‘Really?’ Lucy had laughed when Claire had commented on it. ‘Well, I suppose I’m just happy to be out of my own house! It’s bedlam there!’

With so many brothers and sisters, Claire could only imagine what it was like for Lucy, and she wondered how Lucy’s mum coped. It was challenging enough with two boys. The odds were stacked against you from the beginning as a working mum, not to mention the hormones, the guilt, the bitchiness of other women, the constant balancing act, and the blatant discrimination in most companies. Thank God, she and Julia had set up their own firm. She couldn’t imagine how she would have coped otherwise. It would have been difficult to get back into a role like this at another firm after five years off.

Claire looked around her office now with a quiet sense of satisfaction. These were the same offices in the leaflet that Julia had put under her nose when she had first proposed the idea over lunch all those years ago. When they’d first moved in, the place was barren – a semi-derelict cave that would need some work, reflected in its attractive asking price. But the location! Claire had to admit Julia had chosen well. Located in St. Peter’s Square, between Piccadilly and Deansgate, it had been a real find and it hadn’t taken long for Claire to visualise how the office would look.

The two women had spent their weekends tidying, painting and redecorating, roping in as many family and friends as they could to help. With the exception of two private offices, which they would keep for themselves, and the meeting rooms, they had designed an open-plan layout giving enough space for approximately twenty associates and paralegals. Both Julia and Claire had furnished their offices with the best desks they could afford, conscious that clients would be visiting and that first impressions were everything. But apart from those, it was IKEA all the way.

Claire smiled fondly to herself – despite the exhaustion and stress, they had been great days. Every new client had been celebrated with a glass of champagne and as their reputation grew, so did their company. Despite the mix of male and female solicitors, their client base was mainly made up of women. They had started off small, then recruited to widen into commercial, corporate, and criminal law. In the last couple of years, they’d seen an increase in private prosecutions as well. They were one of the few female-led law firms in Manchester and it had taken time and hard work to compete with the big boys; but within a few years, they were doing well, and their accountant was happy. Even so it was a never-ending task to keep new business coming in and Claire was very much aware that Julia did most of the networking and wining and dining needed to sign new clients.