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Chapter fifteen

Our story

The police found my passport, CD player and television in Tom’s garage.

That night I stayed at Harriet’s house.

In the morning, I tried to phone George again.

There was still no answer.

‘Perhaps he isn’t in the country any more,’ I said to Harriet.

‘What’s his address?’ she asked.

I found his letter in my bag and looked at the address at the top. ‘Here,’ I said, and I showed Harriet the letter.

‘OK,’ said Harriet, ‘come on. We’ll go there now. I’ll drive.’

I put my arms around Harriet. She really was a good friend.

We got into Harriet’s car. She drove fast.

‘I can’t believe Tom did this,’ said Harriet. ‘Where did he get a key from? Do you think he took it from our house when we were away?’

‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘It isn’t important. The police are talking to him now. He’ll have to tell them everything.’

‘Tom was so angry because you left him for an asylum seeker,’ said Harriet, ‘but I didn’t think he could be so bad. I really didn’t think he could do something like this.’

‘I know,’ I said. ‘But when we were together, he was always angry with me. He thought he could stop me doing what I wanted. He stopped me writing. He didn’t like me working. He always wanted to stop me doing things. Now he’s trying to stop me seeing George.’

I felt terrible when I said George’s name. I really wanted to see him again.

‘I’m afraid,’ I said to Harriet, as we stopped outside George’s address. It was a big old house.

‘What are you afraid of?’ she asked.

‘I’m afraid he isn’t here. But I’m also afraid that he is here and he doesn’t want to see me. Why hasn’t he phoned me? Perhaps he doesn’t want me anymore.’

I looked at Harriet.

‘Go in and ask,’ she said. ‘You need to know.’

‘Can you come with me?’ I asked.

‘No,’ she replied. ‘You need to go by yourself.’

I got out of the car and went in through the door of the building. There were some children playing inside by the stairs.

‘Excuse me,’ I said.

I saw in their eyes that they were afraid.

‘Do you know a man called George?’ I asked them.

They looked at each other, then smiled.

‘George! George!’ they sang. They started to laugh and ran up the stairs.

A few minutes later they came back again and ran out of the building into the street.

I looked at the empty stairs. Did they understand what I said? There was no one there.

I started to go out of the door.

‘Nancy.’

I turned around.

George was standing at the top of the stairs.

‘George,’ I said.

He didn’t move.

‘George. Please speak to me. I need you.’

‘Nancy,’ he said quietly. ‘I want you to know I didn’t take your things from your flat.’

‘George, I know you didn’t,’ I said.

‘I went to your flat while you were away and I saw everything. Your television wasn’t there, there was a broken glass. I thought, “People will think I did this.” I was afraid, Nancy.’

‘Is that why you went away from me?’ I asked.

‘Yes. When I saw your flat, I thought, “Nancy had a big home and lots of money before she met me. Now she lives in a small flat and people don’t like her being with me”. People don’t understand. Perhaps we can’t be together, Nancy.’

‘George. Yes, I had a big house before I met you. But I wasn’t happy.’

George began to walk down the stairs.

‘But can I make you happy?’ he asked.

‘George!’ I said. ‘The last few days were the worst in my life. I thought about you all the time. I didn’t know where you were or why you left me.’

‘I thought about you, too,’ he said.

He was next to me now.

I looked into his lovely brown eyes.

‘I love you, George,’ I said, ‘and I want to be with you.’

‘I love you too, Nancy. But perhaps I’ll have to leave. Perhaps I’ll have to go back to my country. We don’t know yet. Being together isn’t going to be easy.’

‘No. It isn’t going to be easy, but we can help each other,’ I said. ‘Together, we can do anything.’

He smiled. Then he kissed me.

I knew then it was going to be all right. I knew George and I were going to be together.

George showed me that I could change. He showed me I could do anything I wanted. That’s why I decided to write our story.