by Jane Frances
Cathy answered on the third ring and, in contrast to her call to Italy, Emma launched straight into the reason. They agreed to a six p.m. meeting on Thursday. Toni would be well clear of the office, having already arranged with Lisa to meet at the gym that evening for her first Pump class since falling ill.
Shit. Thursday was only two days away. Emma knew she had to get her skates on if she were to come up with the goods. Another phone call was made and within five minutes Emma was in her car and on her way to pore over Tricia’s accounts.
Chapter Twenty
Toni was having one of those days. Her stars were obviously not only out of alignment, but it seemed her Venus had crashed into her Mars, or one of her ascending moons had run out of fuel and landed in her fourth house of harmony. Everything, but everything had gone wrong, from the moment she put her foot to the floor and stood on one of Kayisha’s chew toys—a recently chewed chew toy, still glistening with doggie dribble—to the phone call received just minutes ago, advising her that the cat run plans needed to undergo some “modifications” before council would approve them.
The modifications were relatively minor—requiring only a small reconfiguration of the area closest to the house so the footings fell within the minimum distance of her outside faucet—but by that time she was ready to blow her stack. Either that or crawl into a little hole and hide until the planets decided to come to order.
Not that order seemed likely to come any time soon. Toni stared morosely at her computer screen; at the e-mail that had arrived from Emma just a few minutes ago. It was the third such email to arrive in the past two days. This one, like the others, contained a description of a rental property that was available, or becoming available, in Albany. Along with the description was a short note from Emma, asking Toni her thoughts on the property.
While Toni knew that Emma had to make preparations to relocate, the evidence preparations had begun struck a chord deep inside. Add to this Emma’s late arrival at Toni’s on Tuesday night, and her distracted mood once she got there, and it was no wonder Toni had turned into a walking, talking disaster zone.
“Tricia’s ultra busy at the moment so I’m just helping her out” was Emma’s explanation. When Wednesday turned into a repeat of Tuesday, the same reason was cited.
Toni told herself not to worry, but despite her best efforts, she did. She had spent most of last night lying on her side, watching Emma sleep, wondering what was going on in that mind of hers. There seemed to be a lot. Emma slept restlessly, tossing and turning, occasionally mumbling something incomprehensible, occasionally frowning. So it was a groggy and very tired Toni who hauled her legs over the bed and started the day by stepping on a dribble-coated chew toy.
Toni shuddered again at the thought of it and was immediately glad to be distracted by the phone. It was Lisa.
“Bugger.” Toni replaced the receiver a minute later. There went her buddy for her return to the gym. Lisa and Joel were running a good few hours behind schedule, no thanks, apparently, to the idiot who delivered the wrong tiles to their work site a few days ago. Oh, well, she could always go on her own. Although at the moment, the thought of a good stiff post-work drink was a lot more appealing than hefting weights in time to music.
Toni’s phone rang again. It was Sue, coolly advising that her four-thirty—Alexandria—had arrived. Toni was not surprised at Sue’s tone, given that Toni had snapped at her the moment she’d walked into the reception.
“Thank you so much for pointing that out to me.” Toni had scowled when Sue advised her that she had only one minute before her nine-thirty was due to arrive. “Bloody woman,” she muttered to herself as she stalked past the reception console without another glance.
Toni damn well knew she was late. Sue would be late too if she’d had to spend ten minutes vacuuming bird seed from her laundry floor after the plastic bag inexplicably burst at the seams, and another twenty minutes sponging down her kitchen cupboard doors and sweeping up shards of broken china because her morning cup of coffee just flew out of her hands.
“Thank you, Sue. I’ll be out in two minutes.” Toni tried to convey an apology for her earlier behavior by being extra nice and polite, but Sue was obviously still stinging and the line just clicked and went dead.
Thankfully, Sue was professional enough to disguise her current displeasure with Toni in front of a client. Although once her back was turned and Toni led Alex to her office, she was sure she felt a series of mental knives being flung in her direction.
Toni waited for Alex to ease her large frame into a chair before rounding her desk, settling herself and leaning forward. “So, nearly tax time again.” She looked at the stack of manila folders Alex held in her lap. Experience told Toni that each folder would contain the in-comings and out-goings for an individual property, and that the contents of each folder would be categorized and in chronological order. It was still a good few weeks before the end of the tax year, but since Alex would soon depart for her annual trip to the Greek Isles, the paperwork was deposited with Toni early, along with details of any outstanding items. Toni wished all her clients were so organized. Hell, she wished she were so organized. “Comes ’round quicker every year.”
“Wait till you get to my age.” Alex put the folders onto the desk but placed a hand over them before Toni could pull the stack toward her. “If you get to my age. Which could be doubtful by the way you look today. What have you been doing to yourself, Toni? You look like crappola.”
“Thanks, Alex.” Toni slid her gaze away, tidying a sheaf of papers that didn’t need tidying. Jeez, she didn’t think she looked that bad. But then, maybe once one turned thirty, a single night without sleep made one look like “crappola.”
