The Promise Read online

  ‘But why would he drug you? What would he get out of that?’ Mandy said, uncertain now.

  Josie shrugged. That was exactly what she’d been asking herself all the way here.

  Trevor Pearson sounded like a nutjob all right, a control freak at best, but why on earth would he be drugging Josie? He had her right where he wanted her by the sounds of it.

  ‘This is going to sound a bit odd, but we haven’t actually done anything yet. You know, in bed… ’ Josie confessed.

  ‘What do you mean? You haven’t had full intercourse?’ Mandy frowned. Trevor had been seeing Josie regularly for weeks before the two of them had shacked up together. ‘You’ve done other stuff though, right?’

  Josie shook her head.

  ‘We haven’t done a thing.’

  ‘But you’ve been seeing him for weeks? What are the pair of you doing, playing bleeding Monopoly?’ Mandy raised her eyes questioningly.

  ‘He’s got some weird kind of fetish.’ Josie came clean then. ‘I knew about it before, before I told him he could stay over. It didn’t really bother me then. He just likes to lie on the bed. That’s it. I thought it was company, at first, or that maybe he was a bit nervous, you know, a virgin. But I’ve looked it up on the Internet and it’s a genuine fetish. It’s called Somnophilia? Have you heard of it?’

  ‘Somna-what? It sounds more like a frickin’ disease to me?’

  Josie shook her head.

  ‘It says on the website that that’s how some people with the fetish get themselves off. By touching you and stuff when you’re completely unresponsive. I think that’s why he’s been drugging me. It’s all part of what gets him off. A power thing, I guess?’

  ‘Sounds a bit creepy to me.’ Mandy screwed her face up, unconvinced. ‘So, you’re saying that this Trevor literally pays you to keep your knickers on and just sleep?’

  Seeing the look of disbelief on Mandy’s face, Josie nodded.

  ‘They call it Sleeping Beauty Syndrome.’

  ‘Oh have a laugh, Jos, you’re winding me up. Sleeping Beauty? With your bonce?’ Mandy roared with laughter, but Josie didn’t laugh.

  She was deadly serious.

  ‘I’m not fucking with you, Mandy. I’m genuinely scared. I think he’s a bit of a nutjob. I think he might be a bit mentally unstable.’

  Mandy looked thoughtful for a second. In the past, any problems they had Delray had sorted out for them. They’d paid him a premium for the privilege, of course, but he’d had his uses.

  ‘How about Delray? I know you two have fallen out, but can’t you just have a word with him? Maybe he will get rid of him for you? You know, for old times’ sake. It’s the least he could do for you really… ’

  Josie shook her head again. ‘No, I can’t go to him. He already warned me what would happen if I carried on working, I can’t risk him finding out. Trust me, I know what he’s like.’

  In truth, the thought had crossed her mind, but she couldn’t do it. Delray Anderton would be the last person she’d ever got to for help now.

  Mandy didn’t know what else to suggest.

  ‘You’re just going to have to end it with him then, Josie. Tell him it ain’t working out and hope for the best.’ Mandy was unsure what other advice she could offer her friend.

  ‘He sounds like a proper fucking oddball. You’d never in a million years have contemplated putting up with this sort of shit from any man. The only reason he’s got away with treating you like he has is because he’s caught you at your lowest ebb. He’s taken advantage of you. Get rid and pronto.’

  ‘I know, I know.’ Josie nodded in agreement. If she hadn’t been so low with the drugs, and having no money, then Delray cutting her off too, she would never have even considered letting Trevor Pearson anywhere near her.

  Everything had just spiralled out of control.

  The kids, the house, the lack of money.

  Josie didn’t know where to begin with it all; it was all such a mess.

  ‘I’m going to be back at square one again, aren’t I? I’m boracic lint. I don’t know how I’m going to earn any money, not when I’m going to have to keep looking over my shoulder for Delray… ’

  ‘Where there’s a will, my lovely, there’s always a way!’ Mandy said with a wink. Seeing the surprised look on her mate’s face, she laughed. ‘What? You think I’ve just been sitting here twiddling my thumbs these past few weeks? Reading my Kindle on my tod with only my kettle for company? I’m meeting someone tomorrow night. In a little bar over near Peckham. The place looks a bit studenty; not the sort of bar that would show up on Delray’s radar.’

  Josie raised her eyes, curiously.

  ‘It’s all kosher too. There’s a site on the Internet called CougarCatcher.com. That’s what they call us at our age, you know, Cougars or MILFS – you know: Mums I’d Like to Fuck.’

  Josie nearly spat her tea out.

  ‘I know what it means, Mand.’ Josie bit her lip to stop herself smiling. Only Mandy could cheer her up when she was feeling this low.

  ‘Can you believe it? There’s actually a market out there especially for us. Apparently, women of our age are much more experienced. Who knew, huh? The toyboys love us. We’re all the rage!’ Mandy laughed. ‘Fuck me, this bloke I’m meeting up with tomorrow ain’t going to know what hit him though is he, Jos. Experience – I’ve done more screwing than Black & Decker.’

