PICTURES OF YOU: a gripping psychological suspense thriller (2 page)

Chapter 3

Rain fell for most of the night and the morning was dull. Water dripped and gurgled in the gutters. Mary stretched under the covers and was surprised to find her back stiff and sore. She swung her legs out of the bed and saw that her knees were bruised. She popped a couple of aspirins and creaked downstairs to eat a bowl of cereal. The garden was sodden, shrubs and trees flicked and twitched shrugging off the water. The poor weather did nothing to lift her mood, the melancholy of the previous evening lingered. She sighed and hitched her shoulders. It was time to push this aside and get on with things, it was a long time since such sadness had visited and it mustn’t be allowed to take a hold…

She backed the little blue Fiesta onto the road and turned towards the High Street. Why? Why do that? This wasn’t the usual way, it was true that either way led to work, but turning left avoided the bulk of the traffic and made the drive easier and here she was turning the other way.

Silly, silly, the time was different, the day was different and the whole thing was ridiculous. Going this way on the off chance of seeing the boy again, hunting for Jacob. How stupid.

Of course he wasn’t there, she turned her eyes towards the bus stop, flicked a glance up and down the road but the traffic and driving demanded her attention. Now she felt disappointed and ridiculous and tutted in irritation at herself. He was nothing to do with her, he was a ship that had passed in the night. What a foolish woman she was becoming…

The day improved and coming home from the surgery was pleasant, contentment had smoothed the edges of the day. Watery evening sunshine glinted on windows and the lowering sun painted pink streaks across the evening blue. Work had gone well and she felt brighter, more cheerful. Mary enjoyed her job, it was busy and at times prickly patients took out their anxiety and fear on the receptionists but she believed herself to be good at what she did. It was a good place to work and mostly, as now, she returned home satisfied.

She deliberately drove the quiet route, avoiding the busy main road on some fool’s errand searching for the boy who had helped her. During the day she had tried to convince herself that all she had wanted was to thank him this morning and that was the reason for the choice of route. It wasn’t true, and in her heart she knew that really what she wanted was to see him again, his bright eyes, that smile – it wouldn’t do, it just wouldn’t and that must be an end to it.

She cooked the food bought the day before, settled in the cosy lounge with her Kindle and pushed all thoughts of the fall and the brush with the boy away. She would, however, think about her situation and look into joining an evening class or book club where she might meet someone who could fill this newly awakened desire for male company.

She had a brother and a nephew. She had a couple of male friends, old socks who made up the masculine part of couples. There were no single males though, the few that they had known before Bill had gone or were no longer in touch and she could barely recall their names now, they had been his friends.

This young man, Jake, he had done her a favour. He had made her look at the situation and realise she needed another layer to her life. There would surely be no harm in looking for some men friends. If the situation had been reversed she wouldn’t have wanted Bill to be alone.

Feeling happier she spent the evening with her novel and climbing the stairs to bed she believed she had wrapped the silly little encounter in common sense and tucked it away where it belonged, in her past.

Chapter 4

Two weeks went by with spring sunshine greeting many of the days. Mary studied some of the literature for the local college and pretty much decided to take a class in photography. She had Bill’s good camera and a “point and shoot” one of her own. When he died, friends suggested she take this route but at the time it had seemed to be simply a way to fill the huge hole left in her life and she hadn’t wanted to fill it.

Though it was obvious life had to go on Mary had welcomed the pain. It was something to focus on, a sharp and powerful feeling of loss and anger which kept her from falling into the deep pit of depression and emptiness that had beckoned.

Even now, in moments of total honesty, she wasn’t sure she really wanted to do this. However, the strange melancholy of the day she’d fallen disturbed her. Anyway, wasn’t it good to learn something new, to hone and improve a skill and - well it was the sort of thing men liked wasn’t it? There would be men there and it would be safe to meet them in a public place. She would do this thing. In the meantime life had swung back to its usual routine, work, home and the odd trip into town or to visit friends…

“Can you go on the front desk Mary?” The reception supervisor stood in front of her, a clip board in the crook of her arm.

