Firestarter (13 page)

'I won't, but if he's really interested I'm going to have to accept it, aren't I? Just as I'll expect him to accept the things I want to do. I'll give it a go, if I'm still interested once the novelty has worn off I'll carry on and it'll be something we can share. If I don't, well I'll just have to find a hobby of my own.'

'Dad has some wine bottles going spare.'

'OK, you've convinced me – I'm off to buy binoculars and a notebook.'

'Hey, how did that work?' Kate asked.

'Dunno, but I'd better go and finish getting ready, Hamish will be here soon.'

'OK, have fun.'

Alice applied another coat of lash-building mascara, lined her lips in cherry red, filled them in with her glossiest lippy, and gave herself a good spritz of scent. That was better, she felt like Alice again, not like a forest ranger who happened to scrub up OK.

When Hamish called, he hugged and kissed her but released her quickly and kept his hands to himself. His eyes though, she noticed, were doing their best to make up for him not using his sense of touch to discover exactly how the soft wool of her dress clung to, and accentuated, every curve.

'So where would you like to go?' he asked.

'Somewhere close which serves huge portions. I'm starved.'

At the Sunken Yacht, Alice ordered fish with extra chips. 'They're for you, I'm going to eat every one of mine.' She did, followed by sticky toffee pudding and custard. She turned down the offer of alcohol though and opted for Coke in the hope of staying awake.

When the waitress asked if they'd like more coffee she declined; she'd want to sleep eventually. 'Just the bill please,' she said.

'It's already been paid.'

How had he managed that? 'Thanks, but you don't always have to pay.'

'I didn't have to, I just did.' He winked, then reached over and took her hand. 'Thank you for your efforts at the sanctuary.'

Nadeep had already thanked her profusely and even Louise had expressed a certain amount of gratitude. Hamish though probably guessed that her efforts had been for his benefit.

'No problem. It's been an interesting couple of days.'

'Have you enjoyed this weekend, Alice?'

It wasn't over yet... was it? Perhaps it had to be. She wouldn't be any better at controlling her desires if they went back to her place than if she'd gone home with him. If her short term options were limited at least she could try to ensure she had some long term ones.

'I can't say I'm a fan of the mud, but it was good to do something more useful than shopping or watching TV and I do like the birds. They're fascinating when you really look.'

'Yeah? So you want to see the murmurations?'

'Definitely.'

'Then how about I pick you up after work on Tuesday or Wednesday? I wouldn't be able to stay out late, but we'd have time to see them if we went straight there and could grab something to eat on the way back.'

'Tell you what, take me to see them and I'll cook you something afterwards.' At least he wouldn't be able to pay for that, not with cash anyway. Hopefully he'd do so another way eventually – and by then she'd be owed some interest.

'Deal'. Hamish gave a big grin. 'And, er, no pressure or anything, but at the end of the month I'm going to Wales birdwatching for a few days. I'm staying in a cottage in the middle of nowhere. Want to keep me company?'

Alice liked the idea very much. That gave her a couple more weeks to find out if she really liked him personally and not because he fit her fantasy so well. And if it seemed they really were keen on each other, then being somewhere remote with nothing to distract them during the long evenings could be very good indeed.

'I'm owed lots of time off and things are quiet at work so it shouldn't be a problem.' Miles would probably try to make it difficult, but since splitting with Tony she was more confident and wasn't going to let him mistreat her.

Hamish almost had to carry her back to her place so he probably wasn't surprised not to be invited in. Alice was too tired to notice if he looked disappointed.

She overslept the next morning and missed her bus. When she stepped off the next one she ran all the way to work and got in at ten past nine. Kath was just ending a telephone call.

'Fire alarm went off again. I'd better tell Miles.'

While she was gone Alice learned the fire brigade had received two hoax calls to the premises over the weekend.

'Do you mean the automatic system is going off when it shouldn't, or that someone is actually phoning the fire brigade?' Alice asked.

'Both I think,' Lucy said. 'Miles was ranting about the IT people saying they'd buggered up the system and about kids wasting everyone's time. Apparently he gets called out whenever there's a problem, so he had to come in three times over the weekend.'

'His mood is going to be worse than usual then,' Alice said.

When Kath returned she said, 'Miles wants a word at ten.'

She should just have stayed in bed. He was either going to reprimand her for being late or was connecting her to the hoax calls. There wasn't much she could say in her defence about either of those but she could see that from Miles's point of view both problems could be solved by giving her the sack. Great, just as one area of her life was starting to look promising, another was about to fall apart.

Chapter 13

Alice soon realised she'd made a mistake and it wasn't just her Miles wanted to talk to. There was to be a meeting with all staff down in the warehouse. The general opinion was that Tatisuz was to either close down or be sold.

'We'll get redundancy, won't we?' Emma asked.

'Yes, but not much,' Kath said. 'It'll be less than one pay cheque.'

'That can't be right. My dad got thousands. A couple of years' pay at least and that was compulsory redundancy.'

'Sorry,' Kath said, 'but I've looked into it. The legal minimum is one week's wages for every complete year we've worked here and I can't see Miles having paid into any scheme or insurance or anything so we get more, can you?'

