Three Steps Behind You (32 page)

The landline phone rang, breaking the daydream. Kate sighed. She supposed she ought to answer it. She pulled herself off the sofa and made her way over the no man’s land of scattered plates and glasses to one of the handset docks and stretched out a hand, balancing precariously over the sofa. No handset met her grasp. Then, from the corner of her eye she saw the phone’s familiar red flashing spreading out from under a crumpled piece of kitchen roll and lunged to answer it. The answering machine picked up before she did. Holding the handset, she listened as the caller left a message, debating whether to interject. The message was from Neil’s mum, who lived in France. Kate would not pick up.

‘Hello, both of you – although it’s probably just Kate now. I thought I might catch Neil before he left. I must say I’d hoped to see more of him after the funeral – you didn’t need to take off with him quite so quickly.’ There was some noise in the background of the message. ‘Anyway, I must go now. Ask Neil to email me if you speak to him. Bye!’

Kate flung the phone across the floor.

‘Bloody woman!’ she cursed aloud. She could not believe the temerity of Neil’s mum to phone her up and criticise her at such a time. True, Kate didn’t have much of a benchmark, her own mum having left twenty years ago when Kate was eight, but she bet they weren’t all like this. As if it was Kate’s fault Neil was away! Kate took their wedding photo from the mantelpiece and clutched it to her chest. Four happy years ago. Or rather, happy four years ago. She remembered the final whispered conversations on the eve of the wedding, Neil reassuring her that absence made the heart grow fonder, that he wouldn’t always be at sea and that when they started a family, it would be different. She’d exchanged vows happy and excited, Neil in uniform, her in white, both in love. Now, a tear rolled down Kate’s cheek, followed by another one, until the wedding picture was in danger of saturation. She wished the world would stop, like the email had said. Whether she escaped into somebody else’s world or just vanished absolutely, she didn’t care. Anything but this.

In bed that night, exhausted from the latest fit of crying, Kate reflected on her lot. It was clear that something had to give – she could not return to her job as if nothing had happened. She needed time to repair herself, before Neil came back to rescue her. Her mind wandered back to the email of earlier that afternoon from the apparent researcher. She thought about the prospect of being in London again. She had studied there for three years at university, done her law exams there, and lived there with Neil for the first two years of their marriage. Then he’d suggested that it would make life easier if they moved to Portsmouth, where his ship was based. She refused at first, but Neil persuaded her with the promise of being able to see him on weekday evenings when he wasn’t away at sea. There was also the bonus that they were able to afford a sizeable house rather than a flat.

Nothing had prepared her for the boredom. In London, when Neil was away, she could take her pick of theatres, museums, cinemas or bars to go out to, with friends or alone. More than that, there was the buzz of living in the capital, its vibrancy and unlimited possibilities to explore. Portsmouth had none of this. Or if it did, she had not found it. It was fine during the week, when she was at work. At weekends, though, uneventful Saturdays would stretch out into drab Sundays, just filling in time until Monday came round again. And always against the backdrop of ships, historic or contemporary, their presence mocking her with Neil’s absence.

Kate pulled the covers over her head. Oh, to be back in London, she thought, stretching out her toes. She remembered the energy she had when she was there, and the enthusiasm, rather than this empty half-life. Maybe if she went back there again, just for a bit, and did all the things she used to do, or experimented with new ones, she could go back to her old self? Maybe she could just take a couple of weeks by herself in a hotel or a self-catered apartment? She shook her head. She needed a longer break. Lying in bed in the darkness, she saw a possible glimmer of her old vibrant self. The email inviting her to exchange her identity didn’t have to be the work of a scammer or a marketer. Maybe, just maybe, willed Kate, it was the chance she had been looking for.

Chapter 2

Kate sat staring at her mobile, biting her lower lip. Earlier that morning, she’d retrieved the ‘identity exchange’ email from trash. Her finger hovered over the phone number of ‘Anna’. It was just an initial enquiry, she told herself. She could always hang up if it seemed suspect, or even if it didn’t.

Kate pressed her finger down on the screen. There, it was done. Kate waited as the phone rang. She would give it one more ring she decided, then try again later. As she was about to hang up, there was an answer.

‘Hello, Anna Roberts speaking.’

Kate’s first impulse, which she only just managed to curb, was to put the phone down.

