This is the chapter that.I missed out. It comes between 30 and 31 x
The hours had passed. It was 11:00PM. The sun was long gone, only the bright black sky hung over head, clear for a change, spangled with bright yellow stars, the moon hung low above a blanket of trees, shimmering in the distance.
It had taken a while to persuade Tess that she was ok to stay on her own once she had dropped her off at her house. Tess had fussed for a while, insisting she had the central heating on, making sure she had food, drink, blankets nearby. And with the promise that she would keep her phone switched on, and call if she needed anything, she had finally left.
The food remained uneaten, the water untouched. Her phone bleeped low battery, the screen flickering on and off, catching her eye every now and then.
Max hadn't called.
She had changed out of his dressing gown, tossed it into the bottom of her laundry basket and had been helped, again by Tess, into her own pyjamas, a stack of heavy duty sanitary towels thoughtfully placed in both bathrooms.
She touched her lips with her fingertips. Glancing again at her phone. No messages, no texts. She checked she had signal, holding the phone tentatively in her hand, a sickening roll of adrenaline filling her stomach, as though it may explode if she touched it.
She rolled her thumb over the screen, hovering over Max's name, scrolling back and forth over it, almost convincing herself It was an accident when she eventually clicked call.
To her surprise he answered almost instantly. She could hear music faintly in the background, she waited for the 'hello?' that didn't come.
She remained silent. She heard his voice, somewhere far away, too far away to hear his words. He laughed, how could he be laughing? Something rustled loudly against the phone, she guessed it must still be in his pocket.
The music grew louder, then quieter, and the rustling stopped. She held her breath, her throat hurt, she strained her ears to hear. He spoke again, still his voice a murmur. This time a reply came, louder than his own, a woman's voice, a giggle. She swallowed, her throat aching. She closed her eyes as she listened. There was the creak of something, a bed? She caught the shriek of the girl laughing 'shut up'.
The phone crackled again and she heard something tap against the screen, the clink and scrape of coins in his pocket made her wince, briefly holding the phone away from her ear.
"Fuck."
She heard him, louder now.
"Zoe?"
His voice startled her. She exhaled loudly without meaning to.
"Zoe?"
He said again.
"Where are you?"
She whispered into the phone, her grip on it tightening.
The girl in the background said something.
"Who are you with?"
She asked before he could respond.
"No one...I.."
She removed the phone from her ear, not wanting to hear his lies. She placed the phone on the floor, refusing to hang up. She watched the screen, vivid and blue, Max's name in bright white light. In the distance she could hear him shouting her name.
She leaned over, took hold of the corner of the coffee table and pulled it nearer to her, feeling her stomach cramp as she lifted just the edge of it, just high enough, then bought the leg of it down as hard as she could on the face of her phone. She heard it crack, saw the glass splinter, a spider web against the foot of the table. The screen was black. Max was gone.
"Fuck you."
She whispered, rolling back onto the sofa, turning her back on the room and shutting her eyes to sleep, the brilliant red of blood rising behind her eyes.