The Apartment - K. L. Slater Page 0,75

them.

She folds her hands in her lap and looks at me. ‘Tell me what you were like as a child, growing up.’

‘Quiet but confident, I suppose,’ I say, thinking back. ‘I had . . . a difficult time, but I always remember a sort of strength inside that got me through.’

Lily nods. ‘And you stayed that way throughout adulthood?’

‘Basically, yes. I’ve always tried to tackle any problems head on, look at things logically. Until now.’

‘What about now? What’s bothering you, Freya?’

I hesitate. What if I open up to Lily and she tells Dr Marsden and Audrey? Despite what he’s done for me, I just don’t know if I trust him any more. The irony is that I still can’t put my finger on exactly why. But he holds the power over my tenancy here.

She looks at me, seeming to read my mind. ‘Whatever you say is strictly just between us.’ She smiles, holding up her little finger. ‘Pinky promise. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m not really flavour of the month around here anyway.’

Of course, I had noticed the way the other residents don’t seem to want Lily around, how Audrey reacted a touch frostily when I said we were going downstairs to Lily’s for tea and cake. And even how they all went quiet that day in the garden when Lily came down to join us.

So I tell her. I tell her about the noises I hear when I’m alone, the feeling that someone has been in the apartment, and I tell her about just now how sure I was that I heard a little girl crying in Skye’s room.

And then I ask her point-blank about Sophie and Melissa.

‘I was abroad for the whole time they were here. I did hear talk about it from the residents, but they don’t include me in their little gatherings.’ Lily sighs. ‘All I know is that there was an accident . . . but I don’t think it happened here at Adder House. Michael is an interfering old so-and-so, but I can assure you, Freya, he is quite harmless, as is Audrey.’ She looks me straight in the eye. ‘I think someone has spun you quite a tale.’

I let out a long sigh, unable to contain the relief that floods through me. I don’t know why I didn’t just confide in Lily in the first place.

Still, the mere thought of living in this apartment used to give me joy, but now I feel sick as soon as I approach the front door of Adder House. There’s lots of stuff making me feel uncomfortable here, not just what Linda has told me.

‘Listen. Why don’t I look after Skye this evening? You can bring her to me when you pick her up from school and we might bake, or test each other on the names of garden birds while you run yourself a nice bath, light a scented candle.’ Lily squeezes my hand. ‘There’s nothing wrong here, Freya, you’re just a little stressed out. That’s all.’

I open my mouth to say ‘thanks, but no thanks’ and then I stop. The thought of a few hours when I can just get my head together sounds wonderful. I can decide exactly when I’m going to speak to the Marsdens and leave with Skye.

‘Well, only if you’re sure,’ I say. ‘That would be perfect, thank you.’

‘That’s settled then.’ She smiles. ‘Oh, and keep away from the Marsdens, too. Those two should have a public health warning stamped on their foreheads. I don’t even want to think what goes on in that apartment between them.’

I wonder if she knows about their obvious marital ‘arrangements’.

‘I suppose what they do in their own marriage is their business,’ I say, hoping I’m conveying that I’m fully aware of their liberal arrangements.

‘Heavens, I hope you’re wrong, or it’s even worse than I imagined!’ Lily laughs out loud. ‘The Marsdens aren’t married, my dear . . . they’re brother and sister.’

44

When Lily finally leaves my apartment, I can’t stop her words echoing in my head.

They’re brother and sister. Brother and sister!

But Dr Marsden had referred to Audrey as his wife on several occasions . . . hadn’t he? When Skye and I arrived at Adder House for the very first viewing, he’d said, ‘my wife isn’t here’. Or had he said simply, ‘Mrs Marsden isn’t here’, and I’ve happily filled in all the blanks myself?

Can I trust my judgement at all any more? Sometimes I wonder.

On the way out to pick