Her lips looked softly pink and plump, somehow even more inviting than when they’d been unable to stop themselves on the steps of the club.
The wind whistled down the old mill house’s kitchen chimney and rattled the front door behind him. He had to get out of here or he’d fold like laundry. ‘I can’t…’ he began, drowsy with wanting her. ‘You understand what a gossiping place Cairn Dhu is. Word spreads so easily. Carenza McDowell managed to convince the town the repair shop was a hotbed for criminal activity in the space of a few days!’
‘Well, her plus a news programme and the same news article re-posted everywhere online,’ Ally countered.
Jamie persisted. He’d come here to make his point and he wasn’t going to fail now. ‘If we were spotted like this, even just talking as friends, it could be… misinterpreted.’
Ally stepped back. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, shaking her head, looking annoyed with herself. ‘I don’t want anything getting misinterpreted.’ Her voice had a tiny spike of bitterness in it, but it was soon quashed with the sympathy she seemed to have running through her. ‘Look,’ she sighed, ‘the last thing I want is to ruin things for you, with your application and everything, of course I don’t.’
She’d stared hard at him, eyes moving over his face. She was trying to act cool but it was clear she was steeling herself for what was, basically, goodbye.
She gave a forced smile, and there came an awkward moment where she reached for the latch to send him on his way, and for a split second he thought she was reaching for him, and he’d been about to say ‘screw it’ and risk it all for another hard kiss, but, caring woman that she was, not wanting to ruin his chances at becoming a full police officer, she hauled the door open, struggling with its weight against the wind.
She let him turn and walk out.
‘I’ll be seeing you around,’ he tried, and the weak words were caught in the wind and carried away.
‘Okay… bye.’ She slowly closed the door on him, still smiling thinly like a consolation prize winner.
From the other side he heard the latch clunk into place.
For a short while he just stood there, staring at the barrier between them, fighting the urge to knock again, before resolutely tugging up the zip on his jacket.
‘Shit.’ He let his head hang. ‘Shit.’
Hunching in the raging air, he trudged slowly back to his empty flat.
15
She’d hit snooze on her alarm three times already, except now her phone was making a different sort of sound. With a horrible jolt of realisation it dawned on her there was a persistent video caller waiting for her to answer. Upon peering closer at the screen through crusted eyes, she recognised the name Andreas Favre. The guy from Future Proof Planet was calling her out of the blue! Like the capable, confident, can-do grown-up she’d pretended to be at the interview, and even though she was only in a hoodie over her Scottie-dog pyjamas, she clicked ‘accept call’ before the cortisol hit any harder and she chickened out.
Andreas appeared, beautiful and sleekly blond, looking like some tanned tennis pro or someone in a toothpaste advert. He was in front of a vast window with a magnificent Alpine vista behind him. How did he get any work done with a distraction like that?
‘Andreas? Hi!’ Possibly a bit informal? She wasn’t sure what tone to go for.
‘I apologise for calling you without emailing first,’ he said in his lovely French accent. He wasn’t quite as composed as he’d been at the interview, she noticed. ‘I am happy to tell you, you are proceeding to the second round of interviews for the role of Blue Sky Thinking Tech.’
‘I… I am?’ She couldn’t help showing her amazement.
‘Yes, of course. You impressed us with your passion. The way you spoke about community and hope aligned closely with our values here at Future Proof.’
‘Really? I’m…’ she was going to say she was astonished but bit it down. ‘That’s great news. Thank you.’
He was all business now. ‘You need to drill down to practical matters in this round. You are required to present a real-world community project scenario.’ Ally scrabbled for a pen and paper, making a show of efficiently taking notes, nodding, agreeing; all the while, barely registering what was required of her. ‘It can be any project you wish, but one you have been practically involved with, or one you’d like to roll out in the future. Outline the real-world steps you would use to bring the project together, showing how you use technology as a means to your project’s end. I’ll have V email the full instructions over in a minute.’
‘It can be anything at all?’ said Ally, her brain racing.
‘Anything. One word of advice? No tractor talk.’
She smiled in response to the sweet quirk of his lips at this. Stuffy, chic Andreas was capable of having fun after all.
‘HR will email a choice of interview dates.’
‘Got it.’
So Future Proof Planet actually wanted to see her again? Her. Ally McIntyre, the one-time recluse, working from home, pyjama-dweller with the chip on her shoulder.
‘And, uh, Ally, I wondered…’ Andreas was faltering. She wasn’t sure what to make of the change in him. He cleared his throat. A finger loosened his white collar as though it was suddenly tight. ‘We were wondering how your brother was doing?’
