First Date: An absolutely jaw-dropping psychological thriller

by Sue Watson

  ‘Would you like me to follow you home and come in with you?’ Harry offers gallantly, but I know he’d rather poke out his eyes. He’s clearly exhausted – and I’d bet the last thing he wants to do is drive miles out of his way to watch me open my flat door.

  ‘Ahh, you’re sweet, Harry,’ I say. ‘Thanks, but I’ll be fine. Alex should be at mine around ten, so I won’t be on my own long.’

  ‘As long as you’re okay.’ He smiles. ‘We don’t want any encounters.’ He makes a crazy stabbing gesture, and I pretend to laugh, but I don’t think it’s funny. I’m scared to death.

  ‘Text me when you get home,’ Jas calls from her office. ‘I’ll only worry and turn up on your doorstep if you don’t, so it’s in your interests.’ She doesn’t look up from her computer, but her hand waves as I leave.

  Once home, I open the flat door, and for once the light goes on in the hall. Finally, the caretaker must have sorted it, and now I can see into every corner, around every doorway. I run up the stairs two at a time, and when I finally get inside my flat and lock the door behind me, I feel like weeping with relief. I know I’m being completely irrational, but I check the front door again before heading into the living room. I need a shower to wash everything away, but then I think of the shower scene in Psycho and decide to wait until Alex is here.

  I’m about to turn on the TV, when I hear a noise, a sort of flicking sound coming from… the bedroom? Yes, it’s coming from the bedroom. I remember the shuffling sound at the flat door not long ago. I pick up a bottle of wine off the side and, holding it close, reluctantly walk towards the sound. I stand in the hall, swaying, waiting, unable to control the shaking that starts in my feet and rumbles up to my chest and my head.

  Someone’s moving about in the bedroom. She’s opening and closing drawers, rooting through my stuff, probably trying to find things out about me. My fear is choked by rage, how dare she make me scared in my own home? But then I remember that she wants to hurt me, and probably has a better weapon than my bottle of wine. So I move away, and walking slowly backwards, I head for the front door. Every pore is on fire, my hair ends are tingling. Then, just at that moment, my phone rings. A brash, tinny sound pierces the silence, making me jump. I see Jas’s name flashing on the phone just as someone leaps out of the bedroom.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I don’t turn round to see who has emerged from my bedroom, I just scream as loud as I can, and make for the door.

  ‘Hannah, Hannah, it’s me!’

  I turn around to see him standing there, apparently as surprised as me.

  ‘Alex!’

  I almost collapse. I’m leaning against the wall in shock and relief, my phone still ringing, Jas’s name still flashing.

  ‘Jesus! You scared me,’ I say, almost falling into him. ‘How did you get in?’

  His arms are open and he hugs me. ‘I thought you’d be here when I arrived, I’ve been here since eight, where’ve you been?’

  ‘I worked late. How did you get in?’ I repeat. If Alex can get into my flat without keys that means someone else can.

  ‘Oh, I grabbed the caretaker guy. He was refitting the bulbs in the hall lights, so let me in through the front door. Then, when I couldn’t get in here, he unlocked it for me.’

  ‘I’ll have a word with him, he can’t be doing that.’

  ‘I told him I was your boyfriend. What is it with you about me being here?’

  ‘It’s not about you, it’s… For God’s sake, Alex, you just told me your ex-wife wants to hurt me. You should be pissed off it was so easy to get into my flat too.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, you’re right.’ He nods. ‘I finished earlier than planned.’

  ‘So I see. I thought you were Helen, come to take her revenge,’ I say, sounding like Jas, and wondering why Alex is behaving like there’s nothing to worry about. When he doesn’t reply, I ask, ‘Have you eaten?’

  ‘No, but all the stuff I bought from the deli is still in your fridge, I notice.’

  ‘Yeah, I didn’t want to waste it,’ I say, feeling a bit put out that he’s let himself in, checked my fridge and then my bedroom. But he’s my boyfriend, it’s okay, I suppose.

  ‘And I can see you’re already way ahead of me.’ He laughs, pointing to the bottle of red I’m still clutching.

  ‘Ah that wasn’t to drink, it was my weapon of choice.’

