Page 20 of Fireworks at Pennycress Inn
‘Exactly.’ Polly nodded as she picked up her mug again. Taking a sip, she let the sugary coffee pool in her mouth. The word awkward didn’t even describe how she felt. Heck, she didn’t think she had the vocabulary to describe how she felt.
‘Still, talking about things, the kiss and the promotion, might help matters?’
Polly swallowed. ‘Maybe.’
Nicola tapped the screen of her phone. ‘Yikes, I’d better get going. I didn’t realise that was the time. Have a think about it and I’ll see you in the morning.’
‘Will do, and thank you for listening.’ Polly leaned back in her chair as Nicola headed out into the hallway. That was two people who had advised her to talk to Zac and clear the air. And that was just today. Yes, Stacey couldn’t be trusted – if she had her way she’d have Polly declaring her undying love to Zac just to see her best friend in a relationship, but Nicola… Nicola was impartial. She was a stranger looking in.
Yes, maybe she would speak to Zac, clear the air. Maybe she should even offer up a truce about this promotion. Just because they were going after the same job, it didn’t mean they had to be hostile towards each other. It wasn’t as though either of them had known what was going to happen. They couldn’t have predicted finding themselves in this situation. Yes, clear the air, get the awkwardness of the kiss gone and also agree to be friendly towards each other. It would be worth her humiliation in bringing up the party incident just to achieve a frost-free work environment.
Taking another sip of her coffee, Polly smiled to herself. The next three months might just be bearable. Placing her mug towards the edge of the table, Polly riffled through the pile of papers before deciding on one idea to expand – rejuvenating the visitor centre’s hallway. The first step into making any of their visitors care more for the reserve would be to show it in its best light. And an exhibition displaying the improvements previous funds allowed might just encourage people to dig into their own pockets.
With the pen poised to write, Polly glanced at her mobile as a notification flashed across the screen. It needed charging. Picking up her bag from the floor, she delved through the collection of notebooks, pens and half-used tissues searching for the charger. Drat. Where had she left it? She’d definitely brought it down with her this morning and she could have sworn she’d popped it in her bag to take to work.
Ah no, it was in the sitting room. She’d charged her phone there for a few minutes before breakfast whilst she’d enjoyed her first coffee of the morning, thanks to Laura.
Right, she’d fetch her charger and then get back to the mind mapping. Standing up, she hurried through the kitchen door and crossed the hallway. The sooner she could get back to her work, the better. She’d spent all her time dithering at the office, trying to think of ideas so now they were flowing she didn’t want anything to get in the way.
Zac’s voice rose from inside the sitting room, and she halted in her tracks. Did she go in? Run in, retrieve her charger before racing back out? It would hardly disturb him, would it? Besides, if he was on a particularly private call, he would have taken it in his room. She’d be quick. Placing her hand on the door handle, Polly readied herself to dart in and out, but before she had the chance to push the door open further, Zac’s tone changed as his voice dipped.
‘Yes, Dad, that’s what I’m asking. And, personally, I don’t think it’s much to ask, considering.’
He was talking to his father. He wasn’t asking him to sponsor the reserve, was he? Polly pursed her lips as she felt a rush of anger shudder through her. Why hadn’t she seen this coming? She’d known his parents had been huge benefactors in the past, but that had been just over a year ago now. She should have known Zac would turn to his wealthy family to basically buy him the promotion. And that’s what he was doing – by getting them to pledge money to the reserve, he was still technically fundraising, doing his job, just in the most unjust way.
‘That’s right.’
Polly jumped back as his voice grew louder and she realised he was walking towards the door. Turning on her heels, she ran back through to the kitchen at such a speed she almost skidded on the newly polished oak floorboards. Once in the sanctuary of the kitchen, she quietly closed the door before heading back to her table by the window.
He was cheating! That’s what this was – cheating! Plain and simple. She’d assumed he’d planned to ask some business contacts from his old job in marketing to sponsor the reserve, and that would have been close to cheating, but this! He was raising the money by asking for handouts from his parents!
