He shook his head. ‘We can’t. With you being home sick, not working, you’ve seriously bled me dry. I’m going to need access to those shares.’
The anger flared up inside of me. I couldn’t play this game anymore. I couldn’t keep pretending and I couldn’t keep stalling. I wrenched my arm out of his grip and stood up.
‘I’ve bled you dry?’ I exclaimed. ‘Are you for real? You’ve been living in my place and you haven’t been paying rent! You don’t pay for groceries, you don’t pay for anything!’
He jumped up as well. ‘Don’t you dare speak to me that way. I paid for date after date for you.’ He stepped in close, held a pointed finger in my face. ‘You owe me.’
I hit his hand away and matched his tone. ‘I don’t owe you a damn thing. What are you going to do? Are you going to hit me again? Are you going to say it’s an accident? Because this time I’m not going to let you get away with it. This time if you touch me I’ll go straight to the police.’
Next thing he was holding me by the shoulders and shaking me. ‘You see what’s happened? You’re not well. You’re not okay. You need help! You need to take these new tablets and stop fighting me. You need to do as you’re told.’
I struggled against him but he was stronger. ‘Luke! Let go of me, you’re hurting me. Let go.’
‘JUST GIVE ME YOUR FUCKING PASSWORD.’
That’s when I heard someone banging against the front door, followed by a voice. ‘Hey! What’s going on? Open up!’
I recognised the voice. It was Michelle; she must have decided to come and check up on me even though she wasn’t meant to be here until tonight. The distraction made Luke loosen his grip and I wrenched myself away from him.
‘It’s over,’ I whispered. ‘We are done.’ I moved quickly towards the front door and unlocked it to let Michelle in.
She burst through the opening. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked. ‘I heard yelling.’
I nodded. ‘I’m fine.’ But my voice was shaky.
Michelle looked over at Luke. ‘You need to get the fuck out of here,’ she told him. ‘Get out and stay away from my friend.’ She shifted her position so that she was standing in front of me.
Luke looked from Michelle to me. He locked eyes with me. ‘It’s not over,’ he said. ‘Not by a long shot.’ He grabbed his laptop bag and strode out of the apartment.
Michelle hugged me. ‘Don’t listen to him,’ she said. ‘It bloody well is over. I’m taking you straight to the police.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Georgia
It was a different nurse doing her obs this time, and Georgia kept trying to make meaningful eye contact with her. I need to talk. I need to tell someone. You can’t let him back in here. You can’t let Luke in to see me again. But the nurse was too focused on the task at hand. Georgia tried to clear her throat, tried to push her voice to work the way it was supposed to. But all that came out was a weird wheezing noise.
‘Careful,’ said the nurse, ‘you need to rest that throat of yours. Don’t worry, you’ll be back chatting away in no time.’
Georgia tried to shake her head and was rewarded with a searing pain through her skull. She’d stopped pressing the button for the morphine, despite the fact that pain had started presenting itself in all sorts of places. Both of her knees were throbbing, there was a sharp pain in her abdomen, and it felt like someone was plunging a screwdriver into the side of her neck, over and over and over.
‘I see you’re not managing your pain anymore. You know there’s no need to be a hero. Earlier you were clicking that thing like a demon. You know we can see how often you press it, right?’
Yes, of course I know how it works because I’m a nurse, you idiot, but the problem is I can’t press it anymore. I can’t because I need to stay clear-headed. I need to stay awake, and for fuck’s sake, could you please stop and listen to me because there’s something I need to say!
But the nurse was already finishing up and leaving, ignoring the pleas Georgia had been making with her eyes.
Jesus, if that was me, I’d take the time to actually see my patient. I’d realise there was something important she needed to say and I’d figure out a way to help her communicate.
Georgia turned her head slowly, slowly to the side, trying her best to ignore the rolling waves of pain that coursed through her head as her brain protested against the terrible, terrible idea of moving even an inch. Hold still, it begged, I’m not done healing you.
She couldn’t hold still. There was no bloody time. She looked at the small cupboard on caster wheels to her left, where a few of her personal belongings had been placed. She could see her scarf, folded neatly. Her sunglasses, somehow undamaged. Then: there, that’s what she’d been looking for, her phone. She reached an arm out and yet again the pain shot through her body. Oh God, her shoulder. Was it dislocated? No, because they would have popped it back in if it was. Still, it bloody hurt. She pushed through it. Just get the phone. Just reach out and grab it.
When she finally closed her fingers around the small cool shape, she knew immediately that there was a problem. She could feel the roughness of the screen. It wasn’t meant to be rough. It was meant to be smooth.
She picked it up and brought it up to her face to see. The whole screen was smashed. With shaking fingers, she pushed on the home button to turn it on. Why was it responding so slowly? Wake up little phone! Don’t be dead. The screen finally lit up. At the same time, she heard footsteps and she almost cried with relief. Thank God, that nurse had come back and this time, Georgia would make her pay attention. She would make her realise that she needed to communicate.
She lifted her eyes and saw him. Luke, standing above her bed. The strangest expression on his face. A weird sort of half smile on his lips. But his eyes, his eyes looked like hard glass marbles. He was angry. No, he wasn’t angry, he was furious. He grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the bed, then sat down, placed his elbows on the bed and clasped his hands together, staring at her with that manic gaze.
