âKIM, Iâm not at all sure that this is the right step to take, Iâm really not. Youâve enough on your plate as it is; you know that.â
âIâve no choice, Maggie, and you know that,â Kim answered steadily.
âButâ¦â Maggie Conway stared helplessly at her friend as she ran out of words.
âLook, just be an angel and pick up Melody after school, okay? I shouldnât be much later than five but you know how interviews are; they might keep me waiting for a while.â
âNo problem,â Maggie said unhappily.
âThanks. I donât know what Iâd do without you,â Kim said with heartfelt warmth as she gave Maggie a brief hug.
Kim was still thinking about her last words as she left the comfort of Maggieâs spacious, open-plan apartment and stepped into the crisp frosty air outside the big Victorian house which had been converted into several self-contained flats.
Maggie was an unlikely-looking angel, being as round as she was tall with a shock of vibrant curly ginger hair and freckles covering every inch of her skin, but an angel she was nevertheless, Kim told herself silently as she walked briskly to the bus stop. How she would have got through the last two traumatic years without Maggieâs unfailing support and good humour she didnât know.
She reached the bus stop just as the bus drew round the corner and, once seated, stared unseeingly out of the window, quite oblivious to the overt stare of the young, good-looking man sitting opposite her who clearly couldnât take his eyes off the golden-haired beauty on the other side of the aisle.
Maggie had stepped in as unpaid childminder when the need aroseâas it did frequentlyâconfidante, stalwart friend, advisor and a whole host of other roles, Kim reflected warmly. The only good thing to come out of her relationship with Grahamâapart from Melody, of courseâwas that he had introduced her to Maggie.
Graham⦠Kimâs soft full mouth tightened and her brown eyes narrowed for a moment before she forced her thoughts away from the spectre in her mind.
This wasnât the time to think of Graham, not with such an important interview looming, she told herself firmly, straightening in the seat and squaring her slender shoulders. She understood the competition for the post of secretary to the chairman and managing director of Kane Electrical was fierce, and she needed to be focused and clear from the outset.
It was another fifteen minutes before the bus dropped her on the outskirts of Cambridge and almost outside the huge site which Kane Electrical occupied, and within five minutes she was standing in Reception explaining to the model-slim, beautifully coiffured receptionist that she had an appointment with Mr Lucas Kane at half-past two.
âRight.â The girlâs expertly made-up eyes had made a swift summing up of the tall, discreetly dressed woman in front of her, and now she gave a practised smile as she said blandly, âIf you would like to take a seat for a moment Iâll tell Mr Kaneâs secretary youâre here, Mrs Allen.â
âThank you.â Kim had flushed slightly under the scrutiny. Her winter coat was a good one, but not new, neither were her shoes and handbag, whereas the receptionistâs expertly cut grey silk suit screamed a designer label and her hair could only have been cut by one of the most expensive salons in Cambridge.
Still, she wasnât going to let this girl or anyone else intimidate her, Kim told herself fiercely as she took the proffered seat and sank into inches of soft leather upholstery. She might not be wearing the very latest fashion or have her hair styled by Vidal Sassoon but she was an excellent secretary, as her references confirmed.
She raised her small chin abruptly and stared straight ahead, her hands resting in her lap and her knees demurely together, before a restrained commotion at the side of herâas a tall, dark man with what could only be described as an entourage swept into the buildingâbrought her head swinging round.