‘Hmm, not quite everyone.’ He glanced across at her.
She wished he’d keep his eyes on the road. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean he… Woah! What the? … Jesus! Fucking maniac!’ Without warning, the car swung violently into the side of the road, bouncing over the kerb as Caspar swerved to avoid colliding with a lorry that was relentlessly ploughing towards them, filthy spray flying up from its huge tyres and spattering the car’s windscreen. The sound of beeping horns and screeching tyres filled the air around them.
Mim screamed, gripping onto her seat for dear life, her heart hammering hard against her chest as the car came to a halt in the open gateway to a field. She felt the burn where her seatbelt had dug into her shoulder. Her breath was coming out in shallow gasps. ‘Shit! Oh, my God, that was absolutely terrifying! What happened?’
Caspar’s usual composure had deserted him and he looked ashen as he rubbed his fingers across his brow. ‘That was seriously close. That bloody McHubbard & Smithy lorry driver was on my side of the road, swerving round a car that had broken down by the looks of it. Stupid bastard should’ve waited until he had a clear stretch of road in front of him, instead of using his size to bully me out of the way. If I didn’t have such sharp reflexes, we wouldn’t … well, it doesn’t bear thinking about. Idiots like him shouldn’t be on the road. This car could’ve been ruined; it’s worth a fortune. If it’s got a scratch on it, I won’t be responsible for my actions.’ He turned to her. ‘Are you okay?’
Traffic continued to whoosh by, the drivers concentrating on the road ahead, oblivious to the fact that they could’ve been caught up in a serious road traffic accident. Mim started shivering though it was anything but cold in the car. ‘Yeah, I’m fine, thanks; a bit shocked, but okay.’ In truth she was doing all she could to quell the urge to throw up, thinking of anything to take her mind off the feeling, and the fact that Caspar seemed more concerned about his fancy car than anything else. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m bloody furious, but I’m fine. Just glad my reactions are shit-hot.’
‘Me too. Will your dashcam have recorded the lorry’s number plate do you think? Couldn’t you report him to the police for dangerous driving?’
‘It should’ve recorded the whole thing. But I don’t think we’ll need to trouble the police, it was a McHubbard & Smithy van, they’re based on the outskirts of York and my parents use them regularly. They’re a small firm so it shouldn’t be difficult to track down the driver; that lunatic needs to be taught a lesson.’ His expression had changed, his eyes looked cold and dark, almost sinister, it sent a prickle of fear over Mim’s skin. She got the feeling that Caspar wasn’t someone she’d like to get on the wrong side of.
20
By the time they arrived at the Yorkshire Portions office, Mim felt much calmer and, despite the fact she was dreading seeing Catherine, she was glad to be there and out of the car. Yes, the lorry driver had been in the wrong, but if Caspar hadn’t taken his eyes off the road and had been driving at a more sensible speed, they wouldn’t have had to swerve so dramatically to get out of harm’s way. It was a notoriously busy road, and today she couldn’t shake the feeling they were lucky they’d come away with their lives. And she knew Caspar was aware of that, too.
‘Just in time, Jemima, only three minutes to spare before Catherine would be hauling you over the coals for your lateness. Again.’ Honey moved her gaze away from the clock on the wall to Mim in a theatrical gesture, the familiar annoying smirk on her face that was just itching to be removed.
Mim slipped her coat off, shaking the rain from it before hanging it up; she’d got a soaking on the dash to work from where Caspar had parked his car. ‘Well, I’m here now.’
‘You alright, Mim? You look a bit pale.’ said Anna-Lisa.
Mim gave a watery smile and nodded; she wasn’t in the mood to elaborate in front of Honey nor tempt her arrogant opinions.
‘You sure? Anna’s right, you don’t look very well. Can I get you anything; cup of tea?’ asked Aidey.
‘Ah, check out Florence Nightingale; always coming to your rescue, Jemima, and you just keep him dangling there by a little thread.’ Honey mimed dangling something between her forefinger and thumb.
‘Just drop it, Honey,’ said Aidey.
Honey ignored him. ‘Anyone would think you had something worrying you, Jemima. Care to share it?’
