by Tanith Morse
‘I’m okay. It’ll pass.’
‘I just thought I’d say, Maddy, you’ve been looking really good lately. Apart from the cold, I mean. You seem happy in yourself. Really confidant. You’re positively glowing.’
I laughed sardonically. Well, I wasn’t glowing anymore, that was for sure. But I was flattered by the compliment. Bless her; she really was trying hard with me.
‘So, Maddy, what do you do in your free time outside of work? Are you seeing anyone at the moment?’
I hesitated. ‘Yes, I suppose you could say I was.’
‘What do you mean, “I was?” Aren’t the two of you together anymore?’
I looked beyond her and focused on the faded coat of arms on the wall. ‘I don’t know. Men are such strange creatures, aren’t they? You never really know what’s going on in their heads.’
‘I wouldn’t know,’ she laughed, ‘I’ve never been with one.’ There was a brief pause. Alice finished her glass and poured herself another.
‘What about you? Are you seeing anyone?’
She nodded eagerly. ‘Yes, it’s been about six months. Things are going really well with her.’
With her?
‘Oh, right, I see.’ I blushed a little. It had never even occurred to me. ‘That’s good. I hope it lasts.’
I didn’t really feel it was my place to grill Alice any further about her relationship. More questions would just be an invitation for her to delve into my own chequered love life and I couldn’t deal with that. Not right now, anyway. It was still too raw.
Two glasses of wine later, we were both giggling like little schoolgirls. The alcohol helped to dim my pain somewhat. Drown my sorrows. Suddenly, life didn’t seem so bad. Little Alice had a warm aura about her, a playful spirit that was infectious. She’d started to come out of her shell and I found her to be really quite charming. She had a wicked sense of humour and wasn’t as prim and proper as I had at first imagined.
‘Did I tell you about the time Angela Towner came on to me at Candy Bar?’
‘Nooo! Are you serious?’
‘Uh-huh. The first time I bumped into her was during my second week working at the council. I was celebrating my mate’s birthday in Heaven, when I saw Angela snogging the face of this old bird. At the time, I didn’t even know she worked with us. I tell you Maddy, it came as a bit of a shock when they introduced her as our new Head of Service!’
I cackled wickedly. ‘Did she recognise you?’
‘She pretended not to. Then one morning we’re in the staff room, and she keeps hovering by my table, pretending to study the kitchen roster. She asks me if we’ve met before because my face is so familiar. Well, I didn’t beat around the bush. I told her outright that I’d seen her in Heaven.’
‘Oh my gosh, that must have been so funny.’
‘It was! After that, she was really friendly to me. She kept saying hello and being really flirtatious. It was hilarious!’
I emptied the last of my glass. The room was starting to spin. I called the barman over and ordered us another bottle – this time on me.
‘So what happened at Candy Bar?’ I asked.
‘Well,’ Alice trilled, ‘about a week after that management job was advertised, I bumped into Angela at Candy Bar. We had a bit of a chat about work and stuff then she suddenly slips in to the conversation how much she’d like it if I applied for the job. Basically, she hinted that it was in the bag if I was willing to do certain things with her.’
I nearly spat out my wine. ‘You’re kidding me! What a bloody cheek. I hope you told her where to go.’
Alice grew coy. ‘Er, not exactly. I kind of led her on a bit. I thought I’d see how far a bit of flirting could take me and low and behold, I got the job. I know a lot of people resent me for it, but that’s tough. They didn’t have to get off with Angela did they?’
‘No, you never!’
‘It was just one snog Maddy, that’s all. One tiny little snog to give her a taste. But I’m keeping my distance from her now though. She keeps inviting me to her house in Ashford, but I’m not going. I mean, when I first met her, things weren’t as serious between my girl and me. Now we’re in a fully committed relationship, so there’s no way I’m gonna do anything like that with Angela again. It would break my girl’s heart.’
‘But how is Angela taking the rejection? I bet she’s furious she gave you the job now.’
‘Serves the silly cow right. She shouldn’t have played games. You know Maddy, I could probably do her for sexual harassment, so she’d better watch it.’
