We will email the contract over to you by the end of this week. Please can you sign and return it at your earliest opportunity.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. We very much look forward to having you on our team.
Best wishes,
Gillian Jones
Head of People Development, Cyberd.
Pete read and re-read the email before grabbing his e-cigarette which he kept stashed in his drawer for emergencies and heading for the door. Outside, he inhaled deeply and tried to calm the butterflies that were fluttering around his stomach.
He didn’t know why but he hadn’t been expecting the call. Maybe because it was the first interview he’d had in years or maybe it was because he was still in denial about the whole thing. It had all seemed fun and exciting a few weeks ago but now it was very, very real and it was terrifying. The first interview had gone fairly well and he’d been invited back for a day of further interviews and aptitude tests the following week. Then this morning, they’d called to offer him the job. He’d liked the people and the salary they’d offered was higher than what he earned now but he knew deep down that this was about more than just a new job. It was about starting a new life.
The first person he should have called when he got offered a new job was his wife but she didn’t even know that he’d applied for the role. He wanted to tell Claire but he knew she’d think it was a sign that he was up for moving to France and he needed some time to himself to think on that. It would soon be crunch time.
Did he want to leave his wife? Did he want to be with Claire – actually, properly with her? Yes, he thought, he did. He loved her and she loved him. And if loving her meant moving to France, maybe he should just do it. Perhaps a totally fresh start, in a place where no one knew them and their history would be better, as long as he could still see the girls regularly. With the money he was earning and the fact that they’d be living mortgage-free in France he could afford to rent a small place in London and support Kate and the girls.
Bloody hell, he’d have to tell Kate, that would be horrendous. And the girls, would they forgive him? Would Kate turn them against him? No, he didn’t think she’d be that cruel. She’d be incandescent with rage but she wasn’t a bad person, not at all. They’d just fallen out of love and she’d come to understand that eventually, when she’d had time to calm down. Perhaps they could even be friends? Or at least civil for the girls. Yes, it could work.
He messaged Claire:
Need to speak to you, can I come over tonight?
Then he headed back into the building, nodding briefly at Claire who was on the phone and went back up to his office to await her reply, which came quickly as it always did.
Yes.
He just about made it through the day and was out of the door at bang on 5pm. He was leaving early more and more now. It was a good thing he was thinking about quitting his job otherwise his boss might have something to say about his new work ethic. As soon as he arrived at Claire’s flat, he told her about the job. After congratulating him, she went straight to the point, as she always did.
‘So does this mean that you’re definitely up for the whole France thing?’
‘In theory, yes, but I want to go there first, to check out the house and see how I feel. Is that okay?’
‘Yes, of course! I’d love to show you the place. Can you get the time away?’
‘I think so, there’s a media conference I usually go to every year in York in a few weeks’ time but after I’ve handed in my notice, I doubt they’ll want me to go. So we could go then – Kate is expecting me to be away anyway.’
‘So are you definitely going to hand in your notice?’
‘Yes, I think so, it’s a great role and whatever happens with France I think it’s time for a change.’
She looked at him. ‘A job change or a total change?’
‘A total change. But baby steps, please, Claire. I’m pretty freaked out about all this.’
‘I understand. Let’s just book the trip and take it from there. No pressure.’
He smiled at her before reaching over to kiss her. ‘Thank you for understanding. You’re amazing, you really are.’
‘Yes, I am, and don’t you forget it, Pete Garland. Don’t you ever forget it.’
By the time he got home that evening it was still warm outside. Kate was upstairs already and he grabbed a cold drink from the fridge and went outside to sit on the patio for a few minutes before going to bed.
The garden was still a total tip. When they had moved in there had been two small, deep ponds which were most definitely not child friendly. They had drained and covered them with tarpaulin so that the kids didn’t fall in but they needed filling properly and the rest of the garden was in desperate need of some TLC. There were piles of junk left at the end by the old owners and the old patio was cracked and filthy. It was in stark contrast to the rest of their immaculately designed house and was the final part of the property to be refurbished – the last vestiges of the old, unloved house they had bought all those