“Yeah, sure. Is Chrissie not well?”

“Dental appointment.” With a nod of thanks the woman spun around and swept down the corridor. Mary gathered her bag and jacket and relocated to the main reception area. A dental appointment. In the days to come she would think back to this moment and wonder how such a mundane event could have released the storm that it did…

“Hello.”

Mary raised her head; a smile automatically smeared across her face. “Oh!”

“Hello, hey aren’t you the bus lady?”

Jacob stood before her, his face a little flushed. He was holding a white card in his hand and leaning down to speak into the grill in the window. He was taller than she remembered, probably touching six feet, and today dressed in a black jacket with his brown hair hidden under a knitted hat. His eyes were a mixture of green and grey, a tiny scar above the right eyebrow recalled the wonderful words she had read a long time ago in a Thomas Hardy book. She couldn’t now remember the whole thing but it was something about flaws and the effect of them on perfection. She dragged herself back into the moment.

“The bus lady.” She gave a little huff of a laugh. “I suppose I am, yes.”

Her heart jinked. She could feel the skin of her neck warming and took a calming breath, “What can I do for you?” Should she let him know she had remembered his name? No, no need to do that.

“It’s Jacob isn’t it?” Oh, it was out.

“Hey yeah, cool – you remembered.” She smiled again.

“Well, you’re my hero.” Now she felt silly, why had she said that? “Anyway, Jacob. What can I do for you?”

“Oh, I need to be registered. The college insist. I’ve just moved in, near here and I have to y’know get a doctor. I’m not ill though, but they need a doctor for the forms n’ stuff.”

“Yes, yes of course. Have you filled the card in?” She pointed to the paper in his hand.

“Yeah, do I – just – leave it with you?”

“Yes, but I have to make an appointment for you. You have to pop in and see the doctor, just to have a chat.”

“Really? I don’t know about that. Well, not that I mind, it just seems, well a waste of time, a bit of a fuss. I only need y’know an address.”

“I understand but it’s just the way we do things. It won’t take long?”

He sighed, a flick of impatience ran across his eyes and he dragged off the hat. His hair stood in startled peaks for a moment and then flopped down, it covered his brow and fell to the top of his eyes. He tipped his head to one side the better to peer at her.

“Shall I take your form, make the appointment and then it’s done?”

“Oh if there’s no other way. Yeah, go on then. Thanks.” He grinned now and swept a hand across his forehead flicking the shiny fringe back from his eyes.

“That’s it then, next Wednesday, I’ve written it on here. It won’t take long and in the meantime if you need a doctor you can call us. We’ll send for your records from your last practice.”

She watched him duck out into the brightness of the midday. When he had gone she stared for long moments at the empty doorway. Her thoughts tumbled and a strange buzz slithered along her nerve endings.

Fingers flicking expertly across the keyboard she entered Jacob’s details. He had moved into a flat just a few street away from her home. She registered his age – twenty one – he looked younger, maybe eighteen, not much difference though a couple of years, a boy really. Still just a boy.

She put in the electronic request for his medical records, filled in the virtual documents and clicked to move on to the next screen.

Sparkling eyes, an open, ready grin. His hair, dark and shining. A young body, firm and slender. The computer didn’t ask for these details. The computer didn’t want to know how it felt when he grinned at her, how she had registered the bony wrists and long fingers, fine and strong and stained with ink or dye. The computer hadn’t seen him and felt the pulse of his life.

Just a boy.

Chapter 5

“Chrissie, could I ask you a favour?”

“Yeah, sure what’s up?”

“Oh nothing, I just wondered if you could swap a day with me this week.”

“Oh, well yes, if I can – which day?”

“Well, I just wondered if I could do your Wednesday and you take Thursday.”

“Oh, yes. I think that’s okay. Are you going somewhere?”

