to steady herself. She clearly was coming down with something. Her mind had been like wet cotton wool lately. She must have forgotten to set her alarm. After an emergency call-out last night, Jake had obviously done the same. He would be exhausted. But now that his father had cut back to two surgeries a week, he had to go in, regardless of how tired he was. As did she. The practice wouldn’t run without them.
Grabbing her dressing gown from the door, while Jake headed fast for the en suite, she listened for sounds of the kids as she pushed her arms into it. They were up, she gathered, judging by Ben’s exasperated tones drifting from the hall. Millie, whom Ben dropped off at school on his way to uni, was undoubtedly keeping him waiting.
Turning to the wardrobe, Emily grabbed the first clothes that came to hand, dumped them on the bed and then headed quickly downstairs. Reaching the hall, she bypassed Millie, who was in front of the hall mirror, layering on the mascara, attempting to look half awake after a heavy night studying at her friend Anna’s house. It had definitely been a heavy night, but Emily suspected it wasn’t studying her daughter had been hard at. Millie’s make-up had been less than immaculate when she’d eventually arrived home, her eyes slightly unfocused. Emily guessed she’d been drinking, which Millie had denied, naturally. The worrying question was where? With her own teenage rebellion in mind, Emily was treading carefully. She didn’t want to set ground rules her daughter would immediately challenge, but she didn’t like the idea of her sneaking off to pubs miles away, meaning she might be at risk if she had to find her way home alone.
She didn’t want to preach to her daughter, but she was scared for her. Millie was young and impressionable, as she herself had once been. She could so easily be led astray. She’d tried subtly questioning her about her social life and got nothing but vagueness for answers. Telling her that she was worried for her, that she didn’t want Millie making the same mistakes she’d made, only invited the roll of the eyes that accompanied her daughter proclaiming she was ‘sixteen, not six’. She and Jake needed to sit down and talk to her, Emily decided. She would have a word with him later.
‘Shouldn’t you be leaving?’ she asked Ben, who was standing in the hallway by the front door, his art portfolio in one hand, his car keys in the other and an impatient look on his face.
‘I’m trying to, but she’s taking forever.’ He glanced despairingly at his sister.
Millie scowled at him in the mirror, and then went back to grooming her eyebrows. God forbid there was a hair out of place.
‘You look fine, Millie,’ Emily assured her. ‘You’ll need to get a move on if you’re not going to be late.’
‘I’m trying,’ Millie huffed. ‘What’s your problem anyway?’ she asked Ben. ‘You have a free period this morning, don’t you?’
‘To prepare for my ceramics exhibition,’ he pointed out exasperatedly. ‘Can’t you just get a move on, for fuck’s—’
‘Ben, language.’ Jake cut him short as he hurried down the stairs, roping his tie around his neck and waggling his watch arm at Millie as he passed her.
‘Sorry,’ Ben mumbled. Then, emitting a world-weary sigh, he dumped his portfolio against the wall and ran a hand through his dark mane of locks – grown long since starting his fine art course, apparently to assert his individual style. Emily had refrained from pointing out that he might actually be following the herd, since the majority of the male art students were similarly hirsute. ‘Mum, can you tell her, please?’ he appealed to her. ‘I’ve got loads to do and she’s making me really late.’
‘Come on, Mils.’ Sensing her son’s frustration, Emily chivvied Millie on. ‘He’ll leave you to walk otherwise.’
‘I’m coming, I’m coming.’ Millie turned grudgingly from the mirror, retrieved her shoulder bag from where she’d hung it on the stair rail and dropped her make-up bag into it. ‘I have my interview after college for the Saturday job at the vet’s. I can hardly go looking a complete mess, can I? This is important work experience for my future.’
‘So you couldn’t have got up earlier?’ Ben muttered. ‘Like, three hours earlier? Dunno why you’re bothering anyway. They’ll have loads of applicants.’
‘Because I like animals – present company excepted.’ Millie eyed him with disdain. ‘I’ve decided to apply