Sinking into her chair, she rubbed at her eyes. Despite the coffee, she suddenly felt exhausted and the ideas she’d been feeling so excited about only moments earlier felt ridiculous. Childish even. She couldn’t win.
13
Shrugging her tote bag off her shoulder, Polly dropped it to the floor before kicking it beneath her desk. The office was empty, but then she’d caught the earlier bus, so what had she expected?
After a night spent tossing and turning after almost walking in on Zac taking that call, she’d given up even attempting to sleep at 4a.m. and had spent the next couple of hours doom-scrolling social media in a lame attempt to take her mind off her dire situation before deciding to just get up. At least she could take a walk around the reserve before deciding whether to hand her notice in right away or wait until the dreaded day of doom when Zac could gloat to her face, knowing for sure he’d bagged the promotion.
Gazing out of the window, she watched as a lone dog walker unclipped his dog’s lead and let it run ahead along the winding path, pausing every few feet to sniff the undergrowth. Polly swallowed. She’d expected it to be a little busier at this time of the morning. An early-morning stroll through the reserve would be the perfect way to start a workday, surely? In fact, now she thought about it, besides the group of runners she’d spotted twice now over the last few days and the odd parent walking with children clasping bags of food to feed the ducks, it hadn’t been that busy. The reserve attached to the head office where she’d volunteered had always had a constant footfall, people enjoying the area at times to suit them even in the dead of winter.
Besides, the weather was nice today. Uncharacteristically warm for late October. The sky was a beautiful clear blue and there was the crispness in the air which Polly craved during the warmer months. The trees lining the pathway had already turned an assortment of colours, from rustic reds to fiery oranges and yellows, their leaves carried on the slight breeze, clustering beneath their trunks, tempting piles for visitors young and old to crunch through. She’d miss this place.
Shaking her head, she knelt down and pulled her metal water bottle from her bag before tugging her striped scarf off and re-wrapping it properly in place. Fastening the top button on her coat, she turned, ready to leave for her walk, pausing as she felt her arm knock her bottle and heard it drop to the floor with a clang.
Drat. She watched as it rolled across the floor before knocking into the small wastepaper bin between her and Zac’s desk, the contents duly spilling across the thin threadbare carpet.
Sighing, she sank to her knees and began to gingerly pick up the banana skin she’d thrown in there yesterday, the once waxy yellow already turning a mushy brown. Yuck. As she began picking up the rest of the rubbish – fortunately a combination of crisp packets and discarded notebook pages – she paused as the words ‘Matthews Marketing Ltd’ caught her eye. Isn’t that where Zac had worked before making his career change into conservation?
Taking the discarded paper, she stood up and unfolded it. Laying it on her desk, she smoothed out the creases and frowned. It was a list of companies, all wealthy-sounding corporate ones by the looks of it. Some had ticks next to them whilst others had been scored out with a heavy line through the middle. She’d known Zac would be taking the route of corporate sponsorship in order to raise the funds. Plus, he now had his dad on board, if last night’s conversation was anything to go by.
Picking the paper up, she turned it over and frowned as she spotted an array of numbers scribbled in a list. Great, she literally had no chance if that was how much he’d secured already. Scrunching it back up, she threw it into the bin before retrieving her bottle, placing it on her desk and heading to the door.
As soon as the cold autumn air hit her cheeks, Polly let the tears begin to fall. This was it. It was over. Her new life in Meadowfield was over. Heck, her new career was over, too. Maybe she should message Stacey and ask if there were any jobs going back at Daisy Chain Primary. She’d suggested there was, and if not, she’d know of at least one teaching vacancy. That was one positive of there being a teacher shortage, Polly supposed.
Swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand, she crossed the narrow bridge over the stream and just kept walking. As she ambled alongside the lake, not even the early-morning sun reflecting on the dark waters could raise a smile. She just felt… bereft. She’d worked so hard to get here. So hard, and now all she could do was to focus on the truth lying in front of her. She had to leave.
At least her grandparents’ flat hadn’t sold. Silver linings and all that. If it had, she’d be homeless as well as jobless.
