A Day in Bridgend

I slowly drifted into consciousness and opened my eyes. I felt a little groggy after my incredibly long sleep. I stretched luxuriously in the massive bed and rolled from my back onto my side again. Matt was still lying beside me, facing me and he was still sound asleep with Gus lying near his face. They were breathing in sync so every time Gus breathed in his belly rose, his fur going up Matt’s nose slightly, tickling him, making Matt frown and snort a little which in turn made Gus twitch in his sleep.

I smiled and watched them for a while, an amused expression on my face. Until I felt a sudden twang of hunger, followed immediately by my belly grumbling loudly and an intense desperation to pee. I groaned, realising I hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning (now it was the evening after) and I hadn’t peed since just before I met BFMV.

I stumbled out of bed, being careful not to disturb Matt or Gus. As I was leaving I heard a small meow behind me. Gus was sitting up, staring at me questioningly. I put my finger to my lips, silencing him and stepped through the bedroom door. He leapt off the bed and trotted after me.

Just before I closed the door Gus darted in. I groaned again but didn’t bother shooing him out. He sat on the floor watching me as I finished up, glancing at the door nervously. There was no lock on it, which was really annoying, but then being a man living alone why would Matt need a lock? I washed my hands and went back to the living room, feeling refreshed. For a moment I considered going back to bed and looked into the bedroom to see Matt had rolled onto his front. I decided to stay up now though since I had had more than enough sleep.

My phone was lying on the coffee table. I picked it up and switched it on. “122 Missed Calls.” I smiled sadly. They were from different people, Emily, Hannah, Drew, my best friend Sam but most were from my family. ‘They must be so worried,’ I murmured aloud.

As I stared down at my phone it started vibrating again. I jumped and dropped it. “Home” it read on the screen. I desperately wanted to answer it but I knew I couldn’t. Hand of Blood slowly started up and I bent quickly, pressing the reject button before the music woke Matt. My eyes began to well up and a tear ran down my cheek. I wiped it away quickly and forced the tears and lump in my throat back. I checked the time on my phone to make sure the kitchen clock was right and turned the phone off in case my family rang me again.

I sighed sadly. Gus rubbed up against my leg reassuringly. I smiled and scooped him up, then rested my head against his. He meowed in my ear; I touched his nose with mine and put him down. I decided to make myself tea since I didn’t know where the cereal was kept and didn’t want to go rummaging in Matt’s cupboards. I filled the kettle, put it on, grabbed a mug and went to get the box of teabags. I carried it over to the kettle.

‘Morning.’

I gasped and dropped the box of teabags in fright. Matt stood in the living room, still in just his boxers. ‘Fuck me, Matt,’ I said, breathing heavily. I blushed when I realised what I had said. He raised his eyebrow, smirking and laughed at my expression. I smiled, still a little embarrassed, and picked up the fallen box. ‘Sorry, you scared me.’

‘Obviously,’ he said, still smirking.

‘Do you want one?’ I asked, already taking another mug.

‘Nah, I don’t usually drink much tea. I only drank it yesterday so you wouldn’t feel weird.’

‘Oh,’ I said putting the mug back.

He came over and stood beside me to watch me. I leant against the counter nervously as the kettle boiled. My eyes flickered to his boxers.

‘Do I make you nervous?’ he asked, smiling.

‘Slightly,’ I replied truthfully. I looked up at his face but my eyes couldn’t help but dart up and down his body.

‘I’ll go put something on,’ he said.

‘You don’t have to.’

‘I don’t want to make you feel uneasy.’ He went back to his room and returned fastening his trousers and still topless as I was pouring milk into the tea. ‘Are you hungry?’ he asked coming into the kitchen again.

‘Yes,’ I admitted.

‘Is an omelette okay?’

‘You don’t have to cook for me,’ I said quickly.

‘When was the last time you ate?’ I asked, stopping beside me.

‘Yesterday morning,’ I confessed, looking up at him.

‘Then I really do.’ He grabbed a frying pan and got to work on the eggs. ‘Sit down, I’ll bring this to you in a minute.’

I smiled at him shyly. ‘Thank you.’ I took my tea into the living area and sat on the sofa. While I waited I played with Gus and Phoebe. Matt came in a few minutes later, a plate in his hand, which held a massive omelette. He gave it to me then grabbed the T.V remote and sat down on the other sofa. As I ate we talked and randomly switched channels until we stopped on the Amityville Horror.

Half way through the film the adverts came on and we started talking again. During the ads the news came on but we ignored it until I heard my name. My head snapped up and I saw an image of myself with a group of friends from a day we had spent having the usual random fun.

‘…Lilly Flame has been missing since yesterday afternoon. Her friend Emily who has already spoken to local police last saw her in Bridgend, during a school trip. She says she is “very worried” about her friend. She claims that the last thing Lilly said to her was that she was “going for a walk and would be back before the bus left” and when she phoned her she replied that she would be there in five minutes. When she didn’t arrive and the bus left without her Emily phoned her again. When she did not answer Emily was at a complete loss as to what she should do but only spoke of Lilly’s disappearance when questioned by her school Principle. Lilly’s family have not seen her since yesterday morning and have been trying to get in contact with her since the school contacted them at 3:00pm the same day. If anyone has seen Lilly please contact your local police station.’

I stared at the screen in shock. Why am I on the news? I thought. I’m not important enough to be on the news…

‘Are you alright?’ Matt asked anxiously.

I mentally shook myself and turned to him. ‘Yeah, I’m fine. I just…didn’t expect this.’

‘I’m sorry we’re putting you through this,’ he said earnestly. I nodded and stood up to take my plate and mug to the sink.

For the remainder of the night we just sat around watching T.V (avoiding the news), talking, I listened as he played guitar and he made sure he fed me really well and the next night was spent in the same way. He only went out once each night and wasn’t gone very long, no more than an hour. Even though he didn’t say so and came back with food or some kind of human necessity I knew he was really going out to feed. While he was gone I amused myself by playing with Gus and Phoebe, trying my best to keep my mind off what I knew Matt was doing.

© Amber Williams 2008