Close to You (ARC) by Kerry Wilkinson

Author:Kerry Wilkinson [Wilkinson, Kerry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838881610
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Three

Three years, one month ago

How’s Newcastle?

I watch as David picks up his phone and reads the message. He licks the fingers of his other hand, wipes them on his top, and then taps something back. Moments later, my phone buzzes with the reply.

Just going into a meeting. The sun’s out.

I’m not sure why, but I look up to the darkening sky that matches my mood.

I head into the building and cross to the coffee shop opposite the Burger King. I don’t order anything but find a chair in the corner that gives me a perfect view of David. He continues to eat his burger, although it is small bites at a time. I suspect he wants to drag it out, like a teenager trying to make a milkshake last all evening.

Fifteen minutes pass and David does nothing other than use his phone – which is plugged into a socket on a pillar. I wonder how long he’s been in the same spot.

He eventually finishes his food and then dumps the rubbish in the bin before heading out the door, into the main services building. I half expect him to see me, though he’s not really looking. Instead, he mooches into the arcade, hands in pockets. I almost follow but he’s simply trying to waste time. Five minutes later and he’s back where he started.

He eventually heads to an empty table that’s in the central concourse. He pulls out the uncomfortable-looking metal chair and sits, before taking a book from his bag. There’s an unquestionable sadness about a lonely middle-aged man hiding in a service station. I’m not sure whether to be angry or consoling. I want to put my arms around him and say it’s going to be all right; but I also don’t want to see him again. Like a weighing scale: one side balancing the other. I’m not sure which will ultimately win.

I leave the coffee shop and cross the hall, before scraping back the second chair at David’s table and sitting. He looks up, first in surprise and then with eye-popping alarm when he realises it’s me.

‘You’re a liar,’ I say.

He opens his mouth and babbles something I’m not even sure are proper words. Then he bows his head and mutters a simple: ‘Yes.’

‘Is it all a lie?’ I ask.

David folds his book closed and sighs. ‘Is what a lie?’

‘Everything. The job. The travel.’

He shakes his head: ‘No. I do buy and sell things. I have made money, it’s just…’

He tails off and then returns his book to his bag, before pressing back into his chair. He stares past me towards the arcade and it feels like the clouds from outside have descended within.

‘It was what my dad did,’ he says. ‘I thought I could carry it on, but it’s not been as easy these past few months. Times are changing and I don’t know how much of what I do has a place any longer.’

I follow his gaze to the arcade and it’s there, too. There are a pair of kids probably bunking off school.

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