Follow My Lead Episode 05
Follow My Lead
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- 7. Follow My Lead Episode 07
- 8. Follow My Lead Episode 08
“Marie? I’ve just had a bit of a shock. I’ve been made redundant.” She stumbled on the word.
“Oh, Lydia! I’m so sorry.” Marie’s warm voice reverberated down the line. “Tell me what happened.”
Briefly, Lydia recounted the exchange, still so painfully fresh in her mind.
“Poor you,” Marie sympathised. “What are you going to do?”
“Well, it’s with immediate effect, with pay in lieu of notice, so I’m going to have to make some tough decisions.”
As she spoke, her gaze roamed round her sitting-room, with its high ceilings and period mantelpiece adorned with photos.
Pride of place went to Marie herself, smiling over cocktails against the backdrop of some beach bar with her husband, Joe.
Marie’s daughter, Danielle, smiled from another frame.
One of the proudest days of her life had been when Marie asked her to be godmother to the child.
Traffic noise seeped in through the windows: a honking horn, a police siren, the beep-beep of a pedestrian crossing.
“I can’t afford to stay here,” she said, voicing the realisation.
“Oh, Marie, my whole life has suddenly been tossed up in the air.
“What am I going to live on? What am I going to do to earn a wage?” Panic tightened her throat.
“Let’s think about this. You’ll have a redundancy payment, won’t you?” Marie’s voice was calm and unruffled, which was just what Lydia needed.
“You have a bit of breathing space, so you don’t have to make any hasty decisions.”
“You’re right. It’s good timing in some ways. I was just about to renew the lease.
“I’ll look for somewhere cheaper instead, though whether or not I can afford anywhere in the city is another question.”
“Where else could you go?” Marie asked, and huffed in annoyance.
“Typical, isn’t it? If only we hadn’t sold up last year we could have put you up at our old place.”
Marie and Joe had downsized to a one-bed cottage last year.
“To be honest, I think we were a bit too enthusiastic on the downsizing.
“There’s hardly room to swing the proverbial cat here. Even Danielle’s place has more room than we do.”
“We could have been roomies again!” Lydia joked, recalling the days at university that had forged their friendship.
They giggled, remembering the parties, the squabbles and the long nights helping each other prepare for exams.”
“Happy days.” Marie sighed fondly.
The memory brought Lydia’s more usual ebullience back to the surface.
“You know my mantra – always try to make a positive out of a negative.
“Maybe this is a chance to hit reset on my life.
“I’m sure I’ll think of something, now that I’ve got over the shock. I’ll let you know!” she added. “Thanks for listening.”
“Any time.”
Smiling, Lydia ended the call.
As she put the phone next to the laptop that symbolised everything she was losing, her spirits flagged again. Now what?
She looked out of the window at the afternoon bustle and watched the queue shuffle forward at the bus stop.
Everyone seemed to have somewhere to be.
Her gaze shifted indoors from her piles of files and notebooks to the photos on the mantelpiece.
Danielle’s phone was ringing as she turned her key in the front door, but it hardly registered.
She was still thinking about Stu, and her awkwardness with him.
Why did she have to get so tongue-tied around him? It was so frustrating.
“Hello? Yes, this is Danielle.”
She wasn’t really listening as she clattered her keys into the fruit bowl on a side table and bumped the door closed behind her with her hip.
“Oh, yes, hello, Mrs Sutton.”
Mrs Sutton was one of her clients – the owner of Flossie, a docile elderly German shepherd.
She was usually a friendly woman, happy to chat whenever they met, but now she was talking in a nervous rush, and Danielle had to concentrate.
“So as I said, with money being tighter now, I’m afraid we won’t need you to walk Flossie any more.
“Do you need it in writing, or more notice, or anything like that?”
“No, no, I’ll just make a note in my diary,” Danielle replied.
“It’s a shame. I’ll miss Flossie; she’s such a lovely dog.
“But I understand. Just let me know if your situation changes.
“I’ll always be happy to walk Flossie again.”
“Thanks, Danielle. You’ve been very understanding. I’m sorry.”
With that, Mrs Sutton hung up.