Friend of the Family

It was almost three by the time she got back to the office, where Josie was sitting at Chrissie’s desk sorting through the post. Amy felt a pang of guilt at her little sigh of relief that it was Josie’s last day. Of course, she was glad the internship had gone well, glad that Josie had done well; she had certainly got more media experience in a fortnight than most interns got in a whole summer. And Amy had been grateful for all her help. But she knew she would also be glad to have the house back, just the three of them, herself, David and Tilly, their little gang back together. Was that selfish? Maybe, but she needed to completely relax, and although Josie had been no trouble at all, there was still the feeling at the back of her mind that you had to be ‘on’, checking the guest had towels, was comfortable, hadn’t left curling tongs burning a hole in the carpet.

‘Where’s Chrissie?’ she asked, balancing her bag on her PA’s desk as she flicked through the mountain of invitations and press releases waiting to be taken through to her office.

‘Errands. She asked me to man the phones while she’s gone.’

Amy slipped off her coat. ‘You can leave early if you like. I know you’ve got a train first thing in the morning, so if you want to go home and pack, just say the word.’

‘I don’t mind staying till six,’ Josie said cheerfully. ‘In fact I’m going out tonight with some of the girls. One of the PAs upstairs is off on maternity leave. Having drinks down at the Printroom.’

‘That’ll be fun,’ smiled Amy, aware that she sounded about seventy, although her own days of drinks followed by crawling around London searching out cocktails and boys and late-night drinking dens didn’t seem so far away. ‘Tilly and I were going to take you out for some supper, but a party with the girls sounds a much better offer.’

‘So long as you don’t mind . . .’ replied Josie, more anxiously.

‘Of course I don’t. I’ll be here myself for a while anyway. When it’s your last day in the office for three weeks, it feels like there’s a never-ending list of things to do.’

Chrissie’s phone rang and Josie picked it up. ‘I’ll just put you through,’ she said, looking at Amy. ‘It’s Bethan Charles from HR.’

The HR director could have been ringing about any number of things, but the call caught Amy off guard. Anxious that others in the office had overheard, she spun round to head to her office, her jacket nestled in the crook of her arm, knocking over the pile of post and the handbag, spilling its contents all over the floor.

‘Shit,’ she muttered.

‘I’ll deal with that,’ said Josie, springing out of her chair and starting to scoop up the mess.

In her office, Amy sat down on her swivel chair and exhaled deeply to compose herself.

‘Obviously we want to talk to you about the Mode job,’ began Bethan.

Obviously. Amy’s relief was palpable. ‘We know your work, but we’re getting all the shortlist candidates to prepare a presentation.’

‘Of course,’ said Amy quickly. So far it was fairly standard. Occasionally an editor would be anointed without presenting a brand vision, but boards were more cautious than ever. After all, Mode wasn’t immune to the downturn in the industry. ‘When do you want it for?’

‘Realistically we won’t be seeing anyone until the last week of August, first week of September. But if you could get your presentation to us within the next couple of weeks, that should get the ball rolling.’

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Tilly was fast asleep when Amy got home, her Peppa Pig duvet half kicked off, her beloved stuffed elephant clutched under one arm.

‘She had a big day,’ whispered Claudia as Amy closed the door and tiptoed back down to the kitchen.

‘How was Kew Gardens?’ School had finished two weeks before, and Claudia had planned a packed schedule of fun activities for Tilly before the Provence trip.

‘She loved it. She bought a notebook and a sachet of seeds. We’ve planted them over there already,’ said Claudia, pointing to a corner of the back garden.

Amy smiled, but her heart wasn’t in it. She’d have loved to help Tilly plant her seeds and had lost count of the number of times she had felt sad and envious that her nanny got to spend so much quality time with her daughter.

‘And we packed. The case is open in the guest bedroom. Tilly couldn’t decide which swimming costume to take, so I’m afraid we’ve put the lot in.’

‘Have you packed?’

‘I’ve been packed since last Monday.’ Claudia grinned, and Amy could only imagine her excitement about going to work in a luxury villa for the next three weeks.

‘Thanks for everything, Claudia,’ she said, grateful that there was one less job to do that night. ‘I think Geoff is picking us up at nine o’clock tomorrow.’

‘Is it still all right if I stay here tonight?’

‘Of course,’ said Amy. Claudia often stayed in the guest bedroom on evenings when she babysat, or when the family had a particularly early start.

‘I’ve brought my case. You don’t mind if I go out tonight though, do you?’