The Replacement Phenomenon, Page 4

  He walked in through the arch into their recently fitted kitchen. The white high gloss units were organised along walls decorated in a deep toffee apple red. A dark grey granite work surface and black bevelled tiles offered a good contrast to the bright white units and stainless steel appliances. It was an expensive looking kitchen but he was comforted by the fact that it cost substantially less than its appearance suggested.

  Jake sat down in his seat, facing the entrance through which he had just walked, with his wife on his right. His oldest son, Jason, sat at his left. James was facing him. All three of them were debating the cereal available for breakfast, and the benefits and drawbacks of the usual packed lunch versus the possible school dinner. The conversation would end, as usual, with both sons relenting and taking another packed lunch to school.

  His heart sank as he realised that this point yesterday would have been the last chance he had to look upon the faces of his family. He was grateful for a second chance to commit every detail of each of their features to memory. Realising that he had the chance to change the events of the day, he still thought that he would make the most of this opportunity to forge a lasting memory of his twenty nine year old wife, and six and eight year old sons.

  Amidst the usual breakfast chaos, Jake considered how he could change the course of the day's events. Things would have to start to change from breakfast. After a few seconds of careful thought he asked Amy, “Honey, how is your day looking?”

  “Well, let me check my schedule." She raised her right hand to the right side of her forehead and acted as if she was deep in thought. "I have an exciting day of housework ahead of me, with washing clothes and cleaning the kitchen being highest priority.”

  She made no attempt to hide the sarcasm in her voice. They all knew that she preferred the role of stay-at-home mother to that of a full-time worker. She had admitted to Jake previously that she did in fact find housework therapeutic. The two boys hadn't heard that and Amy was glad of that fact as she didn't want them deliberately adding to her 'therapy'. She enjoyed, to some extent, causing the restoration of cleanliness and order to their home. He found that a bit strange because he hated housework. He would of course help when necessary, but the idea of gaining any satisfaction from cleaning was certainly foreign to Jake. Amy, on the other hand, had always hoped to be a mother and home maker. This, of course, drove feminists nuts. Friends of Amy often said she was a backwards step for female equality. She didn't take any such comments to heart and considered her feminist friends to be missing out on the family life they'd want when it was too late to choose it.

  “I thought we could disappear for a weekend break somewhere. Nothing fancy, but just somewhere more interesting than this town,” he said, noticing the inquisitive looks in the faces of their children. “My parents aren't too far away. What do you think of us stopping by? I'm sure they'd welcome the chance to catch up.”

  Jason and James lifted their heads quickly and their eyes lit up. They approved of the idea of being spoiled by grandparents. His wife still looked like she needed convincing. The look in her eyes suggested that she wondered what he was trying to do.

  “What brought this idea on? It's only been a few weeks since we last visited them. Remember New Year?”

  “Of course I remember New Year.” Jake answered. Well, he remembered most of it. One or two memories were a little fuzzy around the edges, thanks to a generous helping of champagne from his mother and father. He remembered that there had been a party, and he remembered warmly greeting other family members, but he didn’t remember much more than that.

  “I just thought it would be better to set off this evening and stagger the journey to avoid traffic. There's a good but low cost hotel on the way where we could stay overnight, then we can visit them early on Saturday.”

  Jake knew he had the children on his side already. The prospect of generous, spoiling grandparents and a night in a hotel had the makings of a fantastic weekend as far as they were concerned.

  He continued, “But I think I'll just call them and make them aware that you would prefer to stay home and do the housework than-”

  “Don't you dare!” Amy butted in. “You know that's not true.” As she spoke, she knew that her defensive nature had made the possibility of a weekend trip a virtual certainty.

  "Well, that settles it then. Amy, if you pack the essentials during the day, we can load up the car and set off when I get back from work.” She nodded in agreement, and they all quickly finished off their breakfast of cereal and toast.

  Jake stood up and moved towards the door. It was also time for the children to start the short walk to school. It took them fifteen minutes to walk there, but only ten minutes to walk home at the end of the day. As with other weekdays, the family went in their separate ways, and within the space of two minutes, Amy would be left on her own.

  Jake kissed his wife, much to the disgust of his two sons, as he walked out of the door and headed for the car. Jason and James always tried their luck with a ride to school, but the response was always the same. “By the time you get ready and get in the car and I take you, you could easily have walked.” It probably wasn't entirely true, but the traffic was heavy enough to make it difficult to get to their school and to his place of work in time.

  And so another day had begun for his family, but he was determined to do better at the second attempt. He was going to make sure his family saw the end of Friday 30th January this time.

 

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

  It was approaching lunchtime for Amy. She had been on her own in their house now for just over three hours. She rarely let half a day go by without talking to her husband. With this in mind she picked up the phone.

  She stood there for a couple of seconds with the phone in her hand. Suddenly a smile crossed her face. She'd thought of something that would possibly bring a smile to Jake's face. Whenever she called him at work, she always liked to relieve any tension from stress that may be building up inside of him, with the aid of a smart remark as he picked up the phone. She was well aware of how stressed he became sometimes, and was always willing to try and lift his spirits.

