job here.’ Amanda sighed. ‘Have you thought about clothes?’
‘Continually, but basically, I’ll be a nanny, so I’ll take casual things. I gather they’re very outdoorsy so I won’t need any dresses.’
‘Do you need to borrow a case or anything?’
Sophie shook her head. ‘It’s kind of you but I think I’ll just use a rucksack. I may want to travel around a bit and it would be easier.’
Amanda sighed. ‘I can’t believe you and Milly are both going to be in New York and I’m not with you!’
‘It is a bit of a waste of New York, isn’t it? But I’m not going to America for long,’ said Sophie, ‘it’s only a temporary job. I’ll be back before Christmas. And nothing would drag you away from your doctors anyway.’
Amanda had done work experience in a doctors’ surgery and almost had to be surgically removed when her fortnight was up, she loved it so much. Fortunately they loved her too and offered her a full-time job as soon as she’d finished university. ‘Well, yes.’
‘And you’ve got a lovely boyfriend.’
‘I know! I’ve wasted my youth already.’ She’d once told Sophie that she felt her life had become too settled, too young, but she loved it, so what was she to do?
‘Silly! We could arrange to go again, together. I’m going to have my fare paid back when I arrive. I won’t have to find that money again.’ She pushed away the thought that her employers might forget to pay her back. It was such a large amount of money to spend all at one time. Although maybe, if the drilling rights came to anything … It was desperately unlikely, of course, but maybe possible enough to daydream about? She’d made a dossier for herself with all the papers photocopied and made sure she’d got every scrap of information from Uncle Eric before she left. If only she could bring this off. Anxiety about the possibility of trying to track down Cousin Rowena while she was workingshaded her enthusiasm a little. She had set herself a very difficult task.
Amanda, unaware of Sophie’s private thoughts, said, ‘At least you going to New York will get Doug off your back finally. I’ve never known anyone so clingy. You finished with him months ago and he still moons around after you, trying to get you back.’
Sophie eyed her friend. Any minute now would come the usual lecture about her being too soft. ‘Soft-hearted-Soph’ had been her nickname when they’d stopped dressing up and experimenting with make-up and begun to go out with real boys. ‘I didn’t take him back though,’ she said now, a touch indignantly.
‘No, but you do go for long walks with him, which is just encouraging him to think he’s got hope!’ Amanda didn’t approve of Sophie’s habit of staying friends with her exes.
Sophie sighed. ‘Well, you know, I hate letting people down.’
‘It’s fine to be kind, Soph, but with you it’s all one way – you’re always there for them but they’re not there for you! You even pay for everything!’
‘I’ve learnt my lesson. I’m never going out with a hopeless, hard-up weakling again. Promise.’
‘I suppose Doug was quite good-looking,’ admitted Amanda, cutting Sophie some slack.
‘And when I first met him he had a job! And a car! It was only after he met me that things went pear-shaped, and I couldn’t dump him then, could I?’
‘Well, you could have dumped him because you’d found out how self-obsessed and boring he was.’
‘No! Not then!’
‘And what about the drunken texting, begging you to take him back?’
That had been a real pain and still happened from time totime, but if she mentioned it, Amanda would go on lecturing her for ever. ‘Listen! I have dumped him and he won’t be able to reach me in New York, anyway.’
Amanda let her off the hook. ‘Are you planning to do much shopping?’
‘I don’t think I’ll be in the actual city for long, if at all. I’m being picked up by my family at the airport and being driven to where
‘Continually, but basically, I’ll be a nanny, so I’ll take casual things. I gather they’re very outdoorsy so I won’t need any dresses.’
‘Do you need to borrow a case or anything?’
Sophie shook her head. ‘It’s kind of you but I think I’ll just use a rucksack. I may want to travel around a bit and it would be easier.’
Amanda sighed. ‘I can’t believe you and Milly are both going to be in New York and I’m not with you!’
‘It is a bit of a waste of New York, isn’t it? But I’m not going to America for long,’ said Sophie, ‘it’s only a temporary job. I’ll be back before Christmas. And nothing would drag you away from your doctors anyway.’
Amanda had done work experience in a doctors’ surgery and almost had to be surgically removed when her fortnight was up, she loved it so much. Fortunately they loved her too and offered her a full-time job as soon as she’d finished university. ‘Well, yes.’
‘And you’ve got a lovely boyfriend.’
‘I know! I’ve wasted my youth already.’ She’d once told Sophie that she felt her life had become too settled, too young, but she loved it, so what was she to do?
‘Silly! We could arrange to go again, together. I’m going to have my fare paid back when I arrive. I won’t have to find that money again.’ She pushed away the thought that her employers might forget to pay her back. It was such a large amount of money to spend all at one time. Although maybe, if the drilling rights came to anything … It was desperately unlikely, of course, but maybe possible enough to daydream about? She’d made a dossier for herself with all the papers photocopied and made sure she’d got every scrap of information from Uncle Eric before she left. If only she could bring this off. Anxiety about the possibility of trying to track down Cousin Rowena while she was workingshaded her enthusiasm a little. She had set herself a very difficult task.
Amanda, unaware of Sophie’s private thoughts, said, ‘At least you going to New York will get Doug off your back finally. I’ve never known anyone so clingy. You finished with him months ago and he still moons around after you, trying to get you back.’
Sophie eyed her friend. Any minute now would come the usual lecture about her being too soft. ‘Soft-hearted-Soph’ had been her nickname when they’d stopped dressing up and experimenting with make-up and begun to go out with real boys. ‘I didn’t take him back though,’ she said now, a touch indignantly.
‘No, but you do go for long walks with him, which is just encouraging him to think he’s got hope!’ Amanda didn’t approve of Sophie’s habit of staying friends with her exes.
Sophie sighed. ‘Well, you know, I hate letting people down.’
‘It’s fine to be kind, Soph, but with you it’s all one way – you’re always there for them but they’re not there for you! You even pay for everything!’
‘I’ve learnt my lesson. I’m never going out with a hopeless, hard-up weakling again. Promise.’
‘I suppose Doug was quite good-looking,’ admitted Amanda, cutting Sophie some slack.
‘And when I first met him he had a job! And a car! It was only after he met me that things went pear-shaped, and I couldn’t dump him then, could I?’
‘Well, you could have dumped him because you’d found out how self-obsessed and boring he was.’
‘No! Not then!’
‘And what about the drunken texting, begging you to take him back?’
That had been a real pain and still happened from time totime, but if she mentioned it, Amanda would go on lecturing her for ever. ‘Listen! I have dumped him and he won’t be able to reach me in New York, anyway.’
Amanda let her off the hook. ‘Are you planning to do much shopping?’
‘I don’t think I’ll be in the actual city for long, if at all. I’m being picked up by my family at the airport and being driven to where
Similar Books
