Roger waved his hand. ‘That’s hardly the issue. Look, Tallis, your personal life is none of my business, though of course we’ll have certain considerations to discuss. I suppose you’ll be wanting leave, so we’ll have to think about getting in a replacement…’ he rubbed his eyes, as though the thought of it was giving him a headache already, ‘but the most immediate concern is that I can’t have a pregnant woman out in Denmark. We don’t have the insurance.’

What? Her neck beaded with sweat. ‘Roger, I can do this. My pregnancy has no bearing on my ability to do my job. I fully intend to continue working as long as I can and come back as soon as possible afterwards and—’

He held up his hand. ‘I can’t be responsible if something should happen. Keith and the board would have my guts for garters.’

Sylvia thought the editor-in-chief would care less about her being pregnant and more about her bagging a sought-after interview, but she didn’t say so. ‘Nothing’s going to happen, this is ridiculous,’ she said, adding, a little more forcibly than she intended, ‘This is my story. I got the interview. Warburton said yes to me, not Max.’

He narrowed his eyes. ‘Don’t get too big for your boots, Tallis. You’re good, but so are plenty of others. Harmer will do a perfectly decent job.’

‘Roger, please.’ She worked hard to keep her voice even. ‘There’s no issue with this,’ she gestured towards her stomach. ‘I’m willing and able to go and do my job.’

‘Look, just take a step back this time and then after all this,’ he waved his hand, ‘we’ll see about getting you back on track, if you’re not too distracted by motherhood.’

He said it as though she should be grateful, but indignation made her head swim. ‘I don’t have to be off track.’

‘Tallis, I’m not changing my bloody mind. Now fuck off out of here.’

As she took the few steps to the door, she felt her legs shaking – from fury or shock she wasn’t sure.

‘Oh, and get down to personnel,’ Roger shouted after her. ‘We can’t have a pregnant reporter going by her maiden name – you’re Sylvia Millson now.’

She couldn’t concentrate for the rest of the day. She stared at her notebook, pretending to work, though she could barely see the words on the page. She wanted to run out of the office and head straight down to Jim’s place and have it out with him.

‘He didn’t tell me why. No hard feelings, I hope?’ Max put a cup of coffee on her desk and she looked up, shook her head. The smell of the coffee made her want to retch.