Page 14 of Cuts Like An Angel: Part 3

“Wow. They’ve worked hard on that. Did they do this all themselves?”

“Yeah. It was a wreck when they bought it. Builders by trade. Do up the homes, sell them on. Hence the lack of chain. I can call Mr Thomas and arrange a viewing if you’d like, Mr …”

“Carter, but call me Josh.”

She flicked through a couple of screens. Each imagine was as brilliant as the next one. “If it isn’t too much trouble, I’d love to view it.” He paused. “Oh, I better check my wife’s hours. She works at the hospital and works shifts. Can I call you when I get home and have spoken to her?”

“Of course.” She leant over him, brushing her breast across the top of his hand that rested on the table as she got a business card out. She wrote her name on it. “Just call me. I don’t work Fridays, though, but if you call and tell them Samantha was dealing with it, they’ll know to look in my files and can get you sorted out. The owner is Mr Thomas.”

“That’s great. Thank you.” He pocketed the card and rose from his seat.

Samantha crossed her leg over the other, making her skirt rise even more. “You’re very welcome.”

He gave her a curt nod and ignored the fact that she was flirting with him. He could feel her watching him all the way out. But when he was outside, he forgot her. Just a blink in his memory as he checked his phone. Two missed calls from Maria, and the only text message from her asked if he’d got her cigarettes. Rosie had texted too to say she had got to work and missed him. He replied to that, saying, you too and was ready for her to come home. The only other missed call was from Carly. He deleted that and didn’t check if she’d left a message. Another time. When he was feeling better.

Across the road from the estate agents, there was a phone shop. One of those pre pay phone places that did the phones for all the networks. Of course, they were a little more expensive, but William wasn’t so much thinking of that as he walked across the road and into the shop. He wasn’t thinking of much really. His mind was closed off and somewhere else. William perhaps, missing and in hiding, but Josh … he strode over with confidence, catching the eye of the shop assistant as he opened the door and went inside.

“Good afternoon,” the woman said.

“Afternoon.”

“Is there anything you need help with?”

“Yeah. I need a phone, something for work. Just a pay and go. Easy to set up, no bother. So, I can give clients my number without them needing to have my private number.”

“Any specific network?” the girl asked as she began tapping into her computer.

“Doesn’t matter so much. Something with a reasonable tariff.” He moved on autopilot, almost floating across the shop to her. “I don’t want clients calling when we’re in the delivery suite or something, but I can’t turn my actual phone off. My mother, she’s sick and in the hospital herself. She may need me. I just need …”

She beamed at him. “Gotcha. I have just the one. Give me a second.”

She hurried out of the room, but on her way, whispered to another assistant who went to one of the desks at the front. She’d probably asked him to cover, that or to watch William and make sure he didn’t do anything illegal.

When the girl came back out, she was holding a couple of small boxes. “I wasn’t sure what colour you’d prefer, but we have white, black and silver of these.” That’s it. They were simple phones. All numbers and hash signs. None of those fancy screens with all the apps.

That would do him. “Great,” he said. He took one from her and began to read the specifications.

“This one comes with a ten pound a month credit, but you can up that or whatever you need.”

“Oh, no. That would be perfect. I’ll take this one.”

He signed the forms as Josh. Even his writing across the forms changed, morphed into something else, something better. How much better it was to be someone else other than himself. Than William the Conquered. As he signed Josh’s name he felt in control, stronger. Not the man who’d that morning hidden his phone like it was a monster in his room. Josh would have answered and told the woman to leave him alone or blocked her number. Whichever was the easiest.

His other phone rang as he was signing the last of the paperwork. Rosie. The only number permitted to make his phone ring.

“I just need to take this outside,” he said to the girl. “I’ll be a second.”

“I’ll get all this bagged up for you. It’ll be right here.”

“Excellent. Thank you.” He clicked accept on the call as he headed towards the door. “Hey you. Everything okay? Work treating you okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, not sounding happy.

“You okay?”

“Tired.” She paused on the other end. And he could hear her breathing. “Did you have a good afternoon so far?”

“Not bad. I think I might delete the flyer and start again, though, I can’t get the thing right.”

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