Inevitably, the chat turned to work as they drank. ‘So, are we going to miss Annie?’ Ingrid asked.
‘Yeah, I will,’ Maria said. ‘I like Annie.’
‘Me too,’ Lou agreed. Annie had a somewhat stiff, aloof demeanour and could come across as cold at first. It had taken Lou a while to warm up to her, but once she got to know her, she discovered a fundamentally kind, compassionate person and she liked her very much. ‘And she’s decent to work for.’
Everyone nodded in agreement.
‘Plus she’s the devil we know,’ Ingrid said. ‘I wonder what the new manager will be like.’
‘Well, we know it’s a man,’ Maria said. ‘That’ll be a change.’
‘Yeah, it’ll be nice to have new blood around here. I wonder if he’s single,’ Teresa said. ‘There’s such a shortage of decent single men to go out with.’
‘Well, you know our boss is in the market for a girlfriend at the moment,’ Maria said with a sly grin. ‘You could always set your cap at him.’
‘Nah. If he liked me in that way he’s had plenty of time to show it. Besides, he only has eyes for Lou.’
Ingrid and Maria laughed, nodding agreement.
Lou reared back, startled. ‘No way! Aidan doesn’t see me that way either.’
Ingrid gave her a curious look. ‘I wouldn’t have said that.’
Lou frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I’ve seen the way he looks at you sometimes when he thinks no one’s watching.’
‘How does he look at me?’
‘Like he can’t look away.’
Maria nodded. ‘It’s so obvious. It’s like his eyes are Lou-seeking missiles. They go straight to you the minute he comes into a room.’
‘Really?’
At least she hadn’t been imagining things, thinking Aidan fancied her. But this was doing nothing to help her resolve not todo anything about it. It would be so much easier if it was just a one-sided thing on her part.
‘Go for it,’ Teresa said. She took a long slug of wine. ‘You have my blessing.’
‘You are single, aren’t you?’ Ingrid asked her. ‘I mean, there’s no chance you’re getting back with Jack’s father?’
‘No.’ Lou frowned, reminded of Rob’s visit.
‘What? You don’t look too sure. Is there some unfinished business there?’
Lou shook her head. ‘It’s not that. It’s just I had a visit from him recently out of the blue. I hadn’t seen him in ages. It threw me, that’s all.’
‘So you don’t still have feelings for him?’
‘God, no!’ Lou gave a harsh laugh. Then she did a double take. ‘Actually, that’s not true. Rage is a feeling, right?’
Her friends laughed as Ingrid divided the remaining wine between their glasses. ‘Another?’ she asked, lifting the bottle.
