A Summer to Remember (3 page)

‘Well, I can’t see it, can I?’ Hilary pushed the papers to one side. ‘Oh –
there
!’ she said, holding the letter up. Nina breathed a sigh of relief and sat down at her own desk, already desperate for another glass of wine.

‘Well, it’s creased now. You’ll have to print it out again.’

Nina opened the document up on her screen. This, she vowed, would be the last order she’d take from Hilary Jackson.

‘Not yet – wait,’ Hilary said. ‘There’s probably something I need to correct first.’

Nina sighed. Just bide your time, she said to herself. See the day out first and
then
tell her exactly what you think of her. Goodness only knew that she needed that length of time to build her courage up.

At four o’clock, Nina left her desk to make the tea. In the relative sanctuary of the kitchen, she stretched her arms high above her head and yawned loudly. She felt exhausted – as if, quite suddenly, all the hours of tedium, frustration and anger of working with her boss had snowballed into one gigantic mass of mutiny. It was time, wasn’t it?

The kettle boiled, and Nina poured the hot water into the mugs and stirred vigorously. She put an extra-large sugar into her own mug and the usual half a teaspoon into Hilary’s.

Hilary didn’t bother looking up from her papers as Nina re-entered the office and placed her mug on her desk. She sat down again, sipping her tea and glancing at her watch for the tenth time in as many minutes.

‘For God’s sake!’ Hilary’s voice suddenly rose from behind her computer. ‘Did you put the bloody sugar in with a shovel?’ It was Hilary’s usual comment when Nina accidentally put a couple of extra grains in her tea. But Nina didn’t say anything. She was waiting. Just waiting.

Half-past five came and went and Nina’s computer remained on. Her eyes were sore from staring at its bright face all day and her cream blouse was damp with perspiration. She watched Hilary’s face as she proofread the latest copy of the same letter she’d printed out half a dozen times already that day. Hilary. Sounded a bit like horrible, didn’t it? Started with an h, same number of consonants. Horrible Hilary. Hilary the Horrible.

Nina shook her head, feeling as if she was fast sinking into insanity, her foot tapping against the desk leg as she looked at her watch, willing precious minutes of her life away before she could make her escape.

A smile curved the corner of her mouth as she recalled her friend’s voice in the pub.

‘Just clear your desk out, tell Hilary to take a hike and go.’

I will, Janey. I will
, Nina said to herself.

‘Right!’ Hilary exclaimed, making Nina jump. ‘That’ll do for today.’

Nina got up from her chair before Hilary had a chance to change her mind.

‘But I’ll need you here for eight tomorrow to start work on the end-of-month reports. First, though, I’ve got a few items you need to pick up from the dry cleaners. They open at seven so you’ll be able to get them en route to the office but don’t –
whatever you do
– crease them like you did last time. Honestly, Nina – the state of my jacket when you brought it in! You really don’t think sometimes!’

Nina blinked in disbelief. There was no please, no asking if that was all right with Nina – it was just an order that demanded to be obeyed. And that’s when the stirring began – a strange bubbling inside her stomach. It felt like nothing she’d ever felt before. Anxiety, apprehension perhaps, urging her forward because, at last, the time had come.

‘I won’t be here at eight,’ Nina said, her voice unusually clear and calm. ‘And I won’t be here at nine either.’ As she spoke, she opened her desk drawer and took out her little pot of lip balm, before reaching to the side of her computer where a framed photo of her childhood pet dog, Bertie, had lived for the past two years.

Hilary looked at her, not quite comprehending. ‘I’m afraid it’s necessary to work extra hours in order to get the job done. And if you don’t value that—’

‘No,’ Nina said, blowing the light covering of dust from Bertie’s frame, causing Hilary to blink. ‘Quite frankly, I don’t value it because
you
don’t value
me
and so I’m leaving. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for some time now and I really don’t know why it’s taken me so long.’ Nina’s eyebrows rose as assuredly as her confidence. ‘You are rude, unreasonable and uncaring, and I’ve had enough.’ She looked at her boss briefly, noting the gaping mouth.

‘How
dare
you talk to me like that!’ Hilary Jackson said, her eyes narrowed into two mean slits.