Mim’s stomach lurched; she knew Honey was referring to the pen. Before she could answer, Anna-Lisa came to the rescue.
‘Oh, just piss off, will you, Honey? Mim’s clearly not feeling well. And have you never heard of the expression, if you haven’t got anything nice to say then just keep your big, fat gob shut?’
‘Er, not sure that’s how the saying goes.’ Honey folded her arms across her chest in a defensive gesture.
‘Well, I reckon it does a better job of getting my point across.’ Anna-Lisa glared at her.
Mim looked across at her loyal friend; she often wondered how such fierceness could come out of such a tiny, sweet-looking individual. Anna-Lisa was totally fearless when she got going; she took no prisoners.
‘There’s no need to take that tone with me,’ said Honey.
Aidey sighed and shook his head. ‘That’s enough, Honey.’
Mim tried to make discreet eye contact with Anna-Lisa, hoping to get a hint of the current state of play with the pen, but she was currently giving nothing away; there was no way she’d risk giving the tiniest of hints to Honey that they’d rumbled her and were already one step ahead.
‘Well, she’s not my superior, she can’t tell me what to do. And she should realise, if I decide I want rid of her, all I have to do is just click my fingers and she’d be gone, just like that.’ She clicked her fingers to demonstrate. ‘I have a lot of sway with my godparents; you’d all be well-advised to remember that.’
‘I don’t think there’s any need for that, do you, Honey?’ They all turned as Clarissa stepped into the office. She was armed with a cardboard cup carrier filled with a variety of hot drinks and a carrier bag containing what looked like breakfast pastries. ‘I thought, as it was such a grotty day out there, we could all do with some yummy takeaway breakfast things from the Nutmeg Tree.’ She set the drinks down on the desk next to Aidey and picked out a cup, reading the name penned onto it. ‘Right, there’s your coffee, Aidey – splash of milk, no sugar, Mim, chai tea latte for you, Anna-Lisa, tea – teabag left in. Honey, hot chocolate for you. Actually, Honey, can you just pop to the kitchen and grab some plates for the croissants and muffins, please?’
‘Me?’ Honey looked at her in disbelief.
‘Yes, you.’ Though Clarissa was smiling there was a firmness in her voice that indicated she’d brook no argument. Honey stood up and flicked her glossy dip-dyed hair, glaring at the others as she left the room.
Clarissa gently pushed the door to. ‘I overheard what Honey was saying before I came in and want to tell you not to pay too much heed to it; she really doesn’t have the power to get anyone sacked. I don’t know why she says such things, other than she doesn’t really understand the impact of her words, and she’s a little immature for her age.’
‘Hmph. You’re telling me. I reckon she must be about twenty-two or twenty-three,’ said Anna-Lisa. ‘Way too old to be acting like that.’
‘I think she’s twenty-two,’ said Clarissa.
‘So, she’s not much younger than Anna and Mim but she acts like a sassy fifteen-year-old with a serious chip on her shoulder; she’s got a hell of a lot of growing up to do,’ said Aidey.
Mim listened in silence. Her head was thumping and she felt indescribably tired. There was always so much to worry about at the moment. Her eyes found their way to the window, watching as the rain pounded against it, running in rivulets down the wonky Georgian glass, some trickling in through the tiny crack in the corner of one of the panes. She was half-aware of the muted conversation going on around her as her mind insisted on going over the earlier
terrifying near-miss in the car. There was no doubting they’d been incredibly lucky not to have been involved in a potentially catastrophic accident. A shudder ran down her spine and she turned to Clarissa, her kind voice a welcome distraction.
‘Yes, I think that’s got a lot to do with her parents spoiling her as a child to compensate for them not spending much time with her while they concentrated on growing their business, plus the fact that her father has always treated her like a little princess who could do no wrong. I gather she ruffled a few feathers when she briefly worked for them which is why she’s had to look for work elsewhere; her parents didn’t want to risk losing staff they valued who’d worked for them for years. And I don’t actually think she realises how her behaviour comes across, which you have to admit is unfortunate for her; she has a lot to learn. You lot will just have to make sure the wonderful way you are rubs off onto her.’ Clarissa looked around at the three friends, smiling.
