Page 17

RORY: On it.

When Laurie woke the next day, she lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. She was sore in places she’d forgotten existed. That brought a smile to her face, but it soon fell off and disappeared into the aching hole in her chest. Ben. It all seemed like a dream. An experience too perfect to be true. Had he abandoned her? Or was he escorted out as they had been? She sighed and got out of bed. It didn’t matter anymore. She would never see him again.

As she cleaned her flat, she decided her thirties would be different. From Monday, she was going to put some proper boundaries in place, starting with arriving at her contracted time of nine, rather than opening up the building at seven thirty. Her colleagues were going to get a big shock when she no longer picked up their slack. And if she couldn’t get a promotion at Somerset Snax, she’d finally leave.

When she strolled into the office at eight fifty-nine on Monday morning, Laurie’s heart was thumping like a rebellious teenager attempting to get away with wearing make-up to school. Everyone was staring at her.

‘You all right, Laurie?’ asked Nathan with a frown.

She smiled. ‘Great, thanks. How was your weekend?’

‘Cool, cool, we had an engagement party on Saturday.’

‘Lovely,’ replied Laurie, sitting down at her desk and firing up her computer. She could hear Stacie hissing across the office at her fiancé.

‘Er, it was a family thing, you know?’

Laurie pretended to be distracted with the contents of her bag.

‘Anyway,’ Nathan ploughed on. ‘Where were you this morning? I got a call from Baz to say you hadn’t opened up. Stace and I were, um, sleeping, and he woke us up.’

Pull up your big girl pants, drink a can of woman-up, grow a pair and rip this plaster off. Laurie took a big breath and turned to look at Nathan, a guileless smile on her face. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her.

‘I slept in, too. I didn’t think there would be a problem as my hours are nine to five? I’ve also been thinking. I’ve been taking on too many tasks outside of my job description. I don’t want you as the operations director to get into trouble. And I’m concerned about Mr Phillips falling foul of employment law or the HSE. So it’s best for all concerned if I go back to the admin tasks I’m contracted to do.’

The room was silent, but the air crackled with energy, as fifteen people worked out how much time each day they would now have to divert from watching cat fail videos online.

‘But, er, um,’ stammered Nathan.

Whilst Laurie wanted to sit back and enjoy seeing Nathan’s brain get pushed past tolerance, she also wanted to make it clear this conversation was over. So, she picked up a big pile of paper, leaned over her desk and put it on the one opposite her.

‘Greg, I’m not going to be able to do these reports for you any more as I can’t without an ACA qualification. It would be terrible if I made a mistake and you were blamed.’

Greg’s mouth hung open and a half-eaten crisp fell out. The packet dropped out of his hand to the table.

Laurie picked up the phone on her desk and dialled. ‘Good morning, this is Lauren Dover, the admin assistant at Somerset Snax. Our photocopier is playing up and I wondered if I could arrange for someone to come and take a look at it?’

The next hour was excruciating. Laurie finished her tasks for the entire week in a blur of activity, then panicked about how to fill the rest of her time. She was starting an inventory of every biro when the door opened and the owner walked in. She hadn’t seen Mr Phillips in months. Each time he appeared, he looked frailer; but this morning there was a different air about him. He looked lighter, happier. As if he’d decided to press pause on his shuffle to the grave, so he could try out ballroom dancing.

Nathan leapt to his feet. ‘Bob! Great to see you. To what do we owe the honour of this visit? Would you like a cup of tea? Laurie! Tea for Mr Phillips. One milk, two sugars.’

Bob Phillips patted Nathan on the arm. ‘Laurie knows it’s white, no sugar, don’t you, love?’ He winked at her. She smiled and went to the kitchen.

When she returned, the room was filled with the entire staff of Somerset Snax. She handed Bob his tea, then went to stand at the back.

‘So,’ he began. ‘I’ve been spending some time talking it over with Sue, and we’ve decided it’s time. I’m selling the business.’

A shocked gasp rippled around the room and Bob put his hands up.

‘This is all for the better. The new owner is young and excited about taking this company to the next level. I think all of us know this has been long overdue.’

‘Er, when is this happening?’ stuttered Nathan, clearly out of the loop.

Bob clapped his hands together. ‘Today! He’s due any minute. I want to introduce him to everyone.’

On cue, the doorbell rang.

‘Wait there!’ Bob exclaimed, like a magician about to pull the rabbit out of the hat. He walked out the door, and the room broke into a frenzied murmur of conversation Laurie wasn’t part of. She was glad for Bob. It was the right decision for him and the company. Hopefully the new owner would get everything back on track.