Carole With An E: Part twenty

~ beetleypete

This is the twentieth part of a fiction serial, in 728 words.

Decidedly unimpressed with Karl, Carole intended to move things on, specifically her departure from his house near Cambridge, followed by getting out of the country before anyone realised where she was. The next day she wanted to use the PC to book a flight, and was upset to find it wasn’t working.

“Karl, the PC seems to be broken. Can you have a look at it please?” He took his time climbing the stairs, then unplugged the tower and plugged it in again. There was still no light showing, and he didn’t seem to be surprised or concerned.

“Looks like it has finally given up the ghost. You can use my laptop if you like”.

She didn’t like, as that meant he could find out everything she did on it, even if she deleted the search history. He would only have to recover the hard drive from a previous date, then it would all reappear. No way was she going to leave a trail behind, even for someone as dumb as Karl to follow. Besides, if they found out where she had been living, it would be easy for them to take his laptop and do the same. She tried Plan B.

“It’s okay. Why don’t we drive to the shops so I can buy a new smartphone? I need some other things anyway, my period is due”. She was far from happy with his reply.

“I don’t think we should be seen out together, and you definitely won’t be able to use my car on your own. What if you got stopped by the police, or had an accident? You are not on the insurance. Write down what you need, and I will go out later and get everything”. He pushed a piece of paper and a pen across the desk to her.

When he left with her list, Carole was feeling really frustrated. She couldn’t even phone a taxi, as there was no landline. Walking to the tiny village shop was an option. They might let her use a phone there, and know the number of a taxi. But villagers loved gossip, and she was sure that they would remember the unfamiliar young woman needing a cab.

Another possibility was walking until she found a main road with a bus route. The buses were sure to head into the city of Cambridge, and once there she could get a train to anywhere, leaving no trace of her whereabouts. But she knew that the main road was at least a twenty-minute drive, and that translated to hours of walking.

Still wondering what to do, she heard the car on the driveway. He was back. She tried to appear friendly and cheerful.

“You were quick. Did you manage to get everything I asked for?”. As she spoke, she was rummaging through one of the two shopping bags he had placed on the floor. “Oh great, that’s a nice phone. Where’s the SIM card though? I want to put that in before I charge it up. Did you add plenty of credit? You know how soon the money goes down once you are online”.

He was holding his head as she turned to him. “Sorry. I completely forgot about a SIM card. Got everything else though. Charge the phone up and I wil go back tomorrow to buy a card for you. After all, there’s no rush. You wanted to lie low and let the dust settle, remember?” She was about to lose it, and shout at him. But she checked herself and stayed calm.

It felt like he was playing her, but she couldn’t believe he was one step ahead, he must just be forgetful. If she made a big thing of it now, she would still be stranded in his shitty house, unless she was prepared to break cover and walk for miles.

Lifting the second bag onto the kitchen worktop, Karl smiled. “I got us something special for dinner though, and two bottles of excellent wine. Why don’t you go and change into something nice while I get it ready? If your period is imminent we should make a night of it, don’t you think?”

Up in the bedroom, Carole was getting angry again. She made up her mind. One last night in this dump, then tomorrow she was going, whether he drove her or not.

42 thoughts on “Carole With An E: Part twenty”

  12. (1) “Looks like it has finally given up the ghost.” In a house that’s “probably” haunted, this is no big surprise.
    (2) Carole tried Plan B from Outer Space. “Why don’t we hyperdrive to the Alpha Centauri Strip Mall so that I can buy a new subspace communicator?”
    (3) “Still wondering what to do, she heard the car on the driveway. He was back.” Either Carole is an incredibly slow thinker, or Karl runs errands at lightning speed!
    (4) Bad citation: “A SIM card? Sorry. I completely forgot about it. On purpose, of course!”
    (5) Bad citation: “You wanted to lie low and let the dust settle, remember? Well, I regret to inform you that the dust never really settles in this house. I tend to blame the wandering poltergeist. He’s always stirring up the air.”
    (6) Bad citation: “I got us something special: a couple of Soylent Green TV dinners and two bottles of Bloody Red wine.”
    (7) Bad citation: “One last night in this dump, then tomorrow she was going, whether he drove her completely mad or not.”

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      1. And beautifully executed – although I now wonder about where you are headed and if there is another unexpected turn to come…hey, but I never try to guess as the journey is too much fun to ruin it with speculation – I will leave you to it!

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