‘Talk about mission impossible,’ Anna-Lisa muttered, making them all laugh. ‘And now you come to mention it, I can recall my sister saying something about how Honey had worked for her parents but that things hadn’t worked out and that’s why she’d joined White Sprite Media. I think Honey claimed the women were all jealous of her at her parents’ company, or something like that. Anyway, she’d only been at White Sprite a matter of weeks before she had to leave.’
Mim flashed her friend a warning look in the hope that it would remind her that she was talking about a close friend of the Pallister-Biggs family. Anna-Lisa was fearless when it came to expressing her opinion, but with things being so volatile at Yorkshire Portions she didn’t want Anna to say anything she might regret if it was reported back to the bosses. But maybe she was being unfair to Clarissa…
‘Really?’ said Clarissa. ‘I actually feel a bit sorry for her; I’ve got a sneaking suspicion she’s a bit insecure, so – and I know this won’t be easy – if you could just be patient with her, maybe…’
Anna-Lisa snorted just as Honey huffed her way back into the office, plonking the plates noisily on the desk. ‘There,’ she said, and flounced over to her chair.
‘Thank you, Honey. Right, get stuck in, folks. Enjoy.’ With a smile, Clarissa turned to leave. ‘Oh, and, by the way, I don’t know if you’re aware, but Mum found her pen. It had rolled under her desk and was hidden under a scrap of paper on the floor. Panic averted.’
‘What?’ Honey’s shock was palpable. ‘How did it get there? I thought everyone had checked everywhere.’
‘She must’ve knocked it off her desk, it’s easily done,’ said Anna-Lisa, flicking a quick glance at Mim. ‘And if it was under some paper, maybe Catherine didn’t think to look there.’
‘I always knew it would turn up, it always does,’ said Aidey. ‘I was just a bit surprised at the drama it caused.’
‘Same here,’ said Anna-Lisa.
‘Well, that’s a relief.’ Mim tried to sound casual as Honey’s eyes bored into her.
‘It is, we can all do without the hassle. I do wish she’d leave her precious stuff at home, as for that ring of hers … honestly, I’m going to have to suggest it to her again, though I doubt she’ll listen.’ Clarissa shook her head good-naturedly.
‘What I don’t get is that surely Auntie Catherine will have looked everywhere in her office for the pen yesterday, including under her desk. Don’t you think it’s odd that she didn’t spot it then? I certainly do.’ Honey still hadn’t taken her eyes off Mim, whose heart was hurling itself against the inside of her ribcage.
‘I don’t think it’s odd at all, it’s very Mum.’
‘Really?’ said Honey.
‘Yes, really. Actually, Honey, if you could just pop down to my office for a word before you get started. It won’t take long.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes.’
‘Now?’
‘Yes.’
‘Before I have a croissant or anything?’
‘Yes, as I said, it won’t take long.’
‘But what if they eat everything and there’s nothing left for me?’
Anna-Lisa rolled her eyes. ‘Jeez, give me strength. Why can’t you follow a simple instruction without arguing about it?’
‘We’ll make sure we save something for you,’ said Aidey. ‘Looks like there’s more than enough for everyone, anyway.’
‘Now, please, Honey. I’ve got quite a busy day ahead of me, so I’d like to get on.’
They watched as Honey reached into the bag Clarissa had brought in, grabbed a pain au chocolat and a double chocolate muffin and set them on a plate by her desk. ‘They’re mine, okay?’ She stomped past Clarissa and headed down the landing to her office.
‘Good luck,’ said Aidey to Clarissa.
‘Yeah, make sure you’re wearing your body armour,’ said Anna-Lisa.
Clarissa gave a quick flick of her eyebrows and followed Honey.
Anna-Lisa turned to Mim, concern etched across her elfin features. ‘Mim, chick, what’s up? You look dreadful. I thought you’d be pleased that Catherine’s pen has “turned up”.’
‘Yeah, you don’t look yourself at all,’ said Aidey. ‘Should you really be at work?’
Mim sat back in her chair and took a deep breath, rubbing her sore shoulder where the seatbelt had dug in. ‘Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thank you so much for doing that, Anna, I really appreciate it, and I’m more relieved than I can put into words but I’m feeling absolutely knackered. I think the stress of yesterday’s caught up with me and I had the worst night’s sleep last night; I don’t think I managed two full hours together. And Honey’s naturally suspicious about the pen being found; it’s all adding up.’
