by Jo Duchemin
“All sorted,” Sam returned from the basement looking triumphant.
“What was wrong?” the fat man asked.
“Someone had left the basement door open, a gust of wind must have blown the pilot light out. Human error – not any problems with defective equipment. You should be running at normal temperature within half an hour.”
They dispersed quickly. I turned to Sam.
“The bike shed roof has been damaged by vandals, it needs to be repaired, I said I’d try to make sure it was done quickly.”
“I heard, I was listening to you – I’ve never seen anyone calm down an angry crowd so quickly – you’re even better at it than your dad was.”
I smiled. “Do you think he’d be proud?”
“I know he would, Princess.”
With Sam’s driving, we arrived quickly back at the office. It was around lunchtime and he suggested ordering in some pizza for lunch, using it as another excuse to wind Andrea up.
“Andrea, could you phone Papa Gigi’s and order in some lunch – we’re celebrating Claudia’s first call out, which she handled impressively, I might add.”
Andrea glowered at me and grabbed a notepad and a pen. “Certainly, Mr Acton, what shall I order?”
“I’ll go for a pepperoni pizza. What do you want, Claudia?”
“A cheese feast would be lovely, thank you. Andrea, what did you fancy?”
Her eyes flashed to Sam. “I’m fine, thank you,” Andrea replied.
“We will wait in my office,” Sam said.
We were sitting down, Sam showing me how to send a repair request to the maintenance department, when the intercom buzzed, making us both jump.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Mr Acton, but there’s someone here to see Miss Lee.” Andrea’s put-out voice sounded distorted through the speaker on the desk.
“That’ll be Jade with the scarf and gloves,” I said, getting up and walking to the door. Sam smiled at me as I left.
“Don’t be gone too long, Miss Lee.”
I walked across the PA’s office, thinking about how good it felt to be able to help at the call out this morning. It certainly beat moping about at home.
As I walked into the reception area, I immediately saw that something was wrong. No Jade. No Andrea. Just Tim. My heart accelerated and I started debating what to do. I didn’t have long to think, he was walking towards me.
“Claudia,” he said, approaching me. I took a step away from him and he stopped moving, but his eyes never left my face.
“What are you doing here?”
“I stole Jade’s phone.” He took another step towards me, as I took a parallel step away. My mind, clearly going crazy with fear, thought how we looked like some kind of dance or a game of chess.
“You were texting me.” I couldn’t believe I’d been so stupid.
“I had to see you.”
“Where’s Andrea?”
“I told her I was your boyfriend and she smiled and excused herself, said she had an urgent message for someone.” He took another step towards me, trapping me in the corner of the room.
“Leave me alone,” I summoned up all my bravado, knowing the façade wasn’t working as I was trembling so much.
His eyes left my face for an instant as he pretended to consider my words. “No, don’t want to.”
“You’re mad,” I whispered. He took another step towards me and I could smell alcohol on his breath; strong, cheap spirits.
“You’ve driven me mad, Claudia. Do you know I’ve been waiting for the police to turn up and arrest me for attempted rape? Every knock on the door, I thought it was them.” He leaned closer to me and I felt the wall against my back. “I’m not going to prison over you, little bitch.”
“I wasn’t going to report you.” I shrank back, away from the stench of his foul breath. I could also smell body odour – he hadn’t washed in days. He leaned his body against mine, crushing me against the wall.
“I doubt you’d have even been worth it,” he licked his lips, an insane grin on his face, and I knew he’d taken more than just alcohol to get into this state, “but, I’d give it a try,” he put a grubby finger on my face and traced it down to my lips, “always wanted to have a virgin.”
Suddenly, the weight of him crushing me lifted and I could breathe again. I collapsed against the wall, sliding down to the floor, trying to make sense of what had happened. Sam was fighting Tim, landing a swift punch to Tim’s nose, making it bleed. Tim, knowing he was going to be beaten, ran out of the door. Andrea reappeared in the doorway leading to the other offices, frozen to the spot.
“Andrea, call the police!” Sam yelled at Andrea, who had turned ghostly pale. He ran over to me and pulled me up onto one of the chairs, holding me against him and rocking me. “Claudia, are you OK?”
I nodded, too shocked to speak.
“Why didn’t you scream for help?”
“It all happened so quickly,” I said.
Andrea rushed over with a blanket and a cup of tea. “Put this around her, she’s probably going into shock. The police are on their way.” It was the kindest thing she’d done for me.
“Andrea, lock the door, we don’t want that lunatic coming back.”
As I watched Andrea locking the door, I noticed some of the other staff members filtering down to the reception area to find out what the commotion was. Andrea spoke to them and I saw some of them look over at me, before heading back to their desks. Sam wrapped the blanket around me and then forced me to drink the tea.
“Claudia, are you sure you’re OK? He didn’t hurt you?”
“I’m fine, just a bit shaken.” I sipped the tea, trying to dislodge the lump that had formed in my throat.
