She didn’t tell anyone at work for five months that she was expecting. But by that point she had come to the conclusion that her career didn’t need to suffer, that a short sabbatical wasn’t the end of the world. And by the time she was due to leave, Laura was beyond excited to be having a baby.

This first morning back, Laura took the lift up to the third floor, guilt flooding her body, seeping into every part of her, that she’d once not been delighted at the prospect of having Bobby. Her initial reaction hadn’t been utter joy and it was something she’d never be able to change. Since her son had been born she’d reminded herself of this time and time again, and had looked at her son’s gorgeous face and felt sick that she’d ever thought that, convincing herself that one day she’d be paid back for those feelings. That maybe she didn’t deserve to be a mother and something would happen to put that right.

To say she was a mess, since giving birth, seemed a little of an understatement, Laura thought as she waited for the lift doors to open. When they did, she stepped out onto the floor, her stomach still bubbling. It would be so easy to turn round and go back down, drive home, scoop up her son and tell her husband that he would have to return to work.

Yet she knew she never would.

Laura glanced across the floor nervously. It was before eight and there were only a few people in already, heads buried in concentration. No one looked up, which gave her time to take in the changes. The wall behind the water cooler had been repainted, the configuration of desks to her right had been redesigned into star shapes at awkward angles – no longer rows looking out of the floor-to-ceiling windows that stared over the river.

She strained to see if her own desk was still in the same position, just outside Harry’s glass office at the far end of the floor. Had they moved her? She couldn’t see from where she was standing, but there was always the possibility someone had decided to put her elsewhere while she wasn’t there to defend herself.

Laura could already feel a burn of anxiety at the thought of the conversations she’d have, if that were the case, and suddenly she realised how much harder it was going to be settling back in than she could ever have imagined.