The Ultimate Selection: Be Careful Who You Talk To (2 page)

Chapter Three

It was heading for half six when Greg got home. He had spent longer than planned at the gym. He quickly popped the oven on while he checked his mail and then his emails. He always looked forward to getting emails from his family in Ireland. His sister would send him photographs of the place and of herself so that he could see her growing up. Greg did the same. They had grown closer since she had moved away. Their sibling rivalry had faded as their bond grew stronger.

Once the oven light had gone out, Greg put some oven chips in, making a mental note of the time. The oven chips needed twenty minutes and the left over pizza from the night before only needed a couple of minutes in the microwave so he had time for a quick shower and a shave. Once he was showered and had dried himself, he ran into the kitchen and switched the oven off and set the microwave.

Whilst eating, Greg pondered what he was going to wear. His plan was to follow the chubby guy home so that he could find out where he lived. It was Friday and Greg did not have to go to work on Saturday. Even so, he planned on not having too much to drink. He needed to stay alert and remain focussed. He would not draw too much attention to himself.

The capital was full of loners. After all, this was London; nobody would think of bothering to notice a guy on his own, and nobody would bother talking to him either.

Greg felt safe in the knowledge that he would not stick out in the bustling crowds. He needed to be careful about what he wore, he did not want to look out of place. This hunter needed to blend in, to look like any ordinary guy simply out for a pint at the end of a hard week. So it had to be something not too light or bright, he would need to be able to follow this guy without being noticed. The night air temperature may drop so he would need to be warm enough for any journey.

‘Dark jeans and a plain long sleeved top I think,' he told himself, as he continued eating his food.

There were a lot of closed circuit television cameras around the whole of London. The guy may not live in the area. He may have to use public transport to get home, or to another place, where he can continue his evening's drinking.

‘What if he were to jump in a taxi?' Greg asked himself – his nerves beginning to get the better of him.

If that were to happen, Greg would have to go back to the drawing board, he would still be spoilt for choice. Well, he was in the capital, and there were well over a million likely candidates.

Greg closed the front door to his flat and inserted the key to engage the deadlock. He walked down the stairs, out the main door and made his way to the tube station. Greg's nearest tube station was Wembley Park. He opted for a single ticket as he was unsure where he would end up making his way home from. As he walked down the stairs to the platform he kicked the litter that cluttered his way. Greg quickly checked which line would be arriving first. The Jubilee line would be the slower option as there are so many tube stations before you reach Baker Street Station. The Metropolitan line only stopped at one other station before it got to Baker Street, though on some occasions it did not stop at all. The overhead display started to flash.

Platform 2. Terminating at Baker Street will arrive in

2 minutes.

Greg knew that platform two was the Jubilee line, though this did not seem to matter as this hunter was not in any great hurry, he was enjoying it. After all, he did not know if his intended prey was going to be in that particular pub. Greg had decided that if the chubby guy was not there, he would pay that pub visits at other times, on other days. It seemed to Greg that it would be fruitless to visit other pubs in the area as he may miss him by minutes, or even seconds. Most of the pubs around there, like The Globe, were so big and busy that he could actually be in there and not be seen. This could make it very difficult for Greg to be one hundred per cent sure if his first intended victim was in there or not – it could all be subject to change.

Greg quickly walked over to a guy who was selling the evening newspaper and bought a copy so that he would have something to occupy his mind during the journey.

‘Thank you, sir,' the elderly newspaper vendor said as he handed Greg a copy, allowing Greg time to pay.

Greg simply paid the man and then smiled as he readied himself to board the train.

As the train pulled into the station, Greg tried to position himself so that he would not have to walk too far to the train doors when the train stopped. The train stopped and the doors opened. To Greg's horror, it was only Karen sitting in the carriage he was going to get on. He quickly changed his route though it was too late, Karen had seen him.

‘Hey you!' Karen shouted.

Greg had no choice but to turn and looked at her.

‘Hi…' Greg said almost awkwardly.

