I let myself into the tiny hallway, switching on the lights, which only highlights the drabness of the place: the brown scratchy carpets, the beige melamine kitchen units, the magnolia walls. Courtney and I have tried to cheer the place up with colourful throws, which I crocheted, on the old, worn sofa, bright prints and photos of us taken on numerous nights out to cover the woodchip wallpaper, but it has made little difference. After Elspeth’s magnificent house, the flat seems even more dreary, cramped and tatty.
Dumping my bag on the pine table that’s shoved up against the wall to make room for the sofa, I shrug off my damp coat and hang it on the back of the chair. I have to make a concerted effort to be tidy around Courtney. In that regard we’re the total opposite. Mum and I always argued about the state of my bedroom when I lived at home, and Courtney is so tidy it borders on obsessional.
The flat is freezing and I turn the storage heater up a little, blowing on my hands, which look like two slabs of raw meat. They start to itch and I place them under my armpits to warm up – a tip Mum gave me years ago. I switch the kettle on and take a Co-op meal for one out of the freezer. While it’s in the microwave I sit at the table, staring at nothing. I have to change my life. A new year, a new beginning. Things can’t go on as they have been. I don’t even see that much of Courtney any more as we work different hours and she’s spending more time with her boyfriend, Kris with a K.
My mobile springs to life, startling me. I reach for it, expecting it to be Courtney, so I’m surprised to see a number I don’t recognize flash up on the screen.
‘Una?’ says a clipped voice, when I answer. ‘It’s Elspeth McKenzie. I think you’d be perfect for the job. When can you start?’
Elspeth ends the call and I stare at my mobile in surprise. I can’t believe I’ve got the job. A bit of luck, at last.
A clatter outside makes me jump and I pull aside the horrible office blinds that our landlord insisted on putting in every window. Our dustbin has been overturned, lying on its side in the snow, like a drunk. I’ll wait until Courtney gets home to tackle it. I’m about to close the blinds when I see a figure standing at the end of the alleyway. I can’t make out if it’s a man or a woman because their face is obscured by shadows and they’re wearing dark clothing. But something about the way they’re standing, facing me, unflinching in their pose, hands in pockets, shoulders squared, unnerves me. I pull the blinds closed, determined not to let it rattle me. They’re probably waiting for someone, although the chemist is closed. I stand for a few seconds, deliberating. I’ve never been worried about being in the flat by myself and I’m not about to start now, just because Vince is no longer in my life.
A thought strikes me. Could it be Vince? I pull aside the blinds again and press my nose to the glass, but whoever it was has gone.
So you’re the new one. The chosen one. I can see why she’s decided on you. That same fresh-faced, raw beauty, the same silky blonde hair. Eyes that are slightly too wide, a rosebud mouth, petite and skinny but with a full bust. All clichés. And they say that’s what men want. It seems women do too.
I followed you home. I watched you in your maroon woollen coat and your cheap boots as you tried to navigate the snow without falling. You care about what other people think of you. I saw the way you spoke to the bus driver, all demure smiles and fluttery lashes. Did you hope he’d find you attractive? I saw how you gave up your seat for the old lady with the sausage legs so that you had to stand in the aisle, reaching up to hold the bars above your head. Do you know you have a very small hole in the armpit of that coat? Are you really that nice? Or is it just for appearances? You’re a people-pleaser.
You live in a hovel. Of course you do. That’s why you’re so impressed with her airs and graces, her ridiculously expensive house and her money. All that money. But she’s as tight as arseholes. You’ll soon see. Oh, yes, you’ll soon regret taking that job.
2
Kathryn
Elspeth is perched on the edge of her favourite armchair as she chats into the receiver. Her eyes are burning with an excitement that Kathryn hasn’t witnessed for weeks.
She lets out a sparkling laugh, which sets Kathryn’s teeth on edge. ‘Oh, you are sweet,’ she coos. ‘Well, I’m looking forward to seeing you too. Thank you for letting me know. See you on Saturday. Goodbye for now.’
Goodbye for now. Urgh. Kathryn feels queasy.
Elspeth replaces the handset in its cradle – she’s the only person Kathryn knows who still has a landline and refuses to own a mobile – and glances up at her daughter, her cheeks flushed. ‘That was Una. She’s managed to organize it so she can start in three days’ time.’
‘Of course she has,’ mutters Kathryn, under her breath, when her mother’s back is turned. No doubt Una Richardson is impressed by the grand house and the Clifton location, just like the others had been.
It’s five days since the interview, and every subsequent day that’s passed Kathryn has tried to talk her mother out of hiring Una – hiring anyone – but Elspeth McKenzie has always been a stubborn woman who has never taken Kathryn’s advice. Why would she start now?
As soon as Kathryn had opened the door to Una Richardson last week, and seen that elfin face, those big grey eyes and her long swishy blonde hair, she’d known she’d get the job. Her mother’s like a magpie the way she swoops in on beautiful things: a dress, a piece of jewellery, a painting, a pretty face.
Kathryn has often wondered how her life would have turned out if she’d given her mother two delicate blonde granddaughters instead of large-boned, boisterous grandsons. They’d have been invited around for Sunday lunch a lot more. And maybe she would have felt that she truly belonged to this family. She would have watched with a sense of pride as her mother fawned over them, doting on them, instead of the polite indifference she doles out to her grandsons.