‘Real life, Jeffers! They can’t sack you for blagging off for a few days.’
‘I think you’ll find they can,’ he said.
Natalie crossed her long legs, a look of concern flitting across her face. ‘You’ll talk your way out of it,’ she reassured him. ‘You could charm a koala bear out of a eucalyptus tree.’
‘Thank you for your faith in me.’ He smiled. ‘But Miles Hopeland is no koala—a dingo, perhaps. But no koala.’ Jeffrey swigged some more tea. ‘Anyway,’ he said bullishly. ‘I’m not sure that I want to. My career’s been going nowhere fast for years. I’m in as much of a cul-de-sac as this house is.’ He gestured around him. ‘Perhaps the time has come for change.’
‘Take some time to think about this before you phone him.’ Nat sounded worried.
‘No,’ Jeffrey said, pushing away from the table. ‘I think I’ll phone him now, while I’m in the mood.’
‘Please, don’t do anything rash.’
‘I have spent my life not doing anything rash,’ Jeffrey replied rationally. ‘Until this week.’ He stood up, scraping his chair across the terracotta glazed tiles with a determined air.
‘Sit down for a while,’ Natalie cajoled. ‘Finish your tea.’
‘I have finished my tea, Nat.’ He turned his cup upside down to prove it. ‘And a splendid cup of tea it was, too. I shall miss your tea-making skills.’ He looked at her and their eyes met.
‘I’ll miss you too, Jeffers,’ she said softly.
A lump rocketed to his throat. The bravado he had been feeling evaporated instantly and an intense sadness flooded his heart.
They looked at each other for a few moments longer. ‘I’d better make that call.’ Jeffrey shrugged at her and turned away.
Five minutes later, he returned to the kitchen in a daze. He looked down at his hands and saw they were shaking. Natalie was biting her fingernails.
‘Did you get through to him?’ she asked nervously.
Jeffrey nodded speechlessly.
‘Was it what you expected?’
‘No.’ It wasn’t what he had expected at all.
‘Was it bad?’ she prompted.
‘No,’ he managed.
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