The Guestbook (16 page)

People have started to amass on the village green, easily a hundred people or more.

Suddenly the arrival of a dog amongst them has caused a great upheaval. Apparently this is Dash, Annie’s dog, and he was covered head to toe in mud. Though if they were hoping Dash would turn out to be some Lassie type hero and lead them to Annie’s body they were sadly mistaken, he chased a squirrel up a tree, chased a pigeon and was only stopped from running across the road by the local constabulary.

Oliver Black seems to be organising the troops, they’ve split off into little groups in search of the body. Many have headed for the beach, Annie’s favourite place, though the general consensus is that judging by the state of the dog, she must be in the salt marshes which is a dangerous place, especially when the tides come in. Now we have a race against the clock, it’s brilliant. I mean, obviously very worrying for all concerned.

The village of Chalk Hill has gone quiet. A few elderly people are manning the home front in case Annie comes back but everyone else has gone out looking for her.

I’ve just noticed a piece of paper on the table in Annie’s garden, presumably the unappreciated will. Shall I sneak next door and get it?

I keep walking past the window and staring at this piece of paper. It flutters gently in the wind, teasing me, tempting me.

I can’t bear it; I have to know what’s in it.

Curiosity got too much for me, I’ve just retrieved it. It doesn’t say much, nothing that I can see would cause Annie to get upset. Nick is obviously something of a poet as he leaves Olly the gift of happiness, but he talks about it like happiness is a solid thing to hold and keep.

To Olly. In the event of my death I want you to have my happiness. I want you to know that feeling of sheer unadulterated bliss and joy. I have that. I wake up every day and find myself wrapped in it. Every time I hold my happiness in my hands, my heart feels fit to burst, my face aches with smiling so much. I want you to have that happiness too. Take it now with my complete and utter blessing. Grab it with both hands and never let it go. Look after my happiness, cherish it and love it and be happy too.

Nick

Weird. Surely in the last words to his loved ones he would be more explicit and just say where he had hidden his stash of gold instead of this vague message about happiness. Who wants happiness anyway, gold is much more fun.

That’s probably why Annie is upset, because there is no hidden treasure and she thought there would be.

The sun is already setting and the search party is yet to return.

She’s been found, though I don’t know if she is alive. Someone is bringing her back now but the oldies looked very worried.

A land rover has just pulled up outside. Oliver Black got out looking filthy and incredibly sexier than ever. He rushed round to the passenger side but a blonde was already getting out. It must have been Annie because they went into her house together. She was pretty but nothing to write home about. Certainly nothing that would compare to the beauties Oliver normally hangs around with. She was filthy and looked stiff like she was in pain, but certainly no lasting injuries. Oliver tried to help her into the house but she pushed him away. I wouldn’t push him away if he had his arm round me like that.

Oliver and Annie seem to be having some big argument. Her back door is open and so is mine, though I can only catch a few bits. It’s clear though that she wants him and he doesn’t want her. She obviously wanted to commit suicide because he turned her down and now he’s here because he feels guilty about that. But seriously though, who does she think she’s kidding, like she’d have any chance with the great Oliver Black. The man is a god.

She is denying that she tried to commit suicide. She claims the note she wrote to Olly about it all coming to an end was the start of a letter she had wrote to him weeks ago but never finished. She is trying to put the blame on her dog, Dash who apparently broke his lead and ran into the salt marshes. She ran after him and fell down a ditch and couldn’t get back out. Likely story. Oliver doesn’t seem to believe her either.

Now that Annie is safe I wonder if now would be a good time to go round and ask for his autograph.

They’ve just had sex!!! This really is better than Coronation Street. Her downstairs bathroom is next to mine and there is a hole near the floor that I can see through. I saw a chink of light coming through it earlier today so when I heard her saying she was going for a shower and he offered to help her, I knew I had to take a sneaky peek. Lying down on the floor with my dodgy ankle was a bit tricky but totally worth it.

She was naked by the time I looked and Oliver was washing her hair. He was still wearing his trousers, more’s the pity, but his body is beautiful. He started washing her body and the whole time she had her eyes closed, her hands by her side as if she would rather be anywhere but there. If I was being washed by Oliver Black I would grab him and shove my tongue down his throat, rip those trousers off and have sex with him against the shower wall.

The next thing Oliver’s hands are on her breasts, which elicited the first reaction from her since they’d got into the shower. When she asked what he was doing he told her he was taking what was rightfully his. This provoked an even bigger reaction, she pushed him away and tried to get out the shower but he stopped her, she fought against him and he pinned her against the wall with her hands above her head. I thought he might rape her but then he told her that he thought he was going to come up here and find her dead, that it terrified him and he needs to know she is alive, he needs to feel her heart beating next to his.

She’s obviously a very clever girl. She threatens to commit suicide which gets him running back up here, tries to pretend she’s not interested in him which would obviously damage his male pride. He then practically has to beg to sleep with her, rather than her pouncing on him. Very clever indeed. I don’t think I would be that subtle.

He kissed her throat, still pinning her to the wall and when he kissed her on the mouth, she kissed him back. And the next thing they’re having sex, right against the shower wall.

It was hard and fast and urgent and passionate and I couldn’t take my eyes off them for a second.

After, they were on the floor kissing for ages as the hot water poured over them and just as I was starting to get a bit bored by the kissing, they had sex again. This time it lasted much longer and was slower, more languid, his hands were all over her as if he couldn’t get enough of her. They kissed none stop throughout. The man really is a god.

Finally, when they had finished Oliver got up straight away. Annie started saying he couldn’t leave again like last time, that they’d done nothing wrong. Oliver came back to her and wrapped her in her robe and then scooped her up like she weighed nothing. He told her he wasn’t leaving, that he was never leaving her again and he was simply taking her to bed.

