Girl on the Run (17 page)

More o
dd incidences that she'd thought nothing of suddenly leapt into her mind. That day when Marsh had cancelled on her with that ridiculous excuse about his sister coming to visit – what if Dominique had called? She remembered how he'd been texting someone when she'd returned to the table in the restaurant. The possibility he might have been texting Dominique while he was dining with her hit her like a physical blow.

The more she thought about it, the more she saw things that might support Keith's accusations. Marsh must have told the reporters where they were going for dinner. Who else would have known?

She remembered how he had been trying to phone someone from Polly's flat last night. He had been quite keen to leave. Maybe he had to talk to the reporter.

Jane felt her energy draining out of her. She
lay her head on the desk.  She had fallen for him, so quickly and so completely, but everything she'd believed was a lie. First Ashby, now Marsh. How could she have been so foolish?

She heard a door open, and then Marsh's voice, slightly muffled, from the next office.

How dare he! How
dare
he waltz in and act as though nothing had happened? He had made her fall in love with him and then betrayed her. And for what? Petty revenge on his ex – whom he was probably still in love with?

Well, he wasn't going to get away with it.
She'd been used by a man before, she was not going to let it happen again.

She stood up so fast that her chair shot out behind her and smacked into the wall. She pushed past a surprised Ruth, who was just entering the office, and marched straight into Marsh's office.

He looked up and smiled, making his dimple flash.

She slammed the door so hard the partition rattled.

Marsh's smile disappeared. ‘What's up?’

‘
What's up?’ Jane shoved the magazine in his face. ‘This is what's up.’

She waited impatiently while he scanned the article.
‘Well? What do you have to say for yourself?’

‘
It's the photo from last night. That was quick.’

Jane snatched the magazine back.
‘You knew how much I wanted to stay out of the magazines. You
knew
. And still you did this!’

‘
Jane—’

‘
Well, I hope you enjoy it. I hope they like you so much that they hound you until you can't go anywhere without being followed.’

He opened his mouth, but she cut him off with a raised hand.
‘I'm not interested in your slimy excuses. I can't believe I was stupid enough to trust you in the first place. I would have gone on being a fool if Keith hadn't said …’ Her eyes filled with burning tears. ‘To think I liked you. I genuinely liked you and you … You betrayed me.’

Marsh reached out.

Jane stepped back. ‘Don't touch me.’ Her vision was blurring. ‘I wish I'd never met you.’ She spun on her heel and marched out.

Ruth was just booting up her computer.
‘Jane?’

‘
I'm going home.’ Jane located her coat through a haze of tears. ‘I'm not well.’

From: James, To: Louise

How am I supposed to know what's going on with Stevie!
I've been at work, remember. If you're so worried, why don't you phone the flat and ask her yourself? I've got a couple of deadlines coming up, so I really do have work to do
.
　The commotion that’s going on in at the other end of the corridor isn’t helping. Jim.

##

From: James
, To: Valerie

Val, did I just see Jane storm past? She looked like she was crying.
What's going on
?
　Jim.

##

From: Valerie, To: James

I wish I knew. Marsh just got in. Jane went in, slammed the door, and shouted at him. Accused him of betraying her and said that she wished she'd never met him, and then stormed out, leaving Marsh standing there like a lemon
.
　Hang on. Where's Marsh going?

##

From: Valerie, To: Indra

Oh my, what an exciting morning we're having today
!
　First, Jane runs off crying. Then, about two minutes later, Marsh comes past looking like he's about to break something and marches into Keith's office without even knocking. He shuts the door, so Sally and I hang around outside, looking through the glass panel. Anyway, Marsh stands over Keith and accuses him of something, we can't tell what. Then Keith looks at him and laughs
.
　There's some discussion. Marsh is clearly angry, because his shoulders are all bunched up and his fists keep curling and uncurling. Keith is sneering at him and not even getting up from his chair. Then Keith says something and, honest to god, I thought Marsh was going to thump him in the face. He even drew his arm back and everything. I think Keith thought so too. I mean, Keith's not a small man, but he looked terrified. He actually cowered. But Marsh didn't hit him. He just leaned in really close and said something, jabbing Keith in the chest with a finger. Whatever it was, I think Keith nearly wet himself
.
　I didn't see any more because Marsh came out and I really didn't want to be caught lurking outside the door
.
　Bet you wished you still worked in this office
!
　Val.

##

From: Indra, To: Valerie

Ooh, it does sound exciting over there
.
　So, do you think it's Jane that Keith and Eric having been plotting over? Eric made me cancel the booking, so I take it that Keith lost the bet
.
　Indra.

