Midnight (17 page)

‘No, of course not.’ Jack kept his guard up, ‘Molly and I have already talked it through – several times.’ He quickly changed direction. ‘The thing is, I’ve come here to ask that you put my house on the market.’

She gave a low whistle. ‘Does Molly know you’ve come to us?’

‘No.’

‘She won’t be best pleased, will she?’

‘I thought about that, but with the way things are between me and her, I’m sure she wouldn’t thank me if I asked her to sell my house. Especially when she knows I really am making the move away.’

‘Where to?’

‘Distant parts.’

‘Ah!’ Tess gave knowing smile. ‘Now I understand. So, am I right in thinking you would rather I didn’t say anything to her about you giving us the sale?’

Jack nodded. ‘I’ve a feeling it might be better all round if you just took the business, and made as little fuss as possible.’

‘Yes, of course. I promise you, I can be very discreet when needs be.’

‘Good.’ He dug into his jacket pocket. ‘Here are all the particulars, and here’s a set of keys. Please feel free to show people round the house whenever you like. Give me a ring when you’ve taken a look, and we’ll talk about prices. OK?’ He looked at his watch. ‘Got to get back to the office.’

‘Right, I’ll take it from there, then,’ said Tess. ‘I’m sure it won’t take long to find a buyer. Houses in that road are well sought after, as it’s near the train station.’ She could see he was impatient to be on his way. ‘We’ll be in touch, then. I’m sure we’ll have good news for you soon.’

‘Thanks,’ said Jack. ‘See you, then!’

He left with a slight feeling of anxiety. Had he done the right thing? He reassured himself with the knowledge that Tess was a first-class businesswoman. For that very reason, he could trust her to be discreet around Molly. And besides, the agency had an excellent reputation. He knew Tess wouldn’t do anything to jeopardise her position of responsibility.

However, he was unaware that her colleague Tina Morgan, new in the back office, had recently been recruited from Banbury’s, where Molly worked. Unfortunately she had overheard everything. Even as Jack made his way out of the front door, Tina was dial-ling Molly’s number.

Having recently secured a substantial house-sale, and earning an excellent commission along with it, Molly was just handing out some house details to a grey-haired gent, when the phone rang.

‘Can you get that, Molly?’ Hayley, the scatty receptionist, was just on her way out the door. ‘I’m sorry, but I’m already late for my lunch-date. If I don’t get a move on, Pete will just clear off. He’s got no patience at all, miserable git!’ Before Molly could object, Hayley was out and running down the street.

Molly finished dealing with her customer and snatched up the receiver. She gave her usual businesslike greeting, her tone changing when she realised it was Tina – who was eager to impart her snippet of gossip.

Later that afternoon, Jack came out of the office and chatted with Jan at the main desk. ‘Well, that’s a long day almost over.’ He gave a long-drawn-out sigh.

‘You sound weary, Jack. That’s not like you.’

‘It’s just that I have so much going on in my life at the minute, I haven’t had time to properly sort out my thoughts. What I wouldn’t give to leave it all behind, just for one week. Imagine – no paperwork, no phones ringing; nothing to worry about. Just lying on a beach, with the sun beating down on my head. What absolute bliss!’

‘Don’t forget the girl lying next to you!’ Jan said eagerly. ‘How about taking me with you, eh? You can stroke sun-oil on my back any time . . . wherever we are.’

Jack laughed. He was going to miss her sense of humour. She never failed to make him smile.

He was still smiling, when the doors were flung open and Molly rushed across the room to confront him. ‘Laughing at me with your new woman-friend, are you?’ she shouted, her voice shaking with rage. ‘I expect you’re telling the bitch how you took your business to someone else. Isn’t it enough that you sent me packing, without rubbing my nose in it!’

Hearing the fracas, Bill and his colleague came running, but Jack already had her by the arms and was holding her at bay. ‘For God’s sake, Molly, you’ve got it all wrong. If you’ve got a grievance, let’s talk about it like adults. Come into the office, and we’ll sort it out.’

When she began shouting obscenities, Jan thought to calm the situation by telling her, ‘We weren’t laughing at anyone. We were just talking.’ She had been deeply offended by Molly’s earlier comment. ‘And I’ll thank you not to call me a bitch!’

