by Karen Klyne
Reece sounded like she was covering for her.
Bren turned her head around. “Hey, Dave. Has anyone come looking for Gemma?”
A man she presumed to be Dave appeared at Bren’s side. “Hi, Gemma. Hi, Reece. No. I’ve been in the front garden washing the wheelie bins out, so I’d know if anyone had called.”
Alex stared at them both. “How long have you lived here?”
They looked at each other, then Dave looked skyward. “Let’s see. When was it? Well, you moved here just before Callum was born, and we’d been here a year. I remember it well. We left a welcome card and a bottle of wine on your doorstep. You came around to thank us, and we ended up drinking it…and some more.” He chuckled. “Well, not you, Gemma. You were pregnant. Reece said it wouldn’t be a good idea. Still, you’ve more than made up for it, eh?”
Alex tried her damnedest to smile, but it was hard going. Her mouth was so dry, and she could hardly part her lips. When these people looked at her, they saw someone named Gemma. Someone they knew, someone they drank with, and chatted to.
Reece tapped her on the shoulder. “C’mon. We’d better get back before the kids come looking for us.”
Bren smiled. “I thought Callum was playing football today. He was so excited about it, wasn’t he, Dave?”
Dave nodded. “Talking ten to the dozen, he was.”
Reece leaned against the wall, giving Alex a quick warning glance. “Sadly, he didn’t feel well this morning. There’s a lot of chickenpox going around, so we thought we’d better be on the safe side. Keep them both at home for a day or two. Don’t want to be blamed for spreading it to the rest of the team.”
Dave saluted. “Wise. If you fancy a few bevvies later, we’re always happy to see you two gals.”
“Thanks, Dave. We’ll bear that in mind.”
When they were out of earshot, Reece said, “or not.”
Alex didn’t reply. She couldn’t give a damn. They walked back toward their house. It wasn’t their house, it was hers. But nobody else seemed to think so, and it definitely didn’t feel like it was hers. An hour on the beach, and everything had gone tits up. Was this her life? Had she dreamt the other one up? No way. Though no matter how she tried, she couldn’t come up with any answers, and the more she tried to figure things out, the cloudier things became.
When they got back to the kitchen, Alex collapsed onto a chair. Reece didn’t say, I told you so, which was some consolation. Instead, she disappeared into the lounge and came back with two brandy glasses.
She passed one to Alex. “Here, I know it’s early, but I think we both need this.”
Alex took a swallow. At least it was good brandy. She put the glass down. She stared into nowhere and chewed one of her nails as she tried to capture the slippery thoughts and images sliding through her mind. Reece excused herself, and Alex heard her running up the stairs, possibly checking on her children. It doesn’t matter what anyone said, they were not her children. And neither is she my bloody wife. She’d remember being married, and certainly to someone as attractive as Reece. Not that she’d noticed, obviously.
Reece came back down clutching a load of envelopes. She emptied the contents onto the table. “Here, look at these. They’re on the pc too, but you know I always like the feel of a real photograph.”
She knew nothing of the sort. However, there were dozens of photographs of her with the children, Reece with the children, and loads of photos of the two of them together. In the earlier ones, they both looked happy. In the more recent ones, they both looked strained. Nevertheless, it was her in those photos. Well, it wasn’t. It was the other woman, the one they kept calling Gemma, who just happened to look identical to her. She put a trembling hand up to her mouth and tried to stave off the surreal feeling of looking at pictures of where she’d been with people who clearly cared for her in places she’d never been with people she’d never known.
Reece picked up another envelope. She pulled out a white, official looking document and handed it to Alex. There it was in black and white. A copy of the title deeds to 18 Seascape Crescent, Barlington. Joint names. Reece Tennant and Gemma Tennant. Dated 2011.
She was going crazy. Why would anyone go this far to drive her insane? Had she hit her head? Had there been an accident? She didn’t feel like those answers fit, but what other explanation was there? She covered her face with her hands.
She had another idea. She shot up off the chair. “Can I use your phone?”
