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Gina was making good progress with her paperwork, so was hoping to be back home earlier than yesterday as it had been 8.30 p.m. when she had finally returned home. Today, she had promised Will she would be back by 6 p.m. at the latest. Her phone rang.
‘Gina, I think I am about to make your day,’ said the caller.
Gina listened to the details with interest and doodled on her legal pad.
‘Well, that’s great news, Nathan. Have you spoken to Mr Evans yet?’
‘No, I wanted to let you know first, but I’m sure he will agree to an out of court settlement.’
‘OK, well, get back to me and let me know when the roundtable meeting is to negotiate the compensation. I assume you will want me to sit in?’
‘Oh, yes. We need to ensure we get as much as possible for him but I think it’s almost in the bag and it’s the best option for everyone. It seems that another case has just been lodged and the trust is seeking to minimise publicity.’
‘Great. Keep in touch,’ replied Gina.
She hung up and felt like punching the air. The evidence had been compelling, and it was surprising that the health trust hadn’t agreed in the first instance to settle out of court. However, it didn’t matter how the end result was achieved, it was another personal victory, and her chambers would get its usual handsome percentage fee.
She looked at her diary for the next week and saw with relief that it was now considerably less busy. Confirmation had come through for her trip to the House of Lords Select Committee, but that was more than a month away, leaving ample time to compile notes from the recent Benton Inquiry.
Her mobile rang.
‘Marcus! Hi, how are you?’ she said to her son.
‘I’m fine thanks. Well, more than fine actually. I’ve just secured another big trial.’
‘Wow! That’s amazing, congratulations. Have you told Dad?’
‘Not yet, he’s not answering. I’ll try him again later.’
‘Well, done darling, we must come and visit you in Cambridge. I love the city, and it’s less than a three-hour drive from here, or we might come by train.’
‘Anytime, just let me know. I better go now, I’m in court this afternoon, we are just on a recess at the moment.’
‘How’s Lydia?’
‘Fine, fine and no we’ve not set a date yet before you ask,’ he laughed.
‘No pressure,’ replied Gina.
‘Not much, I know your sort of no pressure,’ he joked, ‘Anyway, better go, speak to you again soon.’
Gina was overjoyed. Marcus had decided to follow in her footsteps and was making his name as a criminal defence barrister. He had also studied at Cambridge before securing a pupillage in London and was subsequently called to the Bar in 2015. He had then decided to return to Cambridge to join a prestigious set of chambers there. His first big break had come last year when he was only twenty-six, and he had successfully defended a client who had been framed for murder by a business competitor. That case had been instrumental in building his reputation and his phone call today confirmed that he was able to secure further high profile cases. Gina relaxed in her chair, comfortable in the feeling that everyone in the family was doing well at the moment and life seemed very good indeed.
**
Tom returned home from a relatively straightforward day at the GP surgery and saw a cloud of smoke coming from the garden. He put down his keys and his briefcase and felt momentarily puzzled. Surely Trish wasn’t having a bonfire of garden waste in broad daylight? That would infuriate the neighbours, and he didn’t want to be reported to the council, besides they paid for a weekly collection of garden waste. He hurried outside to identify the source of the smoke.
‘Trish, what are you doing?’
‘Er, isn’t it obvious?’
‘Well, yes, I can see what you are doing, but I just wondered why?’
‘You’d rather I was making inroads into a packet of Silk Cut?’
‘No, of course not, it’s just that you hadn’t mentioned it before.’
‘No, I didn’t want to discuss it with you beforehand, I just wanted to go with my idea. I realise it’s a surprise, but hopefully, it’s not too shocking.’
‘Well, no, I’ll just have to get used to it, I guess. What about a drink?’
‘No thanks.’
He returned with a small bottle of beer.
‘Sorry, it was just a surprise. You are lucky I didn’t chuck a bucket of water over you! I thought we had a fire.’
‘Very droll. Want to try it?’
‘What do I do?’
‘You just suck on it, what else do you want to do with it?’
Tom sucked on the e-cigarette. ‘Very floral or do I mean aromatic? Sort of bergamot flavour?’
