I really had to push myself to jog home, only speeding up when it started to rain. As I rounded the corner, my flat in sight, I collided with a man, bouncing off him and falling awkwardly back onto the pavement, winded with a bruised backside.

The man towered over me, a looming monster in shadow. He wore desert boots and jogging bottoms covered in dust. ‘You all right, lass?’ he said. Leaning down, he wrapped an arm around my back. His hand stuck underneath my armpit, pulling me up with ease.

Who the fuck did he think he was? The shock of the collision and him touching me uninvited made me erupt. Shoving his hands away, I screamed obscenities in his face. His eyes widened, and he stepped back. My face twisted in fury, teeth bared like an animal.

‘Crazy bitch,’ he muttered and pushed past me to carry on in the direction I had run from.

I felt invigorated. More alive than I had in ages. The veins in my neck and forehead stood proud, the rush of adrenaline immense. I could do this. I could get my life back. I could work at becoming better, stronger and faster. I had a purpose.

The group meeting at work was uncomfortable. Debbie tried to be professional, but even she welled up in parts, obviously not as confident as she first thought about staying. We stood together at the back as other members of staff chipped in their two pennies’ worth. They’d riled themselves up and Mike, the Operations Manager, was having a hard time controlling the room. A booming voice from the human resources director talked over everyone. But there wasn’t much more information than Debbie had forwarded on Friday.

At the end of the group meeting, Stuart and I met in his office with a man I’d never seen before. He was Russian, with a name I knew I wouldn’t be able to pronounce as soon as he introduced himself. He was a HR consultant who’d been brought on board to streamline the merging of the two companies. The office was too hot, and I felt my underarms dampen the blouse I’d put on for my visit.

‘Thank you for coming in, Eve. I understand this been a very difficult couple of weeks for you. I’m sorry to hear of your incident.’

Incident? That got my back up. It wasn’t a car accident.

‘I see you were in attendance at the meeting just now. Do you have any questions currently? Or if you’d feel more comfortable I could ask Mike, the employee representative, to get in touch with you if you’d rather go through him?’

‘I’m considering voluntary redundancy if it would be an option for me?’ I admitted, glancing guiltily at Stuart, who grimaced but remained silent.