The Blurring

by Angela Peach

  “Thank you. For everything” I whispered.

  “Don’t worry about it. I love you.”

  “Love you back.”

  We were both asleep within half an hour, (although I was awake again four hours later, shaking and sweating with fear) and next morning I woke more determined than ever to find her.

  “Tristen?”

  “Sorry Marie, I was miles away. What were you saying?”

  “I was just asking if you’d made any plans for your birthday yet? It’s not too far away now, is it?”

  “It’s two weeks away, and no, I haven’t even thought about it. Why?”

  “Well, if you wanted to take any time off for it, you still have all your holiday days available, but I need to know as soon as possible so I can cover you” she said, then added, “What I really mean is, I think you should take some time off to go and have a relaxing holiday with Nick or a girly one with your friends. Whatever you do, just go and have some fun for gods sake!”

  I stared at Marie in astonishment.

  “You’re telling me to take time off? For a holiday?” I repeated, checking I’d heard her right.

  “Yes. You’re a fantastic worker, but you need a break.”

  “Erm…”

  “Excellent! I’ll put it in the diary. How about from the first of July to the fourteenth?”

  “Ok?”

  “Great! Coffee?” With that, Marie breezed out of the room to go and make us both a drink, leaving me trying to make sense out of what had just happened.

  On a normal day, (which clearly this was not) Marie my boss was a complete workaholic who loved that I loved the long hours she set me working, and rewarded me with a very juicy pay cheque for my labours every month. At forty four, she was fifteen years my senior, but she looked at least ten years younger. She had ferocious red hair and striking blue eyes that could pierce through even the toughest bad ass, reducing them to a quivering mess! She’d taken a huge risk by employing me (something she loved reminding me of) and I had the utmost respect for her.

  Jesus, maybe I really do need a break?

  If even Marie was telling me to take a holiday, I must be pretty bad! I decided I’d surprise Nick with the news later, sure he’d appreciate some alone time with me, maybe even go somewhere exotic? Money was no issue-thanks to a large insurance payout from the accident, and my scrupulous saving technique, I had well over fourteen thousand pounds put aside for a rainy day.

  By the time Marie returned with two mugs of strong coffee, I had managed to let myself get fairly excited about the prospect of some time off.

  “Don’t forget to drop those samples off at the Hudson’s before you finish today” she reminded me as a took a long glug. I cursed silently, both because it had burned as I swallowed, and I’d forgotten completely about the samples. I quickly ran through the mountain of work I had ahead of me today and knew there was no way I’d get over there during work hours.

  “No problem. I thought I’d take them over on my way home” I said, as if I’d been planning to all along. Marie raised an eyebrow at me. She knew full well how much I had to get through, but she also trusted me enough to know I wouldn’t leave until it was all completed, which was why she remained silent.

  Still, I didn’t manage to finish until six forty, and I wasn’t looking forward to the twenty minute drive to the other side of town to do more work. I roughly estimated I’d roll on through my own door at about eight. I called Nick before I left to let him know I’d be late, and he said he’d wait to eat with me, asking what takeaway I wanted him to order for us. He was always sweet like this and I made a note to myself to give him an extra special cuddle to say thank you.

  Carol Hudson lived in quite a well to do part of town where the houses were set way back from the road and all had intercoms to get through heavy sets of iron gates. Unfortunately, there was a problem with Carol’s gates meaning I had to park on the road quite a way away and walk. As I tottered up the road in my heels, I wondered how much more this day could throw at me.

  Oh, I definitely need that holiday alright.

  After an awkward and undignified walk up her gravel drive, Carol invited me in for a coffee so she could go over the samples with me. She was a regular and highly prestigious client of Marie’s, having her five bed roomed house completely redesigned at least once a year, so I accepted the offer graciously, even though I knew once she got talking, I could be there for hours!

  By the time I finally managed to escape, it was nearly eight already and the sky was starting to dip into twilight. I walked toward my car, glad I didn’t have the samples to carry as I fumbled around on my phone to call Nick with big apologies, and was so engrossed trying to get his number up, I didn’t notice the two teenagers standing in the path.

