Drowning by Jassy Mackenzie

Author:Jassy Mackenzie
Language: fra
Format: epub
Publisher: HighLine Editions
Published: 2014-03-09T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

I was halfway down the corridor leading to my bedroom when I realized that the lodge was not just cool, but deliciously cold. Music was playing from the dining room and I could hear the sound of a vacuum cleaner coming from somewhere nearby.

I entered my bedroom to find Miriam folding a small pile of freshly laundered clothes and towels into the cupboard.

“Good morning,” she said cheerfully, seeming not to notice my disheveled appearance or, more probably, simply accustomed to women looking the way I did when they’d spent some time in the company of her boss.

“Morning,” I responded with a tight smile.

“We have full power again. The main supply is restored,” she told me.

“Oh, that’s great.”

“It is, yes. We were lucky. The damage was not on this side of the river. The storm knocked a transformer out on the other side, so they were able to repair it this morning. I will bring coffee now. And would you like a waffle? Ice cream and fruit salad?”

“Thanks,” I told her. It was easier not to resist Miriam when she’d made her mind up. In that respect, I had to admit, she had something in common with her employer.

After she’d left the room I stepped under the shower to wash and condition my hair. When I stood under the hot water I thought I could smell Nicholas on me, and I felt both cheap and promiscuous as I poured half the bottle of shower gel into my hands to banish his scent from my skin. I soaped my sensitive breasts, and washed between my legs, where I was still swollen and slick from the sex we’d had.

My body was a mess of bruises. The one on my chest was looking worse every day—a grim thunderstorm landscape of purples and yellows. It was tender to the touch, but looked worse than it felt. Others, too. A small bruise on my upper thigh and one on my calf.

And, on the inside of my left arm, the incriminating line of blue-black fingerprints from where Vince had grabbed me. Those, also, were at their worst now. Another few days and I hoped they would fade, together with the giant bruise on my hipbone, now purple, red, and yellow, from where I’d fallen against the corner of the desk when he’d yanked me towards him.

Back in the bedroom, wearing clean clothes and with my hair finally combed out and under control again, I devoured the large, late breakfast, which Miriam had left on the table. I was surprised by my appetite until I remembered what a physically active morning it had been.

I turned my phone on.

Waiting to see if I had a message from Vince, I felt acute nausea. What would I tell him? How would I word my story? Would he be able to pick up from my voice what I had done?

There was no message although the network notified me I’d had three missed calls from him since my phone had been off. I called him, praying he wouldn’t answer, and he didn’t.

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