Chapters (156)
- A DATE WITH DEATH
- Also by Mark Roberts
- A Date With Death
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- The Past
- 1977
- Day OneWednesday, 1st December 2021CatoptrophobiaFear of mirrors
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- The Past
- 1979
- Day TwoThursday, 2nd December 2021OneirophobiaFear of dreams
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- The Past
- 1980
- Day ThreeFriday, 3rd December 2021MonophobiaFear of being alone
- 53
- 54
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- 60
- 61
- 62
- 63
- 64
- 65
- 66
- 67
- 68
- 69
- 70
- 71
- 72
- 73
- 74
- 75
- 76
- 77
- 78
- 79
- 80
- 81
- 82
- 83
- 84
- 85
- 86
- 87
- 88
- 89
- 90
- 91
- 92
- 93
- 94
- 95
- 96
- 97
- 98
- The Past
- 1982
- Day FourSaturday, 4th December 2021ThanatophobiaFear of Death
- 99
- 100
- 101
- 102
- 103
- 104
- 105
- 106
- 107
- 108
- 109
- 110
- 111
- 112
- 113
- 114
- 115
- 116
- 117
- 118
- 119
- 120
- 121
- 122
- 123
- 124
- 125
- 126
- 127
- 128
- 129
- 130
- 131
- 132
- 133
- 134
- 135
- 136
- 137
- About the Author
- An Invitation from the Publisher
The doors closed and the short descent began in a confined wood-panelled space that reminded her of the interior of the coffin in which her mother had been laid to rest in their front room in the days between her sudden death and her funeral all those years ago.
The lift sighed to a halt as it reached the ground floor, and the bell that accompanied the end of a short descent announced the arrival of the boss. Beyond the lift, in the open-plan office at the front of the building, there was some laughter in the chorus of animated voices.
Good, she thought. Happy agents sell houses.
She wheeled herself out of the lift and into the office at the front of the premises where five people were busily employed on telephones and at laptops, and Francesca Christie was engaged in a meeting with a young couple at her desk near the window.
Norma smiled into the room.
‘Norma…’ Daniel Ball, the office manager, stood up at his desk. ‘I’ve just finished the sums. We’ve hit our target for November and we have more on top of it. Twenty per cent, to be precise.’
She threw a smattering of applause into the room and gave a double thumbs up, making eye contact with everyone except Fran, whose back was turned to her. Pleasure pulsed through Norma as she looked at her employees and she felt a strong sense of belonging.
You’re like family to me, she thought. The sons and daughters I never had. Immediately there was a counter voice inside her head. Family is pain, Norma.
‘Norma?’ Daniel Ball looked and sounded surprised. She quizzed him silently with a look. ‘You just said to me Go away, Norma!’
She smiled. ‘I’m sorry. It wasn’t aimed at you, Daniel. I was thinking out loud. Same as usual then. Pick an evening when you’re all free, decide where you want to go and as soon as we shut up shop, I’ll take you all for a meal. All on me of course. As per usual.’
‘Norma,’ said the office manager, pointing at Francesca Christie.
She recalled that Fran had closed down a deal on a three-bedroom terraced house in Newcastle Road. ‘It’s largely been down to her,’ said the office manager, quietly.
‘Maybe so, but Fran doesn’t live or work in a vacuum.’
Norma pointed to the notice she’d had specially made for the office.
IT’S THE TEAM THAT MAKES THINGS HAPPEN
‘Thank you,’ she said as she wheeled herself to the automated doors at the front of her estate agency. ‘You’ve made my day. Again. Pass it on.’
‘Norma?’ She heard a well-meaning note in Daniel’s voice and guessed what was coming next. He stepped in front of her. ‘Wouldn’t it be easier, better for you if you had an electric wheelchair?’