  ‘Your weapon?’

  ‘Against Helen,’ I say, suddenly feeling ridiculous. ‘I thought that was her in the bedroom.’

  ‘I haven’t heard from her all day, so maybe she’s got the message and is starting to move on.’

  ‘Surely not that quickly?’

  ‘That’s what Helen’s like.’ He laughs. ‘I told you, unpredictable – up one minute, down the next. But enough about her. You open your bottle, and I shall prepare a cheese board to out-cheese anything you’ve ever had before.’

  I grab some glasses from the side, while he throws together the deli items on a large wooden platter and walks in with it held aloft.

  ‘Ooh that looks delicious,’ I say, as he lays it down on the coffee table.

  I pour the wine. We sit close on the sofa, and he hands me a plate and a cheese knife and we tear at the French bread, spread the salty Normandy butter, and cut wedges of soft brie and tangy blue. I sit back to enjoy this unexpected cheese-and-wine evening, when my phone goes again, a shrill, annoying baby demanding attention.

  ‘Leave it,’ he says.

  But I pick it up to see who it is. ‘I have to answer, it’s Jas. I promised I’d text when I got in to let her know I arrived home safely. She rang before, she only wants to check I’m safe.’

  ‘I’m here. You’re safe, we don’t need her interfering,’ Alex says, irritated.

  ‘She’s my friend and we look out for each other.’ I’m unsettled by his apparent frustration, but instead of being pissed off with him because of his reaction, I find myself feeling irrationally pissed off with Jas for calling me and creating tension between me and Alex. ‘Jas, I’m fine, I’m fine,’ I say before she can speak.

  ‘Oh thank God! Harry and I were about to come over. I was so scared, babe, you said you’d text me as soon as you got home.’

  ‘Sorry, yes, I meant to…’

  ‘I said to Harry, why hasn’t she texted me? Where the hell is she? We were imagining all kinds of things.’

  Alex has now stopped eating. He’s not looking at me, but I know the phone call has spoiled things for him.

  ‘Yeah all good – thanks Jas.’ I don’t expand on anything. Alex says I tell her everything, so to prove to him that I don’t, I want to keep it very short.

  ‘Is something wrong? You don’t seem – yourself,’ she’s saying.

  I need her to get off the bloody phone. It’s been such a stressful few days, and I just want to heal over a bottle of wine and a bit of cheese with Alex. He’s now sitting waiting for me to finish my call and I don’t need her to keep questioning me.

  ‘No, I’m great thanks, love. Alex is here now, so all good,’ I say finally, and roll my eyes at him, which instantly feels like a betrayal to Jas.

  ‘Oh so Mr Alex is there, is he? I see, so that’s why you didn’t text, you can’t when your hands are full.’ She laughs loudly for too long.

  I’d usually laugh with her but Alex might think we’re laughing at him and if I don’t put the phone down soon, he’s going to be pissed off. I can see his point, Jas sometimes doesn’t know when to stop talking.

  ‘Look, Jas, I have to go,’ I say. ‘Alex and I are having something to eat. Thanks for calling, love.’

  ‘Okay, see ya,’ she says in a clipped voice and the line goes dead before I can say goodbye.

  ‘She knew I was trying to get her off the phone,’ I say. ‘I’ll feel bad about that all night now.’

  ‘Hannah, you spend every single day with her, and from what you say, she’d like to spend every night with you too.’

  ‘I think she just misses our friends
hip. I saw more of her before I met you, and she misses me.’

  ‘Oh I’m sorry, if you’d rather be with Jas…’ he says, playing the wounded boyfriend.

  ‘Don’t be silly, you know what I mean. I just sometimes feel torn between people. I hate hurting a friend.’

  ‘I know, and I don’t doubt that Jas has been a great friend, but don’t you think she manipulates you, just a little?’ he asks.

  ‘Perhaps – but I think you do too, with those puppy dog eyes.’ I smile, softening. ‘So stop being a baby, Alex, or I’m going to have to treat you like one,’ I say, and play at feeding him lumps of cheese that I force into his closed lips until we’re both laughing. ‘I know it pissed you off, but I had to take Jas’s call,’ I say. ‘My friends are important to me – and I want them to continue to be part of my life, even though I’ve fallen in love. I’m afraid you’re going to have to accept that if we’re going to be together.’

