Soul Protector (8 page)

As if he could sense my
discomfort, he broke the silence. “I assumed no sugar, seeing as
you don’t have any.”

“Oh, yes... No. Err, you don’t
do you? Have sugar?” Oh God, I needed to get a grip. I was babbling
like a mad woman.

He grinned and shook his head,
sitting down on the other side of the small two-seater. It was so
old and battered; the middle of it drooped so you couldn’t help
gravitating towards the person sitting next to you.

Dan popped the mugs on the
coffee table, and leaned back. I turned to face him better, trying
to ignore the fact I was practically invading his personal space.
As I saw his long legs stretched out, an image of Gulliver popped
into my mind, the small furniture making him look out of proportion
to his surroundings.

“So, what was this shout all
about then,” I asked, really hoping my heart would settle back into
its normal rhythm.”

“It’s an ongoing job. There’s a
group of CSPs...”

He must have seen my confused
expression.

“... Corrupt Soul Protectors.
They’re all helping each other, so it’s easier for them to get by
without getting detected. We need to track them down and force them
to switch back. Each time we get a call they’ve been spotted, we
have to drop everything and get there fast.”

“But it’s dodgy if they’ve been
switched a long time, right?”

Dan nodded. “That’s why they
work so hard to avoid us; they know what will happen. We were so
close to getting one of them today.” He closed his eyes, and slowly
shook his head, before carrying on. “We gave chase for ages, but
somehow they managed to slip the net again. They always seem to get
lucky.”

“Well, they need to be lucky
every time don’t they? You guys only need to be lucky once.”

Dan gave a half-hearted
smile.

“So when you do eventually
catch them, how will you get them to switch back?”

I noticed his face cloud over,
and his brow became creased again.

“There are ways…” he paused for
a second, struggling to find the right words. “…very effective
ways, but you probably don’t want to hear the details.”

I bit my lip.
Why wouldn’t
I?

“Anyway, the big problem is
finding them. Other Soul Protectors are the only people who can see
the red auras, and as they have to be switched in the first place,
the chances of spotting CSPs are incredibly slim. If we could just
find out where they’re living...”

I shuddered. I didn’t like to
think of Dan out there, hunting them down. I decided not to think
about it, so I buried my head in the sand and changed the
subject.

“I need to say thank you, Dan,
for last night. You were great. If it wasn’t for you…”

“Don’t,” he said, interrupting
me, “I was just doing my job. If I hadn’t got the call, another
monitor would have taken care of you.

“Well it was you,” I could hear
the emotion crackling in my voice. “And you probably saved my
life.”

He put down his mug and sat up
straighter. “Okay, I’ll admit I was worried about you. I’ve seen
Soul Protectors get to the dark orange stage before, but usually
they knew what they were doing. It’s lucky that SP called us when
he did, and we were in the area. If you’d stayed switched for
longer... I don’t like to think how it would’ve turned out.”

I felt myself frowning. He’d
seemed so calm and self-assured during the whole incident; I found
it hard to believe he’d actually been worried. If that was the
case, he’d done a brilliant job of hiding it. And I was grateful.
I’d been traumatised enough about the switch-back, and Dan had been
the rock that got me through it. If I’d known he was anxious too,
it would have been even more of a nightmare.

I realised he’d stopped talking
and was staring at me. I really should have looked away after a
couple of seconds, but our eyes kind of locked together. The mood
quickly changed as all thoughts of the previous night disappeared
and the atmosphere became charged. It was so strong I felt the
little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

After a few long seconds, Dan
blinked and looked away. When he looked back his expression had
returned to normal. He began talking again, using the same casual
tone as before. I pulled my hair forward over my ears, hoping to
distract from how shaky I felt.
What was that all about?

“But you’re all good now,” he
was saying. “And you know the rules, so it shouldn’t happen
again.”

While he was speaking I managed
to regain my composure, so when it was my turn to talk there was
only the hint of a waver left in my voice.

“It definitely won’t happen
again. I told you, I’m not switching from now on.”

“You sure about that? Never say
never...”

