Page 114 of Somewhere Only We Know

‘Sorry, a monkey stole my phone, and I’ve been too busy ever since to catch up on my messages.’

‘Ah, that sucks. Still, we’ve all been there.’

I grinned. ‘Coming from most people that would be a joke, but with you, it’s probably true.’

‘Listen, I’ve been watching the drama unfold on Insta with Brontë’s book and your travels and I might be reading this completely wrong, but I get the feeling that you’re never going to be satisfied with returning to the UK at the end of your trip and knocking out your nine-to-five again. Am I right?’

‘Er, yes,’ I replied, taken aback. ‘I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want my future to look like now that Brontë’s gone. I need to make some changes. I want things to look forward to and not wake up every morning with a feeling of dread that today will be as bad as the last.’

‘I knew it!’ She sounded triumphant. ‘You need a challenge and I have one for you. Now, I’m a lone wolf and I like to do things my way, but I like you, Maggie. I don’t think you’d annoy me.’

‘Thanks.’ I smirked. ‘What praise.’

‘You’re welcome,’ she replied without a trace of irony. ‘You’re as sweet as candy on the outside, but rustle that candy wrapper and boy, do you get a shock. So will you join me as a trustee of the One World Project? I want to expand our reach, in terms of services we offer in the Chitwan valley; but also in the future, I want us to open more centres in other places, maybe even other countries. And I need someone I can trust to help with that.’

‘If you’re offering me a position, your timing is impeccable.’

I told her about the call I’d had with Anna yesterday and how even though I still had a job, it wasn’t the one I wanted.

‘What? Get your lawyer onto them,’ she spluttered, indignantly. ‘That’s constructive dismissal. They owe you big time.’

‘I might like the new role,’ I countered. ‘I should at least give it a go.’

‘No you should not! They don’t deserve you. Ditch ’em. Do something that sets your heart racing. Tell you what, I’ll draft you a letter to send them, see if we can’t squeeze some severance pay out of those cowboys.’

She was absolutely right. ShopSwift didn’t deserve me. Why hadn’t I thought of that? ‘Thank you, I appreciate that. And to clarify, are you offering me a job?’

‘Yes. I mean the pay is terrible – by that I mean that it’s non-existent – but the perks are phenomenal.’

‘What perks?’ I asked, already knowing that I was going to accept her offer regardless. At some point I was going to need a job that paid the bills, but I had savings to tide me over while I worked out what that could be, and working with Tiff would be fun.

‘Well, let’s think,’ she paused for a second. ‘You get me emailing you all hours of the day and night. You’ll get your travel expenses paid to visit the project and you get to help me expand the project. And, of course, you get the heart-warming knowledge that you’re doing good in the world.’

‘Would I be able to have an input on locations?’ Such as Bali, I thought.

‘Sure. Absolutely.’

‘Could I help with fundraising?’ I’d never done that, but it required similar skills to selling and I could do that in my sleep.

‘Oh my God, yes!’ came the reply. ‘And you’re a big hit on Insta, so your first job will be taking over the social media.’

I frowned. ‘I wouldn’t say that’s true, but I could give it a go.’

‘By the way, do you ever check your Instagram? There are so many questions on your last post all waiting for answers.’

‘I will later, I’ve been offline for a while.’

‘Oh yeah, the monkey. Okay, I’ll get that letter to your employer done and the details of the trustee agreement drawn up and emailed over.’

‘Assuming I accept this well-paid opportunity.’

There was a silence which went on so long that I had no choice but to fill it.

‘I’d be delighted to become a trustee.’

‘Great.’ Tiff drew a breath. ‘Brontë was a lucky young woman to have you in her corner. And now I’m very glad to have you in mine. Take care in Bali – and no more monkey business.’

An hour later, Jackson and I, with his dog, Scout, were on the way to the airport in Denpasar. Scout, it transpired, was the reason he’d had to call home last night, because she couldn’t be left on her own for too long. Not a girlfriend, or a wife, but a dog. That knowledge alone had put an extra shine on my morning.