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Kendra shook her head. “It’s an opportunity. I’ll be working on a range of projects spanning the country. I’ll get the minister to take a good look at what’s really happening to our planet, backed up with hard data, so she can lobby the government. If I do a good job, who knows where it might lead. At least I’ll be doing something more than picking litter and campaigning for biodiversity outside the county offices, which is the equivalent of pushing water uphill.”
“What makes you think anyone will listen to you? This is politics you’re talking about. It’s a closed shop and ministers only shift on environmental issues if they’re forced by EU legislation and since Brexit who knows what will happen.”
“Hey, don’t bust my delusional bubble. It might only be for a year, and I’ve got nothing to lose by trying.”
“You know what?”
Kendra sighed. “What?”
“You’ll be great. You can lobby from the inside and work your way up. That was always the problem with lobbying from the outside. We were too far removed and too small a group to ever be taken seriously. You’ll be the boss before you know it.
“Ha.” She wandered further up the road. “If I wasn’t working on environmental stuff, I wouldn’t work in an office. Can you imagine having the ear of the minister? That could be career-transforming.”
“From gardener to aide to the PM. I can see the headlines now.” Malee laughed.
“You jest. Watch this space.”
3.
SARAH THOUGHT ABOUT REECEand Abi lying intheirbeds, making themselves late for school, with every long stride into town. It was the same routine every morning whenever she worked at the London office. She would worry as soon as she stepped out of their terraced three-storey townhouse and walked through the garden square and past the embassy buildings on her route towards Victoria, where she would hop on the tube to Westminster. It wasn’t just the snide sexist comments about not being able to be a good mother while being a good politician that she’d been subjected to from colleagues that tapped into her guilt, though they’d never helped. She’d struggled to find the right balance, though others seemed to find it easy. If she was all in on one thing, something else slipped. But it was more than that. Being there for her children was something special and time-limited and fulfilling in a way the job could never be. She’d felt that tug at her heart whenever she left them more often over the last couple of years, worried that something bad might happen to them or that she would never see them again. They were growing up quickly and letting go was getting harder.
The mahogany dining table in the window of the antique furniture shop caught her eye with its elegant claw-like feet and polished surface. It would go well in her constituency home in Todmorden. Though she didn’t stop to admire the piece, it was enough of a distraction to claim her attention from her slumbering children.
She should be filled with optimism and hope on the first day back to work after the New Year. Instead, she had to look forward to the new researcher starting. She didn’t like change unless she was driving it, and the timing of Haley’s departure couldn’t be more inconvenient. The icy breeze whipped up as she turned from the shelter of the buildings and headed towards Caffè Nero. The distinctive coffee aroma and freshly baked pastries greeted her as she entered. Her cheeks tingled, reminding her of last year’s skiing trip. Brook said she visited Verbier every second week in February. Sarah wouldn’t be able to make it this year because her schedule was too hectic. The thought of not being able to get away left her feeling even edgier than having to work with a new member of staff. She approached the counter and took her reusable cup from her briefcase.
“Good morning, Sarah. Your usual?”
Tashia’s engaging smile and chirpiness fell hopelessly on the dreary atmosphere created by the silent commuters waiting for their morning caffeine hit while flicking through whatever it was that had appeared of critical importance on their phone screens.
Touched by Tashia’s apparent love of something, life, or early mornings, or her job, or maybe her inner world, Sarah smiled softly. “An extra shot, please.”
Tashia took her cup and got to work on making Sarah’s coffee with creative flare and great care. Sarah stood to the side along with the other waiting customers. There was some relief from the boredom when her phone buzzed and drew her into the comfort of feeling needed. She flicked her thumb across the screen.
“Hey, Reece. What’s up?”
“I need some cash?”
She sighed. “Can’t you use your card?”
“There’s nothing on it, and I have to get lunch.”
She wanted to laugh. “It got to a zero balance all by itself, did it?” was on the tip of her tongue, but in the interest of not riling him into a teenage strop, she refrained from commenting on his ability to spend money faster than water running through a tap without a washer. “Where’s your dad?”
“Dunno. Running, probs.”
Tashia placed her coffee on the counter and smiled.
“Thanks.” Sarah pinned the phone to her ear so she could pluck her purse from her pocket.
“Mum?”
“Yes, hang on.”
“One second.” She flicked her credit card at the machine and, as always seemed to happen when she was in a rush, it failed to register.Fuck it.She flicked it at the machine again, slowly this time. It failed again.Fucking fuck it.
“Mum?”
“Hang on.” If she had been at home, she could have sorted his problem without this stress. She inserted the card into the slot and tapped out her pin number. She took a deep breath when the payment went through, grabbed her coffee, and made her way out of the café. She wasn’t normally this irritated by small and insignificant things but returning to work after having spent a wonderful Christmas with her family the post-holiday blues seemed to increase her agitation.
