“Absolutely bloody not.” She balled the note in her hand, ranting under her breath as she paced inside, banging the door shut behind her.
“So,hold on, let me get this straight — you’ve somehow agreed to look after your noisy new neighbour’s cat, and you haven’t even met them yet?” Penny’s contagious cackle trickled down the phone line.
“No, I’m not looking after it!” Catherine reached the front of the queue and passed over a pre-made cheese baguette to the disinterested cashier. “Two secs, Pen,” she said, lifting her phone from her ear to tap it to the cardreader. “I just got the note under my door. I can’t believe the audacity. First, I get woken up at 4 a.m. with the Spice Girls of all things, and now this?”
“I wouldn’t mind being woken up at 4 a.m. by Geri Halliwell.”
“Admittedly Geri ticks a few boxes, but?—”
A dirty laugh bubbled from Penny. “She can tick my box any time she likes.”
“Really, Pen?” Catherine smirked and rolled her eyes. “Back to the topic at hand, I was going to say, who moves in somewhere and expects their neighbour, whom they haven’t even met yet, to feed their bloody cat?”
“You don’t even like cats!” Penny said through what sounded like a mouthful of salad leaves.
“Exactly.” Catherine wove her way through the lunchtime bustle of the Parade. “So what do I do?”
“Well, you can’t leave the poor cat to starve, can you?”
She sighed. “I don’t see how it should be my problem.”
“Look, we both know you’re going to feed that hungry pussy?—”
“Oh my goodness, Pen. It isn’t hard to tell when Loz is away.”
Penny released another filthy laugh; the infectious sound was what had drawn Catherine to her when they’d met.
“Well, I’m actually grateful to your new neighbour!”
“Why?”
“Because their little imposition has taken your mind off all that messy business with theDaltons for five minutes.” Penny crunched into something that sounded like cucumber.
“Yes, I suppose it has. Anyway, now I’ve got a busy afternoon of listening to other people’s problems, so it’s been good to offload mine to free up a little headspace.”
“Anytime, babe.” Penny pecked a couple of kisses into the phone. “Don’t forget to feed the—” Catherine ended the call, smiling as she buzzed herself back into the office, only to be confronted with the sight of Jeremy sitting in the waiting room with his head in his hands.
All the buoyancy she’d gained from chatting to Penny deflated. Jeremy sprang to his feet; his expensive suit hung creased on his tall frame.
“Catherine, you’re back! Stephanie didn’t know how long you’d be.”
Catherine gave him a flat smile and held up her baguette like a trophy. “I told her I was just nipping out to grab a bite. My next appointment is at 1 p.m.”
“Mind if I bend your ear while you eat?”
A loud clatter came from the kitchenette, followed by a string of expletives from Stephanie. Catherine drew a breath and widened her eyes.
“I asked her for a coffee, but she’s been in there for at least ten minutes; juggling the cups, by the sounds of it.” Jeremy’s attempt at levity fell flat. His normally bright eyes looked dull and tired, and his mouth sagged, drawing attention to his bristly jowls.
Catherine could feel pity creeping in and nuzzling away her annoyance.Damn it.
“Okay, we have twenty minutes.”
She strutted towards the kitchenette and poked her head around the doorway. The young receptionist stood slouched against the worktop, her jaw slack as she mindlessly masticated a glob of gum. Catherine cleared her throat, and Stephanie looked up from her phone.
“If it’s not too much trouble, we’ll take that coffee in my office.”
Catherine placed her baguette down, aligning it with her pen and mechanical pencil, both set at a right angle to her notepad. With a long sigh, Jeremy sank into one of the leather chairs facing her desk.
