Page 4 of In This Together

‘All right,’ Rod said, resting a hand on Andrea’s shoulder and patting her once. ‘See you when I see you. Let’s not make it too soon.’

Andrea looked to the sky but amusement teased the half-moons on the sides of her mouth. ‘Sweet dreams, pumpkin,’ she called after Rod, whose laugh they heard from inside the house.

The nice thing about Andrea and Rod was that, as much as they bickered about Rod’s constant tales of when he was very briefly a pro-footballer, and Andrea always thinking she had better taste in music thaneveryone, Hannah knew they would do anything for each other. And the nicest thing was that they would do anything for each other because they both loved Hannah. For her sins, Hannah just didn’t exist without RodandAndrea in her life.

Hannah leaned into her garden chair and reclined as far as it would go, closing her eyes. Andrea did the same, so that they were both lying back, staring at the stars.

‘How are you feeling about coming back to work next week?’ Andrea asked.

Hannah was still Andrea’s personal assistant, which sounded like it shouldn’t work but for the most part, it did. Hannah had always worked with (or technicallyfor)Andrea. When she’d been a new mom and Rod was on the cusp of turning pro but not yet earning any real money, Andrea had given Hannah a job at Sanfia Records. She had allowed Hannah to work flexible hours and bring Luke into the studio whenever she’d needed to.

Seventeen years on, Hannah had never left Andrea. When Andrea moved on from Sanfia Records, it seemed a given that Hannah would go with her. Of course, neither of them had planned for Hannah having TJ and being off work for the last four months.

‘Mixed,’ she confessed. ‘I’msoready for adult company and I’ve missed the water-cooler chat. But I don’t know how I’m going to work out the logistics of travelling to Brooklyn every day and putting TJ in nursery. I was a lot younger the last two times around. Now, the sleepless nights are extra painful.’

‘You’re only thirty-eight, Han.’

‘Believe me, when it comes to screaming babies, there’s a big difference between twenty-one and thirty-eight.’

They fell into companionable silence.

‘I’m glad you’re coming back,’ Andrea said in a rare display of affection.

Hannah had the sense there was more to come and remained silent, waiting.

‘I’ve missed you,’ Andrea continued, turning to look at Hannah. ‘You kind of keep my life together. Don’t ever repeat this, but you stop me from… making bad decisions.’

Hannah felt her eyes narrow and her brow furrow. ‘Have you been making bad decisions recently?’

Andrea stared at her and Hannah could almost see the thoughts whirring behind her eyes. But in true Andrea fashion, she turned back to looking at the heavens without saying another word. The brief moment of openness was gone.

Andrea pushed her legs down, forcing her garden chair upright. ‘I should get going. I have a meeting tomorrow about the CEO position.’

She was on the cusp of a significant promotion. If she got it, it would be an incredible achievement, but she had a long list of successes in her career history as a music producer and she deserved the position. Still, thirty-eight years old was young to attain a role like CEO of a label at a music industry giantandAndrea was female, which meant the promotion, if she got it, would be a huge deal.

They both stood, Hannah making the first move to hug her friend. ‘You’ll smash it.’

As the women separated, Andrea’s cell phone started to ring. She rifled through her purse to find the phone and cancelled the call.

‘It’s late for a call on a Sunday night,’ Hannah said, her voice betraying her intrigue. ‘Are you seeing someone?’ She was almost singing the question, desperate for some adult gossip.

But Andrea wasn’t in the mood to play, apparently. Scowling, she put the phone back in her purse and hoisted the bag onto her shoulder. ‘I’m a little busy to be seeing anyone right now.’

In Andrea-speak, that was a blatantyes, but there was no need for Hannah to call her out on it just yet. The fun could start when she got back to work next week.

Andrea was subtly promiscuous. She quite often had a man on the go but, with the exception of Hannah, most people didn’t know that.

Hannah wondered who it was this time. The chances were, she wouldn’t know them anyway. The only person Andrea tended to go back to was ‘rock god’ Tommy Dawson, and it had been a while since their last fling.

Once Andrea left, Hannah brought the last of the glasses and plates inside and started to tidy the kitchen. As she began filling the sink with soapy water, two strong arms wrapped around her waist. Rod smelled of soap and manly deodorant. She breathed him in as he kissed her neck with his big lips.

‘This can wait, let’s go to bed,’ he mumbled against her skin.

What he really meant by that wasLet’s leave it for you to do on your own tomorrow.But it’d been a long day and the thought of curling up on Rod’s chest was too tempting to resist. Hannah turned out the lights, leaving the messy kitchen in darkness, and let Rod lead her upstairs to bed.

2

ANDREA

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