Someone Who Isn't Me, Danuta Kot [good books to read for adults TXT] 📗

pulled out the sandwiches she’d picked up cheap from the late-night supermarket.

She spread the empty carrier bag out as far under the bin as she could reach – another hiss told her the kitten was still there – pulled her scarf from round her neck and put it on the bag. Maybe the kitten could make itself a bed. She put the bits of chicken from the sandwich on the bag. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Maybe if she fed it regularly, it would start to trust her and she could catch it and take it inside.

She’d love to have a pet – a dog was out of the question, but a cat… George, her landlord, probably wouldn’t like it, but then he didn’t have to know. As soon as she got a day off, she could spend some time trying to tame the little animal and get it inside, safe and warm. Making plans made her feel better, took her mind off Andy as she went up the narrow staircase to her room.

Over the months, the bare, comfortless bedsit had started to feel like home. Kay had given her a floor lamp with a red shade. Becca loved it – it was so cool, and its light made the room look warm and welcoming. She’d stuck some travel posters on the wall; she’d bought a piece of red fabric from the market for almost nothing and put it on the bed as a throw. Kay had also given her a rug – another splash of bright red. Jared had thought it was a dump, which was great, thinking of some of the places he’d lived.

Andy had liked it.

But she wasn’t going to think about him.

In the right light, the room looked – almost – like one of those makeover rooms on the TV apart from the armchair that came with the flat, pulled up near her small telly. The chair was big, old and battered, but Becca couldn’t replace it even if she could afford to. At least it was comfortable.

In the kitchen area, next to the hob, was a shiny new kettle – Kay again – and a bright-red tea caddy that had caught her eye in the market. Next to it, there was a packet of biscuits, the top twisted closed, and the small tabletop fridge that came with the bedsit.

The window rattled and a cold draught blew through the room. It was freezing; the windows didn’t fit in their frames, and she didn’t have any curtains. She kept looking in the charity shops, but so far, there hadn’t been anything. Kay had offered her an old tweedy green pair, but even Kay thought they were real loser curtains.

She lit the monster gas fire that stood against the back wall, not sure how much credit she had left. It would be another day before she had any money to top up her pre-payment card. She had the rent money, but her rule was to put that away as soon as she was paid and not touch it, no matter how broke she was. Getting behind with your rent was the first step towards being out on the streets.

It was late and she should get something to eat. The sandwiches from the late-night supermarket were supposed to be tea tonight and breakfast tomorrow, but the rain had got in while she was feeding the kitten and all that was left was a kind of bready mush with salad and something that smeared grease over her fingers. Biscuits, then. She made herself a cup of tea and flopped in the chair while she ate. She’d had chips earlier. This should be enough.

She could still taste the last of the chips that she’d crammed into her mouth, licking the salt off her fingers as she went into the pub. She’d half expected to see Andy already there and waiting for her.

But he hadn’t been. And he had never turned up.

In trouble…

Why was his text so… so nothing, like she was just anyone, not someone special? What kind of trouble could Andy be in? Was it something to do with work? She picked up her phone and looked at his text again: Great, A x

On impulse, she texted back where r u? and regretted it as soon as she’d pressed send.

She sat there staring at the screen for ten minutes, but nothing came back.

She was too tired to think about it all now. But as she stood in front of the mirror, brushing her hair, Andy came back into her mind. In fact, he’d been there all along. Andy, laughing as they wove their way off the crowded dance space, Andy saying, Hey, are you OK? like it really mattered to him, Andy smiling at her as her hair tumbled down round her shoulders. I don’t want to make more bad things happen in your life.

Was that why he was staying away, because of the trouble and not wanting to bring it near her?

The pig creep copper had frightened her.

It looked like Andy needed her help.

OK, he’d get it.

Chapter 10

Sunk Island

Kay pulled up outside a dilapidated gate and checked the address. This was the place. Haven House, Stone Creek, Sunk Island. It was the first time she’d actually seen the house that would be her home for the next few months, until her cottage sold and she was free to buy a place.

‘It hasn’t been advertised yet,’ her contact at the estate agents had told her. ‘I don’t know why. The owner passed a couple of months ago.’

Passed. Kay hated the euphemisms for death people employed. They kept telling her that Matt had passed, as if he were a kidney stone or something.

But she was fed up with the long commute, the house was available, it ticked the boxes, so she signed up, sight unseen. Now, as she looked at the place she had rashly committed to, she felt a pang of misgiving.

Like a bad