The next morning I was up early. I had two goals: to find somewhere to live and to get another job. By nine o’clock I was back at Mersey Recruitment, the agency that had found me the job at Sheridan’s.

When I walked in, every eye was on me and instantly I realized they all knew why I was there. My face flamed. I walked up to the manager’s desk. Kourtney O’Dwyer was a Canadian woman who’d married an Englishman and had settled here with him. She was the owner and manager of the agency; everything had to go through her.

“Ruby,” said Kourtney. She was pouring a cup of coffee from the machine at the back of the room. “What a nice surprise.” When I’d first approached the agency after I was made redundant she was newly pregnant. She’d found me the job at Sheridan’s within a day, and I hadn’t seen her since. Now she was back off maternity leave, her body softer than before, but her eyes held the same hard, determined glint. I could only hope she didn’t look at her baby like that.

I sat down opposite her. She ignored me for a few minutes, doing that thing people do when they want to show you exactly who’s more powerful in the conversation. It did the trick; I felt like I was shrinking in front of her.

She didn’t offer me any coffee, but lifted her own cup and sipped. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m looking for work.” I stumbled over my words. The office was silent and I knew everyone was listening to me. “I’ve left Sheridan’s now.”

“Yes,” said Kourtney. “We know.”

My face was hot and damp with perspiration. “I wondered whether you had anything else available.”

There was a silence, then she slammed her mug down. I jumped and knocked the table. Coffee spilled out onto papers she had laid out there. She swore under her breath and one of her minions came rushing over with a cloth.

She leaned over the table and I thought for a moment she was going to grab me. “Are you serious?” she hissed. “You had an affair with a married man. A married man with a pregnant wife. At Sheridan’s, our best client! During working hours! And, now you’ve been fired, you want us to find you somewhere else?”

“What? How did you know that?”

“It’s a small town,” she said. “I know everyone.”