Short story, part two

The Shadow Seekers
by Fiona Gibson


Part Two

Six months earlier...

Aaron strolled into the office humming a little tune to himself. It was a bright spring morning, he had no calls today and his date with Michelle last night had gone really well. Really, really well.

They'd seen each other three times now and Aaron was sure they were a good match. He'd been nervous at first. After Jules had left him he'd poured all of his energy into the project launch at work. He hadn't actually noticed that he'd been single for two years until the rugby crew had started calling him "ice balls." They were good guys but they lacked imagination when it came to nicknames. Tom had spent the past five years being called "postbox" after getting his hand stuck in one on a night out.

Putting himself back out there was hard now that the launch was only weeks away. As the deadline approached, he was leaving the office later and later each evening. By the time he'd got home and changed, checked in on his rabbit Mr Snuffles (a stupid last-ditch effort with Jules, he hadn't had the heart to get rid of it or change his name), gone to rugby training twice a week and the game on Saturday... There was hardly time to go visit Mum before the week started all over again.

He'd never tried online dating. The adverts made him cringe and there were so many horror stories of false profiles and meet-ups gone wrong that he doubted anyone was who they claimed to be. Yet again, he didn't have time to go out and meet people. Gary from work had met his wife on Tinder, so it was worth a try. He'd had two dates with women he'd matched with, but neither of them were terribly interesting. Supposedly a proper dating website would use more emotional factors to provide a connection, he'd figured. Michelle had been his first match, and so far, it was going great.

As his computer whirred to life, Aaron sauntered to the little office kitchen to make his first coffee of the day. He could see Brian was at his desk already, too, probably tweaking the website before the beta testing next week. It was a small department but this launch was demanding a lot from them. As the kettle squealed to a boil and he tipped its contents into his mug, Aaron inhaled the aroma and thought again about the date last night.

Michelle had seemed eager to know more about his family and his childhood, she was interested in his hobbies, they'd talked for hours about their shared love of old musicals. This was the second time they'd had dinner rather than just drinks and she'd ordered a decent meal for herself and hadn't been shy about enjoying it. Everything was pointing to a cool, fun, pleasant woman whose company Aaron felt he could enjoy. He was hoping to ask her back to the flat next time, so as he sauntered back to his desk he wondered if he should look out the number for that cleaning lady he'd used a few times.

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Three days later Aaron made the same walk into the office, cheerfully whistling a happy tune. Michelle had accepted his invitation for drinks at his place and she'd stayed the night. He'd made breakfast for them both this morning and she'd eaten it wearing his shirt from last night. He'd walked her to the bus stop and headed to the office on foot, happy to enjoy the cool April sun. It had been a good date.

After getting his coffee and checking in with Brian, Aaron came back to his desk and opened his email software. Among the call notices for today's schedule there was a message from Michelle. When did I give her my work's email, he wondered.

Good morning sweetie, it read.

Last night was amaaaaazing!!!!! I'm sooooo happy we've found each other.

Can I see you tonight for a chat?

Luv, M x

Aaron read the email a couple of times then decided it was probably quite sweet. He'd really enjoyed the evening too. An internal message popped onto his screen so he switched away from the email and forgot about it for the rest of the morning. He had conference calls with head office for the next three hours solid and no doubt there would be plenty to do on the back of them.

After lunch he logged back in and checked his emails. Two from Michelle. The first one was titled "Everything okay?" and the second subject was "Where are you?" Aaron opened the former with a little hesitation.

Hi sweetpea. I haven't had a reply from you. Is everything okay? Let me know. Love, M x

A wave of nausea washed over him as he clicked open the second email.

Where are you Aaron? I need to see you tonight and you're ignoring me. Please tell me what time to be there. Love and kisses, your M x

The nausea had turned to lead in Aaron's stomach now. He still couldn't recall giving Michelle an email address for him, far less his work email, but he'd also only left her five hours ago. He started to think back over their dates. Everything had gone really well, they'd enjoyed each other's company and the conversation had flowed naturally. Michelle had ordered rosé wine on the first date but hadn't had too much. She hadn't done any of the clichés that had warned Aaron off girls in the past: twiddling with her hair in a silly manner; ordering salad then eating his chips; cooing over his biceps, which weren't really that special. He'd had enough bad dates to know that these were good ones.

Last night had been perfect: they'd had a late supper, she'd come back to the flat, the cleaning lady had left candles out (remember to tip her next time!) and there had been nothing to show that Michelle was anything other than a really lovely woman. He had thought they could start something serious soon.

But these emails. Was he overthinking them? Perhaps she was just keen. Maybe she really did have something to say to him that needed to be said tonight. Was he being a typical guy and panicking at the start of something serious? He was sure that being on the receiving end of the heartbreak Jules had caused him wouldn't allow him to be a dick.

