Girl on the Run (6 page)

Marsh put a hand on her arm.
‘I think you're in shock. Let's get you somewhere warm.’ He looked around. ‘There's nowhere near here … apart from work.’

‘
No. Not work.’

‘
I'll call a taxi and take you home.’

Jane thought of the flat, with Polly and Andy and the millions of questions she'd have to face.
‘No,’ she said weakly. ‘Not there either.’

Jane thought of her flat that she'd had to give up. She thought of the photographer that had waited outside to catch her when she and Ashby had split up. She wanted to go home. Not to Polly's flat, but home. Somewhere she could just hide from the world and sleep. Tears filled her eyes.

‘Tell you what,’ said Marsh after a moment's silence. ‘Why don't we go to my place? I'll make you a nice cup of tea and you can phone the police from there.’

That wasn't home either, but the idea appealed. Jane wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and looked up at him.

‘No funny business,’ he said, putting his hands up in front of him. ‘I promise.’

She didn't doubt that he meant it. So she nodded.

He pulled a mobile out of his hoodie pocket and made the call.

Marsh was still in his running shorts. Even bundled up in several layers of clothing, Jane was still feeling cold. He must have been freezing. The taxi pulled up at what looked like an old school in a quiet side street.

Marsh led her into the house and up what seemed like endless stairs. On the third floor, he opened one of the doors leading off the landing and stepped aside to let Jane enter.

As he went round, flicking on lights, Jane stared. Despite the building's Victorian exterior, the flat was very modern. The room had a high ceiling and enormous windows down one side. The décor was warm reds and creamy yellows. Marsh hurried around the room, scooping up items that had been left lying around.

Jane watched him, bemused.

‘I wasn't expecting visitors.’ He dropped everything into a drawer under the coffee table. ‘Take a seat. I'll put the kettle on.’

The flat didn't look like a bachelor pad. There were photos on the walls and floral cushions on the sofa. She did see evidence of Marsh living there, though. A pile of paper and patent books was stacked on the dining table, a jumper was thrown over the back of a chair and a full set of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
DVDs sat on a shelf.

Jane pulled a bar stool up to the small breakfast bar that separated the kitchen area from the dining table. Against the wall
were one haphazardly balanced stack of mountain biking and running magazines and, behind it, a neat pile of
Cosmo
. Jane stared at it. What kind of a man read
Cosmo
?

Marsh saw her looking at them.
‘Oh, they're not mine. They're Stevie's. You should report your mugging to the police. You'll need a crime number for cancelling your credit cards.’

She would need to remember what had been in her bag.
‘Have you got a piece of paper? And a pen?’

He went back to making tea whilst she tried to remember all her purse had contained.

‘Here you go.’ He set a mug of tea in front of her. ‘I'm sure I had some biscuits,’ he said, as he opened one cupboard after another. ‘Ah, here we are.’ He pulled down a packet of digestives and put them in front of her as well. ‘Now, will you be Ok for a few minutes?’

‘
Yes, sure.’ She wrapped her hands round the mug of tea, immediately feeling a little better. She smiled at him.

‘
In that case, I'll just go and get changed into something warmer.’

‘
Would it be Ok if I phoned my flatmate. She'll be wondering where I am.’

‘
Of course. Phone whoever you want to.’ He gave a quick smile and left the room.

Jane waited until she heard another door close and quickly punched in Polly's number, thankful that she knew it by heart.
‘Hi Pol, it's me,’ she said when Polly answered.

‘
Jane, where are you? I've been trying to call you, but you didn't answer your phone. I was starting to get worried.’

‘
I'm fine,’ said Jane. ‘My phone got nicked …’

‘
What? How?’

‘
I … er … I got mugged.’ It seemed too weird to say that. Until now, muggings were something that happened to other people, like winning the lottery. It seemed strange to be the victim of one.

‘
Oh my God! Are you Ok? Where are you?’

‘
I'm fine,’ Jane repeated. ‘Marsh rescued me.’

‘
Marsh?’ said Pol. ‘Is that the one with the nice arse?’

