“So how was your first day?”

Anna was in front of the TV when I got home, tray on her lap, computer on top of that. She closed it the moment I walked in.

“Don’t let me stop you working,” I said, unbuttoning my coat.

“I wasn’t getting anywhere, it’s fine.”

I glanced at the TV, the flickering fireplace on the screen, forever spitting and crackling. “I’ve seen this one before,” I said, sinking onto the sofa and kicking off my shoes. "Dies a bit towards the end though."

“Very funny. Come on, tell me everything. Did you go mega-bitch on their asses?”

“Since when do you say asses?”

“I’m trying it out.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Stop wandering from the point. How was it?”

“All right, I’ll tell you. But, you have to promise not to laugh.”

“Cripple’s honour.”

“Is that like Scout’s honour?”

“Yeah but it can’t run as fast.”

“Fair enough. I might have accidentally slammed a door into my face.”

“Sorry? What?”

I gave her the shortened version of my day. I told her about my parking space being stolen, the doors hitting my nose, the office like a goldfish bowl with everyone looking in at me. Then I told her about Bill, how he’d not listened when I told them all to pay attention.

“Did you discipline him in front of everyone, set the right tone? Do what I said?”

“Not quite.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t think when I’m in front of him and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Explain.”

“Oh, I don’t know. It’s like he can tell I’m acting and he’s just humouring me.”

“Then you need to keep away from him,” she said when I was done. “He’s clearly the Kryponite to your super-bitch.”

“I thought I was mega-bitch.”

“Yeah but Kryponite wouldn’t work on a mega-bitch. Because Superman? So Superbitch. Get it?”

I sighed. “It’s been a long day.”

“At least you’re home now. You can relax.”

“No I can’t. I’ve got to prepare for this conference on Friday.” I pulled the file out of my bag and threw it theatrically onto the sofa next to me.

“Conference? What conference? You’ve only just started.”

“Didn’t I mention that? I’ve got to go this Friday.”

“That’s not the end of the world.”

“Oh and I might have told Bill he was coming along as my assistant for the weekend.”

“What? Why did you do that?”

“Because he’s got eyes to die for, Anna.”

“You’re kidding?”

I shook my head sheepishly. “I don’t want to like him, trust me, I really don’t.”

“Then you better be careful this weekend. Hotel bedrooms, late nights together, you know what might happen.”

“Overcharged for drinking out of the minibar?”

“Sex, Lucy. Steamy, red hot, sweat dripping everywhere sex.”

“Oh, that.”

“And that is not what the new boss should be doing, is it?”

“Isn’t it?” There was a tiny note of hope to my voice but she stamped on it.

“No, it isn’t. You keep your legs together and make sure the only figures you stare at have pound or dollar signs in front of them.”

A lightbulb went on over my head a second later. “Come with me.”

“What? Why?”

“Protect me. Stop me from doing anything stupid.”

“Are you saying if I’m not at the conference, you’ll jump into bed with this guy?”

“No, but if you’re there I won’t be tempted to try. You can act as my chaperone, protect my virtue from the evil sinful sexy devil in a business suit.”

“Right, open the wine.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to know every single detail about this man.”

“Fine but if he turns up in one of your books, you owe me royalties.”

“Done. Now wine me then whine at me.”

“That didn’t really work, did it?”

“Shush, corkscrew girl. Get going.”

We talked long into the night, an empty bottle joined by a second just after midnight when she finally agreed to come to the conference.

Anna put her glass down and clapped her hands. “Right, fine, I will come with you.”

“You will?”

“If only to see this God of a man you’ve been describing.”

“I never called him a God.”

“No but you described him like one. I need to see him for myself. But first, we need to work out how you’re going to behave. Mega-bitch goes on tour.”

“I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a mega-bitch,” I said, my eyelids starting to sag. “Or a boss. Why can’t someone else be in charge? It’s so tiring.”

“Oi, self pity is not allowed. You are doing this to fund the mortgage on this house. And more importantly to keep me in the rich tea biscuits I’ve become accustomed to. No Value biscuits for us. We get brand name ones like the Queen.”

“So you want me to keep the job so we can have nice biscuits?”

“And to keep the food club running. You forget we almost lost this house when you put your last severance packet into making up the shortfall.”

“We had to keep it running. What was I supposed to do?”

“And what would we do if we lost this place?”

“At least the kids would have been fed.”

“You’re too nice, Lucy. You need to be careful. Don’t relax and start sharing ideas with this Bill guy. Don’t let Snuggly Rabbit happen again.”

“I won’t, I promise.”

“So let’s talk conference tactics.”

“Let’s do it tomorrow night. I’m exhausted and I haven’t even started looking through the file yet.”

“Fine but if I’m coming with you, we need a plan in advance. We need a way to keep you safe from Bill.”