‘Georgia,’ he said. ‘Georgia, Georgia, Georgia.’ He snatched the phone back out of her hand and put it on the table.
Her body was rigid. If another nurse could just come in, if someone could come and check on her, then she wouldn’t need her goddamned voice, she’d bloody well make them understand. She’d throw her entire body about like she was having a fit if needed, whatever it took to get their attention.
‘You really fucked everything up for me, didn’t you? You couldn’t leave it alone. And you know what really pisses me off? I was almost done. I was about to finish it with the both of you. But you had to go and see Cadence and make her doubt me. A few more days and I would have got what I wanted from her. She would have just handed it over, because that’s how much she trusted me. Instead she’s refusing. Instead she’s breaking up with me. Fucking hell, that insecure little bitch breaking up with me. And it’s all your fault.’
Georgia’s eyes flittered around the room like a wild bird trapped in a classroom. Could she reach the button above the bed to call the nurses? If she made a move for it would she get to it fast enough before he stopped her? She was so weak right now, he wasn’t going to let her do anything he didn’t want her to do. And still, at the same time, a part of her wanted to simply take him by the hand and say, ‘Why? But why are you acting this way? What happened? What changed?’
‘With her it was all about the money,’ he said then. ‘I mean, yeah, revenge as well, but it wasn’t really her fault, was it? But with you, it was different. With you, it was way more personal. It was pure revenge. You fucked up my life so I was going to fuck up yours too. Remember the night we met? When I said you looked familiar?’
Georgia was completely confused now. Revenge? Revenge for what? What was he on about?
‘I was testing the waters. I had to make sure you didn’t know who I was because otherwise the entire thing would have been a waste of time.’ He gave a small chuckle. ‘Anyway, you didn’t, did you? You didn’t twig, you dumb
bitch. Even funnier was when I made that joke, you remember? I said imagine if I’d already hit on you and you’d shot me down. And you put on your best flirty little voice and batted your fucking eyelashes and said, “But I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have”.’ He put on a horrible mocking imitation of her voice. Then he rolled his eyes and placed a hand square on her chest, his fingers close to the base of her throat, pressing down on her with the heel of his hand. ‘But you already fucking had, hadn’t you?’
She tried to shake her head. No! No, I didn’t. I’ve never shot you down! I didn’t even know you!
‘You still don’t know who I am, do you? My name isn’t Luke Kauffman, you fucking idiot. But you’re too dumb to figure out who I really am, aren’t you?’ His hand was still heavy on her chest.
She couldn’t understand. Why was he saying these things? Why was he claiming she’d turned him down in the past? He didn’t look familiar at all, so how could she possibly have shot him down without even knowing it? And why come after her with a fake name? Why go through all of this just to get back at her for allegedly refusing to date him at some point in the past? She racked her brain, trying desperately to figure out who he could be. She thought of ex-boyfriends. She thought of guys she’d swiped left on Tinder. She thought of friends who’d suggested setting her up with their single mates. She pictured faces, names. But nothing was jumping out at her. Nothing seemed familiar. Nothing seemed significant enough to warrant this kind of reaction.
And then she remembered.
The incident. It couldn’t be, could it?
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Georgia
She was thirty when she took the admin job at KB and Thomas Net. She was still trying to figure out what she wanted to be when she grew up. In truth, she was starting to think she might never figure it out. Not like Marcus, who knew right away that he wanted to be a chef. Or Aaron, who’d always been great with numbers, so becoming an accountant was an easy choice. Even Troy, who struggled throughout high school, still found his calling, falling into a successful career as a personal trainer and starting a business together with Pete.
Over the years since that night after graduation, the darkness had continued to court her, almost always skirting around the edges. Sometimes it would take hold for a day here or a week there. Sometimes it would seem as if it had vanished altogether, but she knew better. She offered it her respect and she continued to keep its existence as her secret. No need to ask for help; she had a handle on it.
She quite liked the people at KB. They were friendly, the work was easy enough, and on Fridays they always went out for drinks at the Monkey and Squirrel. There was still a nagging feeling though. Where are you going to go from here? What’s going to be left when you’re dead and gone? What will you have to show for your life? What’s the point? What’s the point in it all?
One Friday at KB work drinks, she had far too many. One by one, each of her colleagues called it a night until it was just her and Kev, the manager of the administration department, which made him her direct superior. So, flirting with him was probably a bit inappropriate. But she didn’t care, because he was cute, and she’d had several Fruit Tingle cocktails, and she was pretty sure he was flirting back, and so what if he was her boss? They were both adults.
They teamed up to play a game of pool against two randoms in the pub. Kev was a crack shot. He sunk ball after ball. It was incredibly sexy to watch. When it was Georgia’s turn, he’d pretty much won the game for them. All she had to do was sink the black ball, which was lined up for an easy shot. She took aim and sunk the white, losing the game. Kev groaned and grabbed her around the waist, pretending to shake her with frustration. She giggled and tipped her head back to look up at him.
