Page 11

TEN

RUTH

Ruth Pritchard yawned. Several people piled out of the leisure centre, with gym bags thrown over their shoulders. She needed to get a move on and set up for the badminton match. It was going to be a late one.

She thought of Eric, her handsome silver fox. He’d already be at her house, and she couldn’t wait to get home and snuggle with him, especially after the talk they’d had. It had cleared the air as far as she was concerned. After coming out of a long and tough marriage, she hadn’t been sure about getting in too deep with Eric. The mere mention of cooling things down had left such a sadness on his face, she’d felt awful. What was she thinking? She only hoped that she hadn’t pushed him away. She had some making up to do.

A girl passed her, hair wet from swimming. Ruth held up a hand. ‘Have a good evening.’ The coffee shop queue was getting longer. Ruth was longing for a macchiato.

‘Ruth, could you take the dance class poster down from the window? That started a week ago,’ her supervisor said. He hurried past before she even had chance to reply.

She checked her watch. So much to do and so little time, and now she needed to remove that poster, too.

Jogging towards the double-length glass window, she began to peel at the corners of the poster, but the tape covering the last corner had split. Annoyed, she began to dig her nail under it in an attempt to get a grip. ‘Got you,’ she said, as the poster flopped down. She scooped it up and scrunched it into a ball, before tossing it into the nearby bin.

As she was about to turn and head to the sports hall, she stopped and saw a woman staring at her. Most of her hair was covered by a baker boy style cap, and her long mac almost reached the pavement. A small child in tracksuit bottoms and a puffy coat began pulling at the woman’s coat. She leaned down and scooped the small child up in her arms before casting one more intense stare Ruth’s way and leaving.

The humidity from the swimming pool wasn’t enough to control the shiver running through Ruth.

Something about that moment wasn’t right, but the woman was gone.

She checked her watch : late, late, late.

Her trainers squeaked on the floor as she turned and ran towards the sports hall, the woman’s intense stare still emblazoned in her mind.