Page 27 of The Little Board Game Café

Here she was, coming out of Ridley’s – on her way to Sweet Delights, probably, for a late lunch – right at the very moment that Emily was trying to hurry past the office doors unnoticed.

‘Hi.’ The attractive blonde woman stopped directly in front of Emily, blocking her way.

‘How are you?’ said Emily, wondering if Annie had got her claws into Peter yet.

‘All right. Under the circumstances.’

‘Circumstances?’

‘Peter made me redundant at the same time as you.’

‘Shit, I’m sorry. I had no idea.’

Emily thought back to their meeting in the kitchen and Annie’s red-eyes. Emily had assumed the tears were because she was still with Peter. Why hadn’t she thought to ask if her colleague was okay? They’d never got on, but, even so, she could have checked.

‘Two people on the manufacturing side are also going,’ Annie was saying now. ‘And the cleaner. Peter is using an agency instead. Must be cheaper.’

‘That’s terrible. Honestly, I didn’t know.’

‘Of course, you’re the only one who hasn’t had to work out her notice period.’

‘I see. Well, that was more because of…us splitting up, you know. It would have been awkward.’

‘It’s caused a bit of resentment, to be honest.’

Emily nodded. She could see why – and she did feel bad about it – but it had been Peter’s suggestion and she’d been relieved not to have to continue working there after the break-up.

‘And there’s no jobs to be had. I don’t know what I’m going to do.’

Emily had told the estate agent she’d be there at two. She glanced at her watch, just momentarily, hoping that Annie wouldn’t notice. No such luck. Nothing ever got past her.

‘Well, I mustn’t keep you. I can see you’re in a hurry.’

‘Yes, I’ve got an appointment. Look, Annie, I…’

Emily wasn’t sure what she wanted to say.

‘I…’ she began again. ‘Just take care of yourself, Annie, okay?’

Annie nodded. ‘Yeah, you too.’

Emily watched the stooped figure walking away, feeling quite unnerved by the encounter. There were no jobs out there. Unlike Annie, she was in the incredibly fortunate position of being able to buy her own business, albeit a small one. Yes, it was a risk, but it seemed wrong not to take that risk. Someone like Annie would give their eye-teeth for such an opportunity.

*

Nico’s was exactly the same as it had been a few days ago. Emily wasn’t sure what she’d been hoping to see really, when she’d arranged this second visit. Yes, it was still dark and dreary, but did it have potential? How on earth was she meant to decide?

‘I probably should let you know,’ said the estate agent, ‘that there have been other enquiries.’

Of course, she knew this was probably just a ploy intended to stoke her interest but it did the trick; his words sent her into a flat spin.

It was funny how you could be unsure whether you wanted something until you found out someone else wanted it too. And then, all of a sudden, you didn’t just want it, you were desperate to have it. The last portion of sticky toffee pudding that the waiter was carrying to someone else’s table. The polka-dot pinafore in Oxfam that another woman had picked up. And Kate once said it was the same with online dating. She hadn’t been interested in Toby from Leeds until he’d said that he’d met someone else and then she’d been inconsolable for three weeks, convinced she’d lost the love of her life.

Emily glanced round the gloomy café but it was as if she was wearing a virtual reality headset; she didn’t see the drab walls, the plastic cloths, the gloom. She saw the place as it could be. A few tins of white emulsion and better lighting would brighten it up no end. Fresh white tablecloths instead of those awful wipe-clean plastic things. Bunting, perhaps. Bunting had magical powers, transforming even the dullest of places. Well, it always seemed that way on Instagram.

Suddenly she was desperate to sign on the dotted line.

But she couldn’t. Not yet.