Reece shrugged and pulled the mobile phone from the shoulder bag. “Feel free. It’s yours.”
Alex rolled her eyes. It was ironic really, she couldn’t remember her mum’s number, but she knew her work team’s numbers by heart. First Derrick. She pressed the keys and waited.
“The number you called does not exist.”
She must have misdialled. She tried again. The same. Her heart raced, and her stomach churned. She tried Pete’s number. The same. Last hope, she punched in the numbers for Al and prayed. None of them existed. She Googled her business, and there were no results. How did her work not exist? She lay the phone down on the table and resumed her former position. This time, the tears escaped and she let them. “I don’t understand.”
“I’d better call work. Re-schedule my appointments,” Reece said.
In the background she heard her talking to someone, but she didn’t bother to pay attention. She had to plan, to figure this out methodically.
Alex shot up off her chair. “I’m going back down to the beach to retrace my steps. When I get back, I’m sure it’ll be as I remembered it.”
“Remembered what?”
Alex waved her hands around. “This. All of this. My life.” She held her arms out palms up.
Reece blocked her as she tried to leave the kitchen. “I’ll come with you. Let me call Mum and Dad. We can’t leave the children on their own.”
“How many times do I have to tell you? They’re not my children, and I don’t need you escorting me, thank you. I have no idea who any of you people are.” She motioned at the photographs on the table, laying there like evidence of a crime. “I don’t…no. That’s not me.”
“You’re not going alone. I’m worried about you, Gemma.”
Reece looked determined, and she wasn’t about to have a fight with her. As much as she didn’t want this stranger around muddying the waters, she couldn’t deny the strange feeling of déjà vu, of reassurance this person could offer. “Go ahead.”
Ten minutes later, the cavalry arrived. Alex pushed her way outside without speaking to anyone, and Reece followed. There was no polite conversation on the way to the beach, just silence. “So I entered the beach here, with Jasper,” Alex mumbled.
“Who’s Jasper?”
“My dog.”
“We don’t have a dog.” Reece rolled her eyes.
She ignored her and walked briskly along the beach to the spot where she’d stopped. “I played ball with him, then that woman accosted me.”
“What woman?”
Alex turned her head. “Her. Possibly the one you call Gemma. She gave me the bag. I thought I recognised her, but I wasn’t sure, and then she walked off into that weird sea mist that came in today. I followed in the same direction, in case Jasper had followed her or something, because he didn’t come with me.” She marched ahead. “I walked up the steps and onto the promenade, then made my way toward home.” She didn’t mention the sea mist on the promenade or the weird dizzy spell she’d experienced. Or that odd sound…like a sliding door being closed behind her. It had nothing to do with it. Or did it? She kept walking, but her legs shook. “And here I am, back home.” She took a deep breath. She was sure this time, she’d get it right. She opened the door. Her shoulders dropped. First clue, no carpet. She turned around again and went outside. She walked to the neighbour on the other side. No answer. She stomped off and tried the next one. She didn’t know the couple well, but they might be her only hope. A young woman answered the door, but she didn’t rec
ognise her. The woman obviously recognised Reece, though.
She raised her hands and laughed. “I promise I’ll bring the kids for their check-up.”
Reece shook her finger at the woman and smiled. “Make sure you do. In the meantime, have you seen the window cleaner?”
“Not guilty. I haven’t kidnapped him.”
“Sorry. I thought I saw him earlier.” Reece shrugged and gave a little smile.
“If I see him, I’ll send him around.”
“Thanks, Beth.”
They walked away slowly. Alex couldn’t see anything through her tear blurred eyes. She’d run out of ideas and had no clue what to do next. Life had become a nightmare. Reece put her hand on her shoulder, and she looked up.
“I think we ought to go and see Dr Raven.”
Alex sniffed. “Maybe we call the police first. I don’t know any Dr Raven.”
“Dr Raven’s your favourite doctor. But if you want the police involved…phone them, by all means.”
