Free Bloodstream by Luca Veste Page B

willing to speak to me. I’d say she was excited. Meeting me on breaks and discussing whatever book she was reading at the time, or the state of politics in the country, the latest news in the world. She was from over the water, so we would talk about the differences between the loudmouth, Boris Johnson-wannabe Mayor of Liverpool and the invisible Wirral mayor. I pretended to listen and be the normal person. I really tried to do things the “right” way.’
    He shook his head at his own stupidity. Slammed a closed fist onto the window ledge, causing flakes of paint to drift to the floor. ‘I tried being direct this time. I didn’t flirt, I was much less subtle. So stupid of me.’
    He turned back to Number Four. She was still slumped against the radiator, her shoulders juddering up and down. He moved across the room to her, his bare feet feeling the cold from the floorboards.
    ‘She had someone. His name was Stuart. Twenty-eight years old, worked in an accountancy firm. He’d proposed a year earlier. She didn’t wear the ring to work as she was worried about losing it. Her parents loved him, thought he was a good guy.’
    The pulsing in his head was growing as he spoke. His palms glistened with sweat as he imagined this Stuart and the things he and Jane had done together. He placed his hand on Number Four’s arm, squeezing it slightly, so he could remember she was still real.
    ‘Yet another barricade put down between me and happiness. What could he have that I didn’t? They’ll think Stuart and Jane were the first. When they start putting things together. But, we know that’s not the truth, don’t we? We know this didn’t start with them. Or those stupid
celebrities.
’
    He breathed deeply, once, closing his eyes, and he caught her scent. It was still there, faint now, battling with the sweat and tears which emanated from her more often now. He had bought the perfume she wore, spraying her down once a day, but it was already running out.
    ‘I became obsessed with this Stuart’s life. I wanted to know why he had Number Three and I couldn’t. All these questions running through my mind. I wanted his life to end and become my own. You know what I learned though. Stuart wasn’t Stuart. What was known wasn’t real.’
    He hesitated before speaking into the silence once more. He knew that he hadn’t told Number Four everything. He found it hard to admit to himself, but he had also wanted to destroy Number Three and her
Stuart.
To put them in the same situation he was in. Alone, no one to care for him.
    ‘You became Number Four after that. That’s when I knew I had to start from the beginning. Break you down and make you mine. To show you what real love was. I’d watched you for a long time. Your age put me off. I didn’t think you’d be interested in me. But, the heart wants what the heart wants.’ He smiled at her, as she opened her eyes and glanced at him. She averted her gaze so he took a fistful of her hair in his hand and pulled her closer to him.
    ‘That’s what you’ll be, isn’t it? When I’ve shown you everything I can do for you. To prove that our love is different. That it will be different. You’ll be mine, forever.’
    His dad used to say they were all the same. One woman was no different to any other. Drummed into him, the same things over and over. Keeping him up late just so he had some company as he drank and shouted at mute images on the television.
    He was going to prove him wrong.
    He let go of Number Four, ignoring the muffled cry which came back at him as he stood. ‘My first instinct was to tell Jane, but it wouldn’t have helped. She wouldn’t run to me for care and protection. It just makes them angry and resentful towards me for opening their eyes to the truth. I become as much to blame as the bloke, as if I am somehow complicit in the betrayal.’
    He blinked and looked down at Number Four, imagining a time when she wouldn’t cower from him. When she would be glad to