by H A Dawson
‘After our conversation the other day I did a bit of investigating. I spoke to her last employer about her charity fundraising efforts. Up until a couple of years ago, she raised money for a cancer charity. Mrs Jenson believes Alice switched charity’s a couple of years before that too.’
I gawped, my words evaporated.
‘She also had a strong sense Alice was stealing the money.’ She paused and examined my plaintive expression. ‘I’m so sorry. I know it’s tough on you, being friends an all …’
‘I can’t believe she’d do that ...’ my voice trailed, my head spinning with the news. ‘Are you certain?’
Lesley nodded. ‘Even though I felt some kind of responsibility for her, since she was a member of my staff, I couldn’t let her get away with it. So, I called the charity and asked for an investigation. Apparently, Alice is very clever. She found someone to back all of her fundraising efforts. They found no discrepancies.’
I tried to disguise my guilt-ridden expression by covering my face with my hand, but I sensed it was not nearly enough. Surely, Lesley knew I had come to Alice’s aid, especially given that I had already admitted to seeing her on the day of the investigation. Flustered and hot, and not knowing how to respond, I voiced my dismay and shock, and needing a moment of private time, announced I needed the bathroom.
Once alone, I breathed slowly and deeply, staring into the washbasin at the shiny white surface and wondering whether or not to admit to my involvement. Of course, there was every chance she already knew; if she had asked for the name of the person verifying Alice’s scam, she definitely did. Alternatively, if she was unaware, she may insist the charity investigated the case further, in which case, I would be exposed.
Should I admit to my error? I didn’t know Lesley well enough to be certain how she would respond, and feared she would go straight to the police. I couldn’t risk her doing that, and decided, maybe foolishly, to keep my silence.
Faking my confidence, I returned to the living room. ‘Sorry about that,’ I said in as chirpy voice as possible. ‘I’ve had something that disagreed with me and it’s given me stomach pains.’
Lesley's glance was unreadable.
‘So what happens now? Is there any chance of her being caught.’
‘Apparently not. Even though I told them I believed the events would have raised far more money than she admitted to, they’ve done all they can. Everything was as it should be.’
I breathed a private sigh of relief.
‘She’s had us all taken in. Me included.’
‘Does she know you started the enquiry?’
‘No, and she won’t find out. Jessica …’ She crossed her legs and scrutinised my face. I was feeling far too guilt-ridden to hold my gaze for a moment longer than necessary, and looked only fleetingly. ‘She’s shot through. We won’t be seeing her again.’
‘She’s moved away?’
Lesley nodded. ‘She wasn’t answering my calls, so on my way over I popped to her house. It’s empty. All of her furniture has gone. It’s up for sale. Given the repairs she’s made, I think she’ll make a decent profit.’
‘But …’ I was lost for words. How could she just disappear? And what about the promise she had made to me? Did our friendship mean nothing? ‘Are you certain you went to the correct house?’
‘I’m sorry. This all must be a shock to you. I feared she wouldn’t have told you anything. It’s the reason I came around. I didn’t want you to learn all this second hand at the centre. Rumours are likely to racing round.’
I nodded my gratitude. At least it was good to learn Lesley had some integrity.
‘There’s something else. What Alice told us about Toby, her son, and the repairs needed for him to stay at the house, was all lies. Mrs Jenson, the lady I spoke with, told me she distinctly remembered Alice telling her he had died a few years ago. He was born with a rare heart problem. There were complications. He lived only five years.’
I stared, voiceless, static, and listened to Lesley as she talked around the subject, sharing her feelings on the matter, as well as voicing her shock and sorrow relating to her lies. It was too much for me to take in, and after indeterminable amount of time, I asked her to leave.
She paused at the doorway, her expression displaying deep sympathy. ‘Will you okay?’
A nod was all I could manage.
‘How do you feel about coming into work tomorrow?’
‘I’ll be fine. I just need time to get my head around it all.’
‘I understand. I am sorry Jessica, but don’t let what you’ve learned about her ruin your memories. You had some good times together.’
‘It’s difficult not to. She’s …’ I hesitated, my heart pounding and my hands shaking. ‘She’s taken me for a fool.’
‘Did you provide her with an alibi?’
I could not speak, and stared at the floor trying to form an answer in my head. Nothing would come. I had done a horrendous thing. There were no excuses.
I assumed my expression said it all, as Lesley did not push for a reply but rubbed her hand across the back of my shoulder in a gesture of support, and started through the door.
‘I’ll pay it back,’ I blurted.
A slight nod was her only reply, and then she disappeared from view.
Chapter 7
After Lesley departed, the conversation we had shared spun endlessly in my mind. I couldn’t accept what Alice had done to me, and tried to contact her multiple times by phone. Unsuccessful, and struggling to understand how our friendship meant so little to her, I donned my walking shoes and went out, heading to her house.
I needed to see her empty dwelling for myself, and hoped that Lesley had been mistaken and visited the wrong place. In my mind I just didn’t accept Alice could have departed without word. There had to be a mistake.
