In Chains (3 page)

“A love story.” I can feel my face going red again. What is it with this man and the way he affects me? “You know, boy meets girl and they’re attracted to each other.”

He fixes me with a long stare, then lowers his lashes and bites his lip. I swallow hard. “I’ll go and fix lunch.”

Toasted cheese sandwiches will be nice and I find a couple of tins of tomato soup to go with them. I can hear Kayden moving around upstairs - I hope I haven’t got any dirty underwear lying around up there. By the time I get the food on the table he’s vacuumed the ground floor. His eyes light up when he sees the food and he licks his lips. I sit down but he’s still standing there. “Sit down Kayden.”

“Thank you.”

Taking a couple of bites of my sandwich, I look up to see him gazing longingly at his food but his hands are in his lap and he makes no attempt to eat. His stomach rumbles. “Kayden, are you going to eat?”

“Am I allowed to eat now?”

Oh God, he was waiting for my permission. “Yes, please eat,” I mutter.

“Thank you.”

He shovels the food into his mouth. Actually closes his eyes and moans a couple of times. His tongue is now doing another circuit of his lips to make sure he hasn’t missed a bit. He’s cute. As he wipes the back of his hand across his mouth, I realise he’s eaten the entire meal in the time it’s taken me to have four bites of my sandwich. “Thank you Savannah, that’s the best food I’ve ever eaten.” He’s gazing into my eyes again and I’m having trouble swallowing. “I’ve gotta go, will you be okay here on your own?” he says.

“I’ll be fine; I’ll sit by the fire and read a book.”

“D’ya want anything before I go?”

“I’m fine Kayden, thanks.” I smile at him and he jerks in his seat and bashes his knee on the table leg. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, maybe I’ll get to see you later,” he mutters as he quickly gets up and places his dishes in the sink. “Leave those Savannah; I’ll wash them up tonight.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Savannah

Settling down in the armchair by the fire I spend the next couple of hours working on my novel. The heat starts to make me drowsy, so I fix myself a mug of coffee and sit at the kitchen table, flicking through the newspaper, looking at the employment ads. Maybe I can find a job; I don’t want to sponge off Simon. Being a financial newspaper, most of the ads are for high flying jobs in the city, which I wouldn’t have a chance of getting. When I go shopping later I’ll pick up a local paper, maybe I can get a job at a local pub or cafe
, or even a supermarket.

I log in to my e-mail. I have a reply from Dan.

Babe, what’s wrong? I don’t understand. Come back home and let’s talk about it. Where are you? I’m worried about you. I’ve been trying to call you. Are you with your brother? You know I love you. Just come home, we can work it out, we always do. You know I don’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry, I promise I’ll change. Just come home, I miss you xxxx

Realising I’m holding my breath; I let out a sigh. I’ve heard this so many times before, he promises to change and its better for a while but he soon goes back to his old ways. I tried to get him to go to counselling with me but he wasn’t interested. I’m not willing to be his punch bag. I’m not going to reply, there’s nothing more to say.

I curl up in the armchair with my e-reader and continue reading the romance I started earlier. As usual I get lost in the book and when I glance at my watch I see it’s almost seven. Damn, I’m supposed to be going grocery shopping. Hopefully the stores stay open late here. As my laptop is still on, I do a quick search for the nearest one. It’s only about fifteen minutes’ drive and it’s open until ten.

My car feels like a fridge. Shivering, I put the heater on, which is a futile gesture, by the time it warms the car up I’ll be at the store. I dislike driving in the dark and it’s even worse here, there are hardly any street lights and the roads are narrow. I crawl along at twenty miles per hour, hoping no one comes in the opposite direction because there isn’t room for two cars. Glancing in my rear view mirror I’m relieved there are no cars behind me. I can do without an irate driver tooting his horn because he’s used to doing sixty along this stretch. Feeling around for my cigarettes I pull one out of the pack and flick my lighter, trying to locate the end of the cigarette while keeping my eyes glued to the road. I open my window a fraction and shiver as a cold blast of air comes in. It’s so desolate here, tall hedgerows line either side of the road, they look eerie in this darkness. The only sound is the hum of the car engine. At the end of the road I turn right and relax a little, this road is much wider and has streetlights. I pass by a newsagents and a cafe. I might pay a visit to the cafe another day, see if they need any staff. Finally I spot the supermarket. There are only a couple of cars in the car park; it’s obviously not busy so this shouldn’t take long.

