LUCIFER'S ANGEL

by Mike S Martin

  “Right Connor lad everything is going to be ok. Do you know what happened in the house?”

  Connor never answered but just shook his head, his young mind already doing its best to blank it all out.

  Chapter 2

  9th June 2011.

  “Sarah somebody is at the door can you get it?”

  “I am trying to get everything ready you know Hugh”

  Sarah made her way across the huge hallway to the front door shaking her head. There she could see her and Hugh’s friend Connor Rogers, waiting on the doorstep with a bottle of wine.

  “Hi Connor come on in, I’m just getting the last few things ready. Hugh is playing on his X box as bloody usual”

  Connor politely smiled as Sarah pointed him in the direction of the lounge where the party would be happening and where there were nibbles sporadically placed.

  “What would you like to drink” shouted Sarah as she carried on preparing the food in the kitchen for later.

  “Oh it’s ok Sarah I’ll get it. I’ll open my bottle of red”

  Connor entered the huge lounge that had fantastic views of the garden with the pool and the hot tub next to it. Even though he had seen them hundreds of times before he stared at the pictures dotted around the room of both Hugh and Sarah and their daughter Ava on various holidays around the world. There were the Caribbean holidays in Barbados, Antigua, Mexico, St Lucia, there were various skiing holidays in France, Italy, Switzerland, Canada and America. You name it and they had been there.

  There were some new pictures he had not seen before of Hugh stood by what looked like a new Aston Martin sports car and a Bucati Veyron, the latter being one of the most expensive and fastest cars in the world. Connor guessed that they must be his because they were the type of thing Hugh would buy with his endless pot of money.

  Most people had at least one set of friends with a lot of money and these were Connor’s. At 32 years of age Hugh was a millionaire having been passed down his father’s share of a company with the intention of carrying it on but he of course had no such intention. As soon as it was signed over to him he sold it for millions. His father wasn’t happy but Hugh didn’t care, neither did his wife Sarah who was happy to spend the money. The trouble with both of them was that they could not spend it quick enough. Anything materialistic was bought and they enjoyed rubbing people’s noses in it. This surprised Connor because Sarah had come from a pretty humble background having been a nurse for a number of years and everyone knew how hard and tiring that job was. It meant she should have been grounded when it came to money but she wasn’t. Connor was sure he had not seen Sarah in the same set of clothes twice.

  They had the brand new, modern seven bedroomed house with adjoining stables for Ava’s horses even though she was only five years of age. Six cars in total including 2 4x4’s for the school run. A home cinema, although they had a forty inch plasma TV in every bedroom with SKY TV and DVD players. All material items that had Connor frowning in bewilderment.

  “Hi Connor how’s things?” asked Hugh as he entered the room clutching a bottle of beer and Connor’s bottle of wine.

  “Yeah fine how are things with you?”

  “Great as usual, here I have something to show you in the garage”

  Hugh grabbed Connors arm and ushered him towards the garage before he could even take a sip of his wine. Connor knew what it was Hugh wanted to show him but there was no point in voicing his disinterest. Hugh would show him whether Connor wanted to see them or not. They both walked through the kitchen and opened the door to the garage and there in front of them both were the cars Connor had seen in the photographs on the fireplace. Connor perhaps would not have minded if Hugh had been giggling like a little kid but he wasn’t. He was stood next to both the cars with arms folded expecting Connor to be impressed which of course he wasn’t.

  Connor just nodded his head and smiled but inside wanted to stick his middle finger up at Hugh. He didn’t even look the part, what with his neatly combed black hair that came with a side parting, his dark blue Aston Martin V necked jumper and a pair of brown cords and slip on shoes.

  “When do I get my test drive in them then Hugh?”

  “Oh I don’t know about that Connor you have to be able to handle these types of cars. They are not your normal run of the mill cars for normal people like yourself to drive”

  Connor raised his one eyebrow to show Hugh that he thought he was talking shit. Of course Hugh didn’t see it, he was too busy stroking his cars. They both left the garage and joined Sarah in the lounge. Connor liked Sarah a lot more than Hugh because even though she too had her head in the clouds and pound signs for eyes, she had tasted the real world without having a great deal of money. Connor thought it a shame she had lost so much grasp on reality when it came to money but she still knew how to look after people when it came to entertaining. The nursing instinct and the want to look after people must be still there inside her somewhere. Connor of course had been the one who introduced Sarah to Hugh and helped them get together playing the part of matchmaker.

  “I really like tall blonde girls” proclaimed Hugh one drunken night a few years earlier.

  “I know just the girl for you” replied Connor.

  “Do you want something to nibble on while we wait for the rest of them?” asked Sarah as all three of them sat in the lounge chatting.

  “No I’m fine thanks” replied Connor still looking at the various pictures.

