Keep Your Friends Close: A gripping psychological thriller full of shocking twists you won’t see coming. June Taylor
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another message sooner, but she didn’t want to get in the way and become a distraction. When the screen flashed up message sent, Mel imagined herself shooting off into the digital tangle along with it. She stood up again, this time to take in the view across the rooftops of Leeds.
She had moved to this city to make a fresh start when her mother eventually passed away. Glasgow had too many sad and difficult memories and she needed to figure out what to do next. Leeds seemed as good a place as any. Beyond the immediate streets was an ever-changing skyline, cranes dangling like gallows as more development took place. The darker area of woodland fought hard to retain its position between the bricks and concrete that were continually sprouting around it, but at least this city still had plenty of green space in which to breathe. Hyde Park was on their doorstep, with its fine trees and a vast expanse of grass to stroll along or sit on for an hour or two. It was the place Mel generally went to do her thinking.
She pictured the Friday night revelry going off in Headingley, students in fancy dress doing the Otley Run, tattooed white flesh bulging out of tight-fitting clothes, tumbling through sweaty bars and clubs. This whole era had passed her by and Mel couldn’t afford the more sophisticated scene that Leeds had to offer, even if she had anyone to share it with. In the far distance she could make out the silhouetted Lego-like blocks that had been put up quickly and cheaply during the boom time. Supposedly high-end offices and apartments but few could pay the inflated rents that went with them. A smile spread across Mel’s face when she thought of Karin’s naivety, once she had learned that many of these were still empty and had begun to badger Aaron into getting his contacts to consider them for the Room for a Night scheme. Aaron had let her down gently: Who would want to move into a prestigious office or apartment after a bunch of homeless people had been living there?
Karin’s youthful passion on this subject was probably the reason why the charity had taken her on in the first place: to convince people, with her limitless enthusiasm, that they should support and give generously to the cause. Perhaps she was a reminder of an idealism they had lost as they consumed more and more stuff. ‘Capitalism with a conscience is what we need to work towards,’ Karin would say to anyone who would listen. ‘There are so many of these buildings just doing nothing. Never been occupied since the day they were finished. It’s criminal to think of the hundreds of people with nowhere to live in our towns and cities when there’s all this empty space.’
She did have a point. But although Karin had lived on the streets, she still had much to learn about the real world. Mel thought Aaron might have grown weary of this by now, and she found herself questioning his motives again. Whether he truly loved Karin remained to be seen. Mel rapped her fingers on the desk, wondering if his plan was working: birthday treat, element of surprise.
Then her phone pinged.
K: YES HE PROPOSED!
M: AND?
K: I SAID YES. BUT HE’S BROUGHT US TO THE MIDLAND HOTEL WHERE I USED TO WORK. CAN’T BELIEVE IT. AND LOUIE IS HERE!!
M: OH GOD, NO! THAT’S NOT WHAT YOU NEED. STAY OUT OF HER WAY. YOU DON’T WANT ALL THAT STALKING TO START UP AGAIN.
K: I’M TRYING TO.
M: KEEP IN TOUCH. MAYBE YOU SHOULD JUST GET OUT OF THERE.
Mel couldn’t quite believe Aaron’s mistake. Morecambe was the last place on earth he should have taken Karin to this weekend, or any weekend. She could have told him that, if only he had allowed her to advise him on that too. Why would Karin want to return to somewhere she used to work? That’s all she would have needed to say, without letting anything slip.
Despite encouraging her to be honest with Aaron on this matter, it was Karin’s big fear that Aaron’s ‘conventional thinking’ would not allow him to accept that she once had a girlfriend. It wasn’t just some lesbian dalliance from her youth either; they had been in a relationship and lived together for at least a couple of years.
Mel needed another glass of wine to help her think.
Later on in the evening, the TV was still blaring in the lounge. Mel could hear it through the door. But when she returned upstairs she noticed that the light was on in Karin’s room. Resting her glass on the banister, she crept the rest of the way.
A noise from inside Karin’s room stopped her from going any further. Mel reached for her mobile, tucked it into her pocket, just in case.
A figure appeared in the doorway.
‘Will. My god! What on earth are you doing in there? That’s not your room.’
He signed something back to her, but Mel had no idea what he was trying to say. He had in his hand some jewellery, belonging to Karin, and seemed to be implying that he had come across it on the landing. Walking his fingers towards Karin’s room possibly meant that he was intending to return it.
Mel met his stare. He dumped the jewellery into her hand, making her arm give way with the force, but she managed to keep hold of it. With a disapproving shake of her head, she moved Will to one side and marched into Karin’s room, placing the jewellery back on her bed.
Turned off the light and shut the door.
Will hadn’t moved, still out on the landing. He stared at Mel, long and hard, pushing past her to get to his own room and slammed the door in her face.
‘Will. Will,’ she shouted. ‘We should talk about this.’
But he couldn’t hear her, and it was pointless knocking. She left it a few seconds before turning the handle, opening his door just enough to make herself visible.
Will was in his usual position leaning against the radiator. His eyes, almost black, penetrated hers. Mel would have thought them beautiful, if they weren’t so unnerving. He began to pull on greasy lengths of hair either side of his face, moving on to his beard.
‘Will.’
She realized he couldn’t lip-read from where she was standing and went in a bit further, as near as she dared, exaggerating her words as she tried again. ‘I think we need another little chat, Will. Don’t you?’
She waited. Nothing came back.
‘I need to remind you that this is our home and you have to respect that.’
After a few moments he began to sign something. Angrily. Fingers slapping together, arms flapping. His facial expression never altered.
‘Look, I have no idea what you’re saying to me,’ said Mel, ‘and it doesn’t sound very pleasant. Are you able to write it down? We might understand each other better that way.’ Mel pretended to scribble something in the air, but Will shook his head. She had asked him to do this before and he always refused.
She decided to take a different approach. Pushing his books to one side, she sat on the floor, an attempt to make this less confrontational. She just had to hope that he wouldn’t lash out. ‘Look, Will, I take it that you do still want this chance Karin is giving you? It’d be such a waste if you mess up now, after all the hard work you’re putting in. Don’t you agree?’
Silence.
‘So have you anything more to say, or do we understand one another?’
He stood up, towering over her.
Louie was waiting for her moment to come again, watching their table discreetly in between