Page 13 of Cuts Like An Angel: Part 3

Chapter Seven

William

Two miles along the road from the home was a nice little town. William had been there just a handful of times. Usually times like this when he’d taken himself wandering on his bike in search of quiet to the chaos in his head. The town was small, self-sufficient. They had everything they needed to sustain themselves and keep the need to head into a bigger town down to a minimum. There was a supermarket not so far away, and the nearest hospital was a short drive along the motorway.

William stopped his bike on the main road that ran through the middle. This was where most of the main shops were. Everything from the hardware stores for the DIY projects, to the pharmacy, for the not so DIY protects. Parts of the street were lined with tables and chairs, even this time of year, although the people most likely to sit outside now were the smokers.

“Afternoon,” said a man as William took off his helmet. The man tipped his cap to him.

William smiled. “Afternoon.” He got off his bike and stretched, arching his back and pushing out the knots. Was it such a mistake as to where he had pulled up? Right outside the one and only estate agents in the town. Perhaps a subconscious decision.

He pushed the door open, at the same time glancing across the for-sale signs that decorated the window. The place had one-bedroom apartments and five-bedroom townhouses. “The one-stop shop for your house purchasing needs,” he muttered to himself.

“If there is anything you need, just give me a shout.” He’d not noticed the woman behind the desk at first. She must have said hello to him. She was a little younger than Melanie from the home and her hair was lighter, her figure more pinched at the waist.

William smiled at her. “Thank you. Just browsing at the moment.”

He held the helmet loosely by his side, letting his gaze wander across all of the pictures. It was hard to work out what the system was. There was no three-bedroom section, or flat section. Just a mix of all the different properties available.

“Is there anything you’re looking for in particular? We’ve got newer lists over to the left.”

Oh, date order. “I’ve never done this before.” He admitted. It was true. When he’d bought the house from his mother, it had all been dealt with by their solicitor. There wasn’t a house to go and view.

“First time buyer?”

“Kind of. I inherited my house from my mother.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

A nod in her direction. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago now.” He leant in closer to look at a house. It needed a lot of work if the picture was anything to go by, and even then, these pictures never revealed everything that was needed. He knew the subtle art of making it all look better than it did. Taking the pictures at angles to get it right.

“What area are you looking at?”

He pressed his lips together. “Something rural,” he said. “Something with a little land to it. Somewhere the kids can run about and have space to play rather than being cooped up inside.”

“How many children?”

“Huh? … oh.” He laughed. “My wife is working on our first right now. But best to plan ahead, right? I think she wants a football team.” He laughed again, and this time the woman laughed with him. “Something with a decent size and then a good piece of land to go with it. I think that would do it.”

The woman got up from her seat. She had some papers in her hand and brought them to him. “These aren’t up yet. They came in today. There’s a nice four-bed property here. Ideal for a home office or a man cave. What do you do?”

He took the sheets off her. “Graphic designer,” he said without pause. “Which means I do work from home, so a home office would be amazing. I have one now, but it’s small and when the baby comes along, I’ll be being evicted.”

“Oh, well, that’s lucky. This might be right what you’re after. What kind of budget do you have?”

He racked a hand through his hair, gritted his teeth and shrugged. “New to all this. My mother bought the house before I was born and back then, I think it cost her a grand total of nine thousand. I’d like to think it was worth a little more than that now.”

The woman laughed. She laughed like a pig, all snorting, and sucking in air that didn’t want to be inhaled. But not in the playful way Rosie did it. At least when Rosie snorted, it made him laugh and seemed genuine. This seemed fake and forced. Yet she wasn’t mocking him. He was good with reading people. Hell, if his mother had taught him anything, it was how to judge people.

She loaded the house details onto her computer and moved her chair so he could sit next to her. He did, and she sidled up to him. He didn’t miss the way she moved a little close, and the way her skirt inched up her leg so she pressed her almost bare thigh to his.

“They’ve no chain, so you’d not be waiting for them to move out. I assume you need to sell yours first?”

It was hard to focus with her so close to him and his mind wanting him to push back. What would Rosie say? What would she think? He almost laughed when he envisaged her pulling this woman’s hair out. But he coughed instead, to cover his amusement and moved back a little.

“Yeah. We’ve not started looking really. Just talking about it more than anything, and this is me scoping out what our options are. It looks great, though.” He peered at the screen closer and pointed. “Is that a real fireplace?”

“It sure is.” She rotated the wheel on the mouse and zoomed the picture in so he could get a better view. The place had been done up. All greens and whites, like something out of a furniture catalogue. He’d done enough of those to know how the rooms got set up.

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