by Lily Hayden
“You cannot abandon that child,” Eleanor seized the space he left silent, her words forceful and strong. “I’ll come with you. My mum is coming around to watch Hugo and Bea. I’ll drive into London.”
Tim’s instinct was to argue with her, but deep down he knew it was useless.
“Don’t drive in,” he replied. “It’ll be quicker if I get the train back to the house. I’ll be there within the hour. Keep trying Rose and Will.”
“I will,” Eleanor’s voice softened the moment he relented. “Don’t you dare log back in. We need to be there as soon as possible.”
Tim ended the call and turned to Marie.
“Hold my calls today,” he told her in an attempt to regain some authority. “Family emergency.”
Rose
The pixels on the screen danced blurrily, and Rose slid her glasses up on to her head rubbing at her aching eyes. She squinted at the pop-up box, but the words were just a jumble of shapes on the bright screen.
“Hello?” An irritated voice echoed in her ear snapping her back to attention.
“Hello, could I speak to Miss Griffiths please?” Rose chirruped in the sing-song voice that had become a habit.
“Who is this?”
“My name is Rose and I’m calling from XZ…”
Rose kept speaking even after she could see the connection had dropped, conscious of the sales manager hovering behind her.
“Another hang-up?”
It was too late; she’d been spotted. Her heart sank as she prepared herself for the patronising ‘coaching’ session that would follow. Adele the Sales Manager swished her shoulder-length hair over one shoulder perching her perky bottom on the edge of Rose’s desk. Rose reluctantly raised her eyes to meet her glare.
“Keep going,” she snapped. “I’ll listen in to give you some pointers.”
“Sorry,” Rose bared her teeth into as close a smile as she could muster.
“Hello?” A man answered.
The slow, shaky enunciation made Rose’s stomach drop as she recognised the tell-tale voice of an old person. She knew from experience that it was only the old, the lonely and the vulnerable that would succumb to their hard sales, and she felt a jolt of anger at the sight of Adele’s miserable face reflected in her computer screen.
“Hello, is that Mr Landers?” Rose started hesitantly.
She struggled on through the sales pitch, the void inside her filling with shame as she knowingly manipulated Mr Landers into disclosing his personal details under the pretence of completing their security checks. The next fifteen minutes spent chatting with the clearly lonely man who willingly told her about his beloved, departed wife and his penchant for a flutter in the bookies had Rose hating herself for not standing up to the awful people who pushed sales on the most vulnerable of society. Her previous despondency was forgotten in the blaze of anger she felt at herself for needing this job so badly that she had abandoned all her morals and ethics.
The shame she felt caused the words to stick in her throat and she fumbled over easy hooks, desperate to let Mr Landers go before he ended up with a credit card that he had no desire for and would probably mismanage.
Does anyone really need a job this badly?
A stiletto-tipped nail reached over Rose and jabbed at the ‘mute’ button on the phone.
“You’re losing him,” Adele barked. “Stick to the script.”
Rose swallowed nervously feeling disgusted with herself as she did as she was told. When the call was done, Rose looked up expectantly for the mortifying feedback, but the woman’s ears were already pricking up at the sound of another sales agent struggling in the neighbouring row of desks. Overwhelmed and recognising the salty sting of tears of shame at the back of her eyes, Rose logged out and slipped away to the toilets. Once safely ensconced in the cubicle, she pulled out her phone desperate for a distraction, but her upset was temporarily pushed aside as she saw a string of missed calls. She couldn’t remember the last time that she’d had so many, and her eyes scanned the notifications. An unknown number, her sister-in-law and Tom. She jabbed at his number immediately.
“Hey,” her panic subsided a little as soon as it became apparent that Tom was clearly alive, uninjured, and un-incarcerated, but she heard the sheepish tone in his voice. “Thanks for phoning me back.”
“What’s the matter?” She asked in a hushed voice. “I’m in work. Is it urgent?”
