One For Sorrow

Chapter Five

16:45

Sally sat drumming her pen on her desk as she listened to the ringing tone, her phone was on speaker. She had seen Charles and Gerry go into her boss’s office and she had heard raised voices. This made her realize something serious had happened and it needed to be sorted, and it needed to be sorted now.

“Morgan!” Came the sudden reply, bringing her back to the real world.

“It’s Sally, I need his number. This needs sorting now.” She said, getting straight to the point.

“I still am not too sure that this is such a good idea.” Came the hesitant reply.

“It’s our last hope, Julie. We need to get this sorted out before she goes into a complete meltdown, and I believe that is very close to occurring, in my opinion.”

“OK,” Julie said with a sigh before reeling off a mobile number. Sally wrote it down on her notepad.

“Thanks, hun, I will see you later. Let me know if she calls to cancel.” She said before hanging up. She picked up the handset this time and dialed the number she had written down.

“Detective Chief Inspector Blackman.” Came the reply after two rings. The sound of a car came across the speaker.

“I don’t know if you remember me, but I really need your help, Blackman.”

“I remember you, Sally, Julie just texted to say you would be calling, what’s up?” Came the reply, at the same time you could hear the sound of an indicator across the line.

“Look, something has happened. Julie told me you were moving back down this way over the weekend. Is there any chance you could come up tonight? I think you are our only hope of sorting this out now.” Sally explained cryptically.

“You have me intrigued now, care to fill me in Birch?’ He said, you could hear the frown in his voice.

Sally took a deep breath, she needed to do this right. “It’s Cecelia.” There was a sudden sound of liquid being sprayed as if someone had spat a drink out. “You there?”

“Yes, sorry. Cecelia is back in Huntingdon?” He said, coughing a little, his voice an octave higher.

“You bloody well know she is and something bad has happened to her, she won’t speak about it and we know if anyone can get her to talk, it’s you. Meet us at the pub, our usual from back then, tonight, at seven pm.” She hung up before he could reply. This was going to get sorted and it was going to get sorted tonight. Even if Sally had to do it herself.

18:30

Later that evening, after she had finished work, Cecelia walked out of the building and got into her dark blue Audi A5 Sportback. She let her hands rest on the steering wheel and let out a long drawn-out sigh of relief. Today was over, she had made it through the week. She had the weekend to rest and recuperate, as long as nothing serious arose. Being chief meant any murders and she had to be there.

After driving around for some time to try and clear her head, she pulled her car into the car park of a small pub which she knew would be quiet and out of the way. She got out of the car and pulled her handbag onto her shoulder like a shield against nothing. After locking the door, she went inside as the keys jingled rhythmically in her hand. She stood for a moment and surveyed the room with her intense turquoise gaze, looking for one person in particular.

After several seconds, her eyes fell upon a tall thin blonde woman with sparkling blue eyes. Cecelia began to make her way across the room to the woman, who stood up and beamed a warm smile as Cecelia approached. The two women hugged briefly before both sat back down at the table.

“It’s good to finally see you again Julie,” Cecelia said, smiling as she placed her handbag on the floor under the table. She picked up the menu and opened it to give her something to do to hide her nervous fidgeting. Cecelia, Julie, and Sally had all gone to school together and had made sure that they had kept in contact all those years later. Julie and Sally are four years her senior. They had taken a shy Cecelia under their wings when they had first seen her. It was due to their friendship that she had gotten to where she is today.

“I’d say the same, but it would appear you have not been having a good time of it lately. Sally told me something had happened, but I didn’t realize it was quite so bad.” Julie said with the worst look she could have worn at that moment, a look of pity. Cecelia felt her stomach turn at the look on her friend’s face. Why did people have to keep doing that?

“Oh, it’s nothing, I am fine, just being my usual clumsy self.” Cecelia lied, lowering her gaze from Julie’s. She hated seeing that look on people’s faces, it was ten times worse when it was her friends.

“How many times have I told you not to play with the traffic on the motorway? It will do you no good whatsoever.” Julie joked, lightening the mood. Cecelia laughed and then cringed in pain. “Seriously though, what happened my sweet?”

