Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Sofia took a deep breath.
‘I’ve lost my job. I’ve been made redundant.’
Maddie’s arms went round her.
‘Is that all? Oh, thank God, I thought you were dying.’
Charlotte got up from her seat and knelt down beside Sofia’s chair to hug her too.
Something between a cry and a laugh came out of Sofia’s mouth.
‘But I told you I wasn’t ill.’
Maddie stroked the bits of her back and arms that weren’t being stroked by Charlotte.
‘We thought you were lying to protect us.’
‘Nope. Telling it like it is. I’ve been royally tossed aside by the company I’ve spent more than half my life helping to build. It’s nothing really, don’t mind me.’
The tears had beaten the strange laughter, and Sofia rested her head on the table and let them come.
Maddie’s hand in hers gently pulled her up to a seated position.
‘Oh, you poor baby. We know how much your work means to you. We’re not saying it’s nothing. We’re just relieved you’re OK.’
Charlotte wiped away her friend’s tears with another serviette, which came away streaked with mascara. The black goo was also on the tablecloth. The staff were going to love them.
‘It must seem like the end of the world today, but you’ll find another job.’
Sofia tried not to let her lip buckle.
‘I’m not sure I will … at my age.’
Charlotte banged her fist on the table.
‘Rubbish! We won’t have any of this ageist talk.’
‘Char, I’m just being realistic. Taking on a new senior partner in a law firm would be very unusual at my age. It’s different if you’re already working there. No one’s going to be bothered about your age.’ She realised what she’d said. ‘Well … until they are.’
Her friends waited until the next bout of crying was over. Charlotte was about to speak again. Her inquisition technique in such situations was well known. There was no point trying to shut her down.
‘What excuse did they give for getting rid of you?’
‘They’re “restructuring”. We’ve got a new top dog, a guy in his forties who wants to clear out the dead wood and bring in his own team.’
‘What rubbish. You’re very much live wood.’
‘Thanks, I think.’
‘My turn.’ Maddie took her hand. ‘Have they given you a big pay off?’
‘Yes, but I don’t care about the money. I’ve already got more than enough.’
‘Lucky you.’
Maddie’s murmured comment brought Sofia up short. Since Tony’s death, Maddie had hinted that she wasn’t exactly flush. He’d been nowhere near retirement age, and they still had a mortgage on the house.
‘Sorry, that was thoughtless of me.’
Maddie poured the dregs of the bottle into her glass.
‘No, it was nasty of me. I didn’t mean to say it out loud. I know your work has always been such a big part of your life, of your identity.’
Sofia frowned.
‘You’re making me sound like some sort of self-obsessed crazy career woman with no time for anything or anyone else.’
‘Not at all.’ Maddie smiled. ‘You always had time for fun.’
‘Don’t say had. It sounds like everything’s over.’
Sofia leant on Maddie’s shoulder.
‘Maybe it is.’
‘Right, you need to stop that sort of talk right away. Think of the thousands of women you’ve helped over the years. Women who otherwise might not have got a fair deal in their divorce settlements. There must be so many clients out there who are grateful to you.’
‘Suppose so.’
Sofia sat back up in her seat and let the tears fall again.
‘The person I most wanted to help was my mum. Seeing her go through all that crap with my dad and wishing there was someone who’d stand up to him on her behalf.
Someone who could take that smug smile off his face for good.
Him and his fancy personal lawyer, who also happened to be his bloody mistress, all ready and waiting to shaft us. ’
A picture of the two of them together at some big legal awards do brought the bile rushing into her throat. Her father in a dinner jacket with one arm round his precious Cherie, the other arm holding up his prize for best something or other – destroyer of families if she’d had a vote.
Maddie put her finger to her lips.
‘It’s OK, love, you don’t need to go there. He’s not with us anymore. He can’t hurt either of you now.’
‘But she’s still around, isn’t she? Still in the house in Mayfair, with her stupid yappy dogs and her remodelled face.’
Sofia knew she’d suddenly inhabited the wounded teenager she’d been back then, but she didn’t care.
Maddie nodded several times.
‘Yeah, she sure is. Not sure it’s the dogs’ fault, but that’s right, let it all out.’
Sofia couldn’t stop more sobs. Her only focus was the freeze frame of her mother’s stricken face when she’d arrived back at the family home one Christmas to find her father gone for good and the divorce papers on the hall table.
‘I was in my second year at uni when he broke the news to her. He waited until I was far away, hundreds of miles away in Scotland, the coward. I was too young and na?ve then to fight them.’
