COLE

I OPENED MY EYES TO find her standing in the doorway, looking in at me. “Where’s Zoe?” she asked.

“Gone,” I replied, sitting up straight. “At last.”

“You’re not back together then?”

“You sound surprised.”

“Well, I left you two here together last night. I just thought…”

“You thought wrong. She came here because she was drunk. I couldn’t throw her out until she’d sobered up so I let her sleep here and how did she repay me? By tearing a hole in my Monet.”

“Is that a euphemism?”

I smiled. “I wish it was, it would be cheaper to repair. And seeing as there was a gap on my wall I thought who better to fill it than an artist that I know.”

I pointed at the wall next to me and saw her face light up as she recognised her own painting up there. “You like it?” she asked, walking over to the painting and examining it closely. “You really like it?”

“I love it,” I replied. “The Monet might get relegated to one of the toilets.”

“Stop it!” she said but she was grinning even as she feigned anger.

“How are you?” I asked, motioning for her to come and sit down. She took the armchair by the bookcase, sitting perfectly upright with her hands on her knees, as if she was being interviewed.

“I’m good,” she said after a second’s pause. “You?”

“Glad you’re here.”

“Oh, really?”

“I need a painting done and I get the feeling you’re the perfect person for the job.”

“What kind of painting?”

“Come and see.”

I stood up and beckoned for her to follow me. We walked out into the hallway and then round the corner towards the back of the house. As I did so, there was a sudden thud behind me and all the lights went out. It came as quite a shock.

“What was that?” Karina asked, grabbing hold of my arm.

“A power cut,” I said just as the security shutters all slammed down over the windows. “And that was the alarm system doing its job.” I raised my voice. “Reginald!”

There was a knock from the back door and I marched over to it, trying to push it open but to no avail. “It’s a minor malfunction,” Reginald shouted through from outside. “Bear with me and I’ll soon have it sorted.”

“A minor malfunction?” I shouted back. “I’m locked in my own house and I can hardly see a thing.”

“Engineers are already on their way, Sir. Have you out in no time.”

“You better,” I snapped before turning back to Karina who was smiling at me in the gloom. “What?”

“You’re claustrophobic,” she said, taking a step towards me.

“No I’m not.”

“Then why do you sound so stressed?”

“Because I don’t like it when things don’t work. I pay a lot of money for things to work when they’re meant to. If I can’t get an alarm that works, then what’s the point? I mean, really what is the point of a security system that locks me into my own house? It’s supposed to keep intruders out, not me in. It’s not acceptable.”

“All right,” she said, putting her hand on my shoulder. “It’s all right, you know, it’s going to be fine.”

“What if it’s not fine? What if the shutters never go up and we just run out of air? We could, you know? Run out of air in a place like this. Can you feel it? Is it getting hot in here already?”

I loosened my tie as she moved her hand down to mine, squeezing it lightly. “Tell me about this commission,” she said softly.

“I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to distract me from the fact that we’re trapped in here.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“I can’t concentrate on that now.” I fanned my face, feeling the air getting thinner.

“Have you got any flashlights?” she asked.

“I think so. In the kitchen maybe.”

“Where’s that?”

“I’ll show you, this way.”

Her hand remained in mine as we walked along the dark corridor and round the corner to the kitchen. In the top drawer by the first cooker, there were a couple of flashlights. I passed her one before switching on my own. “That’s better,” she said with a smile. “Now you can show me where you want this painting done.”

“What? Right, of course. It’s not here. I’ve got a new place. Have you ever worked on a whole wall before?”

She shook her head. “What sort of thing did you have in mind?”

“Free rein.” I began pacing up and down. “It’s definitely getting too hot in here.”

“Take your jacket off then. It’ll make you feel better.”

“Right, good idea.” I did as she suggested, leaving it draped over the back of a stool. “I just need distracting, I think. I’ve never liked being trapped anywhere. When I was young, my father used to punish me by locking me in the basement. I hated it, I mean I really hated it.”

“I’m not surprised. That sounds terrible.”

I didn’t even know why I told her that. It just came out, something I’d not shared with anyone before. My mind was all over the place though. For the first time in years, I didn’t feel in control. All because of shoddy work on my security system. As soon as it was fixed, I’d have the whole damn thing ripped out and replaced. It had to get fixed first of course.

“I’m not enjoying this,” I muttered, marching out of the kitchen and back towards the back door. “I don’t hear anything, Reginald,” I shouted.

“They’re working on it, Sir. Won’t be long now.”

“Tell them to hurry up!” I snapped before turning around to find Karina looking at me.

“I know what will distract you,” she said, a smile spreading across her face.

“What?”

“Show me the play room.”