Throw a Double for Spite

by Cherie Mitchell

  “Yeah? Good luck with that.”

  “Mmmm. We’ll have to see if he shows up this time.”

  “Be careful.” Briar dropped her cigarette butt down on the pavement and jumped to her feet. She thumped her booted foot down on the butt and obliterated it with unnecessary force. “I have to get back to work. Thanks for the sandwich. I was starving.”

  Riley looked back at the bench as they walked away. The remains of Briar’s uneaten sandwich sat where she’d left it, the paper bag rustling in the light breeze.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Riley had parked her car directly in front of the bridge over the canal tonight, under the bright light of the street lamp. She looked over at the neon restaurant sign, the vibrancy of the lights dimmed by the heavy rain that had settled in a few hours ago, and shivered. If all went as planned this evening, she would not have to deal with the likes of Oliver Johnson again. She reached the entrance to the movie theater and went to stand in front of a Ryan James movie poster. She checked her phone for the time. 6.45 pm. She sent a text to Jack. ‘I’m waiting by the Ryan James poster.’

  Her phone vibrated almost at once. ‘I’m running a little late but I’ve already purchased our tickets and seat numbers. Ask for yours at the booth under your name and go on in. I’ll join you soon.’

  Riley frowned down at the screen. He wasn’t going to stand her up again, was he? Another message flashed up. ‘I was going to cancel. I’ve come down with laryngitis but I don’t want to stand you up again. Forgive me if I don’t speak.’

  “What?” She stared at the text, trying to make sense of the bizarre message.

  ‘I like to think we’ve created a language of our own by now anyway.’

  A fourth message flashed up. ‘I promise I’m not contagious. Can’t wait to see you, beautiful Riley.’

  Confused now, Riley walked the few steps to join the queue for tickets. She looked back over the bridge to where her car waited. Once again, this wasn’t what she’d expected. Jack seemed to be a man who never did anything without it involving a few complications. Should she just give up and go home? Her gaze shifted and fell upon another movie poster, this one illustrated with cherry trees in full bloom and advertising a modern love story. Springtime Love Affair. What if Jack really was the man for her? This would become part of their own love story and when they were old and grey they would bore their grandchildren with the tale of their first meeting.

  “Next.” The person in front of her had moved away and the bored teenage girl in the ticket booth snapped her gum at Riley. “How many tickets?”

  “I’m picking one up. It’s already paid for. My name’s Riley.”

  The girl didn’t bat an eyelid. She pushed a ticket across the counter and craned her neck to look past Riley. “Next.”

  Riley checked the theater number on the ticket and looked around the crowd of people once more. No one so much as looked in her direction and most people seemed to be here in couples or groups. She hesitated for a few seconds, gazed once more at the Springtime Love Affair poster, then marched resolutely inside.

  The lights were down, the movie had started, and Riley had given the night up as yet another lost cause when someone slipped into the seat beside her. She gasped as the newcomer sat a large bucket of popcorn on her lap, along with a paper-wrapped bunch of limp pink gerberas. She looked up into her companion’s face as he sat in the seat next to her, although it was almost impossible to see him beneath his heavy coat, the woolen scarf that covered his neck and lower jaw, and the rain-splattered cap pulled down low over his brow.

  “Jack?” she whispered.

  A square of light appeared in the gap between the seats and she read the message that he’d typed onto his screen to show her. ‘I told you I wouldn’t let you down again.’

  She picked up the flowers and held them to her nose, although the petals held no scent. The only odor she could detect was a faint musky, stale smell emanating from Jack’s damp clothes. “These are beautiful.”

  Jack lifted his gloved hand and pulled the scarf down slightly for the briefest of seconds, revealing the gleam of his teeth as he grinned before covering his face again.

  She gently laid the flowers on her knee and sat the popcorn bucket on the shared chair arm. “Do you want some popcorn?”

  “Sssssh!!” Someone hissed angrily from the row behind them.