Molly replied by clearing everything from the desk with one sweep of her arm. ‘It wouldn’t matter to me whether you were his bitch or not. You’re welcome to him!’

Quieter now, she turned on Jack. ‘I’m glad it’s over between us,’ she hissed. ‘As for what you did – asking a rival agency to sell your house – that was just spiteful. But you know what? If you’d asked me to sell your house, I’d have said no anyway.’

Caught in Jack’s iron grip, she looked into his face, into those strong, mesmerising eyes that had once gazed on her so tenderly, and suddenly she was sobbing – quietly at first, then helplessly, her whole body shaking with emotion as she leaned into him.

Caught unawares by her change of mood, Jack coaxed her into the office, where he closed the door and sat her down. ‘What’s caused you to fly off the handle like this?’ he asked. ‘It can’t just be the fact that I went to another agency. You just said yourself that you wouldn’t want to sell my house anyway. So, come on, Moll. What is it?’

For a moment, Molly let him stew. She still wanted him back, but even now, it had to be on her terms. She took a deep breath, before confessing reluctantly, ‘It’s just that, well . . . I still hoped you might come round to my way of thinking. Then, when I found out that you’d actually put your house on the market, I just lost it.’

‘I’m sorry. Perhaps I should have told you earlier, but I thought it was for the best.’ Jack now realised he should have known the news would reach Molly.

‘I don’t want you to leave, Jack. I love you. I want us to get back together. I want you to forget about taking up the new job—’

Jack interrupted, ‘I’m sorry, Moll. I won’t do that. I’ve signed the contract and even now they’re making a short-list to fill my old position. It’s all settled, and I have to say, I feel lighter of heart than I’ve felt for a very long time. I really believe the recent series of events – you badgering me to see someone about my nightmares, then this vacancy coming up in Lytham – it all seems to fit.’

‘You could still say no,’ Molly persisted. ‘You just said, they haven’t got anyone to replace you yet, so you could tell them you’ve changed your mind . . . that you’re staying put. It’s not too late. Look, Jack, I’ve been thinking. Maybe the psychiatrist you saw was not the right one for you. So, go to someone who knows what they’re talking about, and in time, you’re sure to find the answer you’re looking for.’

Jack was adamant. ‘I do love you,’ he told her, ‘but to my mind, love is sharing. It’s helping each other. It’s a two-way thing.’

‘But that’s exactly what I’m saying!’ She grew excited. ‘I understand you. I understand about the nightmares. That’s why I made you go and see someone, because I wanted them to end. I wanted to help you. But now everything’s got out of hand. You listened to some idiot who didn’t know what he was talking about. Then you get it into your head to go back, to where you think it all began. I so want it to be like it was before. I don’t want to be on my own, Jack. You’re leaving, without a thought for me. You’re uprooting your whole life, and I know you’re bound to regret it.’

For what seemed an age, Jack let her words soak in, and all he could hear was ‘I’ this and ‘I’ that. ‘
I
want it to be like it was before . . .
I
made you go and see someone . . .
I
don’t want to be on my own.’

All he could hear was what
Molly
wanted. Not for one minute did she ever stop to consider what
he
wanted. What he desperately needed.

‘I can’t stay,’ he told her quietly. ‘It can’t be like it was before.’

When she opened her mouth to speak, he gently shushed her. ‘Molly, I know you understand about the nightmares, and I know you badgered me into seeing someone about them, and for that I am truly thankful.’

‘But?’
The harsh question was also an accusation. ‘Go on – tell me! Why can’t you stay? Why can’t it be like it was before?’

Jack knew then, that it really was over between them. ‘I
have
told you,’ he reminded her, ‘many times. Over and over. But it seems not to have sunk in, so I’ll tell you again. I cannot live with these nightmares for the rest of my life, and believe it or not, when it was suggested that they might actually be a memory, rather than my imagination, I have to tell you, Molly, something inside me knew that it was the truth. That the nightmares really do stem from something that actually happened.’

‘NO!’ She had never accepted the theory and she didn’t accept it now. ‘That can’t be! The things you see must be awful beyond words. You wake up covered in sweat and terror. You make strange noises, like some wild animal . . . and when you finally come out of it, you’re gabbling about the darkness, the full moon, and eyes staring at you . . . and unspeakable things that frighten me.’

