by S L Beaumont
“See something you like?” I teased.
“Oh, yeah, come here,” he said in a husky voice, crooking his finger at me.
“Hang on,” I replied, tapping a reply to Colin.
“You don’t want me to have to come and get you.” Will’s voice had taken on a teasing, challenging tone.
“I don’t?” I replied, then shrieked as he leapt up, grabbed me around the waist and gently threw me on the bed.
“Okay, so maybe I do,” I said as he braced himself over me.
Chapter 14
December 22
I woke with a start and glanced at the bedside clock. Its bright red digits told me that it was three am. I could hear Colin talking in the next room.
I sat up and rubbed at my eyes, my bladder urging me to get up and use the bathroom. Half-asleep, I obliged.
A line of light cut across the hall carpet from the half-opened study door as I stumbled to the bathroom. I could hear Colin talking in a harsh whisper.
“Yes, I understand, but the timing’s not right. If we wait a little longer…”
I groaned. Didn’t he ever switch off?
“I can’t risk another security breach right now. Especially when I’m not certain that we really found out who was behind the last one. We don’t need the cops sniffing around.”
It was as though a bucket of cold water had been tossed over me. I was wide awake now. I paused at the study door and listened. Almost immediately the door was flung open and Colin stood towering over me, his eyes blazing with anger and suspicion.
“What are you doing?”
I jumped backwards. “Just going to the bathroom,” I mumbled, trying to sound half asleep. “I heard voices.”
As I padded down the hall to the bathroom, I could feel his eyes boring into me. I closed the door behind me and leaned against it, my heart beating fast. The shine from the streetlight outside illuminated the bathroom with an eerie glow. I took my time, trying to compose myself. What the hell was going on? In that moment, I was actually frightened of Colin, frightened of my own husband.
Chapter 15
December 26
Mum leaned across the kitchen table and switched off the news report on the radio. “I worry so much with you two living in London. I would feel so much happier if those awful terrorists were caught.”
“It’s fine, Mum. There’s a lot more police on the streets now. In fact, it’s probably safer than it’s ever been,” I replied. “Don’t you think, Col?”
Colin was working his way through a large plate of bacon, eggs, black pudding and toast that my mother had cooked for him. He glanced up and grunted.
“At least you’ve both been here for Christmas and not there,” Mum continued. “Although it was not the same without…”
“I know, Mum.” I reached across the table and gave her hand a squeeze.
Colin scraped his chair back across the wooden floor and stood up, draining the remains of his cup of tea as he did so.
“Thanks, Eileen. Jess, I’m going to make a move,” he said.
“Already?” I looked up, surprised. “I thought you weren’t going over to the coast until tomorrow,” I said. “We’ve only been in Edinburgh for a day.”
“Everyone is gathering in Strathgarvan today, so I need to be there too.”
“Oh. I’d hoped we could spend today doing something together, here,” I replied.
He looked at me in surprise. “Maybe next time, Jess.” He left the room and a few seconds later we heard him bounding up the stairs.
“Well, we’ll just have to do something together instead, love,” Mum said in a breezy voice, clearing Colin’s discarded plate from the table. “The Boxing Day sales start today.”
“How anyone wants to shop again after the madness of Christmas is beyond me,” I muttered, resigning myself to a day trailing around after my shopaholic mother.
Colin ran back down the stairs a few minutes later carrying his bag. He dropped it at the foot of the stairs and reached for his coat, which was hanging on a hook on the wall by the front door.
“I’ll see you back in London, Jess,” he said, walking back into the kitchen and kissing the top of my head.
“Okay,” I said in a resigned voice. I’d learned long ago that once Colin had made up his mind to do something, there was no dissuading him.
“What are you two doing for New Year?” Mum asked.
“I always have Hogmanay with the lads. We don’t get to see each other very often now, so we’ve made a pact to always see in the New Year together,” Colin said.
“You should take Jessica one of these days. You’ve got a cottage there, haven’t you, Colin? Have you even seen it, love?” Mum asked turning to me.
“No,” I replied, not wanting to get into the usual argument with Colin. It was his place, bought before he met me; his, not mine, and definitely not ours.
“It’s pretty rustic, Eileen. Not much fun for a city girl like Jess. Anyway, I’ll see ya.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Thanks again for Christmas.”
***
Colin was back, when I arrived home from work on January 3rd. I tripped over an enormous pile of dirty smelly clothes on the floor in the kitchen in front of the washing machine.
“These won’t wash themselves,” I called.
“Jess, I’m really busy, can you do it?” he called from the study.
I shook my head. “Ah, no. I’ve just come home from a long day at work. It’s not my bloody washing.”
The sound of footsteps followed and Colin appeared in the doorway, a bottle of beer dangling from his fingers. He leaned against the frame and scowled at me.
I nodded towards the beer. “Really busy, then.”
Colin pushed off the door frame and came towards me. “God, you can be such a bitch.”
