Free Sleep Peacefully by NC Marshall Page B

look out of the window and see me. I jog back
to the intercom, moving my face into the camera’s shot so that Matt can see me.
    “Hi
Matt,” I say, stamping a foot to the ground, angry with myself and already
regretting this.
    “Natalie.
Hi, this is a surprise! Come on up.” He sounds genuinely shocked that I’m here.
I push the door as he buzzes me in and I head to the lift, to get to the top
floor where his apartment is situated.
    Matt
greets me affectionately as I walk to the front door of my sister’s old home.
He invites me in, politely taking my coat and asking if I would like anything
to drink as I follow him through to the open plan living area. I fake a smile,
nodding.
    “A
cup of tea would be good,” I reply quietly, not able to raise my head to look
him fully in the eyes.
    He’s
dressed in black jogging bottoms and a white T-shirt. I steal a quick glance at
his face. It reveals a thick layer of sweat lining his forehead, which makes me
assume he’s just returned from his daily jog.
    I
head over to the sofa, perching myself timidly on the edge of it. Matt hurries
off to get me a drink as I glance around. I am quite shocked to see that the
place looks exactly as I remember. Nothing has been changed since the last time
I was here before Jess died. The small apartment is still very tidy,
considering Matt is living here without a woman to keep a handle on things.
    Not
that Jess was the neatest of girls, the apartment was always a little
cluttered; she hardly ever put anything back into the place that it had
originally belonged. “Life is too short to be always tidying up, Nat,” she
would say whenever she had visited my house and observed my almost fanatical
need to be clutter free as I tidied around her. Sadly, in her case, she hadn't
been wrong.
    The
apartment is very contemporary looking in both style and decor. Although it is
quite small, it has an excellent location, in close proximity to the city
centre. It’s still decorated as it had been since Jess and Matt had moved in
three years ago, with stark white walls, black and red furnishings, and a pure
white sofa. There is still a photo of them from their wedding day sitting on
the modern electric fireplace’s surround. Another of Josh and Liam—Ryan and
Lola’s son—rests on the window sill. Matt’s acoustic guitar is propped on a
stand in the corner. He used to be quite good, if I remember correctly. I
briefly wonder if he has kept on partaking in his passion for writing his own
songs.
    I
feel as though Jess should be bursting through the door at any moment. The
feeling makes me uncomfortable and a little jittery. It’s almost as though I
can feel her presence around me. I’m sure I can still smell her perfume
lingering on the sofa scatter cushions. The almost overpowering, sweet and
fruity fragrance is impressed so thickly in my mind.
    Although
I’d been here many times in the past, the last time I had visited had not been
long before Jess’s death. It brings back memories I would rather forget.
     
    Jess
had called me, and was in a bad state. Even though it was only late afternoon,
I could tell she had been drinking and was well on her way to being drunk. She
sounded depressed and said it was because she had a crappy day. She was crying
softly, and I couldn’t calm her over the phone. Although this was getting to be
a regular thing of late, I always seemed to jump at her command. I couldn’t be
angry, I knew she was going through a tough time at the moment and needed all
the support she could get. Matt had still been at work, so I knew she was alone
and I didn’t like the idea of her being so upset with no one there to comfort
her.
    I
decided to go and see her, to ensure she was okay. I knew I wouldn’t settle
until I had. I remember Dan had been annoyed with me about going to see her
that afternoon. He felt like she was taking advantage of me and thought that I
was too soft when it came to Jess. In reality, Dan wasn’t Jess’s