  “Oh, sorry!” I said, sidestepping to go around them, but they moved with me, effectively blocking my way. With a sinking feeling, I realised I shouldn’t have tempted the day to throw more at me! I sighed and decided to be as compliant as possible in the hope they’d overlook raping and killing me. “Ok, what do you want?”

  “That’s a well nice phone. Let’s have a look?” one of them said, in a cocky over-friendly voice. When I hesitated, he stepped forward and raised his hand. I held out my phone reluctantly and he took it, grinning.

  “That looks like my girlfriend’s bag that got nicked last week. You don’t mind if I have a look do ya?” the other lad said, peering at my bag. I groaned inwardly. My house and car keys were in there along with my purse full of credit and store cards. It was then that I noticed the glint of what could be a blade in the hand hanging loosely at his side. I held my bag out to him and he took it, studying it intently.

  “I actually think this is my girlfriend’s bag! She’ll be fucking made up when I give it back to her!” he exclaimed with a sideways look at his mate. Then they both turned around and jogged casually away down the street. I watched them go, feeling helpless, and at a total loss for what action I should take next.

  “Shit!” I said aloud. I looked desperately around, but the street was empty. For a second, I debated going back to Carol Hudsons, but chose against it-Marie was bound to think it completely unprofessional. I dug my hands in my pockets, searching for anything that could be useful, like perhaps an old forgotten mobile (really?) or the spare set of keys for the car (even though I knew for a fact they resided, and had always resided, in my ‘shit’ drawer at home) but all I came up with was some chewing gum, an old receipt and seven pounds ninety in loose change. I looked around again. Trust me to get mugged on the most useless street in Britain. There were no phone boxes, no people, no police. And to top it all off, my tinnitus had flared up-I’d only started suffering with it since the accident, and normally it was just a continuous, but quiet, ringing in my ears-but when I got upset, or angry, it would get so loud it was like a deafening buzz that would drive me to distraction!

  But, about two hundred yards down the road I spotted a bus stop, and headed for it quickly. If I could get back into town, I’d be able to call Nick and wait in a pub for him to collect me. As I walked, I went through all the items I carried in my bag. Jen and Alice were always ribbing me for how much crap I deemed necessary to carry around with me, and now I wished I’d listened to them. I didn’t care about the contents of my purse. It was all the photos and nic-nacs that were invaluable to me and totally irreplaceable. I felt sad that they would be dumped and never found again. Tears welled in my eyes, but I held on to them, determined not to dissolve into a sobbing wreck until I at least got home and could receive a whole lot of sympathy from my boyfriend.

  When I was about thirty yards away from the stop, a double decker bus went by and startled me from my thoughts. To my delight, it indicated to pull in and I ran for it. A passenger getting off saw me running and asked the driver to wait.

  “Are you going into town?” I asked breathlessly. The driver nodded looking impatient, and I jumped on. After I’d paid and taken my seat halfway down the bu
s I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I was safe now and once I got to town, I intended to find a half decent pub and have a well deserved drink.

  Lost in my thoughts, I barely noticed when the bus pulled up at a stop to let someone from the top deck off, and I probably wouldn’t have even heard her if I’d sat any further back, but hear her I did.

  “Thank you. Have a good night!”

  Oh my god!

  I’d recognise that voice anywhere! I heard it every night in my dreams! I strained to see who it belonged to, and just caught a flash of dark hair before the doors swished shut but then the bus was pulling away. I leapt from my seat, peering out of the windows just in time to see the girl walk down a side road.

  “Wait! Stop the bus! STOP THE BUS!” I screamed at the driver.

