Persona (The 'Professional' series) by Ceri Bladen

to the door,
unsurprised that it was open.  The security guard had mentioned that the
carpenter was there fixing some doors.  She could hear the scraping of
wood tools. 
    Ella came
through the door and made her way straight to her bedroom to dispose of her
smaller bags, leaving the heavy suitcase by the door.  Perhaps Eric or
Daniel would help her with it after?
    “I’m just
finishing up here.  Just a quick tidy and I will be out of both your
ways,” smiled the carpenter.
    Ella smiled
back; surely he was too young to be a carpenter?  Suddenly, Ella felt old. 
She laughed, she was only twenty five, not old at all.  She placed her
bags on the bed and suddenly realised what the carpenter had said, both your
ways.   Perhaps Daniel was back?  Her heart slammed into her
ribs.  She placed a hand on her stomach to calm the fluttering and walked
back into the sitting room.
    “Sorry, I
missed you when you came in.  I was in the kitchen fixing a coffee for
myself and the carpenter.  Would you like one?”
    Ella was
stunned as she watched Lindsey, the secretary from Daniel’s agency, walk over
to the carpenter and give him a cup of coffee.  Confused, Ella enquired,
“Is Daniel here with you?”
    Lindsey
turned, “No, just me.  I had to come over with some contracts for him to
sign and the carpenter kindly let me in.”  She smiled a sugary sweet smile
at him, which looked a lot like an attempt at flirting to Ella.
    Ella
relaxed.  It most probably wasn’t unusual for her to come around. 
“It’s okay, I’ll get myself a cup now as you have made some.  I’ll be back
in a sec.  Take a seat, Daniel shouldn’t be long.”  She called from
the kitchen, while pouring the aromatic Arabica coffee into a cup.  It
smelled delicious.
    When she
returned to sit with Lindsey, the carpenter had just finished tidying and had
already finished his coffee.  Ella thought he must have a mouth like
asbestos not to scold it on the hot coffee.  She sipped hers, her hands
wrapped around the mug tightly, for some reason she couldn’t name, she felt
chilled to her bones.
    After the
carpenter had left and the small talk had all but run out, Ella noticed that
Lindsey was becoming agitated.  Perhaps she had other things to do rather
than sit around waiting for Daniel.  “You can leave those contracts here,
if you want.  Daniel can return them tomorrow.”
    Ella noticed
the twitchy reflex on Lindsey’s face, her hazel eyes becoming troubled. 
“No, I need to give them to Daniel.  I need to see him.”
    “Fine.” 
Something was troubling Lindsey and making her uptight.  “Daniel shouldn’t
be too long.  Would you mind if I went and changed into something a little
more comfortable?  I have had a long drive back and would like to relax in
more appropriate clothes.”
    The
disturbed look that was on Lindsey’s face seemed to disappear and a smile
appeared on her thin lips instead. “No, take your time.  I’ll refill my
coffee.”
    Ella was
glad to get out of the room.  You could have cut the tension with a
knife.  What was wrong with that woman?  Was she shy or just
strange?  Oh well, Ella reasoned that she did not have to meet her again
once her job was done.  She sat on the chair, which was facing the bed, to
take her shoes off.
    She heard
crashing, something had broken, then Lindsey’s voice shouted, “Don’t worry I
have just knocked over a lamp.  I will sort it.”
    Ella
shrugged.  After she changed she would go and see what happened.  She
bent down to massage her toes.
    The
carpenter had done a good job, he had taken enough off the bottom of the door
that it no longer caught the carpet pile.  It no longer made a noise
either when the door was opened.
    Ella felt a
horrendous pain on the back of her head, and then drifted into the waiting
blackness.

Chapter
20
    Daniel was
smiling to himself, he was in high spirits.  He was going home early
because he knew that Ella would be back.  He knew he