“Kind of,” her son sounded hesitant. “I’ve just written my car off.”
“What?” Rose felt the panic return like a lightning bolt. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said hurriedly. “I’m fine. Took a turning too fast and the car’s gone up an embankment.”
She waited for him to continue knowing from his tone that there would be more.
“And down the other side into a field.”
“Oh, Tom!”
“I know, I know,” he cut in defensively. “Look, Mum, I need to get the car recovered, but I need to borrow some money.”
“You’ll have to call your insurance,” she felt her irritation rising.
“But Mum!” He exclaimed sounding more like a petulant toddler than a twenty-one-year-old adult. “The car is on Dad’s policy and he’ll go mad if he finds out.”
“Tom, I can’t deal with this right now,” she protested. “How much is recovery?”
“I don’t know,” he replied sulkily. “I’ve got your card details saved from that time you let me pay for my flights with your Mastercard. Can I just use it? I’ll pay you back.”
“No, Tom!” She exclaimed crossly. “You need to tell your insurance. You’ll have to tell Dad anyway.”
“Please,” he sounded desperate. “I swear I’ll pay you back.”
“Tom, I’ve got to go,” she said in a low voice as the door outside the cubicle opened. “Just call your dad and I’ll speak to you later.”
She made her way back to her desk, but a second wave of panic was already threatening to consume her as she started to worry that Tom was trapped on the side of the road somewhere, or the car might catch fire, or he might be arrested.
Oh, God! What if he’s drunk?
No matter how unlikely it was she was stricken now, and she knew that she had to go to him. She glanced around nervously for Adele, spotting her hunched over one of the team. Rose tried to catch her eye, but the woman pointedly ignored her attempts to attract her attention.
“Hi,” Rose took a deep breath feeling very much like a school child. “I’m really sorry to interrupt…”
“You’ll have to wait,” the woman barked turning her back to Rose.
The young man sat next to her grimaced shooting Rose a sympathetic look. She felt a burst of anger at Adele’s rudeness, but it wasn’t enough to propel her to cause a scene. She hovered uncertainly, torn between the need to go to her son versus the need for her pay cheque.
“Is everything ok?” Lena asked in concern as she appeared at Rose’s side.
“My son has had a car accident,” she told her. “He’s ok, but I need to go and help him.”
The rest of her colleagues turned to look at her, collectively voicing their sympathy and concerns, and the sudden din caught Adele’s attention making her snap around to look at Rose.
“He’s ok, is he?”
“Well, yes,” Rose stuttered, the lack of empathy making her flinch. “But he needs to get the car recovered and…”
“How old is he?”
“Twenty-one, but…”
“And he’s not injured?”
“No.”
Rose was speechless at the woman’s heartlessness. She had never felt so belittled and humiliated before, and she swallowed back the lump in her throat.
“I need to go,” she said with as much dignity as she could muster. “Am I able to work the time back or take leave?”
Adele glared at her across the bank of desks, but she seemed to be weighing up how far she could push her authority before she crossed the line
into tribunal territory. After a few seconds of heavy silence, she nodded. “You can work it back Saturday with the other team.”
Rose wished that she could tell the woman where to stick her job but knowing that she would regret it when her direct debits bounced, she had no choice but to nod her head begrudgingly.
Will
It was still daylight when Will and Raya packed up their equipment and headed out of the rented studio space to go home after a long day of family photoshoots. They had been savvy enough to capitalise on the school Easter holidays in the absence of any exciting commercial work for the next few weeks, and while the day had been a financial success, they both had headaches from the forced smiles and constant cajoling of disobedient children into behaving for long enough to get the desired shot.
“It’s nice to see daylight,” Raya groaned blinking up at the sky dramatically. “Shall we have a drink to celebrate the end of the eternal winter?”
Will grinned as he flicked his phone off Flight Mode. “Usually I would say yes, but I promised Craig I’d be home at a reasonable time.”
