Take a Chance on Me

by Carol Wyer

  ‘When I thought you’d be ready to start living again, I sent you a lovely email. You sent a rubbish one back. But I didn’t harbour a grudge. I guessed you were just feeling low. After all, you’re facing middle age now and must be beginning to feel insecure. I know about that. My mother went through a phase at your age. She cried a lot of the time. She used to get moody and shout at me. It’s a female thing. I decided you needed someone to care for you. It was time for me to prove I was strong and mature, just like you wanted and needed.’

  Charlie shivered.

  ‘I’m the one person who you can trust,’ he continued. His eyes darted around the room. Harrison had mental health issues. Charlie recognised the signs. She was not sure how to deal with it. She decided silence was best.

  ‘Who do you think sent the video of you on the roller coaster to the studio?’

  ‘You,’ she whispered.

  ‘Correct. It was me. I watched you. You had no idea I was in the crowd filming you. You didn’t see me. You’ve not noticed me the last few months. I’ve been around. I’ve seen you come home to an empty house, bake cakes and watch films on your own. I’ve listened to you on the radio. I decided to give you a boost. You like working on the radio so much, I decided to help the station when I discovered it needed funding. I was an unseen hand in your quest to raise money. I even bribed those kids behind you to sing along with that ridiculous kazoo. I overheard you planning with that friend of yours in the wheelchair. You were jabbering away about it in the coffee shop at the hospital oblivious to the old guy behind you. That old guy was me. Ha! Bet that’s surprised you. You even kindly let me know which song you’d be playing – “Love Rollercoaster”. Very amusing. I figured if people saw an entertaining video of you, they’d be more likely to send in money. I was right. It worked, didn’t it? It got thousands of hits.’

  Not wanting to annoy him, Charlie nodded in agreement.

  ‘Yes. Clever old Harrison.’ He stopped again. He stared at her with wild eyes. ‘You weren’t grateful though, Charlotte. You betrayed me. You met up with a man in a bar, even though you should have waited for me. He wasn’t worth it, was he? What an absolute loser.’ He chuckled. ‘I bet he didn’t see you again after that night. No, of course he didn’t. He was a waster. He was a weasel. He blubbed like a little baby when I tied him up. He begged me not to thump him again. He deserved to be splattered across the car park, but I didn’t do that to him, even though I wanted to – cretin that he was. I gave him a couple of punches to make him see sense. He whimpered and curled up into a little ball. Do you want to be with a man like that? Well, do you?’

  ‘No,’ said Charlie, wishing the torment would end. She was now late for her radio show. Soon, Mercedes would phone to ask where she was. They would worry that she was not there. They might drive round and save her from this lunatic.

  ‘So, after that episode, I sent you an amusing gift. I thought it would be funny. You like jokes, don’t you? You read them out to patients on the wards. You enjoy a laugh. I sent you the perfect inflatable man to keep you company until you came to your senses. He was more of a man than the fool at the pub and more of a man than that kid who took you diving.’

  Charlie breathed in sharply. ‘That was you too? You slashed Liam’s diving suits and damaged his car, didn’t you?’

  ‘He asked for it. He was always giving you the come on. He thinks he’s some sort of hunk with his perfect body, his perfect teeth and his perfect bloody hair,’ he spat, rubbing a hand over his slightly balding head.

  ‘He was always showing off like some sort of human peacock. Preening himself in front of you. You fell for it. You threw yourself at him at the quarry. You rubbed yourself all over him like a bitch on heat. You tart. It was disgusting. Don’t deny it. I watched you both at Dosthill quarry. You sat in his car together after the dive. I was pretending to take wildlife photographs. You didn’t notice me. I zoomed my lens in to make sure you weren’t doing to him what you did to me. It was a good thing you weren’t. He wanted you to. I could tell. Dirty little sod.’

  Harrison began to pace about the room. In between words he grumbled incoherently.

  ‘You told me I was too young for you yet you tried to seduce him. He was much younger than me. You hypocrite!’ he snarled. ‘Still, I forgave you and tried to help you and your stupid radio station. I was at the hospital coffee shop as usual, when I found out about the charity clothes show. Yes, I hung out there most days. It reminded me of when we first met. Tina had no idea it was me,’ he chuckled. ‘She thought I was some old bloke. I took my dad’s clothes. They’re too large and hang on me, but with a fake beard and wig, no one recognised me. Not even you.’ He stopped, waiting for her response. When she gave none he resumed his angry rant.