I hurried through the streets, passing people carrying out the last of the weekend gardening, others cleaning vehicles in preparation for the working week, and families lounging in their houses watching television. Nothing had changed for them, yet my life had been upturned. Not only had my best friend betrayed and deceived me in the most cruel way, but my manager knew of my misdemeanour's.
Gulping in some air, I glanced to my rear at a car driving towards me. For a brief second, I imagined it to be a police car. Of course, it wasn’t. Nonetheless, it increased the importance of a meeting with Alice; in the very least, we needed to sort out the payment to the charity. Surely, she knew that also, and would be in touch. Concerned I had missed a call whilst my phone was tucked into my pocket, I pulled it out. There had been no new messages or missed calls.
Continuing to her house, I tried to formulate a plan should I find it empty. But my panic and fear were so great that they were clouding my mind, preventing my freethinking. Clueless as to what I would do, I quickened my steps and blanked such thoughts from my mind. I would deal with that scenario if it proved true. Until then, I clung onto a tiny amount of hope that Lesley had made a mistake, and turned onto Alice’s street.
My gaze focused at the end to where her house was located. The first thing I noticed was a sales board close to where she lived. It hadn’t been there days earlier, and caused the fluttering to intensify in my insides. With my head spinning with my anxiety, I quickened my steps, arriving minutes later at her house and the sales board. Dumbstruck, I stared through the window. It was just as Lesley had described; it was empty inside. There was no furniture, no paintings upon the walls, and the curtains were absent. Still clinging to a dwindling hope, I rapped on the door, shaking my head in disbelief.
How could she disappear without word, after everything that had been said days earlier? I didn’t want to believe she had conned me so entirely, and told myself she must have a good reason. I knew Alice; she was a good person, a good friend. She had helped me out with the drugs incident, as well as other things in the past, and wouldn’t have just walked away.
Perplexed, I stepped away from the door and looked up
to the upstairs windows. Any hope I had of seeing her was quickly pushed aside. As was the case with the downstairs windows, the curtains were absent and I could see clearly into the room. There were no moving shadows, no indication of anyone being present.
Movement at my side caused me to turn. A man exiting the house next door passed me a quick glance. ‘She moved out a couple of days ago.’
‘Do you have her forwarding address?’
‘No, sorry. I didn’t even know her house was up for sale. Apparently, it has been for a while. She didn’t want the board up. At least not until she’d moved out.’
‘But she’s only just had work done.’
‘No, that was a while ago. The builder she used is a friend of mine. He told me she held back on the payment. He didn’t know why.’
‘Oh, right.’ It must have been so she could raise money with the charity, but I wasn’t about to tell him that! I averted my gaze and stared blindly at the window, reflecting upon the decisions she had made. It was difficult hearing that she had been planning the move for some time, and intensified the pain in my gut. During my previous visits there must have been boxes stacked in the living room, hence her need to shut the door and prevent me seeing inside. Heavy hearted, I cast him a distressed look.
‘I take it you didn’t know she was moving.’
‘No. None of her friends did. It’s happened suddenly.’
He passed me a sympathetic smile, and entered his car.
I felt stupid standing there, having been taken for an utter fool, and forcing a brave face and pretending I wasn’t concerned, I started back home. I hadn’t gotten very far when I reached into my pocket for my phone. I was furious with Alice for what she had done to me. If her sudden departure had been as the result of an emergency, it wouldn’t have been so bad, but her actions had been premeditated. She had used me and abused me, and I was the idiot who had let her.
I told her as much, voicing my fury in a phone message. Like all the others, it was likely to go ignored. She didn’t have the courage to speak to me, and if she did it would be all lies.
I didn’t know her at all. How could our relationship have been so one sided. I would have done anything for her, because I loved and respected the person I thought she was; yet, in return, I meant nothing. I had received nothing but lies; she cared only for herself.
I progressed through the coming days with a more positive mindset. Alice was out of my life and she couldn’t hurt me any more. I also had my job back, the one I so loved. Yet one issue remained. Until I addressed my involvement with the charity, my guilt was locked into my every move.
It was time to take action, and fondled the wodge of money with my hands. Parting with it would ease my conscience, but it wasn’t easy to do. I had saved the three thousand over the course of a few years, missing extravagant nights out, expensive holidays, and skimping on new attire, and it was all I had. Nevertheless, there was no question in my mind that I was doing the right thing; I could not let the meningitis charity miss out, not in any circumstances, and passed it to Lesley.
‘Are you sure you want to do this,’ she said, taking the cash.
‘I have to. Alice won’t pay it back, and I can’t do it by cheque. I can’t risk someone matching the donation with my name on the forms. It would raise too much suspicion.’
She nodded her understanding. ‘I will get a receipt, I promise.’
‘And you will act as alibi if it all did comes out?’
‘I will.’ She shuffled positions on the sofa. ‘You were conned. You did it because you’re a caring person.’
‘Or gullible.’ I lowered my head, succumbing to a new rush of self-denigrating comments. ‘I was such an idiot. Why couldn’t I see through her lies?’
