Watched: When Road Rage Follows You Home (4 page)

One of the few things Charlie and Esther had agreed to spend money on for the new house was a decent bed with a rock-hard mattress. With the fresh sheets, solid pillows and the house residing in a quiet spot away from the main road, Charlie had surprised himself by dropping off almost instantly.

In a complete switch around from how they usually were, Esther spent the night tossing and turning, accidentally waking him up with flailing feet and errant elbows, before apologising with a yawn and a rub of his leg. Charlie asked her if she was okay the first time but couldn’t keep doing it. In the end, he got up at half-five, an hour before his alarm had been due to go off.

Downstairs, the house felt like someone else’s. There was an uncanny silence coupled with early morning sunlight pouring through the blinds and rippled glass windows. Esther’s father was always up at five o’clock on the dot when they lived at her parents’ house, so for Charlie to be up by himself was an unfamiliar experience. He stood in the doorway of the living room, staring towards the dining table at the back. The main room had been in a reasonable state when they bought it and, aside from filling it with furniture, they hadn’t done anything to it. He knew that as soon as Esther had finished getting the rest of the house the way she wanted it, she would turn her attention to this room. It was tolerable but it wasn’t theirs.

The hallway and stairs weren’t too bad, with plain walls that they could live with, though the shabby red carpet had so many holes that the floorboards were visible underneath.

The kitchen was functional but outdated, with crusty linoleum, slightly dirty cupboard doors and steam marks on the ceiling. The worktops had unmoving stains from years of someone cutting and chopping on them. Because they were able to use it, Esther and Charlie had agreed to leave it as it was for the time being while they focused on doing up the rest of the house.

Esther had insisted the previous evening that she wanted to be awake before he left but finally seemed to be sleeping when Charlie had got up. He figured he would return the favour from the previous evening and make her something for breakfast as she dozed. After popping four slices of bread into the toaster, Charlie filled up the coffee machine and set it running. He dragged a stool into the centre of the room and sat with his eyes closed, listening to the clicks and pops of the water working its way around the machine.

‘Morning!’

Charlie jolted awake at the sound of his wife’s voice, realising he had somehow dozed off without falling from the stool. Esther had her back to him, pouring coffee, apparently unaware he had been sleeping.

‘Hi. How are you feeling?’ he asked, trying to mask the tiredness in his voice.

Esther took a mug from the cabinet underneath the coffee machine and began filling it up. ‘Not bad. I slept all right in the end.’

The kitchen clock read a little after six, with Charlie grateful he still had time to eat and get changed before he had to leave. He stood and slipped in behind Esther, placing his hands on her hips and squeezing her. ‘The toast’s for you if you want it.’

She reached out and touched the bread. ‘It’s cold.’ Charlie was about to reply before she plucked the first slice out and nibbled the corner. ‘Never mind, it’s good like that.’

‘You look nice.’

Esther giggled, relaxing the back of her head into his shoulder. ‘Charmer.’

She took another bite – at least she was eating.

‘What have you got on at work today?’ Esther asked.

‘The priority is sorting out the kitchen. I can’t afford to have that closed, so I’ve got a guy coming in to advise on best practices. Are you papering the spare room?’

‘Hopefully.’

Esther had finished half of the slice but dropped it back into the toaster slot and turned, hugging herself into Charlie. ‘What time will you be home?’

‘Probably about six.’

‘Will you call or send me a message if you’re going to be late?’

It was the first time she had ever asked him anything like that.

‘If you want…’ Charlie paused, stroking her hair. ‘…Are you sure you’re all right here on your own?’

‘Something happened yesterday…’ Charlie felt a tingle along his spine as Esther folded herself into him, pressing her head into his breastbone. Her arms were rigid, her body tense. ‘I got a little lost on the way to B&Q and ended up in the wrong lane. I was indicating but no-one would let me in. I thought there was a gap but this car came roaring up outside of me. There was this guy with a baseball cap who was shouting and swearing, then he was flashing his lights and beeping his horn. I didn’t know what to do but he followed me into the car park. He was driving in a circle around me, pointing his finger and shouting. I was hoping someone would come out of the shop and disturb him but in the end he just drove off.’