I just ran or rather hobbled out to the garden and I could see them in Annie’s bedroom window. They were both naked, well at least from the waist up and he was kissing her, just before he turned out the light.

It’s gone quiet next door now. I can’t wait till tomorrow.

Wednesday:

Another row woke me up. Though I really couldn’t hear the specifics at all this time. Vivienne was mentioned, the conveniently forgotten fiancé. I think he hit her. I could hear thuds and screams; a glass was broken or thrown. Not long after that, the helicopter arrived and he left.

The press have arrived, there are maybe fifty of them camped outside Annie’s house. I wonder if this has anything to do with the few phone calls I made. I told them what I had seen and heard which they seemed very interested in. I can’t wait to hear Annie’s version of events. After the way he treated her this morning she is going to rip him to shreds.

They were all over Annie when she stepped out of her house. He had obviously hit her because her face looked swollen and she had bruises on her arms. To my surprise she denied that there was an incident yesterday over her attempted suicide, or that her and Oliver had ever had any kind of relationship or that they’d had a row that morning. They asked her about the bruises and she said she had fallen over whilst walking the dog. She confirmed that Oliver had been there, but that he often pops up this way to visit his Dad and Aunt and will often check in on her too as she was married to his brother. She said they were best friends growing up and that hasn’t changed. I can’t believe she would stick up for him after he treated her so badly this morning. When asked about how his long term girlfriend Vivienne Lake would feel about his visit, she said that she had met Vivienne on many occasions and that Vivienne knew that Annie’s and Oliver relationship stretched to nothing more than friendship. She said that she hopes Oliver and Vivienne have a very long and happy relationship together. If Vivienne does believe her, more fool her.

Once the press speak to the locals, they’ll at least know the truth about Annie’s attempted suicide if nothing else.

To my upmost annoyance the locals have denied everything. When asked what happened yesterday with the mass search party every single one of them has looked confused as if they didn’t remember the six hours they were out looking for her in the cold and rain.

Vivienne Lake has tweeted that she knew that Oliver was coming here for the night to see friends and family and that Annie is a very close friend to them both. A close friend that has stabbed Vivienne in the back.

Oliver has also tweeted that it must be a slow day in the news office for them to be rehashing two year old stories. Apparently the press were all over him when he stayed with Annie after Nick died and he can’t see how a quick visit to his family and sister-in-law could possibly be so riveting to the press.

Oliver has just tweeted again that he is going to the dentist now, if any press are interested in that, maybe it will make front page news.

Oliver has just tweeted that he has had a ham sandwich for lunch and expects to see it on News at Ten tonight.

Annie is in her front garden tending to the weeds. The press are losing their enthusiasm for the story now, they’ve taken a few half-hearted shots of her doing the garden but with no one to confirm the story I just look like some mad nosy old bat with too much time on her hands.

Thursday:

After the locals all closed ranks and denied anything was untoward the press have all left. My son is coming to pick me up soon. Despite that I’ve been made to look like an idiot, I have had the best weekend. I’ll be back again soon to catch up on more gossip.

**********

Judy Fisher has just left and she’ll be coming back over my dead body, which won’t be any time soon because I did not try to kill myself!!! I can’t believe that every detail of my life has been printed here in black and white for every guest to read. Especially as most of it is completely inaccurate. Can I categorically state Oliver did not hit me.

Nor did we have sex.

Oh my!! This makes for an interesting read.

Sophia!! Nothing happened; this is just the inane babble of a bored and lonely madwoman. You know Oliver would never hit me. How much more of Judy’s messages do you think are completely made up?

There’s no smoke without fire.

There’s no fire!

Your red cheeks and the gleam in your eye would suggest otherwise.

**********

19
^th
– 22
^nd
September

Mr and Mrs Jones.

Mr and Mrs Jones? Really? Come on Anthony, is that the best you could do?

The secrecy is driving me mad. The separate mobile phones, the seedy hotels, the secret liaisons. And what’s the point? Everyone knows, your boss knows, your friends know, your parents know, I wouldn’t be the least surprised if your wife knows.

Do you think Annie Butterworth really cares who we are? Do you think she’s going to ring your wife and tell her we’re having a sordid affair? Quite frankly I’d be relieved if she did. Your marriage is a sham and the sooner it’s over the better.

MY DARLING RACHEL, I LOVE YOU, YOU KNOW THAT. WE WILL BE TOGETHER SOON, WITHOUT ALL THIS SECRECY. I’M JUST NOT WILLING FOR THAT BITCH JESSICA TO HAVE GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE. SHE’LL TAKE ME FOR EVERY PENNY I HAVE AND THERE’S NO WAY I’M LETTING HER HAVE IT. BE PATIENT, I HAVE A PLAN.

Does your plan involve having your cake and eating it? Does it involve you being a spineless coward?

OK, I CAN SEE YOU’RE IN A BAD MOOD. IS IT BECAUSE MY SECRETARY CALLED YOU A WHORE?

That’s part of it. You did nothing to defend me? You should have sacked her on the spot.

RACHEL, MRS KESSINGTON HAS WORKED FOR MY COMPANY FOR THIRTY FIVE YEARS, SHE’S A DIAMOND AND I COULDN’T POSSIBLY SACK HER. YES SHE SPEAKS HER MIND BUT I’D BE LOST WITHOUT HER. AND I COULD HARDLY DEFEND YOU COULD I? WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME TELL HER? THIS IS THE WOMAN I LOVE AND WANT TO SPEND MY LIFE WITH?