Alice looked round at her colleagues' miserable faces. Much as Miles annoyed her and the job bored her, she didn't want to lose it before she'd found something better. She mentally kicked herself for not having already tried to do that. She hadn't thought the problems with Tatisuz were quite so serious and there didn't seem to be many job opportunities about. Kath, who had children, must have been really concerned though, if she'd taken the trouble to find out their legal position.

'What are we going to do?' Emma's question was probably in everyone's mind.

Alice knew her parents would let her move back in with them if she couldn't keep up her rent. Lucy still lived with hers. They were the lucky ones though. Things would be harder for the other women and presumably for most of the men too.

'Maybe it won't be as bad as that?' Alice suggested. 'If he's got a buyer then we might keep our jobs.' She didn't suppose they all would, the new boss would probably want to make changes but it might give them a bit of breathing space.

'Let's get ourselves a drink and go down,' Kath said. 'If he sees we're ready, maybe he'll get it over with.'

Down in the warehouse the men were huddled together, looking just as glum as their office colleagues.

'Do you know what he wants to talk to us about?' one of the forklift truck drivers asked.

'No, but...'

Kath stopped when the driver interrupted with, 'He's here.'

Miles must have realised the women had all gone down to the unusually quiet warehouse, and followed them.

'I didn't realise you'd all be so eager for a chat,' he said.

He was the only one who even attempted to laugh at his feeble joke. Even by Miles's standards, treating this as funny was rotten behaviour.

'Is everyone here?' Miles asked.

'Except for Dave. He's off sick.'

'Really? I didn't realise City were playing today.'

Some of the men shuffled uncomfortably, convincing Alice that Miles was right to be sceptical. What was he planning to do; blame the company's failure on inefficient staff?

'There's no need to pass on any of what I'm going to say to him, I'll speak to him separately when he comes back.'

If whatever he had to say didn't apply to Dave perhaps they weren't all going to be sacked?

Miles said, 'I'll get on with it then. Firstly, thank you all for bearing with me during the last few difficult months. I'm sure you've realised that business had slowed down and that I've been unable to invest in the company as I'd have liked.'

Things had been 'difficult' at work for over a year and Alice couldn't remember Miles ever spending a penny he wasn't pretty much forced to, unless it was on himself, but she nodded along with the rest.

'That's about to change. I've negotiated a big contract which will begin in the new financial year. Until then, money will still be tight, but once in effect I will be in a position to consider personnel matters and make improvements to our infrastructure. I'd like your help in identifying the actions which will be most advantageous to my workforce.'

'Does all this mean we'll get a pay rise?' Kath asked.

'Eventually, yes. Stay with me and your loyalty will be rewarded.'

It seemed like a long time before anyone spoke.

'So you're not closing the company down?' Kath asked.

'No of course not. Why would you think that?' He seemed so surprised that Alice thought maybe he hadn't deliberately let them jump to the wrong conclusion about the reason for the meeting.

Miles continued, with some heat, 'I've built this company up from nothing and invested a great deal of time and money into it. I have no intention of letting that all go to waste.' He took a breath. 'And all of you have put your time into the company too. We all want it to succeed, don't we?'

There were many assurances of that.

'Excellent. Then let's get ready for the next phase. I want a stocktake so we know exactly what we've got. Kath and Lucy, perhaps you could deal with the paperwork side of that? Alice and Emma, I want a real sales push. Get onto all our customers and say there's a ten per cent discount for all orders paid for in full by the end of this month.'

Everyone got to work immediately. Alice didn't even stop to text Kate, to say she had good news, until her official lunch break.

'I'll pick you up from work. Tell me then or now?' Kate texted back.

'Later. Something else to talk about too.'

'Me too.'

'???'

'Laterz!!!'

'So what's the good news?' Kate asked as soon as Alice got into her car.

'Miles has got some big new orders and we're all getting pay rises.'

'Oh! That is good news.'

'I know. When he said he wanted to speak to us all we thought we were all going to get the sack.' She explained about the meeting.

'Did he say how much of a rise, or when?'

'Well no, but I suppose he's got to wait until the orders are processed so he can work it out. He only had it confirmed just before he told us.'

'Ah, right. And the other thing you wanted to talk about?'

'No, your turn. More good news, I hope?'

'Yes, well I think so. I've decided to move in with Pete.'

'It's good, but it's not exactly news. You've been gradually doing that since just after Christmas.'

'Well you know me, I don't like to rush into anything.'

'You've been together quite a while.'

'Not as long as you and Tony were.'

'True, but Pete's nothing like Tony. You knew he was no good for me and I should have listened. I can see Pete is good for you, are you going to listen to me?'

'Absolutely, especially the bit where you explain it to Mum and Dad.'

'Kate, you've been moving in over the last ten weeks, I think they'll have noticed by now... but since you want me to tell them I'll do a big announcement and get Dad to crack open a bottle of wine to celebrate.' Fortunately they'd arrived outside Alice's flat by then so she was able to jump out and make a run for it, leaving Kate to park before she could follow.