  Amy dialled the direct number for Jake's office, which she knew well. It rang once, twice, three times. She thought he must have had a hard day if he was ignoring his phone already. Just as she thought that, she heard his voice.

  “Good morning. This is Jake, the Customer Services Manager for Nannotek. How can I help you today?”

  “I have a complaint to make,” she said with a grin on her face. “I hardly see my husband much these days because he's always dealing with petty problems.” The line went quiet for a few seconds. She thought he might not have realised who it was.

  “Hi gorgeous. How are you?” Jake’s reply came eventually.

  “In better health than you I think. I thought your idea this morning was a little out of the blue. What made you think of going away for the weekend? Why this weekend?”

  “I really don't know how to explain why I made that decision. I…” Jake paused again. “I just have a bad feeling about today. You know sometimes you feel like something is coming and the feeling just sits in the pit of your stomach?” It was a rhetorical question. She didn't respond and he continued. “I think we need to get away from this area for a couple of days. I guess you could say I had a premonition.”

  “A premonition?” Amy's response was riddled with cynicism. “You mean like a dream or something?”

  “Yeah. Something like that. Maybe I'm losing my mind or something, but I had a terrible dream last night that was so real. I lived everything from today already. The thing is, I don't think it was a dream. It was real to me. Some of the things that have happened so far today are the same as they were in this dream.”

  “Okay, you're freaking me out a little bit here. Jake, I love you, but you can worry me sometimes.”

  He didn't know what to make of that comment. Usually when people
said, “I love you but…” they would follow it up with some kind of insult, or put-down, like, “but you're a complete moron.” Maybe that was Amy's really polite way of saying it.

  Most times she didn't disguise her words behind flattery or flowery language. When she had something to say, she said it. However, when it came to people she really cared about, she tried her hardest not to hurt their feelings.

  “Amy, I'm thinking of leaving work earlier than discussed. Could you have the overnight bags ready for the car by about three? I'll aim to be home by then. We can pick up the boys from school and set off. My sister will be home this evening, so would you give her a quick call and see if it's okay to drop by there on the way?”

  “Okay. I'll leave some clothes for them handy so they can change out of their school stuff when we stop by there. I'll see you at three. I love you.”

  “I love you too.” Jake replied.

  She hung up the phone and gazed at the wall behind, thinking about the strange conversation she'd just had. A dream was causing him such distress?

  He'd never reacted like this before. In fact, she couldn't recall a single point previously when he'd mentioned anything about a dream he'd had. But whatever she thought might be strange, she'd be grateful for a weekend away from home. She set about preparing clothes and a small amount of food for the journey.

 

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

  Jake leaned back in his chair, placed his hands behind his head and relaxed his entire upper body, allowing his head to fall back until it hit the top of his comfortable leather swivel chair. The furniture within his office was one of the few things he still liked about his job. That in itself was a reflection on how little he cared about his job. He'd never say, “I hate this job. I'm only still here for the furniture.” Such a comment would bring with it countless strange looks and a large amount of derision from other employees.

  His office was mostly occupied by a large solid wood desk. He had insisted on solid furniture, rather than the poor quality covered chipboard items that spread through most modern offices like a plague. Good furniture was more expensive, but it was surely built to last much longer. Two matching wooden chairs were positioned on the opposite side of the desk to Jake’s usual position. The walls were decorated with random modern artwork that he was certain he could recreate if he ever had a few spare minutes and a paintbrush. Some of the artwork could probably be replicated by his youngest son too. Regardless of his opinion on the paintings, his office was a place where he could occasionally relax, out of the sight of other employees. At least, that was the case until another customer called him with another complaint.

  What an unusual day this was turning out to be. Even down to the smallest detail it was thus far exactly the same as his yesterday. Small things happened, that he didn't even really think about before. All of it brought the reality of the previous day's events to his mind. Events such as a secretary rounding a corner with a cup of coffee in hand, only to collide with Dave, a fellow employee, and to find herself no longer carrying that coffee. Dave didn't seem too impressed that she'd passed that particular burden onto his favourite shirt and tie.

  The phone rang at the same times as yesterday. Everyone had the same complaints. He remembered how he dealt with them. At one point he even “guessed” at the customer's complaint before they divulged it to him. If he didn't have such a terrible end to the day staring him in the face, he would have had a lot of fun with today.

  The little things happened in just the same way. His wife even said the same thing when she called. A typically long day was made longer by the fact that he knew what was going to happen. He was forever looking anxiously at every clock and watch that came into his view, wondering how long he had until the killers would be showing up at home.

  He looked up at the clock again after looking away for a few seconds. In two minutes, Dave, wearing a jacket to cover his once white shirt, would walk into his office and ask him about his plans for lunch. Yesterday, Jake responded by saying, “Surely you don't want to go anywhere dressed like that, do you?” Maybe he could do better with longer to think about it.