‘Hello?’ said the voice again, sounding wary.

‘Oh, hi,’ started Kate, clearing her throat. ‘I’m calling about the advert?’

‘Which advert?’ came the cold reply.

As I expected, thought Kate, her heart sinking – the email must be just one of many ads sent out by an agency.

‘Oh, sorry – the email about “Stop the world and get off” and the identity exchange,’ Kate clarified. Almost before she had finished speaking, the person at the other end cut in, this time in much warmer tones.

‘Of course! Sorry if I sounded abrupt – I get so many cold marketing calls, don’t you? I try to field them as best I can. And then of course I forget that now I’ve put out an advert myself the shoe’s on the other foot!’ A torrent of words came down the phone. Kate relaxed. This did not sound like the expert patter of a salesperson. Kate let her continue.

‘So I take it you’re interested, then?’ asked Anna.

‘Well, maybe, but I just wanted to get a bit more information, if I can? The ad didn’t really give that much away,’ replied Kate, reminding herself that she was in control.

‘Yeah, of course. I don’t want to be sending total strangers my ideas for my Ph.D.! I just wanted to get the right people to call.’

Kate laughed. ‘Well, here I am!’

‘And you’ve no idea how pleased I am about that. So – let me tell you all about it. The basic idea is that you live in my flat near Camden and take over my life there for three or four months. At the same time I would come and try to live your life, as you, wherever you are now. Work, hobbies, love-life, et cetera, et cetera – what’s mine is yours, and vice versa. I won’t bore you with the details of the thesis but broadly speaking it’s about the interrelation between property, pursuits and identity – blah, blah, blah. We can have a debrief at the end and see where we’ve got to. Then I get the hard work of actually writing it up!’ Anna paused at the end of this obviously rehearsed spiel to take a much-needed breath. ‘You do have a property to exchange, don’t you?’ she asked.

‘Yes, up in Northumberland – we’ve been living in Dad’s cottage up here but he’s, um, well, he’s just died.’ Kate’s voice tremored and there came a sympathetic murmuring on the other end of the line. Kate carried on, trying to keep her voice even. ‘We’ve got a house in Portsmouth but we’re renting that out as a monthly let at the moment. It’s a bit remote up here,’ she apologised. ‘It would be a far cry from London.’

‘Oh, don’t worry,’ reassured Anna. ‘I have been outside London, you know – I went to uni in Nottingham. The more remote it is the more I can really embrace the minutiae of what it is to be you. Your husband’s away at the moment then, is he?’

Kate frowned.

‘I don’t think I said I had a husband,’ she challenged.

There was a slight pause.

‘No, no, you didn’t. I confess: I’ve been doing a bit of digging on the Internet. All your social networking site profiles are public, so I had a look. Bit stalkerish, I know, but I wanted to make sure I only sent emails to people who might be worthwhile.’ Anna paused again.

Kate blushed. Of course, she should have realised that if this was a genuine project, Anna wouldn’t be picking names out of a phone book. Her friends had chastised her for not using online privacy settings properly. But nobody could steal her identity by just accessing her public thoughts, right?

‘Yes, my husband’s away,’ Kate acknowledged. ‘He’s in the Navy, as you may have gathered. He’s due to be gone for about three months. That’s partly why I’m thinking of doing this, to be honest.’

‘It must get a bit lonely?’ asked Anna.

‘Oh, you know, I get by. How about you? You mentioned swapping love-lives – I can’t quite see how that would work. Are you actually seeing anyone at the moment?’ queried Kate, adroitly turning the focus of questioning back to Anna. Four years of marriage had taught her she didn’t miss Neil any less by talking about it – and how to divert questions by friends, family and often passing acquaintances. Besides, she wanted to know about Anna’s romantic arrangements and the part she was expected to play – she didn’t want to stumble inadvertently into some kind of swingers’ club.

‘There was somebody. But it didn’t work out. It was a shame. I thought he was the one.’ Anna sounded wistful, but then caught herself and continued breezily. ‘Still, his loss really – sure he wouldn’t make that mistake again if he had the choice! There’s nothing doing at the moment, but I’m working on the internet dating so who knows, by the time we set this up you could be in business!’

Kate laughed, pleased the conversation had taken on a lighter tone again. ‘No worries – I’m a happily married woman!’

‘Of course you are. So let’s move on. What else do you want to know?’