“Let’s get started, shall we?”
“I don’t give a horse’s arse about this at the moment. And it looks like you don’t either.”
“I do, really.” Never before intimidated by Alex, Toni was more than a little surprised at the quaver in her own voice. She tried for a smile. “Give a horse’s arse, that is.”
“Cut the bullshit, Toni.”
Toni wondered if being sixty-five conferred permission to speak one’s mind to relative strangers. Maybe it did. Toni considered confiding in Alex. It could be dangerous to her already fragile ego. On the flip side, Alex had probably seen it all and Toni could potentially benefit from her years of experience. “Alex, there’s this woman…”
“You silly, silly girl.” Once Toni finished her confession, Alex treated her to a look that said she was not only silly, but downright stupid. “You love the woman yet you haven’t told her?”
“I told you why.”
“Because you think you’re being manipulative.” Alex harrumphed. “What a cop-out. How does expressing what you feel make you manipulative?”
“Because if I say how I feel, it may make her stay when she really should go.”
“From what you say, she’s a big girl and able to make up her own mind. At least give her the choice.”
“And have her end up hating me because she made the wrong one? Love doesn’t pay the bills, Alex. She needs to get full-time work. And it’s being offered in Albany.”
“Does she love you?”
Did seeing your own love reflected in the other’s eyes count? Or hearing it in their voice, feeling it in their touch? “If she does she never told me.”
Alex folded her arms and harrumphed again. “Sounds like you’re made for each other. Both stupid.”
Toni felt her hackles rise. Alex had no right to call Emma stupid. “Don’t make assumptions about someone you’ve never met,” she snapped.
Oh, shit, Toni thought as she watched Alex set her mouth, unfold her arms and lean forward. I’ve pissed her off and she’s going to let me have it.
Alex seemed to reconsider, settling back into her seat. If anything, her expression conveyed a pleased respect for Toni’s defiance. “How long before she goes?”
Toni’s computer time display blinked a
t her. Thirty-two days, thirteen hours and forty-two minutes. “A little under five weeks.”
“Tell her how you feel, Toni. Believe me, once you get to my age you’ll realize the words you regret most are the ones you didn’t say rather than the ones you did. And the things you didn’t do will leave a much deeper impression on your psyche than the things you did.” Alex stood, checking her watch and patting the stack of folders. “I’ll leave these with you. You can call me if you have any questions.”
Toni nodded.
“I’m assuming I won’t be billed for this appointment?”
Toni shook her head.
“And I’m also assuming they pay taxes down in Albany?”
Toni pushed out a smile. “You know what they say. There’s only two things certain in this life.”
“Just as I thought.” Alex ran her hand down Toni’s cheek, turned and headed for the door. She stood with hand on the lever. “Think about it.”
Toni did think about it. And think about it. She turned to her window and pondered the view and she turned back to her desk and pondered the rest of her surrounds. She loved this office. She loved her job, and on most days, when her feet touched carpet instead of a chewed chew toy, she got on well with her colleagues. Including Sue.
Toni pushed her feet against the floor to begin her office chair swivel. As she spun slowly around and around, her thoughts tread tentatively around the idea Alex had planted in her head. She drew closer to the idea, backed away, drew closer again. Finally she reached out and touched it. Surprisingly, it didn’t feel too bad. In fact, the longer she held onto the idea, the more appealing it became and she wondered why she hadn’t thought of it herself.
Snippets of a conversation held in this very office only the week prior reverberated in Toni’s head. “You could follow her,” she had told Julie when discussing Anna’s possible relocation to Canberra.
Toni ground her chair to a halt, deciding to take her own advice. Her computer showed it to be two minutes to six. Too late to go to Pump, but hopefully not too late to catch Cathy before she left for the day. Toni launched out of her chair and opened her door just in time to see Cathy at the end of the passage, heading for the reception.
Toni chased after her at a trot. At the entrance to reception she skidded to a stop, nonplussed to find Emma standing next to the console. Sudden dizziness convinced Toni she had been spinning around in her chair for so long she was hallucinating. That theory was quickly banished. Cathy wouldn’t say hello to a hallucination, especially one not her own.
“Toni.” Cathy turned surprised attention to her. “I thought you’d gone for the day.”
“No, I…” Toni raked fingers through her hair, took a long look at Emma, then Cathy, and finally back at Emma. She hovered over her decision for a split-second before plunging in. “Emma, I love you. I can’t stand the fact you’re going away and I wish there was something I could do to enable you to stay here in Perth, with me. But there’s not and to be honest, it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference anyway, because I’ve decided to go and live in Albany too.”
There was a splutter from the other side of the reception console. Sue had been sipping on a cola but now stood with the glass poised at her lips, her eyes wide as saucers.
They followed Toni as she turned to Cathy, and said, “Cathy, you know I love working here and you’re the best boss in the world but I’ve decided to hand in my notice. I know my timing sucks but I’ll stay until we get through the worst of the tax rush, and I’d love to come and work back here when I get back to Perth. If you’ll have me that is, and…” She began to run out of puff. “And…I’m sorry to be such a pain but”—she turned back to Emma—”I want to be where you are.”