“Meh,” Raya pulled a face, but before she could say anything further on the subject Will’s phone began to ping incessantly. “You’re popular!”
Will grimaced; he had started putting his phone on Flight Mode telling Craig that he had no signal in the studio. It was just a little white lie to save him being made to feel guilty for not responding to his boyfriend’s constant daily updates but lying didn’t come easily to Will leaving him feeling worse than Craig’s passive aggressive sulks did. He expected to see the usual barrage of texts from him, so he was surprised to see that a number of messages and missed calls were from Tim’s wife.
“It’s my sister-in-law,” Will told her frowning in confusion. “I’d better call her back. I’ll call you later.”
He was already dialling the number as he got into his own car, and Eleanor answered just as he was about to give up.
“Hi Will,” she sounded harassed. “So sorry to have bombarded you with calls.”
“Is everything ok?”
“Belle has been in an accident,” Eleanor told him hurriedly. “She’s injured, but she’s ok.”
“Oh, God!” Will exclaimed. “Are you with her? What happened?”
“She was hit by a car yesterday morning,” she told him. “She was knocked unconscious and a passer-by found her. She’s suffered some internal bleeding, some broken bones. I’ve only just found out this afternoon, but she’s already had surgery and doing well in recovery.”
“Thank God,” Will released the breath he hadn’t realised he was holding. “Can we see her?”
“Once she’s out of recovery, so hopefully tomorrow,” Eleanor assured him. “I’m with Toby at the moment,” she added with careful enunciation. Will felt his heart sink at the implication that she couldn’t speak freely, and that maybe his sister’s injuries were worse than she was letting on. “Tim and I are just on our way back to ours, and Toby is going to have a sleepover with us, but shall I give you a call when we’re home and all the children are settled?”
“Yes,” he replied quickly. “Yes, please. Do any of you need anything? Does Belle or Toby? If you have a key, I can drive to hers?”
“Oh, yes please,” Eleanor sounded relieved. “That would actually be so helpful as Toby will be here until his mum is well enough to leave hospital. We’ve got a key here, but I know it’s awfully out of your way.”
Will glanced at the time grimacing at the thought of fighting his way through traffic to pick the key up from his brother just to double back on himself to drive to Belle’s. “How about I come and grab the key off you now?” He offered. “If Toby can manage tonight, I can stop by Belle’s and pack some bits up and meet you at the hospital tomorrow afternoon?”
“If you really don’t mind,” Eleanor said gratefully. “I’ll text you our address and we’ll see you when you get here.”
“Honestly,” he replied, grateful that his sister-in-law had been on hand to pick their nephew up. “It’s the least I can do.”
*****
The following afternoon Will braced himself to enter the stark, soulless building, his stomach already turning in anticipation of the sharp, distinctive hospital smell that seemed to linger on his clothes and in his nostrils for days after. He wasn’t sure when he had developed his intense discomfort around hospitals but armed with two bags of Belle and Toby’s belongings, he had no choice but to press on. He’d stopped at the supermarket to buy a new charger for her phone and an array of snacks and sweets for both his sister and nephew. He wasn’t even sure what phone she had or if it had even survived the impact, but her charger had been on the list that Eleanor had thoughtfully made and he couldn’t bear to have to tell Belle that he hadn’t been able to find it because her flat had been utterly ransacked.
His stomach churned again at the thought of the mess in her flat. The hallway had been untidy, but he hadn’t thought twice about it until he’d caught a glimpse of the kitchen where cupboard doors were flung open, the contents clearly ransacked in a hurry. Worried that the flat had been burgled, he had crept through to the living room, the empty space where a flatscreen television had been marked by the rectangle of dust outlining its former place had made his heart leap into his mouth as his fears were confirmed. He’d backed out of the room hurriedly reaching for his phone when a woman had appeared at the doorway regarding him with suspicion. When he’d explained that he was Belle’s brother and she was in hospital, the woman, who had introduced herself as Katie, had visibly softened telling him that she’d seen Belle’s partner, or ex-partner as he clearly now was, loading his belongings into a car the previous evening. She had offered to help him clean up, but Will had been dubious about letting a stranger into the ransacked flat, instead picking through the mess himself to assemble two bags of clothes.
