‘I’ve seen that advertised. It’s meant to be really scary.’
‘I know my plan is to watch it behind a pillow.’
‘You big wimp. I’ll go back and get it, babe.’
She turned around, accelerating back up the road and pulling into the space she had just left. She made her way up the stone steps, smiling to herself, unlocking the communal door with her key. Once upstairs, she opened the front door, calling out to Issi at the same time, but hearing no answer. She walked into the living room over to the windowsill to retrieve the Gray Mist DVD.
She picked it up, stopped and listened for a second as she thought she could hear talking. It sounded like Issi talking on her phone. Deciding to leave without saying anything, she started walking towards the front door. She stopped, hearing her name being mentioned. Taking a few footsteps up the hall where Issi was talking on the phone in her bedroom, not wanting to get too close as the door was slightly open, she strained to hear the whole conversation.
‘Yeah Dave—Pete’s twin brother.’
There was a bang and rustling inside the room, making it hard for Ash to hear. Ash stood still, trying to hear more of the conversation, growing apprehensive that Issi might come out at any minute.
‘Yes way. She was in his bed.’
Whose bed? Ash’s thought, trying to hear over the clanging of things being moved around inside the room.
‘Where Ash—’ bang, rustle, bang ‘—Ibiza.’
Oh my God, Ash thought as her head spun at the thought of hearing any more. This was a conversation about Dave when she was in Ibiza. She lost the thread for a moment as Issi clambered around the room.
‘Yeah Dave. She was giving him a blowjob—’ scuffle bang . . .
Ash steadied herself against the wall.
‘Some drunken girl in a bar—her name was Sassy.’
Ash quickly stepped backwards, hearing Issi approaching the door.
‘OK, yeah, speak soon. Bye.’
Walking fast but as quietly as she could, Ash dived down the hall, out of the front door and down the steps, running to her car starting it frantically.
‘Hello?’ Issi stepped out of her bedroom, hearing a noise in the hall, but there was no one there.
‘Pete, Dave, is that you?’ She wandered down the hall to have a look but found nothing—no sign that anything had fallen and no one had come in.
‘Weird.’ Issi walled back up the hallway and into her bedroom again.
* * *
Outside Ash sat in her car, not quite knowing what to do or think, trying to make sense of the conversation she had heard. Sassy, a random girl from a bar, had actually given Dave—her Dave—a blowjob. The thought of it cramped her stomach with pain. Over and over, she played the conversation out in her head.
I did hear it correct. Of course I did, she thought, I heard it with my own ears . . . Sassy—what kind of name is that?
‘Oh God this cannot be happening,’ she sobbed.
She started her car, driving slowly down the road with no destination in mind, driving aimlessly around the streets of South London, eventually finding her way over to the other side of the Thames and finally ending up at Rachel’s flat in Belgravia.
Her make-up running down her face with every teardrop, she stared at the red door, waiting for an answer.
‘Hey babes,’ said Rachel cheerfully as she opened the door, then stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Ash’s face.
‘Oh my God—what’s happened?’
Gemma rushed up behind her, peering over Rachel’s shoulder. ‘Babe, honey, is it Lee? Has he done something?’
‘Come inside,’ Rachel ushered her through the hallway to the kitchen.
Ash slumped on to one of the kitchen chairs, placing her head in her hands as she leaned on the table, trying to speak.
‘Dave . . . Dave . . . is fucking . . . chea . . .’
‘Dave? What has he done?’ Rachel stood next to her, rubbing her back.
‘Cheated,’ she managed to sob.
‘What?’ howled Rachel.
Gemma stood staring at Rachel in amazement before turning back to the coffee-maker.
‘Are you sure, Ash? What happened?’
‘Issi… Issi… wa… wa… Was talking on the ph… phone and I heard… her…’
‘OK in your own time, sweetie, no rush. Let me get you a tissue.’
Ash jumped at the sound of her mobile ringing. She looked at it mesmerised, watching Dave’s name flashing on the screen.
