Page 43 of Broken Beyond Repair
“We need to work.”
“You’re in no position to work. You shouldn’t even be drinking in your condition. Your body needs to heal, not drown in a…” Sydney picked the bottle up from the table, her eyebrows shooting up as she read the label. “…four-hundred-pound bottle of Talisker 25?”
“I’ve earned the right to drown myself in anything I wish to, thank you! Without question from anyone,” Beatrice replied curtly, grasping the bottle from Sydney. “And you can’t go. What if I need something?”
Sydney picked up the crutches from the floor and placed them beside her, a little too firmly. “Try these! Because I’m sure as hell not going to sit here all night and watch you wallow in self-pity. There’s leftover lasagne in the fridge; I’m sure even you can manage to reheat it without killing yourself.”
“Go on then, leave me, like they all do!” Beatrice could feel her voice breaking and hoped it wasn’t noticeable over the sound of the rain pounding against the windows.
Sydney turned, her face washed a deep pink. “Don’t be so dramatic, I’ll be back. And have you ever considered that they don’t leave, you drive them away?”
The parting remark cut so deep she bit back, yelling after her, “You might as well not come back. I thought you were different, but I was wrong. You’re just like all the others.”
Within a second Sydney reappeared in the doorway, making Beatrice jump, fearful of reprisal. What if the woman took her up on it?
“Don’t use the crutches on the stairs, will you? It’s not safe.”
Her softened tone took Beatrice by surprise.
She was gone again in a flash, taking the last word with her. In a moment of fury, Beatrice pushed the crutches across the floor, only to realise she was going to have to get them.
“Bloody leg.” A tickle on her cheek alerted her to a tear running down it. She wiped it with the back of her hand, hopeful Sydney hadn’t noticed her moistened eyes.
A thunderclap outside made her reach for the blanket on the back of the sofa despite the humidity in the room.
What was it with assistants? Was Sydney not in fact worse than the others? She’d failed to bond with any of them, but at least they had had the decency to leave quietly. Sydney well and truly aired her issues to her face. Was Sydney right? Did she really drive them away with her direct manner and endless demands? What did she do differently from her peers? Did they make friends at the risk of leaving themselves vulnerable to people who wanted to take advantage?
As for Sydney’s charges regarding gratitude, had she not said thank you on many occasions? She could recall several times she’d saidvery good. Was that not gratitude? Did the words have to be spoken for them to be understood? The bottle of Talisker found its way to her mouth again, despite the fact Beatrice knew no answers lay at the bottom of it.
CHAPTER16
More anger than rainwater was dripping from Sydney as she entered the pub. She was going to need a drink herself following her heated conversation with Beatrice. Everything she said had needed saying, but it didn’t feel good to get it out. Beatrice’s glistening eyes were at least a good sign that she had taken something from her words. Beatrice’s last comment, that she had thought Sydney was better than the others, sat with her on her journey. The disappointment in her employer’s voice played over in her mind.
Rosie welcomed her at their table with a warm hug and a source of distraction.
“Sorry about the cat,” Sydney said as she pulled away and took her seat.
“It’s fine, plans change. Some people get a better offer.” Rosie winked, earning her a scowl from across the table. “Next door was fine. She usually looks after him when we go away.”
“Before I forget, here’s your key back.” Sydney pushed it across the table. “So, how was the honeymoon?”
“Amazing. Not long enough, but I can’t put my patients off for too long. How did it go with Sam?”
“Great actually. I hadn’t realised how much I missed him. I hope we can keep in touch.”
“I’m pleased and relieved.”
“He’s fixing Gertie for me. I just need to find time to get her down to him. Following tonight’s performance by Beatrice Russell when I dared to leave her company, it may be a challenge I’ve underestimated.”
Sydney gulped at the shandy as soon as the waitress placed it in front of her. When she’d drained it of a third of its contents, she let out a long breath and relaxed back into her chair.
“Is it common for an employer to get you this wound up? Surely all your clients are high maintenance. What’s got you so hot under the collar about this one? Or is that the issue?”
“What?” Sydney’s eyebrows sprang together.
“She has got you hot under the collar, hasn’t she?” Rosie’s lips tightened. “And you’re disappointed that she’s not everything you dreamed she might be.”
“She’s way out of my league, and anyway, she likes men,” Sydney replied as she scanned the rest of the pub’s clientele.
