| |
It was Monday morning and there was a ball of cement in Sophie’s stomach.
She had a meeting with Richard later today to discuss the research project. She felt sick about it, but she had no choice. She could borrow a bit of money from her mum, but she needed to pay her back ASAP. She needed a source of income and she needed it now.
“You look nice,” Paige said as she entered the office.
Sophie was wearing a smart navy blue pencil skirt, black ankle boots and a crisp white shirt. It was ridiculous to get dressed up for Richard, for someone who had seen her—pulling an all-nighter with Paige in the final stages of their PhDs—wearing grey tracksuit pants and a food-stained t-shirt, but still.
“Got a job interview?” Paige teased.
Sophie’s stomach squirmed.
“Or a date?” Paige said more seriously.
“I managed to get rid of Declan last night.”
“You did? How? Why?” Paige lifted the coffee pot in Sophie’s direction, asking about a refill. Sophie shook her head. Paige filled her own cup and took it back to her desk, setting it down before plugging in her laptop.
“He answered my phone. Can you believe it?”
Paige’s eyes widened. “No way.”
Sophie picked up her phone and played with it. “Yeah.”
Silence fell in the office. Neither of them wanted to bring up the evaporation of both of their cases. Sophie would not raise this topic because she didn’t want Paige to try and convince her it was just a hiccup; and Paige would not because she thought it was just a small hiccup that would resolve itself. But the silence was pressing on Sophie and she felt like the longer it went on, the more likely it was someone would say something that could generate an unpleasant conversation.
“Hey so, the call Declan answered was Roman. How did he know about my car?”
Sophie, wiped out by confronting Declan, had not been able to cope with calling Roman back last night. She’d tried, but she’d been so nervous she’d skulled back a glass of wine, and then didn’t want to call because she was worried she’d slur her words and give Roman the impression she was drunk. Plus, she wanted to talk to Paige and get a bit of intel first.
“Oh, he did?” Paige said innocently.
Sophie assessed her friend with surprise. Was it possible Paige had actually noticed something about someone else’s behaviour?
“Was it you? Did you tell him about the... I guess it was a hit and run, right? But Roman wouldn’t normally deal with those would he?”
“No, but... we were talking about the Dixon case, and I mentioned your car and he said he could file a report at least.”
“Huh,” Sophie said. Was Roman just helping his friend’s daughter or was this something more? He had called her, after all, and it hadn’t been strictly necessary, or within his purview. For the first time in 24-hours, Sophie’s head wasn’t full of Richard and his stupid job offer. It was pleasantly full of Roman. “He’s really good at his job, aye? You can just tell,” Sophie said.
“Roman? Yeah, I think he is. And better yet, he seems to be on our side.”
“Mmmm,” Sophie agreed.
Paige went back to her laptop.
“And he seems nice, doesn’t he? Like he’s a nice person,” Sophie continued.
“Yup,” Paige said, still typing.
“And did you see his hands?” Sophie said as she leaned back in her chair.
Paige smirked. “No, I didn’t, why, does he have six fingers or something?”
Sophie gazed up at the ceiling as she let her chair turn in slow circles. “No, they just...” She sat up to look at Paige properly. “They just looked, so, capable, like, he can do stuff,” she breathed.
“And what kind of stuff would that be Soph?” Paige grinned.
Sophie blushed. “You know. Fix things... and stuff.” The hue of her cheeks brightened even more. “Whatever, shut up. I have to get back to this,” Sophie turned back to her own laptop, which was blank.
***
ROMAN TOPPED UP HIS coffee from the pot in the breakroom and ambled back to his desk.
He’d been surprised when a male voice answered Sophie’s phone, and a little disappointed, he could not deny. But what had he expected? And he shouldn’t be thinking about Sophie in that way, he admonished himself. It was hardly appropriate.
He started typing up notes for a crime scene report but gave up five minutes later to lean back in his chair to think. An Irish accent with a vocal swagger. He could just imagine him, this Declan character, and he wondered what Sophie was doing with him. It didn’t fit with what he knew of her, although this was very little, he had to admit. He had only met her once, spent twenty minutes with her, at most.
He leaned forward again and opened up Google.
***
WHEN SOPHIE HEARD THE jaunty footfalls coming up the stairs she had a sudden and awful foreshadowing of what was about to happen.
Sure enough, a moment later Richard appeared around the doorway. Sophie wanted the ground to open up. She should’ve known. Why hadn’t she realised Richard would do this?
“Well, if it isn’t Cagney and Lacey.” Richard chortled to himself.
Paige, who had watched every single detective show ever made, knew what TV series he meant. “Gosh, what a topical and timely reference,” she said. “Just how old are you?”
Richard’s eyes glinted with malice. Sophie wanted to yell at Paige to stop. Taunting him would just make this all the worse.
“Although, that isn’t so relevant anymore, is it?” He glanced over at Sophie. “It’s going to be Cagney without the Lacey soon, isn’t it?”
Paige frowned. Sophie’s stomach heaved and she hunched down further in her chair.
“I just came by to confirm our meeting this afternoon, Sophie. We said five o’clock, didn’t we? We’ll go over the details but I’ll make sure the contract is all ready for you to sign straight away.” He stepped up to Paige’s desk and leaned down so he was a foot away from Paige’s shocked face. “Sophie and I have an exciting new research project to set up. Don’t we?” he added.
Sophie didn’t say anything.
Richard, satisfied without an answer from either of them, straightened and moved toward the door. “Ciao.” He waved as he strolled out.
Sophie turned to Paige, assessing the damage.
Paige sat motionless, still stunned. “Why?”
“I’m totally broke, Paige.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Soph... I could have lent you some money. We could have talked about it, worked it out.”
“I’m sorry, I know, and I know you would, but I can’t just keep borrowing money from you. I need a job. But Paige, it’s not that bad... I can keep working here, part time, until we get going. I’m not abandoning you, I promise. I can still help; I just need to be working, earning money, as well.”
Paige stood up.
“I can keep working here... I can do both,” Sophie continued.
Paige opened her mouth, shut it again, picked up her bag, and left.