He was just about to compose a suitable reply when he thought he felt his mobile vibrate across the desk. He was suddenly scared to draw his eyes from the monitor. In his peripheral vision he could see the phone screen flashing. It was definitely ringing. He looked down and saw the words "Michelle - date" at the top of the screen. Fear paralysed him. Before he could reach over and answer it, it stopped. The voicemail must have kicked in. He didn't know what to do next. He had ten minutes until his next conference call with head office and he now appeared to have a very big problem.

Decisively - at least, telling himself that - he jumped from his chair, grabbed his phone and shouted something to Brian about feeling sick and needing fresh air. If he could just persuade her to wait until after he'd finished work, he was sure they'd be able to sort this all out. As soon as he was downstairs he raced across the lobby and pressed Michelle's name on his phone book. By the time he got outside it was ringing. He took a deep breath.

"Oh thank goodness, I was so worried about you, where on earth have you been?" Her voice sounded an octave higher than it had this morning.

"I've been at work since I left you," he said. "Don't you remember I said I had calls all day?"

"Well of course I do, but surely you can take a few minutes out of your day for your girlfriend, can't you?"

Aaron paused. He really didn't want to be that guy. It's only a word, he told himself. She's just keen.

"Of course I'd love to chat with my girlfriend, but I did tell you that work is crazy right now. I'm happy to meet you somewhere tonight if you'd like, but I really can't chat during work. I'm due on a call any minute, in fact."

There was a short silence. Aaron didn't know how, but he knew he'd upset her.

"Meet me somewhere?" He had to hold the phone away from his ear. "You mean I'm not welcome at your flat any more?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. I literally don't have time for this, he thought.

"Sure you are. I just have rugby training tonight so I thought we could meet after I finish up there."

"You're still going to rugby? I thought we were dating!"

Aaron really, really didn't know what to say any more, but he knew he was about to be late for head office calling. "We are," he said. "We just haven't had time to sort our schedules yet. Please just come meet me at the pub tonight and we can talk it all through. Okay?" he pleaded. "I'll email you the address."

There was a long silence at the other end of the phone. "Fine," she said eventually. "But I'm really disappointed, you know." She hung up.

Aaron looked up between the tower blocks at the crisp blue sky. He leaned his head back against the glass front of his building and let his shoulders sag. Where had this come from? What had happened from Sunday to Thursday that it all went so... odd?

He heaved himself off the window and walked back into the office. A few busy hours would take his mind off all of this and hopefully Michelle would be okay tonight. Maybe she was just having a bad day at work too.


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He'd skipped out of training early, much to the amusement of the other guys, and made his way to the pub hoping he'd beat her there. He ordered a pint for himself and a rosé wine for Michelle then found a quiet table where he could watch the door but stay out of the way of the bar. He was still certain that it would all be a misunderstanding but a niggle inside told him to sit away from prying eyes and ears.

He took a large drink from his glass and drew a deep breath. He looked up as the pub door opened and Michelle walked in. As she scanned for him he thought she looked tired. Best not to say that, of course, unless he wanted to make things worse. She spotted him, marched over and sat down swiftly. He smiled and said hello then proffered her glass eagerly. "How are you?" he ventured.

"I'm fine," she said, sounding nothing of the sort. "I don't like being messed around, that's all."

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't get back to you today, but work really is very busy just now. We're at the end of a two-year project and the product launch is only weeks away. Honestly, I'm not able to talk while I'm at work, okay?"

"It wasn't just that, of course. I've been struggling all day after being at yours this morning. Didn't you remember me saying I was allergic to animals on our first date? I had no idea you kept vermin, then I woke up this morning and couldn't breathe. That was when I realised you had that rodent in your flat."

Aaron baulked. Mr Snuffles might not be the most masculine pet for him to keep, but he was fond of the little guy. There had been a few nights after Jules left them that they'd sat watching TV on the sofa together. It was silly, but it was comfort and companionship when he needed it. He loved the little brown fluff ball.

He wracked his brain but he couldn't remember Michelle mentioning any allergies during their dates nor did he recall signs of difficulties she might have felt this morning. Nonetheless he thought better of arguing the point.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think. I can move him to the spare room if you come over in future."

"Hmm... We'll see if that's enough. But what about this rugby training? I mean, how are we meant to spend time together if you're out all the time?"

This was all getting to be too much. Aaron took a swig of his pint and pinched the bridge of his nose. A strand of hair fell into his eyes and he pushed it back. He'd only started growing it when he became single because Jules always liked it short. He'd suspected she hadn't liked the fact he had red hair. As he ran his hand through his hair he rubbed his scalp as if he could stimulate his brain to find the right words. It didn't work. He took a deep breath.

