The Runaway. Ali Harper

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СКАЧАТЬ party was it?’ I asked.

      ‘A free party,’ she said.

      ‘You mean, like a rave?’ Jo asked.

      ‘Wasn’t that the nineties?’ I said.

      Jo pulled a face at me. ‘Whereabouts in Lincolnshire?’

      ‘Don’t know.’ She picked up the cigarettes and extracted one from the packet. ‘A field somewhere.’

      I glanced at Jo and she stuck out her bottom lip. I’ve known her long enough to know what that look means. Jo’s one of the most open-minded people I’ve ever met, except when it comes to men. Truth is, since she caught Andy, her ex, in bed with another woman, she’s got about as much faith in men as she has in the Tory government. Not that I can talk. But I know my failure with the opposite sex is down to me, not them.

      Jo put her pen down and pulled her fingers through her hair. A drop more compost fell out. ‘How long you been seeing him?’ she asked.

      ‘A year. Nearly.’

      ‘Have you thought,’ – Jo paused and passed Nikki a lighter – ‘have you thought maybe he’s dumped you?’

      Nikki lit her cigarette, her eyes half-closed against the smoke. She didn’t speak.

      Jo tried again. ‘How would you describe your relationship?’

      The questions were getting too complex for Nikki. I saw a fresh batch of tears threaten. ‘He hasn’t dumped me,’ she said.

      ‘Wonder where Edie is with that tea?’ I made a half-hearted attempt to get up from the table, but Jo glared at me.

      ‘Why hasn’t he rung anyone?’ Nikki screwed up her nose and exhaled the smoke from her lungs. ‘His phone goes straight to voicemail.’

      ‘Does he have a job?’ asked Jo.

      ‘No, but he’s missed his final tutorial. He’s so close to finishing, why disappear the week his dissertation is due to be handed in?’

      ‘Maybe that’s why he’s disappeared.’ Jo glanced at me again and this time the look was serious. ‘Maybe the pressure was getting to him. Does he suffer from depression, low mood, anxiety?’

      Nikki’s violet eyes flashed. ‘He hasn’t killed himself, if that’s what you’re thinking.’

      Jo pressed her fingertips down on the edge of the table, making her knuckles crack. ‘Exclusive?’ asked Jo. ‘Or open?’

      ‘Exclusive,’ said Nikki, without a moment’s hesitation. She pushed the lighter back across the table to Jo. ‘He’s lovely. Ask anyone. He’s—’

      ‘You can’t think of a single reason why he might have needed to get away?’

      ‘No. I mean, at least, no, I don’t think so.’

      I felt sorry for her, as I watched her trawl her memory banks, because I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to try and find a clue, something you may have missed, a sentence that with hindsight had a different meaning, an action that foreshadowed subsequent events.

      ‘I don’t think so,’ she said again. ‘I wanted him to stay in with me. He needed a night out.’

      ‘Have you been to the police?’

      ‘No.’ She turned to me and I sensed she was glad of the distraction. ‘I didn’t want to get anyone into trouble. That’s why I came to you.’

      ‘Trouble?’

      ‘Drugs,’ Jo said, folding her arms across her chest.

      Of course. It was only Wednesday. If this guy had gone to a rave on Saturday night it was possible he hadn’t come down yet. We’d probably find him in a field, telling a tree how much he loved everyone.

      Nikki rubbed her face with her left hand before speaking. ‘He’s not really a drugs person.’

      I leaned closer to her, inhaled some of her second-hand smoke. Its warmth crept down my throat. ‘What does that mean?’

      ‘Well, he does. Sometimes. But, I don’t know …’ She leant back in the chair. ‘I’m worried about him.’

      ‘Maybe the party isn’t over,’ said Jo.

      ‘It’s been four days,’ said Nikki, her voice rising.

      ‘You tried his family?’

      ‘I don’t know where they live.’

      ‘You’ve been together a year and you don’t know where his family live?’

      ‘I know it’s Somerset.’

      ‘He never took you to meet them?’ I was surprised at that. Not that I’d ever been to visit a boyfriend’s parents, but I’d never had a year-long relationship either. As I’ve probably already said, I’m not the relationship type. And one of the reasons I’ve never had a year-long relationship is because I don’t ever want to meet someone’s parents. Or, more to the point, have someone want to meet mine.

      ‘They don’t get on,’ Nikki said but I got the feeling she wasn’t happy with the situation.

      Jo stretched out her fingers. ‘Best thing you can do is relax,’ she said. ‘Men are like dogs—’

      Nikki wrinkled her nose. ‘I need to find him now.’

      ‘Dogs,’ said Jo, crossing her arms behind her head. ‘Simple needs. The trick is not to—’

      ‘You don’t understand,’ said Nikki, grinding out her half-smoked cigarette into the ashtray. ‘I’ve not got time to—’

      ‘What’s the rush?’

      As the question came out of my mouth I realized I already knew the answer. ‘You’re pregnant,’ I said.

      She nodded and another wave of tears welled, smudging her eyeliner before spilling down her cheeks.

      ‘And Matt knows,’ said Jo. I knew from the tone of her voice what she was thinking.

      ‘No.’ Nikki shook her head and a tear flew from her cheek and landed on Jo’s new client interview form. I watched it absorb into the paper. ‘He doesn’t know. I didn’t even know. I only did the test the day before yesterday. It sounds stupid, but I never thought. I didn’t feel right Friday, thought I’d eaten something bad. Felt sick all weekend. Then Monday, I was watching Jeremy Kyle, and this girl with the most awful mother … well, anyway, it just hit me. I went to the chemist, got a test and two minutes later there’s these two blue fucking lines.’

      ‘How pregnant?’ Jo asked.

      ‘Who can remember the first day of their last period? I mean, Jesus.’ She paused and I felt the rage radiating from her.

      I was lost, but fascinated. Like when you СКАЧАТЬ