Close To You: Part 1 Read Free Page A

God."
    Scarlet started to eat her pastry.
    "So, uh, what are you doing about a job? Any luck?"
    She shook her head. "That's the problem. In this climate, it doesn't matter how many you apply for, you're going up against hundreds of people for the same job."
    "And I suppose nobody wants to employ someone who blew the lid on their boss," James said.
    Scarlet giggled. "Well, I didn't really blow the lid. I told my boss to go fuck himself. It's a bit different."
    "I call that going out in style!" James said.
    A woman two tables down was staring at them. Her ears had obviously pricked up at the F word being thrown about. Scarlet looked over.
    "Watch out. The PC brigade's out," she muttered behind her coffee cup.
    James looked about till he locked eyes on the woman. "Is there a fucking problem?" he asked her in the politest possible way.
    She averted her eyes.
    James turned back around to face Scarlet. She couldn't help but looked shocked.
    "What?" he asked her, beaming. They both started laughing, trying to suppress it behind mouthfuls of croissant and coffee. Moments later, Mrs. Politically Correct took the hint and left. That made them laugh all the more.
    "Thank you," Scarlet said when the woman had gone and their laughter subsided.
    "What for?"
    "For making me laugh. For always making me laugh. I do love you, my little Jamesy," she said as they got up to leave.
    If she'd paused for to watch his expression, she'd have seen that he was dead serious when he said quietly. "Well  . . . I love you too."
     

 
    6.
     
    Scarlet had had her Internet cut off weeks before, leaving her with no choice but to either go to the library for an hour's free access or pay for it at a cyber cafe. The place nearby was more than reasonable, and she could get online and do what she needed to do for the change in her purse.
    Gonna have to hit the plastic, she thought. Fucksake.
    The guy in the café said, "Number three," and showed her to her booth. She sat down, opened up Google Chrome and went to her Dropbox for the r esume she'd been emailing all over the place. It took about half an hour to send her resume to what seemed like the arse end of Middle Earth, then she sat at the computer with her chin resting in her hand, and logged into her Facebook.
    She went to her news feed and scrolled down. A load of stuff from people she'd not seen in years, people she didn't even like and had no idea why she'd added them in the first place, and family members who'd ignore her, as if she were some kind of alien life form, if they passed her in the street.
    An update from James appeared halfway down.
    James Updated His Status: "A lovely chat over a coffee with my bestie Scarlet! X"
    She smiled, despite herself. Why didn't some nice girl snatch him up? He'd make the perfect boyfriend for someone. And it wasn't just his winning personality, he was cute too.
    She looked to the right. A flashing blue Ad promised to fix her up with the man of her dreams.
    No thanks, she thought. The men of my dreams always run out on me in the morning.
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    Scarlet thought, What the fuck, and clicked the Ad. Normally she wouldn't have, but what was the risk on a public computer? It wasn't her computer about to be infected by a Russian Trojan.
    I hope the man of my dreams is built like one though , she joked to herself. In her mind there were rounds of applause and at least ten minutes of sustained laughter.
    The site loaded up in a new tab. It told her how successful people are also attractive people. How she was doing the right thing, connecting with powerful men who could provide everything she'd ever wanted.
    She thought about her empty purse. About the guy the night before. The way he'd left that morning without so much as leaving his number. These men didn't want a return visit. It was like