"Look, Michelle..." She glared at him frostily. "This isn't working for me. I really enjoyed the dates we've been on, but I hadn't expected this level of commitment quite yet. I would like to take more time getting to know you, but if you're looking for a full-on relationship right now, I don't think I can give you that."

He waited. She hadn't moved while he was speaking. He wasn't actually sure whether she'd blinked. He looked around as if to make sure the rest of the pub were moving. They were. Then she finally moved. She leaned across the table and hissed, a little too loudly, "You're dumping me???"

Aaron sensed a few heads turn, but he tried not to look round. "Well yes, but we really haven't had that many dates yet and I don't think we're both in the same place emotionally. I did say that I hadn't seen anyone seriously since my break-up, I was hoping to take things easy."

"Easy? You called me EASY???" She was shouting now and Aaron was in no doubt that the entire place was gawping at them.

"I didn't say that. You're twisting my words. I just think this isn't going to work. I can't commit the way you want me to."

"I thought you were different!" Oh God. "I honestly thought you weren't a stereotypical 'dude' who just wanted to shag around." Oh God she wasn't getting any quieter. "I slept with you!"

"I know. I'm sorry. If I'd known what would happen I wouldn't have let things get that far. I --" Before he could finish she stood up.

"This isn't over." She spat the words out with a venom he couldn't understand. He really had misjudged the whole thing. "You'll regret this. You took advantage of me!"

Aaron wanted the ground to swallow him. If the pub bench could have absorbed him into it right about now, that would have been great. She was acting like every movie version of a crazy girlfriend he'd ever seen. He didn't know what to do to make this any better, but he decided not to make it worse by saying the wrong thing.

She picked up her wine glass. He fully expected her to fling the drink in his face or throw the glass against the wall, but she just downed the contents and slammed it back on the table. With a final "We'll see!" she whipped round and left the bar. Aaron gaped after her for several seconds, before slowly turning to the other patrons who were all agog. He understood completely.

He ran the fingers of both hands through his hair and supported his head as he stared into his drink. Wow, he thought, I really couldn't have made more of an arse of that. Thankfully he'd chosen a pub he didn't normally go to, but still... a room full of strangers had just watched the worst break-up of his life. Yes, Jules leaving had devastated him, but she disappeared one night without a word. This was different. This was hellish.

He downed the bottom half of his pint, took another deep breath and left the pub.

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On Friday Aaron walked into the office early but he was nowhere near as cheerful as he'd been all week. He was hungover, to begin with. He'd gone home last night and sat drinking until after midnight, with Mr Snuffles, defensively. He knew he'd done nothing wrong. He had tried really hard not to be a dick.

He kept his head down all day and by the time he was walking home he'd forgotten how awful he'd felt this morning. He swiped his key fob on the main door and climbed the stairs to his own front door. As he turned the key his eye caught something at the bottom of the door. It was brown and looked like a piece of fabric or lint, perhaps. He squinted and wondered where it had come from. It didn't look like anything he'd worn recently. In fact it didn't look like anything he owned. He shrugged and went inside.

Inside the hallway, he switched on the lamp and saw that there was more brown whats-it scattered all over the floor. A knot began to develop in the pit of his stomach. In the kitchen there were pieces of the stuff was everywhere. By the spotlights he could see it was actually some kind of fluff. The knot grew as a feeling of familiarity sank in. He stepped into the other half of the room. In the corner of the living room the fluff was in little piles all the way up to... Mr Snuffles!

Aaron ran across the room, feeling ridiculous and terrified in the instant, and looked into his precious pet's hutch. He recoiled in shock as he saw that Mr Snuffles was looking up at him, nonchalantly munching on a stalk of hay, completely and utterly bald save for his head and ears. He ran both hands through his hair and brought them back to cover his mouth. The sheer absurdity of it was almost laughable, his leftover gesture of romance shorn except for a fat little head. But more strongly than that, he felt horrified that someone - he knew who, but couldn't face that yet - had somehow entered his home while he was at work and shaved his ex-fiancée's pet rabbit.

What does one do in this situation? Has anyone else ever been in this situation? His heart was racing and his hands were shaking. The whole thing was nonsensical, but he had to phone the police. He'd be laughed off the phone, surely? But a crime had been committed. A weird, harmless crime. He decided eventually to lift Mr Snuffles out of his hutch for a cuddle while he phoned the non-emergency number for the police.

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I hope you're enjoying The Shadow Seekers. That's it for Part Two, but since it's Friday and I'm feeling generous, Part Three is coming up soon!


Peace and love.

FG x