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“Ash, please don’t.” Alice’s voice came out tiny and too late as Ash turned to go.

She looked back to Alice and said, “You know where I am, okay?”

Alice nodded, her eyes following Ash as she left. The café door closed, and Alice’s shoulders slumped.

“There, that’s better. Now we can talk.” Fran sat back and cupped her mug.

Alice narrowed her eyes. “How did you know?”

Fran shook her head, a smug smile plastered to her lips. “Know what?”

“Where to find me?”

“Oh, you really do focus on all the wrong things, Alice.”

“How did you know I was here?”

Fran tutted and set her mug down on the table. “If you must know, I tracked your phone.”

Alice’s mouth fell open. “You tracked my phone?”

“Quite right. I like to keep tabs on you. It comforts me to know where you are and that you’re keeping out of mischief.” Fran chortled, as if it were a cute and perfectly normal thing to do. Alice’s jaw clenched as she stared at Fran, brushing this off like it was nothing. Fran slid the plate with Ash’s untouched muffin across the table.

“You had no right, Fran.” Alice’s voice came out in a low growl.

“Come off it. It’s only a muffin, Alice. Your little friend has gone, and I don’t want it to go to waste.” She shrugged and smiled at Alice, then between her manicured finger and thumb she plucked the raspberry from the top and popped it in her mouth.

“Not the muffin. My phone. You had no right to track my phone.”

“Shh, keep your voice down.” Fran glanced around.

Alice stood, her chair screeching across the tiled floor.

“No, I won’t. It’s stalking. You’re so controlling. I’m done with this, Fran. Leave me alone or else?—”

“Or else, what?”

“I’ll tell Jeremy about us. I’ll tell him everything.”

Fran laughed.She fucking laughed.The clipped, nasal sound sliced through the air.Has she always had such an ugly laugh?

“You wouldn’t do that.”

“Try me.”

“You’ll lose your job, and then where will you be?” Fran sat back with a shit-eating grin.

“I don’t care any more.” Alice snatched the muffin out of Fran’s hand, grabbed the one from her own plate, and left with Francesca-fucking-Dalton gawping behind her.

AMUSE-BOUCHE

EIGHT MONTHS EARLIER

Alice pored over the spreadsheet on her wide-screen monitor. Tiny numbers danced in front of her tired eyes as she tried to finalise the month-end accounts of T&D Counselling and Psychotherapy Services.

As Executive Assistant, the accounts, as well as anything else remotely admin-related, fell into Alice’s realm of responsibility. In other words, as their only employee, she performed the role of general dogsbody to both Truscote and Dalton. It could be worse. The pay was okay, and they mostly left her to her own devices, which was why she stayed with them. Well, it was part of the reason — a small part, but still.

Alice rolled her neck and glanced at the delicate gold watch on her wrist — a gift from Fran. 11:36; another forty-four minutes until Jeremy would be finished with his client. Hopefully, this appointment wouldn’t run over like the last one, and Alice could shut the office to take lunch. As if receiving the invitation to her thought party, her stomach rumbled. Last night, she’d congratulated herself on being thrifty by making lunch, but now, the soggy sandwich awaiting her seemed less than appetising. Perhaps she should treat herself to a flat white from Snoots.And maybe one of those delicious little pastel de?—