  Mandy laughed before eyeing her friend seriously.

  ‘It's a dating site technically, but this guy knows the score. He wants the full works, he even asked me if I had a friend that I could bring along for one of his mates too. I was going to ask Fat Karen from the pub, but I’d much rather if you did the job with me?’

  ‘Oh no, Mandy. I couldn’t. My head’s wrecked as it is. I’ve got too much to sort out with Trevor before I can even think about doing a job,’ Josie said, not keen on the idea of trying to act seductive again for two toyboys. Especially after what had happened the last time.

  ‘It’s as easy or as hard as you wanna make it, Jos,’ Mandy said knowingly. ‘Just tell Trevor to sling his hook. He might not like it, but really, what’s he going to do about it? Like you say, it’s a business arrangement. You’re not a couple; you don’t owe him anything.’

  Josie nodded her head. While that may be very true, it wasn’t as simple as that. But she couldn’t explain it.

  She wasn’t certain Trevor would leave. That he’d take her ending their arrangement very well and, in all honesty, she didn’t know how he would react.

  That made her nervous for some reason.

  ‘It’s all paid for by the client, Jos. Drinks, a bit of grub; I told him how much I'd want on top for any other services he required and he sounded good for it. Go on Jos, we could both do with a decent night out on the tiles,’ Mandy said. A night out on the town was just the remedy Josie needed to get her out of this slump she was in.

  ‘Come on, I’ve missed you, Jos. I’ve felt like my right arm’s been missing the last two weeks without you. What do you say, huh?’

  Josie gave Mandy a small smile. When Mandy put it like that she couldn’t help but agree with her. It was about time that she took some control of her life again. She had a family to look after. Kids to support. Wincing as she thought back to Trevor hitting Marnie, Josie bit her lip. Trevor had crossed the line, and Josie couldn’t, wouldn’t allow him that opportunity again.

  ‘Go on then!’ Josie grinned, feeling instantly lighter now that Mandy had helped clear her head.

  She needed to sort this mess out once and for all. First, she’d get rid of Trevor, and then she’d get things back on track with her and Mandy.

  For the first time in a long time, Josie actually felt like she was finally back in control.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Trevor Pearson bit his tongue.

  He knew something had changed the minute he walked through Josie’s front door this evening. He was sitting opposite where Josie was standing, hugging his overnight
bag on his lap, still wearing his coat. Staring at Josie in complete and utter disbelief.

  ‘I’m sorry, Trevor, we gave it a go, but it just wasn’t working. We need to call it a day.’

  Trevor didn’t speak. He’d fucked up. Hitting Marnie had been a step too far. He’d known it the second that it had happened. He’d thought he was bringing a bit of order to the household. A bit of control. Josie should be thanking him for teaching her children to have some respect and some manners, not ending their arrangement.

  This was absurd.

  He scrutinised the woman. She seemed different today, unfazed. Standing with her back to the kitchen sink, a cigarette in her hand. It was as if she’d somehow got her head together.

  ‘I know you think I’ve been hard on you and the girls, Josie, but I was just trying to help,’ he said, not knowing what else he could say.

  He already knew there would be no persuading her. Her lines were all well-rehearsed, too, he realised. She was resolute.

  ‘I’m sorry, Trevor,’ Josie said with a shrug. Desperately wanting to let him down gently. She felt as if she was properly splitting up with him, as if she was ending a relationship.

  That was how he was looking at it, too. That was half the problem. She had given Trevor an inch, and he’d taken a mile. Once he got his feet firmly under the table it was as if he’d forgotten this was all a business arrangement. That they simply had a mutual agreement. Trevor was just a means to an end. Her only way of making any money. Trevor, however, saw Josie as more than that – she thought. Somewhere in his warped mind, Josie was convinced that Trevor really believed they were a couple.

  ‘I have to put me and the kids first, you know… ’

  Trevor didn’t speak. He could feel the vein throbbing in his temple. His heart thudding inside his chest. His temper was raging, roaring. The heat of his blood was surging through his veins. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. After everything that he had done for this woman. He’d offered her so much, and now, it transpired, as Josie Parker threw it back so ungraciously in his face, she was nothing more than an ungrateful little bitch.

  ‘The girls aren’t happy. I’m not happy,’ Josie said honestly. The tension in her voice almost palpable. ‘I just think that for now we should call it a day.’

  There – she’d said it. Taking a pull of her cigarette, she waited for his reaction. Trevor had already shown his true colours; she knew that there was a brutal temper hiding away inside. She was ready for him. If he wanted a row about this, then bring it on. Her head was much clearer today. Having Mandy for backup had helped her too. Her friend had been right. Josie’d had enough of pussyfooting around the man. This was her house and her kids. Trevor had no place here. Josie didn’t even know what she’d been thinking agreeing to Trevor’s idea in the first place. It was insane letting him move in here. With his odd little ways, his controlling, sneaky behaviour.

  Josie had been ready to say all this to him too. Ready to tear strips off him about taking her mobile phone. About her suspicions about his drug-laced home-made wine.

  But, as unpredictable as ever, Trevor wasn’t giving her any cause for an argument. He was simply sitting there with his head down, nodding in agreement.

