Tina smiled back; he was just what she needed every morning to take her mind off things. She had a lot going on, had had to take time off. To say she’d been depressed would be an understatement; she’d been to hell and back if she was being honest. And you could see, just by looking at her. She had dark circles under her eyes and her skin was blotchy and pale. Tina pulled the blinds back, peered out of the window. ‘Oh my God, the traffic was horrible this morning. I left early to try and avoid the worst of it, but it didn’t make any difference. I might get a bike and see if that helps. Oh, by the way, I’m sure I saw your Susan parked up near here on my way in, is she coming in today?’

Donny shook his head and looked confused. ‘No, Sue’s in work. Must have been somebody who looked like her.’

Tina sighed, ‘Yeah, you’re probably right, I should get my eyes checked. Another thing to add to the list.’

Donny carried on looking at his screen, while he listened to her going on. ‘Kettle’s just boiled, go and grab a coffee and warm yourself up,’ he stretched, arms high above his head, ‘unless you want me to warm you up.’

Tina rolled her eyes and groaned. ‘I’m fed up, not hard up, Donny, keep your hands to yourself. I’ll get a drink in a bit. I just need to sit down for five minutes before the kids start coming in. Look at the state of me, I’ve hardly slept a wink all night.’

Donny shot her a glance. She did look knackered. Things were obviously still bad. He cared about his staff and Tina had really been through the mill lately. She was a shadow of her former self. All she’d ever wanted was a baby and now she’d had to have a hysterectomy and it was never going to happen – her world had collapsed around her.

It was no wonder she’d hit the bottle. Donny had tried talking to her about it just before she went on sick leave and he hoped, now that she was back in work, that it would have settled down a bit. But he knew things still weren’t great at home. She did everything for her two stepchildren but they gave nothing back by the sound of things. Typical stroppy teenagers, untidy, moody and ungrateful. Tina had tried her best, by all accounts, but it never really made a difference. She definitely had her work cut out there.