Sofia let out a bitter laugh.
‘Ironically, I’d chosen to study law to follow in Daddy’s footsteps and make the man proud. Later on, I fell in love with the law for its own sake, but to think that he was the inspiration makes me want to vomit.’
Charlotte ruffled her hair.
‘You always were a fantastic arguer though. You could row with a paper bag. Still can, given the chance.’
Charlotte’s little joke had pulled her back into her adult body.
‘There’s a little more to it than that, I assure you. But I made sure that I got a first and became the best damn divorce lawyer in town, eventually. It was too late for mum, but I like to think I helped other people.’
‘You certainly did, baby. We’ve always been so proud of you.’
‘I actually faced her in court a few times, you know. My dad had retired by then, but the satisfaction I got when I beat her in a case was like nothing else.’
Maddie stroked Sofia’s back as if she was expecting a burp to come out.
‘Yeah, you did mention it once or twice. We’re not losing it quite yet.’
Sofia covered her eyes with her hands.
‘It’s the thought that it might all be over that’s bringing it back.’
Charlotte put both her hands together as if in prayer.
‘Nothing is ever truly over. It just changes into something else.’
Maddie put on a serious face.
‘Oooh, listen to the Dalai Lama over there. You’re not going to go all New Age on us, are you, Char?’
‘I happen to be a very spiritual person, actually. But we’re concentrating on Sof at the moment…’
‘I know. And at least you can have a break before you decide on your next move, Sof. We did wonder how you’d got so much time off at once, and why we weren’t being interrupted every few minutes by your office ringing. Now we know.’
‘You do.’
Sofia reached for both their hands. They were on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday, and she wasn’t going to let the memories of her father’s betrayal spoil it for everyone.
‘And I’m thrilled we have so long to spend together. We’ve not seen each other like this, as in every day, sharing meals and laughs, since we were at school.’
Maddie went to speak, but Sofia put her hand over her friend’s mouth.
‘Oi!’
‘Before you say it, I’m aware these are not the simple days of school when the worst thing that could happen was a boy rejecting you or a big fat spot breaking out on your forehead.
There are many reasons why we’re here together now, and many things going on in all our lives, both good and bad, but one thing’s certain, we need to make the most of the two weeks’ holiday in glorious Greece that we’ve got left. ’
Maddie put her hand up.
‘What about motivational speaking as your next career… That’s a huge thing these days, isn’t it? You can talk the hind legs off a donkey that’s for sure.’
‘Cheeky cow.’
‘Just trying to help.’
Charlotte swilled the last of her wine around in the glass.
‘So, you’re not going to try and fight the redundancy, or take them to an industrial tribunal?’
‘There’s honestly no point. I wouldn’t want to be there after this, anyway, knowing I’m very much surplus to requirements.
They’ve given me a very generous settlement, generous enough for me not to have to worry for quite a while.
Maybe I do need to take a step back and think about what I really want, rather than what everyone else thinks I want. ’
‘“Tell me what you want, what you really, really want.”’
‘Please stop singing, Mads.’
‘OK.’
‘So, please let me pay for a few treats now you know everything, starting with this meal. It really does give me pleasure. Us enjoying ourselves is a poke in the eye for them … and my dad.’
‘“Zig-a-zag ah!”’
‘Final warning, Mads.’
‘OK. And, of course, it means we can go to the posh, poncey places you like a bit more often.’
Sofia smiled a sad smile.
‘Yes, there is that as well.’
‘Fine by me.’
A couple of waiters had appeared behind Charlotte.
‘I am afraid we must close the restaurant now, as we will be arriving in port in a few minutes’ time.’
Sofia clocked that they were the only three people still there, sitting in the half dark. Out of the windows were the lights of another Cycladic island, another harbour, with dark hills rising up behind.
‘Of course. Can I pay please?’
‘Certainly.’
Sofia rolled up the mascara-stained serviettes and placed them on the next table while the waiter fiddled with the card machine.
Charlotte wagged her finger.
‘Naughty.’
The Tannoy announcing the ferry’s arrival and calling for all passengers getting off to make their way down to the hold was deafening in the restaurant.
‘Ow!’ Charlotte put her hands over her ears.
Sofia rose to her feet.
‘We need to go and get our luggage. New island, new start, here we come!’
There hadn’t been much to look at last night in the dark, and they’d all fallen into their beds, wrung out and more than a little drunk after their emotional meal on the boat.