Free Written in the Scars (The Estate Series Book 4) by Mel Sherratt Page B

up.’
    ‘Was he arrested?’ Derek turned his face so that he could see hers but she gently pushed his shoulders down and continued to massage his back.
    ‘The police took him away,’ she told him. ‘We weren’t sure what happened to him because we flew home a few days later. But I hope he got what he deserved.’
    Keera sighed. She didn’t blame Marley for wanting to go home. In actual fact it had creeped her out just as much and she was glad when Marley had suggested it. She didn’t want to live in fear of being attacked next and she certainly wouldn’t have stayed there on her own.
     ‘Even coming back here was better than staying there,’ she continued. ‘Marley’s parents live in Manchester now, so we can’t see each other much at the moment. Still, we text and call each other – and we chat over Skype.’
    Keera missed Marley as much as Ibiza: the camaraderie in the bar, dozing in the shade of an umbrella on the beach while they caught up with their sleep after working until three a.m. every night, chilling out with a group of friends they’d made who worked the bars too, always around for happy hour before starting over in the bar, the music blasting out enough to make their ears ring. If it weren’t for what happened, she would go back tomorrow.
    ‘Don’t you have any other friends? I’m sure a young girl such as yourself must have lots of them.’
    ‘Yes. There’s a group of us who meet in the local pub, but it’s not the same without Marley. I feel like I’ve lost my shadow.’
    ‘And now you’re working here!’ Derek’s tone was singsong.
    ‘Don’t say it like that!’ Keera slapped him playfully on his shoulder. ‘A friend told me there were jobs going. And before you say it, I’m not naïve. I know what some of the girls get up to but I have my limits.’
    ‘And so you should.’
    Keera stopped for a moment. She couldn’t believe how much she had opened up to Derek. She wasn’t usually that forward. He obviously had a comforting affect on her. She wouldn’t talk to any old client!
    ‘Blimey,’ Keera grinned. ‘I thought I was supposed to listen to your problems, not the other way around.’
    ‘I like that you find me so easy to talk to.’ Derek smiled as he sat up. He stretched his arms to the ceiling before stepping off the bed.
    Even long after Derek had gone, Keera couldn’t stop thinking of their conversation. She could get off the estate if she wanted to but she hadn’t got the qualifications needed to get anything more than a menial job.
    Keera knew she wasn’t like a lot of the women who lived on the estate though, always scrounging off the social or getting by on knock-off stuff from the bloke they were shacked up with at the time. She’d wanted to earn her keep since she’d left school. It was one thing her mum had instilled in her after her dad had left. The need to provide for herself, to never rely on anyone else.
    When Derek had asked her what she fancied doing, she couldn’t answer, because she hadn’t got a clue. And that had upset her. She didn’t want to be one of the people who went through life without a purpose, like her mum. Life was too short to be running around after everyone the way she did.
    And, unlike her brother, Keera wanted to work to pay her way. She wanted money in her pocket, a decent flat, nice clothes, and good holidays.
    She wanted a future, something to look forward to – but she wasn’t going to get that around here, now was she?
     

 
    Chapter Twelve
     
    Megan was pleased to see that Sam was still on her rounds when she went into work the next morning. He’d been moved to number seventeen, one of the more recently refurbished wards. It still had that sense of newness about it and was a pleasant place to be, rather than having the old feel of ward twelve.
    Most things were fresh and shiny, as if not used before. There were only a few scuffmarks on the painted cream walls, the curtains decorated with retro patterns,