Page 42 of Love Me Ever After
As I pressed send, I grinned.
“What’s up?” Dad asked.
“Mum’s taking Ems out for cocktails.”
“God help us.” He rolled his eyes. “Your mum will be asleep on the sofa before dinner.”
“She’s still a lightweight then?” I laughed.
He nodded. “Nothing changes, we’d best get back before they do.”
When we got back to the villa, Dad had a few things to do. I decided to take advantage of the slight dip in temperature and go for a run. I hadn’t been to the gym quite as much as I would have liked in the past few weeks. What with work and Ems, there hadn’t been time. In the absence of a gym, pounding the streets would be a decent alternative. I stuck my ear buds in, found a suitably motivating playlist and hit the road.
The run gave me time to think. Dad’s comments about making the most of having Robert’s ear resonated the most. I figured I should talk to Fraser first.
My mind turned to Ems. If—and it was a pretty big if—there was something else in a different office, what would I do? Sure, the secondment had been an easy decision because there was a finite end date. A permanent opportunity would be a different thing altogether. Now we were back together, she deserved to have input into any decision I made.
Our relationship this time around felt different. We were that little bit older, that little bit wiser. Our outlook on life was different. The time apart had probably done us the world of good, even if neither of us was really prepared to admit it.
By the time I’d been out for around an hour, sweat poured off me. I headed back to the villa, where Dad was watching some cricket on a satellite sports channel. I waved, without taking my ear buds out having no desire to join him.
Once I’d showered, I lay on the bed, towel wrapped around my waist. I picked up my phone.
Mason: Hey, what internal vacancies do you know about?
Fraser would also probably be watching sport on a Saturday afternoon, but I didn’t want to lose any momentum. Who knew how long my stay at Robert’s table would last?
Jumping dots told me Fraser was replying.
Fraser: Seriously? On a Saturday? Shouldn’t you be shagging your girlfriend in the sunshine?
Mason: Haha, very funny. I just played golf with my dad.
Fraser: Taking the L&P golf day seriously are you? Should I be worried?
Mason: Fuck off. I’m still shit and I hate the game. Anyway, vacancies?
Fraser: Shit, you are serious…
Mason: Deadly.
He didn’t reply straight away, which concerned me. Had I taken our friendship too far by trying to exploit his newfound status within the company? I tapped the side of my phone; patience never having been one of my strong suits.
Fraser: Sorry, I had to check what I can share with you. There’s a lot of stuff in the offing. But I can’t tell you anything because it’s confidential. Make sure you’re subscribed to the company vacancies email. That way, you’ll get to know as soon as they’re live.
Mason: Got it. But if you hear anything sooner, let me know, yeah?
Fraser: Sure thing. Now fuck off and enjoy the sunshine.
I laughed. There was little chance of Ealynn Sands having quite the same weather we were enjoying out here in Mallorca. I’d bet anything Fraser was inside, watching the rain come down.
Mason: Thanks, buddy. I owe you one.
I switched from the messaging app into my work email account and did a search for internal vacancies. Unsurprisingly, anything I found was in the trash folder and over two years old. The dates corresponded with the time I’d been offered the secondment. So I probably thought they wouldn’t be of any use again.
How things changed.
While I waited for Ems to get back so we could go out for dinner, I scrolled through the main Lane & Parks website. Each of the current opportunities were at the trainee level or administrative, so nothing that would interest me. From what Fraser alluded to, there could be something in the near future. Curiosity had me checking out our competitors as well. Several of them had various consultant roles, although you had to read past the job title to see what the job actually involved. There was a strong part of me with loyalty to Lane & Parks though. I didn’t want to go somewhere else, just to get more money only to find out it wasn’t the place for me. I had good friends in the company, plus a lot of flexibility. If I went somewhere else, I’d lose all those perks.
