Tom's visit to the mall had been arduous. Too many people , crowding together, all of them getting in his way. But he did find a gift for Kelly, a small locket from a little shop called Trinketopia, that he was sure she'd like.
Kevin really bugged him. The way he throws his weight around, Tom thought, it's pathetic. That small feeling of superiority, he gets a buzz from. He's only my supervisor, for God's sake. He only has one less person to answer to than me. What an asshole. Now I'm going to be pissed off for the rest of the day.
He looked at the clock on his dashboard as he turned into his street.
"11:30??" he cried. "How can it be 11:30 already?? I couldn't have spent that much time in the mall, could I? Dammit, I'm so late. Please don't let her be there already please don't let her be there please don't let her be there please," he saw Pamela's car parked in his driveway. "Fuck! Fuck!!"
He pulled up on the kerb and got out of the car, Kelly's gift in his coat pocket. Pam wasn't standing outside, she must have let herself in with the back door key she still had. As he fumbled with his keys at the door, he said to himself, "She's gonna be mad at me, I know it..."
Once inside the front door, he wiped his feet and looked around for his ex-wife and daughter.
They weren't in the lounge, where he'd expected them to be, nor in the kitchen.
In fact, they weren't downstairs at all. He looked up the staricase and called, "Hello?"
He heard a thud from the floor above, but nothing more.
Slowly he climbed the stairs, dreading every step, but he did not know why until he saw Kelly standing in the doorway of his study.
She stared at him, a long disgusted stare. The study's door was open. He pushed by her and slowly peered inside the room. Pamela was there, rifling through the artwork on his desk.