Charlie cradled her head, taking a breath and calming himself. The tingle had turned into a chill that had taken hold of his body but he didn’t want to let on how angry he was. The idea of someone bullying Esther was almost too much to take. He wasn’t the overbearing type to think of his wife as his property but a bubbling fury was seeping through him at the thought of someone acting like that.

His voice was surprisingly steady. ‘Who was he?’

‘I don’t know but when the bins were knocked over yesterday, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.’

‘Does he live around here?’

‘I don’t know that either – but one of the pages from the phone company was missing too. It might have blown away, but if it was taken, then the person would know our number.’

Charlie was about to say something when he realised what she was saying. He eased himself away from her enough to see her face. ‘Those two calls last night.’

‘I know. I should have said something then…’ Esther tailed off, before adding: ‘It’s probably a coincidence.’

‘Should we call the police?’

‘What are we going to say? I didn’t think to look for his number plate and neither of us saw anyone around the house yesterday evening. It could’ve been a gust of wind, or the kids from next door. Anything, really.’

Charlie knew Esther was right but felt useless. He had to get changed for work but stood in the doorway, one foot in the kitchen, the other in the hallway.

‘Go,’ Esther said.

‘I don’t want to leave you.’

Esther smiled but her eyes weren’t matching her lips again. ‘I’m a big girl now. He was just some idiot in a car. What’s he going to do?’

‘I don’t know, I just…’

‘You can’t spend every minute with me. Things happen. I’ve got plenty to get on with today. If you’re home on time, I might even have something on the stove for you.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Of course I am. You’ve got to go to work and I have things to do.’ Esther stepped forward, pushed up onto her tiptoes and kissed him on the bottom lip. ‘Go and get changed.’

Charlie did as he was told but couldn’t stop thinking about what Esther had told him. If he’d have been in a car on his own with someone else roaring around him in a circle, swearing and shaking their fist, then he’d have been terrified. In many ways, it felt worse that it had happened to Esther, not because she was a woman, not even because she was his wife, simply because she was so…
nice
. He couldn’t think of a better word. She had good things to say about everyone, she didn’t fall out with people and she always looked on the bright side. He was the one who’d slink into the corner at any function and try not to talk to anyone. He’d have the odd stand-up row with people at work when he thought they weren’t pulling their weight. He drove like an idiot sometimes, sneaking through red lights and breaking the speed limits. Esther was the person he wished he could be – but someone had apparently seen that vulnerability and done their best to terrify her. That was what which made him utterly furious.

After putting on his suit, Charlie brushed his teeth, staring at himself in the mirror and forcing himself to be calm. It was going to be a long day and he couldn’t start it by being angry. He could hear Esther humming to herself downstairs, a beautiful soft, slightly out-of-tune chorus that he couldn’t fail to smile at.

With a final check that there was nothing stuck between his teeth, Charlie headed downstairs into the kitchen, where Esther was staring out towards the back garden, sipping from her mug of coffee with another slice of toast in her hand.

She smiled as she turned to face him. ‘You look smart.’

‘I know you don’t like the suits.’

Esther pressed upwards and kissed him again. ‘True but it’s better than those tatty pyjamas you haven’t thrown out yet.’

Charlie grinned – they were back to his nightwear again. He half-thought she’d have found a way to ‘lose’ them during the move. ‘I’ll see you later. Love you.’

‘So you sodding well should.’

Esther winked at him again, cracking into a genuine smile for the first time since moving day. There were small crinkles around her eyes, not from ageing, just because that was how her face was shaped. Charlie loved it when she beamed properly.

He unlocked the front door and headed into the morning sunshine. He felt the beads of warmth on his face as he stepped towards his car before freezing at the sight which greeted him. Across the front of their driveway, somebody had dumped a binful of rubbish. Food wrappers, rotting fruit and vegetables, soil, and various pieces of broken furniture had been emptied overnight. For a few seconds, Charlie didn’t know what to do. His instant thought was to try to hide it from Esther but that was going to be impossible considering he’d have to clear it away to get off the drive. This wasn’t something that could have blown in on a non-existent breeze: someone had gone out of their way to leave it on their property.