Karen could see that Greg was feeling a little uncomfortable, though she could not understand why. ‘Come and sit with me, we have some catching up to do,' Karen said patting the seat next to hers.

Greg decided to accept Karen's kind invitation – after all it was part of their no hard feelings deal. Though all the time he was trying his best, to avoid eye contact. He felt that she could see straight through him and even guess what he was thinking.

‘This is a bit awkward,' Karen said.

‘Why's that?' Greg asked foolishly.

‘Well, we haven't seen anything of each other since we split up, and we've bumped into each other when we're both going on a night out,' she replied.

‘Is there any reason why we should have seen anything of each other?' Greg questioned.

‘Well, no… but I thought that when we split up, we were still going to remain friends…'

‘We are friends,' Greg responded with a snap.

There followed an uncomfortable silence.

Greg's mind wandered off and without warning he found himself reminiscing; fantasizing about the intimate side of their past relationship, accidentally undressing Karen with his eyes.

‘Where are you off to tonight then?' Karen asked, breaking the silence that briefly distanced the pair.

‘Just out for a drink, don't even know where, till I get there,' Greg answered, non-committal and cagey.

‘Where's the destination on your ticket?'

‘Well, I've got a one way ticket to Baker Street. I think I might wander around there, see what's going on and who's about. I might go over to Covent Garden later, but who knows?' Greg thought that would throw her off the scent, just in case she tried to find him later on that evening.

‘Who are you meeting up with then?' Greg asked, wanting to shift the spotlight on to Karen.

‘I'm meeting a friend from work. She's going on a first date and thought it would be a good idea if she dragged me along and he's dragging a mate along with him – a kind of double date thing. Safety in numbers. The unlucky guy won't know what he's in for,' she quickly answered, adding an uncomfortable laugh.

‘Why should he be unlucky?'

That was the response she was fishing for – exactly what she wanted to hear, music to her ears.

‘Well, I didn't mean it like that, I…' Karen stuttered.

It was unusual for Karen to have run out of words, even though it was what she wanted to hear, she was now feeling shy, almost embarrassed.

‘Any guy that ends up with you will be lucky. It's just that I don't think that I was meant to be that guy so, before you say it, no, and yes I am still very sorry that I hurt you and no I'm not seeing anyone, and no, I'm not interested in seeing anyone at the moment. I want some time on my own. I need to sort my head out and maybe in time… well, you never know!' Greg halted himself, not wanting their conversation to change. Not wanting to spark any animosity. ‘Who knows?' He smiled as he touched her hand gently, his softer feelings trying to surface.

‘You still feel that you need time, even after six months?'

The addition to Greg's little speech had made Karen confused.

‘Yeah, I still need time and, as I said, who knows?'

This had messed up all of Karen's emotions, leaving her a little upset. Even though she was pleased with the fact that he was not seeing anyone, and that there may be some hope for them in the future, she felt confused.

The truth of the matter was that Greg knew that with his plan beginning to unfold he did not have a future. He only had a future for as long as it took the authorities to catch up with him. Greg had accepted that. He had no choice. Anyone who was setting out to do what he was planning had to look at the real picture. One day he would get caught and one day he would be spending some time at Her Majesty's pleasure. Although he had considered that and the possibility of being caught, he had always believed that as long as he controlled the game, his capture would not be for a long time yet. He planned to have a long career in his newly chosen profession. The control would only be his if he kept a firm eye on the ball.

Karen looked at Greg, never being one to feel comfortable with uneasy silences, she thought that she would try to keep the conversation going by changing its direction.

‘How's work then?'

‘Work is great. Me and my cart, we have a great day, rain or shine,' he replied with a pleased look on his face.

‘Doesn't it get boring?' Karen enquired.

‘No. Every day I know what I'm going to be doing. My day is planned. I know where I'm going to be stopping for my tea break, lunch and so on. On every other Tuesday I know that I'll be finished at half three. I think I've got the best job going!'