  ‘I was horrified you were prepared to let a complete stranger buy clothes you’d been wearing. It was opportune I was there. I couldn’t have anyone else buy something my girlfriend had just removed from her naked body. But it was meant to be me, wasn’t it? I was supposed to buy it. It was almost like receiving a gift from you.’ He smiled. ‘That garment still smells of you. I’ve held it in bed every night since I bought it. It helps me remember you and how you made me feel.’ He stopped, lost in thought.

  Charlie made a decision. This has to end.

  ‘Harrison, I think you need medical help,’ she stuttered.

  In one swift movement Harrison strode towards her and slapped her hard across her face. She was stunned. Her hand flew up to her face to protect it but too late. He hit her hard again.

  ‘I’ve managed perfectly well without your advice, Charlotte,’ he said in an icy tone. ‘I don’t need help. What is it with you people? First my mother, then my father, then the hospital authorities and now you?’ He paced about the room, muttering. Charlie was about to make another attempt to run when he spun around.

  ‘There was a time when I would’ve done anything for you. Surely you can see that, now. Who else would be thoughtful enough to send you a brand new mask and snorkel for your dive? I didn’t want you to have to use one that someone else had used. Think of all of those germs? That’s thoughtful, isn’t it? Who would have sent tickets for a show you were desperate to see? I thought we could go together to see Jersey Boys. I thought we could share a perfect weekend away. Yet, all the time, I was trying to help you, you were busy behaving like a slut,’ he spat, his face wrinkled in disgust. He licked his dry lips, recovered and continued. Charlie sat in fear.

  ‘How you’ve tested my patience, Charlotte. But I was prepared to let it all go and then what did you go and do?’

  Charlie winced. Her stomach sank.

  ‘You spent the night at that journalist’s house. The entire night,’ he said with menace in his voice. ‘If the upstairs light hadn’t gone on when it did and if I hadn’t watched you undress and go to bed alone, I’d have come in and killed you both. This can’t go on. You have to be dealt with.’ He stopped to lick his lips again. His eye twitched and he rubbed it.

  ‘I’ve come to a decision. You’re coming with me where I can keep an eye on you. That way, you’ll not be able to parade about flirting or misbehaving. I’m taking you to Wales. I inherited a cottage in the hills a few months ago. My father died, you see. He lived there in isolation. He didn’t like people much. Preferred to hide away from the public. After my mother died, he took off there with me in tow. It’s in the middle of nowhere. We’ll be able to have plenty of time for each other. You’ll learn to behave and respect me. You’ll see how much I’ve matured and we’ll be deliriously happy.’

  Charlie hugged her knees. ‘It won’t work, Harrison,’ she ventured. ‘People here will try to find me. I have friends who’ll want to know what’s happened to me.’ And Jake, she thought. He’ll want to know where I am.

  Harrison guessed her thoughts and sniggered. ‘Oh poor deluded Charlotte. I’m afraid I’ve been one step ahead of you. Your friends won’t come looking for you.’ He collapsed into Charlie’s chair and casually draped
one leg over the other. Leaning forward, he smoothed her hair off her face. She recoiled. He smiled and it reminded her of the sharks. His teeth were small, sharp and pointed.

  ‘No one will look for you. I hacked into your computer while you were out a few weeks ago. I was almost caught by the old bat next door, but I got away with it. Gave her some story about being a journalist. I got into your email account. You should have chosen a better password. I knew you’d have Amy as part of it. It only took five minutes to figure out the rest. Most people use birth dates, so it didn’t take much guessing. AmyBlundell311296!’ He tutted and wagged his finger at her. ‘Far too obvious,’ he said. Charlie let out a stifled sob.

