be quite the psycho he was. God, I would have stepped in sooner, and certainly wouldn’t have let Hannah go away with him if I’d known.
When I saw Hannah in the headlights, it was a dream come true, and she was so delighted to see me, I couldn’t have asked for more. My car was warm and clean - I’d had it valeted that day, just in case, so it was ready for her. She was so frightened, and when Jas called me saying he was ‘crazed,’ I was a bit scared myself, to be honest. I didn’t know just how ‘crazed’ he’d be when I got to him. But I left her in the car, and ‘bravely’ went off into the night, and there he was shivering on the side of the road. It was dark and windy and he wasn’t quite so big and posh anymore.
The first thing he says to me is, ‘What are you doing here?’ Like I was dirt on his shoe. I didn’t say anything, just stood and stared. We’d locked horns before, I think he’d always known instinctively that I was a threat, that Hannah and I were more than just colleagues. He said he knew he had issues, he could be controlling, possessive, but he loved her blah blah.
I said I didn’t want to hear it. I said, ‘All I know is that you’ve got a knife and she’s scared.’ That, by the way, was another amazing thing he did for me – carrying a knife! Alex really was the gift that kept on giving.
‘You don’t understand, I was slicing peppers, I had it in my hand in the kitchen. For God’s sake I wasn’t chasing her with it,’ he said in his stupid, posh voice. He went on and on about how he’d never use it as a weapon. Ponce. On and on he went. And I just couldn’t take any more of that whining voice, so I whacked him across the face. I wish I could say it was planned, because let’s be honest - it was the perfect murder, but I did it in the moment. And while he flailed around in shock at the smack I’d just given him, I pushed him. With just the tips of my fingers. I didn’t break a sweat. And before I knew it, he’d fallen backwards, and disappeared over the cliff. And that was it. I couldn’t believe how easy it was, and how quickly it happened. But as always, I thought on my feet, calling 999 immediately, and telling the police that I had the bloke they were looking for, who killed ‘that poor man’ outside that pub in Worcester. I said he’d just confessed - told me he couldn’t stand the guilt and was threatening to throw himself off a cliff.
‘Hurry,’ I said down the phone, ‘I can’t keep him here any longer, he just wants to go.’
It was that easy, and a few minutes later, when I climbed back in that car, the hug I got from Hannah was everything.
Epilogue
‘So you don’t want a Labrador then?’ I ask, with a smile.
‘No, I’d much rather have a red setter,’ he says.
Another first date in another restaurant. And it’s going well, he’s funny and kind and fun. But the real bonus is that this guy obviously hasn’t secretly stalked me before the date, because he’s not matching me at all – he just told me he wants FOUR kids!
I’m laughing a lot and having a lovely time. I just have this feeling that tonight is the first of many, and no I’m not talking too soon, and yes, I have learned my lesson. This isn’t just some random handsome stranger I met online, this is different. How did I miss this? Who knew you could work side by side with someone for years and suddenly realise they’re kind, funny and actually very attractive?
Thing is, I’d always thought of him like a brother, an annoying, teasing little brother, who’s also ten years my junior. But that night, when he turned up in Devon and took charge, I saw Harry in a completely different light. He just stepped in, calmly took control of the situation, and probably saved my life. I think it was during all the drama and fear, that feelings were sparked for me. I remember it felt so inappropriate, to suddenly want to be near him, and my instinct that night in his car was to bury my head in