“Ah, yeah I’m going to see a friend, she can’t do Wednesday. Are you sure it’s okay?”

“’Course it is. Have a good day.”

“Thanks.” As she turned to leave Mary was swept with a maelstrom of emotion. Embarrassment was uppermost, though only she knew what she had just done. There was a nick of shame, she had lied to her colleague. There was fear, if anyone found out what she was up to… but would it matter? Really? There was also a buzz of excitement. She would see him. She probably wouldn’t even speak to him. He would probably use the automatic check in. But, she would see him.

Her body was suffused with heat as she stepped into the street and made her way to the car park. Her throat dried, this was nonsensical, ridiculous. Perhaps she was starting the menopause, was this mid-life madness? He was a boy, a beautiful one but a boy and she had no claim on him. He wasn’t a part of her life nor she of his. They had spoken once, no, twice; he had held her arm, ushered her onto a bus like an old woman and then he had come to her reception desk like so many others and given her a smile – it was so little really.

Wednesday couldn’t come quickly enough. She would see him again and she wanted to see him again…

The days ticked by as they would. Many times Mary was tempted to speak to Chrissie and tell her a change in plans meant she could now go back to the usual routine. She knew the sensible thing would be to do that, to step off this silly merry-go-round and walk the path of sense and maturity. Then she would remember his smile, the heat of his hand on her elbow and recall the glint in his eyes. She would feel her empty world more deeply and her quiet life more sharply and would shake away the voice that told her to stop this nonsense. She convinced herself all she wanted to do was to make sure he was okay, to ensure his visit to the surgery went smoothly. It was simply repaying a favour. He had helped her, now she would help him. She could try to keep his waiting time to a minimum and, if he needed it, do whatever was possible to reassure him that his visit was nothing but a tick on a form and a click on the computer. That they were obliged to make sure they were keeping to the rules and fulfilling their legal requirements…

Wednesday morning she applied her understated make up. See, she wasn’t making any special effort. There was no reason to take special care, she was simply going to work, just doing her job as well as possible. She tried to help all the patients and he was new to the area, on his own, and hadn’t wanted the appointment, not really, and so this was just doing her job...

The morning dragged. She glanced at the door each time it swung inwards allowing a gasp of cool, fresher air to penetrate the overheated centre. His appointment was for eleven, the morning was going well, the appointments a little behind but when were they not?

The draught from the entrance drew her eyes to the light outside and there he was. He entered in the wake of an old man with a walker. He looked impatient, tried to squeeze past at one point but couldn’t. He held the door though so the invalid wasn’t banged by the heavy wood and then he was in front of the desk. His skin was tinted pinkly by the chill breeze outside. A blue scarf wrapped around his neck reflected the colour of his eyes, he grinned at her.

“Hello Bus Lady. Here I am, what do I have to do now?”

“Hello Jacob. You can check in on the screen or I can log you in.”

“Oh, no let’s go with the virtual receptionist.” He smiled and spun away to stand before the monitor and poke at the screen. When he had completed the simple procedure he turned his head, throwing an arm towards the electronic check in. “Ta da.”

She smiled back at him and waved a thumbs up gesture. “It’s Mary by the way.” He couldn’t hear her through the glass. She had known that, so why had she bothered to try to speak?

He walked back to the window, “Sorry, did I do it wrong?”

“No, no. Oh I was just saying – my name – it’s Mary.” She felt a fluster of embarrassment now, her face burned. What a fool she was.

He leant to the grill and spoke quietly. “I didn’t think it was ‘Bus Lady’ really,” and with a little chuckle he turned away and found a seat. She pushed away from the desk.

“Mary, are you okay?”

“What – oh yeah, thanks Penny – bloody hot flush, can you cover for me a mo? Just need to get a breath of air.”

“Yeah, off you go, you look like a beetroot. You should have a word with one of the medics, they can give you something for that.”

No, no they can’t, there is no prescription to cure stupidity!