Page 8 of Somewhere Only We Know

‘So? What happened with Kevin after I left?’ I took the lid off mine to blow on it.

Anna put hers in the cup holder in the central console and we headed out of the car park.

‘We went back inside the pub. I got him another drink – coffee, before you ask – and he demanded a plaster for his cut hand. Honestly, you’d have thought it was severed at the wrist, the way he was cradling it and sucking it any time anyone went near him. I offered to drive him anywhere he wanted. Assured him that ShopSwift would cover all his expenses getting the keys replaced, et cetera.’

‘I’m sorry you had to deal with my mess.’ I did feel guilty about that; Anna would have had to arrange for someone else to collect her son from after-school club because of me.

‘He called his wife to bring him his spare car keys. She was fuming.’ Anna let out a giggle. ‘She was only little, but my God she had a good set of lungs on her.’

‘Poor woman, being married to him,’ I mumbled.

‘She took one look at Kevin, sniffed his breath and let rip. I got the impression it wasn’t the first time she’d been called to rescue him. Before he had a chance to protest, she’d frogmarched him outside and bundled him into her car. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in his shoes on the drive home.’

I conceded a smile. Whatever came next for me, at least I’d prevented another accident caused by too much booze and not enough common sense.

‘I guess I’ve cost us the business.’ I sipped my coffee; it was too hot and burned my throat. It felt like a penance, and I gulped again, blinking away tears of pain.

‘We won’t be working with Kevin Armstrong.’ Anna took a bend rather quickly and I grasped the cup with both hands. ‘The managing director of Vap-A-Rise called me last night.’

‘Oh God.’ I held my breath, shame pulsing through me. The managing director, Peter Rufford, was a sweet man. When he’d found out about Brontë, he sent me a voucher for a spa day. I hadn’t used it yet – I hadn’t wanted to book a day off – but it was a thoughtful gesture. ‘So Kevin told him what happened?’

Anna nodded. ‘His wife made him own up. Peter fired him for gross misconduct. Apparently, he’d been given several warnings about his drinking, and this was the last straw.’

‘Good.’ I didn’t normally wish anyone harm, but Kevin ticked all the boxes for reasons never to set eyes on someone ever again. ‘And the contract?’

‘It’s ours.’ She grinned. ‘Just the paperwork to sort out, but we did it, Maggie.’

‘Oh, thank heavens.’ I felt light-headed with relief.

We’d put hours into our pitch; the mood at work was going to be celebratory for the next few days. I hoped I got the chance to join in.

‘I got the impression that we may have even done Peter a favour by giving him a reason to remove Kevin from the company,’ Anna continued.

‘So I didn’t screw it up after all.’

‘Lucky for you, no.’ Anna slowed as we approached a queue of cars. ‘But your MD isn’t impressed with you either.’

‘Don’t fire me,’ I repeated my plea. Without Brontë, without my work, who was I? What was my purpose? What was the point of me? ‘I’ve lost Brontë; I can’t lose my job as well, I’ll … I’ll have nothing left.’

‘Maggie, that’s not healthy.’

She frowned, but there was kindness in her eyes, and I sensed that she was exasperated rather than angry. She took a sip of her coffee while we were stationary.

‘It gets me up in the morning,’ I ploughed on. ‘It keeps me looking ahead, without it I’d …’

I’d be forced to look backwards, to rerun every parenting mistake I’d made, relive every occasion when I’d lost my temper, and wish, wish, wish I could have those moments again to do better. I should have listened to my bright, funny girl more, and given her my words of uninvited wisdom less. And I especially should have given her the opportunity to tell me more about her gap year when it was so obvious that she was excited about it. But I didn’t want to say these things to Anna because I could see she was worried about the state of my mental health.

‘I let you down yesterday,’ I said. ‘But it was a one-off. I want to prove to you and to the rest of the board that when your dad retires, I’m the obvious choice to fill that empty chair.’

Anna’s father, our CEO, started the business in the eighties. It was one of the first companies to supply electronic cash registers to small retailers. Over the last fifty years Ron Swift and his team had moved with the times, always at the forefront of retail technology. Anna had worked in every department, learning the nuts and bolts of the business, making her way to managing director. Yes, she’d always known the top job would be hers, but she’d earned it and when she became CEO, there’d be a vacancy at director level. A vacancy I wanted to fill. As did Lee Masters.

‘You’re the best salesperson we’ve ever had,’ Anna said, as we reached the front of the queue at a set of traffic lights.

It was manned by a crossing patrol person wearing a fluorescent-yellow coat, holding a STOP sign. A stream of kids flooded into the road.

‘Thank you, I appreciate that.’ I felt the load on my shoulders lighten.

‘But as it stands right now,’ she paused to pull the lid off her coffee and blow it as I had done, ‘Lee is the one who has the stability and …’