Gemma quickly picked up the phone with Ash watching, as if she were having an out-of-body experience. ‘Fuck off you pig!’ Gemma slammed down the phone, looking at Ash’s face crumple up again, ready to cry.
‘Why me? Why me?’
‘Oh babe.’ Gemma rubbed Ash’s back.
‘I’m sorry, Gem.’
‘Whatever for babe?’
‘I kn… know you’re upset about Z… Zane this must be hard for you to see.’
‘Ash, don’t be silly. You be as upset as you want. Zane is a twat and good riddance to him.’
A few seconds later Ash’s mobile rang again.
‘Don’t,’ Ash raised her hand, stopping Gemma from picking up the phone.
‘Just leave it to ring,’ she sobbed.
Rachel placed a box of tissues on the table, sitting down. Ash picked up the phone, switching it off then took a deep breath in.
‘I overheard Issi on her mobile, telling someone that when we were all in Ibiza, Dave met a girl in a bar.’ Ash took a moment before continuing. ‘The girl came back to his house and gave him…’ her stomach clenched tight ‘ . . . a blowjob.’
‘No . . .’ Gemma gasped.
‘Oh my God—what an asshole,’ Rachel said, reaching out to hold Ash, giving a sideways glance to Gemma.
‘Sassy,’ Ash spluttered.
‘Sassy, is that her name?’ said Gemma.
‘Yeah.’
‘What kind of name is that?’ added Rachel.
‘The blowjob kind,’ Ash’s voice quivered.
‘Oh sweetheart, I’m so sorry.’ Rachel couldn’t bear seeing her friend so broken up once again with heartache.
‘Me too, Ash. Can I do anything for you?’
‘Can I stay here tonight? With you two?’ She glanced up at Rachel.
‘Yes, stay as long as you like. Maybe I should call your work to see if you can take some extended holiday. I could tell them you have a bug. They’ll never know.’
‘Oh I don’t know. What if they found out I’m not ill?’
‘They won’t. Gem can look after you while I’m at work.’
‘Er, I don’t know if I should do that… it’s not right.’
‘Ash, you never take time off work. They would never suspect you to be lying. I can say you got a bug last night and you can have a few days off, then say it was one of those forty-eight hour bugs.’
Ash’s shoulders dropped. ‘Maybe.’
‘Good that’s settled then.’
* * *
Later that evening they all jumped into Rachel’s jeep, heading over to Ash’s flat so she could pick up some things—a washbag and a few days’ clothes—to stay. It was dusk.
She didn’t take long, rushing back down the steps into the jeep ready to head back. A small white van pulled into the close and Ash’s heart jerked, making the blood pound round her body as she realised it was Dave.
‘Oh, oh God, it’s Dave,’ Ash said, hitting the floor of the jeep.
‘Stay down, I’ll talk to him.’ Rachel got out of the jeep, walking back towards the flat in the hope that Dave would stop his van away from her jeep where Ash was hiding under the dashboard. Dave did just what she had planned: he jumped out of his van next to where she stood. In a frenzy he didn’t even notice Gemma in the jeep.
‘Is Ash in?’
‘No.’
‘Where is she?’
‘Don’t know.’
‘Something has happened.’
‘No
shit, Sherlock.’
‘What? What is that supposed to mean?’
‘Why don’t you tell me?’
‘Tell you what? What is it?’ Dave raised his voice in frustration.
‘Try you, you cheating pig.’
‘What! Cheating?’
‘Oh bugger off, I don’t have time for this.’ Rachel stormed off, jumping into her jeep.
‘Wait!’ he shouted after her.
‘Tell it to Sassy, you cheat!’ She put her foot down, wheel spinning off down the cobbled road, knocking Ash’s head against the dashboard.
Dave stood very still, watching Rachel’s Jeep speed off down the road, trying to work out why or how Rachel knew the name of the random girl in his room.
* * *
Dave slammed the door of his flat, storming up the hall to the bathroom where Issi was standing in front of the mirror, blusher brush in hand, applying her make-up. She saw Dave in the reflection over her shoulder, standing in the doorway.
