Chapter Five
‘Look here,’ Aster pulled up the footage of the nightclub and handed the laptop to Paddy, who sat down next to her. ‘This is the security footage from the nightclub. I’ve re-sequenced it to show who was responsible and how he did it.’
As she drank her chocolate, she watched the video and was pleased that she could watch it now without shaking. She had seen it so many times that she was beginning to detach. Paddy, on the other hand, was suffering.
‘You’ve taken the wrong glass!’
She turned and looked at Aster, her face full of horror.
‘Lucky her, hey?’
Aster had watched this girl a hundred times. One simple twist of fate and now she felt tied to a stranger who didn’t even know what she had escaped.
Paddy grabbed Aster’s hand and gave it a squeeze as Aster hit pause.
‘Do you think he was targeting her directly?’
‘No. I think he was just hoping to get lucky. When you watch the tape, you can see that he approaches her later but she dismisses him. They don’t appear to know each other at all.’
Paddy shook her head. ‘I hate this world.’
‘No you don’t,’ said Aster. ‘I rely on you to be the one that always sees the good in the world. Don’t change now.’
‘Well I hate him, whoever he is.’
‘That’s fine. I do as well. Now, the next section is pretty hard to watch. Or at least it was for me. But I’m showing you this to show that the man who took me home behaved honourably.’
She hit play again and now Aster could be seen leaning against the wall in the nightclub and the stranger come over and chat to her. As Aster stumbled, Paddy gasped and gripped Aster’s hand.
‘You look drunk!’
‘Until that point, I had one bottle of water and a few sips of my cocktail.’
Aster drank little and rarely got drunk. Losing control was an anathema to her and yet here she was swaying in a nightclub in front of a total stranger.
‘Oh God,’ moaned Paddy as Aster walked off behind the tall man, her small frame trailing in his wake as she swayed and stumbled until he stopped and put his arm around her. ‘Aster. I can’t-’ Tears were rolling down her face.
‘It’s okay. Remember, nothing happened.’
‘But look at you.’ Paddy’s voice was broken with further tears. ‘Look how vulnerable you are. Can you be certain he didn’t do anything?’
‘Okay. Watch the next video, but just look at my clothes.’
She tapped on the keyboard and brought up the second video, showing Aster being carried into a hallway by the same stranger.
‘I don’t have any footage between leaving the club and arriving at his house. But see, everything is still in place.’
Paddy was silent for a while, and Aster watched as she struggled to formulate a question. Guessing what she was trying to ask, she stepped in.
‘Paddy, I haven’t had sex in months. I have no soreness. Nothing. I genuinely don’t think he took advantage of me.’
‘But what about during the night?’
‘Watch.’
Aster hit play, and Paddy watched her sister stagger and fall. She watched as he sent her to the loo and then tucked her in for the night. By the time the video showed Aster creeping out the front door, Paddy was furiously wiping tears off her face, and then hugged Aster as tightly as Aster had hugged her earlier.
‘My turn to breathe,’ joked Aster through her sobs.
‘I’m so sorry. That was horrible to watch.’
‘Yep.’
‘I have to tell Ari you weren’t assaulted.’
Aster gave a short laugh. ‘Not crying like that, you won’t. Wait until after supper.’ She closed the laptop and turned to look at Paddy. ‘Food?’
Taking a deep breath, Aster watched as her sister gathered herself and sprang up and plated up their food. Rather than plating it elegantly, Paddy chopped the chicken into small chunks and stirred it into the rice and peas. Ladling two scoops in a bowl, she topped it with salt and butter and passed one bowl to Aster and the two of them sat at the table breathing in the comforting smells. They ate in silence as Aster wolfed her food down. The food and the hot chocolate were hitting the spot and some of the jitters in her body were calming down as she stuffed herself with carbs.
‘Chocolate mousse?’
Aster laughed in delight. ‘I swear to God. I have no idea how you pulled it all together. There’s no cream in the house.’
‘I know! Your fridge is woefully understocked. How do you cook anything?’
‘I don’t. I get it delivered. The joys of being single.’
Paddy rolled her eyes, but went to the fridge and came back with two bowls of a dark unctuous mousse. Aster dug her spoon in and sighed in delight as the rich sweetness filled her mouth.
‘Oh my God, Paddy, you are the best!’
Aster would never speak against her mother’s culinary skills. The truth was, she barely remembered them, but Paddy was in a league of her own, and Aster waved her spoon in Paddy’s direction.
‘This is sublime.’
Paddy grinned.
‘Not too shabby, is it? It’s a rare treat for me as Hal has banned it from the house. He says he’ll turn into a whale. So, it’s for high days and holidays only.’
‘I could eat that all day long.’
‘Well then, you’ll be pleased to know there’s still half a mixing bowl in the fridge.’
With a sigh, Paddy pushed her bowl away. Giving her spoon a final lick, she cleared her throat.
‘Now what?’
Aster looked blankly at her sister.
‘Don’t give me that,’ said Paddy sternly. ‘What do you plan to do about it?’
‘Nothing,’ lied Aster.
Paddy stared at her.
Aster relented. ‘Nothing that I want any of the family involved in.’
‘You’re not going to go to the police?’
‘No. What will they do?’
‘They can arrest him?’
Aster scoffed. ‘I have other plans.’
‘Aster-’
‘No, Paddy. This is something I have to do myself. Don’t worry, it won’t affect the family.’ Since Ari’s inheritance and the sisters’ rise into the public eye, Aster had learnt to be more circumspect. ‘But you can help me with something?’
Paddy leant forwards.
‘Anything.’
‘I want to find that man,’ she said, pointing to the screen at the man who had rescued her. ‘Or at least find his house. Would you walk with me tomorrow and see if we can retrace my steps? I can’t remember much from this morning, but something might jog my memory.’
Once Paddy had agreed, Aster headed for bed. She spoke to Ari again and had no doubt that Paddy and Ari would talk again once she had gone to bed, but for now she was reassured that Ari wouldn’t fly home early.
It had been a dreadful day, but had ended well. Paddy always raised her spirits, and now she had a plan of attack.