Getting out of her chair, she looked at him as though seeing a stranger. This time she spoke softly, as though not wanting others to overhear. ‘You know what, Jack? I’ve always wondered, but now I know for certain. You’re losing your mind! There’s no other explanation.’

Jack was deeply shocked. ‘I think you’d better leave.’ Her accusations, her changed attitude, had unnerved him.

She went on, ‘You really are out of your mind, I can see that now. So go ahead, do what you like. I want no part of it.’

Heading for the door, she turned, her face set like stone. ‘Goodbye, Jack. Go and chase your ghosts. I really don’t care what you do any more.’ But what she said and what she thought were two different things.

Jack watched her leave, stunned by her cruel words. ‘So I’m a crazy man, eh?’ The awful thing was, he could almost believe her, but lately he had learned how vicious she could be when things did not go her way.

‘That was a spiteful thing for her to say.’ He thought about it for a moment, and was tempted to admit, she might be right.

That was why he had to go on this journey – to prove that he was as sane as anyone else.

Outside in Reception, they were still feeling shaken by Molly’s stormy entrance. Jan was talking with Charlie, one of the sales team. ‘What was she thinking,’ Charlie said, ‘coming in here and causing such a scene?’

‘She’s crazy!’ Jan answered. ‘I wouldn’t mind smacking her one. Calling me his bitch!’ She let her mind linger on that for a while, and a slow smile lifted her face. ‘Come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind being his bitch!’

The last two people to leave the building were Jan and Jack.

‘I’m sorry about all that,’ said Jack, referring to the nasty comment Molly had made. ‘She hasn’t always been so spiteful. It’s my fault she’s in such a rage.’

‘That’s not true!’ Jan had a habit of speaking her mind. ‘You can’t blame yourself for her bad temper. We can all throw a tantrum when things don’t go our way, but she was totally out of order. She just marched in and went straight for you. Thank God the boss wasn’t here. She didn’t give a toss about getting you into trouble, did she? She obviously meant to have a row, and there was no stopping her.’

‘She was right, though. It must have hurt, me taking my house sale to a rival company. But I thought it would be less hurtful to her.’

‘Well, there you are, then So, like I said, her behaving like that was out of order.’ Jan picked up her keys and shoulder-bag. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here. Look, if you don’t mind me saying, your
ex
-girlfriend is nothing but a spoiled brat. Sweet and sugary when things are going right for her, then a cat in hell when she can’t have her own way. For what it’s worth, I think she showed you her true character today.’ She tutted loudly, ‘I bet even now, you still feel sorry for her?’

‘I do a bit, yes.’

Jan chuckled. ‘She was right about one thing.’

‘What’s that?’

‘She wasn’t far wrong when she called me a bitch.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘Because she’s a woman, and she knows deep down that I fancy you. If I thought I had a chance with you, it would be claws drawn at noon and no mercy.’

Jack laughed, ‘You’re a feisty sort, I’ll give you that.’

‘Right, I’m off now,’ said Jan. ‘Mind how you go, eh?’

On the drive home, Jack couldn’t get Molly out of his mind. He kept thinking of the good times, and the guilt was like a clenched fist in his chest. Did he still want her? Or was he well rid of her?

There was a time, not very long ago, when she was his saviour. She had been there for him in his darkest hours. She had comforted him when he was low, and listened to him when he needed to talk things through. They were friends and lovers, and he had actually believed their relationship was too special to flounder.

Lately, though, he had seen a side of her that had shaken him. Maybe he had only now seen the real Molly. The Molly who by nature had to be in control. The Molly who had a nasty, vicious side when she was unable to pull all the strings.

When he actually thought back, Jack realised that he had always danced to her tune. But not this time, because he must follow his instincts and take this new promotion. As far as he was concerned, he had gone as far as he could to include Molly in his new venture, but she wanted none of it. With that in mind, he could see there was really no way forward.

His only option was to make a new life without her. Sometimes, though, it was hard – almost impossible – to close the door on someone you loved.

Chapter Eleven

T
HERE WAS A
real buzz in the showrooms, and Jan was more excited than anyone. ‘Ooh! It’s been a long time since we had a party here. The last one was four years ago, when Archie Taylor got promoted to Head Office. I’d only been here six months and I was asked to organise the food and everything – just like now.’