Me. Her. Him - Chapter 35

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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September 1999

‘Happy one year guys,’ Lauren says, holding up her glass of wine, the ice clinking against the side of her glass.

We’re sitting in a restaurant in Soho. It’s packed. It’s mainly full of people around our age, waiters and waitresses are buzzing around us carrying beers, wines and cocktails on trays. Robbie William’s voice is drifting into my ears from the speaker behind me. I’d passed it a few weeks ago and thought the burgers looked amazing. I’d been banging on since about how I wanted to try it. If it came down to it, I would’ve just gone on my own. Eating in restaurants or cafés by myself has never fazed me.

‘God, has it really been a year already since we all moved in together?’ Hayley says. ‘And you still haven’t got a job, Lauren.’

Hayley doesn’t even laugh when she says the last part of her sentence. She takes a gulp of her wine.

‘I’m trying, you know I am,’ Lauren says. Lauren says it in a jokey way, although I can see the hurt in her eyes from Hayley’s comment. But she’ll just suck it up and move on, unlike Michelle who would’ve been in a mood for days. ‘At least you guys have still got me preparing all your lunches for you. I’ve seen an ad for a job at Greenpeace actually, which I’m thinking of going up for.’

‘Greenpeace.’ Hayley laughs, almost spitting out her wine. ‘Since when have you been into the environment? Are you going to start growing dreadlocks and smoking pot?’

Lauren glares at Hayley. ‘Actually, if you read into what people are saying about the impact we’re having on the environment, it’s quite concerning. You know, Prince Charles . . .’

‘Oh, Prince Charles, is that who you fancy now? Mind you, you always have been into older guys, haven’t you?’

‘Oh shut up, Hayley,’ Lauren says before taking another gulp of her wine.

‘Come on, we’re only messing with you,’ Hayley says, punching Lauren lightly on the arm.

Lauren says nothing in response.

‘Well, if it’s something you’re into go for it, Lauren,’ I say, before Hayley has the chance to say anything else. ‘I think I’ll miss it when you do manage to get a job. The thought of having to make do with a supermarket sandwich is making me queasy,’ I say.

‘Stop it, both of you, this is meant to be a fun evening celebrating our anniversary, and instead you’re both poking fun at me,’ Lauren says.

‘Well, you say we’re meant to be celebrating, but Michelle isn’t with us,’ I say, glancing over my shoulder, thinking that she might be watching us. Of course I’m being ridiculous.

‘We did mention this to her though, didn’t we, and she was the one who wasn’t bothered about coming,’ Hayley says, a slight condescending tone to her voice. She stabs at an olive with a cocktail stick and plops it into her mouth. ‘She booked to go back to her parents this weekend weeks ago. We can have another night out with her next week if she fancies it, but I’ll be surprised if she does. We weren’t just going to sit in all weekend were we, just because she’s not around?’ 

I slump in my chair, guilt eating away at my spine. I shake my head. I know Michelle isn’t the biggest fan of going out, out, but it still feels wrong of Lauren to be toasting the one year anniversary without Michelle being here.

‘Angela, Hayley, Lauren. Fancy seeing you guys here.’

I look up, my spine prickling. William’s standing over us with a big beaming smile. His crisp white shirt is untucked at the waist. My stomach flips. The sultry scent of his cologne hits me. Everywhere I see it now, or smell it; it always makes me think of him.

‘William,’ I say, my eyes frantically looking round for any sign of Caz. I can’t see her. Where is she? ‘Are you here on your own?’

‘If you mean is Caz with me, no she’s not. I just happened to see you in here and thought I’d pop in and say hi. It’s been ages since I last saw you. Caz keeps going on about all the good times you’re having together, I’m beginning to feel a little left out.’

He places his hand on his heart and pulls a face, and then his lips break into a wide grin. My spine tenses. Where’s Caz? The sound of everyone else talking in the restaurant fills my head. I hear snippets of people talking about the weather, and what people are watching on television at the moment.

Why’s William here on his own? I’m reminded of when I first met Caz, and how odd I thought it was that she was out in our area of London all by herself. Caz’s revelation of William dealing in drugs slips into my brain.

‘Who are you here with?’ Hayley says, leaning her elbows on the table.

‘I was just meeting a couple of old school friends for a drink in the area. Caz is back at the flat watching a film. She wasn’t in the mood for coming out this evening.’

‘That’s unlike her,’ Lauren says.

‘Yeah it is, very much so.’ William nods his head as he speaks. ‘She’ll be really disappointed when I told her I bumped into you guys.’

I’m not sure what he’s getting at. Does he mean she’ll be disappointed that we didn’t invite her out with us this evening? I press my hands into the seat. We do a lot of things with Caz, but that doesn’t mean we have to invite her every time we go out. It can’t surely just be by coincidence that William happened to see us in here. My stomach hardens. I tell myself not to look too much into it. He’s probably just messing with us.

‘You might as well join us for a drink as you’re here,’ Lauren says.

She doesn’t seem at all fazed by his last sentence. Perhaps she hadn’t heard the slight menacing tone I thought I’d heard, over the noise of the restaurant. Maybe it was just in my imagination.

‘Well, I s’pose I could have one drink,’ he says, his eyes lingering on mine, before he pulls a chair over to our table. The squeak it makes, as he drags it across the floor, rings in my ear. It makes a couple of people sitting near us turn round. They shoot us annoyed glances before returning to their meals.

William actually ends up having a burger with us after he complains about how ravenous he is. He’s sitting beside me now. Our knees are practically touching underneath the table. Every time he knocks his knee into mine it sends an electric wave of pleasure pulsing up and down my body. I’m sure he’s doing it on purpose.

Hayley’s making wild hand gestures. She’s going on about something that happened to her at work the other day, and I try to listen, but my thoughts keep drifting to William.  Will he tell Caz he hung out with us this evening? William places his hand on the table, his finger just touching mine.

I notice Lauren’s looking at us, her eyes are big and wide. I remove my hand from the table and place it in my lap.

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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