backing out of the room. ‘Forget it,’ he said, as he closed the door behind him.
Martha turned back to the computer screen and looked at it thoughtfully, as an idea began to take shape. She would get a photo of Jamie and transfer his head onto Charlie’s body in the
newspaper photo and write him a cute little message for when he next logged onto his own computer.
She closed her laptop and scooted her chair over to Jamie’s, which sat on the opposite desk. She logged in using his password and the screen fired into life. First, she needed to find a
really nice picture of Jamie. She scanned through his home screen, trying to suss out which icon represented his photo library. Jamie was a keen photographer, especially since she had bought him a
top-of-the-range camera for Christmas, and he was also a whizz with graphics, so he had several applications that she didn’t recognise.
In the end, she clicked on the icon showing a camera, and a page of photos duly appeared. Each photo represented a folder of pictures and she scrolled through, looking for one that might have
something suitable. Most of the pictures were of their various holidays, but there was one that stood out and caused Martha to suddenly stop scrolling. It was of a woman Martha didn’t
recognise, sitting on an unfamiliar bed, smiling at the camera.
Martha clicked on the image, her throat suddenly dry with foreboding. Immediately, further photos filled the screen and Martha gasped in shock. As the series of photos unfolded, the woman
gradually undressed until she was completely naked, pulling sultry faces at the camera and posing in obscene positions. Martha’s hands started to shake and she moaned to herself slightly as
she continued to click on pornographic picture after pornographic picture. Could there be an innocent explanation for it? She didn’t recognise the woman. Perhaps they were images Jamie had
downloaded from the Internet? Even happily married men sometimes looked at porn, didn’t they?
She hesitated, wanting to stop, so that whatever she had stumbled upon could be unseen once more. But as the next picture rolled up, she knew that it was too late. On the screen in front of her,
causing her to physically retch, she watched as the woman was joined on the bed by a naked man. There was no mistaking who he was. Jamie.
Chapter 7
The LA sunshine was really getting on Liv’s nerves. She had lived here for over four years now and had never quite adapted to the place. So many things that she had loved
at the start now grated on her. Like the beach, for instance.
Danny, in keeping with his surfer-boy appearance, loved to go to the beach and had bought a beautiful house in Malibu so that they could spend the summer there. In the beginning, the three of
them would drive up to the beach house whenever they could. Danny had patiently taught Felix to surf, and even at six years old, Liv had to admit he was pretty good. But these days, with Danny on
location so much, they went to the beach house less and less, so she only really got to go if she took Felix herself, and then it didn’t seem quite so much fun for either of them.
She would sit on the sand watching Felix splashing in the crystal - clear turquoise water, wishing that Danny was there. She’d spy Felix looking longingly at other kids who did have their
dads with them and her heart would ache for him.
She had once tried to surf herself, but she was afraid of water after a bad experience when she had nearly drowned as a child. Aged seven, she had been paddling on a beach in Australia when a
large wave had swept her off her feet and sucked her under the water. She was so disoriented that she couldn’t find her feet and was pulled further and further out to sea. She had started to
lose consciousness by the time she was plucked to safety and the fear of the sea had never left her. She would often wonder how different Felix’s life would have been if he had grown up in
the
Martha turned back to the computer screen and looked at it thoughtfully, as an idea began to take shape. She would get a photo of Jamie and transfer his head onto Charlie’s body in the
newspaper photo and write him a cute little message for when he next logged onto his own computer.
She closed her laptop and scooted her chair over to Jamie’s, which sat on the opposite desk. She logged in using his password and the screen fired into life. First, she needed to find a
really nice picture of Jamie. She scanned through his home screen, trying to suss out which icon represented his photo library. Jamie was a keen photographer, especially since she had bought him a
top-of-the-range camera for Christmas, and he was also a whizz with graphics, so he had several applications that she didn’t recognise.
In the end, she clicked on the icon showing a camera, and a page of photos duly appeared. Each photo represented a folder of pictures and she scrolled through, looking for one that might have
something suitable. Most of the pictures were of their various holidays, but there was one that stood out and caused Martha to suddenly stop scrolling. It was of a woman Martha didn’t
recognise, sitting on an unfamiliar bed, smiling at the camera.
Martha clicked on the image, her throat suddenly dry with foreboding. Immediately, further photos filled the screen and Martha gasped in shock. As the series of photos unfolded, the woman
gradually undressed until she was completely naked, pulling sultry faces at the camera and posing in obscene positions. Martha’s hands started to shake and she moaned to herself slightly as
she continued to click on pornographic picture after pornographic picture. Could there be an innocent explanation for it? She didn’t recognise the woman. Perhaps they were images Jamie had
downloaded from the Internet? Even happily married men sometimes looked at porn, didn’t they?
She hesitated, wanting to stop, so that whatever she had stumbled upon could be unseen once more. But as the next picture rolled up, she knew that it was too late. On the screen in front of her,
causing her to physically retch, she watched as the woman was joined on the bed by a naked man. There was no mistaking who he was. Jamie.
Chapter 7
The LA sunshine was really getting on Liv’s nerves. She had lived here for over four years now and had never quite adapted to the place. So many things that she had loved
at the start now grated on her. Like the beach, for instance.
Danny, in keeping with his surfer-boy appearance, loved to go to the beach and had bought a beautiful house in Malibu so that they could spend the summer there. In the beginning, the three of
them would drive up to the beach house whenever they could. Danny had patiently taught Felix to surf, and even at six years old, Liv had to admit he was pretty good. But these days, with Danny on
location so much, they went to the beach house less and less, so she only really got to go if she took Felix herself, and then it didn’t seem quite so much fun for either of them.
She would sit on the sand watching Felix splashing in the crystal - clear turquoise water, wishing that Danny was there. She’d spy Felix looking longingly at other kids who did have their
dads with them and her heart would ache for him.
She had once tried to surf herself, but she was afraid of water after a bad experience when she had nearly drowned as a child. Aged seven, she had been paddling on a beach in Australia when a
large wave had swept her off her feet and sucked her under the water. She was so disoriented that she couldn’t find her feet and was pulled further and further out to sea. She had started to
lose consciousness by the time she was plucked to safety and the fear of the sea had never left her. She would often wonder how different Felix’s life would have been if he had grown up in
the
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