by Penny Avis
‘How is the radiators job, by the way?’ Natalie asked.
‘Radiating, thanks,’ said Rachel, laughing. ‘Actually going very well. Carl is really pleased. It’s a much more complicated business than you might think. There are so many different types of radiators and the distribution system is really very fragmented and…’
But before she could finish, Shali put her head on Natalie’s shoulder and they both closed their eyes and started to snore.
Rachel started laughing. ‘Yes, alright, very funny guys.’
‘Sorry, did you say something?’ said Natalie, pretending to wake up.
‘I was just saying that it was going fine, thanks,’ said Rachel.
‘Oh, right, good,’ said Natalie.
‘And are things going fine with the lovely Luke too, apart from the running, that is?’ Shali asked.
Rachel couldn’t help grinning. ‘Yes, very promising.’
‘That sounds like a school report that actually means “could do better”,’ said Shali.
‘Well, I don’t. I mean very promising,’ said Rachel. ‘What’s surprised me is how much fun we can have doing nothing. Last Sunday we took a picnic to Primrose Hill and just sat there reading the papers, watching the world go by and chatting. Nothing very exciting, but I loved every minute of it. Harry would never have done that in a million years, not when there were perfectly good cafes selling fry-ups or pubs showing football matches available anyway.’
Shali and Natalie smiled at Rachel.
‘Well, here’s to the next chapter,’ said Natalie, picking up her champagne glass.
‘Hold on, the fitness queen needs some more water,’ said Shali, topping up Rachel’s glass.
‘And there was me thinking we’d agreed to have a big night out,’ sighed Natalie.
‘Sorry. I’m running at six o’clock. I haven’t given up completely but I just can’t do it the night before an early run, otherwise I feel like shit,’ said Rachel. ‘Anyway, I’m still capable of being interesting and funny without drinking half a bottle of champagne.’
‘Are you? Oh I’m not sure,’ said Natalie, shaking her head and looking at Shali. ‘What do you think?’
‘I very much doubt it,’ said Shali. ‘If that radiator story is anything to go by, we’re in for a really dull evening.’
‘Fuck off the pair of you,’ said Rachel.
And the three of them laughed until Rachel had tears in her eyes and Natalie needed the loo.
‘Back in a mo,’ said Natalie and she headed off to the ladies’. Rachel and Shali carried on chatting and laughing for a few minutes until Shali stopped and looked at Rachel seriously.
‘Look, while we’re on our own, I’ve got something to tell you,’ said Shali.
‘What?’ Rachel asked, concerned by the expression on Shali’s face.
‘It’s a bit of a confession really. I’ve been meaning to ring you but then I thought it would be better if I told you face to face,’ said Shali.
‘Told me what?’ Rachel asked, frowning. This didn’t sound good at all.
‘I’ve been, umm, seeing someone,’ said Shali, shifting uncomfortably.
Rachel’s hand flew up to her mouth. Oh my God, she was seeing Rowan again!
‘Shali, no! How could you? I thought it was all over between you. Hasn’t Rowan told you that Laura’s pregnant again?’
‘It’s not Rowan,’ said Shali.
‘Who then?’ Rachel looked confused.
‘Harry,’ said Shali.
Rachel looked at Shali in amazement. ‘You’ve been seeing Harry?’
Shali nodded.
‘Since when?’
‘Only since last week. I bumped into him at Jimmy Macks and we sort of hit it off,’ said Shali. ‘I thought with you seeing Luke and everything that you’d be okay with it.’
Shali closed her eyes and screwed up her face like she was preparing herself for the worst, but instead Rachel burst out laughing.
‘You’re not cross then,’ said Shali, tentatively opening one eye.
‘No,’ said Rachel, just so relieved that it wasn’t Rowan. ‘Not cross at all. In fact, now I come to think of it, you two are probably perfect for each other.’
Shali frowned at Rachel. ‘I’m not sure that’s a compliment.’
‘No, neither am I, but hey, who cares as long as you’re having fun,’ said Rachel, laughing.
‘I am,’ said Shali, laughing too.
‘Well, you of all people should know what he’s like, so good luck to you!’ said Rachel.
‘It’s just a bit of fun,’ said Shali. ‘I don’t expect it to last.’
‘Good, low expectations from the start. That’s definitely the right approach with Harry,’ said Rachel. ‘Good for you.’
‘So you definitely don’t mind?’ Shali asked.
‘No, I don’t,’ said Rachel. She really didn’t and was very happy with the thought that maybe Harry had finally met his match.
Rachel spent the evening chatting with Natalie and Shali as well as others in her department, broken only by the occasional shimmy on the tiny dance floor in the corner of Bar Q.
As Rachel went to the bar to get another bottle of water Carl appeared by her side.
‘Having a good evening?’ he asked.
‘Yes, very good, thanks,’ Rachel replied.
Carl leant towards her and lowered his voice. ‘Look, I’ll talk to you properly in the office but I wanted you to know that I’m stepping down from looking after Beau Street. We’ve won a major new client that the other partners want me to handle but it’s a big time commitment. So I’ve had to trim down my client base and, well, given where we are, Beau Street was a logical choice to be on the list to go.’
‘Oh I see. Good news on the new client, but Tom will be disappointed, I’m sure,’ said Rachel.
‘Actually I’ve spoken to him already and he’s fine with it. Particularly when I told him you would be taking over.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes you, with some support from another partner, of course. But with a much bigger role than you have now − you know, their main contact, running everything day to day, that sort of thing. You’re the obvious choice.’
