Splintered Memory - By Natascha Holloway Page 0,72

she’d needed. She loved the obscurity of life in the capital. It was big and noisy and obtrusive all of the time, and she found that it was in the noise and general bedlam that she was able to lose herself. No one knew who she was, and no one had even bothered to try and get to know who she was.

Having lived under a constant spotlight for almost thirteen months, Charlie found the sense of being inauspicious soothing and strangely a little comforting. No one knew that she had suffered from amnesia, and better still Charlie was fairly certain that had people known they wouldn’t have cared. Everyone in the capital was too wrapped up in their own lives, and in their own problems.

Charlie had interviewed at three law firms and had been offered positions at two of them. She’d chosen the smaller of the two firms that had offered her a position, and although it had been a slight step down in title compared to her previous role the money had actually been better.

She had known before her accident that she’d been at a point in her career where she’d already started contemplating changing direction. She had therefore hoped that by choosing the smaller of the two law firms that had offered her a role, she would have a more rounded career and would not be pushed again into working in a specialised area.

The firm was based by London Bridge, and the commute from Claire’s was relatively short. From her flat just off Battersea Rise, in between Clapham Junction station and Clapham Common tube station, the journey simply entailed a quick bus ride to Clapham Common and then a few stops on the Northern line to London Bridge. Once there, it was then less than a five minute walk to her offices.

Everyone at Angershore, Fortly, and Jarvis, were friendly and welcoming, and Charlie had after just a couple of weeks felt completely at home there. She also enjoyed her commute, but then she knew that it helped that she worked long enough hours to rarely have to experience the rush hour crush.

Thanks to Claire, Charlie had also been ingratiated into a circle of friends that Claire had already made after having moved to London from Bath. All of the women were really friendly, and most of them were solicitors too which made it easy for Charlie to fit into the group. She’d thought that it had also helped that they too had all enjoyed a night in or out with a few bottles of wine.

None of these women knew the first thing about Charlie, which was another relief. They didn’t know about her accident. They didn’t know about the amnesia, and best of all none of them knew anything about Matt. This meant that she’d been able to start completely afresh, and she’d never had to field any awkward questions about him.

The subject of her having been married though had come up once when Jenny – one of her new friends, had noticed that she wore both an engagement and a wedding ring, but Claire had quickly and craftily navigated the conversation away from Charlie. She’d explained that Charlie’s marriage was a dull story, and ended the way that they all do with her husband having an affair with a younger woman.

Charlie had raised an eyebrow at this version of the story, but she’d been thankful to Claire for her quick thinking. It had led the conversation away from her, and they’d instead talked about the way that modern society forced women to try and stay younger looking.

That night Charlie had removed her rings, but she hadn’t known what to do with them. She hadn’t been able to bear the idea of putting them in a drawer, or heaven forbid having thrown them away, so in the end she’d put them in her purse. She’d liked that they were still near her, but Claire had mocked her and had been adamant that men would find it strange.

The topic of men was still a strange one for Charlie. She wasn’t shy around men, but she just wasn’t sure how to be around them in a non platonic way. She’d spent half of her life, and all of her adult life with the same man. She’d also grown up with him, and had been friends with him before they’d gotten together. The idea of talking to men in an attempt to get a date, or find a new boyfriend made