I smiled at his optimism. The
only part of being a Soul Protector I was embracing was meeting
Dan, the rest of it I was happy to leave behind.

After arranging to pick me up
for our trip to the Office on Friday, Dan left. I closed the door
behind him and leant back on it, grinning from ear to ear.

~~~

CHAPTER 7

.

Mum and Terry

.

On the Thursday morning, I’d
had a text from Mum asking if I wanted to pop round for tea that
night. I knew she’d been worrying about me since the whole Mike and
Michelle thing blew up, and because I’d moved away from home she
liked to check up on me regularly and make sure I was still eating
and breathing.

She said it would just be her
and Terry, her boyfriend. I smiled to myself. Terry was a lovely
man, and he clearly adored Mum. After everything she’d been
through, I was so pleased she’d found someone to make her happy. I
couldn’t help feeling torn though. As much as I wanted to see Mum
and Terry, I didn’t fancy making small talk with Michelle if she
turned up, allegedly out the blue.

I sent a text to Mum to say I’d
be there, but as long as it was only her and Terry. I hated making
life difficult, but I just wasn’t ready to forgive Michelle yet. I
hoped Mum would understand.

~

Nisha was sorting through some
courier packages as I entered reception that morning. The long
shiny black hair that I wished was mine, fell forward as she leaned
over the forms in front of her, blocking her view from anything
other than straight ahead. She heard my footsteps, stopped what she
was doing and looked up.

“Hey, Gracie, are you feeling
any better?”

“Yes, I’m all good now,
thanks.”

Her face lit up as she
remembered something. “So who was this mystery fella who rang in
for you yesterday?”

I forced a laugh to give me
time to think.

“Oh him? He was just a friend…
of my Mum’s
,” I finished hastily.

She narrowed her eyes as she
looked me up and down. Nisha was gossip central in our office, and
nothing happened without her knowing about it first.

“You seem jumpy, Gracie
Reynolds. What are you hiding?”

“No nothing, honest. I’m just
not feeling a hundred percent yet.”

“Hmm. We’ll see,” she said, a
sly smile forming on her lips.

Damn
.
How did she do
that?
I knew she wouldn’t leave me alone until she found out
more details. Well, she’d be in for a long wait.

I stopped at the machine
en-route to my desk and got a hot chocolate for Arthur and a milky
coffee for myself. I popped Arthur’s drink on his desk and mouthed
hello so as not to interrupt his phone call.

When Camille finally made it
into the office, she wandered over to my desk and without any form
of greeting, threw some papers into my in-tray.

“Oh sorry, Camille, love,” came
the voice of Arthur on the other side of the privacy board. “I
never heard you say hello. Old age is making me deaf. How are you
today?”

I bit my lip to stop
giggling.

“Um, yes, I’m fine Arthur thank
you. And, erm, hello to you too, Gracie.”

“Good morning, Camille.”

She gave me a small nod, and
hesitated. I thought for a minute she was going to stay and make
small-talk, but she obviously thought better of it and headed back
to her office.

I shrugged and peered into my
in-tray to see what gems she’d deposited. There were a couple of
articles to proof and some receipts from restaurants she’d visited
over the last month. I knew these weren’t business-related, but
she’d stuck a post-it on the top with
CLAIM
scrawled in her
spidery handwriting. Finally there was another post-it with
‘Gracie, buy Heat mag and Cava.’ No please or thank you.

I groaned internally. She just
loved to take the proverbial. Quite often, I had to stay late to
finish proper tasks, while Camille ran out of the office
mid-afternoon, inventing imaginary meetings or crises. Twice
recently, Nisha who only worked on reception part-time, had spotted
Camille out shopping with friends when she’d told us she was
attending an important meeting.

Even when she was actually in
her glass-framed office, she would spend hours on the phone
pretending to be taking a conference call, usually one that
involved chatting and laughing with her mates.

When I’d finished her tasks, I
knocked on Camille’s closed office door.

“Come in,” she commanded.

She was on the phone and didn’t
make eye contact. Instead she carried on her conversation, “No, I’m
sure he’s going to be there tonight. What time are we meeting
up?”