He continued staring before making his decision and heading back inside.

‘Forget something?’ Esther sounded chirpy but the smile disappeared at the dark look on Charlie’s face. ‘What?’

He grabbed the roll of black bin liners from under the sink, offered a shrug, and strode back outside. Charlie could sense Esther a little behind him but didn’t know what to say to her. This felt like an invasion of their space and there was a worryingly obvious conclusion about who had left it.

Charlie began picking up the cleaner items and putting them in a bag but Esther rested a hand on his arm.

‘Just move the bigger things to the side and go to work. I’ll clear the rest.’

‘I don’t want to leave you.’

‘It’s just someone’s rubbish…’

‘…I know but they left it specifically here. For us.’

Esther tugged on Charlie’s arm to make him stop. ‘Just go. It’s only your second proper day – you can’t stay here because someone left their rubbish on our drive.’

Charlie turned, wanting to hug her but feeling something squidgy on his hands from the clean-up. He was about to go inside and wash his hands when he spotted something else. Stepping around his wife, Charlie crouched next to her purple car, prodding at the front passenger-side tyre.

‘Someone’s slashed your tyres.’

Esther stared at him for a moment, eyes narrow, biting on her bottom lip, before moving out of sight to the other side of the car. ‘Here too – front and back.’

Charlie glanced across to his own vehicle but the tyres, mirrors and windows were all intact. Whoever had done this had gone out of their way to target Esther, not him. If it was just kids messing around, they would surely have gone for the expensive-looking vehicle, not the tatty Fiat.

Esther stood, peering at him over the car but unable to meet his eyes again. She was trying to sound strong but her voice wavered a little. ‘I’ll call someone out to change the tyres. I’m going to be in all day today anyway. Let’s move this stuff out of the way first so you can get to work.’

Without waiting for him, Esther edged to the front of the drive and began shunting the larger pieces of wood and scrap off to the side. Charlie joined her in silence, sliding and carrying the items until it was clear. She waited outside while he washed his hands and by the time Charlie emerged, Esther was sitting on her car bonnet, staring out towards the empty road.

Charlie leaned in and kissed her forehead. ‘Should we call the police?’

‘What are they going to say? At best we’ll get a report number but I don’t want to mess up my no-claims anyway, so I won’t use it. I’ll pop next door later and ask if they heard anything.’

‘Are you—’

‘—I’ll be fine. Have a nice day.’

He tried to read his wife’s face but her eyes were blank, peering across the road without emotion. Charlie wanted to say something comforting but his mind was empty. Even offering to stay home was ridiculous, as if he was the big strong warrior protecting his maiden. The idea was as offensive as it was stupid.

‘What was the car like?’ he asked.

‘Sorry?’

‘The car from yesterday. You said it followed you but never described it.’

‘Oh…’ Esther shivered slightly, wrapping her arms around herself even though the morning was already warm. ‘…it was this blue thing. You know the type – big exhaust, loud stereo, really low to the ground.’

‘Do you know the make?’

She shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t look for things like that.’

Charlie didn’t know why he’d asked – car makes and models weren’t the type of thing he’d notice either unless someone pointed it out.

He kissed her on the forehead again, before standing awkwardly, trying to think of something better to say than ‘goodbye’. When nothing came, he turned and climbed into his car, watching Esther’s mournful shape through the windscreen before pulling away.

It was an assumption that whoever had terrorised Esther the day before had come back to go through their bins, find out their phone number, slash her tyres and dump rubbish on their driveway – but they didn’t know anyone else in the area. Aside from Esther’s brief chat with Liz next door, they hadn’t spoken to anyone. He’d not even given his address to the hotel yet because it had slipped his mind the previous day.

Charlie reached the end of the road and decided to do some exploring. If this was the work of the man with the blue car, he must live nearby. Esther said he’d driven off outside the shop and she would have noticed him following her later on. That meant the only way he could know where they lived was if he happened to be driving past their house and recognised her car on the driveway.