Just as Frazer had known she would.

Sean gave Frazer a look that verged on grateful and let Tanya grip his hand, his face only twitching a little at what must have been a very hard grip.

“Great! Now that that’s settled, you want to tell me why you waited so long to come in?”

* * *

It was still Monday morning.

Eight o’clock.

At least the sun was up now.

Another work meeting at the hospital. The only sounds Frazer could hear were the ticking clock and yawning.

Apparently this was the only hospital in Perth that had these meetings. Robin didn’t have to suffer through them. Maybe Frazer could transfer and work with a friend and get to sleep in past eight on a Monday like a civilised person.

It was like some kind of hell. Looking around the half-asleep employees, Frazer hugged her coffee tighter against her chest and wondered what she’d done to deserve this. The seat wasn’t even comfortable. She shifted, the hard plastic biting into her tailbone. Surely Alec could hold these meetings another day. Or at least another time. Eight in the morning on a Monday? Why?

Across the room, Frazer caught Tia’s eye. Alec’s secretary was plump and deceivingly pleasant looking, with an acidic tongue that shocked most employees and Frazer found utterly delightful. She paid out Frazer on an almost daily basis. Now, in the shifting, sighing silence of the room, Tia rolled her eyes and gave a pleading look towards the coffee in Frazer’s hand. It only made Frazer clutch it tighter. There was no way she was giving up this liquid gold. Once Tanya had delivered a perfectly healthy baby, Frazer had run to her favourite coffee place so she could get through the meeting without murdering anyone.

In response to Frazer’s small but unmistakable headshake, Tia’s eyes narrowed. Frazer shot her an evil grin.

The door at the back of the room opened. Everybody straightened, then slipped back into their seats when they saw it was just a group of fellow employees. One of the women, the head of Social Work, slid into the seat next to Frazer, who gave her a lukewarm smile.

Alec’s wife, Cora. For reasons that made no sense, Frazer blamed her by extension for the early hour. It was doubtful that Cora had anything to do with planning her husband’s horrible morning meeting, but when Frazer was this tired, logic didn’t play much of a role.

Did she have to sit next to Frazer? The two of them always clashed a little, and Frazer did not have the energy for that right now. Also, sitting next to someone who looked so damn put together so early in the morning was really not good for Frazer’s self-esteem. How did she manage to look so flawless while Frazer looked like she’d scraped herself out of bed with a spatula? How did her hair look like that while Frazer’s resembled a bird’s nest?

Just because she was married to the guy that controlled all their budgets, she somehow got all the better deals on the money side of things. A fact that drove Frazer crazy.