Girl on the Run Read Online Free PDF Page B

until the day she'd come home with a migraine and found Ashby in bed with a wannabe actress from Hollyoaks . She could still see the girl's red, red nails gripping the familiar lines of Ashby's back, still remember her irrational thought that those sheets were clean on that morning. She would never forget the shock in the girl's eyes when she saw Jane.
    Ashby had followed her out of the bedroom, pulling on his dressing gown – which she had bought him – and making excuses, as though there was anything he could say to make him less despicable. Jane had left immediately, not waiting to pick up anything other than her handbag. She had travelled, dry-eyed, for nearly two hours, until she'd arrived at her parents' house near Oldham. The minute her mum opened the front door, her composure had broken, taking with it her heart. She had cried for days.
    At the time she'd thought life couldn't get any worse. Later, when her mother persuaded her to go back and talk to Ashby, she had found that his betrayal of her was the talk of Manchester. People whispered behind her back at work. Photographers kept popping up to take photos of her ‘looking distraught’. After one particularly bad afternoon, when she'd been trapped in the house because a photographer and a journalist were camped outside, she'd given up.
    She took what she could and went into hiding in London, which was two hundred miles away and big enough to get lost in.
    A month later, she was offered a job. Living with Polly was only ever meant to be temporary. As soon as she got her deposit for the flat back from Ashby she would move out.
    Jane stared at the ceiling, hemmed in by the closeness of the walls. She closed her eyes and tears started to slide out from under her lashes.
    There was a knock on the door. ‘Jane?’ said Polly. ‘Would you like some tea? I've got a pasta bake in the oven.’
    ‘ Er … yes,’ said Jane, feeling it would be churlish to refuse. ‘That would be lovely. Thanks.’
    ‘ Ok,’ said Polly. ‘We're ready when you are.’
    Andy and Polly were already sitting at the table when Jane walked in. Polly dished out a third portion. For a moment, they ate in silence.
    ‘I'm really sorry,’ Jane said. ‘I didn't think to knock. I wasn't expecting …’
    ‘ It's Ok,’ said Polly. ‘You live here. You don't have to knock.’
    ‘ Mind you,’ Andy said. ‘It might be an idea—’
    Polly nudged him in the ribs.
    ‘I'm so sorry,’ Jane repeated. ‘As soon as I get paid, I'll move out. Ok.’
    ‘ You don't have to,’ said Polly. ‘I like having you here.’
    Andy shot Polly a glance. Polly raised her eyebrows at him.
    Jane started to apologise again, but Andy stopped her. ‘Forget it, Jane. Really. It's no big deal. You take your time.’ He gave Polly a fond look and patted her on the arm. ‘It'll probably do us good to learn some self-control.’
    Jane looked at them and felt a spark of envy. They were so happy together. Andy might not be the most good-looking of men, but he would never cheat on Polly. She found she'd suddenly lost her appetite, and moved the pasta around on her plate, resisting the urge to push the whole thing away.
    ‘ So,’ said Andy, breaking the awkward silence, ‘what are you doing at work then, Jane?’
    ‘ She's looking for prior art,’ said Polly, who had asked the same question the night before.
    ‘ Oh aye? What's that when it's at home?’ Andy spoke through a mouthful of pasta.
    ‘ You know what a patent is?’
    ‘ Like on Dragon's Den ?’
    Jane smiled. ‘Yes, a bit like that. Now, if you're going to get a patent for an invention, it has to be new, right?’
    ‘ Sounds fair,’ said Andy.
    ‘ So, if it's published somewhere before the patent was filed, then it's can't be new.’ She paused to see if he was following her.
    He nodded and waved his fork, indicating that she should go on.
    ‘We're trying to show that a patent shouldn't have been granted. I'm trying to find something that was