The whole affair had made Julie realise men couldn’t be trusted.
When Craig was released from prison after serving ten months, he called at the house to see Julie. When she told him she had moved on and she didn’t want to see him anymore, and he should do the same, he started to stalk her. He would stand outside the house and watch for her light to come on as she went to bed. If she looked out of the window in the middle of the night, he would be standing there. He bombarded her with up to twenty texts or calls a day, slashed the tyres on her dad’s car and damaged the bodywork; killed the family cat and left it on her front doorstep. The police cautioned him on several occasions, but he just kept coming back. After nearly five months, just as it seemed to be getting worse, he was arrested for his involvement in a car-ringing operation and was jailed for six years.
It took Julie a while to get over the stalking incident but eventually she managed to put the events behind her, and nowadays she was having too much fun for a steady boyfriend. Going out with a few friends for a meal at Nando’s was one of her favourite things. Or staying at home and trying out newly purchased make-up with Sarah.
On a night out, if Julie happened to attract the attention of someone she fancied, then there was the possibility of spending the night with him with no ties in the morning.
She was certainly in no hurry to settle down. Her dad employed a cleaner and housekeeper, so living at home was fine. Why wouldn’t it be with her laundry done and all the household chores taken care of? Why on earth would she want to find a man and settle down with noisy smelly kids? There would be plenty of time for that when she was older. Life was for living.
Chapter Six
SARAH PARKS
Over the years, Julie and Sarah’s boyfriends, pets and hairstyles had come and gone, but their friendship remained as strong as ever.
When the pair went out for the night and were on the hunt for some company, they called themselves the dynamic duo. For men who preferred blondes, there was Julie. For lovers of redheads, there was Sarah.
They’d shared most things. One night they had even shared the same man. Leroy Jennings was twenty-eight, big black and beautiful. He’d boasted he could take them both and several drinks later he kept that promise. It was the only time the two had kissed each other passionately. They had certainly learned a lot from him. After Leroy, other men had a lot to live up to.
Part of Julie’s hinting to her dad about an Audi TT car for her birthday was because Sarah’s dad had given her a car on her twenty-first just four months earlier. Her birthday present had been a lovely brand new VW Golf in white. Just what she had asked him for. Good old Dad.
That night, after the party, Sarah would sleep over at Julie’s house, something she did often. They would talk into the night about all sorts of important things they probably wouldn’t remember the following day.
Sarah worked for Ridgewells estate agents. It was a job she really enjoyed. Showing prospects round the top of the market houses the company dealt in and getting ideas for the time when she was ready to set up in a place of her own.
In three weeks’ time, the two girls were going on a ten-day holiday to Ibiza. If the previous year was anything to go by, it would be ten nights of sand, sun and sex. When the money had run out after a week, they had worked in one of the bars for a couple of nights. The wages were poor, but the other girls soon taught them how to rip off the punters for a few euros a time.
You could get away with all sorts of things because it would all be left behind when you went home. To make some extra money one night after a few too many drinks Sarah had even gone down on her knees for the bar owner after he offered her a quick 100 euros. Not bad for five minutes work, she thought.
Sarah loved dancing and the atmosphere of a nightclub. Having ‘fun while you’re young’ is what it was all about.
Maybe it was because her parents were still happily married, so unlike Julie, Sarah had thought about the time when she would meet someone and settle down. It might be a few years off, but she liked to daydream about having a family – one day.
Chapter Seven
FANCY DRESS - SATURDAY 7 JULY
The first few days of July had been the sunniest days of the year so far. Julie had spent the day at Sarah’s house. Most of the morning they had been spent watching their favourite YouTube make-up channel, trying on clothes and talking about the party.
The pair had arranged to collect their costumes for the party from the fancy dress shop in Pickstone, the ones they had picked out and ordered from the shop’s website two weeks previously.
It was twenty past five when Sarah managed to find a parking space just off the high street. They knew the shop closed at 6 p.m, so they had plenty of time.
All dolled up in their summer dresses, designer shoes and Ray-Bans they looked a million dollars. Men were certainly turning their heads as the two strolled arm in arm down the high street on their way back to Sarah’s car. It was the car her dad had given