  “I can’t stop here, it’s…”

  “Stop the fucking bus now goddammit or I’ll smash a fucking window and jump out!” I snarled in my most menacing voice. The bus slowed to a halt, and as he opened the doors for me I heard him shouting some sort of telling off in my direction, but I was already running back down the road. The bus had travelled quite a way from where she’d got off, and I could already feel the air burning my lungs as I sprinted to the side road she’d disappeared down. I hadn’t run since leaving school, and jogging had never appealed to me, so I struggled with even this short distance. I found it hard running with my heels on, so I kicked them off in a random act of desperation-I’d lost everything else this evening, they were just another thing to cry about later. Hell, if I’d still had my bag, I probably would have ditched it now to gain more speed. I reached the side road and flew round it, ignoring the agony in my bare feet from all the stones embedding themselves into my tender flesh.

  What if it wasn’t her?

  I ignored the small voice in my head too, my focus fully on finding her. Somehow I knew, I just knew, it was her!

  I scanned the road ahead-it was empty.

  “Nooo!” I shouted in absolute frustration, just as I caught my toe on something and went flying down onto my knees. I skidded to a painful halt and lay still for a moment catching my breath. This was the final straw. I felt the tears finally break free and roll down my cheeks.

  “Are you ok love?” a woman’s voice asked and I opened my eyes.

  “No! I’ve…I’ve been mugged and…and oh god I’ve lost my shoes and…” I said between sobs, unsure whether or not to mention I’d lost the girl I’d been following.

  “Do you want to come inside and use my phone? Is there someone who can come and get you?” she helped me stand, which was painful on my sore feet.

  “Yes, my boyfriend. Thank you…” I staggered a little, feeling like I was walking on broken glass, and as I did, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.

  It was her!

  CHAPTER 3

  She was walking out of a house about seven doors down with a young asian guy, and they were heading for a car parked outside it.

  “Hey! Hey, you!” I shouted loudly, waving my arms to get their attention. For a sickening second, I thought they weren’t going to hear me and just drive off, but then the guy she was with glanced up and saw me waving. I started hobbling up the road towards them, wondering what the hell I must look like, but not caring. I didn’t take my eyes off her for a second, and when she finally looked my way and saw who I was, her mouth dropped open in an ‘O’ of pure surprise. I was vaguely aware that the lady who’d offered to help me had gone back inside her own house.

  “Do we know you?” the guy asked, but I ignored him and didn’t stop until I was stood less than three foot away from her.

  “Hey!” I whispered, my mouth suddenly dry. She was jaw dropping beautiful with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail and brown eyes that were soft and warm and clear. Right now, her lips were still open in shock, but it was hard not to notice how full and red and sensuous they were. She looked like a Greek goddess with dark, naturally tanned skin, and her body was exquisitely perfect with curves in all the right places. She managed to close her mouth to swallow, but seemed unable to speak. I knew how she felt-it was as if we’d both been encased in a bubble that blocked out all sensory information from the outside. It was just us that existed. The noise in my ears increased so it was almost pulsing with my heart beat. “Do you remember me?” It was clearly a stupid question, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  “Yes. I remember you” her voice was barely a whisper too, but I heard her above the ringing.

  “I’ve been looking for you for over two years. I’ve got so many questions!” Her eyes felt like they were staring into my soul, but it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. There was so much adrenaline racing through my veins, my heart felt like it was going to punch a hole through my chest, and I was so nervous I was having trouble drawing a breath. But the electricity between us was incredible! It was how I’d imagine getting caught in an electrical storm might feel with the very air crackling and fizzing around us.

  “San, go without me. I’m going to stay here” she said to her friend, although her eyes didn’t so much as flicker away from mine.

  “You sure?” he asked, and I knew he was looking at the state of me, with my bloodied legs and shoeless feet. She ignored him and addressed me instead.

  “Do you want to come inside?” I nodded. “Put your arm over my shoulder and lean on me” she instructed, then looped one of her tanned arms around my waist. It was then that I smelled her perfume, the same one she’d worn the day of the crash! It was a sexy, sweet but musky scent that my nose demanded more of!

  We didn’t speak as she helped me inside and into the lounge. It was sparsely furnished, but looked comfortable. When I was sat on the sofa she stepped back, suddenly looking very nervous.

