Maddie paused halfway up the stairs as she heard a door open above her. She half expected Jade to come barrelling down towards her and braced herself. Instead, the footsteps headed away from her.
She frowned and carried on up the stairs, treading lighter than she had before. As she emerged on the top floor, she noticed a pair of scruffy trainers heading up the other flight of stairs set deep into the corner. She followed quietly and reached a heavy door that scraped lightly as she pulled on the handle. A blast of cold air greeted her as she stepped out onto the roof of the building.
It was like a different world up here. She could see for miles – buses and cars streaming past, tiny people walking with purpose, lights flickering on and off. A whole miniature town laid out before her.
She turned in the direction of where she thought her old house would be and found herself looking at Luke sitting in a deckchair, sipping on a can of beer.
He seemed unfazed at her sudden appearance.
‘Oh!’ she said. ‘Hi.’
‘Hey,’ he said with a nod. ‘Sit, have a beer.’ He indicated the spare deckchair next to him.
She paused, thought it would be impolite not to and lowered herself gingerly into the deckchair, which looked quite fragile at close range. It creaked and groaned alarmingly, but held.
He held a can out to her.
‘Thanks.’ She opened it and took a sip, feeling the bubbles shoot up her nose. She hated beer, but her inability to say no kicked in again.
She smiled at him and took another sip. ‘I didn’t know this was here.’
‘I found it by accident. It’s nice up here. Quiet.’
‘Yeah, it is.’ They fell into a surprisingly comfortable silence as they both gazed out at the fairy lights of the city laid out below them and listened to the distant thrum of traffic.
‘So Jade tells me you work in computers or something?’
‘Yeah, something like that. I have my own company doing programming and stuff.’
He clearly wasn’t much of a talker.
Silence had always made her feel on edge. It seemed to say more to her than conversation did. ‘I’m thinking of starting a business actually, as a bookkeeper,’ she said, even though he hadn’t asked what she did.
‘Cool. Actually, I could do with someone helping me with my books. I’m rubbish at it. Would you be interested?’
‘Sure, I can help. You’d be my first client,’ she said with a smile.
‘I like the sound of that.’ He smiled back, his thin top lip almost disappearing into his teeth.
Maddie got up, the deckchair straining as she did, and walked to the edge of the rooftop. Directly below her was her garden.
‘Careful, there’s no rail,’ Luke said from his chair.
‘It’s surprisingly high up.’ The ground seemed to sway, so she took a step back.
‘I don’t think we’re supposed to be up here, but it’s not locked or anything and I like it,’ he said. ‘Sometimes it can get a bit… noisy down there.’ He gestured with a nod to the stairs down to the flats.
Maddie thought about this, then said, ‘What’s Jade like? As a neighbour, I mean?’
He looked at her sharply, then looked away again. ‘Alright, I suppose. Why?’
Maddie shrugged. ‘She just mentioned you two might have… you know…’
He chugged from the can, then wiped his mouth on his sleeve. ‘None of your business, really, is it?’
‘No, I guess not.’ She looked off into the imperfect darkness. ‘It’s just… I’m getting to be quite good friends with her and I just wondered, you know…’ Wondered what exactly? If she was trustworthy? ‘Anyway, the woman opposite me said something the other day that made me think, that’s all.’
‘Don’t worry too much about the old girl. She’s a sweet lady if you’re on the right side of her.’
Maddie figured that was all he was going to say on the subject. She took another sip from the can and winced as the bitterness coated her throat.
‘Yeah, we did have a one-night thing,’ Luke said quietly.
Maddie waited for more. It was slow in coming, so she sat back down in the deckchair.
‘I should’ve known better, like shitting on your doorstep.’
How romantic.
‘It was the night after she moved in, I think. She knocked on the door, wanted to know about the other people in the building. I let her in, we got drinking and…’ It was his turn to shrug. ‘It just happened. Not one of my proudest moments, but there you go. It is what it is.’
Maddie hovered, unsure if he was finished. He had a habit of taking long pauses between sentences, like he was considering his words carefully or taking in air. As expected, after a lengthy breath, he continued, ‘It really only got messy when things got funny with the woman who lived in your flat before you.’
Maddie tilted her head. ‘Oh?’ She twisted to look at him and the deckchair swung to the right before correcting itself with a thump.
He sipped; he paused. She leant forward. The deckchair objected.
‘Nice girl was Lucy. Scottish. Young – well, in her early twenties maybe. Worked at a local school – receptionist or something. Very friendly, especially with Peggy Aitkens. Was always in there, checking on her, doing her shopping, that kind of stuff. Peggy’s a nosy old girl, but most of it is loneliness. Just wants someone to care, you know? And to talk to. Don’t we all…’
Sip; pause. Maddie wanted to give him a nudge, tell him to get to the point.
‘Then one day Lucy was gone.’
‘Gone? What? Moved out?’
‘Dunno, just gone. Didn’t even say goodbye to Peggy. She was gutted about