I shook my head disbelievingly. It all sounded so farcical.
Alice’s phone started to beep. She wrestled it out of her bag, scanned the caller ID and answered it. ‘Hello, are you here now? Wicked! I’m just in a pub down the road with my friend. You know the one with the St George’s flag outside?’ She looked at me. ‘Maddy, do you know where there’s free parking round here? My girl’s been driving around for ages trying to find somewhere.’
I racked my brains. Not being a driver myself, I wasn’t particularly familiar with the status of controlled parking in the area. ‘Er, let me think. Yes, I reckon she could probably find a space behind that Tesco’s on the high street. My sister parks there sometimes.’
Alice fed this information back to her girlfriend and snapped the phone shut. ‘Okay, let’s down these and go.’
* * *
Alice and I stepped into the street and were instantly enveloped by a cool blast of night air. The evening had turned chilly and I now wished I’d worn a warmer coat. We walked briskly. To reach the Tesco we had to cross through a tunnel that led to the high street. Just as we reached the entrance, we heard of succession of wolf-whistles. Turning, we saw a group of yobbish men standing across the road from us.
‘Oi Blondie! Come here, I wanna talk to you.’ They were obviously referring to Alice.
‘Keep walking,’ she whispered in a frightened voice. ‘Don’t look at them, Maddy.’
We quickened our pace. Shivered as we descended into the dark tunnel. In the far distance was a light but we had a long way to go before we reached it.
One of the men, a burly youth with closely cropped hair, told his mates to go on ahead. He would try his luck with Alice on his own.
‘Oi, oi, slow down ladies!’ he shouted, skipping across the road like a drunken ballerina. ‘I wanna talk to Blondie. What’s so wrong with that, eh?’
Alice and I exchanged terrified glances and continued walking. Within seconds, the hard-faced youth had caught up with us.
‘I told you to slow down, love. I only wanna talk to you.’ A sickly leer spread across his face as he grabbed hold of Alice’s arm.
We glared at him. Pursing her lips together, Alice roughly pulled her arm away. ‘I’m sorry, but we’re in a bit of a hurry. We’re supposed to be meeting someone.’
‘What’s with all the attitude? I only want your phone number, then you can go.’ He reeked of booze.
Alice swallowed hard, looked at me. I didn’t know what to say. It was all happening so quickly.
‘Sorry, I’m spoken for,’ she told him quietly. ‘I can’t give out my number.’
He put his hand on her shoulder, pulled her toward him. Alice struggled to wrench herself free. Extricate her body from him.
‘Come on love, give us a kiss . . .’ Slobbering all over her, he violently pushed her against the wall and started fumbling with her jumper.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ I shouted. ‘Get away from her!’ With all of my might, I attempted to drag him off, but he sent me sprawling with a stinging back-hander.
‘Stay out of this, bitch.’
Choking for breath, I managed to stumble back to my feet. I looked down at my knees. They were red from bleeding, my coat covered with mud. Then, with something like a battle cry, I lunged at him again, but this time got the full force of a punch in my face. I collapsed to the ground. Gasped for air. Put my hand to my face. My lips were cut and my t
emples ached dully.
‘Please, don’t hurt her,’ Alice whimpered.
Flashing a devilish grin, the thug kneed her in the back of her legs, dragged her to the ground, covered her mouth with his hand. Alice’s face was mottled with pain. Her long blonde hair riddled with dirt. She was pleading, begging him to stop. But her pleas fell on deaf ears.
Her desperate cries echoed down the tunnel. Imploring someone to help us. The youth gave a mirthless chortle, muttered something about having a knife. Then with the weight of his whole body, he pinned Alice down and started tearing at her skirt.
I curled up in a ball. Frozen from the shock of it all. It was like I was locked inside my body, like the volume had been turned down on everything and I was swimming under water.
‘Will someone please help us?!’ I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Then suddenly, a vision appeared. A messiah in the distance. A lone avenger dressed in a funny tweed coat, steel-rimmed spectacles and florescent orange trousers. It was my dear David Powell!
