The way forward seemed clearer than ever to Grace as she stood staring at Lawrence’s text message. He always managed to turn things around so she was the one at fault or silly or ‘selfish’. She didn’t reply but went back into the kitchen and finished preparing their meal.

*

The following afternoon Grace left the shoot as soon as the filming was done. She had an appointment with her mother’s solicitor before collecting Daisy from school.

Mr Jamison was sympathetic, photocopying the insurance letter and saying he would make enquiries as to the state of play. ‘Especially seeing as you have no access to savings,’ he added.

‘I’ve had to buy essentials for my daughter and me since the fire,’ Grace said. ‘I don’t have a car at the moment either, so I’m borrowing my mother’s and getting public transport and taxis.’

‘I’ll see if I can hurry things up for you. But, Grace, as far as a divorce is concerned, it’s a long process and you’ll need a family lawyer. It will mean paying much higher fees than mine, too. I’ll do a bit of research and recommend someone suited to your situation, if you like.’

‘I understand. Thank you, Mr Jamison.’ She knew that lawyers would likely cost a fortune, and worried about how she would pay for it. Tina had offered to lend her some money, but Grace didn’t want her mother digging into her savings or her superannuation, such as it was.

As she was heading to the school to collect Daisy, her mobile rang. She pulled over and saw that the caller was Allison from the agency.

‘Hi, Grace, I know you’re up at your mum’s and not coming into the office much at the moment, so I thought I’d give you a call. The boat-charter people were very happy with the way the shoot went and they’re keen to see the finished product.’

‘Thanks so much for letting me know, Alli. The digital guys are onto it. I’ve started planning that other job we talked about last week. But I need something big. Has anything else come in while I’ve been away?’

‘Well, in a way, that’s why I’m ringing, actually. We’ve been contacted about another job. One of your fashion clients from last year – who you did the shoot for in Cairns – emailed to let me know they’d recommended us and your work in particular. Anyway, they must have given you a great wrap because the guy, a Mr Hans Speyer, from a company called MGI, called and he’d like you to put in a pitch. It’s a biggie.’

Grace felt her mood lift for the first time in a long while. ‘Fantastic. That’s great timing!’

‘It’s in Bali.’

‘What? Wow! What’s it for?’

‘It’s a big new hotel. Very up-market. They want a whole campaign. Cross video promotion, the works,’ Alli said.

‘Really, that sounds amazing!’

‘I thought you’d be interested. First they want to brief you to do the campaign scenario. I’m not sure yet if that’ll be done here or if it means you flying to Bali. Then, you’ll have to present them with a pitch. If you get the go-ahead, you’ll need to go there for a few weeks or even months, to oversee the shoot. Hans has sent me a lot of briefing material already, but you’ll need to go to the hotel and look around before putting the campaign pitch together. They’ll look after you, of course. It’s definitely big-budget.’