  “How are your mum and dad Connor?”

  “They’re fine. I think they mentioned something about going on holiday in a few weeks. I’m not sure where though”

  Sarah tried to sort some music out whilst Hugh played with his mobile phone. Connor studied them both with a stare that was becoming more intense. Connor hadn’t noticed that Hugh had stopped playing and was now looking back at him.

  “Is everything alright Connor?”

  Connor awoke from his daze, startled.

  “Yes I’m fine I’m just thinking”

  Just then the doorbell rang and Sarah Jumped up to answer it.

  “Where’s Ava Hugh?” asked Connor wondering why he had not seen or heard her.

  “Oh she is at my mother and father’s for the weekend”

  “How is your father anyway” asked Connor with an expressionless face.

  “Yeah he’s fine. He is on about buying another property in the south of France. He has just landed a huge deal so needs something to spend his money on. You know how it is”

  Connor had known Sarah and Hugh for about five years now and Connor had to give Hugh credit for not changing one bit. He was still a greedy money thirsty bastard and could talk of nothing else. Sarah was always keen to point out that he was so much like his father which Connor found very interesting.

  Voices could now be heard entering the lounge and Connor looked up to see Keith and Rachel entering. Rachel was dressed up to the nines with a frock on that looked like she was going to a wedding, not a social gathering at a friend’s house.

  “Hello everyone” cried Rachel as she found a seat and waited to be passed a glass of wine.

  She always intrigued Connor as to the way she would act when around people with money, mainly because she didn’t have any. Both her and Keith were a reasonably honest couple, he being a postman and her working as a doctors receptionist. Both hard working people doing honest hard working jobs, but neither of them happy unless they surrounded themselves with friends with money. Connor found this interesting because he could think of nothing worse than if you had no money for then to surround yourself with it. Almost like floating in the middle of the ocean and being terribly thirsty but not being able to drink any of the water.

  “Hello Connor how’s things” asked Keith, his long lanky legs spreading across the floor as he sat down on the low sofa.

  Connor smiled to himself as he glanced at Rachel who could not have been much taller than five and a half foot. A short dumpy thing with huge boobs who always seemed t
o dress in the tightest clothes revealing every lump and crease, coupled up with this six foot something ginger giant of a man. They both had the pale skin that was almost see through meaning Rachel would try and hide it with fake tan. Not only to look browner but to try and convince people they had just been on holiday to somewhere exotic.

  “Yes I’m fine Keith. How are things with you?”

  Connor sat and listened as Keith told him about how his football team he supported were not doing too well. How some player who should be scoring goals was not and how if he was the manager he would play the players in different positions. By now Connor had switched off and was watching Rachel texting someone on her phone. He took a good guess at who it might be as she looked around the room nervously. His attention drifted back to Keith who for a thirty year old man was certainly acting more immature as he keenly described how he would have scored the goal his team’s star player had missed last Saturday.

  It seemed to make sense to Connor now why after three years of living together both Rachel and Keith had still not done much to the house they had both bought in the hope of doing it up to sell. Every time he visited nothing had changed. Walls were half decorated and flooring that had been lifted, still had not been relayed. Not one single room in the small three bedroom house had been finished even though they all had new curtains and cushions and silly pictures hung on the walls. They very rarely had people round to entertain and Connor could see why. Instead they preferred to surround their selves in luxury, perhaps to escape the fact that they were too lazy or could not afford to improve the property. Connor found nothing wrong in not being able to afford to spend money on a house but the way they spoke and the holidays they had planned you would have thought they were going to make hundreds of thousands of pounds on it once sold.

  Keith had finished his conversation with Connor and was now keen to find out about the new cars Hugh had bought recently. Connor took this opportunity to pour himself another glass of red wine whilst Sarah and Rachel talked holidays and money with Rachel explaining to Sarah how when they eventually sold their house they would build their own ranch somewhere abroad.

  Connor smiled knowing it was never going to happen.

  As Connor entered the kitchen to make his way to the downstairs toilet a pretty dark haired young woman came from the garage where Hugh and Keith were still talking cars.

  “Hi I’m Isobel. I’m looking for Sarah”

  “Hi I’m Connor nice to meet you, Sarah is through there in the lounge”

  “Oh thank you”

  They both nodded and smiled then Connor watched as she made her way to the lounge. This was the first time Connor had met Isobel and he began to wonder who she was. She was certainly attractive and had dark brown hair, something Connor liked in women.

