Background: Angela is shocked when William, an old friend from her past, who she hoped never to see again, comes back into her life, after he applies for a role at her work and successfully secures the job. William’s sudden reappearance puts Angela on edge. She’s terrified he’s discovered her secret, which she needs to protect her family from. William’s convinced Angela knows what happened to his former girlfriend, Caz, who hasn't been seen for twenty years, and that something terrible happened to her. The only person, who can help Angela, is her once best friend, Michelle, but Angela hasn’t seen Michelle for more than a decade. Faced with the threat of William’s return, they know they’ll need to work together to save their future, even if this does mean reopening old wounds, and revisiting a past they'd rather keep buried.

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January 2000 

‘You’ve quit your job?’ Michelle says.

It’s seven o’clock in the evening. I’m chewing on a piece of salmon. No one else got home until an hour after William left earlier. My chest is still fluttering from what happened between us. I still can’t believe it. The moment Michelle got home, my eyes were on her, looking for any sign that she might’ve guessed what happened here this afternoon. But at the moment, she appears to be behaving normally. She’s good at hiding her feelings though, when she wants to.

‘Well, I was never going to stay there, was I? I’ve got the course coming up which is going to take up a lot of my time, and then I’ve got to seriously think about my career,’ I say, hoping that’s going to be enough.

Michelle squeezes more lemon onto her salmon, but she doesn’t appear to have much of an appetite. She keeps pushing her food around on her plate with her fork. I have to admit the salmon is a little over cooked, which is unusual for Lauren, she normally cooks everything to perfection. Please don’t say something’s bothering her now. I’ve got enough on my plate to be thinking about.

‘Have you sent the cheque off yet for the course?’ Hayley asks. 

‘No. First thing tomorrow, I’m going to deposit the money in the bank. Now I’ve not got my job, I’ve got no excuse to not get it sorted.’

‘You should’ve set up a bank account weeks ago.’ Michelle shakes her head.

Hayley and Lauren are both frowning.

‘What, where’ve you been keeping the money you’ve saved then?’ Hayley asks.

‘Still under her bed.’ Michelle stabs at her fish with her fork so the lump turns into pink mush on her plate.

‘You’re kidding,’ Lauren says. ‘That’s a lot of money to keep under your bed, Angela. And, look, I know we gave it to you for your birthday, but it’s not just your savings.’

‘Like I said, I’m going to deposit it tomorrow.’ I keep my head down. I want to finish my dinner, pick up a book and lay down on my bed. ‘Can we talk about something else?’

‘But when do you have to get the cheque for the course sent off by?’ Hayley asks.

‘By the end of February,’ I reply, piercing a piece of broccoli with my fork. ‘So I’ve still got plenty of time. Loads of people keep cash under their bed. There are loads of people who don’t trust banks. I’m not saying I don’t trust them, I just thought it would be easier for me, while I was saving, so I knew how much I had left to save.’

‘Yeah, it’s mainly older people, who don’t trust them,’ Lauren says. ‘When my Nan died, my parent’s found she’d kept a load of cash hidden at home, which she didn’t tell anyone about. According to my parents, it was a nightmare trying to sort it out.’

‘Well, it’s a nice problem to have.’ Hayley finishes off what she’s eating and throws her knife and fork down. ‘I wouldn’t mind finding some cash. I’d pocket the lot and spend it. I’d book myself a nice holiday.

‘Yeah, but we’re not just talking about a few hundred quid here, Hayley. We’re talking about thousands,’ Lauren says.

‘Well, then in that case I’d book the Maldives.’ Hayley grins. ‘By the way, you weren’t in our room earlier, were you, Angela?’

I look up from my plate. ‘Um . . . no, why?’

Hayley shrugs. ‘It’s fine, I don’t care if you were. It’s just I was sure I’d left my bag on the chair this morning when I left, and when I got home it was on the floor. It’s probably me. I must’ve moved it without realising, or it could’ve fallen off.’

‘Nothing was missing though, was it?’ I ask, my heart banging against my chest.

‘No, I checked, it’s all fine. Like I said, I probably moved it without realising.’

I think back to earlier. William wouldn’t have gone into Lauren and Hayley’s room while I was in the shower, would he? No of course not. Hayley’s probably right. She moved it without realising. I’m always doing things like that.

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Character List:

Angela Watkins - Protagonist 

Paul Watkins - Angela's husband

Rebecca Watkins - Angela's daughter 

Michelle Blake - Angela's former best friend 

Kirsty - Receptionist (Angela's friend) 

Olivia - Angela's boss

William Harris - Angela's former friend 

Caroline (Caz) - Angela's friend 

Hayley - Angela's former friend

Lauren - Angela's former friend