‘I feel sorry for you, Roger. One day you’ll find out how you have been manipulated.’ Ellie gave Sophia a steely glance and took a deep breath. ‘Consider this my formal resignation. I can’t stay here under any circumstances now. I feel badly for my team, whose hard work all these months will have been for nothing. I can see how and why you’ve done this, Sophia. But I can’t continue to work in a place that is so dishonest.’

‘I think you’re being rather rash –’ began Roger.

Ellie cut him off. ‘I won’t work with liars and cheats who sabotage what would have been a fantastic project to further their own careers. I hope it’s worth it, Sophia.’

Ellie was churning inside but she held her head high as she walked purposefully from the room.

‘It doesn’t have to be this way, Ellie –’ started Roger, but as Ellie turned at the door and gave him a contemptuous look, he stuttered and stopped.

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.’