Chapter 3
‘What’s for dinner?’ asked Cat, putting down her mug on a stack of boxes beside her chair and looking to where Gemma was perched.
It was the only other available seat in the room.
The sofa had almost disappeared under a pile of belongings – some packed into bags, but most strewn across the cushions.
Gemma gave her a wan smile. ‘It’ll be whatever Gousto sent,’ she said. ‘I can’t remember.’
‘We could get a takeaway,’ offered Cat, adding, ‘My treat,’ before Gemma could make any remark about the state of her bank balance.
‘Best not,’ said Gemma. ‘I might as well use up what’s been sent. Gousto’s something else which will have to go now. I’d changed the delivery address to the new flat, but now I’ll have to cancel it, along with everything else.’ She sighed. ‘My whole life is on subscription.’
It was only just beginning to dawn on her the scale of the changes she would have to make…
not just her meals but cleaning products, organic groceries, the special tea and coffee blends she liked and her favourite hot chocolate sachets.
Those she would really miss – they were comfort in a mug. The list went on and on…
‘Well, whatever else there’s left to do, I’ll give you a hand. I’m owed a few sick days.’
Gemma’s eyebrows came together. ‘How can you be owed sick days?’
Cat grinned. ‘I reckon I’ve earned them, that’s all.
I can’t remember when I last had time off.
And the Brewster’s campaign had me working until eleven for the better part of a fortnight.
’ She pulled a face. ‘So… now that it’s finished, Abby can let her shining new star pick up the slack for a bit, and I can help you. At least until you’re settled.’
‘Is Rachel really that shiny?’
‘Nauseatingly so,’ replied Cat. She gave Gemma a warm look. ‘I’m really going to miss you, and not just at work. I hope you know that. And I meant what I said about you coming to stay at mine.’
Gemma smiled. ‘You’d be heartily sick of me within days. And what about Joe? It’s his home too.’
‘And he loves you the same as I do. He won’t mind. Besides, where else are you going to live? You have to be out of this place by next Wednesday.’
‘Yes, I know. But I’ll find something.’
‘It’s ridiculous you can’t stay here, in your house.’
Gemma paused. ‘It isn’t, not really. If you think about it, the new tenants would be in exactly the same position I’m in now if I broke the tenancy agreement, and I can’t do that to them.
I know how it feels. In any case, I can’t break the agreement, that’s the whole point of having a contract – to protect all parties involved.
And yes, I have rung and checked before you ask.
There’s a break clause, but that only comes into effect if the tenants default on the rent or something, not because I’ve simply changed my mind about moving.
I can’t get the house back for another six months, and that’s all there is to it.
Besides, I need the rent to pay the mortgage.
Without a job I can’t even do that at the moment. ’
Cat uncurled her legs from beneath her. ‘Even more reason for you to stay with me and Joe, so no arguments. Now, come on, let’s get dinner on the go, I’m starving.’
‘Maybe Leonards not working out is for the best,’ broached Cat once she was busy slicing leeks. ‘I know the job offer was very attractive, but now you have more time to think about what else you could do. That’s if you don’t want to stay in advertising.’
Gemma gave her a sharp look. ‘What else am I going to do? It’s all I know. But according to Abby, I’m on the scrapheap, so I’m not sure where that leaves me – looking for a new job, in this climate? With everyone cutting back on their budgets…’
‘Don’t listen to Abby. She’s not the world’s leading authority, you know. Plenty of other firms would give their eye teeth to have you.’
‘Would they, though?’ countered Gemma. ‘Would they really?’
Cat nodded, putting down her knife for a second to give Gemma a stern look.
‘They absolutely would… if that’s what you want to do.
All I’m saying is that maybe things not working out today is a blessing in disguise.
You have skills which would be transferable to loads of other industries.
Don’t limit yourself to what you go after, that’s all. The cherries are ripe for the picking.’
‘I think the harvest might be over,’ replied Gemma, pausing to taste the sauce she was making. ‘At least it feels that way.’