“Nothing serious, I just tripped and fell down the stairs at home. That is all. It was quite painful, though I will admit,” She said, trying to smile but failing. Still not being able to look her friend in the eye

“Bollocks!” Julie said in a loud voice, making people turn and glare over at them. This made Cecelia redden as more eyes fell on her appearance. She could just imagine what people would be thinking.

“Honestly, Julie, it was just an accident. That is all. You know how easily I bruise.” She said, trying to steer off this line of conversation.

“I don’t believe that load of twaddle one-bit Cee-Jay, but I won’t push the matter. For now,” Julie said, with a tone that said that this conversation was definitely not over.

“You don’t need to push the matter full stop, Julie. I told you it was an accident,” Cecelia muttered. A waiter suddenly appeared, making Cecelia jump. He had a pad and pen in his hands, ready to take their orders.

“Are we ready to order yet, ladies?” He asked in a pleasant voice as he grinned at Julie, his brown eyes sparkling as he watched her.

“Just drink for us for now please, we are still waiting for some more people to arrive,” Julie said, returning the smile. Cecelia was positive that she had caught Julie fluttering her eyelashes at the boy. She smiled. It was one of the things she loved about Julie, her ability to drag any man’s attention to her with just a smile.

“Of course, and what drink can I get for you?” He asked, his eyes not leaving Julie’s.

“What is the house wine?” Cecelia asked, deciding it was best to just ignore the obvious flirting that was going on, or she would die of thirst.

“Red or white Ma’am?” The waiter asked, finally managing to drag his eyes away from Julie. Cecelia was sure he was glaring at her for the rude interruption of their flirting.

“Both,” Julie said.

“The white is a Sauvignon Blanc. It is beautifully floral and zesty. It comes from Marlborough in New Zealand. The red is a Pinot Noir, again from New Zealand. It is a vibrant fruity wine with spices and vanilla oak.’ The waiter said as if he had been rehearsing it all day long.

“I will have a glass of white,” Cecelia said with a smile as the waiter wrote it down.

“And for you, Ma’am?” He asked, smiling deeply at Julie.

“The red please,” Julie said, returning the smile. The waiter wrote it down and excused himself. “So when is Sally due?”

“Soon,” Cecelia said, reading through the menu, even though she already knew she would order the garlic field mushrooms for a starter and the sea bass for her main. “She was just finishing up an autopsy as I was leaving.”

“We have invited an old friend of ours, I hope you don’t mind,” Julie said, broaching the one subject she had been dreading since Sally had arranged it.

“Not at all, who is it?” Cecelia asked, putting the menu down and taking a breadstick. She looked at her friend and waited for the answer as she waved a bread stick back and forth.

“You are about to find out,” Julie said, nodding slightly in the general direction of the door. Cecelia turned with difficulty in her chair to see who Julie was referring to. She gasped as her breath caught in her throat. Her heart did a little flip when she saw who it was. She turned back to look at Julie. Her eyes were filled with pure panic.

“Sh1t!” She exclaimed under her breath as she picked up her handbag. “I can’t let him see me like this!”

“Cecelia Jayne! Sit! You of all people should know him better than that! Anyway, he has already seen you and is on his way over, so you can’t leave.”

“I will get you for this Julie,” Cecelia seethed as she dropped her handbag back down on the floor and got as comfortable as she could in her situation. This was the last thing in the world that she needed.

“I am sure you will, dear.” Julie shot back before standing up to greet the newcomer.

“Julie!” A dark-haired, well-built god exclaimed as he appeared at the table. He turned and smiled at Cecelia, faltering when he saw the state she was in. His green eyes flashed like they always had when he was silently angry and the dazzling smile died on his lips.

“Hello, Riley.” She said with a sigh, wishing that at that very moment, the ground would open up and swallow her back down into it.

“Cecelia, it is good to see you again.” He said as he sat between the two women. The anger was still in his eyes. Great. She thought to herself. Another man was pissed off at her.

“Yes, I guess it is.” She muttered quietly, looking down at the table so that she could avoid her eyes meeting his. She started to fiddle with the menu, just so she had reason not to look up and make eye contact.