##

From: Valerie, To: Indra

I can't believe that Keith! What a
toerag
.
　No wonder Marsh was angry. I hope this doesn't affect his chances of becoming a partner. At least he didn't hit Keith. That would have been very bad
.
　But all that doesn't explain why Jane shouted at Marsh. Any ideas
?
　Val.

##

From: Susan, To: Marshall, Jane, Valerie

What the hell is going on
?
　May I remind you that I'm meeting our client tomorrow, for which I need your report, Marshall.

##

From: Marshall, To: Susan

I'm sorry
,Susan, but it looks like I'll have to take the whole day off. I will make sure the report gets to you by the end of today
.
　Marsh.

##

From: James, To: Marshall

Are you
Ok?

##

From: Marshall, To: James

I'm all right. From what I can gather, f
ucking Keith has put the knife in. He told Jane that I told the reporter where we'd be. I knew he was up to something. I wouldn't be surprised if he did it himself
.
　I'm on my way to Jane's, to see if I can make her see that I would never do that to her. I knew how much she wanted to just disappear. I would never sabotage that
.
　To be honest, I'm offended that she believed Keith so readily in the first place.

* * *

Jane sat on the underground train, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. All around her mid-morning travellers ignored each other. No one seemed to notice that she was crying or, if they did, they looked away. Jane was grateful. A kind word would have opened the floodgates all over again.

She felt bruised and defeated. When she made the move to London she had felt as though she was bravely spreading her wings and striking off by herself. Sure, she'd had to move in with Polly, but that was a
short term thing until she found somewhere for herself. And then when she met Marsh, she'd thought she was moving away from her disastrous relationship with Ashby.

Perhaps she'd just moved from dependence on one man to depending on another. How else could she explain how desolate she felt?

She had trusted Marsh. He had seemed so kind and reliable, the polar opposite of Ashby. It had never occurred to her he might hurt her in almost exactly the same way.

Her vision blurred as fresh tears gathered. She brushed them away.

By the time she got home, Jane had stopped crying. She dialled Polly's number, but went straight to answerphone. ‘It's Jane,’ she said, her voice shaking. ‘I've found out who told the magazine. It was Marsh. I'm at home. Call me when you can.’

She felt totally drained. The lack of sleep didn't help. Hoping to clear her head, she made herself a strong coffee. After a couple of sips, she decided she needed something stronger and was looking through Polly's alcohol cupboard when someone knocked.

Jane jumped, knocking over a bottle of Amaretto. Should she pretend she wasn't in?

‘
Jane?’ Even through the door she recognised Marsh's voice.

She stood still, hoping he would think there was no one in and go away.

‘Jane, I know you're in there,’ he said after a minute. ‘I heard you moving around.’

Still she said nothing.

‘Please, Jane. I didn't do any of those things Keith said. I swear.’

Feeling as though she no longer had the strength to stand, Jane tiptoed across to the living room and lowered herself onto the sofa.

‘I'm not going away. I'm going to wait right here until you talk to me. You can't hide in there forever.’ There was a sliding noise as if he had sat down against the door.

After a few minutes she heard the soft clicking of keys. Was he working? Jane shook her head, not sure what annoyed her more
– the fact that he was sitting outside waiting for her to open the door, or that he was working whilst doing so.

Polly phoned during her lunch hour. Jane grabbed the ringing phone and dashed into her bedroom.

‘
What happened?’ Polly sounded slightly muffled, as though she were speaking through a mouthful of sandwich.

Tears prickled her eyes again, but didn't fall as Jane told her what had happened. She had calmed down now, so only anger remained, burning in her stomach like acid.

Polly listened without interrupting. ‘Hmm. And Marsh denies it all?’

‘
Well he would, wouldn't he? He's still going out with Dominique and seeing me on the side.’

‘
Whoa! Is he?’ said Polly. ‘Are you sure?’

‘
Yes, Keith told me. It makes sense Pol. He's forever checking his phone and he won't commit to anything without checking his diary.’

‘
Maybe he's just diary obsessive?’

‘
What? Even outside of work? He claims he doesn't have a social life, so what's to check?’

‘
Hmm.’ Polly fell silent. ‘I'm so sorry, Jane,’ she said, eventually. ‘He seemed so nice.’

‘
I know.’ Jane lay down on her bed and looked at the little rectangle of ceiling. ‘I can't believe I fell for a two-timing rat again. I really must have “idiot” printed on my forehead.’

‘
You don't!’ said Polly. ‘Besides, I liked him too. I encouraged you to go out with him. I'm as much to blame as you.’

Jane gave a derisive laugh.
‘I'm a big girl. I didn't have to listen to you. It's all my own stupid fault. Clearly, I've learnt nothing from my experience with Ashby.’