'Good idea of yours,' she said as she came in. 'I've phoned Dad and told him to put a bottle in the fridge... and that I'll be driving you over and back so I can't have any.'

'That's just mean!'

'Yes, I know.' Kate adopted a smug expression.

'Tea?'

'Yes please.'

'Arsenic or strychnine?'

Kate blew her a kiss. 'OK, no wine, and you're right I'll just tell them, not make a big fuss about it.'

'You've already told them! Is there something you're not telling me? There's something wrong with Pete? Or... Mum or Dad are ill?'

'No!'

'What then?'

'It doesn't seem right for me to be so happy when you're not.'

Alice had to swallow several times to shift the lump in her throat. 'Oh, Kate. Look, I'm absolutely fine and even if I wasn't, seeing you all loved up would make me feel better not worse.'

They hugged.

'Now, what was your other thing?' Kate asked.

'A couple of things, actually. There have been more hoax calls to the fire brigade and there's nothing other than me connecting where I live to where I work. Do you think someone has got it in for me?'

'What? God, Tony really got you paranoid, didn't he? Oh, you think it might be him?'

'The thought has crossed my mind. He was pretty upset and he's not keen on firemen.'

'He's not an idiot either though, is he? I can't see it somehow.'

That was a relief to Alice; she hadn't wanted to believe it.

'Have you spoken to Hamish about it?'

'No, I haven't.'

'He'd know more about this sort of thing than we would.'

'True, but I don't want to make a big thing about him being a fireman.'

'Eh? I'm pretty sure the guy knows what he does for a living. Those engines and the flames and stuff would be hard to miss and anyway, I thought the big thing about him is that he is a fireman?'

'No! It isn't. Arrrgh. If I can't make you see that, what chance have I got with him?'

'Make my own tea, shall I?' Kate said. She poured the boiling water onto the tea bags Alice had already put into mugs.

'You said you thought I'd get fed up with him once the novelty of him being a fireman wore off.'

'I thought it might. I take it that hasn't happened then?'

'No. I like him a lot.'

'Like?' Kate asked.

'Yes. OK, I am totally in lust too, obviously, but I do like him and not because of his uniform or anything.'

'OK.'

Alice narrowed her eyes at Kate.

Kate raised her hands in surrender. 'I believe you, Sis. OK?'

'OK, but I don't know how to convince him. Remember I told you about his friend Louise...?'

'The slave driver at the sanctuary? Oooh that sounds like a scary film. Well anyway, what about her?'

'She said women were always throwing themselves at Hamish just because he's a fireman.'

'She's probably just jealous. From what you said I reckon she'd like to do the same, but is so bony she'd just bounce off.'

Alice, grinning at the image, wondered just how much she confided in Kate without realising she did it. 'Maybe, I'm not totally sure, but I think she's right about this. Actually, I know she is. When we go out together women are always trying to talk to him and touch his arm and things. Can you imagine what it's like when he's on his own or just with his mates and in uniform?'

'Hmm, yes. I've been out with good looking guys, not that Pete is hideous or anything, but some people attract attention and your Hamish is definitely one of them.'

'Exactly. And Louise said he's got hurt before, thinking girls are serious and then finding out any hunky fireman would do. I don't want him thinking I'm another one of those, which he probably does because he knows I've got a thing about them.'

'So you want to show you're serious? Ah, so that's what all the up to your elbows in mud was about?'

'Yes. Well, a bit to start with, but I did like watching the birds and I liked helping them... well, knowing I was helping, not so much the actual work.' She told Kate about the suggested trip to Wales and her intention of not 'throwing herself' at Hamish until then.

'You mean you haven't...?'

'No. We will, but I want to wait a bit, if I can.'

'The bird stuff should help. With Louise around you won't be able to get up to anything. And how about inviting him to a family dinner? Me and Pete are doing one next Sunday; I thought if I invited Mum and Dad they'd see I wasn't abandoning them any more than you did when you came here.'

'D'you think they're wishing we'd just leave them alone?'

'Nah. They'd hide the cakes in that case.'

Hamish rang on Tuesday morning to arrange to take her round to Portsmouth to see the murmurations on Wednesday evening.

'That's fine. Anything in particular you'd like me to cook for you?'

'Would you mind if we ate out and did that another night? William is having car trouble and he doesn't want to leave his wife without hers. Jeff's picking him up tonight, but as I'll be coming past his place on the way back to yours, it makes sense for me to do it tomorrow.'

'OK. That's fine.'

The murmurations were indeed spectacular. Easily as good as the versions she'd seen on TV. Better actually as she could appreciate the scale.

'I can't believe I didn't know about this.' She loved spotting smaller groups gather in the distance and then join up with the main flock. Surely they must communicate with each other somehow to be able to do that without any mid-air collisions?

Even more amazing was to watch birds breakaway from the main group and head, at high speed, for their roosts under the railway station. Sometimes they'd seem to lose their nerve and veer away at the last moment, but not once did they crash into the supports.

The Thai curry afterwards was something of a disappointment. Far too sweet and glutinous. It was almost a good thing they didn't have time to savour it. With William in the car and Red Watch about to go on duty Hamish didn't have long to linger over kissing her goodnight either.