Just For You by Laura Lockington

Author:Laura Lockington [Lockington, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lume Books
Published: 2014-10-02T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Hannah’s morning run was interrupted by the heaviest rain pour she could remember seeing in Brighton. She was caught on the seafront promenade and had to dodge into one of those shady looking shops, shoehorned into the arches under the main road that specialised in selling tat to the tourists . The rain made the sea and the sky the same dark grey, and angry squalls of wind blew the shop awning and windows making everything rattle. She glanced around, and wondered, not for the first time, who actually bought anything here? Curtains made of shells, miniature pictures of the pier and the Royal Pavilion made of pebbles, plastic windmills and masks of pop stars and politicians shook in the wind. A whole shop full of rubbish that no-one wanted. It was a miracle that it stayed open really.

The young boy behind the till smiled vaguely at her, before going back to what was his real job of keeping track of his friends via his mobile phone.

A revolving stand of postcards stood be the till, and she moved towards it, idly flicking it around, whiling away the time till the rain dropped a bit and she could make a dash for it.

She wasn’t the only person that had come in to shelter from the rain. Another runner was hugging herself to keep warm in the doorway. They made eye contact and the woman said, “Awful, isn’t it? I couldn’t see where I was going! Had to stop for a bit...”

Hannah nodded, “Yes, it’s dangerous to run in, too...came out of nowhere, didn’t it? Maybe it’ll stop soon...”

They both looked doubtfully up at the slate grey sky and laughed. “Or maybe we’ll just have to get very very wet!” The woman laughed. “I can’t hang around, got to pick the kids up soon. Nice to meet you and stay dry!”

Hannah felt a stab of disappointment. She felt that if the other woman had stayed for a while, Hannah might have found a running companion. She’d recently joined the Brighton Runners and tried her hardest to strike up a friendship there, but everyone seemed to know everyone else and although she’d tried, there didn’t seem to be any connection with anyone.

Hannah turned back to the postcards. They were the usual mixture of nudist beach shots, the pier at sunset covered in swirling starlings and a lurid coloured floodlit pavilion. Then there were the graphic ones that had rude messages on and then... then there were a whole series of postcards done in the style of a poison pen letter. Different typefaces that were made to look as if they’d been cut out of magazines or papers and then glued onto the card.

Pay the ransom or the kitten gets it!

Blackmail is a dirty word and I’m dirty!

Pay up... we know where you live!

You cheated on your exam and we know!

We know who your wife is sleeping with and it’s not you!

Hannah’s hand froze over the last one. She always carried an emergency ten pound note with her when she was out running tucked into her socks.

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