Silent - The Girlfriend (2)

Two Years Ago, Gavin

I suppose I should have paid more attention to the signs around me, for Philippa seemed flustered and in a hurry to leave when she woke, like she couldn't wait to get away.  And later, when I headed to the communal bathroom, I caught sight of the mentor Dawn staring at me with such hostility, it scared me. That was the first time I'd seen her since the party on Sunday evening and I knew I'd really hurt her.

Breakfast. Pretty quiet.  No sign of Philippa, Aidan, Dawn. No sign of the blonde waitress, Lucy Harlesden.  No hot plate. Just Paul, the grinning boy and girl from the private college in Hertfordshire and few of the master class students, munching toast.  I grabbed a couple of slices of toast with butter and jam, a cup of strong black coffee, and took a seat by Paul. I hadn't spoken to him since the party, when he and Dawn had teamed up to keep an eye on me, shortly before Dawn had let slip that Terence had asked her to watch Philippa carefully.  

'Isn't there any cooked breakfast?'

'No,' he said, continuing to munch toast. 'One of the kitchen girls went wild last night and started smashing everywhere up. And the other girl got sacked for being drunk on duty. They've had to ring round agencies for a couple of replacements, so there's no hot meals till tomorrow.'

'Right,' I looked around.  I couldn't see broken equipment. 'Which girl freaked out?'

'The one with the spiky blonde hair.'

I recognised the description straight away. Lucy Harlesden. 'What happened?'

'I heard she went crazy in Agnes Harlesden's bungalow round the back last night and the police had to come and take her away. She's in hospital.'

'Hospital?'  Like, isn't that a bit extreme. 'What hospital?'

'I don't know,' Paul said.

'That's bad,' I said, more to myself than anyone else. 'She's only seventeen.'

'Do you know her then?' Paul said.  

'We got talking once or twice. I thought she was really nice.'

Paul gave me this long, hard stare, as if to say: Philippa, Dawn, this girl.

'I didn't hear any police sirens last night,' I said to break the uncomfortable pause.

'I didn't either.'

'Are you sure about it?'

'What is this?' Paul said, a touch of irritation in his voice. 'A thousand and one questions? Veronica who works here came in and told us about it a few minutes ago.'

I ate half a slice of toast and pushed aside the rest. Couldn't believe the news. Poor girl, taken away by the police.  All that stuff she'd kept coming out with about her parents dying in the fire, Arthur Harlesden lying to her, and the old lady Agnes Harlesden creeping into her room to move things to frighten her. She must have imagined it.

'Wish me luck,' Paul was saying.  'Agnes is taking the morning sessions again, and I'm on.'

'What're you playing?'

'The Beethoven Opus 110.'

'Isn't that one of the later ones? Sort of spooky and ghostlike and really difficult to memorise?'

'Yeah. The memory's tricky on the last movement.'

'Beethoven wrote it when he was deaf or something?'

'You've played it?'

'I prefer mid Beethoven.'

'You haven't lived, mate. Seriously, you should get the score and have a go. It's not that hard, technically.'

'Yeah, I may do one day.  You're not driving to the theatre this morning, are you?'

'I might be.'

'If you are, I could do with a lift.'

'I've already promised to give lifts.  It's not a good idea…' He lowered his voice. 'I don't want to take sides, but you've got to sort that other stuff out. I've already offered to drive Dawn there. Ring for a taxi. It's cheap. I'll drop you back if I can.'  He got up to go and put his dish and mug on the tray behind the canteen hatch. On the way out, he whispered, 'Do the right thing, mate, and apologise to Dawn. You've really, really upset her.'  

***
I'd hurt Dawn. Really hurt her. I already knew that, but hearing it from Paul made it worse.
I continued drinking my coffee alone in the breakfast room, going through a list.

Dawn.  Philippa. Steve. Jace. A girl with spiky blonde hair. Arthur Harlesden chasing after the girl. I'd arrived less than four days ago to study classical piano performance.  
Since then, the girl who claimed to be Lucy Harlesden had gone crazy, started smashing things up and ended up in hospital.

Philippa had claimed to be Lucy's half-sister.

Philippa and I had made love, but I couldn't find her now.

Her friend Aidan was still around, but I didn't know where.

I had to get to the master classes, but I didn't want to walk there in case I bumped into Jace's mate Steve who'd nearly beaten me up last night.

All in less than four days.

I was part of the way through a text to Philippa when a hand clamped down hard on my shoulder, and I thought I was about to die from fright.  A face moved closer to mine.  A grin, unmistakably like Steve's.  

'I'll give you a lift,' his father Terence Harlesden said, dressed in a dark suit. 'You don't want to be late.'

'I'll be okay with a cab. I'm waiting for someone.'

'No arguments, mate. You missed yesterday's classes, so I'm going to drive you there today.'

Meekly, I followed him to his car in the Reserved For Staff space and got in. He started up the engine.

'I know all about your arrest last year,' he said, turning left out of the private driveway and onto the country lane, close to the fields where Steve had tried to jump me last night. 'The thing is, everyone makes mistakes. You were asked to deliver a package and you did it. You got nothing in return. Apart from respect. You obeyed an order, right?  These people were your family, yes? Your own family didn't understand you. Maybe they still don't.'

'Look, how do you know all this?'

'The whole concert world knows about you. You studied with a very famous Russian lady who happens to know Agnes very well. There were agents practically begging for your parent's number, because they knew you'd make them rich one day with your playing. Of course you're nearly an adult now and I can introduce you to an agent who will take your far more seriously than your previous ones. You see, I know you're pretty sound and mature whereas those idiots in the business are just out to make you into a puppet. I can help you get back on stage but on your own terms this time. You've got a phenomenal talent, Gavin.  Give it some proper thought. You don't want to waste these precious years.'

'Sure.'

Terence continued driving.  I stared down at my trainers. This was getting too personal. I didn't like all this man-to-man talk.

'What's with you and the girl?' Terence said, approaching the high street.

'Which girl?' I said.

'More than one girl then? Sounds like you're having a lot of fun.'

'No,' I said, stuttering again. 'It's just…nothing…I…'

'Have you had sex with her yet?'

'What?'  Shall I open the passenger door and jump out?

'Sex, Gavin?  Do I need to spell it out?  Philippa.  You're a young man, she's a young woman. Young people have sex all the time. Between you and me, I've slept with more than three hundred women. First had sex when I was sixteen, the same age you must have been when you got into trouble in London.' Terence gave me this evil grin. 'Of course, Philippa's not who she claims to be.'

'So who is she then?'

'A nasty piece of work who's causing a lot of heartache for Agnes, Brendon and my father. Someone who's laughing at you behind your back, mate. That's who. My advice, go and find another girl. Philippa's just using you.'

'Nah, no way. You're making this up. I don't appreciate it.'

'Gavin, I'm on your side.'

'I don't want to hear any more. '

'You need to.'

'Who are you? What's it to you, anyway?'

'It means a lot to me, actually,' Terence said, turning into the car park by the pier.

You're weird, I wanted to say.

'You made a mess of things when you got involved with the gang in London.  Fine. You got a nasty shock, you turned your life around and we're all very proud of you for that. What I'm trying to do now, is stop you from making another big mistake. You've got to stay away from Philippa. Once she's taken everything you have, she'll move on to the next guy and leave you to wallow in despair.'

'If my arrest's going to be an issue, then I'm happy to return to London now.'

'It's not an issue at all, mate. You won a scholarship here, you're entitled to stay. We're all very proud of you, like I said, and none of us want to see you ruin your life.'  He brought the car to a halt.  'We'd better hurry. Think about what I've said. That girl will destroy you if you let her.'