‘Talk about what?’ Bridie asked, looking from Layla to Kate. Something was going on. Bridie came to a halt. ‘What’s going on?’
George had come running back with Barney and had overheard his sister. ‘Mummy and Daddy have split up.’
Bridie looked at her sister wide-eyed.
Kate glared at George. ‘We haven’t split up, George.’
‘So, why have you moved into Auntie Bridie’s bedroom in Grandma and Grandpa’s house?’
Bridie looked at her sister agog. ‘You’re back with Mum and Dad, in my bedroom?’
The look on George’s face tempered her slight feeling of smugness on hearing the news. George reminded her that Kate’s situation was very different from her own; whatever had happened, there were two children to consider too. Besides, Bridie couldn’t imagine Andy and Kate splitting up for good.
‘It’s not for long, George. We talked about this – remember? Sometimes adults need a bit of breathing space when they have a little falling-out.’
‘But my friends parents fall out, and they don’t split up.’
‘We haven’t split up,’ Kate said again. ‘And don’t look so gleeful, Bridie!’
‘I’m not!’ Bridie said genuinely. ‘At least you haven’t lost your job as well.’
Kate fell silent.
‘You haven’t – have you?’
‘It’s all her fault!’ George stamped his foot and glared at Layla. ‘If you hadn’t joined that stupid drama class …’
Bridie raised her eyebrows. The drama club – of course. Andy had signed the permission slip for Layla to attend Oliver’s after-school drama club, and then she guessed Andy and Kate had fallen out because Kate had decided Layla wasn’t attending after what Bridie had done on stage – the nail in the coffin for Layla following in her footsteps. Although her aunt’s embarrassing episode on stage hadn’t put Layla off pursuing her dream, it had been another reason for Kate to try and stop her.
But surely, Bridie reasoned, that couldn’t have led to this – Kate moving out of the family home? It all seemed a bit drastic. Any minute, Bridie was expecting George, or Layla, or Kate, or all of them to blame her.
Layla looked up from her phone and glared at her brother. ‘Don’t blame me! It’s not my fault Mum lost her job. That’s what they were arguing about – money.’
George walked off with Barney ahead of them.
Layla turned to Bridie. ‘By the way, I’m still going to the drama club. I don’t care whatshesays.’ Layla threw her mum a look.
‘No, you are not, Layla. I ripped up the permission slip – remember?’
‘Yeah, in a temper before you packed a suitcase and walked out.’
Bridie looked at her sister. She didn’t think ripping up Layla’s permission slip was a nice thing to do.
‘I wish I hadn’t agreed to come with George to see you today!’ Layla shouted.
Bridie expected Layla to storm off, but instead she hung back, texting on her phone, leaving Bridie to walk with Kate. ‘You’ve lost your job? When were you going to tell me?’
‘It only happened yesterday. There had been talk of redundancies. Then I was called into my manager’s office. I assumed it was the usual Friday meeting to discuss our targets for next week. Instead, I walked into my manager’s office to find two people from HR looking extremely uncomfortable. That’s when I knew I wouldn’t be returning on Monday.’
Bridie didn’t know what to say. This was huge. Kate was the main breadwinner. She would have to get another job as soon as possible. Although Bridie had heard that Andy intended to look for a job once George joined Layla at secondary school next year, he wasn’t qualified in a profession. Andy had previously worked at the local supermarket; he was very different to his high-flying careerist wife.
It had never occurred to Bridie to think about what would happen if Kate lost the income they depended on. She imagined they didn’t have a Plan B. Kate would never have expected to be laid off. Bridie wouldn’t have imagined it could happen either. Kate always worked hard. She was the last person Bridie expected the company would let go. On the other hand, she did wonder if her sister, who could be quite inflexible at times, took her attitude into work with her.
‘Oh, Kate, I’msosorry.’
‘What are you sorry about?’ Kate snapped. ‘I thought you’d be gloating, enjoying this.’
Bridie sighed. That summed up their sisterly relationship – or lack of. Bridie wasn’t gloating, but Kate had been when she’dheard about what had happened to her little sister, losing her fiancé and her career. She decided not to remind her of that fact.