‘Yeah, well, that’s behind us now, but it’s a shame you had to lose sleep over it,’ said Anna. ‘I thought that had been getting better.’
‘It had been, until the pen situation. But that’s not the only reason I’m feeling rough; on the way here this morning, we nearly had a head-on crash with a lorry. It’s really shaken me.’ Her voice wavered.
‘What?’ Aidey sat up straight, his eyes full of concern.
‘Honestly, we were a millisecond away from being taken out by it; we wouldn’t have stood a chance.’ She shuddered. ‘I know I might sound dramatic and all that, but it was really scary and I honestly thought that was it … there was no way we would’ve come out of that alive.’
‘Jesus, Mim. Was Caspar driving like a lunatic or something?’ Aidey looked furious.
Mim swallowed; it wasn’t like him to get angry and she didn’t want to be the cause of any more bad feeling between the two men. She shook her head; it wouldn’t help to mention that he’d been driving too fast and hadn’t been looking at the road. ‘No, the driving conditions were terrible, what with all the rain and the flooding, but the lorry driver overtook another car when he shouldn’t have done and ended up on our side of the road. Caspar had to swerve off into the side. I’m just thankful he acted so quickly.’
‘Oh, my, God, Mim, that sounds terrifying. No wonder you look so pale,’ said Anna-Lisa.
Mim was aware of Aidey’s eyes on her, and she could sense the weight of his concern. ‘Yeah, ordinarily I’d be raring to wolf these croissants and muffins down, but I still feel a bit queasy to be honest. But I’m sure I’ll be fine soon, when everything’s had chance to settle down – including my stomach.’
‘Well, don’t bust a gut for Catherine today; you’re no better thought of for it. Let Honey do a bit for a change; that one could do with having her mind occupied, it might even keep it off making trouble for once.’ Anna-Lisa reached for her tea and took a sip, her eyes peering over the top at Mim who had suddenly burst out laughing ‘What? What’s so funny.’
‘Oh, Anna! Aidey, have you seen what’s written on Anna’s cup?’
‘No, what?’ He craned his neck to see the name “Anal Lisa” scribbled on the cardboard cup in black permanent marker, and promptly spluttered with laughter.
‘What?’ Anna turned her cup
around. ‘Bloody hell! Not again! I don’t believe it! How difficult can it be to spell my name? And why the hell would they think anyone would ever call their kid “Anal Lisa”?’
‘Hah! Anal Lisa. Suits you.’ Honey had returned to the room and overheard the conversation.
‘Shame Honey doesn’t suit you,’ said Anna-Lisa.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Honey asked.
‘Think about it,’ said Anna-Lisa.
By mid-afternoon Mim still hadn’t seen anything of Caspar since they’d arrived at work that morning, and his usual phone calls were conspicuous by their absence. For the last couple of hours, she’d toyed with the idea of making an excuse to go to his office, but each time had talked herself out of it. But now the urge to see him, see if his mood had improved, had got the better of her. She scooped up her notebook and rushed out of the office, aware of three sets of eyes on her.
‘Hi.’ She peered around the door to see him gazing out of the window. He turned, greeting her with a wide smile.
‘Mim! I was just thinking about you.’
‘You were?’ Her body flooded with relief.
‘I was; come in, close the door.’
He met her half-way across the room, pulling her towards him and kissing her hard on the mouth. ‘Mmm. What I’d give to get you on your own right now.’
The kiss was intense, but she was distracted by subtle hints of Clarissa; the faint whiff of her perfume, her silk scarf casually draped over Caspar’s seat. A quick look in his eyes, so full of lust for her, dispelled her doubts; there was bound to be a simple explanation for it; Clarissa was his work colleague for goodness’ sake.
A knock at the door made them quickly pull apart. ‘I’m not interrupting anything, am I?’ asked Catherine, eyeing Mim suspiciously.
‘Nothing at all.’ Caspar smiled. ‘Thanks, Mim, that was very helpful; I’ll get back to you on it.’
Tell That to My Heart Page 17