AllFreeNovel
Share Us
St Salvator’s Chapel was exquisite. The college tower rose up above the main entrance as they walked inside. Francine led the way alongside two members of the chaplaincy and Jessie, the big bear guy Morgan had met previously. Sasha was talking with a woman from the university, and Morgan wandered along by herself at the back.
When they entered the huge hall, Morgan almost gasped at the beauty of it. It was unlike any of the other buildings they’d been in. Impressive was too small a word to describe it, but it felt bigger than it was. And cosy, it felt warm and tranquil.
She moved around the space unhindered as everyone else was too busy to stop and chat with her, which she was grateful for because she really had nothing interesting to say. She recognised faces now though, and nodded a hello as she carried on walking. Small talk didn’t seem to go down too well with men who were working and trying to get things done on a schedule. Francine had already made a comment about it, so Morgan wasn’t going to push her luck today.
The stage was in place already, the sound system going through soundchecks. It was noisy and echoey, as the ‘one, two, one, two’ testing repeated through various areas of the stage where mics were set up to aid the sound just enough without it being too much.
Morgan looked up at the piano and smiled to herself, imagining Alex sitting up there. As she turned to move, shenoticed her. A blonde woman with short hair, quite pretty, lurking. That was the word Morgan thought of: lurking, like she wasn’t supposed to be there, on the other side of the stage.
Edging closer, the woman hadn’t noticed Morgan. For some reason, she gave Morgan creepy vibes, like she needed to be quiet and creep up on her. She wasn’t doing anything, just standing at the back of the stage, watching everything.
Of course, she could work on the crew; maybe she was someone local drafted into help with the set-up, but she wasn’t dressed like a roadie. They all wore a uniform of ripped loose-fitting jeans and t-shirts with pictures of rock bands on the front, both of which looked older than she was. This woman was wearing jeans, but expensive ones, and everything looked smart and new. Maybe she worked for the church. That was an option, Morgan supposed, so why didn’t Morgan feel at ease about her? She was too old to be a student, surely. Maybe a nosey local wanting to catch a glimpse ofSasha.
“Hello,” Morgan said when she was just a few feet away.
The woman jumped back. “Oh, uh, hello.”
She was English, which confused Morgan even more and seemed so out of place here.
“Do you work here?” Morgan asked, eyes scanning quickly for a tag around her neck like everyone else had to wear.
There wasn’t one.
“Oh, no. I’m just…” She backed away. “I’m just visiting and thought I’d take a look around...” Her eyes furtively searched around her as though she were looking for an exit. “I didn’t know what was going on.”
That was a lie.
The building was closed off to visitors for three days. Yesterday to set up, today for the concert, and tomorrow in order to remove it all. Which meant the woman had sneaked in somehow.
Morgan was unsure what to do. There wasn’t a security team as such yet. They didn’t arrive until later when the doors opened and were provided by the venue. Right now, it was just Francine and the crew. Mike acted as a bodyguard of sorts when they were around the car, but he was still outside, and taking a break. Francine was busy.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to be in here,” Morgan said firmly enough. Challenge the situation, that’s what she would do at work. If she found someone wandering around A&E, she would stop them and press for answers.
The woman looked around again, still searching for an escape route, or checking nobody else had seen her?
It all felt off.
“I’m going anyway.” She smiled, calmly turning away.
Morgan didn’t move at first. Waiting to see if the woman changed her mind. When she was several feet ahead, Morgan followed. The woman was almost at the door when Morgan spotted Jessie up ahead. She waved at him until she got his attention, and then pointed towards the woman.
His eyes narrowed as he shifted his gaze, understanding what she was telling him. He held a thumbs up and followed after her. And now, it was his problem. Morgan chuckled and headed back.
Alex took the stage and went through the quick sound check with the piano, instructing stagehands and technicians, while Morgan sat quietly next to Francine in a pew three rows back, just watching and enjoying the opportunity to study Alex this way.
“How she doing?” Francine asked when Alex stopped playing to speak to someone on the controls.
“I think she’s fine, considering. Yesterday’s panic attack was—” Morgan pulled a face.
Francine nodded. “Scary as fuck? Yeah, I’ve never seen her like that before.”
“Hm.”
Francine shook her head. “She rarely talks to me, just tells me occasionally when she’s had one.” She turned to face Morgan. “I was hoping it was all behind her. She hadn’t had one for a while, or at least, she hadn’t told me about it. It was my fault before. I set it off inadvertently, I didn’t think and said something about a coach and—"
Morgan nodded. “I don’t think we ever stop having the trauma, but I’m thinking maybe a new therapist could help some more?”
Rolling her eyes, Francine grimaced. “She won’t do more therapy. I’ve tried with that; she just resolutely refuses.”
