Ghost Read Free Page B

course you know, I love my three children and enjoy my job, but… I’m so empty at times and so lonely, even when in company.”
    “You don’t need to explain yourself to me, I have no expectation other than to be here for you if that’s what you want. I’m unsure of what you’re asking of me, but let’s not worry about that for now. There are a few things I’d like to tell you too, about me, setting the record straight type of stuff.
    “Thank you, you’re very easy to talk to” she said and kissed him on the cheek, “Right, I need to head back, I’ve got a meeting. I just wanted to see you again and thought a little spin was better than nothing.”
    They drove back and when she had dropped him off Page realised that he was completely on a hook here, she was calling all the shots and he was following her like a little lost puppy.
    “ Woof Woof ” said the voice.
    And pretty much that was the sum of their relationship… at the start. Just the odd chat or email and in general life went on as normal. Lucinda didn’t suggest meeting up and the messages when they came were nice, pleasant, but hardly high romance.
    Then everything changed dramatically a few days later, courtesy of his blackberry.
    #
    Today was just another ordinary day at work. Well not quite ordinary as Page was hurtling across Europe on the Eurostar High Speed train accompanying his boss on a trip to Brussels and then on to the World War 1 memorials at Ypres.
    He was in an exceptionally fortunate position, he loved his job, enjoyed his boss’ company and they could chat for hours about anything and everything… mostly football and politics but nothing was off limits. As they sipped a glass of wine and perused the usual mountain of paperwork, he noticed the flashing red light of his blackberry indicating the arrival of yet another email, one of the hundreds he received every day. A cursory glance at the screen told him the email was from Lucinda, he quickly opened the message and as he began to read Page broke into a huge smile. “Hi, hope you are good. I just had to send you this to let you know that I can’t stop thinking about you and I desperately want to see you. I tried to put you out of my mind and get on with things but it’s clearly not working. See you when you get back? Light blue touch paper, hit send.”
    “What are you grinning about?’ asked his boss.
    “Well, let’s just say someone has made me an offer I can’t refuse” he replied, still smiling and reading the email for the fourth time in a row.
    He had anticipated the Europe trip for ages but now, just as his journey began, he wanted to get off the train and fly straight home. Of course that wasn’t happening so he would just grin and bear it. First things first though, he needed to reply. What to say to a message like that? He opted for simple but cool, “Thank you….home on Friday. Book a half day holiday?”
                  “Yes.”She responded almost immediately.
    #
    Friday couldn’t come quick enough. He could think of little else. He just wanted to see her again but more than that, he wanted to know what made her send the text and why. When he thought about Lucinda for any length of time, he realised he knew so little about her, other than what she told him in his apartment or the car journey they briefly shared and that wasn’t much at all.
    It was clear to him she was indeed a still water running deep, she seemed to be pretty closed in terms of emotion. That made him think the email she sent was something she hadn’t done on a whim. He assumed that she was just busy, but it was becoming clear that she must have been searching her soul over the last few weeks.
    #
    Friday was a warm June afternoon. He left the office at around 1 pm and headed to his apartment in Belfast to wait for her. An hour later there was still no sign. He began to feel frustrated and a little cross. Eventually, two hours later, Lucinda arrived making no apology, just