  ‘Today, I sent an email from your account to City Hospital radio saying you’d been offered a trip of a lifetime by a dear friend and although it was rude to go without saying goodbye, you just had to seize this golden opportunity. I explained you’d enjoyed doing the challenges so much that you’d developed a new lust for life and when this exciting new venture presented itself you couldn’t refuse. I said it was all very last minute but you were catching a flight later today and you’d be in contact in a few weeks. By then they won’t be able to track you down. They’ll soon forget you anyway, especially when the radio goes off air due to lack of funds. With you gone, they’re not likely to raise the money are they?’

  Charlie shook her head in disbelief.

  Harrison continued, pleased with the response. ‘I sent an email to the Art café too and…’ he paused for effect, ‘I sent one to that journalist. I wasn’t thinking straight. I used you. I took your affection and used it to help me through my misery. I’m so sorry. I don’t want you to think we have anything special. We don’t,’ he said in a girly voice. ‘I also told him that you won’t be repeating that episode again with him. It was a mistake. I was drunk and lonely. Does that sound familiar? It should do. It’s what you told me. You ripped me apart, Charlotte.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.

  ‘Of course you are. I know you are. We can resolve this, Charlotte. You and I. We’ll have plenty of time to fix it,’ he replied. His demeanour changed. He was suddenly happier. ‘We’ll leave together later after Mrs Nosey next door has gone to bed. We’ll take your car. I came here by taxi. I’m so clever. I haven’t left anything to link your disappearance to me. Your journalist friend won’t be bothering us. I doubt he’ll be interested in finding you. He’s not got the same tenacity as me. Patience pays off in the end, you know. His ego will be deflated and he’ll be upset that you thought he was not for you. I bet that charmer’s not used to women telling him that.’ He sat back in the chair, played a drumroll on his knees with his hands and chuckled. ‘Imagine his face when he reads the email. He’ll be gutted. Still, he’ll get over it. Men like him always find new girlfriends. They have it all. It’s easy for them. Women chuck themselves at them. It’s not like that for all of us. Some of us have to try much harder.’

  Tears filled Charlie’s eyes. She blinked them away, refusing to give Harrison the satisfaction of seeing them, raised her head and confronted him.

  ‘It won’t work. You can kidnap me or do whatever you plan, but I’ll spend all my life rejecting you and trying to escape from you.’ She gulped. Harrison was giving her a steely look. ‘I don’t love you. I’ll never love you,’ she said, heart quickening at her bravery. ‘I... I love Jake.’ There she had said it and she knew it was true. She may not have known him a long time, but she felt it was right. He was the man for her. They were soulmates. The irony of the situation hit her squarely. Here she was finally recognising she had deep feelings for Jake and yet wondering if she would ever see him again.

  Harrison’s eye twitched again. ‘Rubbish. You’ll forget him. He doesn’t worship you like I do. I’ve got a whole room in my house dedicated to you. I’ve got photographs of you all over the wall and some small mementos of our time together: the menu from the Italian restaurant, the ticket stubs to the comedy show we saw. I’ve even recorded some of your radio shows and play them when you’re not on air.’ His tongue flickered out again. ‘I need some water. I have to take my pills. He rummaged in his trouser pocket and pulled out a small brown pot. He rattled it. ‘Kitchen?’

  Charlie indicated the door but remained where she was. This could be her chance to escape. If she could run quickly enough she could get to the front door while he went to the kitchen. Harrison second-guessed her again.

  ‘Oh no you don’t. It’s going to be different from now on. I’m the boss. You’re coming with me.’

  He seized her arm and dragged her off the sofa. He was much stronger than she anticipated, and although she struggled, he held on to her, pinching her arm tightly. She whimpered.

  ‘If you just behave, everything will be fine,’ he whispered into her ear.

  Charlie kicked out blindly, causing Harrison to loosen his grip. She wriggled away, squirming from under him. As she inched away, he lunged at her legs, grabbed her ankles and hauled her backwards along the carpet. The friction from the carpet burned her arms and made her cry out. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and instinctively, she kicked him again, landing a blow between his legs which made him double up. Struggling to her knees, she scrambled towards the door and was almost within reach of the door handle when Harrison launched himself at her with a snarl, and rugby tackled her to the ground, landing heavily on top of her. Excruciating pain seared up her arm. She let out a horrified scream. Her wrist was on fire. Oblivious to her discomfort, he hauled her back onto her feet, ignoring her pleas, and thrust her towards the kitchen.