  Finally he broke his silence. ‘I understand. If that’s what you want?’ It took everything Trevor had to keep his voice neutral, controlled.

  His heart was thumping, pounding so loudly that he could hear it in his ears.

  He’d invested so much in Josie. Putting food on this woman’s table. Paying her fucking bills for her – all the while having to endure a constant stream of the mind-numbing verbal diarrhoea she constantly spouted.

  It had all been for nothing. A complete waste of his time. All that plotting and planning; all that waiting for the right time.

  Now, because of Josie’s selfishness, his plans had been scuppered.

  Trevor couldn’t believe the cheek of the woman. The pure gall.

  How he had managed not to react, not to leap over the table and throttle her, he would never know, but somehow, he was still in control.

  Focusing on his breathing, deep and slow, he was a master at pretending to be something that he wasn’t. He’d spent a lifetime doing just that. Suppressing who he really was. Hiding behind his mask, and he had no intention of letting that slip now just because Josie Parker had decided to ruin everything that he had worked so hard to achieve.

  He shouldn’t have smacked Marnie. That’s what this was all really about. Josie had been quiet ever since that night. Subdued, distant. As if she was deep in thought, not just absent-minded, vacant, like he’d hoped.

  He’d thought that Josie would have respected him as the man of the household, but he realised that he had underestimated her. She wasn’t capable of respecting him; she didn’t even respect herself.

  Trevor had stupidly shown his hand, exposed his true colours and because of that Josie was rejecting him.

  SHE was rejecting HIM.

  Well, there was no way that Trevor was going to let the bitch know how deeply that cut him.

  He’d fucked up. Cursing himself now for not being more observant, and realising that Josie hadn’t been quite as medicated as he had thought. He should have upped the dosage of his ‘Special Brew’. Made sure the concoction of sleeping tablets and depressants was working its magic on her.

  It’d been the perfect strength at first.

  Knocking her out almost instantly.

  She’d been a nervous wreck too, all anxious and jittery. The side effects as the drugs left her system made her depressed; that’s what Trevor had been counting on.

  He needed to get Josie dependent on him, to keep her in a drug-induced fog.

  He hadn’t factored on her building a tolerance up to the laced drink, though. He could kick himself for not being more vigilant.

  He had still been in the process of his planning stages. He was all out of options. The only thing he could do to redeem himself right now was to go along with Josie’s request. Make out that he was respecting her wishes.

  He’d have to play the long game.

  He would give her a few days on her own. Let her start questioning her decision. Once the bills started rolling in and Josie started to struggle, Trevor would try his luck once again.

  ‘Well, it’s a shame it’s come to this, Josie, it really is,’ Trevor said, getting to his feet. He could see the surprise mixed with confusion written all over Josie’s face.

  This was good. It meant she was doubting herself, questioning whether or not she was making the right choice. Which, of course, she wasn’t; the dumb bitch was too blind to see that.

  ‘Well, yes, it is a shame,’ Josie said, realising he was leaving.

  Now here they were: Trevor was up on his feet. Leaving without so much as a fuss, or argument.

  ‘I’ll see you around, Josie. You take care.’

  Josie watched him go, until he closed the front door behind him, and she realised she’d been holding her breath.

  She’d done it.

  Mandy had been right all along. It really was as easy as this. Telling him straight and, like Mandy had said, if he didn’t like it, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  ‘Jesus, Marnie! Would you stop bleedin’ gawping at me like that. By the look on your face anyone would think I’m abandoning you or something? I’m only going to be out for a few hours.’ Irritated at the sudden need to justify herself to her children, Josie wasn’t prepared to put up with any of Marnie’s whining tonight.

  Marnie was getting worse and worse. She was acting like a nervous wreck.

  For the sake of her own sanity, Josie needed this night out more than ever and no amount of Marnie begging and pleading for her to stay at home was going to work.

  ‘What about him though? What if he comes back?’ Flickering a glance over towards the front door. Marnie was petrified of Trevor. The poor kid didn’t want to even be in the same room as the man sin
ce that night at dinner when he’d smacked her.

  Josie sighed. Realising that she wasn’t the only one that had had the week from hell, she knew that she should really cut the girls a bit of slack. It wasn’t just her that’d had to endure the man’s company; the girls had suffered it too. His presence in the house had affected them all so much more than she even realised.

  ‘He’s not coming back. I told him to leave.’

  ‘But what if he doesn’t listen to you? What if he still comes back?’ Marnie said, sitting down on the bottom step in the hallway as her mother stared back at her through the reflection in the mirror, brushing her hair.

  ‘Marnie, trust me. He’s not coming back.’

  Josie was confident of that. Trevor had surprised her, if she was honest. She’d expected an argument, at least, but instead the man had just accepted her decision quite humbly and gone without too much of a fuss.

  Josie wondered if perhaps she’d misread the situation. Maybe he hadn’t been drugging her at all. Maybe she had just been paranoid? She’d been self-medicating too, to soften the brutal comedown from heroin. Maybe that’s what had made her feel groggy?