Silent, The Girlfriend (1)

Two Years Ago, Gavin

Someone was knocking on my door again.  'Gavin? Can you open the door, please? I need to talk to you.'  

'Go away, Philippa.'

'I'm so sorry about earlier. Aidan and I aren't going out.  Aidan always gets the wrong impression and thinks girls are interested in him when they're not. He has serious issues. Please open the door.  I need to talk to you.'  She sounded just like Lucy a few minutes earlier.

Eventually, the door knocking got too much, so I jumped out of bed and answered. 'I nearly got battered because of you,' I said, barely able to control the rage in my voice.

Philippa seemed startled. 'What happened?'

'You must have said something to Steve about his family.  He was going to jump me in the field.'

'I didn't say a word about his family.  Honest. He's paranoid.'

'Whatever.  I'm off in the morning. What do you want?'

'Aidan's really scaring me.  He's back at the B & B.'

'So?'

'He's been texting me and threatening to do something stupid.'

'Not my problem.'  

'Can I come in?'

'Nah, I've had enough of this.'

'Just to sit quietly?  Please?  I'll switch off my phone.'

'Not interested. I'm leaving first thing tomorrow.'

'Don't, there's no need to.  Aidan isn't my boyfriend. He never was. He's a friend from college, that's all. Most of the time, he's really easy to get on with, but he gets moods swings.  Look, can I come in? Just for a few minutes?'

So I let her in.

***
In the morning, I woke to find Philippa in my bed, skin unusually pale without the makeup, long black hair wild, covering most of her face. I lay on the floor, with one of my travel bags acting as a pillow.  Pretty uncomfortable.  I couldn't work out what had happened.  I shifted position, stretched my neck. Thought.

Of course…. Jace, Steve…the outpost building in the fields…the threats…Philippa knocking on my door about fifty minutes after Lucy had.  

Philippa in tears. We'd sat by each other on the floor in my room. She'd apologised. Kept on apologising and insisting that Aidan had never been her boyfriend.  For a while, neither of us had spoken, Philippa resting her head on my shoulder, just like Lucy had two nights earlier.  
She'd admitted being Lucy's half-sister, daughter of the murdered violin teacher and vice-principal Douglas Harlesden, and she'd asked me not to tell anyone about it.  I hadn't told her about Lucy applying for a job here. It didn't seem right.

Later, Philippa had talked about the time she'd nicked a car as part of a dare, nearly crashing into an old man by accident, then accepting Aidan's offer of lying to the police. Yeah, pretty terrible, but for some reason, I'd burst out laughing when she'd told me about it.  Laughed so much that I'd thought I'd pass out.

The first kiss had followed.

Things had progressed from there.  Me and Philippa.  Exactly what I'd wanted.
Afterwards, I'd offered to sleep on the floor because the bed was too small for two people side by side.  

I sat up. It was about seven thirty in the morning. Little sleep.

No! I thought, we didn't use anything.  Suddenly, I had visions of the phone ringing in a couple of months or so and Philippa announcing that she was pregnant. How would I cope with a baby?  I wouldn't.  And what would my parents say?  They'd go mad. And then, I just didn't care anymore. I should stop worrying and be happy that Philippa and I had finally got together. Getting the train back to London no longer seemed like a good idea. As long as I stayed close to people at all times, I needn't worry about Jace and Steve.