Page 14 of The Girlfriend

“E XCUSE ME, NEIL, DO YOU HAVE A MINUTE?” CHERRY HAD ONLY just arrived at work and had gone directly to her boss’s desk.

He raised his groomed head, saw her stricken face. “Sure. Do you want to come to the back . . . ?”

Cherry nodded and followed Neil into the back office, a small room they kept tastefully furnished for when the more private clients wished to discuss their property needs.

She felt Emily’s and Abigail’s eyes follow her as she left, burning with curiosity.

Let them look. She wouldn’t be confiding in them, not since they’d rebuffed her efforts to make friends when she’d first started the job.

They were tight, just the two of them, and didn’t let anyone else in, especially not someone they sensed as “different.”

“Take a seat.” Neil indicated a brown leather armchair.

She sat perched on the edge, sensed that her boss was a little anxious about whatever problem she was about to unleash onto him.

He sat too, on the chair next to hers, and she got a stab of irritation at his shiny shoes, knew he paid for them to be buffed as he sat on a raised seat with a cappuccino and the Financial Times, completely oblivious to the man below him.

“Is everything all right?”

She looked up at him. Took a breath to hold back the tears before she started to speak. “It’s my grandmother. She’s ill. Really ill. I was wondering if I could have some time . . . a few days to go and see her.”

“Of course!” exclaimed Neil, and she detected a sense of relief this wasn’t about woman troubles. “When do you need to go?”

“This Friday.” She saw him hesitate. “I know, Emily and Abigail go on holiday the same day . . . ,” she trailed off helplessly.

There was a millisecond’s pause while he struggled, before reassuring her. “It’s okay. We can get a temp in. How many days do you think . . . ?”

“I won’t stay long, just enough to see her. Only, she’s abroad . . . so I might need to factor in the travel.”

“Where is she?”

“France. I’ve already checked the flights, and if I leave Friday, I can be back Tuesday morning.”

“That’s fine. We’ll work it out here.”

Cherry exhaled with relief. “Thank you. I can’t tell you what this means to me. We’re very close.”

Neil nodded sympathetically. “I hope she’s okay. . . .”

Her eyes filled up. “Me too. It’s cancer. They’ve just discovered it and are assessing her for chemo.”

He looked as if he wished he’d never asked. “I’m so sorry.”

A tear ran down Cherry’s face and she wiped it away with a brave smile. “It just means the world to me to be able to go and see her, and I know she’d want to thank you too.”

He brushed her thanks away modestly. “Honestly, there’s no need.”

“Il est un merveilleux patron.”

“Sorry?”

“‘He is a wonderful boss.’” Cherry blew her nose. Smiled. “That’s what she would say.”

Neil smoothed his tie. “Well, if that’s what I can do to help, then . . .” He sucked his teeth, then stood, tilted his head sympathetically. “Do you need a minute?”

Cherry nodded gratefully. He put a hand on her shoulder and then turned to leave.

“Bonne chance,” he said, and Cherry nodded again.

She waited until he left the room and then blew her nose loudly, just in case he was still within hearing distance.

Paused. Listened. Nothing. She smiled. She was going to France!

The South of France! When the invitation had come, she’d been so excited, but knew that the two little cows in the office had already booked time off, and there was no way Neil would let her go away too.

It wasn’t right. She’d never gotten an opportunity like this before.

It wasn’t fair that she should have to turn Daniel down, just because those two had the money to book a fortnight in Ibiza.

She was going to the South of France! Where her boyfriend owned his own villa!

Well, it was his parents’, but that was a small detail.

It wouldn’t always be. She hadn’t even had to pay for the flight—Daniel had insisted, saying it was unfair for her to pay so much as the trip was so last-minute.

She had picked her man well and she congratulated herself, hugging the information close for a moment longer, relishing it.

Then she stood, smoothed down her skirt, and affected a pose of brave serenity, before going back to her desk.