Fool's Gold by PJ Skinner

Author:PJ Skinner
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter XIII

Sam woke with a start. The sun was forcing itself through the sheets that she had wrapped around her head. She sat upright in the bed. It was as if someone was shining lasers in her eyes, dazing her for a moment. Then she remembered the crash. She examined herself carefully but found no bruises. Had it been a bad dream? If so, it had been very vivid. Dragging herself into the shower, she discovered that there was a piece of skin missing from her elbow when the water flowed over the wound and made her yelp. She felt for it with her finger. It was wet and sticky and made her feel sick. She dressed at a snail’s pace, frightened to emerge out of her bedroom into the apartment and face the music. She wandered into the office, she met Marta, who was worrying her quiff with a round brush. Sam kissed her hello and wished her good morning.

Mike sat at the dining table eating a slice of toast with a thick butter covering. He looked up. ‘You all right, Sam? You look a bit rough, girl. That Gloria will kill you one of these days.’

Sam looked straight into his eyes, which stung like hell against the bright light of the window behind him, but she could see that he wasn’t joking or angry.

‘I feel pretty rough. Have you heard from Gloria this morning?’

‘No. I guess she’s still snuggling up to Alfredo under her pink eiderdown. She’ll arrive in her own sweet time. There’s no hurry.’

She had been the only one who didn’t know about Gloria and Alfredo. Not for the first time, she wondered why everyone else had such an easy time pairing off. She also noticed that Mike was conversant with Gloria’s bed linen, but she didn’t comment. Shuffling to the table, she helped herself to some toast. She tried to figure out why no-one knew or cared about the crash but decided not to say anything unless she had to. Some dry toast and black tea quelled her urge to vomit. She noticed Tati hanging around the kitchen door, staring at her as if she was naked. Maybe Gloria had already told Tati what had happened? Why didn’t Mike know yet?

When car crash was not mentioned all morning, Sam assumed that it was another example of the odd culture in Calderon and got on with planning the trip to Riccuarte. Mike was both meticulous and miserly with his funds. The trip was being planned to the last cent. Sam, who remembered her shared room with Wilson and did not want to repeat the experience, decided to bring extra cash to fund the inevitable shortfall. She got Marta’s cooperation to raid the petty cash fund.

‘What do you mean he’s not paying you? Are you married to him or something?’

‘It’s a long story Marta, not one we have time for now. Can you help me?’

‘Sure, give me the receipts later and I’ll add them to the accounts. He won’t make a fuss.

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