Rachel was stunned. ‘Wow, thank you.’
‘And I have no doubt that you can do it,’ said Carl. ‘Let’s talk next week.’
‘Carl, I’m so grateful. Thank you! That’s brilliant…’
But Carl wasn’t listening. He had already wandered off in the direction of the dance floor.
Rachel went back to join the others, hugging herself with delight. Her own client! Well, nearly anyway. What a turn up for the books.
‘Hey you two, have you seen old Pauline Rowe?’ said Natalie as Rachel returned from the bar.
‘No, why?’ Rachel asked.
‘Look at her − she’s off her face,’ said Natalie. ‘She’s stumbling all over the place.’
The three of them watched as Pauline swayed from side to side as she stood at the bar, talking loudly to one of the other staff managers. She was dressed in a less than flattering pair of black trousers that were a couple of inches too short and a shiny cream shirt tucked into a wide pink neon belt at the waist. Her ample bottom stuck out at the back and her stomach hung over the belt at the front. It wasn’t a great look.
‘She’d better not put a scarf on with that belt, otherwise she’ll turn into sausages,’ said Natalie, causing Rachel and Shali to giggle hysterically.
‘It’s not like her to be drunk. She’s usually so prim and proper,’ said Shali.
‘Maybe it’s a special occasion. How funny. Anyway, I’d better go,’ said Rachel reluctantly. ‘It’s getting late.’
She said goodbye to Shali and Natalie and headed out of Bar Q to look for a cab. It was a bit weird leaving a work do stone cold sober, but at least it meant she wouldn’t be getting woken up by the taxi driver. She’d been standing waiting for a couple o
f minutes when she heard laughing behind her. It was Pauline Rowe and the other staff manager, who Rachel vaguely recognised from one of the other departments. They were stumbling along, holding on to each other, both equally drunk.
‘We’d better get ourselves into a cab,’ said Pauline, looking around.
Her friend dropped her arm and wandered towards the road. ‘I’ll look for it. You sit yourself down,’ she said, waving vaguely towards a raised flowerbed with a small wall round it.
Pauline sat down clumsily on the wall. As Rachel watched, she swayed backwards and forwards a few times and then completely tipped over backwards straight into the flowerbed. Rachel ran over to help her, trying hard not to laugh.
‘Pauline, are you okay?’ Rachel peered over her sticking up legs. Her trouser legs had slipped up towards her knees, revealing a pair of rather laddered, light brown pop socks. Pauline was wriggling hard, trying to get her head out of the shrub that she’d fallen into. Rachel jumped into the flowerbed and helped Pauline up, carefully unpicking her cream shirt from the thorny branches.
‘Er, thank you,’ said Pauline, brushing herself down and picking bits out of her hair.
‘No problem,’ said Rachel.
Pauline’s friend eventually noticed what was going on and appeared by Rachel’s side.
‘No bloody cab yet. Just saw one and I tried to jump in front of it, but he didn’t stop,’ she said.
I’m not surprised, thought Rachel.
‘I’ll flag you one,’ said Rachel. ‘Why don’t you both sit down again, carefully this time.’
It didn’t take Rachel long to flag down a taxi, although the driver didn’t look best pleased when he saw Pauline and her new best mate stumbling out of the shadows towards his cab.
‘Please try not to be sick,’ Rachel whispered quietly to Pauline as she helped her into the cab. Pauline glared at her and slammed the door.
Rachel grinned smugly to herself as they drove away. That had felt good.
Rachel could see the finish line in the distance. Her lungs were burning and she couldn’t feel her legs, but she forced herself to speed up. All around her, red-faced runners were pushing themselves equally hard towards the finish. She looked at her watch. It read fifty-four minutes, eighteen seconds. If she really sprinted, she might just break fifty-five minutes. That would be even better than she’d hoped for.
‘Come on, Rachel, you can do it, keep going,’ yelled Luke from the side of the course. Rachel clenched her fists and sprinted as hard as she could, head down, legs pounding on the well-worn grass track. She crossed the line in fifty-four minutes and forty-eight seconds and then promptly collapsed onto a grass bank a few metres past the finish already well splattered with gasping runners.
‘Stand up, stand up,’ shouted Luke as he sprinted towards her. He pulled Rachel up onto her feet and gently bent her head over. ‘Otherwise you might be sick. Put your hands on your knees and take big slow breaths.’
Rachel breathed slowly in and out until the burning eventually subsided. She stood up and paced up and down, catching her breath. Luke just stood quietly and watched her.
‘Okay?’ Luke asked after a few minutes.
‘Yeah, just about,’ said Rachel, her face still beetroot red.
‘Well, now you can talk, did you see your time? It was fantastic!’
Rachel nodded, grinning.
‘Well done,’ said Luke, picking her up and swinging her round. ‘I’m so proud of you.’
Rachel felt a rush of pride too. She’d done it! Her heart was pumping with adrenaline and she felt tingly all over. It was a great feeling.
She took Luke’s hand and squeezed it hard. ‘Thank you for everything,’ she said, tears pricking her eyes.
‘You’re welcome, you mad, crazy thing,’ said Luke, kissing the top of her head.
‘Come on, let’s go. I’m starving and I need a beer,’ said Rachel.
‘Rachel! It’s ten o’clock in the morning,’ said Luke.
‘I know, I’m only joking,’ she said, cuddling under Luke’s arm. ‘And besides, you’re the only vice I need right now.’