“Poor girl,” he said, pulling me closer to him, “poor, poor girl.”
We watched the police car pull into the car park and Andrea rushed to let them in. They came straight over to me and started taking my statement. I was glad to see that they were not the same policemen that had told me about my parents’ crash.
“Did you know the man that attacked you, Miss Lee?” asked one of the policemen.
“Yes, well, he didn’t hit me or anything. His name is Tim Horman, he’s my friend’s brother.”
“I’ll run his name through the system, see if we get anything come up,” the other officer said, walking outside for privacy. I told the first policeman as much about both incidents as I could. Sam stayed with me the whole time, keeping an arm securely around my back.
The two policemen conferred together, out of my earshot for a few minutes, and then they both returned and sat facing me.
“It would appear,” one of them said, “that Mr Horman has been a busy boy. He was arrested twice in Leicester on suspicion of attempted rape, but both times there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him.”
“Leicester?” Sam enquired.
“It’s where he went to university,” I replied and the policeman nodded.
“Furthermore, there was an incident last weekend whereby a sixteen year old girl was date raped – her attacker gave her a false name and address, but he fits the description of Horman,” the policeman paused. I shuddered, thinking I hadn’t overreacted at all.
The other policeman started speaking: “Our officers are searching for him now, but Miss Lee, we think it would be wise if you don’t stay at your home tonight. Is there somewhere you can stay? Somewhere he won’t know?”
“My aunt’s house – I don’t know the train times or anything,” I whispered.
“I’ll drive you there,” Sam said.
“But it’s two hours away.”
“Like I’d let you go anywhere on your own right now,” Sam said, rubbing my back.
The policemen left to continue their investigation and Sam drove me to my house. He came in with me and waited patiently
while I packed my suitcase and rang Sandra. She was surprised I was coming to see her early and I didn’t want to mention the unfortunate incidents to her, so I just said a friend had offered to drive me there instead of getting the train.
My suitcase and the presents I’d bought were a tight fit in the boot of Sam’s convertible but we managed. Sam knew the way to the town where Aunt Sandra lived, so I would only have to navigate for the last part of the journey. I tried to stay awake for the journey, but my eyelids grew heavy looking out onto the dark motorway. My yawns didn’t escape Sam’s attention.
“Claudia, you must be exhausted, why don’t you have a little rest?”
“I’m fine, really, it’s just been a long day. Besides, you’re going to have the return journey without anyone to talk to, I should really keep you entertained.” I felt terrible for the length of journey he’d offered to take me on.
“Who says you don’t entertain me when you sleep?”
“When have you seen me sleep?”
“Yesterday, in the car, after our meal out – you were spark out!” Sam smiled.
“What did I do?” I didn’t really want to know; it could only be embarrassing.
“You snored a bit; cute, little, princess snores. Oh, and don’t you go thinking that I missed it when you were checking the corners of your mouth for drool!”
I hid my face in my hands, mortified to have been caught in such an embarrassing position. “I’m never going to sleep again!”
He laughed. It sounded nice to hear after such a harrowing day.
I tried to stay awake for a few more miles, but as we sped away from the troubles of the day, I could fight the tiredness no longer. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was Sam saying “Sweet dreams, Princess.”
Chapter 28
Sam gently woke me up on the outskirts of Aunt Sandra’s town. I directed him to her house, remembering the route easily from when I’d visited with my parents. Aunt Sandra’s house was originally built in the Victorian era, but the semi-detached residence had been given a fair few extensions and improvements when my father had been alive to advise on the building work. It was a friendly looking house, with its bright red door and mosaic path. I’d always been given a warm welcome here.
Aunt Sandra had opened the front door and was hurrying down the garden path before I’d even opened the car door. Sam got out and started unloading my possessions from the boot. Sandra wrapped me up into a big bear hug of a cuddle.
“Aunt Sandra, this is Sam, he was Dad’s business partner,” I said and they shook hands.
“Pleased to meet you, thanks for driving Claudia here. Were you on your way somewhere else?” Sandra asked Sam. Uncle Ned came out to help carry in the bags and we all made our way into the house.
“No, I just didn’t like the idea of Claudia getting the train on her own,” Sam said.
Aunt Sandra looked at my face in the light, immediately asking “What’s wrong?”
“OK,” I started to explain, “don’t panic, I’m fine, but I couldn’t stay at home tonight, and Sam kindly offered to drive me here.”
“What are you talking about? What’s wrong with your house?” Sandra couldn’t hide her panic, her voice rising in a direct correlation to her anxiety.
“Claudia was attacked today, the man is still on the run and he knows where she lives. But you can see for yourselves, she’s fine, she’s been so brave.” Sam used the reassuring tone he’d used with the residents on the call out.
“You were attacked? Why didn’t you tell me?” Sandra pulled me into another hug. I noticed her eldest daughter, Rachel, standing at the top of the stairs, watching the situation in the hall.
“Hi, Rachel,” I said, alerting the others to her presence. I didn’t want to discuss any of the day’s events with my cousins listening. “I’ll tell you about it later, Sandra.”
