Waiting for Wednesday by Nicci French

Author:Nicci French
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub, mobi
Tags: Mystery, Thriller
ISBN: 9780718156985
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Published: 2013-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-TWO

When Karlsson woke, he wasn’t sure where he was. He shifted in the bed and felt the warmth, saw the edge of a shoulder and thought, she’s come back. And then he remembered and felt a lurch, and it was as if the colour had leached out of the world. He fumbled for his watch and found it still on his wrist. It was twenty to six. He lay back in the bed. There was a murmur of something he couldn’t make out from Sadie beside him. Wasn’t this what he had been wanting? Something uncomplicated, easy, affectionate, pleasurable? An ache started in his head and spread through his body. He felt an immense, disabling tiredness. Very cautiously, he edged himself out of the bed and started to dress.

‘You don’t have to run away,’ said Sadie, from behind him.

She had pulled herself up and was leaning on one elbow. Her face was puffy from sleep. ‘I could make you some breakfast,’ she said. She looked kind and concerned.

‘I’ve really got to go,’ said Karlsson. ‘I need to get back and get changed and go into work. I’ve really got to rush.’

‘I can get you a tea or a coffee.’

‘That’s all right.’

Karlsson felt a sudden sense of panic, so that he was almost choking. He pulled his trousers on and fastened them. It all seemed to be taking a long time and he sensed Sadie watching him, a character in an unfunny farce. He pushed his shoes on. They felt too small for his feet. He picked up his jacket and turned to her. She was lying in the same position.

‘Sadie, I’m sorry, I …’ He couldn’t think what else to say.

‘Yes, all right.’ She turned away from him and twisted the duvet around her so that he could see only the back of her head. He saw her bra draped over the end of the bed. He thought of her putting it on yesterday morning and then taking it off last night. He had an impulse to sit down, pull the duvet back and tell Sadie everything, explain what he was feeling, why this was all wrong, why they were wrong for each other and why he was wrong for anyone. But that wouldn’t be fair on her. He’d already done enough.

He came out on to the quiet street. There was a hum of traffic but the main sound was birdsong all around him, with a blue sky and early-morning sunshine. It felt wrong. It should have been raining and grey and cold.

Frieda sat at her kitchen table while Josef boiled the kettle, ground coffee, washed up the remains of Chloë’s breakfast. A good thing about Josef – and she had to hang on to the good things, in the middle of everything else – was that she didn’t have to make conversation. So she could just sit at the table and stare in front of her. Finally he put the mug of coffee in front of her and sat down with his own mug.

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