She returned to her desk, snatched up her bag and jacket and walked to the lift. She was too furious to talk to anyone on her team; she’d call them all later. Right now, she needed some air.

Waves of anger washed over her as she walked outside onto the footpath.

Suddenly the street around her looked foreign. Her routine had lost its usual direction. Checking her watch, she saw that it wasn’t even 9 am. Slowly she walked to Degraves Street, a popular gourmet foodie area, and sat at a footpath table in the lull before the lunchtime crush.

She dropped her head into her hands.

What the hell had she just done?

Where to from here? What to do now?

*

Reaching the warm glow and buzz of the Magic Lantern Café in Fitzroy, Ellie closed her umbrella, shook raindrops from her shoulders and stepped inside.

The smell of coffee, cake and damp coats was welcoming. She pushed her umbrella into the holder by the door and, glancing around, headed to the corner where Mike had commandeered their favourite table.

He rose, towering over her, and gave Ellie a quick hug. ‘Hey, you. I ordered coffees.’

‘Great, thanks.’ She shrugged off her jacket as she sat down. ‘It’s so good to see you. It’s been ages.’ She smiled at her former colleague. ‘Too long.’

‘It has been. How was your holiday?’

Ellie looked away for a second. ‘Actually, I didn’t go anywhere.’

‘What! Why not?’ He stared at her. ‘Okay, tell me what’s up.’

‘Nothing’s up. Same old, same old.’ She sighed. ‘I’ve travelled plenty, all those IT conferences in exotic places. After what happened, I just went into cave mode.’

He reached over and touched her hand. ‘Ellie, it’s been a couple of months now. It’s not healthy to sit around moping.’

‘I know. I just can’t work up the energy to move forward.’ She realised she sounded a little defensive.

‘I get that you’re upset about not having a job, but remember, you walked out. They tried to keep you,’ Mike said.

‘Yeah, well, they didn’t try very hard. After they’d undermined me I couldn’t stay there. There was no way I was going to be told what to do by Sophia.’

Mike nodded. ‘You’re right. I’d have done the same thing in your position.’ He said gently, ‘I just wish I could’ve helped you more. You should have told me what was going on.’

Ellie shook her head. ‘Don’t feel like that, Mike. I can fight my own battles. I could see that I wasn’t going to win against those guys. I’ve discovered that you can’t fight someone with such hard-nosed ambition that they’re prepared to get what they want at any cost, and Sophia’s the most devious of all of them.’

A waitress placed coffees in front of them and Ellie wrapped her hands around the warm cup.