This Man

I’m not compelled to scream at him to stop, even though he looks like he could possibly kill him. I walk out of The Manor and get into my car. Kate flies down the steps, racing towards me. She jumps in but doesn’t say a word. When we reach the gates, they open without me stopping. I’m surprised – I was preparing to ram them down.

‘Sam,’ Kate says when I look at her. ‘He said we’re better off out of here.’

I hadn’t considered, until now, that all of this is news to Kate as well. She seems ever the laid back, take it in her stride, Kate.

I, however, feel like I’m freefalling into Hell.

Chapter 37

I walk through Kate’s front door and straight upstairs to the flat like a zombie.

Bless Kate. She makes no attempt to try and extract more information from me. Instead, she lets me fall onto the sofa in a tear stained heap and brings me a cup of tea.

My eyes widen when the front door slams. Kate runs out to the banister. ‘It’s just Sam.’ she reassures me as she comes back into the lounge.

‘He has a key?’ I ask. Kate shrugs it off, but this small snippet of news has me smiling to myself. Will she take it back in light of this new found knowledge?

My phone rings again and I reject the call…again.

Sam steams into the lounge, looking as nervous as he did at The Manor. We both look up at him as he does a little tennis spectator impression, flicking his eyes from me to Kate and back again a few times.

Stalking over to Kate, he all but hauls her out of the lounge by her elbow. ‘We need to talk.’ he says urgently. I crane my neck around, watching as he practically throws her into her bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

I lie on the sofa, my tea resting on my stomach, and close my eyes. They don’t stay shut for long. Mental images of Jesse are imprinted on my brain, and with my eyes closed, there’s no other visual distraction, so they are all the more clearer. I’m never going to be able to sleep again. My phone starts again. Reaching down, I stab the reject button, staring up at the swirly artex ceiling of the lounge.

I’ve never felt pain like this before. It’s excruciating and way beyond fixable. He owns a f**king sex club? Why? Why couldn’t he be a banker or a financial advisor? Or…a hotel owner… I knew there was something wrong, something dangerous. Why didn’t I take a few moments to try and gather my senses? I know exactly why – because I wasn’t allowed to, I wasn’t given a chance to.

I sit up when I hear Kate’s high shrill travel across the landing, followed by Sam’s placating tones trying to calm her down. She flies out of her room with Sam in tow. He’s struggling to pull her back.

‘Get your f**king hands off me, Samuel. She needs to know.’

‘Wait a minute…Kate…arhhhhhh! What the f**k did you do that for?’ Kate retrieves her knee from Sam’s groin, leaving him in a folded, groaning mess on the landing, before barging into the lounge and punching me with her blue stare.

‘What?’ I ask, apprehensively. What do I need to know now?

She throws Sam a filthy look when he appears at the lounge door grasping his groin. I’m left wondering why Sam’s looking so apologetic when it’s Kate that’s just kneed him in the balls. She points at the chair aggressively, silently demanding him to sit. He limps over, lowering himself on a painful hiss.

‘Ava, he’s on his way over.’ she tells me calmly. I don’t know why she chooses this tone. It’s not going to calm me – not at all.

I gasp, looking at Sam sat in the chair, refusing to meet my eyes. He wasn’t going to tell me? I was stupid to think Jesse would make this easy. ‘I need to leave,’ I wail as my damn phone starts again. ‘Fuck off!’ I shout at the stupid thing.

‘Take her.’ Kate swings around to Sam. ‘She’s in no state to drive.’

‘Oh no, not me,’ He holds his hands up, shaking his head. ‘It’s more than my life’s worth. Anyway, I need to talk to you.’ He jerks his head towards Kate.

We all jump at the sound of an almighty crash at the door, my heart promptly leaping into my throat as I look at Kate. Sam groans, and it’s not because of the pain Kate’s inflicted on him.

‘You dirty little turncoat.’ she mutters angrily, piercing Sam with her sharp, blue eyes.

‘Hey, I didn’t say a f**king word!’ He’s on the major defensive. ‘It wouldn’t take a f**king rocket scientist to work out where she is.’

‘Don’t answer it, Kate.’ I plead.

A combination of more bangs play out on the front door. God, I don’t want to see him. My defences are not strong enough right now. I jump at a succession of more bangs, followed by a chorus of car horns that sound off all around.

‘For f**ks sake,’ Kate yells, running across the room to look out of the window. ‘Shit.’ She pulls the blind up, getting up close and personal with the glass.

‘What?’ I join her at the window. I know it’s him, but what’s with the racket?

‘Look!’ she yells, pointing down below. I force my eyes to follow her hand and see Jesse’s car abandoned in the middle of the street, his driver’s door wide open and a line of traffic starting to build up behind it. He’s not left enough room for cars to pass, causing tempers to flare and car horns to honk. It’s all clearly audible from up here.

‘Ava!’ I hear him bellow. He proceeds to thump the door a few more times.

‘Oh, f**king hell, Ava,’ Kate carps. ‘That man’s a walking, talking detonate button and you’ve just pressed it!’ She starts stalking out of the lounge.