‘This is something I should have done months ago,’ Nina told her, staring right back at her and, for the first time since she’d taken the job, unafraid of her boss. ‘The very day after you arrived, in fact, because you’ve made my life a complete misery. We’re meant to be work colleagues, but you treat me like your own personal slave. You never ask my opinion about anything. You bulldoze over any suggestions I dare to make or else claim them for yourself and take all the credit for them with the management team. You swear at me. You set unreasonable deadlines and expect me to do hours of overtime without any extra pay whilst you slink off to your holistic retreat! Well, it’s over, Hilary! I’m not going to be treated like this anymore!’

‘
What
?’ Hilary barked.

‘I believe I’m owed my notice in annual leave, which I’ve been unable to take for some time, owing to your ridiculous deadlines as well as the volume of work you’ve put my way.’ Nina swung her handbag over her shoulder and, after one last look around the room, walked slowly away from her desk.

‘Nina Elliot – you just stop and think about what—’

‘Goodbye, Hilary,’ she interrupted before opening the door. ‘And good luck finding a replacement,’ she continued, ‘because you’ll need it.’

When Nina got home, she kicked her shoes off and watched them hit the skirting boards with a satisfying thump. She’d done it;
really
done it this time, and not just acted out a scene in her head with a thousand witty retorts to each one of Hilary’s nasty instructions. It had felt wonderful. She’d felt free and full of all the possibilities that the future now held for her. She just had to decide what she wanted to do with it.

Chapter Three

When one door closes, somewhere a window is opened. At least, that’s how the saying went. But, Nina couldn’t help wondering the next morning if it had been wise to close a door before even knowing where to look for a window. Maybe not, but it had certainly been liberating.

Janey had sounded delighted when Nina told her.

‘Well done, you!’ she cheered down the phone. ‘Now don’t go walking into another nasty little job again. Have a break – enjoy yourself,’ she advised. That was all very well, but what was she going to enjoy herself with? Fun always seemed to come with a pretty hefty price tag. And, finding herself out of teabags as well as T-shirts, Nina thought she should at least start to look for another position.

The local recruitment agency wasn’t exactly what Nina had hoped for on the first day of her new-found freedom. The stark walls and bland office furniture looked like a ‘before’ room on a television makeover programme, and the jobs the city had to offer were just as uninspiring. Nina tutted, rolled her eyes, bit her lip and then walked back out into the sunshine. Janey was right. There was absolutely no point in summoning up the courage to jack in your job only to leap into another job that you didn’t totally love. She was worth more than that, and this was going to be a new start for her – not just in terms of a job but in her personal life, too. She was leaving behind the old Nina with the bad boyfriend and the bad job. Who knew what the future held in store for her? All she had to do was to remain optimistic and keep smiling.

She held her face up to the early summer sunshine, rejoicing in the fact that she’d never have to face Hilary Jackson again in that tiny, airless office. She’d never forget her boss’s face as she’d said goodbye. Like Munch’s ‘The Scream’ with a touch of Lady Macbeth. It had been quite scary, and Nina began to feel sorry for the next poor soul to be taken on by her old boss. But that wasn’t her concern. She’d done her time and now she was free.

It was a bright Wednesday morning at the end of May and she didn’t have to work; the city was her oyster. She could do what she wanted – visit all the places she never had time to when she was working. She could go to an afternoon matinee at the cinema, amble up the cobbled back streets and poke around the galleries and antique shops. She could browse around the bookshops or sip a cappuccino overlooking the rainbow array of the market. It was all there for the taking.

Nina chose the market.

The scent of fresh fruit and vegetables filled her nostrils and she walked without any real direction between the stalls. Cards for every occasion, cushions, CDs, casual coats, courgettes and chips – it was all there, and Nina ambled happily amongst the shoppers, smiling at everything yet nothing in particular, losing herself in the living labyrinth.

When she finally tunnelled her way out, she had to shade her eyes against the sun and, as she did so, she noticed a small boy crying and pointing up to the sky. She followed his gaze and saw a bright red balloon drifting high above the shops towards the heavens. His mother grabbed his wrist and dragged him away.

