Page 96 of The Way We Are Now

‘Jesus!’ I sat up, my heart pounding, my mouth dry and disgusting. I rubbed at my eyes, reaching for the remains of the cold tea and drinking it thirstily.

‘You OK?’ Gemma was at my side. ‘I’ve kept popping in. You’ve had a good hour’s sleep.’

‘I need to get home. I’m assuming Theo will come round at some point. Seeing as how I can no longer go to Holland Park.’ I felt stiff and disorientated as I sat up and then stood, before walking to my desk.

‘Give it ten minutes,’ Gemma advised. ‘Pregnant women have a tendency to faint.’

‘I’m not going to faint,’ I snapped. ‘I’ve never fainted in my life.’

‘You’ve never been pregnant before,’ Gemma said. We both turned as Claudia, the intern, popped her head round the door. ‘Anna, there’s a Sara Cleeves to see you?’

‘I’m not seeing anybody, Claudia. Make an appointment for her. You know how to do it… Hang on, isn’t that the woman who turned up unannounced a couple of months ago and then went without me seeing her? Walked out?’

‘I think it is,’ Claudia went on. ‘She says it’s really important and she’s sorry she left last time without seeing you.’

‘Oh, Jesus,’ Gemma said, ‘you don’t think it’s another wife of Theo’s come with a sorry tale?’

‘Who’s Theo?’ Claudia asked, her eyes wide.

‘Never you mind,’ Gemma admonished her. ‘Look, I’ll go out to reception and tell her you’re not well.’

‘She’s obviously beside herself about something, if I’d agreed to see her but then she ran off for some reason.’

‘Probably needed the loo. IBS, nerves or something,’ Claudia said, sagely. ‘I mean, I don’t like using a toilet for a number two when it’s a public loo – you know, not my own.’

‘You need to get over it, Claudia,’ I said irritably. ‘Right, show her in. She’s got ten minutes and then I’m off.’

30

By the time I’d run a comb through my hair and put on fresh lipstick, Claudia had brought Sara Cleeves into my office. She was tiny, blonde and very attractive, probably around my age and appeared nervous. She was dressed immaculately in an obvious, but understated, designer skirt and jacket and carried a very up-to-the-minute Mulberry bag.

‘Hello, Sara, I’m Anna Piasecki.’ I held out my hand. ‘Do come and sit down. How can I help you?’

‘Thank you.’ Sara sat on the edge of her chair and crossed her legs neatly before looking at me directly. ‘I know who you are.’

‘Oh? Right, OK.’

‘We did meet, many years ago.’

‘Oh?’

‘I was the same year as you at Leeds. I remember you from the union bar. You stood out – you were always campaigning for something – but not just that, you were incredibly attractive, bubbly, always laughing at something or someone. Charismatic, I suppose. I think my friends and I were all a bit in love with you; we always looked out for you in the library.’

‘Well, you’ve made my day, Sara. How lovely is that?’

‘You couldn’t be missed,’ she went on, ‘especially as you were going out with that student union guy. What was his name?’

‘Roddy.’ I smiled. ‘Roddy McClellan.’

‘I never understood what you saw in him.’

‘Utter pillock!’ I laughed. ‘Shallow – as I’m afraid I was at the time – I enjoyed being part of his crowd, I suppose. Thought I was at the hub of student politics. He was quite a catch for a first-year politics student.’

She smiled at that.

‘So, what course were you on, Sara?’

‘Well, I was actually at one of the Leeds teacher training colleges. My friends and I used to come down to the main university bars and gigs. So much going on down there rather than up where we were.’