Me. Her. Him - Chapter Nine

by Jacob1395

The author has placed a warning on this post for language.

Background
Angela has spent nearly half her life hiding from a man in her past. But when he finally tracks her down, it isn't him she's scared of. It's what he knows.

Background: Angela is shocked when William, an old friend from her past, who she hoped never to see again, comes back into her life, after he applies for a role at her work and successfully secures the job. William’s sudden reappearance puts Angela on edge. She’s terrified he’s discovered her secret, which she needs to protect her family from. William’s convinced Angela knows what happened to his former girlfriend, Caz, who hasn't been seen for twenty years, and that something terrible happened to her. The only person, who can help Angela, is her once best friend, Michelle, but Angela hasn’t seen Michelle for more than a decade. Faced with the threat of William’s return, they know they’ll need to work together to save their future, even if this does mean reopening old wounds, and revisiting a past they'd rather keep buried.

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‘Woah, don’t worry I’ve got you.’

A hand grasps my right arm tight. A shape big, bold and creamy brown in front of me had seemingly popped out of nowhere. I glance at my saviour. Shit. Hatred crawls up my spine and clogs my throat. It’s William wearing a burgundy jacket. He’s still holding onto my arm and smiling at me. He releases his grip and I take a step back, brushing my hair out of my eyes. My arm stings a little from where he clutched onto me. It’s been a week since I last saw him. Of course, today’s his first day, he’d told Olivia he could start pretty much straight away. I swallow.

‘Oh, sorry, I . . . I wasn’t looking where I was going,’ I say, just about managing to get the words out.

I examine him from head to toe, waiting again for the twitch in the corner of his mouth. He must somehow be keeping it under control. I imagine him practising in the mirror, to make sure it doesn’t show. Perhaps he doesn’t even realise he does it.

He smiles. ‘No worries at all. It’s Angela, isn’t it? I’ve been trying to remember names all week since I came for the interview. That’s definitely something you don’t want to get wrong on your first day. People never seem to forget that sort of thing, do they? So how long have you been working here?’

There it is again, the slight twitch in the left hand corner of his mouth. He’s here to destroy me, he’s here to . . . my stomach hardens, I turn away from him.

‘Oh, about five years now,’ I reply, crossing the reception with him towards the lift. I should’ve taken the stairs instead. I’m going to be stuck in an enclosed space with him. I picture myself having a panic attack. ‘We’re . . . we’re a great team. Olivia’s convinced you’ll fit right in with no problem; you’ve already jumped over the first hurdle, which is trying to impress her. That’s always the trickiest part of the job.’

‘So yeah, no pressure then,’ he says winking. I look away, my cheeks burning. ‘May I ask, and forgive me if it’s a bit of a personal question, but I wondered if I’d done something to upset you? When I came for the interview last week you seemed, I don’t know, a bit . . . put out, and then I had your boss asking me on the phone if we knew each other. I don’t want things between us to start off on awkward grounds, especially as we’re going to be working together.’

So he did notice my reaction.

‘Oh gosh, crikey, no it was nothing, stupid really. I just wasn’t feeling too great, but I’m better now.’

‘Right, okay. So it was nothing to do with me then?’ he asks, grinning.

I want to curl into a ball, hide away. He’s playing games with me.

‘No. No you did nothing wrong, any way would you like me to show you around? I can introduce you to everyone. Olivia will probably want to talk to you though, before you start work.’

There I go again. I always had to be the one showing people around at school, Michelle would be glaring at me if she was here.

‘That’ll be great. Yeah, this does kind of feel like the first day at school.’

For now, I’m just going to have to grin and bear this.

I watch William get up from his seat at exactly the same time I do. He’s pulling on his burgundy jacket, and stretching his arms. I look away. He hasn’t spoken to me at all since I spoke to him this morning and yet he’s getting up at the same time as me. He’s heading in my direction.

‘After you,’ he says, holding his hands out.

I slip out in front of him. ‘Things haven’t been too mad then for you, have they?’ I ask, striding towards the lift, the sound of my heels striking the floor bouncing in my ears.

‘It’s been great. I’ve been out of work for some time, so yeah, it’s been really good getting the buzz of an office back.’

He’s still got that same annoying buzz of energy he had this smile, it irks me. I press the button to call the lift; pins and needles attack my skin as I do.

‘What did you do beforehand?’ I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.

Perhaps he’ll let something definitive slip.

‘I . . . I was working in the city, financial job. I’d fallen out of love with it though and then switched to working for myself. Working in London was great when I was younger, I had a brilliant time going out every evening after work and sometimes during the day, but the older I got I began to realise I didn’t want to be travelling in and out of the city on the tube every day. Plus there was the extra travel expense as well.’

‘Yes, I know what you mean. I gave up working in the city when I was in my twenties.’

We step into the lift and make the journey down to reception in silence.

The wind pinches at my hair as we exit the building and slip outside into the car park. I should really have brought a thicker jacket with me this morning.

‘I used to live in London,’ he says which makes me stop in my tracks. ‘When I was in my twenties I shared a flat with my girlfriend. Where about’s were you based?’ he asks.

My heart’s racing. Stop talking now, don’t be stupid.

We’re standing still in the car park.

‘Oh right, that’s really interesting. Anyway, better get home,’ I reply. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

He’ll realise I haven’t answered his question.

He smiles. ‘Yeah, catch you later, Angela.’

I watch as he heads towards the main road, before I head over to my car, holding my car keys tight in my hand.

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Character List:

Angela Watkins - Protagonist

Paul Watkins - Angela's husband

Rebecca Watkins - Angela's daughter

Michelle Blake - Angela's former best friend