The Day We Disappeared Read Online Free PDF Page B

edges. ‘Oh, my
     God,’ he groaned. ‘Oh, my God, that was incredible! Annabel, I
     can’t thank you enough.’ He closed his eyes again, grinning sleepily.
     ‘You’re amazing …’
    I went outside while he got back into
     his clothes. Rather embarrassingly, I heard my phone go off in my bag, which was
     still in the treatment room. I had to get better at remembering to turn it off.
     I’d have looked awful if it had gone off during his session – he could have
     reported me to the Association of Complementary Therapists, who might strike me off
     the register. And if I couldn’t practise as a masseuse what else could I do? I
     had no other skills, I –
    Sssh,
I told myself.
Relax,
     Annie. You’ll be home soon.
    Sometimes I could beat the Bad Shit, as
     Kate Brady would say. Mostly, though, I could not. I made a mental note to Skype her
     soon; it had been ages.
    Dorota had gone home, leaving a soft
     lamp on in Reception. I was stunningly exhausted after a full morning in Marylebone,
     a full afternoon in Farringdon and a rushed lunch eaten on the Circle Line between
     the two. I popped my feet up on the sofa next to me, rubbing them gently with my
     still-oily hands, and closed my eyes.
    ‘I’m afraid I’m going
     to have to wake you,’ a voice said quietly. I panicked. A man was staring at
     me in the semi-darkness of a room I didn’t know.
    ‘I couldn’t quite bring
     myself to sneak off without paying.’ He smiled.
    His eyes were sky-bright, even in the
     low light. Oh, God. Stephen. Client. Sleep. Silly, silly me. ‘I’m so
     sorry,’ I
began, my face and neck
     staining red. ‘I must have drifted off while you got dressed.’ I hauled
     myself up to a sitting position, my heart still racing. Stephen sat down next to me.
     ‘No, no, take a rest,’ he said, as I tried to get up. My legs were still
     limp with shock so I did as I was told.
    ‘Really, no need to
     apologize.’ Stephen folded some crisp banknotes in his hand, watching me. His
     face was kindly, amused, almost tender, still marked by the massage table’s
     face hole. ‘You looked very sweet and peaceful there. Not to mention
     completely shattered.’
    ‘I am shattered.’ I
     didn’t have the energy to lie.
    ‘Long day?’
    I nodded. He sounded so sympathetic that
     I somehow forgot about my normal client boundaries. ‘Very long day. It’s
     lovely work, but it’s very physical.’
    ‘Yes, I’d imagine. You guys
     must have to do all sorts of exercise to stay strong.’
    ‘I don’t really have time
     for exercise,’ I said. ‘Or to eat well! I used to cook everything from
     scratch.’
    I cleared my throat and tried to
     straighten up a bit but there was something hypnotic about the sofa, the low light
     and that surprisingly compassionate man. Normally my conversations with clients were
     one-way affairs: long monologues about them and their problems punctuated by
     sympathetic comments from my corner. And I quite liked that. I enjoyed the focus
     being on someone else. Here, though, was someone who wanted to turn the lamp of
     kindness on me.
    ‘It seems a shame,’ Stephen
     offered, ‘that someone who wants to help others doesn’t have enough time
     to help herself.’
    I’d never
     thought about that. He was right.
    ‘Maybe instead of having my next
     massage I’ll send you off for some yoga and an early night, and pay you
     anyway.’
    I smiled tiredly. ‘In all honesty
     I think I’d die if I tried to do yoga, these days! I’m so unfit … But
     it’s a nice idea.’
    ‘I know how you feel,’ he
     said, surprising me again. ‘I kind of don’t really allow myself to stop
     because if I did I think I’d be so broken I’d never start
     again.’
    I looked at him, at those twinkling
     eyes. Now he came to mention it, I could see the tiredness in them. And a warmth I
     didn’t expect from his sort. ‘You said it’s all self-imposed,
     though,’ I said, after a pause.
    Stephen yawned and