Me. Her. Him - Chapter Fourteen

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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I’ve been home for two hours now and I haven’t moved from the sofa. Every muscle in my body hurts. I’m sitting right forward on the edge, clutching my phone in my hands, naively thinking that perhaps Olivia might ring me and say she’s made a mistake and ask me to come back to work.

My whole body stiffens. I’m sure . . . I’m sure I heard a floorboard creak. The wind manages to creep in through the gaps in the walls of this old house which makes it groan, especially in the night, but outside the winds still, at least it was when I arrived back earlier.

I look up to the ceiling, my chest squeezing tight. No of course there isn’t anyone inside. I stand up, banging my shin on the coffee table, which makes me wince. Doing my best to ignore the pain, I edge around the side of the sofa, holding my phone tight against my chest. The floorboards groan again.

‘Who’s there?’ I shout, my voice shaking.

There’s no reply. I move further into the kitchen. Shit. I’ve no idea if . . . William must know where I live, he could be . . . I yank open the cutlery drawer and pull out a kitchen knife. The blunt edge of the handle digs into my ribs. I remain still, keeping my eyes fixed on the hallway door. There’s no movement. No sound. The house is empty apart from me. I place the knife on the island, letting out a sharp steady breath. I’ve got to get a hold of myself.

If I do see William again, will he pretend he doesn’t know me, like he did when we bumped into each other on his first day? I doubt it. He’ll move in for the kill, now his suspicions about me have been . . . almost confirmed.

I slap my hand on the work surface. I can’t sit here all day stewing over everything that’s happened. I’m going to be jumping to conclusions, and I can’t do that, it isn’t helpful.

I survey my surroundings, my body still on alert at the thought that someone could be in the house.

Perhaps I could drive into Chelmsford and meet Rebecca for lunch during her lunch break. That’ll fill the afternoon up for a bit. If I stay in the house much longer I’m going to end up driving myself crazy.

I call Rebecca, and begin to pace the kitchen. She might not pick up, she could be serving someone. If she doesn’t answer I’ll just go into Chelmsford on my own. I’m not sitting here on my own.

‘Hello Mum,’ Rebecca answers. She’s keeping her voice low.

Even though she’s trying to be quiet, I can still tell she’s startled. It’s her voice, it’s on edge; I hear her quickened breath. She always is like this, whenever I ring her at work, which isn’t often; she worries I’m going to give her bad news.

‘Hey, Rebecca, listen, I’ve been given the afternoon off work and wondered if you fancied meeting for lunch? We could go to one of those cute cafés near you if you fancy it.’

There’s silence on the other end. A coffee machine whirs in the distance, which begins to give me a headache. Someone places an order. She’ll be looking to see if her manager can see her on her phone, although according to Rebecca, her manager never seems to be around.

‘Why’ve you been given the afternoon off?’ Rebecca asks suspicion still in her voice.

‘The server went down at work, and they’re not sure when it’s going to be fixed, hopefully it won’t be too long. Bit of a nightmare really, that’s why they’ve sent us home. There’s no point us sticking around at work with nothing to do; shows you how much we rely on technology in today’s world, doesn’t it?’ I let out a slight laugh.

It’s the best I can think of on the spot. She’ll be processing what I’ve told her in her head. I grip the end of the stool closest to me.

‘Okay, yeah, sure. Shall we meet; say in like, an hour?’

I glance at the clock on the windowsill. That’ll make it twelve in the afternoon.

‘Perfect. I’ll see you soon.’

I end the call.

It’s a good job neither Paul, nor Rebecca, really know any of the people I work with. Paul’s met Kirsty once, but that was a few years ago.

There’s no way Paul will be able to check with Kirsty, or anyone else, if I’m telling the truth.

Once I’m outside, I check the road, before I get in my car, to make sure there are no cars parked in the street.

No one’s going to be following me. I’m safe. For now.

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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 

Kirsty - Receptionist (Angela's friend) 

Olivia - Angela's boss

William Harris - Angela's former friend 

Caroline (Caz) - Angela's friend 

Hayley - Angela's former friend

Lauren - Angela's former friend