‘Because you’re a decent person and you see the good in people. Don’t change who you are Jessica. We all get hurt occasionally. It’s no reflection on you.’
I couldn’t help but feel it was. If I had acted differently, none of it would have happened. I could have helped her count the cash, I could have asked her about the donations she was making at each stage of the process, and I could have asked about her past, drawing her on her deceased son.
‘If I’d have asked more questions during the last year, she would have been able to spin fewer lies. For a start, she wouldn’t have been able to use Toby as part of her deception.’
‘That’s my fault,’ Lesley said. ‘I’m the one who told you about him.’
‘No. I think she would have done it anyway.’ I paused, pensive. ‘How could anyone use their child like that? What a horrid thing to do. Does she have no conscience?’
Even though the question left my lips, I already knew the answer. She didn’t care about anyone but herself. Her behaviour had proven that. And to think I had loved her as a friend. What did that make me? Was she laughing at the role I had played, and how easily she had manipulated me into doing it?
‘She’s made me into a very cynical woman,’ I said. ‘I can’t trust anyone anymore. I’m always looking for clues relating to their lies.’
‘Don’t. There are good people out there, people who genuinely care about others. Not everyone is like Alice. In fact, I’d even go as far as saying she’s a rarity. And don’t forget, it wasn’t just you she had fooled, but me too … and lot’s of other people both in her current life and in her past.’
‘But you called the charity into an investigation. I still believed her and thought there must have been a mistake. When she called me, asking me for help, she sounded genuinely upset.’ I folded my arms across my front. ‘There were tears. I saw them for myself.’
Her stare was filled with sorrow.
‘It’s all made worse knowing she planned it all. She could have said goodbye, or said she was sorry, or something. Even a call after she had left would have been better than nothing. It would, at least, have proven I meant something to her. I’ve given her hours of my life, and what do I get in return? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.’
I averted my gaze and stared at my phone resting on the arm of the chair. I hadn’t checked it for incoming messages for a few hours, and even though I doubted there would be anything there of any importance, I clicked on the screen.
My pulse quickened and my excitement danced. I’d received a message from Alice. I started to quiver, and passing Lesley a quick hope-filled glance, opened it up.
‘What is it?’ Lesley said.
‘I’ve got a message from Alice.’ I read the text.
‘What does it say?’
Anger formed on my face. ‘Let me read it to you. “Just to let you know I have moved to East Yorkshire and won’t be around any more. I had to go, people don’t trust me and my word means nothing. Thank you for your friendship.” That’s it,’ I said, looking to Lesley. ‘Can you believe it? She doesn’t even say she’s sorry.’
Lesley frowned.
I stared again at the message. ‘What does she mean, “thank you for your friendship”? East Yorkshire is hardly the other side of the world. It’s only a couple of hours drive away.’
‘She probably doesn’t mean it to sound so final.’
‘Then what? It sounds very final to me … and disrespectful.’
‘It’s probably just her way of saying thank you.’
I kept my negative thoughts to myself. If I had moved away, I would have kept in touch, even if it were to the other side of the world. We weren’t living in the dark ages without telephones, emails, and the Internet. And even if Alice had not wanted contact, couldn’t she have pretended she had? It was how the majority of people would have acted because it was the right way to behave. It showed a little bit of respect to the person who had played a major part in their lives. It would have showed me I had meant something to Alice.
‘I understand you’re upset, but-’
‘Upset is an understatement! And it’s not about the money, although it’s interesting that she didn’t mention it, don’t you think?’
Lesley�
��s expression was a picture of grief.
‘It’s about her treatment of me. If I hadn’t signed those documents, she would be facing criminal charges now. I deserve more than this,’ I said, thrusting the phone and the message into her view.
‘You do. But not everyone has the same amount of integrity as you. You might get hurt now and again, simply because your expectations are higher than other peoples, but don’t let it change who you are.’
‘My expectations are not high! I value people more than I value possessions. Why is that so terrible?’
‘It’s not. It’s a good thing. But Alice values other things, money in particular, and there are other people like that too. It might make you a target.’
I frowned. I would rather be a target and give my all to my friends, than value money and risk dying as a lonely old hag with a hefty bank account. Money could not buy friendship, not in the true sense. They were bought with time, love and effort.
‘Maybe she lied to you because she was ashamed she couldn’t match up to who you were. You have a lot of integrity Jessica, and you see the positive in people. It’s an excellent trait to have, but it’s likely to have made someone like Alice feel very small.’
I frowned. It was never my intention to make her feel small, not in any circumstance.
‘The difference in your characters could also be why she chose not to share her problems with you,’ she continued. ‘She’d rather keep you in ignorance so as to benefit from all of your positive and uplifting comments, than confide in you. It would have helped her to deal with her lies and made her feel a better person.’
‘So she had a conscience after all.’
‘I think she did. She just couldn’t stop herself from doing the wrong thing. The motivating factors were too great.’
‘I still think she should have confided in me. I would have supported her, always. I may have high morals, but I’m not judgemental. Only for myself.’