‘I couldn't do it,' Karen said shaking her head.

‘I hated the bins. I couldn't have hacked that for much longer!' Greg said with conviction.

‘You hated the guys you worked with, you didn't hate the job.'

‘Yes, I suppose that's true. Though I didn't hate them all, just the mouthy bastards. You know who I mean? Like that old fucker, Norman. What a wanker. I'd love to see his wife. I bet she bosses him round the house all the time. I bet he's well under the thumb so he takes it out on everyone else. That's why he's such a wanker!' Greg paused for a moment, in order to control his interior anger from surfacing.

‘You got on well with Martin though didn't you?' Karen asked trying to steer him away from his anger.

‘Yeah, Mart's a real diamond. I haven't seen him for yonks though. I think I'll give him a bell next week and see if he wants to meet up. I wonder if he's still with that girl. She was a right nagger. I bet she even nagged in her sleep!' Greg said with a smile on his face, adding his comical giggle again.

His laugh was something that Karen had always found sensual. Unknowingly, Karen burst out laughing and Greg could not help but join in. For a brief moment, they both forgot about the past although the moment was only short lived.

‘Do you think Martin will turn out like Norman when he's older?' Karen asked, bringing the pair back to reality.

‘I fucking hope not!' Greg said, still laughing.

‘Where's he living now? Martin, I mean.'

‘I think he's still in Neasden, above that chip shop.'

‘I bet the smell must make him constantly hungry?' Karen said, rubbing her stomach.

‘Mart reckons that he can't smell the chip shop from his flat but I don't believe him, do you?' Greg replied.

‘How's your flat? Are you still in Raglan Court?' Karen enquired, choosing to ignore Greg's previous question. Martin was no longer of no interest to her; their conversation was now flowing, making her feel close to him once again.

‘Yeah, I'm still there and it's pretty much still the same. I've got a new television now. A state of the art surround sound monster. I've connected my Xbox to it. It's fucking wicked!' Greg said proudly.

‘You've wanted one of those for ages,' Karen laughed.

‘I know. It cost nearly a grand. My dad sent me some money and told me it was to get something for the flat. He gave me a right bollocking when he found out I'd bought a television with the money though,' Greg smiled, shrugging his shoulders in a confused manner.

‘Well, you only live once, so why not have the things you want. Anyway, your dad did say to buy something for the flat, and you did,' Karen smiled.

‘Yeah, you're right. That's what I told him, but he was having none of it. It took him ages to calm down. Mum was OK about it though,' Greg said as though he was trying to justify his extravagant purchase.

‘Good for you!' Karen said, as she winked at Greg. ‘Here's an idea – why don't we go out sometime, as friends. There's no reason why we shouldn't, is there?' There was a hint of nervousness in Karen's voice. But she thought it was a reasonable question.

‘Why not? Though, don't start getting any silly ideas in that head of yours, my girl!' he replied smiling.

Karen was not sure what he meant by that so she played it cool.

‘I have no idea what you are implying, my boy,' she replied giving a childlike smile.

‘Just friends then?' Greg confirmed, giving a cheeky smile.

‘Yes,' Karen answered, ‘give me a bell, and we'll arrange it.'

‘Cool. Where are you living now?' Greg replied.

‘I'm still living at home with Mum… I know I'm too old to still be at home, but you know what my mum's like?' Karen snapped sounding pissed off but still smiling.

Karen felt embarrassed by the fact that she was still living at home with her mother. By now she should have a place of her own – maybe have settled down and started a family of her own. It was guilt and a sense of duty that kept her there, holding her back. Unable to move on with her life, she felt trapped; stuck in a rut she was unable to get out of. Though, deep down, she knew that her mother would have to cope if she chose to fly the nest. It was something to do with Karen's own gremlins. For reasons only known to her, she felt insecure. It may be because she lost her father at a very young age and she felt that if she left her mother, she would lose her as well. It was Karen's own self-inflicted little rut. Her demons were her own.