Page 65 of The Village Cafe in the Loire

Becky laughed, slightly. ‘Still.’

Amber smiled a little now. ‘Look, shall we just agree you’re a bit shit sometimes and then move on?’

‘I will if you will?’

Amber wrapped her fingers around Becky’s hand and gave it a squeeze. ‘Done. Officially shit.’

‘That’s me!’ Becky tried to smile.

‘But you know I still love you, right? You’re the only one who can make me laugh, forget about my problems. I know it hasn’t been long, but I’ve really missed you,’ Amber added.

‘Aren’t you going to say that I complete you?’

‘We complete each other.’

Becky looked into her friend’s eyes and felt the deep connection of their shared history. ‘We really do,’ she said.

Whatever had been broken between them seemed to be fixed for now.

‘So, what’s the…’ The wordprognosiscame into her head. But it didn’t seem the right thing to ask. ‘What exactly is wrong?’

‘They’re not entirely sure. Not a heart attack, apparently. Thank God. But my heart was beating a little more quickly than it should. It might be all the stress hormones. They’re worried about a bit of inflammation. They’re just keeping an eye on me, honestly.’

‘Shit though, Amber.’

‘Yep!’

‘And you’ve quit your job?’

It was brief, but she saw Amber blanch. ‘Looks like it,’ she said.

‘Sorry, it doesn’t matter, does it? Not under the circumstances.’

‘Maybe not to someone like you.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘Oh, come on, Becky. We have very different lives. Very different circumstances.’

‘Meaning?’

‘Meaning, if you quit your job or needed some time… or had your career prospects thrown back in your face, you’d have a safety net.’

‘What, Mum?’ Becky made a face.

‘Sure. Yeah. She’s a pain. But she’s wealthy and she has your back. You might not appreciate that. And, God knows, I realise the woman’s driven you mad at times. But those are the facts. You are not going to starve.’

‘Come on, Amber,’ Becky said, trying to keep her tone gentle. ‘Neither are you.’

‘No. But my mum can’t support me. Not for long. And it’s fine. It’s OK. It’s normal, for a lot of people. That’s why I’ve always worked so hard. But now this thing with Rufus…’

‘He won’t get away with it, you know! We can take him to a tribunal. Get some compensation.’

Amber nodded. ‘Maybe. Eventually. But then what?’

‘I don’t know. But we must be able to do something.’

‘The thing is, I didn’t even like my job, not really. It was OK. But it was basically just fancy number-crunching. Stuck in a cubicle office in a faceless building.’

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