Susan looked at the face of her phone, willing it to ring. She had finished her ice cream almost an hour ago, but she still had not plucked up the courage to call Cherry’s parents to see if they knew where their daughter was.
She knew that her only alternative to phoning them was to ignore the situation and pretend to herself that Cherry was safe and well somewhere, and that she would call her eventually, full of apologies for taking so long in getting back to her.
But deep down, Susan knew that she would not be able to sleep that night if she did not make that call.
She could really have done with some moral support from the others, but they—just like her boyfriend—thought that she was making too much of the situation. Even though, none of them could ever remember a time when both Cher