“Oh, my God! Look who it is.” Came a jolly voice from behind them. A tall, well-dressed woman, with long mocha brown hair tied back into a high ponytail, her green framed glasses sat on the top of her head.

“Hello Sally,” Riley said, standing to meet the newcomer as Cecelia threw a glare in Julie’s general direction. Riley had been Cecelia’s boyfriend when she had been in secondary school with his sister Bethany. She had first met him when she was in her eighth year of school. He had been home from his boarding school and had pretty much become inseparable from then on. That was until the day she had ended it with him.

“So Cecelia, how have you been?” Riley asked after he had returned to his seat. He kept eye contact with her, to let he know he wasn’t there to inspect her injuries. It was the first time in a week that she had managed to look someone straight in the eye.

“I am well enough.” Cecelia lied as the waiter returned with two glasses of wine. He took Sally and Riley’s drink orders and then disappeared to get them.

“You are such a liar, Cecelia Jayne.” Sally piped up from behind her menu as Riley flinched. “I will get the truth out of you soon enough.”

“You know what happened already, I told you on Monday, and on Tuesday, and every other day of this week. I fell down the stairs, and I landed awkwardly.” Cecelia said. She really didn’t want to get into this familiar argument right now, this was not the setting for it. She was starting to wish she could flee, but with Sally being there, she couldn’t use work as an excuse.

“And I already told you, that is a crock of sh1t,” Sally replied, still not looking up from her menu. Color began to rise in Cecelia’s face, and a mix of anger and embarrassment flashed in her eyes.

“Sally, leave it, I will not have this argument again.” She said through gritted teeth.

“To be truthful, Cecelia,” Riley piped up. “You appear to have injuries you could not possibly receive from falling down the stairs. But I agree, now is not the time or the place for this discussion.”

The waiter came over and they ordered their food. After he had left again, Sally took a swig of her beer. “It is never a good time to discuss it.”

“Precisely, so leave it.” Cecelia seethed. Suddenly, her phone began to ring on her belt. She pulled it off and looked to see who it was. “Excuse me, I have to take this.”

She stood up and left the room, answering the phone as she went, happy about the sudden distraction. Even if it was one she would rather have ignored.

“Christ Birch! When you told me she had been hurt,” Riley said in surprise once he knew Cecelia was out of earshot. “You could have warned me, maybe elaborated a bit, so I wasn’t quite so taken aback by it.”

“Something serious has happened to her, Riley,” Sally said finally.

“You don’t say,” Riley said as he looked between the two women. “Who did it?”

“We don’t know,” Julie said with a sigh.

“She won’t talk about it. Gerry and Charles appeared today; they are two of our very close friends, and that is what made me realize for sure something bad had gone down. There were a few raised voices, and that rarely happens between them.” Sally explained. “She’s jumpy, you walk up on her when she’s not aware, and she looks like a deer in headlights. I’m worried.”

“If anyone is going to get her talking Riley, it’s you,” Julie put in.

“I feel so wrong doing this, we’ve not seen each other in years, she left me, and she isn’t going to take kindly to me prying into her business.” He pointed out to them both.

“You are our last hope, she is going to go nuts if she doesn’t talk about it soon, and I wouldn’t be able to bear it if she did, Riley,” Sally said. “I’ve tried everything short of beating it out of her.”

He sighed, what could he do? He was surprised that she had even stayed once she had seen him. “I will do my best, but I can’t promise anything, I could just make things a lot worse.”

“We will deal with it when and if it comes to that,” Julie said. “But hopefully it won’t.”

“Well then, I guess there is no better time than the present.” He said, standing. He followed in the direction Cecelia had gone. This was not going to go down well, he had no doubt about that. His heartbeat quickened as he passed through the exit and out into the warm evening air. He still loved her, he had realized that he had never stopped, which could explain the many failed relationships since her. Oh, how Flick and Jack would love this one when they found out. He spotted her, her back was to him as she spoke on the phone. He waited in silence, watching her as she spoke. She was thin, too thin, to the point he was sure he could see her ribs through her blouse. Oh, how he wished he could hold her and comfort her right now. He just wanted to wrap her up safely in his arms and protect her until they both died of old age. Why on earth did he let her leave him in the first place?