York had been staring down at her; the distorted image of his tired eyes and battered trilby had been nothing short of beautiful. Her heart was still racing.
Plucking off her glasses and pocketing them, she climbed from the car. There weren’t many vehicles around, but next to a long-ago abandoned skip was the green Peugeot she expected. That meant its owner was waiting for her inside.
Straight opposite, a burgundy Vauxhall sat motionless in the afternoon sun. From the glare of the windscreen she couldn’t see inside, but someone was in there, watching her. Too broad to be a woman, she thought, but she didn’t recognise the car. Dusting the paranoia from her shoulders, she went inside.
At peak time in the day the stuffy heat was growing more intense. She was glad to get indoors, dark and shaded as the lounge usually was. There weren’t many punters. Aside from a couple of full booths and a guitarist setting up for the night, the place was deserted. Only one set of eyes tracked her as she entered, and a pleasant shiver danced through her.
Fearing hesitation, she marched confidently to the booth and sat down opposite the petite woman: pretty, blonde bobbed and stony-faced. A moment of sturdy silence hung between them.
‘Didn’t think you’d show,’ the blonde uttered at last.
Newport smiled half genuinely. She realised she was twiddling her thumbs. ‘I have to be honest, Kellie, I thought about postponing.’
Kellie dropped her shoulders like she always did when she was waiting.
‘A big one opened up today. Another mentalist who likes to play games with people’s lives.’
‘Sounds familiar.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘What’s this nutcase all about?’ asked Kellie, sidestepping the question.
After the jab left Kellie’s lips, she picked up her thin-looking Americano and took a sip. Newport couldn’t help but stare, mesmerized by Kellie's plump lips as they met the porcelain cup and sipped at the coffee. It didn’t matter that her comment about things sounding familiar was a dig at her, and it didn’t matter that she was clearly angry. All that mattered was that she was here with her now, where she could drink from her aura.
‘I can’t talk to you about an open investigation, Kellie, you know that.’
‘You brought it up. Anyway, can’t blame a girl for trying to make conversation, can you?’
Taking the question as rhetorical, Newport said, ‘It’s good to see you, sweetie.’ She thought about leaning over the table and taking Kellie’s hand, but doubted it would be accepted. A thin smile spread across Kellie’s lips and disappeared just as quickly. ‘Holly, I asked you here because we need to talk this thing out. I can’t go on like this. We’re going round in circles and if we don’t add some kind of solidarity to the situation soon, I am literally going to implode. This has been going on for almost eighteen months now, did you know that?’
Newport nodded, but in truth she was astounded things had been carrying on that long, and at how good she’d become at covering her tracks. Since the day she met Kellie in that supermarket, Newport’s life had been incredible. It had also been a curse. For so long she’d lived a second life outside of her marriage, with a second lover and a second home life. At first there had been guilt. Having the affair behind her husband David's back was something she could never have envisaged, and when she first began seeing Kellie, she had been caught up in a real crisis of conscience. But over time those feelings had rescinded. Kellie was now all she thought about. Her dreams and her future plans all involved her. David had become a blurry second.
Now cooler, Kellie braved a bigger swig of the coffee. ‘For a year now, you’ve been telling me you’re leaving David. How long am I supposed to wait for you?’
‘I hate that I’m putting you through this, baby, I really am. It’s just that David’s been away on business a lot lately and I haven’t seen him.’
Kellie sighed audibly.
‘It’s true. I want nothing more than to begin building a life with you, but right now –’
‘I met someone,’ Kellie cut in.
The words sliced through her, tore at her heartstrings. The silence became so complete, so perfect, it distorted the air. ‘Wh…who is she?’ The question was childish, but she could think of little else to say.
‘Who said it’s a she?’
‘You’ve known you were gay since you were fourteen, Kellie. Don’t try and tell me I’ve turned you straight.’
Kellie shook her head dismissively.
Newport felt winded. It seemed like her lover was deliberately trying to hurt her. She reached for Kellie’s hand but Kellie retracted it. ‘Why are you being like this?’
‘Like what?’ said Kellie.
‘Like a cunt!’
Silence. Then, ‘I’ll pretend you didn’t say that, Holly.’
‘Kellie, please…’ Newport knew she sounded pathetic, she just didn’t care. She had come here expecting a kick in the teeth, but not this.
‘I’ve just had some time to think, Holly. I don’t want to give you an ultimatum –’
‘Then don’t!’
‘…but I don’t know what else to do.’
‘Kellie, please…’ she said again.
‘Look, something’s come up in my life, a new assignment,’ Kellie declared. ‘I won’t be able to see you for a while. Maybe it’s the time apart we need. Think about what
