Meredith sat up and stretched. She had slept well on the business class bed, as she always did. Years of flying across continents had accustomed her to dealing with jet lag and making sure she slept as long as possible. She wasn’t like the real pros, though, who got on, donned their masks and ear plugs and lay straight out on their beds till they arrived at the destination. Meredith liked to enjoy dinner served on a tray with its own white linen cloth, with proper knives and forks and glassware. She also particularly enjoyed the glass of champagne you were offered as soon as you took your seat, while the rest of the passengers were still queuing up to board. She always made a point of having dinner and watching a film before settling down; and as for all that wellness nonsense about no alcohol – there was too much of that sort of telling you what to do in modern life. She’d actually bought a bottle of water the other day that had instructed her to ‘Do the right thing today.’

She sat back, enjoying her fresh fruit and thinking about her visit. Her colleagues had been stunned when she’d announced she was suddenly taking two weeks off. Meredith was famed for putting work first in her life. She had plenty of other pleasures, of course. She loved spa weekends and opera and she had a sprinkling of good friends she spent time with, even though moving between cities as she did could mean it was tricky to maintain friendships. She knew she was admired and also a little feared, but she didn’t think much more about it.

So she had been taken aback recently when a young woman she was mentoring blurted out that Meredith was her role model in everything but her personal life. Realizing what she’d said, the girl had instantly tried to cover up her tactlessness, but it was too late. The damage was done. My personal life is perfectly fine, thank you very much! she’d told herself. Somehow, though, the comment had really stayed with her.