“Well, I was planning on working in the evenings and doing emails from my phone, so nobody was really expected to cover me.”
He laughs. “Such a workaholic.”
“So are you!” I argue. “You stay late so thatIhave to stay late. It’s infuriating.”
“I only do that becauseyoudo!”
“Then stop,” I suggest.
“You stop.”
“I’llstop ifyoustop!” I quip.
Suddenly we both laugh.
“What are you suggesting? We form some sort of an alliance?” I ask.
“A leaving-work-at-normal-time alliance?”
“I wouldn’t trust you not to go back once I’ve left.”
James snorts. “Likewise. And by the way, you arewaymore likely to do something extremely petty like that than I am.”
“Ouch!”
“In fairness, since working at Starr, I’ve seen a lot less of my mates. I always try to make time for my family though. Do you think we really need to be at every weekend event these days? I feel like we could juggle the workload between us better,” he says. “Just feels like our entire summers vanish and then I’ve missed out on holidays and seeing friends whilst the weather’s nice.”
“I like being at every event, I want to go,” I say, unsure what he’s getting at.
James frowns. “Really? Why?”
“Because I find it satisfying to see what all my hard work has achieved.”
“You’re so strange,” he says with a gentle laugh. “Tell you what. Let’s make a deal. Neither of us stay at work past seven p.m. And on Fridays we leave at five.” James holds his hand out for me to shake. Initially I glare at it.
I really don’t know if touching him again will help the cause.
It’s hard trying to impress people all the time but maybe staying late at work is something we can both let go of. It would be nice to get out more. Maybe I could really try hitting the dating scene again. Be more flexible. Open to openness. With more time anything feels possible. I let the breeze ruffle my hair as a sense of freedom blows over me.
I take James’ hand and squeeze as he shakes mine. “Deal.”
Chapter Eight
James checks his watch and announces we’ve been walking for around three hours. There’s a growing ache in my shins, long and sharp, running up the bone. The part of my spine from my shoulders up to my neck aches from hauling the heavy bag around with me. We’ve crossed a few roads, but they were all abandoned, not a car in sight. I’ll give it to Michael; he’s really tossed us out at the far end of nowhere.
The terrain here is much sturdier. We’ve joined what looks like an actual, real human-formed rocky path crossing a green landscape, its sharp, thorny shrubbery thick and scattered about at random. Some of the bushes have pretty little red berries growing on them and I’m tempted to pick them as the protein bars are already boring me to death. But it’s not worth getting poisoned. Especially all the way out here. I miss meals, and unlimited teas, coffees, biscuits, gravy, chips! It’s only been a day.
Thankfully the sky is a bright grey where the sun is pushing through the layer of thin cloud, but there’s no rain. Not yet at least. The temperature is fresh, and manageable during the day with my sweatshirt on.
We stop by a river that’s approximately ten metres wide, flowing fast through the valley, slashing and spraying as it hits the rocks embedded in the riverbed. I lean down at a calmer part to fill my water bottle.
“Is it time to panic yet?” James asks, holding up the clear bottle of vodka he’s slid out of his bag.
I walk back to where he’s perched on a soft bank of grass, taking a seat beside him. “I don’t know… Do you think I should check if I’ve got signal?”
“Worth a try.”
I open the back compartment sliding out my trusty pal. I turn it on and wait to see if any bars appear. After a few minutes it’s clearly not going to happen. “Guess I should turn it off again.”