There aren’t many people in here. The aisles are deserted except for a few staff who are stacking shelves. I wander around, putting anything that takes my fancy into my trolley. I still have some money in my bank so I can cover this; I may as well stock up. As I near the checkout I freeze. He’s standing there. Dan. I quickly dart behind a display. I don’t want to deal with him right now. He’ll try to persuade me to go back with him and he’ll keep on and on until he wears me down. After what seems like a few minutes have passed and he hasn’t approached I peek back around the display. He’s with a woman. They’re packing groceries. I can see his face clearly now and I realise it isn’t Dan. My mind was playing tricks on me. I make my way to the checkout, pay for my shopping and take it to my car.

I’ve just turned back onto the narrow country lane when I spot Kayden. It’s not long after eight; he must be on his way back from working for Simon’s neighbour. It’ll be nice to have some company for this stretch of the journey, so I pull over and wind down my window. “Do you want a lift Kayden?”

He bends down and smiles at me. “Thank you.”

He gets in the passenger seat and glances around. “Is this your car?”

I look at the sweet wrappers littering the floor and the ashtray that’s overflowing with cigarette butts and I’m tempted to say it belongs to someone else. I can’t even remember the last time I cleaned it. “Yes it’s mine,” I reluctantly answer.

Parking in the driveway I open the boot and begin taking out the shopping bags. “Let me get those for you,” he says as he takes the bags from my hands, and then grabs the remaining bags from the boot. I take my keys but don’t bother to lock the car because we’re on private land in the middle of nowhere, so I’m sure it’ll be safe and no one would want my little old car anyway. The door to the house is unlocked but Kayden waits outside. I open the door and he follows me inside, placing the shopping bags on the kitchen table.

“Do you want my help to put things away?”

“No, I’ll be fine,” I say, taking off my jacket. “You’ve been working all day, go back to your caravan and relax for the night.”

“I don’t mind helping.” He lowers his gaze to the floor. “I get bored just sitting on my own anyway.”

“Okay, if you don’t mind, I appreciate it. I’m going to have a glass of wine while I unpack. Do you want one?”

“Err…yeah, thank you.” I pour us both a white wine. He takes the groceries out of the bags and I put everything away where it belongs.

“Have you eaten, Kayden?”

“Yeah, I had lunch with you,” he says, a confused look on his face.

“Have you eaten anything since then?”

“More food? Err…no,” he says, shaking his head.

“I’ve got a couple of ready meals. Shepherd’s pie. Do you like that?” I ask as I get them out of the freezer where I’d just put them a couple of minutes ago.

“I dunno what that is, but I eat anything.”

I put the shepherd’s pies in the microwave and sit down to look through the paper I picked up from the store. There are only a couple of ads for plumbers and electricians, which are no good for me. “I don’t suppose you know of a good place to look for jobs, do you?” I ask. He’s gazing at me confused again. “I’m trying to get a job so I can give my brother some money for letting me stay here,” I explain.

“Won’t he look after you?” he asks, frowning.

“Yes, but I’d like to contribute something.”

His elbows are resting on the table and he’s chewing his fingernails. I don’t know what work he did for the neighbour but his hands are red and raw. “You don’t have to work if you don’t want to. You can rent me out to people, they’ll pay you,” he says. “I have to work during the day but you can rent me out at night. Your brother probably won’t mind.”

I can feel my face going red. I would never use him like that. I look over at the microwave, willing it to ping. It doesn’t, so I get up and stand in front of it, my eyes glued to the tray spinning round and round. “No, no. I’ll get a job. It’s fine.”

