The Holly Man

All Work And Play

Amy was staring thoughtfully at her phone, waiting for the tea to brew in her cup, initially blind to Raj's arrival. Fern was pulling the string on her own teabag, holding the milk.

"You finished with that milk?" he said holding a hand outstretched. Amy looked up as Fern passed it over,

"You're quiet this morning." Amy clicked to blacken the screen and reached into the drawer for a spoon as Richard arrived to put his lunchbox in the fridge.

"I just got a message from a friend, well really my ex's friend about going to a party at the weekend." She paused to remove the teabag with the spoon, "Just not sure what to do about it."

"Oooo," Fern leaned on the counter like a conspirator, "Who, and where's the party? Will he be there?"

"Yeah, he'll be there," Amy sighed, "Val's the partner of one of his friends, Jason. The party's 'round at their house. They're really nice." Richard was rummaging in the cupboard for a particular cup, and she moved to let him get better access. Raj smirked, sliding the milk across the table,

"I figured you had a boyfriend back in the sticks, like a librarian guy or something." Amy threw him an eyeroll,

"Why would you think that?"

"Well," he said turning the corners of his mouth down in a grimace, "you're not completely offensive looking, and you girls gotta crack on, find a guy, tick tock."

"Jeez," Fern snorted before turning back to Amy, "Bit of a coincidence that you bump into him on Friday, and then his mates invite you to a party the following weekend."

"Maybe," Amy mused, "But she said it would be just nice to see me since we hung out as a group so much when I was with Mark, be nice to catch up."

"Yeah," Fern nodded, pursing her lips, "Where's the harm. Just remember to wear something cute, do your face, remind him what he's missing." Amy shook her head, grabbing her cup in one hand and her phone in the other to walk out with Fern. Richard had lingered, taking his time to sort his drink. He turned as Raj made a move to leave,

"Raj," he said, "a word." Raj turned around acknowledging he'd heard with a jerk of his head. "Please watch how you talk to your female colleagues. The way you just spoke to Amy was inappropriate and disrespectful." The younger man left without a word.

The following day, Amy jumped in her Mini and made the journey to the clients' offices, arriving almost thirty minutes earlier than she needed. She passed the time reading her phone and re-read Val's messages, musing on how awkward Saturday might be. She reminded herself how well she got on with the elfin lawyer who she'd met when she started seeing Mark, and how his big brother Sean had agreed she was one of the nicer of his friends when they'd talked about her at work. She had a pang thinking about Sean. She missed the way he always had her back at her old firm, but with a sigh, she reflected that he wasn't there any more anyway. She had his number, but it wouldn't feel right to message him, and even though nothing was ever said, Sean's girlfriend Jayne had clearly never been comfortable with their friendship.

Richard arrived, and within a minute, Jon drew up behind her. She jumped out of the car grabbing the laptop bag, and they went into the building to start the visit. After an introductory meeting in the company's boardroom, Alex Parsons and his team retreated and left them to their work. Amy liked the MD on sight with his easy, friendly manner and willingness to treat her with professional respect. He was just under average height with mid brown hair and a warm handshake. When he and his senior management team had left, Richard sat back in satisfaction, "Right, that went well, so let's get this show on the road." He came over to look over Amy's shoulder at the laptop screen, "Jon's got a session with their product guys in ten, so you concentrate on setting up an outline report until you meet with the Finance folk this afternoon, add in the background stuff we already have yeah?." Amy nodded and he continued, "I amended your questions, just a couple of extra bits to add in. So, you happy you know what you're trying to get out of the session?"