‘
Oh Jane, don't say that. Listen, I won't be done here for a few hours, but I'll come straight home afterwards and we'll talk. Ok?’

Jane wondered whether she should mention the fact that Marsh was outside the flat. She decided not to. After all, by the time Polly got home, he would have got bored and left.

From: Stevie, To: Marshall

I've just had a call from Lou. She said that you threatened to hit that Keith bloke and then walked out. What's happened? Are you
Ok? And if you're not here and you're not at work, where are you
?
　Stevie. x

##

From: Marshall, To: Stevie

I'm sitting in the corridor outside Jane's apartment. She won't let me in, but I can hear her moving around inside
.
　In regards to what happened – I told you about the photographer last night. Well, that fuckingKeith has persuaded Jane that I told the magazine where she was. At least, that's what I gather from my encounter with Jane
.
　She shouted at me and then stormed out of the office before I could ask her what the hell she was talking about. At first I couldn't figure out why she would think that I'd gone to a magazine, then I realised that Keith must have been working on this for a while
.
　First he complains about me to the discipline committee, thenhe dumps a weak case on me at the last minute, now this. Well, I lost it a bit
.
　He didn't deny any of it. But he knows I can't prove anything. He seemed to find the whole thing funny. He then said something about Jane whichI'm too polite to repeat. I barely stopped myself from smashing his face in
.
　Now I'm sitting in a dimly lit corridor, waiting for her to open the door so that I can explain. Thank goodness the netbook has backlighting. My report is hard enough to read without having to squint at it
.
　M.

##

From: Stevie, To: Marshall

Oh Marsh! How awful. I never did like Keith. What a total f
ucker
!
　Netbook? Report? Hang on, are you working??
?
　Stevie.

##

From: Marshall, To: Stevie

Of course I'm working. I've got to keep my billing hours up. And I have a deadline to meet. I don't know why I'm bothering though. I've probably buggered up my chances of promotion for good now. Apart from the whole making a scene in the office thing, I nearly hit a colleague. I'm sure the partners will take a very dim view of that sort of thing
.
　Great. I've ballsed up my career and my love life in one morning. Fabulous.

##

From: Terence, To: Susan

Susan, what the hell is going on with your staff? Keith has just made an official complaint against Marshall. Apparently, he threatened to hit him but, as far as I can gather, didn't actually hit him
– Keith was a little evasive on this point. I can't ignore this, obviously
.
　Terry.

##

From: Susan, To: Terence

I doubt Marshall would have attacked Keith for no reason. Heaven knows
,I've been tempted to hit Keith myself a few times. Let me find out what's going on before you launch an official investigation. I'll talk to their respective secretaries and see if they can shed some light onto the situation
.
　Susan.

##

From: Terence, To: All Staff

Subject:
Mr Marshall Winfield and Mr Keith Durridge.

Both of the aforementioned will be suspended pending investigation of certain allegations. The door
-code has been changed
.
　The investigation will be carried out by Susan Jameson and Alison Sallet. Terry Wattley on behalf of the partners.

##

From: James, To: Marshall

Fwd
: Mr Marshall Winfield and Mr Keith Durridge

Have you seen this?

##

From: Marshall
, To: James

Yeah. I've just seen it. Bang goes my promotion then.
Never mind. I'm past caring, to be honest. If I can just talk to Jane and sort all of thisout, I'll be happy
.
　Although if I knew I'd get into this much trouble, I would have actually punched Keith. My life would still be ruined, but at least I would have had the satisfaction that he would need new teeth. Marshall.

##

From: James, To: Marshall

Stevie says that you're sitting outside Jane's apartment? Is this true
?
　Man, you must have it bad
.
　I'll do what I can for you at this end
.
　Jim.

##

From: Marshall, To: James

What can I say? I love her. I realise that now more than ever
.
　I still can't believe she'd take Keith's word over mine
.
　M.

##

From: Jane, To: Ashby

My job is in
jeopardy,my relationship with Marsh is a mess. My life is totally destroyed. I hope you're happy
.
　Jane.

##

From: Ashby, To: Mike

Dude. Had an email from Jane. She's really upset. I didn't realise your plan would mess with her personal life so much
.
　Any chance we could call this off
?
　Ashby.

##

From: Mike, To: Ashby

I explained the strategy to you and you agreed with it at the time.
Too late to call it off now
.
　Besides, it's working. Have you seen Twitter? Everyone is talking about you. And your album will be out next week. The timing is perfect, even though I say so myself
!
　Now, you let me worry about the publicity and you guys concentrate on what you do best! Make music.

##

From: Pete, To: Mike

Call off the hounds or we go public about it all being a gimmick
.
　Pete, Josh, Lee and Ashby
.
　PS: We mean it.