‘It’s bloody hard work,’ said Sam. ‘I’ll tell you that much.’
‘It’s not really what I expected,’ said Tammy. ‘I mean, I’ve spoken to people, I watched all the vlogs and read blogs online, you know, “A Day in the Life of a Trainee”, and all that, but it can never really prepare you for the real thing.’ Tammy had come to law late, like Libby, after working in finance for several years. Sam, on the other hand, was fresh out of a law conversion following university. She was quite a few years younger, but you wouldn’t know it from talking to her, or from outward appearance.
‘There’s a lot to learn in a very short space of time,’ agreed Libby.
‘I’m sure the next few weeks will get easier now we’ve got the first three under our belts,’ said Sam. ‘I’m so used to being a student, I can’t quite believe I’m actually employed!’
Libby laughed, ‘Oh to be young and in your first job! You’re so much more sorted than I was at your age. I think I was temping at a magazine right about now.’
‘So girls,’ Tammy leant forwards. ‘Jane, what do you reckon? Total bitch? Or actually nice underneath that ice-queen exterior?’
‘Total bitch, definitely,’ voted Sam.
‘I’m not sure,’ said Libby. ‘I didn’t warm to her instantly. She is so inexpressive, it’s hard to figure out what she’s thinking. When I give her something to read over it could be the best thing or the worst thing that she has ever read – you’d never know by looking at her. She gives absolutely nothing away.’
‘She could try smiling every once in a while; it might lift the mood of the office somewhat!’ Tammy had definitely taken against their supervisor. She certainly was the polar opposite of Tammy’s warm, sunny disposition.
‘We’ve got to keep her on side, though. She’ll be the one to evaluate our performance over the next six months. And she’ll have a say in which seat we get next.’
‘Exactly. We need to win her over, somehow.’
The conversation soon moved away from work and on to their personal lives.
‘So I see you have a stonking great ring on your finger,’ said Sam. ‘When’s the big day?’
Tammy laughed. ‘I am engaged, yes, but we haven’t set a date for the wedding yet. We aren’t in any particular rush and I think I’m going to be too busy to start planning a wedding any time soon!’
‘Who is the lucky guy?’ asked Libby.
‘He’s called Jake. We met at my last job in the City. He’s pretty great!’
‘What about you Sam?’ Libby asked. ‘Do you have a partner?’
‘No… not right now. I broke up with my ex-girlfriend last year.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,’ said Tammy.
‘No, it was the right thing. It had run its course and the feelings were pretty mutual.’
‘Are you looking to meet someone new?’ asked Libby, always looking for an opportunity to matchmake.
‘No, not really. I just want to focus on my career for a while. Do you have a partner, Libby?’ she asked. Libby told them how she and Luca had met that summer in Italy.
‘What a romantic story!’ said Tammy. ‘A real Italian romance!’
‘I suppose it is rather,’ laughed Libby. If only they knew the whole story!
Tammy and Sam decided to stay and order food; they had both had several drinks by this stage and were getting rather merry. Libby made her excuses and left, unwilling to risk the smell of cooked food setting her off on another bout of retching.
By week ten the nausea had begun to settle down, leaving only the residual tiredness and a new side-effect of extreme bloating. She had to wear baggy tops and loose-fitting dresses to stop anyone from noticing her stomach at work; her boobs had already gone up by an entire cup size. By now the baby was apparently the size of a kumquat. Libby had had to use Google to find out exactly what a kumquat was.
That weekend her mum was up in London. She was going to the theatre with a group of friends on Saturday evening. As always when Miriam came to London, she stayed the night with Libby. Having been delayed on the train coming in from Kent, she had arrived at around tea-time and gone out fairly swiftly. She had her own set of spare keys, so Libby had gone to bed and left her to let herself in after the show. The next day they had breakfast together. Having warned Luca not to mention the ‘p’ word the previous day, she and Miriam had talked to him after breakfast. Miriam was fascinated by the ‘modern technology’ that allowed them to talk face to face, and was delighted to be able to meet her daughter’s boyfriend, albeit virtually.
There were only two weeks left until her scan, until she would see Luca. Now that she had reached ten weeks, the chances of miscarriage had dropped quite considerably. Having been utterly convinced the pregnancy wouldn’t work out, it seemed she was perhaps going to be proven wrong. Libby had decided that she had better confess the truth of her predicament to her mother.
‘Mum, I’ve got something to tell you and you aren’t going to like it,’ she said. She was arm in arm with her mother as they walked around the common, soaking up the morning sun.
‘Oh dear,’ Miriam replied. ‘That sounds rather ominous.’