“I’d better head off,” Sam said.
“I’ll see you out,” I muttered, as Sandra ushered Rachel back to bed and Ned picked up my suitcase to take it up to the guest room. He struggled with the weight of it, sounding puffed out after two steps.
I followed Sam out to his car. I hoped he wouldn’t be too tired on his way home. He reached into his jacket pocket and, after a bit of searching, pulled out a business card which he firmly placed into the palm of my hand.
“Call me, if you need anything. Anything at all. In fact, make sure you send me your number, so that I can check you’re OK.” He looked reluctant to leave me.
I nodded. “I’m so sorry you have such a long drive home.”
“It doesn’t matter, as long as you’re safe.”
I noticed that he was still holding on to my hand. He looked down and let go of me, even though I hadn’t said anything.
“Thank you.”
“Anything for Princess Claudia,” he gave me a smile as he got into the car. I waved as he drove away and returned to explain everything to my aunt.
Sandra was waiting at the door, watching me.
“Cup of tea?”
I nodded.
“The kids are all in bed, start from the beginning.” Sandra said. I followed her into the kitchen and explained everything that had occurred. She only asked one question I hadn’t expected:
“Does Marty know what happened?”
The question threw me – I realised that so much had happened to me during the day that I’d only fleetingly thought of Marty. Suddenly, I had a physical pain of longing for him. I also had a pang of guilt. Partly for not pining for him, but mostly for letting Sam look after me. If Marty had been watching, it would have been torture for him to observe another man protecting me. Sandra was waiting for a response.
“I haven’t told him. He’d hate himself for not being here to protect me.”
“It looks like Sam did a good job in his absence.”
“He’s been great,” I could hear the sadness, the betrayal in my voice.
“But you still miss Marty.”
I nodded.
“Is there anything going on between you and Sam?”
I shook my head, too upset to try speaking.
“Probably a good job – he’s old enough to be your father.”
I smiled at her. Exhaustion was catching up with me.
“Let me show you the new, improved guest room – you look shattered.”
I followed her up the stairs, to the small box room with a single bed. It smelt of fresh paint. Aunt Sandra left me to my thoughts and I tumbled into a deep sleep.
I woke up feeling confused, unsure of my location, and it took me a few moments to realise that I was in the guest room. There was a light tapping at the door and I could hear my cousins getting excited in the hallway. I decided to play along.
“I can hear some scratching outside my bedroom, I wonder what it could be? Is it some little mice?”
“No!” came the collective response from the other side of the door.
“Is it some little kittens?”
“No!”
“Is it some little monsters?”
“Yes!”
They tumbled in as I opened the door and I was surrounded by cuddles, sticky hands and sloppy kisses. For the first time since Marty had left, I felt truly happy and decided immediately to immerse myself fully in activities with the children for the time I would be staying here. I realised I had no idea how long that might be and wondered if the police had managed to catch up with Tim yet.
I sent the children down to make me breakfast and quickly checked my phone. There were no calls from the police, so I assumed they would have no news for me. I remembered Sam asking me to make sure he got my number, so I found his business card and sent a quick message to his phone:
Hi Sam, it’s Claudia. I hope the drive back wasn’t awful. Thank you again for all your help. I really appreciate it.<
br />
I left my phone in the room and went down to the kitchen. The children made me toast with both strawberry jam and marmite on it, but I ate it anyway, just to make them laugh. It tasted disgusting. I talked to them about the presents they wanted for Christmas and what they’d bought for their parents. I discovered they hadn’t wrapped their gifts yet and came up with a plan to fill up our afternoon.
Everyone seemed in good spirits, although I noticed Sandra glancing at me with a worried expression on her face from time to time. I popped to the newsagent to buy some supplies for my plan for the afternoon and then checked my phone before lunch. I had missed a call from the police, but they’d left a voicemail. I listened to it, sitting on the edge of the bed in the guest room. The room was warm, but I shivered whilst absorbing the message. Tim had been arrested trying to break into my house in the middle of the night. He was now in police custody. I also had a text message from Sam:
I’ve now added your number to my contacts – you are labelled Princess Claudia! The drive was fine, seemed quicker without the weight of your suitcase! How are you feeling today? X
Without wanting to, I found myself dissecting his message, the way I would with my friends when we were trying to work out if a guy was interested or not: he’s used a lot of exclamation marks, he’s trying to come across as funny; he ended with a question so that you have to reply; he put a kiss on the end. My knowledge of men was limited, admittedly, but I knew enough to know these were strong indications that he was interested in me. I hated the thought of hurting him when he’d been so kind to me, but how could he possibly compare to Marty? Perhaps if the pain of Marty’s departure wasn’t so raw, I might be able to think about kissing someone else, but right now it seemed like an alien concept. My cousins burst into the room, breaking me out of my inner monologue.
“Claudy, Mum says lunch is ready and she said to tell you that she cooked it this time.”