Page 10 of Limits
Pav frowned. How had Dr Morrison got hold of this? Pav knew that Dr Morrison used to look after Rosie a few early mornings a week when Libby was on the surgical rotation so she could start when the other students started at seven thirty. Apparently the little girl had hung out in Dr Morrison’s office with her for an hour until the hospital nursery opened.
Millie wasn’t the only one with a quick mind and a high IQ. Pav couldn’t think of any reason why she would have a copy of this letter unless she was the one who’d written it. He filed that piece of information away. He had succeeded in alienating Dr Morrison completely that afternoon (so much for his legendary charm rays); he was going to need all the ammunition he could get if he was going to have any chance of changing her mind about public speaking. He had another six months to do it in before the conference.
No problem, he thought to himself as he strode out of the department.
There was nobody Pavlos Martakis couldn’t talk around, given enough time. Nobody.
Chapter 5
Ruin everything
Millie stood at the back of the church in the shadows, prepared for a quick exit as soon as the ceremony was finished. This was the first wedding she had ever been invited to. El had, yet again, been ridiculously excited to pick out her outfit. Millie knew she looked perfect.
But she also knew her limits.
She would not be going to the reception. She would not be congratulating the bride and groom. It was enough to watch them from here, to see how happy Libby and Rosie looked, and to know that in a small way she had something to do with that happiness; not that she would ever let them know that. Libby already took too much interest in Millie for her liking. Not many people looked beneath her cool exterior, not many could be bothered; but she had a feeling Libby was different. If she knew what Millie had done, she would no doubt double her efforts to draw her out.
Applause broke out when the couple kissed as man and wife despite the vicar not inviting them to do so. Millie knew that was her cue to leave. But she allowed herself a moment longer to watch their happiness. She even allowed herself a fleeting smile. Something caught her eye next to the altar and she froze, her smile dying on her lips. One pair of dark eyes wasn’t on the bride and groom like the rest of the church; these eyes were looking directly at her, and, as always, they held way too much curiousity.
Pavlos Martakis was really becoming a problem. Since that day in her office a month ago he’d attempted to apologize more than once. Seemingly immune to embarrassment, he’d brought her coffees at every single weekly MDT and persisted in trying to approach her despite her continued rudeness. After the second week Millie had broken and taken a sip of the Americano he’d left in front of her. The bastard was smiling when he managed to catch her eye after that small victory, but it hadn’t stopped her from polishing the whole cup off. By her calculation she owed him fifteen pounds and seventy-three pence currently in Americanos. It was getting ridiculous.
She broke eye contact to take one more look at the gorgeous couple, then allowed her gaze to sweep over the congregation. The empty feeling that had been intensifying for the last few months grew almost crippling for a moment, but she pushed it down, like always, and turned her back on all the happy people around her to leave.
But, once she was standing outside the church, Millie realised that simply seeing Libby and Jamie get married would not be enough. She wanted just alittlemore. She wanted to watch them leave the church together, and she even wanted to shower some of the confetti rose petals she’d been given by one of the ushers at the start of the service on them. Although she knew that she wasn’t responsible for the couple finally getting married, Millie liked to think that by taking the pressure off Libby financially (not that Libby knew it was her), she had had a small part to play. So she stepped back behind a few gravestones and watched the congregation file out.
The church had been packed so the crowd was huge. Perfect for melting into and remaining anonymous. Millie found crowds strangely comforting, as long as she was amongst them and not the focus of their attention. The wedding guests divided to surround the path out of the church and Millie joined the throng nearest the far gate. She merged perfectly, reminding herself to give Eleanor the most enormous tip next time she saw her. El would like that. It was some small compensation for the amount of time she had to spend with her; Millie was well aware of how boring and downright uncomfortable her company could be; the very least she could do was recompense Eleanor financially for it.
A cheer went up in the crowd as the couple emerged and Millie felt the corners of her mouth tip up, just a little. Jamie was carrying Rosie, with his other arm wrapped around his new wife, and all three were laughing. In Millie’s mind the crowd melted away as she focused on them and the joy radiating from their threesome. When they were nearly at the gate she shook out her confetti to join the rest of the rose petals in the air. That was when Rosie spotted her.
‘Millie!’ Rosie shouted, wriggling frantically until she was set down on her feet next to Jamie and then plunging into the crowd to get through to where Millie was standing, open-mouthed with shock.
Rosie, Don and Gammy were the only people that Millie allowed herself to believe genuinely enjoyed her company. In Don’s case he hadn’t really had much choice in the matter, Gammy was family; but Rosie – now, Rosie had chosenher.She’d pushed her way into Millie’s office one day when her mother was down in the radiology department asking for a scan and plonked herself down on Millie’s lap. Millie didn’t know any other children, but she knew Rosie was special. Gifted. Not in the way Millie had been gifted, not at the expense of her social skills or happiness. But in a way that complemented every aspect of her personality: that gave her higher emotional intelligence than most fifty-year-olds, leave alone five-year-olds.
‘You came!’ Rosie shouted when she was finally in front of Millie. Her arms went straight up in the air and she did a little dance on the spot before she launched herself at Millie’s legs. For some reason the little girl looked like she had rolled in mud before the church service and had a couple of twigs sticking out of her hair. Millie felt her cheeks heat as all eyes swung from the newlyweds to her and she squatted down to Rosie’s level. Rosie detached herself from Millie’s legs to circle her neck with her little arms.
‘You look so pretty,’ Millie told her, cuddling the small body close and letting that familiar warm feeling settle on her chest, despite the discomfort of being the focus of attention. ‘You’ve been bug-hunting though, huh?’
Rosie pulled back slightly and opened her little fist to reveal a centipede and a woodlouse. ‘They wanted to come to the church too,’ she explained. ‘Can you tell me their posh names?’
‘This one is Armadillidium Valgare and this guy is Collinellidae. Okay? Now you’d better get back to your –’
‘Rosie, what are you … ? Oh, it’s you.’ Millie looked up to see that Kira had made it through the crowd. She looked beautiful in her bridesmaid dress, her red hair containing a deep blue streak of the exact same shade. Kira was barely over five feet tall but Millie still found her ridiculously intimidating. Suddenly the light-beige silk outfit Eleanor had painstakingly selected felt dull and lifeless. ‘Rose-Pose, come on. Mummy and Daddy are waiting.’
‘I get a daddy now,’ Rosie told Millie, unwinding her arms from Millie’s neck and skipping over to Kira to take her hand.
‘I know you do,’ Millie said. ‘That’s fantastic news. Statistically speaking, young women with father figures are more likely to complete higher education and less likely to conceive a child during their teen years.’
Kira rolled her eyes. ‘I think she’s a bit young to under –’
‘I knows what she’s sayin’.’ Rosie cut Kira off in an angry little voice.
‘Of course you do, Squirt,’ Kira said, then turned back to Millie. ‘You’re not on the table plan. You know that, right?’
‘Yes,’ Millie replied, just above a whisper as she took a small step back.
‘Libby was upset that you rejected the invite. It’s just it’sreallydifficult if people say they’re not coming but then change their minds at the last –’
‘I just wanted to see … I won’t –’
