Miriam strides over. ‘Hey, Charlotte, it’s probably not appropriate to grill work colleagues about their personal and health issues.’
Charlotte’s colour rises. ‘I was just showing concern. And anyway, Alice is a friend as well as a colleague.’
‘Thanks for the concern,’ I reply. ‘But there’s no need. I’m fine.’
‘Well, good,’ Charlotte says a little huffily. ‘Now that I’m being made partner, I want to make sure all our employees are fit, happy and healthy.’
‘Jeez, she’s not a racehorse,’ Miriam says.
‘Alice, you’re back,’ Paul says, walking over to my desk like he’s only just spotted me. ‘We weren’t expecting you until Monday.’
‘No, well, I was going a bit stir-crazy at home. Needed to get back into the office. You know I’ve never been very good at holidays.’
He nods and re-adjusts his glasses. ‘I’m sorry about the wedding. That must have been hard.’
I nod, wondering which version of events he heard. Seth cheating? Me cheating? Me having a breakdown? Alien abduction?
‘Must have been a bit of a blow,’ he adds.
Almost as much of a blow as finding out the last five years of my working life count for nothing, I want to reply.
‘Shall we chat in the conference room?’ he asks me.
‘Sure,’ I reply, feeling my blood stir.
‘Maybe I should come too,’ Charlotte says, nodding officiously.
‘No, that’s fine,’ Paul replies to my relief. ‘Alice and I have things to discuss.’
Charlotte purses her lips, nods and slinks back to her desk.
Miriam gives me a look of solidarity as I follow Paul across the office. This was not how I was expecting to spend my first day back. I thought I’d be catching up on emails and checking up on clients. Not hearing excuses as to why and how my work nemesis has stolen my promotion.
Paul and I sit at the large conference table at right angles to one another. He takes off his glasses and gives them a quick clean with a cloth from his pocket before replacing them on the bridge of his nose. He clears his throat. ‘That’s not how I wanted you to find out about the partnership,’ he says. ‘I wasn’t expecting you back until Monday so I was going to brief Charlotte to stay quiet and let me tell you about it.’
I take a breath. ‘To be honest, Paul, it doesn’t really matter who told me; it’s still a kick in the teeth.’
He presses his lips together. ‘I know you’re disappointed, but I have to think of the business.’
‘When have I evernotthought of the business?’
‘I know,’ he says, ‘but with your breakdown, I couldn’t risk—’
‘Um, who said anything about a breakdown?’ I snap, fed up with all the conclusions everyone’s jumping to.
‘Well ...’ he holds his hands out. ‘The wedding. I was there, and Charlotte said—’
‘Oh, well, if Charlotte said something detrimental about me then it must be true. I mean it’s not as if she’d have any ulterior motive for denigrating me, is it?’ I roll my eyes, knowing that this isn’t going to do anything to help my cause. Paul doesn’t do well with ‘scenes’ or drama of any kind. I should just try to stay calmand professional. But the problem is, I’m at the end of my rope; I couldn’t stay calm right now if my life depended on it.
‘I still really value you as an accountant,’ he says weakly.
I nod and get to my feet. ‘Thanks. Good to know how much you value me. Well, I think I’ll skip today and come back on Monday as planned.’
‘Oh. Yes, of course.’ He stands awkwardly. ‘I didn’t ask, how are you doing, Alice? After the wedding and everything.’
I give him a look of utter disbelief. ‘Oh, just peachy, Paul. Thanks for asking.’ I leave the conference room, grab my bag, and mouth to Miriam that I’ll message her later. As I walk down the stairs and out into the relentlessly bright sunshine, I feel like the weather is mocking me. We spend so many days complaining about cold, wet Britain, but now when there are these endless days of sunshine, all I feel like doing is hiding away in my room.
My phone rings and I rummage in my bag trying to fish it out. By the time I have it, the call has gone to voicemail. I walk in the direction of home and wait for a minute before playing the message:
