Deception

By Liesbeth te Boekhorst

Richard had everything he could wish for: a lovely wife, a well-paying job, a beautiful house. Richard had even more: an unhealthy interest in female beauty and the annoying habit of picking at other people's old wounds. One person seemed to have enough.

But who? Linda, the new neighbour, also Richard's former lover? Desiree, Richard's latest conquest? Joshua, the neighbour from across the street? Or one of the other people who were the victim of Richard's sly digs?

• Language: English
• Publisher: BadPress
• Release date: Apr 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781071598092

Book preview

Deception

Liesbeth te Boekhorst

––––––––

Translated by Elisabeth te Boekhorst 

Deception

Written By Liesbeth te Boekhorst

Copyright © 2021 Liesbeth te Boekhorst

All rights reserved

Distributed by Babelcube, Inc.

www.babelcube.com

Translated by Elisabeth te Boekhorst

Cover Design © 2021 J.B. te Boekhorst

Babelcube Books and Babelcube are trademarks of Babelcube Inc.

Table of contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

The conclusion

Chapter 1

––––––––

'Linda?!'

Damn. Damn it, damn it, damn it. Slowly, Linda turned around, partly hampered by the heavy moving boxes she was carrying, partly because of the shock of hearing that still familiar voice.

'Richard? What are you doing here?’

‘Well, I live here, don’t I? What are you doing here?’

‘Me too! I mean, I live here too. Well, since today anyway. But that might be obvious.’

Linda tentatively put the moving boxes on the ground. She took a good look at Richard. God, how old he looked! What a difference from four years ago.

In the meantime, he was watching her intently. Not embarrassing at all! What should she say to him? Was there anything left to say?

‘Just you?’ Richard asked.

Of course. Just like him to ask a question like that!

‘No, with my boyfriend, Martin. He will be here shortly, once everything is put in the removal van. I went ahead in my car with some boxes and other stuff.’

Now stop it. Don’t ramble on like a headless chicken. Linda took a deep breath.

‘Where do you live then?’

‘Next door.’

‘Oh.’

‘Yes. Who would have thought that huh? Us being neighbours.’

Yes. Who would have thought that. Four years ago, she would have given anything in the world to live in the same house as he. Three years ago, she would have given anything if he had moved to the other end of the world. And now that she finally had her act together, this.

‘Do you live there with your wife?’

Bingo. He reddened, obviously feeling uncomfortable. A sensitive topic. A topic she should have broached four years ago.

‘Yes. Well, I’ll see you around, then.’

Probably. Thoughtfully, she watched him make a hasty retreat.

After carrying all the boxes inside, Linda closed the front door and sat down for a while. This wasn’t good. She had been so happy when they found this house. After meeting Martin some two and a half years ago, it had taken a long time for Linda to build a normal relationship with him. She had had difficulties trusting him. Fortunately, Martin had had patience and perseverance in spades. Slowly but surely, the bond between them became stronger and stronger. They had talked a lot to each other in the beginning, and just the fact they talked to each other at all, that Martin didn’t have a problem expressing his opinions and feelings, and listen to hers, had strengthened her feelings that a relationship with Martin would be sound and solid. At some point, she had trusted him enough to tell him about Richard. She had told him she had had an emotionally charged affair with a married man, which had caused her a lot of heartache, guilt and doubts about herself. Her confession had been a real test. Would Martin be disgusted by her, not wanting to see her anymore and break up with her? Would he be indifferent?

Martin turned out to be a real hero. Not only did it make no difference to him she had had an affair with a married man — that had been a load off her mind — he had convinced her that her former relationships didn’t worry him. That he was glad she wasn’t stuck in one of her previous relationships anymore, so they now could be together. That he thought a married man, wanting to have an extramarital affair, should find someone like-minded, not a girl who was emotional and vulnerable at that time. And single.

