30
Rob was fuming as he strode away from Suzie’s house with his rucksack over his shoulder. He’d come so close to getting his feet back under the table before that little cow turned up and ruined everything. Now he was out on his arse and she was still in there, lapping up the attention Suzie should have been lavishing on him. He felt like marching back in, picking the cuckoo up by the scruff of her scrawny neck and physically booting her out of his nest. And it was his nest. His and Suzie’s. He’d paid his way, and he had more right to be there than Holly did.
All right, so maybe he hadn’t contributed all that much financially. But he’d sure as hell supported Suzie in other ways, and he didn’t appreciate the way she’d turned on him in favour of that whingeing little bitch. Well, fuck her if that was how she wanted to play this. Fuck the pair of them!
As he turned the corner at the end of the road, his heart leapt when he heard his phone ringing in his rucksack. It had to be Suzie. Him walking out must have given her a wake-up call and made her realize that he was more important to her than her so-called friend.
It wasn’t Suzie, and he almost chucked his phone at the wall in frustration when he saw the name on the screen. Resisting the urge, because he couldn’t afford to replace it, he decided to answer it instead.
‘About time!’ Angie Scott cried before he had the chance to speak. ‘Where are you? Why haven’t you answered any of my calls or messages? I was trying to get hold of you all night.’
‘I was busy,’ he replied coolly. ‘’S up?’
‘Are you coming home?’ she asked, the whine in her voice instantly setting his teeth on edge. ‘We need to talk.’
‘About what?’ He slung the rucksack back over his shoulder and walked on.
‘Us,’ Angie said. ‘You really hurt me yesterday, but I know you didn’t mean to be so rough.’
She paused, obviously waiting for him to apologize. When he stayed silent, she sighed, and said, ‘Look, I know you were pissed off with me for going through your phone, but those messages upset me, Rob. We live together, so how did you expect me to react?’
‘We don’t live together,’ he sneered, stopping at the mouth of the alleyway behind Suzie’s block. ‘I was a guest.’
‘Was?’ Angie picked up on his use of the past tense. ‘Does that mean you’re not coming back?’
‘Haven’t decided yet,’ Rob said, feigning boredom. ‘Anyway, is that it? Only I’ve got stuff to do.’
‘Are you with her?’ she demanded. ‘That tart who’s been messaging you?’
Amused that she was directing her anger at the girl he’d met at the pub a few nights earlier, even though she’d read all the messages and must have known that it was him who’d done all the chasing, Rob said, ‘It’s none of your business who I’m with. And I’m going now, so—’
‘Please don’t leave me!’ Angie blurted out. ‘Please, Rob. I love you, and I’m sorry. Just give me a chance to—’
Smirking, Rob cut the call and chucked the phone back into his rucksack. Then, lighting a cigarette, he took a deep drag and slid his gaze along the row of windows until he located Suzie’s.
Suzie’s spare room was smaller than Holly’s room at the flat, with barely enough space for the single bed, bedside cabinet, tiny vanity table and slim wardrobe it contained. But where Holly’s room reeked of mildew, this one smelled fresh; the bedding looked clean, and the curtains fitted properly so there were no gaps at the top or bottom.
‘Try to put everything out of your mind and get some sleep,’ Suzie counselled. ‘I’ll fetch you some pyjamas so you can get comfortable.’
Holly smiled, but it slipped as soon as Suzie left the room, and she tested the mattress with her hand before wandering over to the window. Rob’s words were still going round in her head, and she felt guilty for dragging Suzie into her mess. Suzie had insisted she didn’t mind her being here – and she must have meant it, because she’d been angry when Rob tried to make her go home. But it was nothing compared to the anger she’d seen in Rob’s eyes before he walked out, and she dreaded to think what he’d do if their paths ever crossed again.
Still, he was gone now, so she did her best to put him out of her mind and, opening the blinds, she leaned on the windowsill and gazed down at the garden. A square of grass with a narrow flagstone path leading from the back door to the gate, it was the same size as every other garden on the block. But, unlike the others, which all had flowers and plants lining their borders and were decorated with birdhouses and pretty garden furniture, Suzie’s was plain, as if she couldn’t care less about it.
A red and yellow plastic swing set and matching slide occupied the garden to the left, alongside a Disney Princess-style Wendy house, and Holly felt a twinge of envy in her stomach as she looked down at them. She and her mum had never lived in a house with a garden. The closest they’d come was a junk-cluttered backyard at one of the terraced houses her mum had rented a couple of years back, but it had been overrun with rats so she’d never dared open the back door, let alone attempt to play outside.
Mind drifting, she wondered how different her life might have been if her dad had stuck around. He must have been nice for her mum to have been so heartbroken over losing him, and she imagined he would have had a really good job – like Bex’s dad,