‘Hey, get out, you pervert!’
‘So what was your plan then, Iss?’
‘Plan—what plan?’
‘Why did you tell Ash about Sassy?’
‘What the fuck you on about?’
‘Don’t lie.’ Dave could feel his blood boil as his voice rose.
‘Don’t shout at me. I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘OK, OK, just be straight with me, Iss. What did you tell her?’ By now Dave was pacing the doorway, hands on his hips, to keep them from hitting something.
‘Dave, what are you on. I don’t know what the fucking hell you are talking about?’
‘Just fucking tell me!’
Issi stepped backwards quickly, her heart skipping, not knowing what to say, staring straight into his eyes.
The front door slammed. ‘What’s going on?’ Peter walked up to his brother, poking his head round the bathroom door to see who Dave was shouting at. He looked at Issi, fixed against the far wall, looking concerned. ‘Well, is anyone going to tell me? Dave, what’s up?’
‘She has told Ash about Sassy and I wanna know why.’
‘Iss? Is this true?’
Issi, feeling slightly more empowered now that Peter was there, stepped away from the wall, straightening her blouse. ‘Right, well, like I said, I didn’t tell Ash about Sassy.’
‘Then how does she know?’
‘I don’t know, for fuck’s sake, but it wasn’t me.’
‘Brov, what happened?’
‘Fuck knows… Last time I spoke to her I was at work. She was gonna come back here to get a DVD. I rang her later and one of her mates swore at me and put the phone down. So I headed over to her flat… Rachel was outside and shouted abuse at me along with Sassy’s name then drove off… what is going on?’
Dave looked at the floor, trying to retrace the day back in his head before looking up at Issi who had gone pale, looking sheepish.
‘What’s up, Issi?’ Dave scowled at her.
‘Oh God!’ said Issi, suddenly connecting the telephone conversation and noise she had heard.
‘What?’
‘Oh God!’
‘What, for God’s sake, what?’
‘Oh God, I think I know what happened.’
‘What? Tell me what happened.’
‘I think what may have happened was when Ash came back to get the DVD, she overheard me talking to a workmate on my phone. I heard a noise. Thought it was one of you two but no one was there.’
‘What you saying, Iss?’
‘I think she misheard my conversation about that night Sassy was here.’
Dave walked off down the hallway to the front room, arms stretched up to the back of his head, trying not to explode with anger. All he now needed to do was explain the full story of what had really happened that night to Ash. He heard the front door shut and walked over to the window, looking down to see Issi a few moments later walking off up the road.
‘Dave, mate, she didn’t do it on purpose.’
‘Yeah I know.’ Dave watched her walk away till she was out of sight.
‘What you gonna do?’
Dave shrugged his shoulders, still looking out the window. Peter handed Dave his mobile and nodded.
‘I’ve tried. It’s switched off.’
‘Leave a message.’
‘I was going to, but she has switched that off too.’
‘And she ain’t at home?’
‘Na, probably at Rachel’s but I don’t know where she lives.’
‘So what are you gonna do?’
‘Don’t know—go to her work tomorrow. See if she will speak to me.’
Chapter 16
Ash woke up early, staring up at the ceiling, eyes fixed on a small blob of BluTack above the bed. She could hear Rachel whispering to Gemma outside the door before leaving for work. Ash closed her eyes, feeling a tear roll down her cheek on to the pillow; she clutched her stomach, curling up into a ball on her side. The door slowly opened and Gemma walked over to see a tearful face looking up at her from under the bedsheets. Gemma didn’t say anything, just sat next to her stroking her hair, knowing full well that nothing could take the pain away; only time would heal that. All she could do was be there for her.
After Ash had finally got up, Gemma suggested a stroll up the road to get some food shopping in for Rachel. Outside it was overcast and not as hot as it had been over the last few days; schoolchildren were still on summer holidays and had taken over the local park with footballs, skateboards, rollerblades and general noisy-happy, irritating mayhem. Ash didn’t say a word as they walked through the park. All she could do was concentrate on not crying, studying the grass as it passed under her feet.
