she muttered, drawing vertical and horizontal lines until she had a grid of almost one hundred little boxes. She started a timeline, beginning with Kirsty’s departure. After scribbling this in the first box, she paused, grabbed another page, and started to note the names of Kirsty’s new Facebook friends too.
Simon stared at the computer screen aghast. He had tried to forget Kirsty, but hadn’t succeeded in preventing himself from keeping up to date with what she was doing. Her attempts to contact him had dwindled, but she hadn’t removed him from her Facebook friend list. This gave him some hope that she wasn’t completely done with him, but he knew in his heart that it was more likely she’d forgotten all about it. She had never been a big user of social media before she left, but she was all over it now.
He had been taken aback when the tall, tanned man started making an appearance in her pictures. Phil had had great fun with that one, laughing about how she’d taken the opportunity to trade up. She looked so happy, wrapped around that He-Man; so carefree. He could only imagine how much everyone was laughing at him behind his back right now. Daniel especially.
It was all his fault. Simon had been shocked to see him that day in the canteen. What were the chances? Initially, he thought that Daniel might keep his mouth shut; after all, what was in it for him? So much time had passed now, that Simon had gradually stopped anticipating the worst.
What a naive idiot I’ve been , he thought.
The little room was dimly lit from the bluish glow of the old monitor. He clicked on, facing more images of the happy couple. Was he going to keep going on like this? What would happen the next time he met someone, if he met someone. Would Daniel come crawling out of the woodwork again and destroy that too? He shut down the machine, not moving even as the light ebbed from the screen and left the room in warm, still darkness. Thinking.
It was different now than it had been all those years ago, locked away for all that time. Back then, he expected the knocks, and life didn’t disappoint. Now, he had built up some semblance of a life for himself, only to see it all fall away when he least expected it. He had to do something.
Chapter 10
Kirsty and Grant sat side-by-side in a dingy internet cafe near the hotel Grace had booked for the next day, giggling and unable to keep their hands off each other. They were staying at a much cheaper establishment down the street. A subtle disapproving tut from the old man sitting at the counter brought a fresh fit of laughter, but they abruptly moved away from each other and smiled apologetically.
“’Hannah Grimes: hola chica...’ oh my god, that girl was such a pain,” Kirsty groaned, reading through her messages on Facebook. “Ugh, talk about over-sharing. How do I delete her?”
“Stop putting it off, just email Grace,” Grant chided.
“I know, I know, I’m doing it now. ‘Hi Grace, someone’s going to be tagging along with us...’” she dissolved in a fit of giggles when he punched her thigh playfully.
“Stop, you’ll get us in trouble !” she laughed, looking back towards the counter.
“Just write the bloody email so we can go eat, I’m starving!” He looked up to see why she hadn’t responded.
Weeks later, in the same corner, Grace was sending an email to her entire Contact List, as well as to a list of Kirsty’s colleagues, gleaned from the latter’s farewell email to her colleagues at the bank.
Hi everyone,
I’m sorry to contact you out of the blue. I’m currently in Thailand, having travelled here to meet my friend Kirsty Anderson. Kirsty didn’t show up to meet me when I arrived here several days ago. I’m really worried and unless I can confirm that she’s in Thailand, the police here won’t be able to help.
If you’ve heard from her, or heard about her, I’d appreciate if you could get in touch and let me know, whether at this
Simon stared at the computer screen aghast. He had tried to forget Kirsty, but hadn’t succeeded in preventing himself from keeping up to date with what she was doing. Her attempts to contact him had dwindled, but she hadn’t removed him from her Facebook friend list. This gave him some hope that she wasn’t completely done with him, but he knew in his heart that it was more likely she’d forgotten all about it. She had never been a big user of social media before she left, but she was all over it now.
He had been taken aback when the tall, tanned man started making an appearance in her pictures. Phil had had great fun with that one, laughing about how she’d taken the opportunity to trade up. She looked so happy, wrapped around that He-Man; so carefree. He could only imagine how much everyone was laughing at him behind his back right now. Daniel especially.
It was all his fault. Simon had been shocked to see him that day in the canteen. What were the chances? Initially, he thought that Daniel might keep his mouth shut; after all, what was in it for him? So much time had passed now, that Simon had gradually stopped anticipating the worst.
What a naive idiot I’ve been , he thought.
The little room was dimly lit from the bluish glow of the old monitor. He clicked on, facing more images of the happy couple. Was he going to keep going on like this? What would happen the next time he met someone, if he met someone. Would Daniel come crawling out of the woodwork again and destroy that too? He shut down the machine, not moving even as the light ebbed from the screen and left the room in warm, still darkness. Thinking.
It was different now than it had been all those years ago, locked away for all that time. Back then, he expected the knocks, and life didn’t disappoint. Now, he had built up some semblance of a life for himself, only to see it all fall away when he least expected it. He had to do something.
Chapter 10
Kirsty and Grant sat side-by-side in a dingy internet cafe near the hotel Grace had booked for the next day, giggling and unable to keep their hands off each other. They were staying at a much cheaper establishment down the street. A subtle disapproving tut from the old man sitting at the counter brought a fresh fit of laughter, but they abruptly moved away from each other and smiled apologetically.
“’Hannah Grimes: hola chica...’ oh my god, that girl was such a pain,” Kirsty groaned, reading through her messages on Facebook. “Ugh, talk about over-sharing. How do I delete her?”
“Stop putting it off, just email Grace,” Grant chided.
“I know, I know, I’m doing it now. ‘Hi Grace, someone’s going to be tagging along with us...’” she dissolved in a fit of giggles when he punched her thigh playfully.
“Stop, you’ll get us in trouble !” she laughed, looking back towards the counter.
“Just write the bloody email so we can go eat, I’m starving!” He looked up to see why she hadn’t responded.
Weeks later, in the same corner, Grace was sending an email to her entire Contact List, as well as to a list of Kirsty’s colleagues, gleaned from the latter’s farewell email to her colleagues at the bank.
Hi everyone,
I’m sorry to contact you out of the blue. I’m currently in Thailand, having travelled here to meet my friend Kirsty Anderson. Kirsty didn’t show up to meet me when I arrived here several days ago. I’m really worried and unless I can confirm that she’s in Thailand, the police here won’t be able to help.
If you’ve heard from her, or heard about her, I’d appreciate if you could get in touch and let me know, whether at this
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