  Not long after he looked up at the clock, Dave walked through the door. “Hey Jake, what are you doing for lunch today?” he asked.

  “I thought we could find a nice trendy upbeat restaurant so people can see the fashion statement you're making. Just say that the shirt and tie are from a famous designer. You can wear anything outside these days if you can bluff your way through it.” Dave didn't look impressed. “Alternatively we could stop by a clothing shop.”

  He didn't know if his comments were any better than those of the previous day, but at least it was different. Just because everyone else did and said the same things didn't mean that he had to act the same way too.

  He picked up his suit jacket and, putting in on, said, “So will you be requiring a takeaway container for your lunch or will you just wear it back to the office?” Once again, Dave didn’t seem amused.

 

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

  “I'm leaving early today,” Jake said as he walked towards the door. People were generally quite relaxed about staff going home early, because they almost always made it up somewhere along the line. They used a system referred to by the rather unprofessional-sounding name of “flexitime”, which sounded to Jake like a TV show about Yoga. Utilising flexitime didn't stop Jake feeling uncomfortable for leaving over two hours earlier than usual, however.

  He had a quick look around as he walked. No sign of Frank. He wasn't going to be there for over an hour, but he wanted to make sure. He thought someone would have a way of watching him and would send Frank to him whenever he tried to leave the office. He may have upset their plans by using a different exit.

  He stepped out of the side door and quickly made his way to the car. He hadn't decided what he was going to do with those killers who would visit his house, or if he would even do anything. If they got the wrong house, they may realise their mistake by the time his family returned. On the other hand, what would be the point of going to such trouble if his family were likely to end up the same way on Monday? He couldn't finish work early every day of his life to protect his family. He had to see this through to figure out what he could do to protect his family in the future.

  Jake’s journey took him from the relatively new business and retail area named Morton Park, on a journey that seemed to show the history of Darlington. He would initially drive past a number of new office blocks, some of which had only recently been let to new businesses. Past those he would glance to his right where he would find a head office for a major mobile phone network provider. On the opposite side of the road was a glass-walled factory that had been left empty then reused as office space.

  Further from the road on which he travelled was the site of the former cigarette factory that had brought a boost to employment in the seventies. Several years had now passed since its closure, and the effect on other industries in the town was still evident. Abandoned factories were dotted along the roads in this industrial part of the town.

  Jake then passed a modern retail park before driving down a mostly residential area. The housing had been built between the two world wars when there was an urgent need for housing throughout the UK. The houses were typically semi-detached and had ample front and rear gardens.

  Half way along Yarm Road he passed a road on the right that led to the training ground of Darlington Football Club, who had gone from riches to rags in a few years, thanks to a millionaire investor who eventually left the club in the lurch.

  Jake turned right at the end of Yarm Road, and continued on his way home along Neasham Road. The houses suddenly became much smaller, newer and were set in a long terrace. On his right, behind shops and apartments, was a set of train tracks leading into and out of the Darlington train station. Darlington was of course one of the first towns to ever see a train. The first passenger train journey in the wo
rld used the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. The town continued to play a large part in the manufacturing of trains until the sixties.

  A couple of corners later Jake finished his drive down Darlington’s memory lane and turned left onto his home street, named Wymundham Way. He pulled into his driveway – this time without hitting his own gatepost. His wife greeted him at the door. She quickly brought out two small shopping bags and a medium sized suitcase.

  Amy always liked to pack for every eventuality. When they went away for a week, she would often take enough for almost a month. It highlighted the difference between the two. Whenever Jake went away for a couple of days, he took only a small overnight bag. He was very much a believer in travelling light. He was happy for his wife to be comfortable when they went away, so he allowed a reasonable amount of excess luggage.

  Everything necessary (and some things that weren’t necessary) had been loaded into their silver car. Jake looked at his watch. His children would be finishing school within seconds. It was time to leave to pick them up. They set the house alarm, locked the white front door, and drove the short distance to school.

  James was the louder of their two sons, and always seemed to be out of the classroom and out of the school building within seconds of the final bell ringing. Jason, the quiet one, always seemed to take substantially longer to leave. He often took so long that his mother wondered if he'd actually been locked inside. Sometimes what seemed like every pupil had left for home by the time he walked out of the doors. Occasionally she even observed teachers leaving the school before her son left the building.

  Today Jason was surprisingly quick to leave school. Maybe he'd seen his parents' car and wanted his friends to see him getting into their shiny new silver vehicle. Whatever the reason, everyone was quite pleased that he didn't take his usual amount of minutes to greet his mother.

  In less than five minutes since the car parked, the family were inside it, buckled up and ready to go. Jake started the engine and they set off to his sister's house, a five minute drive away.

 

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

  Lynn had only known about the visit of her brother and his family for a couple of hours but she was well prepared. Her small house was always neat. She couldn't bear to have it any other way. She had lived in the house by herself for the past three years. Initially the rent was reasonable, and in the longer term she realised the area was quiet and the neighbours were friendly. She had neither desire to move nor any requirement to do so, so she kept renting the house month after month.