Keeping Juliette Company

by Sarah Picson

  She was suddenly very aware of her makeup-free face, her sweaty armpits and how she’d carelessly scraped her hair up on top of her head that morning. She pushed stray bits of hair back behind her ears as a jittery feeling spread through her under his lingering gaze.

  He turned his head away to stare across the lake.

  ‘I’m getting used to the quiet pace of life here in Thistleby.’

  ‘We’re not country bumpkins out here, you know,’ Ellie said. ‘We can be just as cool and sophisticated as you townies! We just have much better scenery.’

  Robert threw back his head and laughed. It was a nice laugh.

  ‘Is that right?’

  Ellie nodded at him and grinned, wondering why he didn’t laugh more often.

  ‘Is Abi with you?’

  She glanced from where he had come from, as if expecting Abi to appear at any second, but as soon as the words were out of her mouth it was as if a curtain had been pulled and his face became still and impenetrable.

  ‘I managed to get her here, but when we parked up, she refused to come any further. Something about needing to message her friends. So rather than being outside enjoying all of this,’ Robert said, stretching his arms out wide. ‘She’s sat in the car glued to her phone.’

  ‘Friends tend to be a priority for teenage girls,’ Ellie said, with a shrug.

  ‘Is that right?’

  ‘It is actually. I know that not only because I’m around teenage girls at school, but because I also used to be one and my friends were very important to me. They accepted me for who I was and were always there for me.’

  Robert pierced her with a curious look and twitched his mouth from side to side.

  ‘I’m pleased she’s made friends, but at what point does something become an obsession? She’s always on that phone of hers.’

  Ellie fought back a smirk as she remembered what Abi had let slip about Robert’s own obsessive working habits.

  ‘She can afford to ignore you. She knows you’ll always be there for her, but she’s anxious to make a good impression with her new friends.’

  Robert pulled his bike from the ground and made a show of inspecting it for damage.

  ‘Maybe you’re right. Abi didn’t want to move here. I know how much of an upheaval it’s been for her, so I’m happy she’s made some friends already.’

  ‘I for one think Abi’s coping very well.’

  ‘I know she enjoys your lessons. I meant what I said on Thursday, thank you for agreeing to tutor her.’

  Ellie’s cheeks burned. She found it so hard to read him. He could be so patronising sometimes, but she definitely knew a compliment when she heard one. A soaring sensation swept through her chest, she felt like a little girl who had just been given a new, shiny toy.

  ‘I’ve passed my probation period then, have I?’ she asked, with a curl of her lip.

  Robert didn’t take his eyes from her as he pushed his helmet back on and clasped the strap.

  ‘With flying colours,’ he said. ‘Enjoy your weekend.’

  He pushed off on his bike and gave her a toothy grin, so brief that she almost missed it. Ellie’s heart seemed to be pumping faster now than when she had been running.

  ‘See you next Thursday,’ he called, as he sped away.

  Making her way back to the car park with light limbs and a clear head, Ellie noticed Robert’s car and saw Abi’s outline in the window. She strolled over and knocked on the glass. Abi’s startled face jerked up from her phone and she wound down the window.

  ‘Hey Miss Saunders.’

  ‘Hi Abi, I just bumped into your dad. Literally! Didn’t fancy a bike ride today?’

  Abi shook her head.

  ‘I don’t like cycling. Not that it puts Dad off trying to get me to come with him.’

  ‘He seems to love it,’ Ellie said, her thoughts drifting back to his arms and chest in that lycra t-shirt. ‘Are you on the phone to your friends?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Rory?’

  Abi frowned.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Oh, I thought you were getting on well with him?’

  ‘He’s okay, I guess,’ Abi muttered, lowering her eyes. ‘But Leonie says he’s weird.’

  ‘Does she now?’ Ellie said, feeling a spark of irritation for Leonie with her calculating eyes and perfect glossy lips. ‘Do you miss your friends from home?’

  ‘My best friend, Lana. I miss her the most.’

  ‘Your dad said you didn’t want to move here.’

