out a scene in her head with a thousand witty retorts to each one of Hilary’s nasty instructions. It had felt wonderful. She’d felt free and full of all the possibilities that the future now held for her. She just had to decide what she wanted to do with it.
When one door closes, somewhere a window is opened. At least, that’s how the saying went. But, Nina couldn’t help wondering the next morning if it had been wise to close a door before even knowing where to look for a window. Maybe not, but it had certainly been liberating.
Janey had sounded delighted when Nina told her.
‘Well done, you!’ she cheered down the phone. ‘Now don’t go walking into another nasty little job again. Have a break – enjoy yourself,’ she advised. That was all very well, but what was she going to enjoy herself with? Fun always seemed to come with a pretty hefty price tag. And, finding herself out of teabags as well as T-shirts, Nina thought she should at least start to look for another position.
The local recruitment agency wasn’t exactly what Nina had hoped for on the first day of her new-found freedom. The stark walls and bland office furniture looked like a ‘before’ room on a television makeover programme, and the jobs the city had to offer were just as uninspiring. Nina tutted, rolled her eyes, bit her lip and then walked back out into the sunshine. Janey was right. There was absolutely no point in summoning up the courage to jack in your job only to leap into another job that you didn’t totally love. She was worth more than that, and this was going to be a new start for her – not just in terms of a job but in her personal life, too. She was leaving behind the old Nina with the bad boyfriend and the bad job. Who knew what the future held in store for her? All she had to do was to remain optimistic and keep smiling.
She held her face up to the early summer sunshine, rejoicing in the fact that she’d never have to face Hilary Jackson again in that tiny, airless office. She’d never forget her boss’s face as she’d said goodbye. Like Munch’s ‘The Scream’ with a touch of Lady Macbeth. It had been quite scary, and Nina began to feel sorry for the next poor soul to be taken on by her old boss. But that wasn’t her concern. She’d done her time and now she was free.
It was a bright Wednesday morning at the end of May and she didn’t have to work; the city was her oyster. She could do what she wanted – visit all the places she never had time to when she was working. She could go to an afternoon matinee at the cinema, amble up the cobbled back streets and poke around the galleries and antique shops. She could browse around the bookshops or sip a cappuccino overlooking the rainbow array of the market. It was all there for the taking.
Nina chose the market.
The scent of fresh fruit and vegetables filled her nostrils and she walked without any real direction between the stalls. Cards for every occasion, cushions, CDs, casual coats, courgettes and chips – it was all there, and Nina ambled happily amongst the shoppers, smiling at everything yet nothing in particular, losing herself in the living labyrinth.
When she finally tunnelled her way out, she had to shade her eyes against the sun and, as she did so, she noticed a small boy crying and pointing up to the sky. She followed his gaze and saw a bright red balloon drifting high above the shops towards the heavens. His mother grabbed his wrist and dragged him away.
For a few moments, Nina stood transfixed, watching the red balloon until it became nothing more than a scarlet pinprick against the sky. Best go shopping for some food, she thought. It would be a new experience to go shopping on a weekday and the very thought of it made her smile. Even the simplest task was beginning to seem like an adventure.
Dominic wasn’t having any luck at all. First of all his mother and brother, Alex, had blocked his car in – again – and then he’d found he was out of petrol. He’d had to beg twenty pounds from his dad in return for a promise to trim the yew hedges at the back of the house, which was a task worth at least fifty pounds of anyone’s money.
And things didn’t get any better when he reached Norwich. Just what was he doing? It was madness, sheer madness to be driving around, getting caught up in the one-way system in the desperate hope of spotting her again. And the lunch hour traffic was hell. But on he drove, narrowly avoiding several careless workers who thought they could cross safely in front of him after having one too many at the pub. But not once did he run into Nina.
Where was she?
Since nearly running her over, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the old days, when he and Alex had been growing up. He had so many fond memories of his childhood and the reappearance of Nina had woken them all up. And his mother was very keen to see her again. If only there’d been more time. If only he’d got her number.
After an honorary lap around the one-way system, he parked his car. He might as well make the most of finding himself in the centre of town, he thought, so he walked around the market, breathing in the scent of fresh flowers and fruit, the salt tang from the fish counter and the glorious smell of hot chips. He wandered about, turning left here, right there, until he surfaced once more into the dazzling light.
It was then that something caught his eye: a small boy was crying and pointing towards the sky. Dominic looked up and saw a red balloon floating away. Poor little mite, he thought and then sighed. Like the little boy, he wasn’t quite sure what he should do next.
He loved the city and often wandered around without a particular direction in mind, and today was no exception because he really didn’t have a direction to follow.
It might be worth going back to the zebra crossing, he thought, but it wasn’t very likely that she’d be there. He was just wasting his time. She was but one person in a city of thousands. But he had to try, didn’t he?
Olivia Milton clinked a second bottle of wine into her shopping trolley and searched her pockets for the list she’d made earlier that morning. It wasn’t there of course. She knew she’d left it on the kitchen table. She also knew that there’d definitely been more on the list than parmesan cheese, olives and Pinot Noir.
She pushed her trolley into the next aisle hoping that, by scanning the shelves, her memory would be jogged and that they’d all actually be able to eat that night.
Olivia always did her shopping on a Wednesday. Nina, on the other hand, had never experienced the pleasure of a supermarket when one was able to move freely through it and not spend longer in a queue than you had spent actually choosing your items. And, also unlike Olivia, Nina had her list with her.
It was the strangest feeling being in a supermarket when she should have had her feet tucked firmly under a desk and her ear glued to a telephone, having orders barked at her by Hilary Jackson. However, now she was unemployed, she became acutely aware of the cost of things and had to make sure that she only got the absolute essentials.
As she turned into the next aisle in the hope of finding a jar of pesto sauce for under a pound, she almost crashed into a trolley that had been left at right angles for all and sundry to trip over and into.
Nina grinned as she saw the contents: two bottles of wine, a slab of parmesan and copies of Hello! and Country Life. She could just imagine the sort of person who’d own such a trolley. Barbour and pearls, she thought. Land Rover and Labrador sort. This woman wouldn’t have to hunt for three-for-two offers or dented tins that had been reduced. Oh, no.
Nina looked down the aisle and gasped. It was her: no Barbour today – it was far too warm – but little pearl
