The initial euphoria she’d felt about going back to work was slowly dwindling as the long hours started to take their toll. Come on, Claire urged herself, it’s only been a month. She just needed a few more early nights, that’s all. And she would talk to Chris. He was acting like she was still part-time rather than working full-time. He needed to help out a bit more and pull his weight. She would talk to him this weekend, she decided.

She was so distracted she didn’t see the woman with her pram walking across the pedestrian crossing. Claire slammed on the brakes hard to avoid hitting her and Claire’s head snapped forward. The bags on the front seat flew, hitting the dashboard before landing on the floor, their contents spilling out. But it was the thump against her back that made her stomach slide.

‘Jamie!’ she screamed.

Releasing her seat belt, she got out of the car and yanked open the back door. Jamie was crouched in the footwell. She reached for him and held him close, examining him all over, oblivious to the impatient drivers behind her tooting their horns.

‘Oh, Jamie, I’m so sorry, are you okay?’

‘I’m sorry, Mummy, I didn’t put my seat belt on properly.’

‘Oh, it’s okay, my love, it was my fault, I should have checked.’

Claire kissed her son on his face and gently put him back in his car seat and fastened the seat belt. Giving him another once-over, she got back in the car, shaking. She was just about to drive away when someone knocked on her window. The woman with the pram. Thank God she hadn’t hit her. She looked furious.

‘It’s a fucking crossing, you dumb bitch,’ she shouted without even waiting for Claire to wind down the window.

Sorry, sorry, Claire mouthed. Putting the car in gear, Claire slowly drove away, hoping Jamie couldn’t hear the torrent of abuse that followed her.

*

‘Time for lunch?’ asked Julia, placing a take-away bag on her desk. Claire looked up from her laptop in surprise. She hadn’t heard Julia come in. Since she’d got into the office, she’d worked non-stop. She’d gone straight into her first meeting and it hadn’t gone well. The client was pissed off to be kept waiting and he wasn’t shy in voicing his displeasure. At just five foot four, Harry Benner had a temper as short as his stature and since they’d started representing his firm, he’d done nothing but complain. Her lateness had only given him more ammunition.

Julia unpacked the bag of food and handed her a sandwich, chicken with no mayonnaise. Claire took it gratefully. She was starving.

‘So, what’s the situation with the Rose Aiker case?’ asked Julia sitting opposite her and opening a packet of crisps.