Kate considered. She didn’t really seem to have learnt much beyond the thesis (which, frankly, sounded a bit thin, but that wasn’t her problem) and the flat in Camden.

‘You said you’re a Ph.D. student. Doesn’t that mean you’ve got students to teach? Surely I’m not expected to do that?’ she asked. If she was going to have to take on a job that required her to become postgraduate level in whatever social science it was that Anna specialised in, she might as well forget about this experiment now.

‘No, don’t worry,’ soothed Anna. ‘I’ve been allowed a special dispensation because of this project. I’m just doing some freelance proofreading to keep me in funds. You can easily fill in for me – I just get sent whatever they need me to work on, nothing specialist.’

Kate nodded to herself. She could do that. Years of study had made her a quick and precise reader. Besides, it sounded like a fair swap. ‘That sounds ideal,’ she said. ‘I’m a solicitor, but because of my dad being ill I’ve just been working up here on editing a book on commercial leases,’ she explained. Kate suddenly became conscious of what she was suggesting. The firm would be furious if they knew that she was contemplating handing over her responsibilities, not to mention their intellectual property, to a comparative stranger. And what if the firm wanted her to do other work, back in Portsmouth? She wasn’t sure she could stretch the book task out for three months. And even if she could, would Anna be able to do it? Thinking aloud, Kate added, ‘I say editing, but it’s mostly proofreading and sense-checking at this stage.’

‘That sounds manageable,’ Anna confirmed. ‘Look, I know the work side of things is a real concern for people, but don’t worry – we can sort that out.’

‘I’ve got professional duties, you know?’ Kate continued. ‘I wouldn’t be able to give you any client access or anything.’

‘Oh, of course, I wouldn’t think of it!’ Anna exclaimed. ‘The last thing I want to do is get anyone struck off! But it sounds like work isn’t top of your list of priorities at the moment – so do you think you can still pursue this?’

Kate chewed on her bottom lip. All the work concerns were very real. But she did not want to lose her chance on this swap by sounding as if she had gone cold.

As if reading her thoughts, Anna continued, ‘Of course, it would be a shame for me if you think you can’t do it – I’ve had a fair few other enquiries and I’m meeting people next week. I’m keen to get something finalised fairly quickly – I’m sure you understand.’

Kate quashed her concerns. ‘Who said I couldn’t do it?’ she countered. ‘Meeting up sounds like a great idea.’

‘Excellent!’ said Anna, sounding relieved. ‘I’m having one-to-one sessions with people at the flat – that way you get to see where you would be living. I’ll fill you in on other details face to face – like the drama class I’m enrolled in.’

‘That would be perfect, thanks,’ agreed Kate. An acting class sounded fantastic – it was a long time since she had done anything like that.

They agreed that Kate would come to Anna’s flat the following week, Kate’s first venture beyond the confines of Kielder for months. Anna insisted on paying the travel expenses and for a night in a local hotel.

‘OK, Kate – looking forward to meeting you next week!’ concluded Anna.

It sounded like this might actually happen, Kate thought as she put down the phone. She might actually live in London again, and get back to her old self! She had images of curling up on a stylish sofa in ‘her’ London flat, reading through an exciting new novel to proofread it before heading off to her acting class (or maybe to the theatre). True, Kate would have to appraise Anna carefully when they met to make sure she could actually trust her to take care of the house for three months, but on the basis of the call it seemed genuine enough. Even if she decided not to go for it, she still got a free night in a London hotel – there seemed to be nothing to lose.

It wasn’t until she was on the train to London that Kate realised that she hadn’t given Anna her name during the phone call the previous week. Anna clearly knew who she was – she had been talking about Kate’s husband on the call, and the social networking page. She thought she remembered Anna addressing her by name at the end of the call.

Kate puzzled over this. How had Anna known who she was when she hadn’t given her name? She went back over the call in her head again, frowning to herself. Then her brow cleared. It must have been her saying that she was living up in Northumberland. In the first few days when she went up there she remembered posting an entry on her site while her dad was asleep. Anna must have linked that as an identifying feature – if she had been targeting particular people she must have been familiar with their distinguishing characteristics. Slightly odd that Anna would have seen that profile entry as it was many months ago, but she was a Ph.D. student after all – readily available web records must present no challenge to her. There was nothing sinister about it.