Follow My Lead Episode 04
Follow My Lead
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- 2. Follow My Lead Episode 02
- 3. Follow My Lead Episode 03
- 4. Follow My Lead Episode 04
- 5. Follow My Lead Episode 05
- 6. Follow My Lead Episode 06
- 7. Follow My Lead Episode 07
Stu didn’t have time to fix the window properly just now, but a bit of board would keep it secure for now.
Idly, Danielle watched him.
The running of the hall was a perpetual balancing act between everything that needed done and not enough volunteers to do it.
Both she and Stu did their share.
“Maybe it’s time we had another go at recruiting more help,” she suggested.
He nodded.
“We can give it a go,” he agreed as he hammered in the last tack.
“What we really need is someone to take responsibility for it.
“Malcolm may have had his faults, but this place ran like clockwork when he was in charge.”
Malcolm had led the management committee for the past few years, but in recent months he’d had to give it up. So far no-one had stepped up.
“I’d do it, but I don’t have time. It needs someone who’s retired,” Stu went on, packing his tools away.
“Do you think that’s why the windows are being broken?” Danielle asked him.
“That’s the third recently, isn’t it?”
He nodded.
“You’ve hit the nail on the head. The kids can tell the place isn’t so well looked after.”
He glanced at his phone as a message pinged in.
“It’s my client, wondering where I am. I’d better go.
“I thought I might pop to the Whistle Stop for a pint later on.
“Do you fancy joining me? We could talk some more about this.”
“Maybe,” she allowed. “I’m in the middle of redecorating at home, though.”
“Well, I’ll be in the pub about eight, so I’ll keep an eye out for you,” Stu told her as he locked up.
He hesitated by his van.
“I wanted to show you this.”
He leaned into the van and emerged with a leaflet.
“This came through my door this morning.” He pointed.
“Someone’s set up a new dog-walking service. Do you think it’ll affect you?”
Danielle quickly read the leaflet and shrugged.
“I knew I wouldn’t be the only one around here for long.
“But I have a good client base so hopefully I’ll be all right.”
Stu got into his van and rolled down the window.
“Just shout if you want a hand with the redecorating. And remember about that drink.”
She waved as she watched him go, then heaved a sigh.
If there was one comment that had followed Danielle through her school days, it had been a succession of teachers’ wishes that they could coax her “out of her shell.”
She knew she hid behind a wall of reserve and wished she could be different. Especially when it came to Stu.
Ever since they’d met when she moved here, he had persevered in trying to break through her shyness.
Over the last three years he’d become a good friend, and she was fine when they were talking about something like the hall, or the dogs.
But a few times lately he’d mentioned meeting for a drink, and at the thought of trying to make conversation she had made an excuse, even when every instinct was saying, “Yes, please.”
Blushing as she thought of how off-hand she’d just been, she wondered why he bothered.
As the video call ended, Lydia reached out and closed the lid of her laptop.
Her hand was trembling, she noted with some surprise.
So this was what it felt like to be made redundant.
It really was like having the rug pulled out from under your feet.
Goodness, talk about shock. She’d expected a new assignment, not this.
“Redundant.”
She whispered it. Such an awful, negative word.
Pressing her lips together, she stroked the casing of her laptop in a wistful gesture of farewell.
This surely meant the end of her media career. She would never get another job in the business at her age.
It was an industry for bright young things. If she were brutally honest, at times she’d felt she was hanging on by her fingernails these last few years.
Poor Basil. He’d been so apologetic.
“I’m sorry, Lydia. I’ve told them we can’t afford to lose someone with your experience, but it’s all about the bottom line, and –”
“And my experience also means a high salary,” she’d finished for him. “I know.
“How many times have we had this conversation about other people?”
Their screen images had shared a rueful smile.
Similar in age, they’d known each other and worked together for a long time, building a mutual sense of comradeship and respect.
Secretly she wondered when the axe would fall for him. Surely even he couldn’t dodge it for much longer.
Judging by the shadows under his eyes, the thought was giving him sleepless nights, too.
He’d brought the call to a close. It was his third such online meeting of this miserable day and he’d left her till last.
Lydia reached for her phone. She needed to hear a sympathetic voice, and who better than her best friend?