Time After Time: A heart-warming novel about love, loss and second chances. Hannah McKinnon Mary
Pretend
‘For Pete’s sake, look at you. I’ll put the kettle on,’ Ellen said as she opened the door.
Hayley could rely on her best friend to speak her mind. She pulled a face. ‘Got anything stronger? Arsenic? Cyanide?’
Ellen raised an eyebrow then turned and marched down the hallway to the kitchen, her long blonde hair bouncing along behind her. She pushed up the sleeves of her grey sweatshirt, fished a bottle of white wine out of the fridge and plonked it on the table.
‘Wotcha!’ Mark walked into the kitchen carrying a very sleepy looking, six-year old Morgan. She looked like she’d had a bath and she smelled of strawberries, her damp hair framing her delicate features. Hayley noticed her smooth skin and wished she could make her own as flawless. Morgan gave Hayley a little wave and held out her favourite stuffed toy, a floppy-eared, brown and beige rabbit ingeniously named Bunny. Hayley took Bunny and moved its paws in a wave to Morgan, who giggled.
‘How’s the family?’ Mark asked, putting Morgan down and then straightening up with a slight groan. When he caught Hayley’s look he pulled a face. ‘Uh-oh.’ He rubbed his chin. ‘Need a girl’s night in with the wife? I can take my guitar down the pub.’
She shook her head. ‘No, you don’t have to leave. It’s mainly work and …’ She sighed. ‘Rick and I fought again.’ Hayley thought she saw Mark and Ellen exchange a look but Mark turned his back and swiftly got three wine glasses out of the cupboard. He opened the bottle of white and filled the glasses almost to the top, then chucked the cork in the dented stainless-steel bin with a clang.
‘Morgan, I think Hayley needs a cuddle,’ he said.
Morgan obliged, wrapping her arms around her. Hayley squeezed back and kissed the top of her forehead.
‘Let’s go then, Missy,’ Mark said. ‘Time for bed.’
Morgan looked up at Hayley. ‘Will you tuck me in?’
‘I’d love to.’
Morgan clapped her hands as she danced off down the hallway, her feet thud-thudding across the floor, while Hayley followed. Her bedroom had soft pastel curtains and pink walls, a single bed with a white frame and three hearts cut into the headboard. There were Little Miss and Angelina Ballerina books in the bookshelves, and stuffed animals on the floor. Bunny’s fancy daybed, a purple satin covered shoe box, lay on Morgan’s pillow.
Morgan climbed into bed. ‘Night-night. I love you,’ she said as she kissed Hayley on the cheek.
Hayley felt a lump rising in her throat. ‘I love you too. Sleep well, little angel.’ She kissed her, then called Mark and Ellen.
‘So?’ Ellen said as the three of them settled down on the well-worn but wonderfully comfortable blue sofas in the living room. ‘What’s going on?’
Hayley smoothed her hand over the cushion and traced her finger around the old, dried red wine stain that reminded her of Gorbachev’s birthmark. She shook her head. ‘Work is hell. Charles is making my life so miserable. He piles his work onto me and it means I hardly see Rick and the kids. Charles, on the other hand, seems to play an awful lot of golf.’
‘He’s such an arse,’ Mark said, then arched his back and grunted. ‘He really is.’
‘I know.’ Hayley swallowed some wine, enjoying the mild burning sensation in her throat. ‘He blames me whenever anything goes wrong and that seems to be a lot these days. But he’s always clever, I’ll give him that. If I say anything it looks like I’m making excuses, so I take the hit. And,’ she puffed out her cheeks, ‘I didn’t get that other job.’
‘What?’ said Ellen. ‘Why?’
Hayley shrugged. ‘Filled it internally. But that’s not the only problem.’ She explained how the Berger offer had fallen through and her conversation with Charles.
‘Oh bloody hell, Hayley,’ Ellen said.
‘I know damn well he’s trying to push me out, get me to quit and I probably would have if I’d got that job. But now … What if he fires me?’
‘Well, if he does it’s his funeral,’ Ellen said.
‘Let him sack you,’ Mark said as he filled Hayley’s glass back to the top. ‘He’ll beg you to come back when he realises how much shit he’s in. You work harder than anyone in that firm.’
‘It’s not that easy,’ countered Hayley. ‘I’ve lost deals and … he has allies.’
Ellen frowned. ‘Allies? What do you mean?’
Hayley hesitated. ‘I … I haven’t said anything to Rick but … I overheard Charles speaking to Max.’
‘One of the partners?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Sounds ominous.’ Mark said.
Hayley nodded. ‘Charles said he didn’t think I was in control of the Berger deal.’ She laughed. ‘Turns out that was true, right? But he said he’d specifically given me the responsibility of getting that client. And it’s true. He did.’ She paused. ‘Anyway … he told Max if the deal collapses, he’ll be recommending severe consequences for me.’
‘Hang on a second,’ Mark said. ‘Severe consequences? After all you’ve done there?’
Hayley looked down. ‘Like I said, I’ve lost deals lately.’
‘Please tell me Max defended you?’ Ellen said.
Hayley shrugged. ‘Kind of, I suppose. Said something about my work always being exemplary. Then Charles jumped in and told him he’s seen it happen before.’
‘What?’ Mark said.
Hayley exhaled. ‘Solicitors losing their edge. The killer instinct disappearing.’ She bit her lip before continuing. ‘Charles has, and I quote, a number of contacts he could replace me with.’ She took a gulp of wine. ‘Practically guaranteed there wouldn’t be any disruption.’
‘The little fucker,’ Ellen said.
Hayley shuddered. ‘I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve always been so diligent, you know? They don’t call me Hawk-Eye Hayley for nothing.’ She paused. ‘I know there’ll be paperwork and reprimands before I’m fired, but … I … I just can’t face any of that right now.’
‘Charles really is a shit,’ Mark said. ‘Is there anything you can do?’
‘Other than leave?’ Hayley shrugged and drained her glass, then sighed. ‘He’s making my life a misery and I’m turning into a bitch. I’m no fun to be around. Rick said something about a big project he’s bidding on and what did I do? Bit his head off, that’s what. We got into an argument about Halloween costumes and the washing.’
‘Uh-oh,’ said Mark.
‘I know. I’m pathetic.’
‘That’s not fair and –’ Ellen said.
Hayley cut her off. ‘It is. I’ve morphed into a whining git who doesn’t have time for anybody and –’ She threw a hand up into the air. ‘You see? I’m whinging again. Mind you,’ she said, ‘it wouldn’t hurt if Rick could remember to get stuff done around the house.’
Ellen nodded silently.
‘A conversation might not be a bad idea,’ Mark said.
Hayley laughed. ‘Rick said something about me having,’ she made air quotation marks ‘a wall around myself.’ She saw Ellen and Mark’s faces. ‘What? You agree?’
Ellen looked down and fiddled with her watch, avoiding eye contact. Hayley recognised the stalling manoeuvre instantly.
Mark took the lead. ‘Look, when I saw Rick last