For a few moments, Nina stood transfixed, watching the red balloon until it became nothing more than a scarlet pinprick against the sky. Best go shopping for some food, she thought. It would be a new experience to go shopping on a weekday and the very thought of it made her smile. Even the simplest task was beginning to seem like an adventure.

Dominic wasn’t having any luck at all. First of all his mother and brother, Alex, had blocked his car in – again – and then he’d found he was out of petrol. He’d had to beg twenty pounds from his dad in return for a promise to trim the yew hedges at the back of the house, which was a task worth at least fifty pounds of anyone’s money.

And things didn’t get any better when he reached Norwich. Just what was he doing? It was madness, sheer madness to be driving around, getting caught up in the one-way system in the desperate hope of spotting her again. And the lunch hour traffic was hell. But on he drove, narrowly avoiding several careless workers who thought they could cross safely in front of him after having one too many at the pub. But not once did he run into Nina.

Where was she?

Since nearly running her over, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the old days, when he and Alex had been growing up. He had so many fond memories of his childhood and the reappearance of Nina had woken them all up. And his mother was very keen to see her again. If only there’d been more time. If only he’d got her number.

After an honorary lap around the one-way system, he parked his car. He might as well make the most of finding himself in the centre of town, he thought, so he walked around the market, breathing in the scent of fresh flowers and fruit, the salt tang from the fish counter and the glorious smell of hot chips. He wandered about, turning left here, right there, until he surfaced once more into the dazzling light.

It was then that something caught his eye: a small boy was crying and pointing towards the sky. Dominic looked up and saw a red balloon floating away. Poor little mite, he thought and then sighed. Like the little boy, he wasn’t quite sure what he should do next.

He loved the city and often wandered around without a particular direction in mind, and today was no exception because he really didn’t have a direction to follow.

It might be worth going back to the zebra crossing, he thought, but it wasn’t very likely that she’d be there. He was just wasting his time. She was but one person in a city of thousands. But he had to try, didn’t he?

Olivia Milton clinked a second bottle of wine into her shopping trolley and searched her pockets for the list she’d made earlier that morning. It wasn’t there of course. She knew she’d left it on the kitchen table. She also knew that there’d definitely been more on the list than parmesan cheese, olives and Pinot Noir.

She pushed her trolley into the next aisle hoping that, by scanning the shelves, her memory would be jogged and that they’d all actually be able to eat that night.

Olivia always did her shopping on a Wednesday. Nina, on the other hand, had never experienced the pleasure of a supermarket when one was able to move freely through it and not spend longer in a queue than you had spent actually choosing your items. And, also unlike Olivia, Nina had her list with her.

It was the strangest feeling being in a supermarket when she should have had her feet tucked firmly under a desk and her ear glued to a telephone, having orders barked at her by Hilary Jackson. However, now she was unemployed, she became acutely aware of the cost of things and had to make sure that she only got the absolute essentials.

As she turned into the next aisle in the hope of finding a jar of pesto sauce for under a pound, she almost crashed into a trolley that had been left at right angles for all and sundry to trip over and into.

Nina grinned as she saw the contents: two bottles of wine, a slab of parmesan and copies of
Hello!
and
Country Life
. She could just imagine the sort of person who’d own such a trolley. Barbour and pearls, she thought. Land Rover and Labrador sort. This woman wouldn’t have to hunt for three-for-two offers or dented tins that had been reduced. Oh, no.

Nina looked down the aisle and gasped. It was her: no Barbour today – it was far too warm – but little pearl earrings, an old-fashioned piecrust blouse and a long loose skirt in a Liberty fabric, which might have made her look terribly middle-aged and dowdy but which, in fact, looked wonderfully regal on her and marked her out as part of the country set. Her red hair was cut sharply and blow-dried to perfection, and her flawless skin was made up with the absolute minimum of make-up.

She watched the woman bend down to reach for a bottle of tomato sauce. It was the next item on her own list and she walked towards the shelf. Leaning forward, the strangest sensation hit Nina – via the nostrils. The most heavenly scent enveloped her and instantly transported her back to her past. An image of a beautiful white Georgian mill house by a river in the heart of the Norfolk countryside. A house that had been hung with heavy printed curtains and filled with huge log-like pieces of furniture in oak. And the two young boys she’d looked after.