Alex shook her head slowly. What was the point? What would she tell the police? That a bunch of people thought she was someone else? That they had photographs of her, and the kids kept calling her Mummy? Something was very wrong, but it didn’t feel like anything the police could help with.
When they got back inside, Reece headed to the kitchen. She heard muffled voices. She followed because she didn’t know what else to do. The two people with Reece stared at her.
“Hello, Gemma.”
She didn’t answer. She wasn’t Gemma. But out of politeness, she did give them a nod.
“You call my mum, Val, and my dad, Keith...in case you’d forgotten,” Reece said quietly, then turned away to speak into her phone.
She requested an emergency appointment with the aforementioned Dr Raven.
“I’ve never called them anything, because I’ve never met them before.” Alex crossed her arms, determined to hold onto the facts as she could remember them, no matter what they were telling her, no matter the proof on the table.
They gasped and gave one another a look Alex couldn’t decipher.
Val went to the fridge. “Come on,” she said in a jovial voice. “We haven’t eaten since breakfast. I’ll make us all a nice sandwich.”
“That would be nice, Mum.”
Val cleared her throat. “Ham and cheese, Gemma?”
By now she knew they were addressing her. “It’s Alex. And thanks, but I’m not hungry.”
“Well, that’s a first.”
“Is it?” Great. So she had a good appetite in this life that wasn’t hers.
Val made her a sandwich anyway, and she ate it on autopilot. She needed her strength for whatever was going to be thrown at her next. She didn’t know where to go or what to do in this rabbit hole she’d fallen into. Maybe it happened in some fiction story, but not in reality. If this wasn’t her house, where was her house? Where was her mum, and who was taking care of her? Where was Jasper? Was he okay? Why did she keep having this sense of overlay, like one photo had been laid over another so they came together in some twisted, almost-aligned version of her life?
She mulled over her choices, but there weren’t a lot of options. If she walked out, she had nowhere to go. This was home. She didn’t know anyone, and she didn’t have any money, as far as she was aware. Maybe she could go to the police, ask them to fingerprint her? Would that show she wasn’t who these people said she was? What if it came back that she was the other woman? Could they look up her real name in some database? In all likelihood, they’d do exactly what Reece had done. They’d send her to a doctor, or worse, lock her up somewhere.
She didn’t know much about this Gemma woman, but from what she could gather, she was a stay-at-home mum. She may not have any money of her own, and even if she did, Alex had no details. Of course, Alex had plenty of money in her own accounts—or, she did have. She didn’t have any access to them without her bank card, and she had no proof of identity on her apart from those belonging to another woman. So, running away was out of the question. Not yet, anyway. Her mind was numb from thinking, so she tried to switch off.
Val made everyone a cup of tea. They sat and drank it in silence. Nobody seemed to know what to say.
Eventually, Reece got up. “Shall we go, Gemma? We have our appointment in half an hour.”
Alex got up. “Right. Let’s move on to the next charade.” Before they left, she visited the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, and she had no make-up on. She had no brush or foundation. The face would have to suffice. She ran her hands through her hair. Fortunately, it was short and wavy and bounced back into shape, since she didn’t want to use the hairbrush sitting by the sink. At least she still recognized herself in the mirror. That was something. And there were moments, flashes, where Alex felt like she recognized something, had a sense of familiarity, but then it vanished, and she dropped back into the whirlpool of confusion.
They got into Reece’s BMW and drove to the surgery and then sat in the waiting room, all in silence. It did look like her surgery. She hadn’t been there often on her own account, but she had taken her mum. Her poor mum. What would become of her? Would she think she’d been abandoned? She didn’t have time to answer that because a woman popped her head out and smiled.
“Would you like to come through, Gemma?”
Reece and Alex got up and followed her into her room.
“Take a seat.”
Alex sat fiddling with one of her jagged nails. She stuck the nail between her teeth and chewed it off. She didn’t look up, but she didn’t need to. Reece and the doctor were doing all the talking.
“Gemma,” the doctor said. “Gemma?”
