Page 80 of Knotting Hill
“Anything. I’m here if you need to vent.”
She sighs heavily. “Jason got laid off. It was coming; we knew it but didn’t expect it quite so soon. He’s been looking for a job, but his trade is niche, and there are so few jobs. He’s widened his net, but you’ve seen where we live. We need all five salaries coming in to afford the fucking place, along with everything else.”
I silently agree. They live in a gigantic eight-bedroom mansion, which is bigger than my parents’ and the St. Lucs’ put together.
“Fuck,” I mutter. It doesn’t even cover it.
“Yeah.”
“Okay, wait here. I’ll see if my mum is in and if she can help.” I’m doing a shitload of relying on my parents to bail everyone out, including me, lately, and it’s starting to suck. Since when did I become the go-to problem solver of Knotting Hill?
“Thank you, Storm. I’m so sorry about this. You’ve got such a big heart, and you’re such a good friend.” She flings her arms around me again.
That’s my problem. Everyone keeps saying I’m so compassionate. It’s not a bad thing, but I need to work on not being so easy to come to with every woe under the sun. I’ve got my own shit going on. Like, what am I going to do about moving into the St. Lucs house. I know they expect it. I half think theystuck around in my teeny studio flat to prove that we needed to be somewhere bigger. No one has mentioned it yet, but I feel it’s coming, and I’m trying to avoid thinking about it. It’s not that I don’t want to be with them. I do. I’m crazy in love with all of them, which is bizarre, but so amazing that I feel myself well up every time I think about them. But being in love hasn’t changed my need for independence.
I glance over my shoulder at the practice and realise with a sigh, that went out the window when I asked my mum for a job. I’m fooling myself and using it as an excuse to get out of moving in with them.
I stand up and, with a tight smile at Cheryl, which has nothing to do with her, but my own issues, I head into work and grin at Miriam, a genuine smile as she waves at me. She’s brilliant. And the fact that she named her Cockapoo Sadie, just makes me love her even more.
“Is Dr Gloria in?” I ask her, feeling weird using that, but ‘mum’ is hardly professional.
“Yep, just got in about ten minutes ago.”
“Thanks.” I unlock and push open the door that leads down the corridor and rap lightly on my mum’s open office door.
“Hey,” I say when she looks up. “Any jobs going?” Might as well just dive in there. Everyone appreciates a non-bush-beating conversation, I think.
She peers over the top of her specs at me. “For whom?”
“Cheryl Jackson. She worked with me at Robb & Robb.”
Mum blinks and takes her glasses off. She leans back in her chair and sticks the tip of her glasses arm into her mouth as she searches my gaze intently.
“Anyone who wants to get away from that viper is more than welcome here. Can she file?”
I nod. “Like it’s a military operation. She’ll overhaul the system in less than a week, and you’ll wonder how you survived without it.”
“Perfect. We actually need someone to start making all the archived files digital on the new system. Can she do that?”
“Yup.”
“Hired. Thanks. You saved me the job of asking Miriam to find someone.”
“Thank you. I’m eternally grateful, and so is she. Uhm, but fair warning, she is newly pregnant, so expect a request for Mat Leave in a few months.”
She snickers. “Noted. But you know we don’t discriminate here.”
“I know. Did you know about the Robbs?”
“Being in debt? Yes.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“Not my place.” She shrugs.
“Suppose not. Just glad I got out of there before the practice got overrun.”
“Hmm.” Mum squints at me, and then with a slightly upward turn of her mouth, she puts her glasses back on and goes back to work.
