Silent - Samantha

By the time I return to The Factory, the hall lights have come back on. I find Mel by the lift, fiddling with a fuse box, but there's no sign of Robert. I'm about to ask why Robert's upstairs on his own when Mel hears my footsteps, turns round and smiles. I nearly take a step back. The woman isn't Mel, just someone who resembles her, more in height than anything else. The girl, about my sister's age, maybe younger, has long dark brown hair and wears a blue top and pair of tight jeans. She has no shoes on. I would imagine she must be freezing.

'Hi there. You're new, aren't you?' She introduces herself as Samantha from upstairs.

'Hi,' I say. 'Alan. Do the lights often go out?'

'Occasionally they do. All depends. If it happens again and you're in on your own, you've only got to adjust the switch on the right. Here, like this.' She shows me.
           
'Well, thanks for the tip, Samantha.'

'You're welcome.' She speaks with a strong northern accent. More Yorkshire than Lancashire. 'You're friends with the girl upstairs, aren't you?' Samantha hesitates on the word friends, as if she isn't entirely sure of my relationship with Mel. Understandable. I'm tall, Mel isn't. I have sandy hair, like my mother did. Mel has dark hair, like Robert, and takes after our father.
           
'I'm her brother and we're staying on the top floor temporarily. That's me and Robert. My son. He's eight.'
           
'Oh, how great. The views from the top of this place are fantastic.'
           
'Yeah. Do you know my sister?'
           
Samantha nods, and again I find the superficial resemblance to Mel disquieting – a bit ghostlike.  'In passing. My flat's on the floor under yours. Your sister and I sometimes meet in the car park or in the lift, usually on the way to work. I teach English Lit to sixth formers. Busy life.' Samantha glances at her watch. 'Remember, it's the switch on the right if the lights go out again. Till next time then.' She hurries away up the stairs, bare feet tapping lightly on the metal.