Christ. How could she ever get used to that name? She looked up. “My name is Alex Gambol. I take care of my mum, who has MS. I have a dog named Jasper. I own Gambol Construction. I buy houses. I renovate them and sell or rent them. I’m thirty-one, and I grew up in Barlington. My dad died when I was twenty-three.” She kept repeating the hard details in her mind, even as the memory of the photographs on the table at the house mocked her.
“Gemma, I think you have a serious case of amnesia.”
“I do not have amnesia. I have a perfectly good memory. I can remember everything from the age of seven up to the present day. My memory is brilliant. It’s not my fault I have no idea who any of you people are. It’s you who are confused. You’ve got me mixed up with someone else.” It sounded weak, but it was true.
Dr Raven leaned an elbow on her desk and rested her chin on her hand. “Reece has told me that you can’t remember anything about your present circumstances.”
“Correct. That’s because this is not my life. It’s someone else’s. I agree, this ‘Gemma,’” she said, making air quotes with her fingers, “looks like me, but I’m not her. Somehow, she’s stolen my life and forced me into hers.” It sounded beyond farfetched, like something out of a movie, but even as the words came out, she knew it was the truth. Alex began to cry.
Dr Raven and Reece looked at each other again.
“Reece tells me you walked on the beach this morning and returned home, but that you have no recollection of your wife or children or anything to do with your life.”
How many times would she have to say it before they heard her? “Because they’re not mine! And I lost my bloody dog. Not to mention my poor mother.” She was becoming infuriated with all the stupid statements. She wanted to get up and walk out. Where to?
“Do you remember having a fall? Hitting your head? Or any kind of other accident?”
“No. Nothing like that.” Apart from that mist that made her disorientated but admitting that felt like it would play into their theory.
“You suffer with depression, and you’ve started seeing a therapist again?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m too bloody busy to be depressed. Anyway, I love my life. My life, that is.”
“But you have been taking anti-depressants, sleeping tablets, and drinking quite a
lot of alcohol?”
“What a load of crap. I repeat, I am not depressed. No, to the tablets, and I hardly drink anything, just the odd glass of wine.” From the corner of her eye she saw Reece shaking her head. “Anyway, you bloody doctors hand all those pills out like they’re sweeties.”
“I haven’t prescribed them. Reece found them in your bedside cupboard. You bought them off the internet. You argued about it.”
Alex closed her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. She couldn’t win. She was in a catch twenty-two situation. “Do a blood test. See if I’ve got anything in my system.”
Dr Raven ignored the statement and directed her conversation to Reece. “Has Gemma been irritable with the children?”
Reece ran her hand over her face. “Sadly, yes. Particularly when she has one of her headaches, she––”
“God, help me.” Alex leaned back and looked at the ceiling.
Reece continued. “My mother is concerned. She thinks something…might happen.”
“Enough.” Alex got up and pushed her chair back. It crashed onto the tiled floor. She clenched and unclenched her hands. She saw a paperweight on the desk, picked it up, and threw it against the wall. “I don’t know what your game is, but this is all a load of shit. None of you seem to care about me. My life’s disappeared into oblivion. None of you know me. I don’t know you. That isn’t my house. Those aren’t my children.” She glared down at Reece. “And you’re definitely not my wife.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I just want to go home and take care of my mum and pet my dog. I don’t understand what the hell is going on.”
Dr Raven got up and went around the desk. She picked the chair up. “Please sit down, Gemma.”
On the way back, she picked the paperweight up and put it back on her desk. It was still in one piece, which was vaguely disappointing. Alex did as she was told. Nothing she said or did was getting her anywhere. She was warm and beads of sweat formed on her brow. She pulled the sleeves up on her sweatshirt and tried to compose herself.
They both glared at her. They were staring at her arm. “What?” She looked down at the recent gash. Well, it was nearer to her wrist. She laughed and shook her head. “No. That is not what you think it is. I slipped with the Stanley knife when I was trimming some carpet.”