Jane couldn't help but smile. Trust Polly to remember that one fact above all else.
‘Yes, that's the one.’

There was some murmuring in the background and Polly said,
‘Shut up Andy.’ Then, ‘So where are you now?’

‘
I'm in his flat …’ Jane felt a strong urge to giggle.

‘
What?
Jane, what's going on?’

Suddenly, it was all too funny.
‘He's in the shower,’ she said, giggling. ‘He made me a cup of tea.’

‘
Jane?
Jane
, you're scaring me. Tell me where you are and we'll come and get you.’

‘
No, no.’ Jane wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and tried to stop the laughter. ‘I'm fine. Honestly. Marsh has been a total gentleman. He brought me in here into the warm and made me a cup of tea. He even gave me his phone to call the police and report the mugging.’

There was silence from the other end, and then Polly said,
‘Let me get this straight. You got mugged. This guy with the nice arse rescued you and took you back to his flat?’

‘
Yes.’

‘
Why didn't he bring you to
your
flat?’

‘
I asked him not to,’ said Jane, suddenly feeling bad. Polly would have looked after her.

‘
Why?’

Jane didn't want to hurt Polly's feelings by telling her that she didn't really feel at home in
her friend’s flat. She felt like she was in the way. ‘I … He was wearing running shorts,’ she said finally.

Now it was Polly's turn to laugh.
‘Ok, I see what you mean. Well, if he tries anything funny, just call me and Andy will come and pick you up, Ok?’

‘
Ok.’

‘
What's the number there, just in case?’

Jane turned the phone round and read the number that was printed on it in neat feminine handwriting. She had seen Marsh's scrawl before. It wasn't his.

She heard the bathroom door open. ‘He's coming back. I've got to go,’ she said and quickly hung up. She dialled the police and was busy giving the policewoman a list of what was stolen when Marsh came back in. She didn't look up, but concentrated on what she was saying. She could hear him moving around, making himself a drink.

She heaved a sigh of relief when she'd finished.

Marsh leaned on the other side of the breakfast bar. ‘Sorted?’

‘
I think so.’ He was barely a foot away from her. His hair was still damp from his shower and stood in unruly ridges where he'd run his fingers through it. She could smell his shampoo. She looked down, afraid to look into his eyes in case he noticed that she fancied him.

‘
You should cancel your credit cards,’ he said, finally.

‘
Yes, I should.’

‘
Would you like some food? I could do us some pasta.’

Suddenly her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten since lunchtime.
‘That would be lovely.’

As she made her phone calls, she watched Marsh cook. If anything, he looked even
more sexy in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. He moved confidently round the kitchen, slicing garlic and chopping vegetables.

When he said he'd make pasta, she had assumed he would just open a jar of sauce. She hadn't expected him to cook a proper meal from scratch. She tried to remember the last time a man had cooked for her. Ashby's idea of cooking was making a sandwich.

By the time Jane had finished her calls, the kitchen smelled wonderful. He got plates out. ‘Would you like a glass of wine? I'm having one.’

‘
Yes, please.’

He placed two glasses of red wine and a big dish of pasta with a
tomatoey sauce in front of her and pulled up a stool opposite her. ‘Cheers,’ he said, raising his glass.

Now that the food was in front of her, she found she was really hungry. Jane tried a bit of her pasta.
‘This is delicious,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

‘
You're welcome.’

‘
To be honest, I was surprised to see you made it from scratch,’ said Jane, when she'd eaten a bit. ‘Do you cook a lot?’

Marsh thought for a moment.
‘I guess I do,’ he said, looking surprised. ‘I never really thought about it before. I had to make sure Stevie had a healthy diet, so I started to cook for us. I guess I've just got used to it now.’

Stevie. Jane felt her heart sink. Why had she assumed that a man like that would be single? Of course, no one at work had mentioned that he had a girlfriend, only about Dominique, but then, perhaps he kept it quiet. He seemed like a fairly private person and the office was full of gossip.
‘Your girlfriend is a really lucky woman.’