‘Which is understandable,’ fired back Cat. ‘You’ve had a rough ride of things over the last year or so. It’s no wonder your confidence has taken a battering. But you’ll bounce back, Gemma. You’re amazing at what you do. Be gentle with yourself, though. Give yourself some time.’
Gemma eyed her over the top of the hob. ‘You sound like my doctor,’ she said. ‘That’s pretty much what she told me this morning.’
Cat smiled. ‘Perhaps because it’s good advice.’
‘It might well be. But giving myself some time isn’t going to find me a new job, and if I don’t find a new job I can forget about finding anywhere to live.’
Cat stuck out her tongue. ‘Humour me for a moment,’ she said. ‘But if money was no object and you could do anything you wanted, what would you choose?’
Gemma contemplated the wooden spoon in her hand before turning to stare at Cat. She wondered if her expression was as blank as her mind. ‘I have absolutely no idea,’ she said. ‘Truly.’
‘I rest my case,’ said Cat. She swept the pile of leeks she’d been chopping into a pan on the hob.
‘You’ve had your blinkers on for too long,’ she added.
‘Head down, don’t look left or right. And I get it, you’d never have survived otherwise.
But now your vision doesn’t need to be so narrow, your eyes and head should be filling with all the wonders you’ve been missing out on.
But they aren’t. You’ve forgotten how to look around you.
’ She leaned across the hob to squeeze Gemma’s hand.
Gemma’s thoughts strayed to the photo on her phone, the one she’d snapped during the hugely embarrassing episode in the surgery. She’d all but dismissed it, yet… perhaps she should show it to Cat and see what she thought.
‘Do you know, I can’t remember the last time I read a book,’ added Cat. ‘Or baked a cake. I sometimes wonder if there isn’t more to life.’
‘You, bake a cake?’ Gemma shook her head in amusement. ‘Besides, you love your job.’
‘I do, and I love the money, but… maybe I love the money too much. I think it makes me scared to even contemplate doing anything else. Does that make sense?’
Gemma nodded, made curious by the wistful expression on her friend’s face. ‘So if you were in my position, and money were no object, what would you do?’
‘I’d buy a house by the sea and open a tearoom.’
The speed of Cat’s reply surprised her, as did her answer. ‘Again… you baking cakes? It’s not something I automatically associate with you. Sorry if that’s—’
‘No, I know. I can count on one hand the number of cakes I’ve made in my life and I’d probably be rubbish at it, but I’d like to learn.
Otherwise I’d never know if it was something I might be good at.
’ She scratched her nose. ‘I could have said rock climbing, or becoming a champion swimmer. There are so many things I don’t know about myself, things I could be capable of.
I don’t want to get to the end of my life and not know, but this job – my career – it doesn’t leave time for anything. ’
Gemma stared at her. She was right, of course, but at least Cat had found the time to have these thoughts.
Gemma hadn’t even done that much, and she felt a little embarrassed to admit it.
Time had certainly been an issue of late, but surely she should have some thoughts about the direction her life was taking?
And for the second time in as many minutes, her thoughts strayed to the photo on her phone.
She was about to make mention of it when a sudden loud hissing captured her attention.
The pan of leeks was boiling over. Turning down the heat, she studied the recipe card for the next step, realising she should have already started to cook the sausages.
That particular conversation would have to wait.
It wasn’t until they were both tucking into their pasta that Gemma was able to broach the subject of the advert she’d seen.
General Assistant required to help with the development of a smallholding project.
Previous experience is less essential than the desire to tackle whatever is required, but the job does require the person to be physically fit as some lifting and manual labour will be involved.
Full board and lodging provided. Please contact Willow for more information.
‘What do you think?’ asked Gemma, passing her phone so that Cat could see.
‘There aren’t many details,’ she said. ‘But that’s probably deliberate.’
Gemma took back her phone, studying the photo again. ‘What do you mean?’
Cat wrinkled her nose. ‘Only that if they said it like it was, people probably wouldn’t apply. They want a general dogsbody. Plus, it doesn’t say anything about a salary. Or even where it is.’
