Page 44 of Close to You

‘It was only an argument. Couples fall out all the time.’

‘I know, it’s just… I’m not very good at this.’

‘At what?’

‘Relationships. You and me. I’m not used to living with someone.’

I can feel myself starting to soften. I want to be hard and uncaring, but the betrayal is passing and I’m going to let him off again. It’s like all the other times where he takes, takes, takes and never gives. Every time I’m close to ending it, I can hear Mum telling me that men like David don’t come along very often. He’s so good at making first impressions, which is all she’s ever really had of him.

‘I’ve never felt like this before,’ he says. ‘I’m not used to being… in love.’

He looks up and shows me his big, brown eyes. There are spots of rain running around his nose, reflecting the street lights and making it look like he’s glowing. He’s not said that to me before and I’m unsure how to react. Do I love him back? Is he saying it to stop being angry?

David stands abruptly and is suddenly directly in front of me. We’re almost nose to nose and I know it’ll be me who blinks first, metaphorically, if not literally.

‘You can’t follow me around,’ I say. ‘I’m working. It doesn’t matter if I’m at someone else’s house.’

‘I know…’

‘An argument doesn’t mean it’s all over. It just means there are issues we need to work on.’

‘I know that, too.’

He squeezes my hand and pulls me closer until we’re pressed into one another, the rain washing over both our heads.

‘I love you,’ he whispers.

I gulp as I feel the water running across my eyelids and seeping into my mouth.

‘I love you, too,’ I reply.

Twenty-One

THE NOW

Veronica is putting a box of documents into the back of her Mini as I hurry along the path away from Mum’s bungalow. The light is starting to go, but she peers through the gloom and offers a weak, tired-looking smile.

‘Was everything all right?’ she asks.

‘I’m not sure.’

That gets a frown as Veronica closes her boot and comes across to stand at my side.

‘Do the CCTV cameras above the gates actually work?’ I ask.

She turns and looks towards the front of the complex. ‘I assume so.’

‘Do you know where the footage is kept?’

‘It’s an off-site security firm. I’ve got the details somewhere.’

‘Do you think I can get hold of the footage for anyone who came and went yesterday?’

Veronica takes a moment and a plume of breath spirals from her mouth up into the air. It’s going to be another cold one tonight.

‘Is there something I should be worried about?’ she asks.

It’s probably the fact that I can’t come up with a good enough lie, but, for whatever reason, I decide to tell the truth. Ormyversion of it.