Marsh coloured slightly.
‘Oh, Stevie's not my girlfriend. I don't have a girlfriend. Stevie's my sister. She lives with me.’ He pointed to a framed photo on the wall behind her. ‘That's her there.’

It was a photo of a family. Marsh was there, looking a lot younger and, standing next to him, was a small girl.

‘Of course, she's a lot older than that now.’

The family resemblance was unmistakable.
‘Are those your parents?’

‘
Yes,’ said Marsh. ‘That was taken in my second year at uni. It was about a year before the accident.’

‘
Accident?’

‘
They … they died. In a car accident. When I was twenty-one. Stevie was only thirteen then, so I became her legal guardian.’ He was still looking at the photo.

She tried to imagine what it must have been like to lose your parents and suddenly be in charge of a child at the same time.
‘Wow. That must have been …’ She couldn't think of a word that covered the situation. ‘That's tough.’

He looked back at his plate.
‘We managed. Stevie's a great kid. She looked after me about as much as I looked after her.’ He turned his attention back to her. ‘Enough about me,’ he said. ‘How about you? How are you getting on at Ramsdean and Tooze?’

‘
Ok, I think,’ said Jane, and paused. ‘Is everyone obsessed with rank?’

‘
Oh yes,’ Marsh said with a completely straight face. ‘You have to introduce yourself stating where you fit in the company hierarchy. I tried not to for a while, but people kept asking me if I was a trainee.’ He shrugged. ‘It's silly, I know. But you're in that atmosphere for so long every week that you start to think it's normal.’

‘
You seem to be able to distance yourself, though.’ Jane sipped her wine.

‘
I used to be more immersed,’ he said. ‘I've had to teach myself to step back every so often since …’ He looked embarrassed. ‘I … er … had an intra-office relationship that went a bit wrong. It gave me a crash course in perspective.’

‘
I heard about that.’

‘
I thought you might have done. The gossip network at R and T is pretty comprehensive,’ he said, sounding a little apologetic. ‘Good old Dominique. Gone, but never quite forgotten.’

Jane swirled her wine. She hadn't talked about Ashby to anyone other than her mother and Polly. She hadn't been ready. Somehow the idea of telling Marshall, who had been cheated on
himself, seemed easier to contemplate. She avoided looking at him. ‘I know what it feels like to have your partner cheat on you,’ she said. ‘I caught my ex in bed with another woman.’ It felt strange saying it out loud. She waited for the pain to hit.

‘
You actually saw them? Ouch. That must have been nasty.’

For a moment, she'd thought the hurt had gone away, but there it was. Gnawing away at her. Briefly she considered telling Marshall about how much it had hurt to walk in and find Ashby and the stick insect busy on her nice clean sheets. But then, perhaps he knew? The stick insect had given a fairly frank interview about the whole thing. So maybe everyone knew. Did he ever flick through his sister's magazines? If he did, might he connect her with
Triphoppers
? As she paused for too long, she could see Marsh starting to look worried.

‘
Yeah. It was pretty nasty. But I'm over it now.’ Then, feeling a little honesty was required, she added, ‘I think.’

Marsh gave her a sympathetic smile.
‘It takes a while.’

‘
It makes you feel really stupid, doesn't it? You wonder what else was going on that you didn't see.’

‘
And if the whole world knew and it was only you who didn't see it.’

Jane wondered if he knew just how close that was to her own thoughts.
‘Yes. And you wonder how you could have been that bad a judge of character.’

They both looked down at their drinks.

‘Well, I guess that's something we have in common then.’ The dimple appeared briefly in his cheek.

Jane felt the sudden urge to touch it.

He raised his glass, and said, ‘To cheating partners. Good riddance.’

Jane had to laugh.
‘Good riddance. We're better off without them.’

Marsh laughed too as he lowered his glass.

She wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

Suddenly the phone rang. Jane jumped. Was Polly checking up on her?

Marsh looked at the number and slipped off the stool, mouthing ‘excuse me’. He retreated to the other side of the kitchen, still within earshot, but giving the illusion of privacy.