Pippa Ch. 10

"Pete, Pete." I cried out.

Again the voice was in my ear.

"Pete's with us, you fucking ponce."

My arms were pulled back roughly. It sent a sharp pang of pain through my shoulder. I struggled to no avail.

Pete was undercover. It was obvious now. All his questions. The way he entered the address into his phone. The hold up in traffic.

"I hadn't known. It wasn't my fault." I cried out.

Metal cuffs were going around my wrists.

"Get off me." I spat.

They quickly picked me up. As they dragged me off. I saw one of them collecting the stuff from my bag off the ground.

"That ain't mine." I said.

The back door to the parked car opened and I was bundled in.

The metal of the handcuff dug painfully into my wrists as my weight pushed on them..

There was a big guy in the front. He wasn't speaking though.

Through the window. I saw bunches of them shaking hands with each other. How many were there. More than half a dozen. It was too may just for me. I hadn't even done anything.

"Why are there so many of them." I asked the guy in the drivers seat.

He chuckled.

"You're a big fish, my friend."

"I ain't." I protested.

He just nodded. "The list of stuff we got you for. You'll be going away for a very long time."

I felt myself sink into the seat. I didn't care about the pain anymore. All the stuff I had been telling Pete. Not just tonight, but all the drugs too. "Oh god."

As we drove away. I saw Pippa and the women standing at the gate. They were talking with one of the coppers.

They were holding hands with each other.

*********

Epilogue

"Would you like anything else?" The waitress asked as she put my order of coffee down on the table. I shook my head while mouthing 'no' to her. It wasn't often that I would go out for coffee alone, but today just seemed like one of those days. I sat there quietly watching the passers-by going about their weekend routines, mostly heading out into the city for a day of shopping.

As my eyes scanned over the streams of people as they plodded down the pavement, someone stood out like the proverbial sore thumb. She was pushing a baby buggy, but there was something in the way she walked the was so familiar to me. I straightened myself up in my chair to get a better look. She was about five foot five with long blonde hair. That was what threw me at first, it was the hair, it didn't match the body, at least not to me.

The realization of who it was made my mouth go dry, and I felt my heart jumping out of my chest. It had been so long since I had seen her. Feelings came rushing back like an unwanted guest.

We had worked together and I had driven myself sick with lust and longing. She had been my one true love and soul mate, although she had never known it. I swallowed hard and regained my composure. As the years had passed my obsession had waned and I learned to forget.

Looking at her now I saw that she had changed too, a drastic change in hairstyle, a baby, and if i wasn't mistaken a larger chest. She looked more confident too, her head held higher.

I wondered just how much I had changed as my mind drifted back to the day I had first met Pippa.

They weren't pleasant memories at all. Working through them in my head helped somewhat. My mouth wasn't as dry now, and my heart rate was back to normal.

I'd even lost Pippa in the crowds as I reminisced. Maybe I hadn't seen her at all. Just someone who looked like her.

Then suddenly there she was again. She was walking into a bakery.

I took a deep breath. I had to speak to her. Just for a moment.

I abandoned my coffee and made my way over.

My mind raced trying to think of the right thing to say to her.

She came out and didn't even glance at me.

I had to speak though.

"Hiya, I'm Dave." I said.

She looked surprised.

"We used to work together." I said.

I could see her face lost in puzzlement. She was trying to work out who I was.

"I bought you a dolphin necklace for the secret Santa one year."

Her face lit up.

"Oh I remember you." She said. "I don't think we ever spoke much though."

That was true.

"I know, I just saw you, and thought what are the chances."

She was smiling.

"It's been so long." She said.

There was a bit of awkwardness. I had started to regret saying anything. It was true, we had never been friends.

Then she put her hand to her mouth and gasped.

"I had you for the secret Santa too." She said. "I got you a coffee cup I think."

"Oh wow."

I remembered that now. It was a cup with a little cat on it. I had never known who had gotten it for me.

I wanted to ask her about the other things that had happened. To clear the air, but it didn't seem appropriate. Especially with the baby there. It was asleep in the buggy, oblivious to me.

"So, what are you up to now?" she asked.

I her a brief account of my life up to now. She nodded and smiled. I couldn't help but notice the wedding ring on her finger.

"You're married now?" I said.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"He must be very lucky." I said, and I meant it too, surprisingly.

"She." Pippa corrected.

"Ahhh." I said. That was a turn up. A nice one too in some ways.

I wasn't going to pry about the baby. At a guess I figured it was adopted or was one of theirs. I didn't want to seem too nosy.

"What about you? What are you doing now?"

"I'm writing a book, about my life. You know, fictionalised."

"Cool, am I going to be in it? " I asked.

"Maybe, now that you have sparked my memory." She said kindly.

I guessed that was a white lie. Like she said, we never really spoke or had many interactions.

I sensed that she wanted to leave. I had over stayed my welcome.

"I'll let you get off." I said with a smile.

It was so nice to speak to her like this. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

We said our goodbyes.

As she started to leave. I called out to her.

"I will look for your book."

"Thanks." She said over her shoulder. "But I'm going by my married name now. Hadley."

"Pippa Hadley." I said nodding.

She shook her head with a wry smile.

"Phillipa Hadley. I think it sounds more grown up."

It certainly did.

As I made my way back to my coffee I felt really good about myself. I didn't care if I was in the book, that was all in the past. I had my own life to lead now.

The End