Free-Falling Read Free

wench!’
    â€˜All right, all right, I’m opening the . . . Hey, check this out, the first row are all pineapples, how cool is that? The pineapple pieces are the best ones!’
    â€˜I know they are, babe, have a look at the rest of the chocolate.’
    â€˜No way! Did you do this? How did you get an entire block with just my favourite bits?’
    â€˜I have my ways . . .’
    â€˜You’re hilarious. This is so cool. Why on earth did you go to so much trouble?’
    â€˜I had to make sure you were in a good mood . . . So you’d be more likely to say yes when I gave you this.’

    She kicked the wall. Just once, because it hurt her bare foot so much that she couldn’t handle doing it again. I can do this on my own. She turned her attention to the tree and took a deep breath. I can do this. She grabbed the first branch and hauled herself up. The branches were thick and close together. She wound her way through the leaves, around the trunk, branch after branch, methodical and determined. The branches were getting thinner and eventually she reached one that wasn’t strong enough for her weight. Inevitable really. It snapped under her foot and she grasped the branch above just in time. She was left hanging, ridiculously, in the middle of the tree.
    A light flicked on in the apartment directly below hers andsomeone walked out onto the balcony.
    â€˜Shit, do you need some help?’ A guy was peering incredulously at her.
    She stared back at him for a moment and then her hands slipped and she fell. She rushed through the leaves, bumping against branches and eventually landed hard on the ground, her legs crumpling beneath her and her head banging painfully against the dirt.
    She lay still and looked at the tree above her. This was just too priceless. Minutes later, the guy was squatting on the ground next to her. He put his hand gently on her arm.
    â€˜Are you okay?’
    She shook her head and let a tear slip from her eye.
    â€˜Fuck me! You fell a long way. Maybe I should take you to a doctor?’
    God, no, not another medical centre. ‘Take me inside, please, just take me in to your place.’
    He positioned her arm around his neck, then lifted her effortlessly. He carried her inside, into the lift and up into his apartment, where he laid her with great care onto the couch. But when he put her down, she wouldn’t let go of his neck. She pulled him towards her and started to kiss him, softly at first and then harder when she could feel him resisting her. He leant back.
    â€˜Don’t you have a boyfriend or something? I’ve seen you with him before . . .’
    She didn’t respond. She just drew him towards her once more and continued to kiss him forcefully. I need this. I need to feel something . . . anything. She kept kissing and kissing until he kissed her too. He fell into her arms and kissed her neck hungrily. Next thing, she was tearing desperately at his shirt, pulling it off over his head. He ran his hands across her bodywhile she writhed against him and dug her fingernails into his skin. She tried to keep her mind blank, but a voice spoke out from within.
    Don’t! Stop before it’s too late!
    She stiffened underneath him and stopped kissing him abruptly.
    What the hell am I doing?
    â€˜This isn’t right,’ she whispered, on the verge of tears.
    Then she pushed him off her and strode out of the apartment, leaving him on the couch, dazed. She took the lift up to her place and found her apartment door unlocked.
    It felt empty.
    She felt empty.
    Why the hell aren’t you here, Andy?
    And the tears began to flow again.

Chapter 2
    Evelyn
    The day after her son died, Evelyn spent the afternoon playing video games. She wasn’t very good at them; she’d never actually played them before. But she pulled the outdated games console from Andrew’s old bedroom closet and, after swearing a lot, figured