guessing you have a lot of time on your hands.’
‘A healthy amount.’
‘Eve!’ Al called out from the front of the store.
‘Shit, well, now we have to knock it over.’ Eve fished her phone out of her pocket and motioned for Laura to stand beside the tower. ‘I need something for scale.’
Laura smiled, looking at the lens. ‘How are you going to knock it down?’ she asked.
‘Like this.’ Eve pushed at the left side. The parcels began to topple and smack against the floor. ‘Get the other side.’ Laura shoved at the right side, parcels spilling at their feet. Laura looked at the pile the tower had become.
‘Something takes me nearly all day to make, takes seconds to crumble. Figures.’ Eve laughed as she picked up parcels and shoved them under her arms. Laura followed her to the door, her own bundle under her arms. Eve handed them over to the delivery guy. ‘Make yourself useful, Jeeves. The rest are upstairs.’
Al grumbled, annoyed he had to walk the flight of stairs.
By the time they had finished loading and stacking the parcels in the back of the van, they were covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Al even made a point of exhaling with exaggeration in front of Eve. He staggered through the doorway. The outline of his plump stomach rose and fell, making Eve hide a smile behind her hand.
‘You need to hit the stairs more often, old man,’ she called.
‘Bite me.’
Eve waved him off as he pulled away from the curb. She wiped sweat from her forehead and nodded when a customer asked if they were going to be served. Laura made her way back to the upper level where she waited for the customers to die down.
At closing time, Laura thought she had read most of the titles in the classics section. She hadn’t even wanted to buy, she just wanted a chance to talk to Eve again.
Eve sighed and, visibly relaxed, shut the door after the last customer. ‘I just wanted to say thank you for helping me today.’ She leaned against the staircase banister.
Laura put back the book she was pretty sure she had nearly finished and forgot every word once it closed. ‘You’re very welcome.’
Eve looked to the side and clenched her jaw, lost in a thought. ‘I just remembered.’ She paused. ‘Could I trouble you for one small favour?’
‘What is it?’ Laura took amusement in her nervousness.
‘My sister … is apparently a fan of yours, and she asked if—’
Laura cut her off. ‘Does she know who I am?’
Eve laughed. ‘Apparently.’
‘Do you have a pen?’
Eve handed her a pen and an old invoice had in her back pocket. ‘Write whatever you want.’ Eve watched Laura scrawl a message in neat, cursive letters with a practised hand.
Laura folded the page in half and handed it back to Eve. ‘For her eyes only.’ She followed Eve down the staircases, wondering how she had spent most of her day in one place. Her days were never like this, calm and ordinary. She took solace in the idea.
Eve opened the latch. ‘Come back tomorrow. If you have time.’
‘Sure, if I have time.’ Laura gave her an easy smile that caught Eve off guard. She couldn’t look away.
Outside, the day had grown into afternoon, a flurry of spilt canvas streaked across the sky. Gusts of wind pushed the clouds further away. Colours mixed into one another with the yellow orb dipping lower and lower, far off in the horizon. The streets grew busy with the promise of a good night out. Barmen cleaned shot glasses in expectation. Cab drivers hiked up their meters, while waiting for the appearance of short dresses and the nervousness of finding a one-night stand.
Chapter 5: Anticipation
Laura’s note scratched against Eve’s back pocket. Her phone rang, a less-than flattering picture of Anna flashing up at her. ‘Hey loser.’ She leaned against her apartment door, shoving it open. The hinges creaked and scratched along the wooden floor in protest.
‘So, did she come back in today?’ Anna asked with excitement.
‘Yeah, hello to you, too. Jesus.’ Eve threw herself down on her double bed. Her feet automatically kicked off her shoes next to the pile of dirty laundry.
‘Did you ask her?’
Eve groaned. ‘Yes, yes, I have it in my back pocket as we speak.’
‘So … what does it say?’
‘I’m not allowed to know. She told me “For your eyes only.” So, now that I’ve passed on the information, may I go, Sir?’
‘Fine, fine. I’ll call again tomorrow. Get some rest, kid.’
Eve crawled off the bed. She shrugged into her gym clothes and took off down the street, her thoughts already being washed away by the pounding music in her ears. The night air clawed at her skin as she wrapped her arms tightly around her for warmth.
‘You are such a wimp!’ Deb teased.
Laura shifted the phone in her hand. ‘I am not a wimp. I’m just … testing the waters. She asked if I could come back tomorrow.’
‘Yeah, because you basically worked for free today. Why wouldn’t she want you back?’
‘Well, I’m still not sure about this.’
‘Because you won’t just ask her like a normal person, we have to resort to teenage antics?’
‘Let’s just hope this works,’ Laura admitted, biting her lower lip with scepticism.
Eve combed her hair back from her sweaty scalp. She hit the punching bag repeatedly in the same miscoloured spot until her arms no longer felt like arms. Eve touched her glove to the small tear on the side of the bag she had ripped in a particular frenzied session. The rip stared back at her like an angry scar. She cut the session short. The fire in her stomach had grown, exercising had done nothing to subside it. The memories followed her wherever she went. The sound of tyres screeching, a child’s laughter transformed into screams.
She unlocked her apartment door before the night swallowed her. Eve threw off her clothes, not caring where they landed. Fumbling for the bathroom light, she accidently caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She ran her fingers over the raised silvery scar on her temple. If she stared at her reflection long enough, how long it would take before a different face appeared? A different person? She turned her back on her reflection.
The hot water calmed her skin as she scrubbed at the sweat that stuck like glue to every inch. After minutes not counted, Eve turned the water off. Dried and dressed, she lay down on her bed. The stillness of her apartment made her uneasy. She grabbed for her phone to release from the shadows that started to move. Eve began to flick through her contacts when she remembered the photo of Laura. Laura smiled at the camera, her arms positioned like
