Character Building
Page 6
***
Opening the red front door, Robyn let herself in. She could hear shouting coming from one of the rooms on the ground floor and tried not to speculate as to what was going on.
She was just about to cross the foyer to the staircase when a woman appeared in one of the doorways. She was medium height, slim, red-haired, and smiley. She was also holding a kitchen knife.
No need to ask who she was, but Robyn did anyway. Despite everything, she still had her manners. “Mrs Church?”
The woman nodded, still smiling as she walked over to Robyn, holding her hands out as if to grab her guest’s hand in greeting. She realised, just in time, that she was still holding a kitchen knife, and lowered her right hand quickly. “Sorry about that, I’m just fixing the dinner. And please, call me Katherine. Robyn, was it?”
Robyn smiled, nodding. “You have a lovely place here.” She didn’t add the next line she’d been thinking – ‘It should be lovely, I’m the one who designed it.’
“Thank you! Have you eaten? There’s always room for one more if you’d like to join us.”
“Oh, thank you, but I really don’t want to impose. Plus, I’ve already eaten. I was just going to go and relax in my room.”
Katherine didn’t look like she entirely believed her (which was about right: Robyn had remembered referring to her in her notes as ‘highly intelligent, extremely perceptive, almost always suspicious), but she nodded and started retreating back to the kitchen. “Well, the offer’s there if you change your mind.”
“Thank you.”
When Katherine was gone, Robyn bounded up the many stairs until she was on the top floor. Unlocking the door and letting herself into her temporary bedroom, she flopped down on the bed and cried.