with a woman. Merlin, Mama, he couldn't help but think. As though he had any time at all to be thinking about that, with everything else he had to manage! (It did not occur to him to consider his exchange with Dorian Fisk as the same sort of thing — that was... different than fooling around with a girl).

"A friend asked me to meet him after work," he said, which wasn't a lie. "And we ended up getting dinner together so we could talk. That's all."