Page 66 of (Not So) Mad About You

“Do you think he’ll ask me back?” she asked.

“Probably,” said Josh, waking up more with his coffee. “If you’re willing to work for what he’s willing to pay, he’d be an idiot to turn you down, wouldn’t he?”

“I suppose.” She took a drink of her own coffee. It tasted burnt. “When does the next one start?”

“A week break, then back to it,” Josh said. “But he’s thinking of making the programs after that back-to-back, one straight after the other.”

“Enough people want to do this to make it profitable?”

“I suppose so,” Josh said. “But there’s heaps of government funding. Anger management is considered part of some paroles, and can be a punishment in its own right. So there’s money to be made there even if we’re not massaging wealthy clients.”

“Which is what Luke wants to do.”

“Probably the end point,” agreed Josh. “But he’ll need to clean this place up a whole lot before we get to luxury retreat status.”

Bea checked her watch. “Got to run,” she said.

“Alright, have a good one,” said Josh.

It wasn’t until she left that she realized she hadn’t answered Josh’s question. Would she be coming back?

ALL DAY SHE’D been steeling herself to talk to Alli. So when she saw her walking alone toward the dining room at dinner time, she hurried her step to catch her up. Until Luke popped out of his office.

“Ah, Bea, a quick word.”

In despair, she stared after Alli. “Right, sure.”

Luke pulled her into the office. “Just making plans for next session,” he said. “You’ll be returning, I suppose?”

It wasn’t exactly a graceful job offer. But now that she’d had time to think, it seemed sensible to take it. Liz wouldn’t be well enough to teach still, and she could use the money for her new place. “I’d love to,” she said with far more enthusiasm than she felt. She really, really wanted to talk to Alli.

“Perfect, of course there’ll be a small reduction in salary,” Luke said. “And I’ll email with further details. That’s all.” He nodded at her.

“Um, excuse me, areductionin salary?”

“Just a small one,” he agreed. “Cost of living and all that. Food bills are going up. It’s unavoidable, I’m afraid.”

Bea bit her lip and closed her eyes for a second. Then she sighed, opened her eyes, and smiled. “Of course. Thanks.” And she left.

Because a job was better than no job, right?

IT WAS EVENING before she finally caught up with Alli alone. Alli came rushing into her room, crushing her in her arms, kissing her face, and bending to whisper in her ear. “Almost got caught by Josh out there.”

Bea let herself be held for just a second, just one warm second, and then she pushed Alli away. “We need to talk.” This was by far the worst and scariest thing she thought she’d ever done.

“Uh-oh,” Alli said, perching on the side of the small bed.

Bea sighed. “Al, you know what I’m going to say. Two daysfrom now, you’re going to be leaving.”

Alli frowned. “Right, and?”

“And? I mean…” Bea exhaled. “I mean, this, us, um, what…” This conversation was going fantastically, wasn’t it?

Alli’s face went pale. “Oh, right. Okay, I see. Um, wow. I can’t say that I was expecting this, but I respect your right to say no and if that’s what you want...” She stood up again.

Bea suddenly realized what was happening. “No, wait. Shit.”

Alli stopped. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you swear before.”

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