‘Get your hands off of her!’
Everything went still. The thug stopped what he was doing, locked eyes with our saviour and got to his feet. ‘Come on then, let’s see what you’ve got!’ he growled.
Gasping for air, Alice managed to drag herself along the floor and huddle in a ball next to me. Then we watched with goggle-eyes as the next events unfolded.
The youth tried to aim a drunken punch, but David ducked and blocked the blow with his forearm. Then with lightening speed, he kicked our attacker hard in the shins, grabbed him in a headlock and sent him sprawling into the tunnel wall. The man’s body lay stiffly on the ground. He was out cold. There was something darkly comic about it, almost like I expected to see stars circling his head like in a Warner Bros. cartoon.
Alice cupped her hand over her mouth. ‘Oh my God, that was awesome!’
David didn’t say anything. Nervously, he adjusted his specs, walked over to us, helped us both to our feet. Alice’s eyes were wide and glassy, like she’d seen a UFO or something.
‘Are the two of you all right?’ he asked softly.
Alice stared at him. ‘Oh my God, oh my God.’ Then she burst into tears. Shook with emotion. It was all too much for her. I wrapped her in my arms and mouthed “Thank you” to David over her shoulder.
His smile didn’t reach his eyes. Gently, he ran his fingers over my bleeding lip. ‘Are you sure you’re okay baby?’ he whispered.
I nodded, closed my eyes. His touch was Heavensent. There was so much I wanted to say, so many things that were left unsaid. But I knew that now was not the right time. Our focus was making sure that Alice was okay.
I took out my phone and dialled 999. David locked eyes with me. They burned into me, making silent promises, raising my hopes. We both knew that he had to go. He couldn’t hang around waiting for the police to get here. There would be too many questions. Too much was at stake to risk him blowing his cover.
So David turned and walked away. I watched him disappear down the tunnel. Walk out my life for the third time.
‘Who was that man, Maddy?’ Alice whispered. ‘Do you know him?’
I hesitated before answering, ‘No, I don’t.’
Chapter Twenty-two
I didn’t get home from the hospital till six o’clock the next morning. When I finally unlocked my door and staggered through the hallway, streaks of daylight were making an appearance through the window curtains.
It had been a complete nightmare. After the ambulance arrived and the police had taken our vile attacker into custody, we had spent hours in A&E waiting to see a doctor. Thankfully, our injuries turned out to be minor, but as we had both suffered head injuries, you could never be too careful. The statements we had given to the police were brief but to the point, and we still needed to go back to the station later that day to be fully interviewed.
Alice was coping marvellously well under the circumstances. She had even managed to crack a joke or two at her own expense. Her girlfriend Molly was a revelation – a gorgeous-looking biker chick with high cheekbones, alabaster skin and a purple crew cut. She had been a tower of strength to us in our hour of need, mothering us, helping to keep the mood light.
However, the one thing Alice couldn’t stop talking about was David: How amazing he was, and how much she wanted to track him down so she could thank him properly for rescuing us. I remained silent throughout, playing along with the assumption that he was just some random Have-a-go-hero.
There was no question of Alice or I going into work that day, so I had already left a voicemail on William’s answer phone explaining what had happened. I expected him to call me back at some point for more details. But to be honest, work was the furthest thing from my mind. All I could think about was Bret and how he had come back for me. What did it all mean? Was he back in my life for good? Had he decided not to go through with Pantelli’s demands after all?
I entered the kitchen, ran my hand under the cold tap. Patted water on my face. I was still in a half-awake, half-asleep state. With a stifled yawn, I padded into the living room, turned on the light and covered my mouth with shock. Bret was waiting for me. He was standing by the window, gazing vacantly at the street. He had removed David’s mask but was still dressed in those awful orange trousers and jacket.
When he saw me he smiled. ‘I wondered when you’d get back. How’s your friend?’
I licked my lips. ‘S-she’s good, thanks. I-I just got back from the hospital.’ My heart was racing.
‘You’re really something, do you know that? I leave you alone for five minutes and look at all the trouble you’re in.’ He laughed softly to himself.