  By the time Connor had finished in the toilet Rob had arrived and was in the lounge chatting. Connor was wary of Rob and although he got on well with him there was something about him that made Connor uncomfortable. Rob was friendly enough but Connor could not help think it was all an act. It was as though Rob had to make an effort to be friends with Connor because he was friends with Hugh and Sarah. Connor felt Rob was another of those people who wanted friends to think he had money. He worked for Virgin Atlantic in the offices organising cabin crew rotas and schedules for flights. It was an ok paid job but his perks were that he got staff travel which meant he could fly almost anywhere in the world for a very cheap price, sometimes as low as £80 return. Whenever they met up he would always have pictures on his phone of girls he had met whilst in Dubai or Singapore. Connor didn’t even think Rob was that attractive, what with his short chubby legs and a beer gut to match, so it was a surprise when Connor viewed the pictures of these stunning girls on his arm even if he was only with them for a day or two.

  “Hello Rob how are you?”

  “Hi Connor I’m well, how are you?”

  “I’m fine. You look brown been anywhere nice” asked Connor.

  “Yeah I’ve just come back from Jamaica. Great place very hot though. Have you been?”

  Rachel was listening intently and looked eager not to be outdone in the holiday stakes.

  “No I haven’t been. I think my mum and dad have been though.........”

  Connor was interrupted by an impatient Rachel.

  “We’re going this year hopefully. All inclusive it’s the only way really”

  Connor never reacted. He never did. He just watched intently whilst sipping his wine as Rachel took control of the room making sure everyone heard what she had to say before they had a chance to speak.

  “Yes and as well as that holiday we are also planning to go to Spain. Renting a villa with a pool”

  At this point Keith and Hugh returned to the lounge where Keith was immediately dragged into the conversation on how many holidays they had planned. It looked like Keith was trying to work out where all this money was going to come from but just went along with what Rachel was saying to maintain a peaceful life.

  “Would you like me to do anything Sarah?” asked Connor kindly.

  “No thank you Connor everyone has a drink and there is plenty to eat”

  The rest of the night went as normal with the topic of conversation mainly being money and how everyone was going to spend it whether they had any or not, the exception being Isobel who found it all very intimidating. Her escape became Connor as they both had never met before and she was interested to find out about him as he seemed the only one talking sensibly.

  “So how do you know Sarah and Hugh Connor?”

  Connor paused for thought for a second, his mind focusing intently on what he wanted to say.

  “It was about five years ago. I was filling up my car at the garage when I found a wallet on the petrol pump. I handed it in at the garage but they seemed to not have the time to deal with it so I took it on myself to contact the owner”

  “Hugh?”

  “Yes so I rang him up and he asked me if I could bring it round to the house”

  “That’s typical Hugh” laughed Isobel.

  “The next thing I knew I was being asked to join them for a drink in town one night”

  Hugh overheard the conversation and joined in.

  “Actually Isobel if I remember rightly Connor did most of the pushing to meet up and have a drink”

  Connor shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Isobel.

  “Well anyway I was asked out for a drink and the rest is history”

  “So you knew Hugh before he met Sarah” asked Isobel.

  Connor nodded.

  “Yes but he met me first” said Sarah loudly.

  Once again Connor nodded without saying anything. Sarah continued.

  “He was working at the hospital as a porter when I used to be a nurse. He got me and Hugh together so really we should thank Connor for us all being here now”

  Hugh raised his glass of wine.

  “To Connor...... for bringing us all together………cheers”

  “Cheers.......cheers” said everyone.

  “Wow so everyone here are friends because of you?”

  “Not really I just played matchmaker for those two” said Connor pointing to Hugh and Sarah.

  Connor just sat and smiled but not a happy smile. It was a smile that was hiding a thousand truths.

  “God look at the time” said Isobel preparing herself to leave.

  Connor took this opportunity to also declare that he was ready to leave and prepared to say his goodbyes.

  “Don’t forget the big party on the 18th of June Connor” said Hugh drunkenly.

  “No I will be here I wouldn’t miss it for the world” said Connor with a cold look in his eye.

  He left Sarah and Isobel talking on the doorstep and started the walk home down their long drive. Isobel was catching a taxi but Connor did not wish to share his space with anyone any longer. His mind was racing as he tried to physically rub the smile off his face that had been held there all night. He wanted nobody
else’s company but his own.

  The only light on in Connor’s apartment was the bathroom light as he leant on the sink staring at his self in the mirror. His smooth tanned skin, dark hair and stubble told strangers he was an ordinary thirty year old living a normal life. But if anybody took the time to look into Connor’s dark blue eyes they would perhaps see a less normal existence. They were the same blue eyes that had seen so much and now hid a thousand reasons to live the life he now lived. A life of solitude and a look of determination that showed no respite until his mind was satisfied that no more could be done.

  Chapter 3

  Connor struggled to draw his gaze away from the envelopes he was placing into the post box, two were letters and the other one was a large packet. As he heard them hit the bottom of the post box a satisfied smile grew across his face because he knew at that very moment there was no turning back.