“Happy New Year, Paul. Have you got five minutes?”
“As long as you are going to tell me you’ve had a change of heart about leaving over the break.”
I could tell by his expression that he wasn’t really expecting me to take anything back.
“Yes, well about that. I really haven’t changed my mind. And I think I might have sorted out another job in New York. And it’s just going to take a lot of organization to move and adjust and sort everything here and as it’s the beginning of a year, I don’t have much work to do at the moment and I was wondering if you could at all thinkabout whether you actually could see if you could perhaps—”
“Take a breath! You’re usually a lot more eloquent than this, Anna,” Paul said, grinning at me. “You don’t want to work your full notice period?”
I nodded.
“Is it a law firm you’re going to in New York?”
“No, General Counsel of Palmerston Hotels, I think. Nothing’s finalized yet.”
Paul nodded. “Sounds interesting, Anna. Well, it’s not a competitor and it is quiet in terms of work at the moment. We’re expecting a busy quarter though. Let me have a think about it and I’ll talk to some of the other partners and come back to you.”
“Thank you so much. Anything you could do, I would really appreciate.”
I practically skipped out of the office and down the corridor. That sounded hopeful. It would be great if I had news before the next time I spoke to Ethan.
Usually, the first week in January was all about catching up with colleagues and avoiding doing any work for as long as possible, but I set about compiling lists of things I had to do before I left. If they told me I didn’t have to work my notice, I wanted to be able to go as quickly as possible. My secretary was going to hate me because she was going to be ass deep in filing by lunchtime.
By midday I still hadn’t heard from Ethan, so I sent him another text.
A: Spoke to Paul. He’s thinking about it. I’m hopeful. I love you.
SG: Good. Hung over, speak later. Love you.
Hung over? Ethan was never hung over. Where had he been last night?
Before I had a chance to ask him, Lucy barged into my office. “A little bird told me you were leaving,” she said.
“Yes, that’s right.” I really wanted to be able to tell her that I was moving in with Ethan Scott, the object of her lust for the previous four months. But there was no point in making things difficult for Ethan.
“Have you been made an offer you can’t refuse? I hear some firms are offering twenty percent raises to move. Have you got a good deal?”
“I’m not moving for the money. I’m going to New York.”
“New York?” she spat out.
I nodded.
“To work?”
Lucy wouldn’t be someone from London I missed.
“And live, yes.”
“You have a job in New York?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I might be out there, too. I work so closely with Ethan that I’m bound to get the secondment I’ve applied for,” she announced.
I raised my eyebrow and then grinned because I’d caught that move from Ethan. “Good luck with that,” I said.
“Wouldn’t that be great? In New York together, doing the single girl thing?”
