Page 87 of Second Verse

‘Why would I...’

‘I know you. I know my daughter. I see what’s going on.’

‘Nothing’s going on,’ Poppy said, but it came out weakly. The trouble was thatsomethinghad gone on. And Poppy had never been a great liar.

Mrs Cauldwell took a step forward. She was half a foot shorter than Poppy and shrinking by the second, but that didn’t matter. Her eyes could have made Dwayne Johnson feel five inches tall.

‘That little boy has a chance to have his family back together. Don’t ruin it for him,’ she warned icily.

‘What about her? Norah? You don’t think she deserves more than him?’ Poppy asked.

She didn’t mean herself; she was only talking generally. Norah deserved a lot better than Max, and she thought someone should at least say so.

‘Life is compromise. Didn’t your mother teach you that?’ Mrs Cauldwell asked. ‘I know she tried, but I guess it didn’t take. She’d be ashamed to see the example you’re setting for your child.’

‘Don’t bring her into this,’ Poppy said, getting angry. She was being accused of something she wasn’t doing and wasn’t planning to do. Norah didn’t want Poppy that way, and Poppy had accepted that, hard as it was.

But Mrs Cauldwell wasn’t disturbed by Poppy’s building anger. She seemed happy to have an excuse to go a bit harder at Poppy. ‘You know, I saw you on the TV, and I knew it wouldn’t last. And here you are, back in this house. Back down to reality with a bump. So you should know better than anyone that you get the hand you get, and you play it as best you can. Getting big ideas is the best way to get your heart broken.’

That was a pretty direct hit to Poppy's fast-disintegrating self-esteem. She needed to get the woman out. ‘Look, this hasnothingto do with me,’ she pled. ‘If Norah wanted to get back with him, that’s her call.’

‘Not if you fill her head with ideas.’

‘I wouldn’t know how to do that if I even wanted to,’ Poppy told her honestly.

‘Just stay out of it, OK? Think of that little boy. What’s best for him.’ With that, Mrs Cauldwell turned and left.

After she heard the door click shut, Poppy sat back down and unpaused the reality show. The pretty people carried on with their self-created romantic dramas as Poppy watched on, still not taking in a thing.

She hadn’t thought it possible to feel worse, but here she sat, doing just that. She didn’t need this. She didn’t need people coming to her home to tell her not to get involved with people who didn’t want to get involved with her.

Thanks, universe. I got it, OK?Poppy thought and turned up the volume, hoping to drown out her sorrows with someone else’s.

But of course, it still wasn’t working.

Thirty-Four

‘Oh no,’ Norah groaned as the email notification popped up from her boss.

**Subject: URGENT: Customer Complaint**

Norah’s stomach dropped as she opened the email. The customer had complained about the incorrect information yesterday, and her boss was not pleased. The email was pretty direct: this was not the first mistake she’d made recently, and it was the final straw.

‘What’s up with your face?’ her mother asked, reappearing just as Norah finished reading the email.

‘I just got sacked,’ Norah said flatly. She felt curiously disconnected from the information.

Her mother’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, Norah! I’m so sorry. What happened?’

Norah closed her laptop with finality. ‘I made a mistake.’

‘They sacked you foronemistake?’ her mother asked, shocked. ‘You can appeal that.’

‘It’s not my first. I’ve been late a few times to log on. They’re cutthroat about error. So that’s that,’ Norah told her with a shrug.

Her mother reached out to touch her arm. ‘You’ll find something else.’

Norah sighed, pulling away gently. ‘I need some time, Mum. Just give me a minute, would you?’

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