the gutter, joining the rest that had been discarded near the entrance of Gladstone Court.
Claire cocked her head skyward once again.
Her second visit here today in such a short space of time. Someone’s idea of a sick joke. Was this all her life was meant to be from now on?
The old council block loomed above, the dull redbrick cutting an ominous shape through the bright blue sky.
To Claire, coming here meant putting on a brave face. It meant trying to cast aside the memories of the past, if only temporarily. It meant casting away the pain she had tried to bury for all these years.
She fumbled in her bag for the separate keyring she deliberately kept away from her main set. It was an attempt to, symbolically at least, keep this part of her life, the one inside the building, from clashing with the other.
Her fingers felt like ice as she clasped the fob and pulled it from her bag. She swiped it over the sensor on the wall beside her and the front door to the building gave an audible click and a green light flashed on the panel.
Grasping the handle, Claire yanked it and went inside.
As usual the lift was out of order, so she took a slow walk up the stairs to the fourth floor. The air on this level was stale. The large windows on this floor, at this time in the afternoon, allowed direct sunlight through the thin single-glazing glass. The heat generated was relentless and Claire popped open another button of her shirt.
There were two flats on this side of the building, and Claire now stood in front of the second one and steeled herself inside.
She pushed her spare key into the lock…
Another viewing with a client had gone well and Adrian had negotiated an unfair price on behalf of another greedy landlord taking full advantage of the housing crisis for another shitty little studio flat.
Another successful day for some.
Adrian sauntered through the office leaving his usual sense of arrogance and pride wafting in invisible lines behind him.
He made himself a coffee before heading back to his office. He unlocked his PC screen, taking a sip of his coffee while he checked his diary for the afternoon. He scrolled down the page in front of him, and then paused, his gut tightening.
He glanced at his watch.
It was after 3:30pm and Amelia Williams would be there in ten minutes according to his diary. Confused, Adrian shouted to his PA through the closed door rather than ring her using the internal phone.
‘Mary!’
He could hear her rushing up from her seat. Mary slid her head around the door, her long brown curly hair falling around her face, which always reminded Adrian of a poodle crossed with a King Charles spaniel. Her big blank brown eyes stared back at him.
‘Yes, Adrian?’
He pointed to the screen. She glanced at it and pulled a face.
‘Why is she booked to come and see me in ten minutes? This appointment wasn’t in my diary this morning.’
Mary flushed. ‘Sorry, Adrian. She called up this afternoon and said she needed to talk to you. I tried to speak with you but you were busy on a conference call.’ She paused and looked upset. ‘She was very forceful. I just booked her in. I meant to tell you but…I guess I forgot. I’m sorry.’
Adrian cursed under his breath. He turned and waved her away and she scurried out of the room.
Before Adrian had a chance to think, his phone rang. It was the main reception calling and Adrian pulled a face as he picked up the receiver.
‘Adrian Brown…OK…I’ll send Mary.’ He hung up and rested his forehead in his hands. He was dreading what might come next.
He asked Mary to prepare some coffee after she had seen Amelia to his office and asked that she not disturb them. Mary soon returned carrying two steaming cups. She watched bright green eyes follow her as she placed a coffee cup in front of Amelia on Adrian’s desk, before passing her a sideways glance of disapproval.
This amused Amelia.
Clearly the buck hadn’t stopped with her and who knew how many women Adrian had cheated.
She glanced up towards Adrian and his eyes met hers, studying her face intensely. Amelia waited until Mary closed the door to his office before smiling at him. She reached for her coffee and took a sip.
‘You may want to keep that one. She makes quite good coffee.’
He shook his head. ‘Why are you here? We’re not supposed to meet like this.’
‘There’re lots of things we shouldn’t be doing but that hasn’t stopped you.’
Adrian’s lips pulled upright into a grin. His eyes wandered from her face towards her shoulders, noting the thin white camisole top that hugged her delicate body. Her hair fell roughly tousled around her face, with tendrils touching the tops of her bare arms.
‘Still, we shouldn’t be meeting here at the office like this. You draw too much attention and unwanted questions. I don’t make it a habit to meet tenants privately in my office.’
‘Just screw them, then?’
‘Only you.’
Adrian watched her eyes, which seemed to him to be a darker shade of green today. It made him uneasy and restless.
‘Why are you here? You saw me a few hours ago. Why not say something then?’
Amelia lowered her cup back onto his desk, her eyes never leaving his. ‘You were rather pre-occupied at the time.’
‘I’m a busy man. Spit it out, I don’t have time for games.’
‘But you play them so well.’ She leaned forward, her hair framing her pretty face in a wild red glow.
Adrian cursed under his breath but still he stared longingly at her.
At length, Amelia got up from her chair and walked around the desk to stand behind his chair.
Her hands pressed down hard on top of his shoulders.
Her fingers curled, clawing him in her grasp.
Adrian felt her nails dig into his flesh.
By the time Claire had driven back to the office, she tried to look as if the last forty minutes hadn’t happened.
She sat in her car in the station car park, pulled her sunglasses off, and tossed them on the dash. She peered into the rear-view mirror. She dabbed around her eyes with
