way he ran his hands through his hair made me stop. Tommy. Tommy was here.
Hit with a mixture of panic and confusion, I was about to run back up to the bedroom and stay there until he (hopefully) went away, when he got down on his knees and started shouting through the letter box.
‘I know you’re in there,’ he said. ‘Open the door or I’ll cause a scene. Your neighbours have already started twitching their curtains.’
Putting the chain in the bolt, I peeked out through the gap.
‘What are you doing here? How do you even know where I live?’
‘I followed you.’
‘You did what?’
‘After the fireworks display.’
‘You have to go. My husband will be back.’
Moving forward, he squashed his face up against the space between the door and the frame.
‘Because you really care about that husband of yours?’ he said, his eyes flashing. ‘You’ve really got his best interests at heart?’
I tried to think straight, to come up with something that would get rid of him before Jason came home and caught him here.
‘I’m sorry, but this thing between us, whatever it was, it’s over.’ I had to resist the urge to shut the door in his face. ‘I want you to go.’
At this he retreated onto the pavement. He squinted at the town at the bottom of the hill, thinking.
‘OK,’ he said, turning back to me. I knew it was too easy, but still my hopes leapt. He was going to do as I’d asked. It was all going to be fine. But then he crinkled up his face, his mouth twisted into a cruel smirk. ‘I’ll go. Once you’ve agreed to see me again.’
‘I’ve told you, it’s over. Don’t you get it?’ I screamed. He dusted an imaginary speck of lint off his arm.
‘If you don’t, I’ll wait here until your husband comes home and then, when he does, I’m going to tell him everything.’ He winked.
I studied his face, trying to work out whether or not he was serious.
‘You wouldn’t.’
‘But I would,’ he laughed. ‘I would.’
I looked at my watch. I hadn’t noticed the time when Jason left, and I wasn’t sure how far he had been intending to run. Five miles? Ten? He could be back any second. Whatever it took. I had to get rid of Tommy.
‘When?’
‘This Friday. At a hotel.’
‘What about your flat?’
He reached his hand through the gap in the door and, as he spoke, he used his finger to pat out the syllables on my nose.
‘I don’t think,’ – pat, pat, pat – ‘you’re in any position,’ – pat, pat, pat – ‘to question me right now.’
‘OK, a hotel,’ I said, searching the street for signs of Jason. ‘Text me the details and I’ll be there.’
‘You promise?’
‘Yes. Now will you please go?’
‘I want you to kiss me first.’ I hesitated. ‘Kiss me now. Here. Or the deal’s off,’ he challenged.
Realising I had no choice, I shut the door, slipped the chain out of the bolt and reopened it wide. As soon as I stepped forward, Tommy grabbed my face and put his lips to mine. I kept my eyes open. He’d just pushed his tongue deep into my mouth when I saw Jason appear over the incline of the hill. I cried out and tried to push him off but he had me held tight.
Less than a hundred yards away, his earphones still plugged in, Jason was focused on fiddling with the timer on his watch. He had only to look up and he would see us. With a surge of effort I freed myself.
‘You have to go,’ I said.
‘I’ll be in touch.’ He leant in for one last kiss.
As Tommy got back into his Jeep on the other side of the street, Jason wiped his face on the sleeve of his T-shirt and gave me a wave. Tommy started up the car and soon he and Jason were passing each other – Jason on the pavement, Tommy on the road – Jason’s shadow sliding across the Jeep’s blue metalwork like a blurry ghost.
Chapter Fifty
Friday morning, two days after Tommy had shown up on my doorstep, and I was strung out, my temper tinder dry.
I was upstairs, getting dressed, when Jason shouted up the stairs.
‘Have you done something with my keys?’
‘Sorry, no,’ I yelled back. I was running late and I didn’t want any distractions. If I failed to show up at the hotel on time then Tommy might come looking for me here.