Jo wasn’t impatient but she’d waited a long time for a meeting. It was time to be proactive. Since discovering Allison was an accountant, Jo had made a point of checking out the various accounting bodies. When she saw there was an annual general meeting of management accountants in Birmingham the following month, she decided it was the perfect opportunity. She’d no idea what type of accountant Allison was, but it didn’t matter.

It was the ideal opening to send Allison a message.

It took several tries and two mugs of strong coffee before she was happy with what she wrote.

Hi, I hope you don’t mind my contacting you this way, but I wondered if you were attending the CIMA AGM in Birmingham next week? I’m stupidly shy about events like this so it would be great to know someone else who was going.

She sent it and stared at her phone for several minutes, willing Allison to reply, knowing she was being stupid, that she was unlikely to do so for a few hours yet. Over time, Jo had noted a pattern – Allison didn’t post often in any of the Facebook groups and when she did it was within a small window bracketing the day. It wasn’t hard to understand it was during her commute to and from her office. Instagram posts were always done at the weekend.

When there was no reply that evening, fear simmered. Had Jo blown it? Another beer from her meagre supply didn’t make the waiting any easier. Nor did the sleepless night.

The following day, tired and restless, she railed against the unfairness of it all. She’d worked so hard, been so patient; her plan should have worked. So much time wasted. The thought of having to start again from the beginning made her stomach cramp and her head thump.

Her phone had been glued to her hand. In frustration she threw it to one side, minutes later picking it up again, checking every Facebook group Allison was in to see if she’d posted or commented. Seeing nothing gave her enough relief to curl up on the fold-up bed and switch on the TV. A movie she’d not seen before helped pass the time and relaxed her enough to make her eyelids droop over itchy-tired eyes.

But when her phone pinged to say she had a message, she was instantly alert. Nobody sent her messages. It had to be Allison. Her hand was trembling when she picked it up and tapped the message icon.

Hi, Jo. I don’t normally communicate via messenger with people I don’t know but since you’re also an accountant and have such good taste in books 😊, I’m making an exception. Unfortunately, no, I won’t be going to that Birmingham meeting. I’m a chartered accountant, not management.