  He smiles. ‘Of course, I understand, I’m just looking out for you. I’m sure they’re all good friends, but I haven’t met them. Anything I say is based on what you’ve told me about them. I’m just sticking up for you. Sorry if that comes over in a different way though.’

  ‘I know you want me to be happy and my friends make me happy.’

  ‘But, from what I see, friends like Jas just use people like you. You’re kind and you want to look after everyone, but Jas will suck you dry. Trust me, I’ve known people like her – and she isn’t your friend.’

  ‘Oh, Alex, you’re a man, you wouldn’t understand the nuances of female friendship. Sometimes she gets on my nerves, yes she can be a bit flippant, a bit bossy, and sometimes I think she’s a bit envious – but no one’s perfect and a friendship is like any relationship: you have to appreciate the good bits and it’s only when the bad bits outweigh them that you have to get out. Jas doesn’t suck me dry, she makes me laugh, and we have a lot of fun together. We have a lot of history too. She isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I love her – sometimes I think she knows me better than I know myself.’

  ‘Mmm, well, I hope you’ll be very happy together,’ he says, taking my phone off the arm of the sofa and placing it out of reach on the coffee table. ‘And now, no more work, no more Jas – just me and you.’ He runs his hands up and down my back. We start kissing, and lie down on my shabby sofa, and just as I’m about to pull off his jumper, my phone buzzes. I hesitate, for just a moment, but the look on his face tells me this will ruin a beautiful moment, so I ignore the call.

  ‘Bye Jas,’ he says in the direction of the phone, as I continue to take off his clothes, and we go into the bedroom, leaving everything else behind. And for a little while I forget Jas, forget that I couldn’t get hold of Chloe Thomson today, and even forget that Alex’s estranged wife has a desire to hurt me.

  But later, when we’re in bed, Alex is fast asleep and I nip into the living room. I get my work phone from my bag to check it. Shit, Chloe Thomson’s called me three times. I thought she was avoiding me, but she must really need to speak to me if she’s called so many times – and this late. Thankfully, she’s left a message, so I listen.

  ‘Hannah, I need to tell you something… I don’t know what to do, don’t know who to trust. I can trust you, can’t I?’

  I call her straight back, but it goes to answerphone, so I leave her a message saying I’m here, please call me as soon as she can, it doesn’t matter what time it is. Then I grab my personal phone from the coffee table. An unknown number’s called twice, and left a long, wordless message.

  At first I think it’s a misdial, or a wrong number, and someone’s left it by mistake. But when I listen again, I can hear heavy breathing – and then I swear I hear whispered, distorted words.

  ‘Did the earth move, bitch?’

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I immediately run back into the bedroom and wake Alex to get him to listen. He rolls over, half asleep, and not really in the mood, but I play the voicemail and thrust the phone at him.

  ‘Do you think it might be her?’ I ask, as he lies on his back, the phone at his ear.

  He shrugs. ‘To be honest, I can barely hear it – and I’m not even sure what the voice is saying, Hannah.’

  ‘You must be able to hear that,’ I say, desperate for him to agree I heard correctly. ‘Did the earth move, bitch?’

  I play it again. He looks at me doubtfully, and I play it again and again, but now I’m doubting myself and each time it sounds less like words.

  Alex props himself up on the pillows, and listens again, but pulling the phone away from his ear, he shakes his head. ‘I honestly can’t hear it properly.’

  ‘Oh Alex,’ I say, snatching the phone off him. ‘I’m sure it’s her,’ I hiss, feeling a little foolish. Okay, the voice is distorted, and in theory it could be anyone, but who else would it be but Helen? Then again, how did she get my number?

  ‘Alex, when you met her, did you ever leave your phone on the table and go to the bar?’

  ‘I don’t remember.’ He sighs. ‘I wish I’d never told you. You’ve been on edge ever since.’

  ‘Of course I’m on edge – what do you expect? You’ve frightened me to death saying, “don’t engage with her” and “be careful”.’

