Page 55 of Happier Days (Family Life in Somerley #1)
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
On Wednesday morning, despite speaking to him on the phone an hour earlier, Ava had an ache for Jack and a longing to be back by Sapphire Lake, throwing sticks for Graham to thunder after.
Again, she dragged herself into work, but this time there was something different about her.
She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the conversation on Monday evening that she’d had with Georgia.
Her daughter had turned out to be a great listener and full of wisdom for someone so young.
Ava knew it was mostly down to her and Giles, that they’d managed to rear such a confident young woman who knew her mind and would go out and follow her dreams come what may.
So why had Ava let Giles turn her into someone she wasn’t? A shadow of her former self. When she looked at Georgia, Ava saw herself as she was at that age. Where had that woman gone?
She stared at her reflection on the Tube window as they hurtled through tunnels underground.
There she was.
She’d always been there, but Ava had forgotten. Now, being with Jack, falling in love, and reconnecting with friends in a community she felt safe and loved in, was all she wanted.
She’d just have to bide her time for now, until she’d spoken to Jack. He might not want her to move in full time so soon, but at least she had the flat if it didn’t work out. She had nothing to lose.
Brendon was waiting for her when she got in. Before she’d even taken off her coat, he was asking to speak to her. She sighed loudly, flicking on her computer before going over to his office.
‘I’ve just had confirmation of your next project, the one we spoke about on Monday,’ he told her.
‘It’s a quick start, this Monday coming, and you’ll need to be there for two weeks straight.
They want your help around a charity ball they’ll be running over the weekend.
Apparently, their organiser has bailed at the last minute, and I know you can do that sort of thing with your eyes closed.
It’ll be overtime for you, so more money at the end of the month. ’
Ava pinched the bridge of her nose. Was this really what her life would be like for the next few months? At this man’s beck and call, making him money when she could be banking it for herself?
She looked at Brendon, eagerly awaiting her response as if he’d handed over the Crown Jewels. She’d like to see his reaction to being told he’d be working out of the city for long periods, travelling the length and breadth of the country.
Either way, it wasn’t going to be her. She’d had her fill of Bateman PR.
‘No, I won’t do that,’ she said.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘I said no. It was barbaric when you insisted I work away at all when it wasn’t part of my job. And now you think I’ll work my weekends away, too? It’s not happening.’
‘I believe you’re going to sign a contract to say that it is.’
‘I won’t be signing anything.’ She folded her arms. ‘I suggest you advertise the job to someone who likes working away from home, giving up all their spare time for a man who doesn’t care about anyone’s welfare but his own.
’ She stood up. ‘This might be your business, Brendon, but for the past few years, Nancy and I have carried it for you, while you’ve sat there and taken all the glory.
We’ve covered up your mistakes, put up with your lousy manners and your crap time management.
Not to mention your…’ she pointed at his desk, ‘ability to pile work on us just as we’re going home that you’ve been sitting on for hours. Well, not anymore, because I quit.’
Brendon’s eyes widened. ‘There’s no need for dramas, Ava. Perhaps I was being a bit too ambitious by expecting you to work over a weekend as well, but I thought a woman of your capabilities would seize the challenge.’
‘ My capabilities are far too good for you and this firm.’ She slapped herself on the forehead.
‘I must have been mad to come back at all, when I have a perfectly decent…’ She stopped, not wanting to share anything with him about her opportunities.
‘As from today, I’m handing in my notice.
My current contract, not the one you’re changing, says I have to give a month’s notice, but I reckon you owe me that in unpaid hours overtime as well as holidays I’m due for summer.
I’ll write it out before I leave, but that is it. I am done.’
She turned to leave.
‘Ava, I’m sorry,’ Brendon held out a hand. ‘Don’t go, we can sort something out. I’ll up your raise to two thousand pounds and throw in a few more days holiday, how about that?’
‘You don’t get it, do you?’ She turned back to him with a look of exasperation. ‘I am worth far more than you could ever pay me. I just haven’t seen it until right this moment. I was walked over by Giles for far too long as well. I won’t be a doormat any longer.’