Minnie Chase Makes a Mistake Read Online Free

was real and she screamed out once, ferociously, so loudly that she felt her ears pop, a high altitude, low oxygen experience.
    She stood in the shadows and screamed again and then again, a continuous escalating screech like a construction yard drill trying to bite into hardened metal. This tremendous scream had the power to break the Medusa spell over Minnie’s bed. The bodies sprang apart like a lightning strike splitting a long-dead tree trunk. Theatrical horror was frozen on the faces of the two people who suddenly realised that they had been caught in the act.
    Minnie’s ferocious scream began to run out of power and emotion and she croaked to the finish, hand over her throat to finally deaden the vibrations. The bodies in the bed frantically scooted backwards to put distance between themselves and Minnie. A crumpled sheet was hastily lifted as though a serious medical procedure was taking place behind it on the pillows. 
    ‘Christ, Minnie?’ croaked James George. His disbelief was tangible, it was as though she’d risen from the dead after a decade-long absence.  
    ‘James?’ whispered Minnie, voice hoarse. The tension in her knees unlocked and she slid down the wall and landed with a thump on the bedroom floor. She didn’t say another word knowing there was no possible answer to the question that had just died on her lips. 
    James George started to inch his way to the edge of the bed, fingers splayed over his bare crotch as he frantically scanned the floor for clothing. Then he sprang from the mattress like a springbok and tugged on his underpants as fast as humanly possible, practically jumping in with both legs at once. Minnie eyed him bitterly as she curled up tighter into a ball on the floor. 
    ‘What are you doing home?’ he yelped. There was a faint trace of accusation that Minnie didn’t miss. Just brilliant – this was her fault. If she hadn’t left The Savoy earlier than planned, this naked performance of lust and betrayal would have gone unwitnessed and uninterrupted. 
    She narrowed her eyes, furious and bereft.
    ‘Minnie, look… I can explain…’ 
    But realising that the events were explanation enough he failed to deliver the end of the sentence. He paused and then crossed his arms across his chest and stood, with his hands jammed under his armpits, shivering even though the summer night was warm.
    She had certainly ruined the moment for her double-crossing husband-to-be. Minnie considered her options. She could fight for this love or leave in devastation. 
    Minnie watched from the floor, she saw that James George had now taken a scatter-gun approach to dressing and was grabbing whatever clothes he could find and was dragging them on. Medusa did not move a muscle, she simply watched with a slack mouth and eyes wide.
    The fight had suddenly gone out of Minnie. She heaved herself up from the floor, shaky on her feet, and backed out of the room. Then she turned and ran. James George cantered after her, hot on her heels, and grabbed at her as she reached the front door. Minnie somehow escaped and spun away from him, slithery in her black taffeta dress.
    ‘Wait!’ shouted James George as he watched her race into the night. ‘Stop! Minnie! I love you!’

 
     
     
     
     
     
    3
    Worst fears
     
    Minnie launched herself from the house and into the night. She sprinted like she was possessed, still shoeless and now shivering feverishly. She was trussed up in a cocktail dress with a fluttering train that had turned to a jet propellant whoosh. She was a missile on a zero deviation trajectory to get her precisely to her target. To Angie’s house. Safe house.
    Angie was Minnie’s best friend. They had grown up together and now lived two streets away from each other in south west London. Angie had set up a thriving business called Howl Couture, which specialised in animal accessories. Selling bling and bespoke blazers for pampered pets was a lucrative business. Minnie knew this to be a fact