  Jack shook his head and pointed to his throat. He had pulled his scarf back up to cover his mouth and part of his nose, effectively hiding most of his face. He typed quickly on his keyboard and showed her the message. ‘I can’t believe we’re finally together. You’re as lovely as I imagined.’

  She smiled in the darkness, her cheek dimpling. This was probably both the oddest and the most romantic thing that had ever happened to her. This kind of encounter usually only happened in the movies, not in real life. Not in her life. She gazed at her seatmate, attempting to make out more of his features in the dim light. “I wish I could see you properly.”

  He turned his head towards her just as the scene on the movie screen darkened, dimming the light in the theater further. “Watch the movie, Riley,” he croaked from behind the muffling shield of his scarf. “We’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other once I’m well again.”

  The heavyset man in the row behind thrust his head forward and Riley blinked, mistaking him for a second for bull-headed Angus. “Can you just shut up?” he snarled.

  “Sorry.” Riley stared straight ahead at the screen as a laughing group of unwitting teenagers began to party in a dark cabin in the woods. She and Jack would have a chance to talk afterwards and she would see his face once the lights came back on.

  She was engrossed in the story, a startle movie with enough unexpected frights to keep her on the edge of the seat, when Jack leaned in to whisper, “I need to go to the bathroom.”

  Riley pressed her hand to her chest as her heart jumped and lurched. “Oh, you scared me.”

  He left his seat and she watched him go but once again, the movie darkened and it was hard to make him out as he reached the end of the row. She took another morsel of popcorn and turned her attention back to the screen. She was involved in the plot when her phone vibrated against her hip, giving her another mild scare. She balanced the popcorn bucket on the armrest and checked the screen.

  ‘I’m so sorry to do this to you but I don’t feel so good. I’m going home to bed. I don’t want you to catch my virus. It’s not fair on you.’

  ‘Wait, I’ll come out to say goodbye.’ She stood up and began to gather up her things.

  “Can you sit down?” The irate man behind her growled, his voice heavy with sarcasm. “Haven’t you ever been to a movie before? Don’t you know how it works?”

  “I’m leaving.” She took the flowers but left the popcorn where it was. She edged past Jack’s empty seat and her phone buzzed again. Her handbag swung out on its strap as she shuffled away, knocking the popcorn from its precarious perch on the armrest and sending popcorn kernels flying across the seats and onto the floor. “Dammit.”

  The man in the row behind reared up from his seat, his hand clenched into a fist. “Do I need to call security?”

  “No, no you don’t.” Riley left the mess of popcorn where it lay and sidled out past the row of knees. Her face burned hot with embarrassment as she hurried out of the theater and into the entranceway. She walked over to the bathrooms but there was no sign of Jack. She checked the latest text message. ‘You stay and enjoy the movie. Talk soon. Jack. xx’

  She spun around, frantically searching for any sign of her elusive date, but the area was empty for now. She walked across to where she’d waited earlier in front of the Ryan James poster and peered out into the rain. Someone was running across the courtyard, hurrying away from the movie theater and as they passed under the lamp, their coat rode up to reveal the orange flap of a safety vest. The runner turned the corner beside the restaurant and disappeared into the night.

  Anno
yed beyond reason now, and with no interest in returning to watch the ruined movie, Riley tossed the flowers into the trashcan next to the ticket office and hurried through the rain to her car.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Riley had just left the bank after calling in to deposit a check during her lunch break. Last night’s meeting with Jack was still weighing heavily on her mind. He’d texted her several times since, each message entwined with apologies, but she still wasn’t quite sure what to think. The entire encounter had certainly leaned towards the bizarre but then again, nothing about their “relationship” had ever been normal. Perhaps it was time for her to pull her head out of the clouds and turn her back on false connections such as dating apps and anonymous wrong numbers. Other people met their romantic partners by far more regular means. Bill was never without a young woman on his arm, and both Megan and Briar frequently went on dates with very little difficulty.