I went to bed agreeing with her. I fell asleep thinking she couldn’t be more wrong. I didn’t want to be kept safe from him in those few silent moments before dreams took me. I wanted to be with him, telling him he hadn’t been naughty, I had, I was sorry for hanging up his phone, for blocking in his car, for not bending over when he told me to.

I fell asleep with a smile on my face but by the morning, I wasn’t smiling. I was hungover. A great start to my second day on the job.

I took a cab to work, not sure if the wine was out of my system enough to drive. I spent the day in one meeting after another, finding out the progress of most of the upcoming publications. I kept hearing whispers about Marty Berghaus, about the fact his book had yet to appear. I resolved to talk to Bill about it first chance I got but the chance didn’t come. By the time I was free, the office was empty, he’d gone home. I’d hardly seen him.

Trying not to think about why I felt disappointed, I headed to the lift. When I got outside the streets were heaving with commuters and the chance of getting a cab home looked non-existent.

I decided I’d take a walk for a while, clear my head. The meeting rooms were stuffy as anything and a day in them had left me crying out for some open space to catch my breath.

There was a park near the office. It was down a quiet street and not a lot of people knew about it. I’d only found it when I got lost about a year ago, the first time I was glad to lose my way as I found my own secret garden. It was lovely in there.

The boundaries on three sides were tall trees which shielded both the wind and noise of the city. There was an expanse of grass with flowerbeds well looked after and even a couple of bee hives by the pond. The grass was wet, it must have rained in the last couple of hours. The fish didn’t mind the weather, swimming lazily from one side of the pond to the other as I passed, heading uphill to look at the view. They were so close to the river yet they’d never reach it. I knew how they felt. I wanted to be in publishing but I didn’t like telling people what to do. I had a goal that was just out of reach, make the money to run the food club. But the only way to earn enough for it to be secure was to do a high pressure job like this.

Would every day be the same if I got the full time post at the end of my trial? One meeting after another with hardly time to glance outside at the blue sky, the trees? The river?

The park sloped upwards towards a peak two thirds of the way in before descending again towards the river. I stood on top of the peak, looking down at the three benches which faced the Thames. There was one person sat on the middle bench, looking out at the water. That was my spot. Was that Bill?

I had thought the park was my private secret space. Something about him being here annoyed me. I had just managed to get him out of my head and there he was, just sitting there like he owned the park, like he owned the city, relaxed as anything.

In something approaching a tantrum, I spun around and went to storm off to find somewhere else to think. In spinning around, I caught my heel on the wet grass and fell. Fantastic, I thought as I went to get up. But I couldn’t get up. The grass was too slippery and the momentum of my fall was sending me sliding down the slope with increasing speed.

“Shit,” I managed to say as I tried to slow my descent. I could see what was at the bottom of the hill and if I didn’t stop in time I was going to…

Splash.

I screamed, gasping with shock at the cold as I landed slap bang in the middle of the pond. It wasn’t deep but the water was freezing. The fish scattered at my rude intrusion into their world. I pushed my foot down but it caught in a weed underwater. The more I tugged, the more it got stuck until I had no choice but to pull my foot free from my sock. I was still fighting for breath, the cold like a blanket suffocating me, my clothes clinging to me, the mud sucking at my ankles.

“Need a hand?”

I looked up and there he was. The smirk was gone from his face. Instead he radiated concern, his arm outstretched towards me.

“I’m fine, thanks,” I said, yanking my foot free and pulling myself up onto the bank. Both shoes were gone. “Great,” I said to myself, “that’s just great.”

I was dripping onto the grass and my body began to shiver uncontrollably a second later.

“Come on,” he said, hand still held out towards me. “You need to get warm.”

“I’m perfectly all right,” I said, getting up and slipping straight back down, the winning combination of wet muddy socks and wet grass impeding any chance I had of leaving the park with a shred of dignity intact.

“You’re not,” he said, his voice colder. “And you’re going to freeze to death if you stay there.”

“I’m leaving,” I said, once more trying and failing to get to my feet.

I heard him swear under his breath and then all of a sudden his hands were in my armpits.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

He had already yanked me up right before I got the words out. “Come on,” he said, holding onto my arm, looping his through it. “I know somewhere you can get warm.”

“I bet you do,” I muttered through chattering teeth. If he heard me he didn’t mention it. He just led me across the grass towards the exit.

I concentrated on the cold, on trying not to fall, not on the fact his arm was linked through mine. I felt humiliated enough without thinking about that. I was going to be a laughing stock at work tomorrow, there was no doubt he’d tell everyone what had happened. In two days the new boss had managed to smack herself in the face and then lose her shoes when she fell into a pond. Fantastic.

“This way,” he said as we reached the street. “It’s just over there.”

“Where are you taking me?” I asked, too cold to argue properly.

“Future Trends.”