I gaped at him, not believing what I was hearing. “Yeah, that really makes me want to do your laundry.” I tried to step past him, but he held his place in the small kitchen. “Excuse me.”
Colin glared at me for several long seconds before stepping aside. Taking a deep breath, I continued to the bedroom and changed out of my work suit and into jeans and a jumper. When I returned to the kitchen, the washing was turning about in the machine and the study door was closed once again.
Chapter 16
January 4
My phone rang the following morning as I analyzed the test results from a proposed new hedging strategy. The results weren’t what we’d expected, so further work was going to be required which was frustrating.
“Jess, are you free tonight? Do you want to come and see the new warehouse? Everything is finally up and running,” Colin said.
I hesitated. Was this his way of apologizing? He hadn’t spoken a word to me since the incident in the kitchen the previous evening. To date, every overture that I made to come and see progress on the new building had been met with obstacles, so this was unexpected.
“Yeah, okay,” I said. “I could get there around six-thirty.”
***
I grabbed an afternoon coffee with Marie in the lobby café. It was a miserable day outside with the rain lashing down, and it seemed that everyone had decided not to leave the building for their coffee break and as a result most of the tables were full. We took our cups to a two-seater couch in the far corner. Marie crossed one long leg over another and leaned towards me, concern etched into her features.
“Jess, sweetie, is everything okay?” she asked. “It’s more than just missing your dad isn’t it?”
I sighed as tears smarted in my eyes.
“Colin and I have a stupid argument last night about me not doing his washing when he got back from holiday.”
“That sounds fair enough. It’s not your washing.”
“The trouble is it’s not the first time we’ve had words by any stretch. We’re both niggly with each other more and more these days. It feels like we’re growing apart. He never wants to go out or socialize with any of my friends. I mean
, even my mum has noticed that something isn’t right between us.”
“Aw, Jess, I’m sorry,” Marie said reaching out and giving my hand a squeeze. “I have to say, it was a little awkward when he arrived at your flat that night after we helped you move in a couple of months back.”
“I know and I’m sorry about that. Surely he must have realized that when he suddenly became unavailable due to some business emergency, that I would call on you, Jimmy and Dave to help me move,” I said.
“I guess we were a bit merry sitting on the floor in your front room eating pizza and drinking wine out of coffee cups,” she laughed at the memory.
“Yeah, I couldn’t find any wine glasses for days,” I said, smiling. But my smile turned to a grimace. “We argued after you left. The first night in our new home should have been magical, but it was marred by his nasty words and criticism of the flat. Things seemed to have been going downhill since then.”
“Aw, Jess, I didn’t know this was going on, you should have said something.”
“I don’t think I was ready to say out loud what I was thinking inside,” I said.
She nodded, understanding.
“It sounds really awful to say, but sometimes I wonder if I jumped into marrying him too quickly after university, rather than taking the time to grow up and find out who I was and what I wanted out of my life,” I continued.
“That’s something you’ll never know, but surely you can work those things out together.”
“You would think so but we seem to only ever move to his tune. I’m beginning to feel like I’m no longer content to be a bit player in my life, I need to take charge and that includes sorting out where, if anywhere, my marriage is going.”
“I figured that something wasn’t right, but I didn’t realize it was this bad,” Marie said.
“I didn’t either. I’m going to see his new warehouse tonight and after that I’m going to have a talk to him about us.”
“Good luck. Call me after if you need to talk.”
***
I left the office at a quarter to six. It was already dark and cold, so I was grateful that I’d put a warm hat in my bag that morning. I jumped into a taxi that was idling at the side entrance to my office.
“Limehouse please, Violet Road at the canal end.”
I sat back as the taxi driver wove his way among the rush hour traffic. The deeper we drove into the East End, the less familiar the area became. The new apartment buildings and cool warehouse renovations gave way to dingier buildings, their sides sprayed with graffiti. We passed several tall council estate blocks lined up next to one another. A group of youths was hanging around the front entrance of one of the towers kicking a ball. We drove on a little further.
“I’m gonna have to drop you here, love. The road’s closed up ahead with road works,” the driver said pulling over.
“Okay,” I hesitated. “I think I can find my way from here.”
I paid him and climbed out. The taxi did a U-turn and roared away back in the direction that we’d come and I was left standing on a bridge overlooking the canal. While we’d been driving it had started to rain again. I put up my umbrella and pulled out my phone to call Colin whilst looking around trying to get my bearings.
I was near a small block of rundown shops including several takeaway food outlets, a bottle store and a 7-Eleven with heavy metal bars on its windows. The road up ahead was blocked with a large bulldozer and a heap of orange traffic cones. Flashing yellow lights illuminated a detour sign pointing to a side road. A couple of homeless men sat wrapped in blankets under an overhang at the end of the bridge. Apart from the odd car, the street was almost deserted with very few pedestrians. I shivered and wrapped my coat a little tighter around me and listened to the engaged signal on Colin’s phone. I cursed under my breath and dialed again as one of the homeless men stood and approached me.
