Page 4 of From Scotland with Love

“Poor Alex!” Lori looked sheepishly at Frankie. “I better let you know, she had confided in me earlier that it was getting too much. But I thought she’d be fine after a quick walk!” Lori looked down.

“This job is not for everyone. I’m just sorry she never told me earlier, I could have done something.” Frankie shifted on the sofa turning to face Lori. “I’m afraid this means we’ll all need to do our bit until we find another person to fill in.”

“Of course.” The words came out of Lori’s mouth instantly, and she wondered where she’d find the time to cover someone else’s workload on top of her new task for the designers.

“I’m not saying just you, but I will need to split the work between the other buyers. I thought I’d let you know first before I call in everyone for a meeting tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Lori said in a small voice.

“She’ll be missed, and I know you both got on well.”

Lori nodded unable to find the words. They did get “on well”, as Frankie suggested, but if Lori really thought about it, she knew very little of Alex. Apart from what she had heard today, they would usually only talk about work. But that was normal in high-powered office jobs, wasn’t it?

“I just want you to know, I saw what you were doing for Alex. You are a good team player Lori. And if you keep this up, particularly over the next couple of months…well I think there may be another promotion for you.” Frankie nodded, and looked directly at Lori.

“Oh, but... I just started this role!” Lori backtracked, confused about what exactly was being suggested.

“Perhaps,” Frankie nodded again, “but I need a hard worker, a member of staff who I can rely on. It may be the case that someone will need to take over from me at some stage...”

“Frankie, I don’t know what to say!”

Frankie tapped Lori gently on the hand. “Nothing is finalised yet, but if you keep going the way I think you're going, you’ll do very well here.”

Lori walked back to her apartment that night reflecting on her day. Seeing her friend Alex leave without saying goodbye, and now with the idea of a promotion on the cards, she didn’t know how to feel. She should feel happy that all her hard work was finally paying off; after years of toiling as an assistant she could be running the company soon. But all she could really think about was the workload to come. On the plus side, she hadn’t locked herself in a cubicle today, although she barely had time to go to the bathroom. Lori took a deep breath in and out. Could she really keep this up? At some stage, eventually, she would burn out just like Alex. But then, wasn’t this the career trajectory she had always wanted? Why wasn't she happier? Half-distracted, Lori felt her phone vibrate and answered it swiftly:

“Lori speaking.”

The voice on the other side gasped and then shrieked: “Lori!”

“Tammy? Is that you? Is everything OK? Is it Gran?” Lori couldn’t help the panic in her voice, she hadn’t spoken to her family in so long, that her mind flew instantly to the negative.

She heard her little sister sniff loudly, then laugh down the phone. “The best news: I’m getting married!”

Relief spilled over Lori, and as the good news registered, a smile broke out on her face. “That’s great! Is it to Alan?” Lori hadn’t seen her sister in three years; oh... wow, was it that long? and knew that she had been seeing the very tall and cheery Alan Mackenzie, but since moving away from home all those years ago, she only vaguely remembered him from high school.

“Of course it’s Alan!” Her sister sniped. “You think I’d get married to someone I’d just met?” Her tone had quickly changed, Tammy always had a hot temper.

“I’m sorry, I’m a bit all over the place at the moment. I’m so happy for you both, really, Alan seems like such a nice guy!”

“The best guy I know” Tammy reverted to her sunny self. “Can you believe it? I’m getting married! I can’t wait!”

“Me too, what can I do for it? Have you thought about dates?” Lori was sure she’d be asked to organise most of the wedding. Tammy never shied away from asking every favour under the sun, and Lori was certain she would be happy to hand over the bulk of the worst tasks to her. She and their eldest sister Jean were the organisers in the family, while Tammy was the fun, carefree one.

“Would love help, I’ll need my sisters with me. And you’ll be so impressed - we’ve already set the date!”

“OK great! I’ll pop it in my calendar”

“I’m so happy Lori! It’s 1st of June!”

Lori mentally made a note to request holiday leave in plenty of time at the office. “OK, so: perhaps May next year I can come home and help organise whatever still needs doing the month before the wedding?”

The voice on the other end went quiet. “Oh – wait - you think I mean next year? No Lori, 1st of June this year!” She chuckled over the phone in astonishment. “Silly sausage, I’m not waiting a year!”

“But that’s... like... three weeks away!” Lori blurted out, and stopped in the middle of the busy sidewalk. Passersby shuffled around her, some casting annoyed glances.

“Two and a half weeks, actually!”

“Absolutely not. I can’t make that! We’re losing people in my department; it’s the worst timing. I’m sorry sis, you need to change the date – do it next year!” Lori gulped down her anxiety and continued walking. Tammy was out of her mind, there was no way Frankie would let her leave work for a couple of weeks, not now. It was out of the question.