‘How long have you been here for?’
‘A couple of hours. I knew it would take a while, but hey, you’re worth waiting for.’
I didn’t say anything. I just stared out the window at the trees and the street and the white-skied drizzle.
‘Come over here,’ he said.
I obeyed him. Never could I refuse that sexy drawl of his. He placed his hands on my shoulders, ran his fingers over my face to assess the damage.
‘That dirty son of a bitch,’ Bret murmured, his face screwing up with rage. ‘I should have killed him!’
‘No you shouldn’t have. What you did was best. You kicked his ass. Men don’t like getting their ass kicked. Trust me.’
A brief smile crossed his lips. Then he became serious again. ‘Is your friend really okay?’
I nodded. ‘Yeah, Alice is fine. It’ll probably take her a while to get over it, but she’ll live.’ I paused for a moment. ‘By the way, she told me to say thanks for saving her life.’
‘It’s my pleasure.’
I swallowed painfully, looked away from him. ‘So what’s the story, Bret? How come you’re not partying in Brazil with Pantelli? What were you doing in the tunnel?’
‘I followed you.’
‘But I thought - ’
He placed his finger over my mouth. ‘Shush. I love you but sometimes you talk too much. Now listen; I followed you because I needed to talk to you. Needed to see you one last time. After Pantelli left, I came looking for you but you weren’t at home, so I checked out all your usual hangouts.’ He shook his head. ‘I’m so glad that I did. Who knows what could have happened?’
I turned away from him, folded my arms protectively across my chest. ‘Tell me what’s going on Bret. Tell me where I stand, and please don’t lie to me. My heart can’t take any more of this indecision.’
He put his hands on my shoulders. ‘Madeline, don’t be angry with me, okay? Listen, I’ve got this all worked out. We will be together – you just need to give me some time, that’s all. Tomorrow I fly out on Pani’s jet. I don’t know where we’re going, but it’ll be somewhere exotic. Somewhere away from the media spotlight. It’s only a couple of weeks till Oscar night, Madeline. All we’ve got to do is play it cool till then. Play along with Pani, lay low and then I’ll be free to get on with the rest o
f my life. The rest of our lives. That’s when I’ll come back for you. I promise.’
‘Do you really mean that, Bret?’ My voice was breaking. ‘Will you really come back to me? I can’t bear to imagine life without you.’
‘Come here.’ He turned me round and rested my head on his shoulder. Tenderly caressed my back. Tried to calm me down. We parted. I looked up at him through red-rimmed eyes. I needed more reassurance.
‘Do you really love me? Honestly and truly?’
‘Honestly and truly.’ He wiped my wet face with the palms of his hands.
‘But I don’t understand how you can love me. I mean, just look at me. What have I got to offer? I keep thinking about what Pantelli said, and he’s right. You could have any woman in the world. Any woman. What do you see in me?’
Bret hesitated. His dark brown eyes flickered with emotion. ‘You’re real. You’ve got a heart. You cut through all this celebrity bullshit. When I’m with you, it’s like I’m more alive, more myself than I have ever been with anyone. I can talk to you about anything and you don’t judge me. When you look at me, I know that it’s not just Bret Vincent the actor you’re seeing – it’s the real me, with all my imperfections. You fell in love with David Powell when you thought he had nothing, when you thought he was a nobody. I know that you’re motives are pure, and that’s so refreshing. In this shark-infested world I’ve found one genuine person – and that’s you. I’ve never, ever had that before.’
I nestled my head into his chest. I was so touched by his words. For what seemed like forever he just stood there holding me, our hearts beating as one. At length, I drew away from him. He seemed reluctant to let me go. My head was starting to swim a bit. The lack of sleep was catching up with me.
‘Poor baby needs her sleep,’ he tutted, leading me towards the bedroom. I kicked off my shoes and climbed into bed fully clothed. Bret took off his jacket, pulled his shirt off over his head, took off his shoes. Then he got in the bed next to me, wrapped me in his arms. I felt so warm and secure. I looked up at the darkened ceiling.
