Page 109 of Second Chance Summer
‘Operational director? My own PA? I can’t wait to share this news.’
‘With Jakob?’
‘No – well, yes – but first of all with my nanna. She willnotbelieve this.’
‘Good. Have a think overnight – discuss it with your nanna if you want – and then we’ll draw up a contract.’ She stood up. ‘Shall we have a professional hug?’
He hugged her and almost danced with glee. ‘I think I’ll make it mandatory every morning for the whole team.’
‘Er, I’d give that one some further thought,’ Lily said, slightly dismayed.
He heaved a sigh of relief. ‘Well, this conversation has gone a lot better than I expected. For one horrible moment, I thought you were going to tell me you’d decided to jack it all in and live on Stark.’ He laughed and almost waltzed out of the office. ‘See you later.’
When Richie had gone, Lily sat back in her chair. She curved her fingers around the mouse and scrolled through the first few of hundreds of emails she still hadn’t replied to. Most didn’t need a response, some needed a few words. Others were too complicated to deal with – or could be passed on to the team.
Richie brought her a decaf latte and she tried hard to focus but soon she had to get away from the screen. Coffee in hand, she walked to the window, gazing out over the rooftops and streets where red buses queued with black cabs, vans and cars. In the distance, spires and skyscrapers broke the skyline, shimmering in the city haze.
Outside her cocoon in the main office, she could hear the click of fingers on keyboards, phones ringing, low chatter and the occasional burst of laughter. Actually, not that occasional. She was sure there was more laughter than before she’d left, or was she only noticing now she wasn’t trapped inside her own bubble?
She answered more emails and diarised meetings with her digital manager and marketing director to discuss their views on the supermarket deal. At lunchtime, she took hersandwiches into the nearby park and called her mother who was so surprised to hear from her in the middle of the working day that she answered the phone with: ‘Lily! Oh my God, what’s happened now?’
‘Nothing. It’s just a call to say – to say I love you. Dad too.’
‘Oh. Oh, I love you too. We both do and we’ll see you at the weekend. Are you sure you’re OK, sweetheart?’
‘Fine. Like I said, it’s a social call and to tell you how much I’m looking forward to seeing you both.’
Sweetheart. Lily’s mum hadn’t called her that in a long time. Or if she had, Lily hadn’t heard it … perhaps she hadn’t been listening, just like she hadn’t heard the laughter in the office before.
She shook her head. Next thing you knew, she’d be taking off her shoes and walking barefoot on the grass, communing with nature. Or perhaps not, with all the duck poo around …
Laughter bubbled up and out, causing a young boy on a scooter to stare and give her a wide berth.
While she was on a roll, she’d had a better idea: she could call Sam via the café.
As she dialled, she gave silent thanks for one city benefit: the luxury of – mostly – a strong mobile signal everywhere. Excitement and nerves bubbled; what if, by some chance, he happened to be in the café and Elspeth would put her through and she would hear that gorgeous deep Scilly accent again.
The phone rang and rang.
Lily grew twitchy. Was this such a good idea? She was about to cut the call when someone finally picked up.
‘Oh, hello, Elspeth!’ she said in relief.
‘This is Barney,’ the speaker said in a New Zealand accent. ‘Who’s this?’
‘It’s Lily. I was hoping to speak to Elspeth.’
‘Elspeth’s really busy in the kitchen right now. Load of Germans just arrived off a cruise ship and they all want bloody cream teas. Can I take a message?’
‘No. It’s fine,’ Lily said. ‘I’ll call b––’
The phone went dead.
Wondering whether to have a word with Elspeth about Barney’s customer service skills, Lily called Hell Bay House where the phone was answered after two rings.
‘Yeah?’
‘Morven, it’s Lily. I was wondering if Sam was at home.’
