1.

Ghosts from the Past

Dan gripped my arm, his face pained.

"Anna…Why? I-I don't understand."

My eyes glistened and it took all my willpower not to let the tears fall. I very nearly lost my nerve. He shook me.

"Anna!"

I pulled my arm out from his fingers and steadied myself.

"I can't Dan, it's too hard. I thought we could do this but we can't. We're too young, neither of us even has a steady job. We were stupid to take it this far."

He flinched back, stung. I wanted to run into his arms, to bury my head in his chest and tell him sorry, that I didn't mean any of it. But that wouldn't make this any easier. I slid the opal engagement ring off my finger and held it out to him. His eyes tightened as he looked at it for a moment. Then he coldly took it and turning it over in his hands once, he turned back into his dorm room and shut the door between us. I fled.

* * * * *

Anna Elliot stood in the front gardens, her dark hair pulled haphazardly back with two mismatched bobbles, her soft brown eyes blinking up at the large house and mentally taking it in for what she feared might be the last time. It was a grand, redbrick building with large gardens and a high ornate fence surrounding the property. Her childhood home.

She hadn't lived there for a while now, not since she had started renting a flat in central London while at university. She and her best friend, Laura Russell had both gone to UCL. She had studied Fine Art while Laura had studied Psychology. Anna had just graduated while Laura, being a year older than her, already had a good job at a major therapy clinic in central London. Not that that surprised Anna. Laura had always looked out for her so it seemed entirely natural for her to do so well in a job where she could counsel and help others. She was older, wiser – an unofficial sister and quite unlike Anna's real sisters. Their friendship had been cemented by Laura's constant support when, at the age of fifteen, Anna's mother had died of breast cancer.

She shut her eyes against the sun and breathed slowly, trying not to think of that right now – leaving the house was hard enough. This place had been her strongest link to her mother. The one place where she could almost feel her mother around her. But the house needed to be let out. Her dad had run up debts by his stupid compulsions to 'live up to the status of an Elliot' as he had once explained to Anna. 'The status of an Elliot'? The Elliot family had been quite prominent in the 80s and 90s, three generations of actors who had all had successful film careers. This, in her dad's mind, seemed to qualify them as some kind of dynasty, though his own career could hardly be considered as notable. He would spend hours looking at old family awards and film posters in his trophy room. His prize possession however was a small magazine clipping from 1989 that announced 'Derek Elliot as sexiest actor of the month' after his one-hit wonder appearance in the summer action film 'Brooklyn Nights'. Since then, his career had fizzled out, leaving him only with a collection of old articles on himself and his family and the odd bit part or TV commercial. He and the family now lived off the wills of past Elliot generations and royalty money from the occasional re-run of 'Brooklyn Nights' on television.

"Anna!" She was pulled out of her thoughts as Laura came running over the front lawn to her, the blue BMW pulled close up the curb behind her, the driver's door still open. Laura hugged her.

"This must be so hard for you."

"Thanks, Laura but it's OK. Anyway, at least we don't have to sell it completely. In a few years we should have paid off the creditors completely."

"You don't have to be brave, you understand how cut up you must be about this. I mean, after all you're in debt!" Laura said the word wincing. "Plus you will have to stay in that poky little flat of yours."

"That was the idea anyway Laura, even before all this."

Laura sighed and clicked her tongue.

"Babe, you could at least try and do better. I mean, look at me. I love my job and being independent and everything, but it didn't stop me from seeing that George was going places and shacking up with him was the best decision I ever made."

George was Laura's fiancé. They had been together two years now and he had recently been signed to play football professionally by Chelsea Football Club. Laura had been right, he was going places and as such could afford to keep her in the lifestyle she was accustomed to, thanks to her parents.

Anna just shrugged. She wasn't interested in money the way her friend was and she loved her flat no matter how small it was. Laura sighed exasperatedly and half-rolled her eyes. Then she smiled and gave Anna's shoulders a squeeze. Anna smiled back, Laura was only looking out for her as she always did. It was always like this, they would disagree occasionally but Anna always knew that Laura only wanted what was best for her – or at least what she thought was best.

"Laura." Derek Elliot descended the house's front step with one of Anna's sisters in tow, the other being married and currently living in one of London's well-to-do suburbs.

"Oh, Mr. Elliot! Hi, it's so great to see you again." She giggled, simpering slightly. Anna sighed, slightly irked by her friend's behaviour.

"Ofcourse it is." Mr. Elliot replied with a movie star smile.

Laura liked Anna's dad for the status that his past acting career and connections gave him. She had learnt that from her mother, who had been a big fan back in when the Elliot's were in their prime. Meanwhile, Derek Elliot liked Laura; firstly for the fact she came from a good, wealthy family and so was no embarrassment as neighbours and secondly because she clearly valued his status almost as much as he did himself.

"The lawyers have sorted out the contract with the new tenants" said Mr. Elliot, his teeth grating slightly. "God, I can't believe I'm letting out this place to such plebs. Apparently, the couple have no kids so at least the awards should be safe but still – Croft!" He said the name with a look of disgust. "What is that? Who are these Crofts? I'll tell you who they are – nobodies."

Anna's palms started to sweat. Laura's mouth suddenly became very tight and she tried to catch her friend's eye. Anna avoided her gaze, finding sudden interest in her shoes, and trying to steady herself. Croft? Well, OK maybe it wasn't that common a name but surely it could be a different set of Crofts. Please. Anybody but them…and him.

"Apparently, the wife's brother has got a new novel out, he's doing quite well." Anna's sister, Ellen chipped in at this point, unable to listen to a conversation she did not have a major part in.

"Urgh, writers. Pretentious little twits." Mr. Elliot squared his shoulders with a look of annoyance. Anna was momentarily distracted from her rising panic as she remembered the dusty pile of rejected film treatments that her father kept hidden in his office. She bit her lip to hide a smile.

"Well, yes but this one has landed himself a film deal with a production company in America. Lots of film critics are tipping it to be a big award winner when it's released."

Mr. Elliot looked slightly pacified, his approval apparently finally granted by the mention of a film deal. All the while, Laura was furiously trying to catch Anna's eye and failing.

"What's the author's name?" asked Anna quietly, hoping against hope for her suspicions to be proven wrong.

"His name?" Ellen preened at her new position as the expert of the conversation. "It's Dan. Dan Wentworth."


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