C.L. Taylor - The Fear

‘Mike, before you put the chair in the van you need to—’

He grunts again as he lifts the chair up. ‘I’m a bit pushed for time at the moment, but if you need to book in another job give Joy a call and she’ll sort something out.’

‘It’s not about a job.’

The expression on his face switches from friendly to irritated as he takes a step towards me. ‘I’m sorry, love, but I haven’t got time for a chat.’ He pauses to take a breath. ‘I have to be somewhere after this.’

‘I’d rather you stayed, Mike. And it would be in your best interests to listen.’

I’m not going to let him walk away without hearing me out.

‘Look,’ he sighs heavily, ‘I don’t know what this is about but this is heavy and—’

He’s interrupted by the tinny sound of a mobile phone ringtone. He lowers the chair to the ground, reaches into his pocket and presses his phone against his ear.

‘Hello Chlo, are you okay?’

I stiffen at the sound of her name. I was right. He was trying to get away so he could meet up with her. The sick bastard.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay,’ Mike says. He’s lowered his voice but I can still hear every word. ‘Take a deep breath. All right … now tell me what’s going on.’ He pauses. ‘What? Oh no. Oh, Chlo, there’s got to be a mistake. There’s no way you would …’ He pauses again. ‘What woman? What did she say?’ He turns, almost in slow motion, and his eyes meet mine. He scans my face, his eyes clouded with confusion, as the tinny voice in his ear rattles on. The confidence I felt less than a minute ago vanishes. Why is he looking at me like that?

‘Mike,’ I say as the confusion on his face is replaced by shock. ‘Mike you need to—’

He holds out a hand, silencing me.

I don’t breathe a word. Instead I take a step backwards, towards the door. I shouldn’t have done this.

‘I’ll give you a ring back in a bit, Chloe. Okay? Stay where you are and I’ll come and get you. It’s going to be okay. I promise.’

I take another step back. My heel catches on something and I have to steady myself on the wall.

‘It’s you, isn’t it?’ Mike says, looking straight at me as he hangs up. ‘You fucking bitch.’

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