Page 32 of The Wrong Promise

Anna and Lydia laugh out loud.Shit, snap out of it.I fake a smile and nod, listening and hoping to catch up on the conversation as it veers to the coming weekend.

“Are you in, Zara?” Piper asks. “It’s going to be fun.”

“Before I say yes, tell me more about the place,” I say, acting interested.

“It’s a beach house,” Anna adds with a shrug. “Not your average beach house, as my sister’s boyfriend is loaded. But we can stay all weekend, and go for beach strolls, and have some fun at night. Bring the booze you want to drink, and we’ll go grocery shopping there.”

“How far away is it?”

“It’s Sandbanks. So about two hours.” They stare at me again as though I should know this information.

“Sorry, I’m still learning the location of places.”

“This is prime real estate we get to stay in. Compare it to Miami.”

“Then it should be fun,” I add.

Anna turns to George who is acting far more enthusiastically than me. “Are you bringing Corey?”

“No, he’s acting like a little bitch lately.”

Anna giggles. “Then it’s set. No partners.”

Sounds like the perfect weekend.

Back at the office, we separate as we head into private meetings. I’m not sure what’s happening because after Piperreturns to her desk on the opposite side of me, she slumps forward before logging back onto her computer.

“Is everything okay?” I whisper.

She pops one shoulder. “I guess you’ll hear soon enough, even though we’re told not to discuss anything with coworkers. The company is downsizing before a major change. Tim didn’t go into detail. He wanted to give us notice and an option of being made redundant. I haven’t been here long enough to reap benefits, and although I’ll have a job, it might be a different role.” She shakes her head. “I can’t afford a demotion or to lose my job. I might need to search elsewhere because I have one more year of university remaining, and I have to stick it out until I graduate,” she says in a hushed voice.

Tim appears at the front of the room and calls George to follow him into his office.

I lean closer to Piper. “Do you think anyone will lose their jobs today?”

She shakes her head and closes her eyes. “I hope not. It’s unaffordable to live here and not work.”

Hmm.“Are you from here?”

She shakes her blonde locks. “Sheffield.”

For her to move back home is out of the question. “Who do you live with?”

“A friend from university, but she graduates this year, so I’m not sure what’s happening there either. The timing sucks.”

Part of me is grateful to be with Jobe albeit temporarily, so now I can put the wheels in motion for us all to move in together. “What about Anna?”

“She lives at home. Her parents live in Croydon.”

I do a subtle eye roll.

“What?”

“Croydon is the name of a certain ex-boyfriend.” One I have tried to forget.

“Oh. It’s okay, great for sports and if you’re a foodie. We should go there sometime with Anna when her parents go on one of their many international holidays.”

“I’m up foranytravel,” I emphasize. Even to Croydon because I need a better image than the one in my head reminding me of one certain fuckface ex-boyfriend.

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