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to help you.”

I turn to face him. His head is lowered and he’s picking at loose pieces of skin on his hands. I swallow and force my lips to smile. “It was kind of you Kayden, thank you, but you work hard enough. I’m fine with getting a job.”

I dish the food up and put it on the table. Telling Kayden to eat whenever he wants to. He’s eating much slower this time, though still faster than me. I guess he must have been really hungry this afternoon. I’m halfway through mine when he finishes. “Thank you Savannah.”

“You’re welcome.” It was nice to eat with someone rather than eating alone.

“Have you left your boyfriend for good?”

“Err…yes. How did you know about that?”

“I heard you talking to your brother this morning.”

Standing up he clears the table and starts washing the dishes. Grabbing a tea towel I stand beside him and dry up. “How long has my brother…,” I was going to say ‘owned you’ but I can’t bring myself to say it. “How long have you worked for my brother?”

“Five years I think,” he hands me a plate. “Since I was twenty-one.”

“Is he the only person you’ve…lived with?” I ask, as I put the plate in the cupboard.

“No. I had another owner before him. He had little children, they were cute.” He passes me the knives and forks. “They had teddy bears like the one you’ve got in your car. Do you like teddy bears?” He’s gazing at me from beneath his long, dark lashes. His eyes are unique; I’ve never seen anything like them. When I first saw him they were a mixture of brown and blue but they seem to change colour because now they are mostly a warm brown.

“I love bears. I had lots of them. I had to leave most of them behind because I left in a hurry. The one sitting in my car I’ve had since I was born. My mum and dad got him for me.” Thinking of my mum and dad makes me sad and I don’t want to get all emotional in front of him. “I’m feeling tired Kayden. Perhaps I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight Savannah,” he says as he heads for the door.

CHAPTER FIVE

Savannah

As usual I wake up early and wander downstairs in search of coffee. The sun is rising. The sky looks clear so I take my coffee outside to the bench to enjoy with a cigarette. Simon must have made it home last night because his car is parked next to mine. When I’ve drunk my coffee I’ll do some maintenance checks on my car. It’ll pass a couple of hours until Simon gets up.

Tonight I get to meet his girlfriend. I wonder what she’s like. I don’t know what kind of women my brother is attracted to. We’re complete opposites so I guess I only need imagine the total opposite to what I’d go for. I like dark haired men who are a little rough looking. I’ve always been a sucker for an underdog. I guess the opposite would be blond, well-groomed and highly successful. Hopefully we’ll get along.

Stubbing out my cigarette, I stroll over to my car. It looks different, cleaner somehow. I remember the paintwork had mud splatters. Maybe I imagined it. Opening the door the first thing I notice is the smell, a citrus cleaning fluid smell. My ashtray, which yesterday was overflowing with cigarette butts, is now empty. My gaze falls to the floor; the sweet wrappers have vanished along with the grass and mud that covered the mats on the floor. The stains have disappeared from my seats too. Someone has definitely cleaned my car. Did Simon do it when he got back last night? Perhaps he couldn’t sleep and wanted something to do. No. I’ve never known him to have trouble sleeping and as caring as he can be sometimes it wouldn’t enter his head to clean my car. That only leaves Kayden. Well, unless the cleaning fairies dropped by last night. My teddy is still sitting on the back seat so it’s definitely my car.

I open my boot to get my foot pump. Attaching it to the tyre I can see the pressure is low and I’ll have to pump it up. I try to push the lever down using just one foot but it’s stiff and it isn’t budging. I try using my other foot but it makes no difference. Sighing I stand with both feet on the lever, it finally, slowly moves. I step off and then step back on again with both feet. It’s going to take me all morning just to pump up the tyres at this rate.

“Can I do that for you?” comes Kayden’s deep voice from behind me.

“Yes, if you wouldn’t mind,” I say, stepping off again. “It’s stiff and hard to push down though.”