Just as they reached the other side, away from the noise, Ash heard her phone ringing in her pocket; pulling it out to answer, hoping it was not Dave, she looked down at the screen.
‘It’s my work.’
‘Don’t answer it.’
‘Did Rachel call them this morning?’
‘Yeah, they’re probably seeing how you are. You can call them later.’
‘Yeah, you’re right.’ She put the phone back in her pocket.
After a quick shop in the local convenience store, the girls walked back through the park, struggling to hold all the shopping bags. They stopped to rest on a bench at the top of the park, away from the noise of the children. Ash’s phone rang again. Jumping, she wondered if it had been such a good idea to switch it back on today. Hoping again that it wasn’t Dave, she saw Eliza’s number flashing up on the screen. Concerned as to why she was calling, Ash looked at Gemma, not knowing what to do.
‘Who’s that?’
‘The dentist I work with.’
‘Don’t answer.’
‘But it’s her private number and she is a friend.’
Gemma shrugged. ‘It’s up to you.’
Ash stood up, walking away slightly. ‘Hello.’
‘Ash it’s me,’ said Eliza. ‘Are you OK?’
‘Er…’ Ash hesitated, trying to think of something to say but not wanting to lie.
‘Look, Ash, I know you are not ill.’
‘You do?’
‘Mr Matson was here today.’
Ash gasped. Mr Matson was the principal of the practice.
‘Oh no, the one time I call in sick the principal is there.’
‘That’s not the problem.’
‘What’s the problem?’ Ash looked over at where Gemma sat on the bench with a worried look on her face.
‘Dave is.’
Ash’s stomach clenched at the sound of his name. Gemma quickly walked over then guided her back to the bench to sit down before she fell over.
‘Why? What has he got to do with it?’
‘He came to see you. Mr Matson was at reception and overheard.’
‘So… what does that matter?’
‘Well… now don’t get stressed. But at some point he must have bumped into Samantha.’
‘What? I
don’t understand what you are saying.’
‘Samantha then told Mr Matson that Dave was looking for you because you two had an argument and you are not sick.’
‘Oh great, so he thinks I have faked a sicky because of a row with my boyfriend.’
‘You have,’ she laughed slightly. ‘Are you OK, Ash? What has happened between you two?’
Ash explained the whole thing. Then putting the phone down to Eliza, she burst into sobs. She felt as if throughout her entire adult life she had tried to look out for others and yet she had nothing to show for her efforts except heartache.
‘Ash, honey, it will be OK. They can’t just sack you.’
‘I know, but it’s still bad of me.’
‘You had a good reason.’
Ash wiped her eyes and sat up, looking at Gemma.
‘I think I’m going to leave.’
Gemma stared at her, puzzled. ‘What do you mean leave?’
Ash didn’t answer. She stood up then walked slowly towards the children playing in a nearby playground. She stopped at the edge of the grass, standing on the concrete path kicking at the loose stones.
Behind her, Gemma struggled with all the bags. ‘Ash,’ she panted, putting them down.
Ash turned to her, looking slightly distant.
‘Ash, what do you mean leave?’
‘England. Leave England.’
Gemma’s face drained of its colour at the thought of losing her friend for a second time.
‘Look, let’s walk back to the flat and have some lunch. See how you feel after that, eh?’
* * *
Dave walked into the yard, hot, bothered and clean out of any ideas as to how he could contact Ash. Pulling his phone from his pocket he dialled Ash’s number, expecting it to be switched off.
To his amazement the phone rang. He panicked for a moment, not expecting to hear the ringtone. He listened, hoping for an answer which did not come nor did her answerphone message recording; instead it just rang and rang. Deflated, Dave pressed the reject button on his phone. Looking up, he saw his brother standing over him.
‘Did you see her?’
‘She called in sick. What do I do now?’
‘Look, she obviously wants to be on her own right now. And a job has just come up, but it’s in Cumbria so that means we will be away for three days.’ Peter waited for a reaction. Dave stood up, walking off in the direction of the portacabin.
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