  Abi nibbled at her bottom lip before answering.

  ‘No. I don’t get why we had to come, but Dad made me. He said we had to.’

  Ellie hesitated, but curiosity got the better of her.

  ‘Why did you have to move here?’

  Abi hunched further over her phone.

  ‘Because of her,’ she said, her voice low. ‘It’s always because of her.’

  It was on the tip of Ellie’s tongue to ask whom she was referring to, but then Abi’s phone rang and her face lit up.

  ‘I’ve got to take this,’ she said, clamping the phone to her ear. ‘Hi Leonie!’

  ~

  When she arrived home, Ellie tiptoed up the stairs. It was miserable creeping around her own home trying to avoid Dominic, but nevertheless she locked the bathroom door behind her and enjoyed a long, hot shower.

  When she emerged again, with only a towel wrapped around her, wet hair clinging to her back, Dominic was shuffling along the landing. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair stood up in all directions. She considered asking him how his night at the pub had been and whether Scarlette had been there, but she didn’t. Despite the heat from the shower, a cold detachment crept into her bones.

  Dominic looked her up and down.

  ‘You should have told me you were having a shower. I could have scrubbed your back.’ Ellie gripped the towel as Dominic made his way towards her. ‘Cath’s been calling. Wants to know when you’re taking her and Molly shopping.’

  Cath and Molly were Dominic’s sisters. His elder sister, Cath, was bossy and opinionated and Ellie avoided her as much as possible, but his younger sister, Molly, was incredibly sweet.

  ‘What?’ Ellie said, blinking in confusion.

  ‘For bridesmaid dresses!’

  ‘But I don’t know —’ Ellie stuttered.

  ‘Of course, you know. You’ve got the whole wedding planned. I’ve seen your wedding folder. My organised Ellie. Just call Cath and tell her when you’re going to take her shopping, I need to get her off my back.’

  Dominic reached out and took a corner of the towel between his fingers.

  ‘It’s time for my shower, how about you join me?’

  His sour morning breath engulfed her and she shrank back, but his hands were moving onto her hips, pushing her so that her back was up against the wall.

  ‘I can’t.’

  ‘It’s been a couple of weeks now,’ he murmured, his hands finding her bum and squeezing hard. ‘I’ve been counting.’

  Her body tensed as the cold wall pressed against her back. Dominic’s face loomed over hers and her stomach churned as he leaned down to kiss her. Steeling herself, she let him, wondering whether she would soften like she used to in his arms.

  Dominic started off brushing his lips against hers but it quickly became more urgent. His chapped, dry mouth pushed down onto hers, his tongue taking up residence in her mouth. The grip on her bum became firmer as he pulled her closer still, but she didn’t soften.

  He pulled away, his breathing heavy. He grabbed her hand.

  ‘Come on,’ he said, pulling her towards the bathroom.

  Her feet were like lead.

  ‘I’ve got a lot of work to get through.’

  His grip on her hand tightened.

  ‘Can’t it wait?’

  She shook her head and tried to tug her hand back.

  ‘I need to get it done.’

  Dominic dropped her hand as if she’d scalded him.

/>   ‘Better run along then.’

  Dominic remained standing where he was, taking up most of the width of the landing. Nimble as a cat, Ellie squeezed past him, her body brushing against the wall once more. She could feel the holes he was boring into the back of her head as she slipped into the spare room.

  It had always been used as a guest bedroom, but Ellie had recently moved some of her clothes in there and with trembling fingertips, she fumbled with the buttons on her cardigan.

  When she was dressed, she pulled out her wedding folder from under the bed and cradled it in her hands, trying to appreciate the beautiful pastel colours and swirling patterns on the front, the way she had done when she’d bought it. She opened it up to a page with a long list, written in her neatest handwriting, of the songs she wanted to be played at her wedding.

  Ellie tore the page out of the folder. Scrunching it into a ball, she let it drop to the floor. Then she tore another. She continued at a pace, not thinking, just ripping, until half of the folder’s contents were lying in a scrunched-up pile at her feet.

