Another burden lifted. Sarah sent a text to Millie, trying not to sound too anxious but asking her to get in touch.  Talking to Elena and understanding why Oliver had been so unreasonable made Sarah feel so much better so she decided to celebrate with pizza – her feel good food.  She wasn’t sure that it was such a good thing to have the local pizza company recognise her voice and her order, but it made her feel at home and so relaxed that when the door buzzer went, she pressed the button without checking who was there. She opened the door expecting to see her regular delivery man but instead, she saw Marta. Marta clutching the pizza Sarah had just ordered. Before she could react and shut the door, Marta had thrust herself into the doorway and stomped down the hallway to the kitchen.

“So! You surprised to see me, no? And I have your pizza and garlic bread.”

“Yes. Why are you here Marta? I thought you had gone back to Holland.”

“I go back and I wait for the show to be on. It has not been shown yet. I tell all my friends that I am famous but they don’t believe me. So, I phone the studio and I speak to a young girl. She tells me that the show will be on next month, but that is no good for me. I want you should show it now. I ask the girl if I speak to you. I say that you were kind and listen to me so she gived me your address. And here I am! And you have pizza which is my favourite! I shall stay here and you will get my show on the TV so my friends will know that I am famous and I am not the liar.”

“It isn’t up to me when shows are scheduled to be shown Marta. I am on the aftercare team, we deal with the social care side, not production.”

Marta was sitting at the table now, and stuffing the slices of pizza into her mouth.

“No, I have decided that you will help me. You are the social worker and it is your job to look after people. You must look after me and make sure that I am happy. I am liking this pizza. What do you have to drink?”

Sarah got Marta a glass of water and placed it on the table. She looked at it with disdain. “You have no wine, or at least a fizzy drink? That is not very hospitable, is it? I have come to you for help. You must help me because it is the law.”

Taking in a deep breath, Sarah pulled out another chair and sat down at the table.

“That may be your perception of the law Marta, it may even be the law in your country but although I am a social worker I am not employed by the state, just the production company that makes the show. My job is to provide aftercare and counselling to people, and in your case, it was to see that you were safely on your way home. There is nothing I can do to help I’m afraid and you have to go.”

Marta sat back, her face smeared with tomato sauce, her piggy little eyes made even narrower by the rising anger. She slammed her fist on the table, leaving pizza and tomato on it. “YOU WILL HELP ME! I demand it!” she shouted, and stamped her feet on the floor like a very large and petulant toddler.

“That will do Marta! Look at the mess you’ve made on the table!”

Marta sat back, stopped in her tracks by Sarah’s best authoritative voice.

“I sorry to make mess. I make clean?”

“Make yourself clean first please. The bathroom is second door on the left. I’ll get some things for you to clean up here while I’m waiting.”

“Sorry Sarah, I am sorry. I will go and get cleaned, then I sort mess and we call for more pizza? Yes?”

“Go on then, I’ll get the menu.” said Sarah as she got up from the table and walked towards the breakfast bar. As soon as Marta had gone into the bathroom, Sarah grabbed her keys and phone and was out of the front door.  Mercifully the lift was on her floor and she prayed frantically that Marta hadn’t heard the door shut. As she ran out of the building toward her car she looked up at the flat and saw Marta, outraged standing at the window. “Sorry Buster.” she whispered as she got into the car and locked all the doors. She phoned Al, who mercifully picked up the phone on the second ring. He told her to drive to the local burger outlet, which was brightly lit and populated at this time of night. He said he would meet her there and would also call the police. “Just get out of there Sarah. We don’t know what she might do.”

“But what about Buster?” Sarah wailed.

“From what I know about Buster he’ll hide away from her, and if she does find him, he’ll give as good as he gets.  Get a move on now please!”

It didn’t take long for Sarah to get to the burger outlet. Al was right, it was very busy. She went inside and ordered some food and a large hot chocolate. It was only when she sat down that she realised that she was still wearing the large pair of fluffy purple slippers she had put on when she got back from shopping. Mercifully she was still wearing the jeans and plaid shirt she had gone out in, and had her credit card in her pocket. Al must have driven like a madman to get there as quickly as he did, and she didn’t think that she had ever been so glad to see anyone as she was him at that moment.

“Are you alright? She didn’t hurt you, did she?”

“Well, she ate my pizza.”

“I’ll buy you another.”

“It’s okay. I’ve had a burger now. What are we going to do?”

“I’ve arranged for us to meet the police back at the flat. Leave your car here for now, we can collect it later.”

By the time Al and Sarah got back to the car park, two patrol cars with flashing blue lights were parked outside the entrance. Sarah handed over her keys and sat in one of the cars whilst Al and the police went upstairs to the flat. Her phone rang a few moments later. It was Al.

“She’s not here. Buster is though, and he doesn’t like policemen much. I’ll come down for you, we need to know if she took anything and what she said to you exactly.”

Al came down to collect Sarah and whilst a couple of the policemen checked out the rest of the building in case Marta was hiding elsewhere, Sarah went through the details of Marta’s visit. The only thing that was missing from the flat was Sarah’s beloved laptop. She felt like crying when she realised it was gone.

“My whole life is on that laptop. She has access to everything about me, my friends, my job, my family.”

“Is it password protected?” asked Al.

“Yes, the chap from the shop was adamant about that. Oh! I just remembered something else! It has a tracker. The thing is in the laptop bag, she didn’t take that too, did she?”

“She just took the laptop from what I can see, the power lead and the mouse are still here. Where do you keep the bag?”

“Under the table. Oh, thank goodness, it’s still here and here’s the tracker thing. do you know how it works?”

“No, but these guys do.” Al handed the fob to one of the policemen.

“Do you think she’ll come back? She doesn’t really know anyone else here.”

“It’s highly possible. Is there anywhere else you can go or someone who could stay with you?” asked the policeman.

“I can’t leave Buster. “

“I can stay.” said Al, blushing slightly. “If you want me to. I could sleep on the sofa?”

“You can have Tom’s room. I changed the sheets this morning. Thank you, Al. I’d feel so much safer.”

“Deal.”

He really does look a bit like Christopher Plummer, thought Sarah, and smiled.