  She cursed softly when she saw that the street ahead was blocked by roadworks, necessitating a detour that would involve taking an unfamiliar route back to the office. Not that she was in any hurry to get back to work, of course. Paul had been a challenge to deal with this morning, his moods veering wildly across a wide range from over-attentive to black and scowling. Even teacher’s pet Lucy had copped a vitriolic earful when she mistakenly spelled a client’s name wrong in an email.

  Riley turned another corner, following the detour signs. The traffic stopped at an intersection and she idly looked out the window while she waited. Her eyes widened when she saw the large sign above a car yard. AUTOS R US. Ignoring the irate honking of the car behind her, Riley spun the wheel and steered her car into the curb outside the car yard. After her confusing meeting with Jack last night, she was more than ready to deal with another mystery in the hopes of getting a satisfactory answer.

  She walked past the rows of gleaming autos, her eyes fixed on the office at the back of the yard. Rows of red and yellow bunting flapped in the breeze and she could hear voices nearby. She emerged from behind a van with a colorful Low Mileage! sign propped in the window and smiled as long haired dog bounded happily towards her. She stooped to pat him, laughing as he shoved his wet nose into her hand and lavished her with doggy kisses. “Hey you. You look like Buddy. I used to know a dog who looked you, yes I did.” She gave his ears an enthusiastic scratch.

  The dog whined, tipping its head to one side in a display of endearing cuteness but then just as suddenly jumped away from her, his ears pricked. Riley stood up slowly as a voice boomed out from behind a nearby car. “You know I hate cucumber in my sandwiches! If you can’t get something as simple as that right, how do you expect to learn to sell cars?”

  A man in a checked blazer and a yellow tie stepped out into the dusty aisle between the cars. The dog ran to his side, dancing excitedly on its back legs and leaping up against his thigh. The man stared at Riley, his face with its movie star jawline registering shock before he recovered and drawled, “Well, look who we have here. Hello, Bambi.”

  “Steve.”

  The man’s grin widened. “Matt, actually. Matt Franklin at your service. What brings you here today?”

  Riley’s legs felt too weak to support her. She reached out a hand, steadying herself against the solid roof of the nearest vehicle. “You lied. You said your name was Steve.”

  “Everyone lies on dating apps,” he said smoothly.

  The entire world shifted and moved, the moment defying reality. “You’re Briar’s brother,” Riley stammered. His eyes were so mean, steely and arrogant. Megan had noticed it immediately but she’d foolishly overlooked it. She was beginning to question her ability to judge anyone’s character with any degree of accuracy.

  “I am indeed. What has my little sister been saying about me?”

  “She’s said very little about you. Does she know that you were pretending to be Steve? She told me she phoned you after you attacked me.”

  “She knows.”

  The image of a make-believe puzzle piece, all rounded edges and circular cutouts, spun through her mind before clicking into place. “That’s your stuff in her spare room.”

  He studied his thumbnail with deliberate nonchalance. “I stayed there for a while when I was between apartments.”

  The dog, who had been sniffing at a car tire, bounded back to Matt’s side. Riley’s gaze shifted to the animal. “Buddy, come here Buddy.”

  The dog immediately ran to her, its pink tongue lolling happily and its eyes bright. She glared at Matt, scarcely able to believe that she’d been so badly conned. “This is Briar’s dog.”

  “He’s my dog now. We’ve always shared everything.”

  “I can’t believe this. How many lies has she told me?”

  “I don’t know. Who’s counting?”

  “I know that she really is a twin because I have her birth certificate. Is the sleepwalking real or is that just another part of her twisted little game?”

  He dragged his brows down and his face darkened. “What do you mean, you have her birth certificate?”

  “Most birth certificates are on public record,” Riley glossed over his question. “What about the sleepwalking? Is she lying about that?”

  “No, she isn’t lying about that. It started after our father killed himself. She was the one who found his body.” He dropped that bald fact without any sign of emotion. He raised his hand and held it in the shape of a gun beside his head. “Boom.”

