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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January 2000

I glance at my alarm. I’m still in that blissful dreamlike state. My eyes are heavy. They’re willing me to close them again and drift back off, sink back, relax, let go.

This must be what it feels like to win the lottery. If only I could stay like this forever. Then I realise what the time is. Shit, it’s four o’clock. Michelle, Hayley and Lauren will be getting home soon. I can’t let them see William here, particularly not Michelle. There’s going to come a point when I will need to tell her about us, but it can’t be now, not like this.

‘William. William, you need to go,’ I say, flinging off the bed covers and leaping out of my bed.

The duvet seems to be crying out to me. I want to crawl back into bed, snuggle beside William, and feel his strong arms around me. He opens his eyes groggily. He could’ve only been asleep for an hour or so.

I pick my jeans up off the floor and yank them on. I’m going to have to wash myself to get rid of his scent. Michelle will be able to tell in an instant. She’ll be able to smell William’s cologne, especially in the bedroom. If I spray some of Hayley’s hairspray then that should mask some of it. It always makes me cough, but at least it’ll hide the evidence. Shit, shit, shit. I should’ve held off jumping into bed with William like that. We could’ve gone to a hotel instead.

He swings his legs around the side of the bed. He looks up at me with a beaming smile.

‘Come on. Just one more kiss before I go,’ he says. ‘Please.’

I shake my head, but that doesn’t stop my chest filling with air. I want to so badly lean in and kiss him, but I know if I do, I won’t be able to resist getting back into bed with him, and then who knows what will happen if Michelle finds us here like this, locked in an embrace. I’ll never hear the end of it.

‘No, there’s no time. If Michelle sees you here she won’t talk to me for God knows how long, she might even want to chuck me out. We need a plan before we tell her about us, because the outcome is not going to be pretty, and I can’t face it now. I need you to get going.’

I dive out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. What the hell was I thinking? I’m going to have to explain to my friends that I’ve quit my job, and I know Michelle’s going to question me about it. Perhaps I can say that Stevie was really awful to me today and I couldn’t take it anymore, but then they might go round and speak to her, and demand an apology. That’s something Michelle would do in an instant, and she wouldn’t tell me until she’d done it. I’m sure Stevie would take great pleasure in telling Michelle what really happened.

Ten minutes later and I’m out of the bathroom, after quickly jumping in the shower, and drying myself off in twenty seconds. I’ve tidied up my hair as best I can, although it’s still a bit of a mess. I can’t even blame the weather. I still have a feeling though the girls are going to know I’ve had someone back here, no matter what I do to try and cover it up. Michelle seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to this sort of thing.

I step back into my bedroom. My heart is thrumming in my chest. It’s empty. My bed covers are neatly pulled back. It’s almost like he hasn’t been here, and what happened is just a figment of my imagination. I close my eyes and remember each moment his body was nestled against mine. I haven’t felt like this about any boy before. Despite the anxiety clinging to my chest, I still feel like I’m walking on air. The way how he made me feel on New Year’s Eve has left me completely. All I know now is that I want to be with him. To hell with what Michelle says. If she doesn’t want to support me now, then I can’t see how I can continue to be friends with her.

I step into the lounge. William isn’t here. He’s gone. I quickly grab Hayley’s hairspray and spray it in the living room, hallway, and bedroom, and then I fling open the back doors to let in some air.

I suppose I don’t have to tell them right this minute that I resigned from my job. God it’s going to be awkward every time I pass the place now. It’s on the way to the station. That’s how I spotted the advertisement that they were looking for staff, when I was running to catch a train. But perhaps this might make Stevie realise that she wasn’t exactly the most welcoming of people. It might make her change her attitude for when she employees someone else, but somehow I rather doubt it. She wouldn’t smile if the Queen walked in.

I flop onto the sofa, pick up the book that’s on the coffee table, without even really glancing at the cover, and wait for the girl’s to get home.

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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