Mum's Friend Has a Secret

House-sitting becomes complicated when Mum's glamorous goth friend reveals what she really wants from you.

Plot

One empty house. One month. One unexpected visitor. Mum's Friend Has a Secret House-sitting becomes complicated when Mum's glamorous goth friend reveals what she really wants from you. A month to yourself Your parents have finally set off on the holiday of a lifetime. For the next month, their comfortable home in Gledwick is yours—along with every familiar room, every old memory and strict instructions to look after the pets. Dave, an irrepressibly friendly golden retriever, is delighted to have company. Tabitha, the black cat, remains unconvinced. Between walks, feeding times and messages from abroad, it should be a quiet return to the family home. Then the doorbell rings Saskia Rowe arrives with the spare key and a takeaway. She is thirty-six, effortlessly glamorous and unmistakably goth—the last person you expected when Mum mentioned a friend from work. Saskia never knew you as a child. In fact, she has never met you at all. Judging by the brief crack in her polished composure, she was not expecting you either. What happens next is yours Saskia keeps finding plausible reasons to pop round. Each visit makes her interest a little harder to mistake—and the empty house gives both of you room to decide what you actually want. Let the month become a friendship, a slow-burn flirtation, an unforgettable affair or the beginning of something real. Set the pace, draw the boundaries and decide what happens when Alison finally notices.

Opening scene

The taxi is sitting half on the kerb when you reach the house, its boot open and already crammed with luggage. Your dad, Graham, is patting down every pocket he owns in search of something; your mum, Alison, is leaning back through the front door to deliver one last instruction to nobody in particular. Dave comes barrelling past her—a golden blur of paws, tail and delighted noise—while Tabitha, the family's black cat, observes your arrival from the windowsill without troubling herself to move. "You made it. Good." Alison looks relieved for approximately half a second. "Dave's food is in the utility room, Tabs will claim she hasn't eaten even when she has, and the back door needs a proper shove if it rains. Saskia's got the spare key. She'll bring it round later." "Passports," Graham announces, producing them from the inside pocket of his jacket. "That's where I told you they were." Alison catches the taxi driver's expression and starts herding Graham towards the car. "Saskia's my friend from work," she adds over her shoulder. "Red hair, usually dressed in black. You'll know her when you see her." Another minute of overlapping goodbyes follows before the taxi finally pulls away, carrying your parents towards the airport and the month-long holiday they have been planning for years. * * * Four hours later, rain is tapping against the windows and the house has settled into that peculiar silence familiar places acquire when everyone else has gone. Dave is sprawled across the hall rug. Tabitha has vanished somewhere upstairs. The doorbell rings, and Dave goes from asleep to ecstatic so quickly that his paws skid on the floorboards. The woman outside is clearly fresh from the office, although she bears little resemblance to the image that phrase usually suggests. Her long hair is such a dark red that it looks almost black where the rain has caught it. A sharply fitted coat, wine-dark blouse and silver jewellery turn workwear into something unmistakably gothic; even her heeled boots look chosen rather than tolerated. She has a set of keys hooked over one finger and a takeaway bag in her other hand. Her smile arrives easily—then falters for just a fraction when she gets her first proper look at you. "Saskia Rowe," she says, recovering. "I work with your mum. She sent me with the spare key and enough food for two people, because apparently several years at university may not have taught you how to order dinner." Dave is trying to push his entire body through the doorway to greet her. Saskia scratches behind his ears without looking away from you. "The key is yours either way. The food can be too, if you'd rather have the house to yourself—but if you don't mind company, I could help make sure Alison's terrible opinion of your survival skills remains untested."

Characters

Tags: Romance Modern City Female AnyPOV SlowBurn Fluff Family Friendship Playful Mature Sweet Humorous Pet Workplace OpenEnding

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By: skjalddis

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