  Ellie let out a deep sigh. What was the point of the perfect wedding folder if you hadn’t found the perfect person to get married to? There was no denying the frosty, spiteful undertones every time she had a conversation with Dominic now, or her instinct to hide around corners listening for his step.

  Her phone bleeped with a message. It was a photo of her dad brandishing a golf club in the air.

  Best score yet! Hope you’re having a great weekend. Love, Dad.

  Ellie’s tight shoulders relaxed at the thought of her dad as she typed a message back.

  Congrats! Fancy a visit from your favourite daughter in half-term? xx

  She didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

  We’d love to see you! I’ll tell your mum you’re coming. Dad.

  Relief flooded Ellie’s chest. It was only another week until half-term. The thought of seeing him and catching up with old friends lifted her spirits. She wasn’t running away, she told herself, she was just going to have a break.

  Chapter 16

  Robert hummed to himself as he loaded his bike onto the car. The cycle ride around White Willow Lake had been stunning, with gorgeous vistas opening up around every corner and the autumnal sun warm on his back. He decided that he would come here for a ride whenever he got the chance. Meeting Ellie had been a pleasant surprise too; it had been nice to see her in another setting. He was glad that he hadn’t written her off after their first meeting at the bar; from the little he knew of her now, Ellie’s behaviour that night had been out of character.

  Robert also tried hard not to keep picturing her toned legs and narrow waist as she’d stood before him earlier, flushed and short of breath. He took a deep, sobering breath before jumping in the car.

  ‘Everything okay?’

  ‘Yes,’ Abi replied, not bothering to look up.

  ‘I saw your maths teacher on my ride.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘You do?’

  Abi looked up from her phone.

  ‘Yeh, she was in the car park and told me.’

  ‘Oh right, what were you two talking about then?’ he asked, starting the engine. Abi gave him a sharp look. ‘Okay, okay, none of my business.’

  As he pulled away, he heard his daughter say quietly.

  ‘She was asking about my friends.’

  ‘I’d like to know a bit more about your friends. What are their names again?’

  Robert heard her tut under her breath.

  ‘Leonie, Rebecca, Travis, Kyle.’

  ‘Tell me about them.’

  There was silence. He glanced over to see his daughter hunched over her phone again, fingers typing and scrolling in a flurry of activity on her screen. Robert opened his mouth to ask again, but Ellie’s words swam into his head about how important friends were to a teenage girl, so he decided to close his mouth and concentrate on the road ahead.

  ~

  ‘How about we go out and get dinner tonight? My treat,’ Robert said, as they arrived home.

  ‘Dad, I can’t, I’m going out.’

  ‘What? Where?’

  ‘To the cinema with my friends.’

  ‘You didn’t tell me.’

  ‘I’m telling you now.’

  He screwed his face up, a familiar feeling of frustration clawing at his insides.

  ‘What time’s the film? When will you be home?’ She rolled her eyes in reply. ‘Abi, I’m your dad, I think it’s reasonable for me to ask these questions.’

  ‘It starts at seven o’clock and I don’t know when it finishes.’

  ‘What film are you going to see?’

  ‘A comedy film. I can’t remember the name, Leonie picked it.’

  ‘Right,’ he said, slowly coming to terms with another failed attempt to spend time with his daughter. ‘Okay, well call me when you’re done and I’ll pick you up.’

  ‘I don’t need a lift.’

  ‘How are you planning on getting home?’

  ‘I’ll get the bus.’

  ‘The buses only run once an hour round here, what if you miss the last one?’

  ‘Oh fine,’ Abi muttered, under her breath. ‘But pick me up at the bottom of the high street, near the library, I’ll walk down and meet you.’

  He sighed, underwhelmed at the small victory he’d won. His hand moved to the door handle.

  ‘Can I have some money?’ Abi asked.

  ‘For the cinema?’

  Abi nodded, her eyes studying her lap.

  ‘How much do you need?’ he asked, reaching into his pocket for his wallet.

  ‘Forty pounds.’

  Robert’s hand froze.

  ‘Forty pounds? For a cinema ticket?’

