When Liam has gone – typically unselfish and insisting he got a cab to save me driving him home – I walk into the kitchen and take out two small fancy sherry glasses from the back of the cupboard.
A drinker I am not, I hardly touch the stuff. But today is special. The most special day in my life so far, and I want to mark it in some way.
I fumble around at the back of the cupboard before I find what I’ve been looking for. A bottle of port, never opened; a raffle prize I won at work last Christmas.
Two minutes later, I tap on the window and let myself in to Mrs Peat’s.
‘What a surprise,’ she beams. ‘I was only thinking about you this morning, wondering how you were, Anna.’
I feel a weight settle on my chest as it dawns on me I haven’t visited her for a while.
‘I can’t think of anyone better to celebrate with,’ I chime, setting down the glasses. ‘I’ve lots to tell you, Mrs Peat, about Liam, my friend. Everything is just perfect.’
‘Are you okay, Anna?’ she says slowly, watching me.
‘I’m fine, absolutely fine.’ I grin. The words tumble out of my mouth before I can properly think them through. ‘I’ve never been better to tell you the truth. Even though they’re trying to get rid of me at work, it’s all going to be okay. Liam is going to move in, and we’re going to see the solicitor tomorrow and then nobody can take what’s mine.’
‘Your head looks sore,’ Mrs Peat says gently.
I touch my temple.
‘It’s not sore,’ I say. ‘Not really.’
‘Anna dear, remember when you were small? Myself and Mr Peat used to tell you that you must always keep yourself safe. That you could come round to us day or night if you needed help?’
I stay quiet because I don’t want to talk about the past, not now. But she still carries on.
‘The same applies now, Anna. There are people who will try to take advantage of you, who might try and get their hands on what’s yours.’
Mrs Peat wasn’t making any sense at all.
I hand her a glass of sherry.
‘To happier times,’ I say. ‘For all of us.’
We clink glasses and I take a sip.
‘You’ve not known this man very long in the scheme of things, Anna. It’s far too soon to—’
‘I know she’s up to something,’ I say curtly.
‘Who, dear?’
‘Amanda Danson. The woman who knocked Liam off his moped.’
‘You haven’t mentioned her before,’ Mrs Peat frowns.
‘Haven’t I?’
I feel sure I must have; poor old Mrs Peat is probably losing her mind. I start giggling and, bizarrely, can’t seem to stop.
‘Anna, I’ve known you a long time and I’m worried you’re not feeling well again.’
‘I’m fine.’ I don’t know why she’s raking up the past.
‘If you’re having a bad time like before, you should go and see the doctor. There’s no shame in it, dear.’
I tap my glass with a fingernail.
‘You’ve been through an awful lot.’ Mrs Peat’s on a roll now. ‘I don’t know how you—’
‘Don’t mention anything about what happened in the past to Linda. I work with her sister.’
‘Roisin?’
I look at Mrs Peat.
‘She came here with Linda just yesterday,’ Mrs Peat beams. ‘She popped round to surprise you, but you were out. Gone ages, she was. She says you’re good friends.’
My mouth is instantly dry.
‘She’s just a colleague,’ I say faintly. ‘I don’t want her to come to the house. I don’t want her knowing anything about me.’
Mrs Peat frowns as if I’m being unreasonable.
‘I have to go.’ I stand up suddenly. ‘I’ll come round again tomorrow or the next day.’
I hear her call out as I close the back door behind me but I don’t go back.
I like Mrs Peat but it seems even she wants to put a dampener on my newfound happiness.
Back home, something white under the table in the middle room catches my eye.
I stoop to pick it up and find it’s a letter addressed to a Mrs Dodds on the Clifton estate.
I thought I’d been extra careful but it must’ve escaped the bin bags when I lugged them upstairs after the police visit. Funny I’ve not noticed it before.
Who’d have thought that such joy and good feelings about the future could come amid such trouble at work?
With hindsight, I feel certain I’ll look back on my job catastrophe as a new chapter in my future with Liam.
On a stroke of luck, I find a local solicitor working late in the office. He says he can arrange the process for my assets to be transferred into Liam’s name.
I make an appointment for the following afternoon and text Liam to tell him. He insists he wants to come with me for moral support.
For the first time I allow myself to acknowledge I am not alone any more.
For the first time in my life, I have someone special who cares about me. I feel a glow in my chest; I never want to go back to a place where I feel so isolated from other people again.
Ignoring the now familiar stench in my nostrils, I lift the tiny sherry glass I’ve carried back round with me. The dark-amber fluid shimmers in the lamplight.
Albert eyes me curiously from the doorway as I take a sip of the port.
The drawers in the dresser catch my eye. Both are slightly open, and I always keep them closed: it is one of my pet hates. How odd.
I walk over and slide one open. I frown in at the muddled contents.
I keep my important papers in here: the house deeds, my bank statements and the like, filed and in order. I open the other drawer and it is in similar disarray, as if someone has rifled through it.
Perhaps Liam had to look for something when I was resting. Someone has been rooting around, I’m sure of it.
Just as I’m about to swallow the remainder of the port, a group of dark uniformed bodies appear from around the corner like a bunch of soldiers. One moment the yard is clear, the next it is filled with official-looking people.
I drop the glass and run into the middle room, the sounds of scattering shards filling my ears.