Watched: When Road Rage Follows You Home Read Online Free PDF

finished getting the rest of the house the way she wanted it, she would turn her attention to this room. It was tolerable but it wasn’t theirs.
    The hallway and stairs weren’t too bad, with plain walls that they could live with, though the shabby red carpet had so many holes that the floorboards were visible underneath.
    The kitchen was functional but outdated, with crusty linoleum, slightly dirty cupboard doors and steam marks on the ceiling. The worktops had unmoving stains from years of someone cutting and chopping on them. Because they were able to use it, Esther and Charlie had agreed to leave it as it was for the time being while they focused on doing up the rest of the house.
    Esther had insisted the previous evening that she wanted to be awake before he left but finally seemed to be sleeping when Charlie had got up. He figured he would return the favour from the previous evening and make her something for breakfast as she dozed. After popping four slices of bread into the toaster, Charlie filled up the coffee machine and set it running. He dragged a stool into the centre of the room and sat with his eyes closed, listening to the clicks and pops of the water working its way around the machine.
    ‘Morning!’
    Charlie jolted awake at the sound of his wife’s voice, realising he had somehow dozed off without falling from the stool. Esther had her back to him, pouring coffee, apparently unaware he had been sleeping.
    ‘Hi. How are you feeling?’ he asked, trying to mask the tiredness in his voice.
    Esther took a mug from the cabinet underneath the coffee machine and began filling it up. ‘Not bad. I slept all right in the end.’
    The kitchen clock read a little after six, with Charlie grateful he still had time to eat and get changed before he had to leave. He stood and slipped in behind Esther, placing his hands on her hips and squeezing her. ‘The toast’s for you if you want it.’
    She reached out and touched the bread. ‘It’s cold.’ Charlie was about to reply before she plucked the first slice out and nibbled the corner. ‘Never mind, it’s good like that.’
    ‘You look nice.’
    Esther giggled, relaxing the back of her head into his shoulder. ‘Charmer.’
    She took another bite – at least she was eating.
    ‘What have you got on at work today?’ Esther asked.
    ‘The priority is sorting out the kitchen. I can’t afford to have that closed, so I’ve got a guy coming in to advise on best practices. Are you papering the spare room?’
    ‘Hopefully.’
    Esther had finished half of the slice but dropped it back into the toaster slot and turned, hugging herself into Charlie. ‘What time will you be home?’
    ‘Probably about six.’
    ‘Will you call or send me a message if you’re going to be late?’
    It was the first time she had ever asked him anything like that.
    ‘If you want…’ Charlie paused, stroking her hair. ‘…Are you sure you’re all right here on your own?’
    ‘Something happened yesterday…’ Charlie felt a tingle along his spine as Esther folded herself into him, pressing her head into his breastbone. Her arms were rigid, her body tense. ‘I got a little lost on the way to B&Q and ended up in the wrong lane. I was indicating but no-one would let me in. I thought there was a gap but this car came roaring up outside of me. There was this guy with a baseball cap who was shouting and swearing, then he was flashing his lights and beeping his horn. I didn’t know what to do but he followed me into the car park. He was driving in a circle around me, pointing his finger and shouting. I was hoping someone would come out of the shop and disturb him but in the end he just drove off.’
    Charlie cradled her head, taking a breath and calming himself. The tingle had turned into a chill that had taken hold of his body but he didn’t want to let on how angry he was. The idea of someone bullying Esther was almost too much to take. He wasn’t the overbearing type to think of