“Spare some change, love?” he asked, his beery, stale breath enveloping me.
I screwed up my nose and shook my head. “No, sorry.”
He shuffled back to his position, but the intrusion unsettled me. Colin’s mobile rang this time before going to voicemail. I left a message.
“Colin, I’m on the bridge over the canal on Violet Road. I know I’m close, but I don’t know where to go from here. Can you come to meet me?”
I heard voices and glanced behind me. The homeless man was complaining to his companion that I wouldn’t give him any money. They both glared at me and started to rise.
I looked about; there was nobody around and the little shops didn’t look at all inviting.
I crossed over and began walking down the road in the general direction of Colin’s warehouse. I knew it backed onto the canal, so it had to be down one of these side streets. I glanced over my shoulder. The two men were standing watching me. The rain had eased to a light mist and I felt uneasy as I stepped off the curb to cross the intersection. Damn it. Walking after dark in an area that I didn’t know was just stupid. Where the hell was Colin? I speed-dialed his number as I walked the next block, continuing to glance over my shoulder to make sure that I wasn’t being followed. The street was still deserted, but I had the creepy feeling of being watched. I told myself to stop being paranoid, as once again Colin’s voice message came on. I pressed end without leaving a message, and I paused before turning down a side street. I checked the map function on my phone. If I was correct, his building was one block down and one block along, bordering the canal.
The side street was even quieter. Actually, it was more of a single lane alleyway than a street. There were only a few street lights and those that were working flickered on and off, like faulty neon signs casting menacing shadows across the lane. I was really beginning to feel scared now. There were no houses or shops along this street, just three- and four-story red-brick warehouses and factories. Metal walkways joining the building’s upper levels crossed above my head. There were no cars either. Shit, shit, shit, this was stupid. I could see the canal up ahead, but just before I reached the end of the alleyway, I heard loud voices and running footsteps. The slap of shoes on the wet road echoed among the buildings. I collapsed my umbrella and flattened myself into the nearest doorway, away from the dull light pooling from the closest flickering streetlamp.
The voices were incoherent but getting louder and sounded angry. A man went racing past the corner as though the hounds of hell were on his tail. A few seconds later, I realized with a sick feeling that they were. Three large men were chasing him, shouting insults. One of the men launched himself forward and tackled the fleeing man and brought him down. His head hit the wet road with a sickening crack. I gasped and covered my mouth as I watched the other men lay into the man now lying prone on the ground, with feet and fists. He curled himself into the fetal position and covered his head with his arms, unable to defend himself.
I fumbled in my pocket for my phone to call the police, when strong hands clamped down on my arms. I opened my mouth to scream, but the sound caught in my throat when I saw it was Colin.
“What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were getting a cab,” he demanded.
“The taxi had to drop me off because of the road works. We have to help that man,” I whispered, turning to look.
Colin grabbed my chin and forced my face back around to him. “Don’t look. There’s nothing we can do. Shit, Jess, you can’t walk around here alone after dark.”
“But shouldn’t we call the police?” I asked in a shaky voice.
Colin shook his head and pulled me out of the doorway leading me back along the street in the direction that I had come. I could hear the man groaning behind me and the nauseating smack of flesh on flesh. I glanced over my shoulder at the exact moment one of the attackers looked in our direction. He was a large man wearing dark clothes and a beanie. He briefly made eye contact with me before shifting his gaze to Colin. I froze, terrified. He nodded once in our direction and returned to beating the man, who had stopped moaning and now lay m
otionless. I glanced back at Colin, who returned the acknowledgment with the slightest incline of his head. I didn’t think that my heart could beat any faster, but at that point it sped up.
I allowed Colin to lead me back up the alley to the main road, where his car was now parked. He released me as he pulled his keys from his pocket and pressed a button to unlock the door. I wobbled before leaning over and vomiting in the gutter.
“Get in,” Colin said in a rough voice.
I sucked in several deep breaths and wiped the back of my hand across my mouth before allowing him to help me into the passenger seat. I stared straight ahead as we sped away down the road, away from the scene.
“Your building….?” I began.
“Another time.”
Chapter 17
January 5
I scanned the news online the next day for any report on the beaten man, but found nothing. What had become of him? I felt guilty for having done nothing to stop the beating. But what could I have done? Colin refused to discuss it when we got home. To ease my guilt, I called the anonymous police crime watch line from a pay phone in the station near work during the morning and reported what I had seen, without mentioning Colin in any way.
I bumped into Marie as I returned to the office.
“How did last night go?”
I shook my head. “The timing wasn’t right.”
“Listen, I’m late for a meeting, but do you want to meet up after work?” she asked.
“I can’t tonight,” I hedged.
“Okay,” Marie said. “I’m here whenever you need me.”
***
I was jumpy and distracted when Will and I had lunch together that day. He knew something was up, but didn’t press me to explain.
“What was Colin’s new warehouse like?” he asked between mouthfuls of sushi.