  “I’m going to go and get us a drink. Would you like a drink? Maybe something to clean up your knees…and feet?” a slight frown crossed her face as she seemed to notice the extent of the state I was in.

  I must look like a right nut bar.

  “Yes…to both. Are you going to come back?” I blurted as she turned to leave and she looked over her shoulder at me. To my surprise, her face was full of sorrow.

  “Yes.”

  She left the room and I could hear her moving around in what was obviously the kitchen before she returned, her arms laden with two glasses, a bottle of vodka and a bowl filled with hot water. A towel was slung over her shoulder. She sat on the coffee table in front of me, then we both stared at each other for a while, neither of us quite knowing what to say.

  “What’s your name?” I finally managed, breaking the ice with the easiest question.

  “Rebecka. And you’re Molly, right?”

  “Yes, but everyone calls me Tristen.”

  “Tristen? Isn’t that your last name?” she asked, frowning.

  “Yeah, but when I was younger, I hated the name Molly, so everyone at school just called me Tristen instead and it kinda stuck. But I like it. How do you…?”

  “I saw your name…in the papers” she said, seeing my surprise that she knew my name. “Tristen…yeah, I guess it suits you better than Molly!” she tilted her head to one side and thought for a second. “Hmm, in that case, why don’t you call me Spencer? I’ve never really liked Becka that much” she said and held out her hand for me to shake. I took it in mine-it was soft and warm and tingled with sparks as we shook, and I guessed by the flicker of confusion in her eyes that she felt it too.

  “Your last name?”

  “Mm-hm. So, do you mind if I ask what the hell happened to you?” she asked as she dipped the towel in the bowl of steaming water.

  “I was going to ask you the exact same thing.”

  She looked up at me and frowned again, confused. It was a very sexy look on her.

  What? Where the hell did that thought come from?

  Before I could question myself further, realisation dawned on her.

  “Oh, you mean…I know, you deserve an explanation, about why I left you there” s
he said, dropping her eyes to my knees which had been shredded by the pavement when I’d fallen. She squeezed the excess water from the towel, then gently dabbed at my left knee making me wince. “Sorry.”

  “For leaving me or for that?”

  “Both. Look, why don’t you tell me what happened to you first, then I promise I’ll tell you everything” she said, continuing to clean my wounds. “And I think you should pour us both a drink. We’re going to need it. Sorry there’s no mixer-we were just about to go shopping when you arrived.”

  I poured us two large neat vodkas, and recapped my evening up to seeing her on the bus and chasing her here. As she took a long swallow, I saw the frown return.

  “Hold on, so they didn’t threaten you or hurt you?”

  “No, they were actually really polite I suppose. Maybe they were posh muggers?” I mused, but I saw she was biting her lip to stop from saying something and I got the feeling she thought I was a bit strange. Remaining quiet, she moved onto my right leg. “I think one of them had a knife” I added, trying to impress on how dangerous the situation had felt.

  “Oh, I’m sure it must have been pretty scary” she said, but before she looked back down, I saw a hint of amusement in her eyes. “So, did you give your shoes to them as well?”

  “I…I didn’t give them anything! Well, ok, I sort of did, but they would have got nasty if I’d refused and I didn’t want to get knifed for a stupid phone!” I spluttered, getting angry that she found my mugging amusing. She looked up, shocked at my outburst and put both hands out in front of her.

  “I’m sorry Tris, I didn’t mean to upset you. Please, carry on.”

  For a second, I was thrown by her familiar use of my name so soon after meeting.

  “I kicked off my shoes so I could run faster…when I was chasing you” I admitted, feeling a little bit embarrassed about it now. She raised an eyebrow at me and I just knew she was trying to suppress a smile by the way her eyes twinkled. “So, Spencer, why don’t you tell me why you saved my life, then disappeared. You’ve already admitted you saw me in the papers, so you would have seen the appeals for you to come forward as well. Why didn’t you?” The twinkle faded from her eyes and she sat back stiffly.