  Abi shrugged.

  ‘I’m going to get snacks too. They’re expensive.’

  Robert hesitated for a second longer, before opening his wallet and handing her the money. She grabbed it from him.

  ‘When am I going to meet these new friends of yours?’ he asked. ‘Not tonight, obviously, if I have to park miles away from the cinema.’

  ‘Why do you want to meet them?’

  ‘Because I do,’ Robert persisted. ‘Do you want to invite them over to the house some time?’

  ‘They’ve already been back after school a few times but you’re never at home.’

  Robert grimaced.

  ‘Seeing as you’re out having fun with your new friends tonight, how about you come with me to the clinic tomorrow?’

  Abi seemed to shrink and fold in on herself at the question.

  ‘Why?’ she said. ‘She’s always the same.’

  ‘That doesn’t matter. It’s important you go and see her. It will do you both good.’

  But Abi was sliding out of the car and dashing to the front door. After a quick battle getting the key into the lock, she slipped inside like a shadow.

  When Robert entered the house, he was greeted by thumping music from Abi’s room. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, he considered going up to continue the conversation and insist that she explain why she wouldn’t visit the clinic with him, but the thought of it exhausted him.

  After a scorching hot shower, Robert strode into his study with the intention of getting some work done, but after ten minutes of shuffling papers around his desk, he gave up. His mind was all over the place and he hated it. Work was usually the one thing he could throw himself into and forget about everything else, but today, for some reason, it wasn’t working.

  He drifted into the living room, his legs aching from the cycle ride. Slumping down into an armchair, he considered flicking through the TV channels, but his fingers wouldn’t obey, instead his eyelids drooped shut.

  ~

  Robert felt a gentle pressure on his shoulder and he woke with a start. It took him a few seconds to register he was in his living room with Moira leaning over him.

  ‘Robert?’

  He looked at her through bleary eyes.

  ‘
What time is it?’ he mumbled.

  ‘It’s almost three o’clock in the afternoon,’ she said, pale sunlight streaming in through the windows behind her.

  ‘I must have been asleep for hours.’

  ‘It’s not like you to nap during the day, Robert.’

  ‘I went cycling this morning and it must have worn me out. It was great though; White Willow Lake is perfect.’

  But Moira wasn’t listening.

  ‘You’re overdoing it, Robert. Too many late nights at the office and then you bring your work home with you. Don’t think that I don’t know you sometimes don’t go to bed until the early hours of the morning.’

  Robert gave her a weak smile.

  ‘Maybe you’re right.’

  ‘Of course, I’m right. Now let’s get a coffee and we’ll discuss my news.’

  ‘News?’

  ‘I signed a rental agreement on a lovely flat this morning,’ she said, beaming at him. ‘It’s just off the high street, on the third floor, with a balcony that overlooks the park. It’s a gem! I’m moving in next weekend.’

  ‘Already? There was no hurry for you to move out.’

  The house suddenly seemed much larger at the prospect of Moira’s absence and she didn’t miss the brief look of anguish in his eyes.

  ‘You and Abi are going to be just fine, Robert.’

  ‘Maybe. Although I sometimes think that I’m the last person she wants anything to do with.’

  ‘Robert, she loves you. Teenage girls just want to be with their friends, she hasn’t forgotten you.’

  ‘That’s what Ellie said.’

  ‘Ellie?’

  ‘I met her this morning at White Willow Lake. She was out running.’

  ‘Is that right?’

  He made a face at Moira’s inquisitive stare.

  ‘She did tell me about the place so it makes sense that I would see her there.’

  If it was possible, Moira’s beam grew even brighter.

  ‘Is that right?’

  ‘You’ve already said that,’ he grunted.

  ‘Nice woman, Ellie,’ Moira mused. ‘Pretty. Smart. Kind.’

  ‘Is she?’

  ‘Oh yes, I can’t believe you’ve never noticed!’ Moira said, clearly enjoying herself now.

  Robert avoided her eye as he heaved himself up from the armchair and stalked into the kitchen.