Page 42 of Plot Twist

‘Sure,’ he said casually. ‘Write wherever it works best.’

‘Unless you think I’m your muse,’ I said. ‘And you’ll struggle to write without me by your side.’

He grinned. ‘I think I’ll survive. I’m planning to do two thousand words by eleven a.m. Think you’re up to the challenge?’

‘Ooooh,’ I said. ‘Pretty sure I can. Let me just finish this heavenly coffee and we’ll get straight to it, then I’ll be ready to beat you.’

‘Not if I beat you first.’ He grinned.

As I settled down to write, I could hear Riley tapping on his keyboard from the office. I smiled and continued with where I’d left my story. I was completely absorbed by the time the alarm sounded, indicating it was eleven a.m. Riley appeared at my bedroom door and leaned against it.

‘Pens and pencils down, class,’ he said.

‘Oooh, I was just getting to a good bit,’ I protested. ‘How many words?’

‘Just short of target.’ He grinned. ‘You?’

I checked my laptop. ‘One thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight.’

‘Good going,’ he said. ‘Let’s go again.’

But this time, I couldn’t focus. Instead, I looked out at the view from my bedroom at Bellinder Cottage. It was so peaceful. So idyllic. So inspiring. I willed all sorts of creative prose to roll off my fingers onto my keyboard, but instead I sat back and scrolled through social media on my phone. That was another thing I couldn’t really do with Riley around: skive off.

Eventually, I gave up writing altogether. I strained to hear Riley’s tap tapping of the keyboard, but the sound had ceased.

Me:How are your balls?

Riley:Flying off here.

Me:Great! But not sure I believe you. . . Haven’t heard much typing since the last sprint.

Riley:You’re right. I’m screwed. You?

Me:I’ve been watching videos of cute dogs on repeat. SOS.

Riley:Let’s get out of here. Fancy more coffee?

Me:You read my freaking mind.

18

I knew the peace couldn’t last forever. The email reply I’d been dreading landed in my inbox.

I’d tried to forget the message I’d sent to Mrs Pender about my sudden leave of absence, but the time had come to face the music. The one-word response danced on my laptop: ‘Noted’, with a link inviting me to an online meeting. I frowned. Could she ask me to attend a meeting when I was absent from work? I wasn’t sure. I hovered over the button to accept before pressing it. I guess I had to, she was my boss after all.

Reality came back to bite when I least expected it. Reminders of what I was running from pinged constantly on my phone during the day, so I often switched it off. The mountains, standing proud and tall in the distance, came in handy when I was looking for an excuse not to converse with people.

‘Reception is shite here’, I’d tap on my phone at three o’clock in the morning, squinting at my screen in the dark. ‘You’ll probably get this message in the middle of the night. My phone seems to come alive then. Lol.’

Sometimes Adam responded, even as the shadows bounced around my bedroom in Bellinder Cottage. Linda had gone through old photo albums in the attic and he shared the pictures with me. My heart felt heavy flicking through the images of Rae. There was one of us together in our swimming costumes, arms draped around one another, in front of a paddling pool in their back garden. Adam stood awkwardly beside us, armed with an ice lolly, as Rae tried to block him out of the picture. When I closed my eyes, I could practically feel the sun beaming down on us as we took turns perfecting our cartwheels in the garden before cooling down in the pool.

I scrolled through my own pictures and forwarded them to Adam in response. I had several selfies of us grinning manically at the camera and pulling funny faces, along with days away, nights out and holiday snaps. Sometimes Adam and I commented on the pictures, united in our combined happy childhood memories, where Rae looked so happy. So alive.

Other times, we didn’t say a word.

Continuing my tradition of blocking out my real life, I snapped my laptop shut.

I’d been looking forward to this day for ages. We were going to Dublin for Riley’s author event and I couldn’t wait to see him in action. I wasn’t going to let my bitch-boss-from-hell spoil my good mood.