Playing in Shadow by Lesley Davis Read Free Book Online

Five

    Bryce sat alone in her apartment. The TV was on, but whatever show was playing held none of her attention. She was tired, physically and mentally, but was fighting the urge to sleep. She looked at the clock on the wall. It was three o’clock in the morning. She groaned and contemplated reaching for another energy drink, but instead she picked up her beer can and drank what remained in two gulps. She hadn’t slept properly since the accident. At first, it was the excruciating pain, then it was the nightmares, and then it was the guilt.
    Bryce threw her can in the already full waste paper basket and changed the channel. She was searching for something, anything, to take her mind off the million things running around in it. Endless reruns of police shows flashed on the screen before her. If it wasn’t those it was hospital dramas, shows filled with death and dying. She turned to the Food Channel and breathed a sigh of relief. She watched as a man set to making a meal she would never think of eating, but the mindlessness of the subject matter calmed her brain. She dozed intermittently to the sound of his voice droning on about cuts of meat. All the lights were on in her home, there was noise from the TV, and someone talking at her.
    Not for the first time she wondered how Scarlet’s nursery ideas had gone over. She was curious as to what Scarlet could do. She was curious about Scarlet period. Scarlet’s hair was the most amazing red she had ever seen. A vibrant red shot through with flecks of gold.
    She recalled her mentioning she was a Goth. She didn’t appear to be pierced or tattooed to excess, but Bryce was sometimes a little put off by the clothing she knew some Goths wore. Black was all very well, but Bryce had been too close to death to find its symbolism comforting. She wondered what drew someone as pretty as Scarlet to something Bryce saw as dark and macabre. Her eyes drifted closed on a memory of Scarlet sitting beside her in the sunshine, her eyes bright, and her smile captivating. Bryce knew she shouldn’t be drawn to her, but there was something very appealing about Scarlet Tweedy.
    Bryce’s shoulder cramped, and the violent pain wrenched her out of the light sleep she had fallen into. She scrambled for her painkillers and rammed them in her mouth, chasing them down with a mouthful of yet another energy drink that didn’t live up to its promises. All the while she berated herself that no one would ever be interested in her now. Not when she bore the scars of what had happened to her both inside and out.
    The pain receded to a dull roar, leaving her nauseous and shaking. Bryce resigned herself to the fact that sleep would have to elude her for yet another night. She found no peace in it anyway, no matter how much she craved it.

    *

    Scarlet’s camera was never far from her side. She’d taken to bringing one of her less professional rigs with her to work just in case she saw something she wanted to record. Like yesterday, Gregor had taken a break from his own work to go sit and flirt with Juliet. He had been helping her un-pot flowers to be planted in the garden Monica was preparing. He looked like a gruff old grizzly bear sitting beside the more fragile Juliet, but Scarlet had caught them in a moment where Juliet had held up a flower for him to get the scent of. Every time Scarlet looked at it, it made her smile. The look on his face was tender for such a gruff old man. She aimed on putting it in a frame for him as a Christmas present; she knew his wife would love it. She’d considered doing the same for all the guys she worked with. She lowered her camera for a moment and watched Bryce cut across the driveway to get something out of the work van. Now there’s someone I can’t take enough shots of, Scarlet thought ruefully, but I just can’t seem to capture her completely . Scarlet had asked if Bryce would mind helping her do the nursery and Bryce had easily agreed. She had been surprised by how