GHOST IN THE MACHINE
By Ed James
Caroline
Wednesday 27th July, 7.30pm
Where was he?
Caroline was still waiting in the bar where they'd arranged to meet. She checked her watch - he was twenty minutes late.
It felt like hours.
She shouldn't have got there half an hour early. She took another sip from her cocktail, staring into the ice.
The music playing on the bar's stereo switched song. She recognised it, something about making him magnificent tonight. She looked over at the barmaid and pointed up at the speakers. "What's this?"
The barmaid checked a CD case. "Sleeper. Atomic."
Caroline smiled. "Thanks."
Taking a deep breath, she hoped Martin would be magnificent. She rummaged around in her handbag and found her mobile. She opened the Schoolbook app and found her train of messages with Martin, re-reading the instructions again, just like she had four times on her laptop at home.
No, there it was - meet in the bar of the Jackson Hotel at half seven.
She went into Martin's profile, looking at the baby blue eyes in the photo, the wide smile, the perfect teeth. Almost too good to be true.
The only messages on his profile were hers - she wondered if she looked like some mad stalker woman.
She scanned around the room again for anyone even vaguely resembling Martin's profile shot. Nobody even came close.
Caroline looked over at the barmaid. "I'm supposed to be meeting someone." She held up her mobile. "Has he been in?"
The barmaid inspected Martin's profile for a few seconds before shaking her head and returning the phone. "Don't recognise him. He's pretty, though." She wiped the counter with a cloth then nodded at Caroline's mobile. "Did you meet him on Schoolbook?"
Caroline smiled. "If you can call it meeting."
"Happens a lot these days, I suppose."
"We'd been talking about films on a message board."
The barmaid smiled, before moving off to fuss over the coffee machine.
Caroline took another sip and looked back at the message chain stretching back almost two months, the flirtatious subtext getting ever stronger towards the inevitability of their meeting.
She'd not felt that level of connection with anyone for a long time. It felt like he knew everything about her.
Her heart was thudding in her chest. She took another sip to steady her nerves.
The CD switched track again and she started humming along. She made eye contact with the barmaid. "What's this one?"
The barmaid sighed before looking at the box again. "New Order, Temptation."
Caroline frowned, thinking she knew the album. "What CD is it?"
The barmaid held up the box. "Trainspotting soundtrack. It's just what was here. Got some decent tunes on it, though."
"That's my favourite film. It's what we'd been chatting about on Schoolbook." Caroline looked down at her glass again and bit her lip. "Rob bought me that."
"Who's he?"
"My ex-husband. He's a wanker."
The barmaid snorted. "Don't get me started on mine." She moved off to serve another customer.
Caroline stabbed at her phone, tempted to delete Rob from her friends list there and then. She should never have accepted his invite in the first place, but she'd been trying to be friends for Jack's sake.
She noticed her fists were clenched. She let them go, taking another drink, hoping nobody noticed.
She looked across the bar area, seeing herself in the mirror. She sighed, reflecting on how little had outwardly changed in her - she'd lost weight after having Jack and didn't look much older than her thirty-two years. The divorce had added dark rings around her eyes she just couldn't get rid of.
Her mobile lit up - a text from Amy. "Jack's just gone to sleep. No more phone calls. A x"
Caroline swallowed hard, feeling guilty at being out and leaving Jack with a friend for the night.
The music changed again. Anger burned through her as she thought of Rob moving on, leaving her with Jack. Not that she resented him it was just-
Caroline sighed and put the phone back on the bar.
It buzzed almost immediately - a text from Steve Allen, one of her oldest friends. "Just on my way to Parkhead, wanted to wish you good luck for tonight. Not that you'll need it."
She texted back. "I don't think I will. You might."
She tapped send and the phone rang, an unknown number. Her hands shook as she put the phone to her ear.
"Caroline, hi, it's Martin."
His voice was familiar, almost reassuring. She loved Northern Irish accents.
"Hi." Her voice was a nervous croak. She cleared her throat. "Hi, Martin."
"I'm really sorry, but I'm running late. I've just got back from the office, had a last minute meeting thrown at me and I'm only getting ready now. And I left my personal mobile in my hotel room like an idiot."
Caroline wasn't sure what to make of it. "That's okay."
"Tell you what, I'm just about ready now so why don't you come meet me at my room and we'll go on from there?"
"Sure."
"It's just at the back of the ground floor. Room twenty."
The phone clicked dead.
Her heart was racing again. She was finally going to meet him. In person.
She wondered about meeting him in his room but they'd talked so often on Schoolbook it felt like they'd known each other for years.
She smiled at the barmaid as she got up, leaving the ice at the bottom of her glass. She walked through reception, a brass plate on the wall pointing along a wood-panelled corridor to room 20.
When she got there, the door was ajar.
She called into the room. No answer.
She frowned and look back along the corridor, her heart racing.
She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It opened further.
"Come in."
She entered.
The door slammed behind her. A hand clasped over her mouth. "Hello, Caroline."
As she twisted around, she saw his face. Her eyes bulged.
A rope bit into her neck.
A fist slammed into her face.
Read the rest at:
myBook.to/edjamesghost
