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‘Mygoodness.Theroyal carriage!I’mflattered.’
Bysix o’clock they had finished packing everything into the sleek black van, out of place on a street full of jalopies and rust.Thankfully, everything fit.Shehadn’t accumulated much clutter, and even though her office was a mess, her equipment was well organised.Thehardest part was carrying her things up and down the stairs before anybody broke into the van to steal what was left.
Theymade the short drive toCamdenand pulled up in front of a white stucco building with black windows.Francescagot out to stand on the pavement.Shecrossed her arms as she examined her short-term workplace.Ifher old office had been designed byEeyore—a depressing grey edifice—then this one was the work ofTigger: bright and perky, with friendly yellow walls visible through the front doors.Shewouldn’t admit it toKrish, but she could already feel some of the tension leaving her body.Shelooked forward to retiring her cricket bat, at least for the time being.
Krishclosed the van door and stood next to her, hands in pockets. ‘Whatdo you think?’
‘Well, obviously, it lacks the sheer majesty and professional vibe of my last office, butIsuppose it will do.Temporarily, of course.’
‘Ofcourse.’Hislip curled into a half-smile. ‘Letme show you the space before we unpack.’Hetook out a key card and swiped it to open the door. ‘I’llget one of these for you, too.Hey,Mick,’ he said to the security guard sitting at the front desk, an older man with thick black glasses and spiky grey hair, reading a book.
‘Hey,Krish,’ he drawled. ‘Ipicked up that book you recommended.’Heheld up a copy ofCosmosbyCarlSagan. ‘Prettytrippy.’
‘Good, isn’t it?’
‘Thisguy’s like a prophet.How’dhe know this shit?’
Leaveit toKrishto be best friends with the security guard at a building where he just signed the lease yesterday.
‘ThisisFrancesca.She’sgoing to be sharing my office space for a bit.’
Athrill ran up her spine.Thereality of what was happening settled over her.She’dbe seeingKrishevery day, just like old times.Breathingthe same air.Despiteall her misgivings and the sour aftertaste of the robbery, she quite liked the sound of that.Itcould be fun, just for a little while.Thebest part was that she was still self-employed and wouldn’t owe him any explanation about her comings and goings.
‘What’sup?’ she said to the guard.
Theytook the lift to the second floor, andKrishled her to a yellow door with a small porthole window.
Heunlocked the door, pushing it open and standing aside so she could enter.Overheadlights flickered on, revealing shiny, polished oak floors in a spacious room.Afew dark steel beams supported the sloped ceiling, giving it an industrial look.Theradiators—radiators!Posh!—matched the beams in colour.Onthe far wall, there was a small fridge and kitchen area, complete with a microwave and coffee machine.Fancy.Thesoft, early evening light fell through four windows along the right-hand wall.Oppositewere doors leading to two other rooms.
Krishhad already marked out shapes on the floor with masking tape. ‘Soin this spot,I’mplanning to create a lounge, you know, for meeting clients.I’llbuild a false wall to block off the view of the kitchen, but also it’ll give me more space to display frames.Likea gallery.Theviewing screen will go over there.’Hepointed to the wall behindFrancescaand then to one of the other rooms. ‘Theediting suite.Youcan set up your monitors in there.I’llget black-out blinds for the windows, so there’s no light spillage…paint the walls mid-grey.’Hejogged to the other room and held open the door. ‘Storagein here for all the kit.I’llinstall extra locks, of course.’
‘Ofcourse.’Hewas bouncing around like a puppy.Itmade her wish that she could be part of this.Itseemed so well thought out and grown-up.VeryKrish.Heobviously enjoyed shooting weddings, much more than she did.Toher, shooting weddings was just the best way for her to make money right now and work around her body’s limitations.Shedidn’t really care about all that ‘best day of their lives’ stuff and ‘capturing memories’ crap.Shedid the job and she did it well, without getting emotionally invested.Maybethat made her a bit of a fraud.Shefrowned.
‘What?’Krishasked, scratching the back of his neck like he needed her to approve.
‘No, it’s good.Ilike it.You’veobviously thought everything through.’
‘Well, not everything.’Hepaused and looked at her, eyes narrowing.
Francescafroze.Wasthis it?Washe going to ask her the question she’d been dreading?Shetossed her hair and crossed her arms, waiting. ‘What?’
Krishsighed and ran his hands through his hair to the the back of his head. ‘Technically,Istill haven’t toldConnorthatI’mquitting.’
Shekept her face blank so the relief didn’t show. ‘Whynot?Chicken,McFly?’
Hecracked a smile at herBackto theFuturereference. ‘It’scomplicated.’
‘Italways is.’
Foldinghis legs, he sat down where the couch shape was marked out on the floor.Shecopied him, sitting on top of a ‘chair’.
‘I’veworked with him for five years.Hetrained me.Ifeel guilty leaving him.’
‘Yeah, but nothing is forever.I’msure he knows you’ll go eventually.’
‘Iknow, but they just got back from their trip…’
‘Goodtime for a clean break then.Afresh start.’Shepicked at the edge of a piece of masking tape that was sticking up.