‘Sorry,’ she said, looking him right in the eyes and then flicking her gaze to his lips.
He leaned down and whispered in her ear, ‘Did you know that you have a fuck-me mouth?’
It sent a shot right through her body, that line. The boldness of it! The dirtiness! Not to mention the fact that as her boss he felt like forbidden fruit. She was the one who kissed him first. She couldn’t help herself.
She never actually slept with Kev. They spent a good hour making out in a corner of the pub and his hand definitely crept underneath her top more than once during their make-out session, but that was the end of it.
‘Maybe don’t mention this to anyone at work,’ Kev suggested as he put her into a cab. ‘It might not go down to well with, ah . . . my own bosses.’
Georgia promised she wouldn’t tell a soul. What she didn’t expect, though, was for Kev to be the one to start spreading rumours.
The first hint that he’d told other people was when Georgia was chosen for the employee of the month award, which was really just a silly, fun thing they did in the office for a bit of a laugh — all you actually got was a Freddo Frog and a laminated certificate. But one of the other girls on the admin team made a comment about ‘special circumstances’ and ‘playing favourites’. Slowly, the girls who she used to get along with quite well started freezing her out. It all felt very high school.
And then the first email came through. It was from the marketing manager who worked out of the city office. Sam Burton. It started out innocent enough.
Hey Georgia,
I hear you’re doing a great job there in the Ryde office. There’s been some talk that you might have a bit of an aptitude for marketing. Have you ever thought about where you want to go next in your career? There’s lots of opportunities here at KB for someone like you.
Cheers,
Sam
She’d been so excited when she received that first email. People were talking about her as someone with potential. Maybe this was it. Maybe this was what was going to be her thing. A little embarrassing to be discovering that at thirty, but still!
She wasn’t entirely sure why anyone would be talking about her having an ‘aptitude for marketing’. Maybe it was the funny sign she’d made for the printer when everyone kept forgetting to refill the paper after they used it. Whatever it was, his words made it easier for her to weather the nasty comments from the other girls in the admin team. Who cared what they thought if there were people in management who believed she had potential?
She wrote back to Sam to say thank you so much and sure, she was interested in pursuing a career in marketing. Over the next few weeks, they kept emailing back and forth. The tone of the emails changed so gradually that she didn’t even realise it was happening at first. One minute it was the odd friendly joke here and there, that, looking back, could have been construed as flirtatious, but at the time, didn’t seem like anything more than an innocent laugh. The next minute, he’d taken it that one step too far. And Georgia didn’t know how to deal with it. He was a superior. She didn’t want to offend him by saying she didn’t feel all that comfortable with the types of emails he’d started sending her. Besides, had she somehow led him to this point, in the way she’d responded to his previous emails? Was this all her fault?
In the end, she decided the best way to deal with it was by being honest. This was a workplace, he’d respect her for being professional.
Hey Sam,
I’m so sorry, and I absolutely know you didn’t mean anything by that last joke you sent through, but I thought I should let you know that I did find it a little inappropriate. Is that okay? Sorry!!! Like I said, I know you didn’t mean anything bad by sending it!
Cheers,
Georgia
She was terrified as she waited for him to reply. Would he get offended? Annoyed? She was hoping he’d come back with a friendly, Oh no! Sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you! No worries, I’ll pull right back on those sorts of jokes.
Instead, though, his email back was like a punch to the gut.
Really? It said. I thought a slut like you would love it.
Georgia closed the email right away, terrified someone would walk past her desk and read it over her shoulder. She didn’t write ba
ck because she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t need to though, because Sam wrote again anyway.
Gone quiet now, have you? From what I heard, you weren’t very quiet when you were with Kev. I heard you’re a screamer.
The implication was clear. People in the office must have thought she’d actually slept with Kev, rather than just kissed him. Had he spread that rumour himself? Or told someone what happened and then other people had taken it upon themselves to expand on it for the fun of sharing some juicy office gossip?
Now what should she do? Tell someone? Take this to management? Make a formal complaint? But what would they think of her knowing that she had kissed Kev? Would they say, well, you brought this on yourself, didn’t you? After all, the rumours were obviously all over the company, so everyone must know.
She decided to do nothing. And the emails kept right on coming.
Come on, he wrote, when am I going to get my turn with you? If you can give it up for Kev then you’re obviously keen to have a go with anyone.
And then: If you keep ignoring me, then I might have to let management know that you fucked up on a simple job I sent your way. I’d say they’ll have to give you an official warning. Don’t expect to keep your job much longer after that.
She wrote back then. Hi Sam, I think maybe things have got a bit out of hand. I’m really sorry if I led you on or gave you the wrong impression. And the rumours about Kev aren’t actually true. So, please, could we let this go?
He wasn’t interested in letting it go.
Sure, he replied. I’ll stop sending you these emails if you come out with me and give me the same happy ending that Kev got. But if you don’t give me what I want you can consider your job as good as gone.
Between the emails and the nasty looks and comments from the girls at work, Georgia felt like KB had become an awful, hostile place. If she got fired, how would she pay her rent? And once again, her parents were on the other side of the world, so she couldn’t move back home.
Ex, The Page 25