BooksBarbecue
Back The Lucky Escape Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. PRAISE FOR LAURA JANE WILLIAMS
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. Epilogue
  51. Acknowledgements
  52. Publishing Credits
  53. Keep Reading …
  54. About the Author
  55. Fiction by the same author
  56. About the Publisher

Crap. Definitely fired.

‘The Antwerp lab love you. I’ve been reviewing the work you did for them in the spring, and Adzo agrees: it’s quite remarkable. There’s a position for you there, managing the team. You should take it.’

‘What?’

‘You need something new, Annie, and I would be an incredibly bad boss if I did not give you up for this role.’

I was astonished. Antwerp?

‘It’s the diamond capital of the world, and very good for shopping. Brussels would maybe excite you more, but it’s only forty minutes on the train and of course the Eurostar connects direct to London from there, so you’ll never be far away from us. I can organize it so that you’re needed here for a week every few months, if you’d like the excuse to come back. They’re offering a very competitive salary, which is more than I can find in our budget for you, and I’ve been told by Jules – you met him a couple of times in some Zoom meetings, I think? – to say whatever it might take to get you to say yes. I shouldn’t think it will take a lot, will it? But either way, I’m not to let you consider turning this down, I’m afraid.’

‘Right then,’ I said. ‘So I’m not fired?’

‘Fired?’ Chen repeated. ‘Why would you say that?’

‘I thought I was in trouble,’ I said, blushing.

‘Quite the opposite,’ Chen said. ‘Your absence this month has made it clear that we want to do everything we can to keep you. You’re an asset to the company, Annie, and you’ve been missed. We’ll be sad to lose you here, of course, but Antwerp will be lucky to have you. Let’s get you over there for a few nights, shall we? You can go and meet everyone in person.’

‘Okay,’ I replied, as I let what she’d said sink in. It was the strangest twelve minutes of my life.

38

‘I know they offered you the Antwerp position,’ Adzo said when I called her immediately after leaving Chen. I was freaking out. Was this what I had been looking for? Was all the talk of retraining and switching careers actually just the thing to wake me up to the fact I needed a change in general, and just like that … this could be it? I’d never been to Antwerp before, but I hadn’t missed London when I’d been in Australia. Maybe that was the problem – it wasn’t my job, it was the city. I just needed new streets to roam.

‘Why didn’t you warn me?’ I squealed. ‘I literally just saw you!’

‘Chen consulted me about it, asked me if I thought you could take it, that’s all. I wasn’t sure how fast she would move though – if she was going to ask you today or just test the waters.’