Page 83 of Friend of the Family

‘She’s Douglas’s new PA.’

‘You’re kidding.’

‘Nope. Grace has been fired and Josie is the temporary replacement. Apparently she impressed him at William’s party.’

Juliet puffed out her cheeks. ‘She certainly lands on her feet.’

‘By chance or design?’

‘You think she hustled for the job?’

‘It wouldn’t surprise me if she slept with him.’

Juliet didn’t laugh. ‘It was quick work if she did. We only got back from Provence on Saturday.’

‘Josie is the sort of determined young woman who can accomplish a lot in a short space of time.’

Amy took a sip of her drink before she spoke again, impatient for the heady kick that came with drinking spirits, bracing herself to bare her inner thoughts.

‘I think she’s got it in for me,’ she said finally. ‘I went to Douglas’s office for my Mode interview and she was there. And the look on her face – it was as if she knew she was unsettling me and was enjoying it. I lost my step in the interview, I couldn’t think straight—’

‘You’ve had the interview?’ Juliet said. ‘How did it go?’

‘It was awful, Jules. I totally blew my opportunity and it’s all because of Josie.’

Juliet reached over and put her hand on Amy’s.

‘Are you going to let some stupid twenty-one-year-old get the better of you?’

‘She’s not stupid, Jules. That’s what scares me. She’s tough, determined. She knows what she wants and the only thing standing in her way is me.’

Juliet gave a sympathetic smile. ‘She’s a kid, a little ambitious perhaps, stars in her eyes, but I very much doubt she’s out to get you.’

Amy didn’t respond.

‘Call Douglas, ask to see him again,’ said Juliet briskly. ‘Make your pitch.’

‘I tried that yesterday. He didn’t even reply to my email.’

‘He will. How are things with David?’

‘He’s still in the spare room.’

‘Awkward.’

‘I’ll say.’

They’d moved on from the silent treatment over the weekend, but they were still using the sort of clipped, over-polite demeanour usually reserved for tradesmen they suspected of ripping them off. Amy knew she was getting a glimpse of some terrible future where they were forced to tolerate each other for Tilly’s sake, but she couldn’t seem to back down, and the longer things went on, the more David seemed to harden from apologetic to obstinate.

‘How was she? On the flight home?’ Amy had dreaded asking.

‘Josie? She fell asleep on the way to the airport and we weren’t sitting together on the plane. She expressed some concern about your levels of stress, but other than that she seemed pretty unbothered by everything that had happened.’

‘Unrepentant,’ said Amy through tight lips.

‘Or maybe she felt she had nothing to be repentant about.’

‘The bra, Jules. The invoice for the necklace.’