  ‘I still don’t think it would be wise for you to engage with her. But what she said – I mean, it was said in anger.’

  ‘She made it clear to you that she wanted to hurt me – and now all this weirdness has started. That can’t be a coincidence, Alex,’ I say, aware I’m sounding paranoid, but feeling quite justified. ‘A woman scorned…’ I murmur.

  ‘I just think we need to be vigilant, and not take any risks. If you’re going somewhere, I’ll drive you and pick you up, and you just need to let me know where you are at all times. And remember, I still have her location on my phone, so even if she did try something, I could be there in minutes.’

  I’m about to protest that it would only take minutes for her to do something terrible, but he rolls over, with his back now to me. I feel abandoned, it’s Alex who brought this fear into my life, and now he’s acting like there’s nothing to worry about.

  I hear his breathing slow as he falls back to sleep and I’m left sitting on the end of the bed, alone, confused and angry.

  I didn’t go back to bed last night. After the phone message and the missed calls from Chloe, I couldn’t sleep. I called her back several times, but she didn’t answer. I listened to the message again, but freaked myself out, so made some coffee and stayed up until it was time to go to work. I left earlier than necessary because I didn’t want to see Alex, I needed some space. I left a note asking him to close the door behind him, as he doesn’t have a key.

  Once at work, I finally managed to get in touch with Chloe’s mother, who told me, ‘She’s left home.’ Just like that. I’m not sure I believed her but, either way, I’m concerned for Chloe’s safety, and called a contact at the police. Since then, I’ve spent most of the morning at the police station filling in forms and explaining my concerns for Chloe. I’m not convinced they are as worried as me about a troubled teen leaving home, especially as it isn’t the first time, but I can’t help feeling there’s more going on.

  ‘She called me last night, said she had something to tell me,’ I say to the duty officer, ‘that she didn’t know who to trust.’

  Chloe’s only sixteen but has a reputation already with the local police, and they don’t see her running away as anything new, or dangerous. But I do. She talked about trust, and I understand that, she’s run away from home because there’s conflict with her mother, presumably over what’s been happening with her mother’s boyfriend. She obviously wants to talk to someone about it. I’ve let her down, I should have been there for her. No wonder she doesn’t know who to trust any more.

  Back at the office, I wait for news of Chloe and blame myself for not being at the other end of the phone when she called.

  ‘Don’t beat yourself up, babe,’ Jas says. Harry offers e
qually reassuring words.

  ‘But she wanted to tell me something, and Chloe rarely talks, she seems scared to do so.’

  Jas smiles. ‘I’m sure she’ll talk when she’s ready. Don’t worry too much. Chloe Thomson can probably look after herself for a night or two; she has before.’

  To take my mind off one of my problems, I move to the other and ask my colleagues to listen to the rasping message on my phone.

  ‘Is that a woman’s voice?’ I ask, and play it on speaker.

  Sameera looks freaked out, and Jas gasps in horror, loving the drama.

  ‘It sounds like a joke to me, someone’s pranking you,’ Harry says, going back to his screen.

  ‘I think it’s probably a woman,’ Jas says, ‘and it doesn’t sound like a joke to me,’ she adds, giving Harry a filthy look for not taking it seriously. I understand what he’s saying, the rasping voice sounds really dramatic, but I’m with Jas that this is no joke.

  I try to concentrate on work, but it isn’t easy, and later, when my phone rings, I jump. Seeing an unknown number, I’m tempted to leave it, but then I remember Chloe and pick up quickly. It is her, thank goodness.

  Her plaintive voice on the other end of the phone cuts right through me. ‘Hannah? Hannah is that you? I’ve been ringing…’

  ‘I know, Chloe – and I’m so sorry. Where are you? I’ve been so worried, love,’ I say, wanting her to know that someone cares.

  She sounds tearful, and can barely get words out. I ask her if this is about her mum’s boyfriend.

  ‘Pete’s not… Mum says I can’t… It’s shit, everything’s shit and I want to die.’

  I look at Jas and Harry, who look back at me with concern.

  It’s okay, love,’ I say. ‘Where are you?’

  ‘I’m near the river…’