  Riley flinched and looked away. Buddy, apparently grown bored with their inactivity, had wandered off to lift his leg against another car tire. “I can’t believe this,” Riley said again. “Why would she do such a thing?”

  “I told you that she tells lies. It’s what she does. She thinks it’s amusing. My dear sister has always been a little bit psycho.”

  “Why I should I believe you? Tell me something else that she might have told me that’s untrue.”

  He didn’t have to think for long. “Has she shown you her paintings?”

  “Yes, and she’s very talented.”

  He laughed, and it was the first time she’d ever heard him do so. “I’m very talented. The paintings are mine. She’s been telling people for years that she can paint but she hasn’t got an artistic bone in her body. She’s never so much as unscrewed a paint tube and she wouldn’t know what an easel was if she fell over one.” He looked over at the office as a woman with springy red curls and a round matronly build walked out onto the step and called his name. He turned back to Riley. “Can I interest you in a car while you’re here?”

  “What? No, don’t be ridiculous.” A bubble of anger rose up in her chest, moving rapidly upwards to sit uncomfortably at the base of her throat. “The two of you have serious issues.”

  “Yep,” Matt agreed, looking pleased with this description. “It’s a family trait.”

  “Stay away from me,” she hissed. “I never want to have anything to do with you again.” She spun on her heel and began to weave her way back through the rows of cars.

  “She warned me you were frigid,” he shouted after her. “I guess I should have listened.”

  Riley reached her car and leaned her arms on the roof, breathing in short rasps. She could hear Buddy yipping happily from behind her, both dog and owner now hidden from sight somewhere in the car yard. How could she have been so stupid? How dare Briar play her for such a fool? She closed her eyes, counting slowly to three as she attempted to rein in the turmoil of her thoughts. She needed to find Briar to tell her what she knew, to demand an explanation for the way she’d treated her.

  And as sad as it was, a small part of her still clung to the hope that Briar had been telling the truth.

  Chapter Forty

  Riley dubiously picked her way through the construction site, looking for Briar. Her heel caught in the gap between two boards and her ankle twisted painfully, throwing her off balance before she managed to right herself.

  “Hey girlie!” A brusque man in a yellow hardhat and aviator su
nglasses roared at her from where he stood on top of a bare-bones framed structure. “You can’t come in here without a visitor permit and the appropriate PPE gear.”

  She shaded her eyes and squinted up at him, unable to make out his features in the glare of the sun. “I’m looking for Briar Franklin.”

  “Who?”

  “Briar Franklin. She’s a supervisor on this site.”

  “We have a Kennedy Franklin but I aint never heard of no one called Briar. Are you sure you don’t mean Kennedy?”

  “I’m not sure of anything anymore,” Riley said, although most of her words were drowned out as a laborer started a jackhammer not far from where she was standing.

  The man on the beam yelled something inaudible and waved his arm, directing Riley over to a sign that she hadn’t seen earlier. All Visitors Must Report Here. She nodded and, covering her ears with her hands, gingerly picked her way through the site to wait by the sign. She didn’t have to wait long. Scarce minutes had passed before Briar, with her black coat hanging open to reveal part of her orange vest, swaggered across the yard. Riley didn’t allow her to speak first. “Hi, Kennedy. Kennedy Briar Franklin, isn’t it? Why didn’t you tell me that Briar was your middle name?”

  Briar didn’t allow a trace of surprise or emotion to cross her face. “You never asked.”

  “So why do you use two names? What are you trying to hide? Or should I say, who are you trying to hide?”

  “What are you doing here, Riley?”

  “Oh, I was just passing. I took the scenic route back to the office today. It’s amazing what you can find during a sightseeing tour. For example, I’ve just had a very interesting conversation with the friendly car salesman at Autos R Us. He has a lovely dog too. Reminded me a lot of Buddy. I always did wonder what happened to Buddy.”

  Briar’s eyes darted away from Riley’s face as she found a sudden fascination with the Visitor sign behind Riley’s shoulder. “It might have been better for everyone if you’d stuck to your regular route.”