  He opened the door with a scowl and shoved Charlie ahead of him. Tears rolled down her face. From one corner came a growling, followed by barking.

  Charlie called out, ‘Bert! Help!’

  There was a flurry of feathers and claws as the bird propelled itself towards Harrison, diving at his face. He yelped in pain and raised his hands to bat it away. Bert flew at him again, pecking at his face and eyes. Harrison shrieked and covered his eyes. Charlie seized the moment to race for the front door. She heard Bert screeching in anger. She stumbled into the hallway and pulled at the doorknob with her good hand. The door opened and she ran outside. Darkness was falling and she almost didn’t see the man blocking her path.

  ‘Charlie, is everything okay? Charlie, speak to me, sweetie.’

  It was Jake. She flung herself into his chest and sobbed. ‘I didn’t send the email. Harrison…’ she pointed back at the house. Jake took in the tears, her injured wrist and her bruised face.

  ‘Wait here,’ he whispered. He raced into the house. She could hear anguished screams. She held her damaged wrist and wept.

  Sixty-Four

  Peggy tickled Bert’s beak. He made soft, appreciative responses. ‘What a brave boy,’ she murmured.

  It was late afternoon. Jake was on Charlie’s sofa, one arm curled around her shoulders. Gordon, having made everyone a cup of sweet tea, was now sitting on the arm of Peggy’s chair listening to the story of what had happened. Having spent the night and some of the morning at the hospital, Charlie had been discharged with a severely sprained wrist.

  ‘You were very courageous to rush inside, Jake,’ said Peggy. ‘That man could’ve hurt you.’

  ‘I didn’t think about that. I was furious at what he’d done to Charlie. I heard angry screams from the kitchen and expected him to be on the rampage. I intended confronting him and trying to reason with him. Fortunately, Bert had taken care of him. Harrison was holding his bleeding nose and moaning loudly when I found him hiding under the kitchen table. Bert was throwing plastic balls at him. He’s very intelligent, isn’t he? He whistled when he saw me and said “G’day mate.” Then he hurled a ball at Harrison’s face and cackled like a witch.

  ‘Bert’s my hero,’ said Charlie. ‘And you, of course,’ she continued, giving Jake’s arm a squeeze.’

  ‘That’s a nasty bruise he left on your face, my dear,’ said Peggy. ‘And how’s your wrist feeling?’r />
  ‘It’s bearable thanks, Peggy. The painkillers have helped. I was lucky it wasn’t broken. It’ll heal. I think it’ll take poor Harrison longer to recover from his ordeal with Bert.’

  ‘I’m sure the hospital will look after him and, more importantly, evaluate him. He needs to be in care. He’ll recover, in time,’ said Jake.

  ‘See, that’s what I like about you. You’re very caring,’ said Charlie. ‘I was so upset when Harrison told me he’d sent that email to you. You must have thought I was a right bitch.’

  ‘Not at all. I was puzzled because, firstly, it made no sense, given the events of the night before, and even though it was signed love Charlie I had a feeling it wasn’t genuine. Call it intuition. Then, Mercedes phoned me. She said you hadn’t turned up for the show and had sent a ridiculous email stating you were going away on an adventure. She was concerned. She knew it was completely out of character. You’re far too close to her to tell her such news in an email. She wondered if I’d seen you, or heard from you. I mentioned the incident with Rob and we came to the same conclusion, so I shot around. She phoned Ryan immediately after speaking to me. That’s why the police arrived so quickly. Harrison should have guessed your friends would be suspicious. I’m surprised he thought he could get away with that. Surely he knew you better than that.’

  ‘He didn’t know me at all. He was in love with a fantasy. Turns out he’d been warned before at his previous employment because he kept annoying a young nurse. He followed her about the hospital and repeatedly asked her out. He’d also been reported at university for hanging about girl’s residences late at night. I talked to Mercedes about it last night while I was waiting for an X-ray. She admitted that she’d told HR about Harrison pestering me. The manager did some digging around and discovered the complaints about him. Based on that information, they confronted him and he went wild. They didn’t actually fire him. He stormed off. It was shortly after that he disappeared. He moved in with his sick father who passed away recently. I guess that was the final straw. He was so desperate for someone to love.’