‘Yes, but a smallholding sounds like it could be interesting.’ The old Gemma used to spend every spare moment she could outside, whereas the current version couldn’t even remember when she last went for a walk.
‘It’ll be somewhere in the countryside, that much I’m sure of.
It might even have a garden.’ She paused slightly. ‘And there’s full board and lodging.’
Cat’s eyes narrowed. ‘Is that what attracted you to it? I know you’ve had a setback today, but surely things aren’t that bad?’
‘Thing is, Cat, I don’t know how bad they’re going to get.
Or how fast. Luckily I hadn’t signed the tenancy agreement on the new flat, because if I had I’d be liable for the rent for six months which, given that it’s in the city centre, is verging on extortionate.
Fine if I was earning what I would have been at Leonards, but impossible without a job.
I can’t rent that, or any other place either, until I’ve got one. ’
Cat snorted. ‘Just pay six months upfront. Most landlords would be happy with that. And you’ll easily get another job in that time.’
Gemma dropped her head, putting down her fork for a moment. Her teeth caught the side of her lip. ‘I can’t afford to, Cat.’
She looked up slowly, already knowing the expression she would see on her friend’s face. One of incredulity that someone on the kind of salary Gemma had been on couldn’t afford what Cat had suggested. And then her expression changed, and Gemma knew she’d worked it out.
‘Your mum…? I know June had her treatment privately, but I just assumed she had health insurance or something.’
Gemma shook her head. ‘Mine didn’t extend to her…’ She swallowed. ‘So I paid for it. All my savings are gone. I barely have enough left to live on myself.’
‘Oh, Gemma…’ Cat’s eyes began to fill with tears on Gemma’s behalf.
‘I just wanted Mum to have the best chance, and stupidly I thought throwing money at the problem might help. Arrogant of me, I know.’ She blinked away her own tears, dashing her hand against her cheek.
‘No one can blame you for that, and you mustn’t blame yourself either. I think most people would do what you did if they could.’ She cocked her head to one side. ‘So, is this why you’re interested in that job, because you get somewhere to live?’
‘I dunno… It was in a magazine in the doctors’ surgery.
I didn’t really even look at it properly, not at the time.
It was just afterwards, when the job with Leonard Associates went bang that I found myself thinking about it.
Wondering why it had caught my attention in the first place.
’ She paused. ‘I had a sudden vision of fields and hills, open space, walking with Dad… Maybe that’s all it was, hankering after a time when I used to love those things.
Gardening with Mum, too. All those hours I spent with her. Remember how beautiful her garden was?’
Cat smiled. ‘How could I forget? June’s garden always looked incredible.’
‘So perhaps it was that, or even just the thought of doing something wildly different which appealed. And it would only need to be for six months, just to tide me over until I can get this place back. And look, it’s called Thistledown…
How lovely is that? Soft and dreamlike.’ She sighed.
‘I’ve no idea when the advert appeared though – it could be three years old for all I know. ’
‘Well, there’s only one way to find out.
’ Cat raised her eyebrows. ‘I honestly meant what I said about you staying with me,’ she added.
‘But if this is something you want to have a go at, then I understand. And like you said, it doesn’t have to be forever, but maybe it would give you some space to think about where you go from here.
I’d love to have you back at Mayfield Dawson, you know that, but if it’s not to be then I still want you to be happy, whatever you do. ’
Gemma smiled. ‘You’re a good friend, Cat. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.’
Cat returned her smile, with the wicked one Gemma knew so well. ‘Listen, I love coming here. It makes me feel so much better about my own life.’
Gemma rolled her eyes. ‘Right, no pudding for you then.’
‘Aww… please?’ Cat batted her eyelashes. ‘May I remind you of my offer to help you sort all this lot out?’ She indicated the pile of boxes around them. ‘So what’s the plan?’
‘I’ve cancelled the removal firm, but this lot will have to go into storage for now. Do you reckon we can manage that between us?’
Cat grinned. ‘Piece of cake.’
‘It’s chocolate mousse, actually,’ Gemma replied, shoving another forkful of pasta into her mouth.