The Girl I Used to Be(55)

And I was worried about her, too. What had she got herself into? She was so young and she had no family to help her. If he was taking advantage of her, would she be able to cope?

I knew that if I went to the police and this ended up in court, it was likely it would be in the newspapers. We were a small enough town that even minor events were written about as though they were global incidents. Our local newspaper certainly loved to report sexual misdemeanors; if they knew that a married businesswoman had been posing naked for her client, they’d be all over the story. And if it was in the newspapers, Joe would hear about it. I couldn’t bear the thought of that.

Rachel arrived back at the office after lunch. Sophie was surreptitiously putting on nail varnish, blissfully unaware of the fact that the smell was giving her away. Brian was on the phone to a plumber who was due to put in a new bathroom at a student house I owned near the university, and I was at my desk, working on an expenses spreadsheet for the accountant. Everything was normal, and as I saw her standing in the doorway, a breeze slightly lifting her hair, I knew that she thought nobody knew her secret.

She was wrong.

Ever since I’d seen David at her home, I wondered about him and how she knew him. I’d worried about her, too. This was a man who seemed hell-bent on destroying me. As she stood there, looking so young and so happy, I thought of how she’d feel when I told her about the things he’d done to me. I swallowed. She’d be destroyed.

Midafternoon, I received a call from Bill Campbell, one of the landlords I’d dealt with over the years. He’d bought up some apartments in a dockside block and wanted Brian to have a look at them before renting them.

“Brian’s at an auction this afternoon,” I said. “I’ll do it for you. Is later on okay?”

“Can you be there for four o’clock? Park up by the entrance and I’ll buzz you in.”

He gave me the address and I wrote it down, repeating it after him. When I looked up from my call, I saw that Rachel and Sophie were looking at me eagerly.

“Are you going to that new development down by the racecourse?” asked Sophie. “I walked past it last weekend. It looks amazing.”

“Yes, Bill Campbell’s bought three apartments there. He told me about them when I saw him last week.”

“I’d love one of those,” said Rachel. “Do you know how much they’re going for?”

I looked at her. She looked so calm and serene, the polar opposite of me right now. In an instant, the decision was made. “I don’t know,” I said. “Why don’t you come along with me and have a look at them?”

Sophie turned away, disappointed. She’d be even more disappointed if she realized what she was actually missing this afternoon.

Now was my chance to talk to Rachel.



* * *



*

BILL PULLED UP in his car ten minutes after we arrived. Rachel and I were in separate cars, so that we could make our own way home afterward, and I pretended to be on my phone so that she didn’t come over to my car. I couldn’t stop thinking that she would be going back to him and wondered what she’d say to him. And what he’d say to her.

“Sorry,” said Bill, when we met him at the door to the apartment block. “I’m running late.”

He tapped the code to get into the building and we exchanged pleasantries as we went into the lift and up to the fifth floor. When the doors opened he ushered us out onto a landing that had a row of doors, each leading to a self-contained apartment.

“So, I’ve just bought these three here.” He indicated those nearest to us. “Got them at auction last week. I’m planning to rent them out for now, then see how it goes.”

We went into the first one and he said, “You’ll be able to deal with this for me, won’t you? I want them rented as soon as possible, so can you get an advert out tomorrow? I’ve got painters coming in early next week. Nothing else needs doing; they’re in good condition as far as I can see, but let me know what you think.” He told me the price range he was looking at, but said he wanted us to check around to see if more was viable. “I can’t stop, I’ve got to get to the council offices before they shut. Can you get the keys back to me?”

“No problem. I’ll send Brian round with them tomorrow and I’ll get him to place an advert, too.”

“Great.”

With that, he was off. The apartments were empty and clean, ready for the decorators to start work before they were let. Rachel and I measured the rooms and made a note of any work to be done. We moved from apartment to apartment, careful not to miss anything.

“So Brian would normally do this, wouldn’t he?” asked Rachel.

“Yes, but if you’re going to take over in my absence, you have to know exactly what’s involved in every job in the office.” Not that I had the slightest intention of even keeping her in the job, never mind promoting her, if she was going to carry on seeing David.

“This is the apartment I’d like,” said Rachel. “Imagine seeing that view every day.”

We were standing in the last apartment, looking out through its huge windows at the Welsh hills. Beautiful as they were, I hardly noticed them. All I could think was that now was my chance. There was nobody around.

It was time.

My stomach was knotted tight as I turned to Rachel. “This would be a bit big for you, though, wouldn’t it?” I asked.