CHAPTER 16
I looked round the room, remembering Elf’s words.

‘Marlene won’t allow face coverings, after the Admiral Duncan bombing. No furries, no puppy boys, but everyone else, aye? Safe space’

Safe space.

“What can you offer, Lil?”

“Careful who you say that to, woman. What’s your usual poison?”

CHAPTER 4
“Anyway, what did Lynn say, Julia?”

I looked at her as she composed her thoughts, someone who had just shared the most literally horrendous personal information, and asked myself exactly how self-absorbed I must be. All of this was entirely down to me, in the end. Not Mary, not work, just me I wondered if there might be a way of rebottling the genie, for all of the very few seconds it took me to realise how stupidly unrealistic that thought was.

“Lynn? Oh, don’t worry. She didn’t spot a bra strap, or some unwiped mascara”

A gala drawing gives Samantha a role Samuel never asked for: princess. But helping a frightened child may force him to see the experience differently.

CHAPTER 3
“Take a seat. Please”

He slumped into one of the armchairs, setting his briefcase upright on the floor beside him, where it promptly fell over.

“Harry… “

He stopped abruptly, looking down at his clenched hands, then slowly relaxed his fingers before looking back up at the two of us on the settee.

“There have been rumours, you know. I wasn’t sure… Short form, then. Mary, could I have that tea after all? Please?”

She brought an extra mug from the kitchen, and the three of us sat silently as she poured and handed him the cup.

“What do I call you? Harry seems a bit awkward”

“What everyone else does”

“Ellie? I always did wonder about why you pushed that one. Bit too glib, I thought, and I was right, wasn’t I? So, please, executive summary”

I looked quickly at my wife, then jumped in. Soonest humiliated, soonest over.

“Lots of cliché stuff, really, so I won’t go into the usual rigmarole”

Having been invited out by an old acquaintance Barb goes with Cindy a short shopping trip.

CHAPTER 15
I had indeed been squeaky new when I had met Hira, just settling in at the Cardiff hub as I was. I had realised early on in my training that while I was competent at driving the big box of an ambulance, I didn’t have the spatial awareness of someone like Tom, who seemed almost to wear the vehicle like a second skin. My forte was that of an advanced nurse practitioner, with extra trauma skills, so I concentrated on those aspects. It meant a lot of mixing and matching crews for a long time, but eventually Tom and I gelled.

The Ghost of Tomorrow

Chapter 2: Home Truths

That night I had a vivid dream. You know, one of those dreams where
you think you’re awake until you wake up? In this dream, I woke up, and
grabbed the clothes that Mum had laid out in my bedroom to get dressed
into and went into the bathroom. Just a normal school morning. Only when
I took off my pyjamas, two things finally dawned on me. Okay, well
three. No four.

The trio left Damien’s father and friends behind. After receiving some more directions from Stephanie, the Taxi took them to a quiet mews not far from Red Lion Square in Central London. They waited in the street while the cab did a ‘U-turn’ and disappeared into the traffic in search of a new fare.

As Samantha grows closer to the children and volunteers at Willow House, Samuel begins to find unexpected meaning in the role—just as the secret edges dangerously close to home.

Part 2. In for a Penny

Over the next few days, I took it easy and tidied up my apartment and did my laundry. The day of my first shoot I was out front when the car arrived. The driver was one of the cameramen from the previous session and he was bright and cheerful as he drove me to the industrial park and the studio.

I didn’t really know what to expect after the lit bed in the apartment so, when we went in, I was surprised. There were several sets; three of them bedrooms with big beds and one was an office with desks and all the right equipment.

CHAPTER 13
Amina pushed the door open, looked around for a spare table and then led us directly there.

“Drinks?”

I peered over towards the bar, where Lil already had her hand on a familiar pump handle.