Chapter 1

Simone and Ian watched as their daughter fumbled with the small tightly wrapped package looking for an edge where she might get a finger nail to tear at the gift-wrap. They looked on amusedly as the box was rotated and then, at last, Chloe found a weak spot and with a small cry of triumph the paper was ripped off to reveal the last of her gifts; an anonymous plain white box.

It was the morning of her 16th birthday and a school day; not a holiday but birthdays in the White’s household were special and, no matter what, it was a tradition for the family that anniversaries such as these always began with getting up early for the ‘card and present ceremony’ whatever the day of the week it might be.

The box was opened and the contents revealed. “An iPhone!” she shrieked. “Oh Mummy; Daddy, it’s just what I wanted. Oh My God; all the girls want one and now I’ve got my very own. Oh thank you, thank you. They are all going to be so jealous when I show them. Can I take it to school?”

“Erm, I think not Darling, it might be best if you leave it here,” said her Mother before hastily, adding, “ ... just for today at least. It will need charging and setting up and there’s no time to do it now. Anyway, we must get on; look at the time.”

Chloe’s face fell for a moment and then brightened as she leaned across to give each of her parents in turn a kiss. “Oh thank you so much,” she repeated with tears of joy filling her blue eyes. She stood up and handed over the phone to her Mother then gathered the collection of gifts and cards, returned to her bedroom and to properly begin her day. They watched with a sense of pride and satisfaction as the pyjama clad teenager retreated and disappeared up the staircase.

Ian stood up and gave his wife a hug, “Well, didn’t she do well? An iPhone; you didn’t let on that’s what you were getting her. What a lucky girl.”

She returned the caress dispassionately, “Hmm, actually, you silly boy, let’s be clear about a couple of things, firstly it’s a present from both of us and, secondly, it’s not actually an iPhone. It looks like one but it’s from some other maker I hadn’t heard of before; or, rather, hadn’t heard of before I got mine last year.”

He turned to the dining table and picked up the discarded packaging and envelopes and deposited them in the trash can. The mobile phone and the box remained on the counter. Simone stole a glance and smiled as she inwardly congratulated herself on her choice of gift. Certainly her husband couldn’t be trusted to come up with any original ideas; he might be good at earning money but amongst her list of his inadequacies making suggestions for presents was not one of his assets. Anyway, in matters relating to their daughter it was a case of ‘Mother knew best’ and with her Chloe growing into a fine young lady she reckoned her darling deserved to be spoiled in an adult fashion.

She chose not to share that thought with him; not for the moment anyway. “Right, we can’t sit here all day. We must get on. I’m in the shower first,” she said.

The next half an hour passed with the usual mayhem of the three of them trying not to get in each other’s way as showering; dressing; breakfasting and all the other things required to prepare them for the day were conducted. Chloe was already in the kitchen spooning cereal when her father joined her; both of them dressed and ready to go.

The doorbell rang and the birthday girl jumped up and wiping her mouth ran to the door and opened it to see a trio of her school friends standing there. From the kitchen Ian heard a chorus of squealed ‘Happy Birthdays’ as the excited teenagers greeted her. Chloe dashed back to the kitchen and grabbed her backpack and music case. Burdened with ‘luggage’ she gave a longing glance at her new phone before giving a goodbye kiss to her Father and a shout up the stairs to her Mother. Her father not wishing to have her departure marked by the slamming of the door followed her to the front door, held it open and then she was gone to begin giggling gossip with her friends all clad in short plaid skirts and white blouses.

He watched their progress as they walked away up the street, “Phew, why do they always have to be so noisy? Why can’t girls talk softly?” he muttered to himself as the sound of the youngsters’ conversation receded down the street. Other, less savoury thoughts passed through his mind as he focussed on their strong young legs and the white ankle socks they all seemed to favour these days. If there was something he consistently yearned for, it was a quiet life, and sights such as these didn’t help.

His rhetorical musings were interrupted when Simone called down, “Honey, Janice is picking me up this morning. I’ve just got to do something upstairs. Tell her I’ll be right there if I’m not done and, be nice!”

He raised his eyes at the sound of her ‘command’. It seemed to him that more and more these days she was telling him, not asking, to do things. Increasingly there was a lack of empathy, almost an edge, to their exchanges. He wasn’t aware that he had done anything that might have upset her but there was obviously something going on that had affected the dynamic between them. He really ought to summons up the courage to tackle her about it ... or maybe hope it was just a passing phase; a hormone imbalance; something troubling her at work. Whatever it may be he just hoped this off-handedness wasn’t to be their future.

Although he had plenty of time in hand Ian prepared himself for work and began to gather his own collection of briefcase, wallet, phone and, “damn, where have I left my car keys?” He was doing a tour of the likely places when he heard the sound of a car parking on the drive quickly followed by a door slam which was shortly followed by the doorbell once again being rung. His heart gave a little jump, “that’ll be Janice,” he thought.

He really didn’t care for Janice at all; so bossy with a superior attitude and the way she treats her husband is a disgrace, he thought. He sighed and shouted up the stairs, “I’ve got it,” as he simultaneously opened the door. As expected, it was his wife’s co-worker. He gave a smile and said, “Hi Janice, she’s upstairs powdering her nose or something. Come inside, she’ll be down shortly.”

Janice stepped inside the hallway and he observed she was dressed in her usual provocative fashion. Today it was a short skirt, low cut white blouse and a pair of high heels that didn’t seem quite right for the office job where she and Simone were employed but what did he know?. So many things these days seemed to be out of kilter with his views.

“Hi Ian,” she said and then blanked him out as she looked down at her mobile phone which had just bleeped at the same time he had opened the door. She focussed on the texted message and smiled then without any more acknowledgement of his presence she wandered the well trodden route to the kitchen and sat down. Ian followed and wondered what he might say to get her attention back but his dilemma was averted when he heard Simone coming down the stairs. Janice lifted her head at the sound of footsteps on the wooden floor and smiled her greeting as his wife appeared at the door looking somewhat flushed in the face, he thought.