Emma opened her mouth, closed it again. On her second attempt some sound came out. “What about your house?”
“I can rent it out.”
“And Virgil, your cat run?”
“Virgil goes where I go.” Toni smiled. “As you like to say, cats are amazingly adaptable.”
“And your office, your view?”
“I spend altogether too much time looking out that window.” Fingers fled through Toni’s hair and doubt crept into her voice. “Don’t you want me to come with you?”
Emma’s voice was so low it was barely audible. “I want to be where you are, Toni.”
The ensuing silence was broken by the phone, but it was cut off on the half-ring, Sue never taking her eyes off Toni as she picked up the receiver and put it immediately back on its cradle again.
That distinctly unprofessional act may have been the catalyst to Cathy’s cough. “Umm, Toni, you do realize you’re holding up my client.”
“Client?” Toni echoed, suddenly noticing Emma was not in her usual casual wear. She was dressed to kill in a business suit tailored to accentuate her curves. A crisp, white shirt complemented the navy pinstripe, and her hair, normally held in a loose ponytail, cascaded around her shoulders. If this was what she wore to her interview in Albany, then Toni was not surprised Emma was offered the position. Toni would have hired her on the spot.
Emma nodded. “I’m here to see Cathy.”
Toni read the nervousness that entered Emma’s expression. “You’re not here to get your taxes done, are you?” she said.
Emma shook her head.
Cathy piped up again. “I’d advise you to sleep on your resignation, Toni.” There was a slight pause during which Sue made a gurgling sound as if she was about to cough up a fur ball. “Emma…shall we?”
Hazel eyes met Toni’s. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck.”
The green flecks twinkled, and Emma said with a smile, “And just in case you didn’t already know…I love you too.”
And with that Emma stepped past Toni to accompany Cathy to her office.
Toni watched the empty air they had walked through for a good ten seconds. Then she turned to Sue and grinned like a Cheshire cat. “She loves me.”
Sue just nodded, her eyes still wide but her hand already reaching for the phone. Toni knew Sue had reached gossip overload and couldn’t wait to tell someone…anyone.
Sure enough, even before Toni had taken two steps toward the passage, she heard the rabid pressing of buttons. Briefly, Toni wondered who would be first to hear the news, but that thought was soon overridden by anguished curiosity at the proceedings in the office next to hers.
She sank into her office chair and began it on its slow spin. Where would Emma be in five weeks’ time? In Albany, or still in Perth? Toni realized it didn’t really matter, because wherever Emma was, Toni would be right there beside her.
Epilogue
Three months later
“So.” Emma watched Pete swirl a spoon through his hot chocolate, raise the utensil to lick it clean, then drop it back into his drink. “How’s our favorite vet?”
“Same as ever.” Pete screwed up his nose. “Still click-clacking around in her high heels.” He grinned. “But at least we all know when she’s coming.”
“And Tom?” Emma asked, referring to her replacement at Colleen’s practice.
Pete shrugged. “He’s okay. Quite good actually.”
“Oh. How good?”
“Stop fishing, Em.” A quick swirl of the spoon, three large gulps and Pete’s hot chocolate was gone. “You know, it’s hard to believe you’ve only been gone three months. It seems like forever.”
“Not to me.” Emma wrapped her hands around her mug, feeling the warmth seep through her palms. “I’ve been so busy, half the time I don’t know whether I’m coming or going. And Maggie’s almost ready to mutiny.”
Emma paused deliberately, waiting for Pete’s reaction to the news that the assistant she shared with Tricia was finding the increased workload a strain. It was as expected—fresh hope glimmering in his eyes. Pete was still actively looking for work, but it seemed vet assistant vacancies in Perth were as rare as vet vacancies. He had been offered part-time employment at a practice in a newly
created suburb along the northern coastal strip, but he couldn’t afford to live on the part-time wage that came with the position.
Pete sat up straighter. “So all my name-dropping has done some good then?”
Despite warning Pete away from letting her old clients know where she was now practicing, he persisted in “just dropping it into conversation.” Surprisingly, even though her new practice was a good few suburbs from Colleen’s, almost a third of her current customer base consisted of past patients. Emma nodded. “If Maggie found out you’ve been contributing to her extra load, your name would be mud. So you’d better not mention it. Not for your first few weeks anyway.”
Again Emma paused, this time to see hope turn to astonishment. Pete’s eyes widened, “Are you saying…?”
Emma nodded, thoroughly enjoying this, her first official recruitment, since becoming a partner. “When can you start?”
“I…” Emma could see Pete’s mind madly ticking over. “I really do have to give at least two weeks’ notice.” Worried eyes settled on hers. “Is that okay?”
Emma had already figured Pete’s genuine concern for the welfare of his charges would not allow him to just up-sticks and leave. That’s why she’d arranged for the veterinary science student currently on work experience to stay a few more weeks, but in a part-time, assistant capacity. With pay.