Josie was sitting on the sofa with a bowl of stew on her lap when Holly went back to the living room after changing out of her uniform. Holly’s bowl was on the coffee table, alongside a plate of buttered bread.
‘Like it?’ Josie asked when Holly dipped a piece of bread into the stew and stuffed it into her mouth.
‘Mmmm.’ Holly nodded and swallowed. ‘It’s lovely.’
‘It was your favourite when you were little.’ Josie smiled. ‘I should try to do it more often.’
‘That’d be good,’ Holly said. ‘Suzie says . . .’ Pulling herself up short when she realized what she’d said, she flashed a glance at her mum out of the corner of her eye to see if she’d picked up on it.
She had, and she gave Holly a quizzical look. ‘Suzie?’
‘Um, Bex’s mum,’ Holly lied, hoping she’d never mentioned that Bex’s mum was actually called Tina. ‘She reckons home-cooked food is healthier than shop-bought.’
‘Does she now?’ Josie rolled her eyes. ‘Easy to say when you can afford to buy fresh every day. Stuck-up cow.’
Holly didn’t answer and they ate on in silence. Josie finished first and took her bowl into the kitchen, leaving it on the ledge beside the sink before pouring a glass of vodka and lemonade. Bringing it back to the sofa, she caught Holly flicking a disapproving glance at the glass and said, ‘What?’
‘Nothing,’ Holly murmured, picking up on the edge to her mum’s voice and wanting to avoid an argument.
Josie took a defiant swig of the drink and then lit a cigarette and settled back in her seat, asking, ‘So what did you do today?’
‘At school?’ Holly asked, wary again.
‘Where else would I be talking about?’ Josie gave her a bemused look.
‘Er, maths, history, geography and RE,’ Holly said, mentally visualizing her timetable in case her mum had already checked it.
‘Got any homework?’
‘No, they want us to concentrate on revising.’
‘The amount you’ve been doing lately, you should fly through your exams,’ Josie said, smiling again as the vodka and nicotine kicked in. ‘Who knows, you might even get into uni after sixth form. Imagine that, eh? If you get a degree and land a good job, you’ll be able to take care of me in my old age.’
Holly nodded, but she had no intention of staying on at school or going to uni. She was going to work for Suzie. She wouldn’t be doing much to start with, just making tea and pouring wine for the models who came in for photo shoots. But Suzie had said that she would promote her to office manager when the agency was established, so she would be taking phone calls and arranging meetings and auditions. It sounded really exciting and glamorous and she couldn’t wait. But she wasn’t going to mention it until it actually happened, because she knew her mum would only try to pull the plug on it.
As Holly carried on eating, Josie turned her attention to the quiz show that was playing on TV. ‘Leonard Nimmo,’ she said in answer to the question the host was asking one of the contestants. ‘Leonard Nimmo,’ she repeated irritably when the contestant said ‘Pass.’
‘Leonard Nimoy,’ the host said.
‘Close enough.’ Josie shrugged and took another swig from her glass. Then, her gaze still on the screen, she said, ‘There’s been rumours of cut-backs at our place.’
Holly swallowed the food in her mouth too quickly and winced when a chunk of potato caught in her throat. Coughing to shift it, she said, ‘You’re not going to lose your job, are you?’
‘No, of course not.’ Josie took another swig. ‘They’d fall apart without me.’
‘So why’d you say it like that? Like your neck’s on the line?’
‘I was only saying there’s been rumours.’
Holly frowned as she ate the last spoonful of stew. Was that why her mum had talked about her going to uni and getting a good job: because she knew she was about to lose hers? It didn’t seem likely, because she’d have to know that it would take years for Holly to graduate. But something had to be worrying her to make her mention cut-backs out of the blue like that. And that, in turn, worried Holly, because they always ended up moving when her mum lost a job, and she didn’t want to. Not now she’d met Suzie and made plans for the future.
Josie downed what was left of her drink and took one last drag on her cigarette before stubbing it out. Then, sighing, she stood up and said, ‘I’d best get ready for work. Put the rest of the stew in the fridge when you’ve finished washing up; we’ll have it again tomorrow. Oh, and don’t be worrying about my job. It’s safe, I promise.’
Holly nodded, but she wasn’t sure she believed her.
Across the road a short time later, Suzie watched through her living room blinds as Josie exited the flats and headed off down the road. Reaching for her phone when the woman had disappeared from view, she rang Holly.
‘Hey, hon, I just saw your mum setting off. How did it go? Did she say anything?’
‘No, nothing,’ said Holly. ‘She was being really nice and I thought it might be a trick – like she was waiting for me to admit it or something. But she definitely would have said something before she left, so I think I got away with it.’
‘See, I told you it’d be OK.’
‘Yeah, but I can’t do it again, so I’ve decided to go to school tomorrow.’
‘That’s up to you, hon. As long as you think you can handle Bex and that other girl.’
‘Leanne,’ Holly said, shivering at the thought of her. ‘I’ve got no choice, so I’m just going to try and avoid them until I’ve got through my exams.’
‘Good for you,’ Suzie said.