When she noticed I was still
standing there, she apologised to her caller and narrowed her eyes.
“What are you doing, Gracie? Just put the shopping on my desk and
the paperwork in my in-tray.”

I did as I was told, waited for
the acknowledgement, remembered it was Camille and backed out of
the door, cursing under my breath.

I couldn’t stay irritated for
long though. A delicious shivery feeling descended at the thought
of seeing Dan the following evening. Just thinking about meeting up
with him was enough to make me forget about everything else.

~

On the journey out of town, one
of the giant billboards beyond the traffic lights caught my eye. I
think it was advertising soft furnishings. In the picture a little
girl was sat on an L-shaped sofa with her dad. He was smiling, and
she looked like she was having a fit of giggles. It triggered a
memory of my own, of me and my dad when I was about six years
old.

Dad had been sitting in his
favourite armchair, reading the paper. As I tried to tiptoe past
him, he dropped his paper and scooped me up onto his lap. He turned
me to face him and asked about my day at school. I tripped up my
words, concentrating hard not to say the wrong thing and upset him.
Then he smiled and told me what pretty green eyes I had.

Beaming from ear to ear, I’d
looked across to Mum in the kitchen and was thrilled to see she was
smiling as well. With his eyes all shiny, Dad told me what an
amazing little girl I was, and how proud he felt that I was his
daughter. After he said this, to my horror, he buried his head in
my school jumper and sobbed his heart out. My smile dropped
instantly and I’d glanced up at Mum for reassurance. She was still
watching and smiling, but tears were streaming down her cheeks
too.

~

As I got closer to Mum’s and
left the city behind, the landscape changed dramatically. The
concrete jungle fell away to reveal green fields, and vibrant
colours as the trees and bushes went through their rainbow of
autumn colours.

When I entered the sleepy
neighbourhood that I still classed as home, I was pleased to see
the familiarity of Mum’s three-bed, ivy-clad semi. I instantly felt
myself relax. From the age of nine, this place had been my
sanctuary. Mum, Michelle and I had shared many happy times
here.

I let myself in through the
front door, and was greeted by the mouth-watering aroma of roast
lamb. It didn’t matter what day of week it was, when you visited
Mum, you knew you would be having a roast. I wasn’t
complaining.

“Hi, it’s only me,” I called
out, heading into the kitchen.

As I entered the sunshine
yellow room, I wasn’t surprised to see Terry helping Mum with the
cooking. He was sticking a skewer into the joint, and she was
turning over some crispy roast potatoes, the fat sizzling away in
the oven tray.

Duran Duran filtered out
through the CD player on the window sill, and the glass behind was
all steamed up.

Mum glanced up, smiling. “Hello
love, be with you in a minute.” Then she turned her attention back
to the task at hand.

Although in her late forties,
she looked a good ten years younger. Her short hair was dyed deep
reddish brown. She was fit, thanks to her regular Pilate’s
sessions, and she always dressed well, not too young for her age,
but still, clothes that I wouldn’t mind pinching off her.

“Good to see you, Gracie,” said
Terry, handing me a small piece of the lamb he had cut off to
taste.

He was average height for a man
and fairly slim, although I noticed he had succumbed to a spot of
middle-age spread. His dark hair was peppered with grey, and he had
kind eyes.

I popped the lamb in my mouth,
and it practically melted on my tongue.

“Perfect,” I announced, leaning
up to give him a quick peck on the cheek.

It was funny how he and Mum had
found each other. She’d been single for years, not that it bothered
her, but all that changed a couple of months previous when a
salesman turned up on her doorstep. She wasn’t interested in
changing her energy supplier thank you very much, but she certainly
connected with the sales rep, Terry.

I’d been wary of him at first.
Mum had been through so much over the years, and I was very
protective of her. But Terry had won me over with his easy banter
and kind ways. He was a gentle soul, and he and Mum liked nothing
better than staying in cooking meals together and watching DVDs. He
was even happy to give her foot rubs on demand.