He followed the signs up the ward and was directed to his sister’s bed. His chest ached with pity at the sight of her thin and pale against the sheets, tubes and wires criss-crossing her and a heavy cast on her left leg. Her eyes were shut, and he felt sick at the thought of how heartlessly she’d been treated, both by the driver who’d mown her down and driven off, and the boyfriend who’d abandoned her seven-year-old son for social services to collect before callously ransacking her flat. He stood beside the bed unsure whether to wake her when he heard a rustle behind him.
“Hey,” Eleanor smiled warmly. Toby’s hand was clutched tightly in hers. “Is she sleeping?”
“I think so,” Will swallowed back the lump in his throat at the sight of his nephew’s worried, innocent face.
Belle stirred in the bed opening her eyes slowly. For a second, she squinted at them in confusion, but her lips turned up into a smile at the sight of her son. She wriggled up onto the pillow, wincing with pain as she croaked. “Hey Toby.”
“Hi Mummy,” he let go of Eleanor’s hand to bravely step to his mother’s side. He glanced at her hand hesitantly and she nodded gently. “Do you feel better?”
“I do,” she assured him. “I’m just a bit achy, but I’ll be back to normal soon. Did you have fun at Auntie Eleanor’s?”
Toby launched into a blow-by-blow recount of his day with the confidence of an adored, only child who was used to a captivated audience, and Will was warmed to see Belle nodding her head in encouragement at his chatter.
“Tim’s out in the waiting room,” Eleanor told him quietly. “She’s only allowed two visitors at one time. I’ll go and wait with him, and you can bring Toby back out when visiting is over.”
“Do you mind if I go and speak to him first?” Will asked quickly. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”
Tim was sat in the empty waiting room with an irritated look on his face and his phone in his hand.
“No bloody signal in this place,” he said slipping it into his pocket as Will walked in.
“Hey,” Will said ignoring his brother’s lack of greeting. “Thanks again for getting here for Toby
yesterday. I can’t believe that her boyfriend just left him.”
“Well, it was fortunate that Eleanor is off work with the children this week,” Tim said shortly. “It doesn’t seem likely the boyfriend is coming back to collect him.”
“I’ve just come from their flat,” Will replied gravely. “He’s completely trashed it and it looks like he’s taken anything of any value. I don’t want to say anything to Belle and upset her, but I don’t know whether I should phone the police.”
“Bloody hell,” Tim looked shocked. “Is it that bad?”
“I thought she’d been burgled,” Will admitted. “But one of the neighbours saw him loading a car last night.”
“You’ll have to mention it to her,” he grimaced. “She’ll need a crime reference if she’s going to claim on her house insurance.”
Will doubted that she had any insurance, but he didn’t say anything. He realised that his emotionless brother wasn’t going to be any help to him in deciding whether to risk upsetting Belle further or to just leave it and try to clean up what he could before she was home.
“I’ve just spoke with one of the nurses and they say Belle will be in for at least the next week,” Tim continued when Will didn’t respond. “I was going to speak to you about having Toby until then.”
“Me?” Will looked surprised. “Why can’t he stay with you?”
“We’re both working full time,” Tim replied in a condescending tone. “Besides you live closer, and he’ll want to visit his mum as often as possible.”
“I can’t take any time off work this week,” he protested. “I’m self-employed, Tim, and I’m fully booked for the whole of the school holidays.
“You’ll have to speak to Rose then,” Tim replied irritably. “I know she’s in Wales, but she could get him and take him back for a little holiday.”
Will shook his head. “She can’t. She said she’s on probation in her new job and can’t take any time off. Her next day off is Sunday and she said she’d come to visit Belle then.”