Richard fed the key into the lock and opened the front door. Good, his wife wasn’t home yet. He wanted to reflect on his recent meeting with Linda undisturbedly. His next-door neighbour! Four years ago, he had been quite smitten with her, he had to confess. Not that he had been looking for a girlfriend. He was happily married, at least according to him. So was his wife, he thought. Of course, there were skirmishes now and then, but even the happiest of marriages had their ups and downs. But then, all of a sudden, Linda had come into his life. Linda with all sorts of problems, who so bravely tried to tackle those problems. Indeed, he had helped her with that. Richard chuckled. It had all happened so naturally. He had helped her find a job; she had come to work in the department he was in charge of at that time. And yes, then you will see a lot of each other. A couple of meetings, a few private conversations in his room, a dinner after work... She had told him about her problems, and the only thing he had done was to show understanding. Then there was Facebook. Facebook had to account for a lot. It made it so easy to chat with your ‘friends’. That was what he and Linda had done. One thing had led to another. He had been amazed at how easily she had fallen for him. He didn’t think he was that special at all. Offering a broad shoulder to cry on and a sympathetic ear made all the difference. Richard went upstairs to check his messages on his laptop. Two more emails from Desiree, his latest flirt. Desiree was fun, but she was starting to claim him very much. Linda hadn’t been half that possessive. She hadn’t caused any trouble when he had slowly but surely withdrawn from the relationship. Cowardly, maybe, but he hadn’t fancied any scenes. He was truly happy with Angela, his wife. There had never been a moment that he had wanted to jeopardise his marriage, not once. What he had discovered, though, was that the internet was a great way to get in contact with women. So was photography, a hobby he picked up after he was with Linda. And since, he had taken the opportunities to pick up various women for some extramarital escapades. That’s how he had met Desiree. She was a model, and he had done a photoshoot with her. The following day they had looked at the photos together whilst enjoying a drink... He chuckled again. With Linda, the euphemism had been ‘a cup of tea’, he remembered. Funny, it seemed he always needed something to clear his throat when he got involved with other women.

He heard the front door open.

'Richard? Are you upstairs?’ Angela had come home.

‘Yes, I’m upstairs.’

‘Are you coming down? I’m making coffee.’

‘I’ll be there in a minute.’

All sorts of drinks seem to play a significant role in his life. Things were starting to get complicated with all these women, however. What to do about Linda? What if she said something to his wife? If only by accident. And Desiree, he had to start breaking away from her. A pity, but it couldn’t be helped. Richard sighed. Let’s have coffee first.

‘Stop, a little bit to the right, yes, just a bit more, yes, that’s it, put it down.’

Martin put his hands in his aching back. Hard work, moving house! Why did people collect so much stuff in their lives? And why those impractical things such as that heavy cupboard they had just lifted into the removal van with joined forces. All the large items were now loaded into the van. There were some things left he’d rather not let the movers handle. ‘No sir, it’s perfectly safe. It’s our daily job.’ Well, supposedly so, but he didn’t want to take any risks with that vase that had stood for more than fifty years on his grandmother’s table. Not that it was a valuable vase. The value was in the memories he had of it. Every Wednesday afternoon, he had visited his grandmother, and every Wednesday afternoon, they enjoyed two cups of tea and two homemade scones each. With raspberry jam and clotted cream, of course. Every single Wednesday afternoon, except when he was away on holiday. And as soon as he entered her room, that vase was put aside so that they could see each other well during their conversations, facing each other at the table. The things he had told Granny. At first about his teachers at school, his friends, football, and later also about his various girlfriends. It was a shame Granny had never met Linda. Those two would have got along like a house on fire. Martin grabbed his mobile phone.

‘Lin, it’s me.’

‘Hello love, are you on your way?’

‘No, not yet, I’m still at the old place. I still have things to take care of, and then I’ll load the remaining items into my car. The movers have just left; they’ll be with you in about 30 minutes.’

‘Alright, I’ll see you later; I’ll be fine at this end.’

‘I didn’t doubt it, love.’

Martin put the vase and a couple of boxes containing other precious items into his car. The last tour through his old apartment. He was glad he finally would set up home with Linda. Although they had found the house of their dreams, he had had some doubts. But he just had to wait for how things would work out. He almost laughed out loud. Work out. That was what he should do more; this moving business showed him he was not in the best of shapes. He looked around one last time, walked out the door, locked up and got into his car.

Desiree put out her cigarette and immediately lit another one. A bad habit; she wanted to stop smoking. Smoking wasn’t good for her skin, never mind her health. And it would save money. She looked at the screen of her mobile phone for the umpteenth time. Not a peep from Richard. Should she call him? She had never done that before, at least not after the first time she had called him to arrange the photoshoot. Desiree had her eye on a career as a glamour model. Whenever she saw the TV programmes with those models, she thought she could give them all a run for their money. Tall, with long auburn hair, flawless skin and well-proportioned, she thought the model business would be at her feet. Desiree knew from watching the TV series she needed a portfolio, so she had looked for a photographer who could take some good, professional photos. That’s how she had come across Richard. It turned out there were about as many hobby photographers as there were would-be models, but Richard lived in the same town as she. He was friends with one of her friends on Facebook, so she had emailed him. Just to ask how expensive it would be if she wanted a couple of good photos. He had added her on his Facebook, and they emailed for some time. In the end, she had called to make an appointment with him in his studio. That studio turned out to be his spare bedroom. Although he was a fair bit older than she was, she had found