goose-down pillows and covered with a quilt as light as a cloud. I thought of the gray silk throw that was draped on the bedpost and the soft lights and the woolen rugs, and the en suite with its power shower for two. And then I looked around my hotel room. It was nice enough, but I was alone here. Not just alone. Homeless. Jobless.
I couldn’t help thinking I’d made the biggest mistake in the world.
CHAPTER 11
Ruby
The next morning I was up early. I had two goals: to find somewhere to live and to get another job. By nine o’clock I was back at Mersey Recruitment, the agency that had found me the job at Sheridan’s.
When I walked in, every eye was on me and instantly I realized they all knew why I was there. My face flamed. I walked up to the manager’s desk. Kourtney O’Dwyer was a Canadian woman who’d married an Englishman and had settled here with him. She was the owner and manager of the agency; everything had to go through her.
“Ruby,” said Kourtney. She was pouring a cup of coffee from the machine at the back of the room. “What a nice surprise.” When I’d first approached the agency after I was made redundant she was newly pregnant. She’d found me the job at Sheridan’s within a day, and I hadn’t seen her since. Now she was back off maternity leave, her body softer than before, but her eyes held the same hard, determined glint. I could only hope she didn’t look at her baby like that.
I sat down opposite her. She ignored me for a few minutes, doing that thing people do when they want to show you exactly who’s more powerful in the conversation. It did the trick; I felt like I was shrinking in front of her.
She didn’t offer me any coffee, but lifted her own cup and sipped. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m looking for work.” I stumbled over my words. The office was silent and I knew everyone was listening to me. “I’ve left Sheridan’s now.”
“Yes,” said Kourtney. “We know.”
My face was hot and damp with perspiration. “I wondered whether you had anything else available.”
There was a silence, then she slammed her mug down. I jumped and knocked the table. Coffee spilled out onto papers she had laid out there. She swore under her breath and one of her minions came rushing over with a cloth.
She leaned over the table and I thought for a moment she was going to grab me. “Are you serious?” she hissed. “You had an affair with a married man. A married man with a pregnant wife. At Sheridan’s, our best client! During working hours! And, now you’ve been fired, you want us to find you somewhere else?”
“What? How did you know that?”
“It’s a small town,” she said. “I know everyone.”
I got to my feet. I wasn’t going to argue that nothing had happened in working hours, that I hadn’t known his wife was pregnant. I’d been a good employee, I’d never been late, and I’d always worked overtime whenever he’d asked me to. I didn’t mention that I’d set up systems that streamlined their administration, that Harry had said I was ten times better than Clare, his previous PA. I could tell, though, from looking at Kourtney’s furious face that nothing I said would make a difference.
I picked up my bag and turned away.
The other staff were staring at me, agog, but lowered their eyes when they saw me glaring at them. The office was hushed as I walked through, my face burning, my heart pounding. As I shut the door behind me I heard an explosion of angry voices.
So, it might be better to look somewhere else for a job.
CHAPTER 12
Ruby
My mistake was going from the recruitment agency straight to the letting agency, where with increasing desperation I was taken to view a number of flats.
My home with Tom had been lovely, even if it didn’t always feel like mine. I’d lived there with him for twelve years and in that time we’d worked hard on it. Every room was freshly decorated. Paintings hung on