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‘Hmmm.NiceRecovery.’Sheglowed a little, knowing that he had such high regard for her skills.
‘DoIneed to beg?’
‘Ofcourse not.I’llthink about it.’
‘It’sonly in four weeks.Thecouple is coming here onSundayto meet us.There’sno time to think.’
Hislarge, brown puppy dog eyes turned the full force of their power on her.Shewanted to say no.Sheknew she should say no.Itwas on the tip of her tongue.
‘Please, this is a huge break for me.IfIplay it right,Iwon’t have to invest in marketing for years…ever.’Hebounced up and down on his toes.
Sheput her hands on her hips and tipped her head back.Shesupposed she owed him a favour.Hehad taken her in when she needed it, and she didn’t like having the debt hanging over her.
‘Fine!’Throwingher hands up in the air, she smiled as she watchedKrish’sexcitement.Hetook a step towards her as though about to gather her in his arms and lift her into a bear hug, but she stepped back.Recoveringquickly, he danced around instead, pretending to screw in lightbulbs.
Shesat in her chair, still smiling.Sheremembered thisKrish: the joyful, goofy guy who’d won her heart all those years ago.Partof her felt glad that she could still give him joy; the other part was scared shitless.Whathad she just committed to?
EventuallyKrishcame off his high and sat down.Hewent to drink his tea, but spat it out when he realised it had gone cold.Puttingthe mug aside, he fished a notebook and pen out of a drawer. ‘Iknow we haven’t got the job yet, but you should start thinking about who you want on your team.’
‘Myteam?’Whatwas he talking about?She’dnever run a team before.
‘You’llneed a second camera, maybe even a third…’
‘Krish, how amIgoing to pay all these people?Mybank account is almost wiped.’
‘Francesca,’ he swivelled towards her and leaned in, his elbows on his knees, ‘after this wedding, you won’t have money troubles for alongtime.Infact, you’ll probably be able to afford a new office altogether.’
Sheleaned back and crossed her arms behind her head.Sheliked the sound of that.Financialsecurity was something she hadn’t experienced in a while…if ever.Andthe idea of a new office was exciting, but…
‘Great.IguessI’llbe able to get out of your hair sooner thanIthought.’Sherotated her chair back to her bank of screens and willed the sudden wetness in her eyes to go away.
10
Francescapushedthe door of her flat open and sniffed the air for the smell of decomposing rat.
Nothing.
Sheflicked on the lights and went straight to the cupboard under the sink to check the food compost bin.Inside, she saw the green biodegradable bin liner had been chewed all around the sides, evidence that the rat king still lived.
Thebastard.
Inthe four days since the pest control company had been to drop the poison and set traps, the rat seemed to be taunting her, leaving mementos of his continuing freedom.Asmall black poo here, a pile of half-eaten crumbs there.
‘I’llget you, my pretty,’ she swore to the empty flat.
Dumpingher bag on the floor, she flopped down on the sofa.Krishhad pushed her out of the office bang on 5:30, telling her to go home and celebrate.Shepointed out they didn’t have anything to celebrate yet, but he assured her that he had a feeling everything would work out.Francescalaughed.Sheshould probably believe him, the man who lived a charmed life, who no sooner thought that he wanted something than it fell into his lap.
Sodifferent from her life, just trying to survive from day to day.Thisweek she had been lucky.Herpain had left onSundaynight and not yet returned.However, she was no fool.She’dlearned from hard experience that it would be back, and soon.Thelongest she had ever gone without symptoms was nine days.Hercurrent streak was four.
Shehad already looked at her calendar and counted out the days until theBlenheimjob.Sheusually had a 28-day cycle, which meant she should be finishing her period just before the wedding.Fingerscrossed that her body stuck to its own schedule for once.
Justin case, she’d save up her co-codamol days.
Shehad just started chopping a cucumber when the sound of pumpingHindimusic started up downstairs.
Itmust be fuckingThursday.Sheskewered the innocent vegetable on her knife.Pickingup her foot, she prepared to stomp on the floor.
Andthen stopped.