‘Yes, it’s a bit like that. Do you like it?’
‘I’m not sure, let me have another go.’ He sucked on the e-cigarette a couple of times, then shrugged. ‘Well, I suppose it’s not harmful, well, not as far as we know. Anyway, what sparked, pardon the pun your interest in vaping? You never mentioned it?’
‘I need something else to help calm me.’
‘Really? I thought you were doing OK at the moment?’
‘Well, I might appear like that, but you don’t know how I feel inside. It’s the anxiety which is worse than the depression. In fact, the depression has lifted quite a bit recently.’
‘Well, that’s good, and I had noticed that you seem brighter.’
‘The thing is, I don’t want to rely on taking tranquillisers as well as the anti-depressants. It’s easy to use them as a prop, and we all know how lots of women got hooked on them in the past.’
‘Well, anything to avoid that! No, if it helps you then all well and good.’
‘Thank you, and I promise not to cover you in clouds of vapour!’
‘No worries, what’s for dinner, I’m starving?’
‘Vegetable lasagne and salad. I’ll go and put it in the oven now you are back.’
Tom wandered over to the hutch to see the two guinea-pigs. He had to admit that they were very cute and one came over towards the wire mesh on the front of the hutch as if to greet him. On the whole, Trish seemed to be coping with her enforced break from work and was keeping busy which was good. Hopefully, it meant there would be no more repeats of her amnesia.
**
Gina and Will were just finishing their evening meal, and for once both had succeeded in keeping their promise to return from work just after 6 p.m.
‘That was lovely, thank you,’ said Will. ‘Where did you get it?’
‘Waitrose. I love that shop.’
‘So, how’s your talk coming along then?’
‘OK, actually I wondered whether you would listen to it this evening, then I will have time to change it before next week?’
‘Of course, I will. Do you want me to ask you some probing questions as well?’
‘No thank you. I doubt I’ll get anything too difficult, although it will be embarrassing if I don’t get any questions, that will show I’ve bored them to tears!’
‘I very much doubt that. You must be one of their most prestigious Old Girls. That name always makes me laugh. Somehow Old Boys is a lot less amusing.’
‘Yes, it does seem rather unflattering. I bet there will be some really old Old Girls there if you see what I mean. They might have trouble keeping awake!’
‘Particularly if they’ve been at the sherry!’
‘I might need a sherry to give me some Dutch courage.’
‘Nonsense. You are used to speaking in front of people.’
‘Yes, in court but this is somehow different. In court it’s very theatrical, there’s a particular formula laid down, and we act the part. It’s like being in a play. I will feel rather exposed standing up and talking about my background and career.’
‘You’ll be fine, I know you will.’
‘I do feel nervous about this talk, and I wish I hadn’t agreed to it.’
‘Why? I don’t understand.’
‘Well, I did well at school, but I wasn’t a model pupil.’ Gina became distant, caught up with her memories.
Will shrugged. ‘Oh! Sorry to change the subject but I just remembered, I won’t be home for dinner tomorrow evening. Departmental meeting.’
‘Down the pub?’
‘Ha, very funny. No, budgets and so on. Very boring, anyway, sorry, back to your talk.’
‘No, I’d just like you to hear what I’ve got so far.’
‘Have you got any funny anecdotes?’
‘A few, not many though, the profession doesn’t really lend itself to lots of slapstick moments.’
‘Right, coffee? Then I can listen to you and give you marks out of ten.’
‘Don’t expect too much. It’s fifteen minutes of a rather humdrum life story, I’m afraid.’
‘Humdrum? Hardly. How many people achieve what you have?’
‘Lots, you for instance. You save lives.’
‘But you fight for justice and people who have been wronged, and that’s just as important. Without the law, we’d be living in an anarchistic society. Lord of the Flies and all that, don’t you agree?’
‘It’s sounding like an episode of the Moral Maze!’ said Gina, smiling.
‘Well, I’m your biggest fan, so don’t do yourself down.’
‘Thanks,’ said Gina, squeezing her husband’s hand.
