An Unexpected Gift Read Free Page A

dazed.
    "The
bastard," said Kerrie struggling to contain her rage. She slammed her cup
down on the table.  "This is why all women should carry a Taser. If
you’d had one of those, you’d have been home safe and sound and that poor sod
wouldn’t have touched you.”
    "It’s
not even legal Kerrie.”  Caitlin trembled when she ran through the scene
in her mind for the tenth time. “I was so scared,” she shuddered. Kerrie’s
smile turned sympathetic.
    “How
lucky that your knight in shining armor showed up.” She meant it as a joke but
there was a truth to it. If he had not been there to intervene, would Caitlin
even have made it back home? She pushed the thought away as fast as it had
flashed into her mind.
    But
it wasn’t so easy for Caitlin to shut off, as tired as her body felt, she kept
replaying the scene over and over in her mind. “You read about it happening to
other people all the time. But when you're in it, you just shut down. It’s like
its not even happening to you. Your body is not yours. I froze. I remember kicking
him and poking him with the key just like you told me,” Kerrie visibly
brightened at the mention of this. “I really don't know what would have
happened if Daniel hadn't come along."
    She
was still shivering, even though Kerrie had turned the central heating on. Her
hands were shaking and Kerrie took the cup of hot chocolate from her and put it
onto the coffee table on the side. She held Caitlin’s hands in hers, in an
effort to calm her down.
    “Don’t
worry Caitlin. You’re safe now. You’re home.”
    Caitlin’s
wide brown eyes glistened as tears started to well up again. “I was so scared,”
she whispered as the tears started to fall.
    Kerrie
hugged her friend. “You’re going to be fine. Drink up now. You need to get some
rest.” 
     
    Kerrie
had managed to wrangle working from home for two days and did a great job of
looking after Caitlin. For the remaining two days of that week, before most of
the working world closed down for the Christmas break, Kerrie fussed over her
like a mother hen.
    They
had been friends since the age of three, meeting at Kindergarten. Their mothers
had become best friends, sharing similar interests, mainly the same toddler
clubs and aerobics class at the local sports center. Luckily, Kerrie and
Caitlin had similar interests and had taken an instant liking to each other
too.  Kerrie's father, who ran his own printing company, had invested in a
beautiful two bed roomed flat in Butler's Wharf, overlooking the River Thames.
This flat she shared with Caitlin and insisted that Caitlin pay only a quarter
of the usual monthly rent. Otherwise, there was no way at all that Caitlin
would have been able to afford such a swanky flat in such a central London location.
    The
upside was that Kerrie's parents felt reassured knowing that their daughter was
living with her best friend and a girl that they knew and liked very much.
    And so the living
arrangement worked out well for both girls and their families.
     
    The
weekend came around soon enough and though Caitlin’s injuries were quickly
subsiding, the emotional trauma was just beginning. She was having trouble
sleeping and was glad that her parents had offered to come to London to see her
over Christmas. She didn’t feel up to making the train journey back home.
    "I
can wait until your parents come,” said Kerrie on the Saturday morning. It was
a few days before Christmas and she was fully dressed to brave the chilly cold;
her deep green scarf with matching hat and gloves accentuated her fiery auburn
hair and green eyes. 
    "No,
I’ll be fine. You go. My folks will be here soon enough," replied Caitlin,
rubbing her face. 
    Her
bruises were starting to pale but her face was still sore. She would have gone
down to Hampshire  to spend Christmas with her parents but they had been
so shocked to hear about her attack that they told her to stay put. They would
have come up to see her the minute the attack