‘What’s your name?’

‘Stephanie.’

‘Okay, Stephanie, my name is Claire Carmichael,’ said Claire briskly.

You might recognise my name from the big sign above the door.

‘Let me know if you need anything. Just a quick one – we don’t let clients into our private offices – they wait in reception.’

Stephanie looked at her blankly.

‘Rose Aiker?’ prompted Claire. ‘She was in my office when I arrived just now.’

‘Oh right,’ replied Stephanie. ‘With what the client said, I assumed—’

‘Best not to make assumptions on your first day,’ Claire interrupted.

‘Sorry, I didn’t know…’ replied Stephanie, clearly taken aback.

‘It’s okay – any other questions talk to Barry – he knows everything,’ replied Claire. ‘Has someone showed you where the coffee is? The toilets?’

‘Yes, thank you,’ replied Stephanie, keen to make up for her mistake, now she realised exactly who she was talking to.

‘Good,’ concluded Claire. Walking back to her office, she closed the door firmly and sat down at her desk, rubbing her temples, the pain having made its way up to a full-blown headache. What the hell was wrong with people? It wasn’t even half past nine in the morning and already she’d felt like she’d done a day’s work. Why did she feel so overwhelmed? She thought back to a few months ago when she’d been so excited to start full-time again. But with the long hours, Chris’s selfishness, and at the back of her mind, the worry about Joshua and whether he would stay back on track long enough to pass his A levels, she felt the mental load crush down on her.

And there was something else that bothered her about Chris. Yes, he always worked hard but he always picked up the phone. He’d never been unreachable and while it had happened only a few times over the last year or so, there was a silent call of instinct nudging her to question him further.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Rose Aiker file and her heart beat rapidly in response. Despite all Claire’s good intentions, she knew that the case had triggered a whole heap of supressed memories, but she was damned if she was going to allow herself to be dragged back to the past. It was over. This was work. Fighting the rising panic, Claire took a deep breath and went to interview Rose in the meeting room. She reassured herself that the case wouldn’t last forever.

36