Persona (The 'Professional' series) by Ceri Bladen

phone back down into the receiver.  Still no news about Lindsey. The
Police had not found her yet.  He walked to the window and noticed the
Police car patrolling outside his apartment.  He expected the same scene
outside Ella’s window.
    He rubbed
his hand over his mouth and chin, vaguely noticing the growth of stubble. 
He hadn’t needed to shave since Ella left as he hadn’t left the
apartment.   
    Eric had
talked to him last night.  He hadn’t wanted to listen, but he knew he had
to pull himself together.  But, he figured, a little pity ‘down time’
never hurt anyone.  If he wanted to wallow, he would wallow.  He had
never felt this way before.  So, he was going to have his couple of days
and then pull himself back to being Daniel Spittle, actor.
    He rubbed
his chin again.  Perhaps he did need a shave and shower.  Christ, he
had taken plenty of cold showers when Ella was around. 
    Eric’s wise
words came back, his friend was right.  Daniel knew what he was going to
do.  He was going to shower, shave, go out for dinner with his friend,
have a few beers, come home to bed and then get back to normal.  Time for
feeling sorry for himself was over.  Anyway, self-pity did not suit him.
    ~~~~
     “SShhhhh!”
 Daniel put his finger up to his mouth as he fell through the door,
pulling Eric with him.
    Eric, trying
to hold up his friend, searched for the light switch.  “What do you mean sshhhh ,
there is no one here!”  He laughed at his friend. 
    They had a
good time tonight, perhaps too much to drink, but a great time.  Eric
thought he had upset Daniel with that talk the night before, but luckily
it seemed to have had an effect on him.  
    Eric wasn’t
daft, he knew his friend was in love with Ella.  Perhaps, in different
circumstances, she would have been the ideal partner for him.  But until
she made her own choices, all Eric could do was be there for his friend. 
Hell, perhaps she would always be known as the ‘one that got away’. 
    “One
nightcap?”  Daniel slurred.
    “No, I’m off
to bed.” Eric answered.  The exertion of helping his friend home, and the
alcohol, now making things a little dizzy.  “I’ve had enough,
thanks.  See you in the morning.”  He looked back at his friend who
already was lying back on the chair.  “You make sure you go to bed. 
Don’t fall asleep there.”  It looked as though he was already asleep. Eric
sighed and went to bed.
    Daniel
folded his hands together over his stomach and wriggled deeper into the chair
to get comfortable.  Mmmm, quite comfortable .   A brief
thought went through his head that he would actually get a better sleep on the
chair, than in his bed.  All he seemed to do in bed was think of
Ella.  It must be the whiffs of her bubble bath that tormented his sleep.
    He sat up
quickly, the room taking a little tilt.  Ella.  Yes, he would phone
Ella.  He had left her alone so far, but it would be the right thing to do
to tell her about the Police enquiry, wouldn’t it?  His alcohol addled
brain made the decision easy.  He picked up his mobile and phoned.
    ~~~~
    Ella was
staring at the ceiling listening to Jeff quietly snore. The gap between them
felt like a gulf stream. Crumbs, what a mess.
    She thought
back to a couple of days ago, when the house phone had rung.  She had
picked it up, hoping that it was Daniel, but the line had just gone dead. 
It had happened periodically through the day.  Jeff was in work and she
started to get a little scared. 
    The
information from the Police, sitting outside her apartment, was that Lindsey
hadn’t yet been caught.  There was a chance that the calls were from
Lindsey.  She was a secretary after all and could have easily got her
details off Daniel’s agent.  Ella had gone outside to the patrol car and
passed the information to the police. 
    A couple of
days later, they had come back to her.  The phone calls were from a Miss
Claire O’Neill.  Did she know her?   The