She dashed a couple of wayward tears from her eyes and pushed open the door.
Of course, just when she wanted to be on her own, Lucy was in. She could hear her sister clattering around in the kitchen, and, knowing that she could hardly avoid her, Tessa removed her coat, hung it on the coat stand by the door and reluctantly made her way to the origin of the noise.
‘Would you believe it’s snowing?’ Lucy greeted her triumphantly, as though the fall of snow were something she had personally been involved in. As an afterthought, she added, frowning, ‘Why are you home, anyway? I thought you’d gone off to work?’
Tessa sighed and sat down. ‘Long story.’
‘Will it be one of those long stories that I’ll want to hear?’ Lucy flopped into the chair facing hers and looked at Tessa with concern. ‘You didn’t have a relapse of your twisted-foot syndrome, did you?’
‘Oh, no. Foot’s fine.’ It’s the heart that’s not doing too good, she added silently to herself. ‘But, as of this moment, I’m officially on the dole.’
Lucy gaped. For a few seconds, Tessa forgot her worries and actually laughed because it took a lot to reduce her sister to speechlessness.
‘You’re joking!’ Lucy searched her face for some semblance of humour, found none and sank back into her chair. ‘Oh, my God, why?’
‘Oh, you know. Not the job for me.’
‘But…I thought you enjoyed working there. You told me that it was a lot more fun than your last place, that fuddy-duddy accountancy firm…I don’t understand…’
Now came the careful tiptoeing-round-the-minefield part. To put off the dire moment, Tessa asked whether she could possibly have a cup of tea, and then thought about her next approach, while Lucy gabbled away in the background, expressing curiosity and surprise at the same time. Finally, mug in hand, she plonked it in front of her sister and said sternly, ‘You’ve made a huge mistake. You had an invigorating, well-paid job and Curtis Diaz was most probably the best boss you could ever hope to find.’
‘Curtis Diaz is a workaholic and a womaniser.’
‘That doesn’t make sense. Workaholics don’t have time to womanise and, anyway, what do his private habits have to do with how much you enjoy your work?’
‘Stop quizzing me about this, Luce,’ Tessa said irritably. ‘I’m tired and I have another headache. I don’t need you to start playing older sis with me.’
‘Because you think you’ve monopolised that position!’ Lucy retorted quick as a flash. ‘Well, I just want to tell you that quitting your job has really jeopardised things for me. I mean, did Curtis mention anything about me? No, I don’t suppose he would have. If he knew that you’d made your mind up, he wouldn’t have wanted to put you under any pressure to stay. Mind you…’ she stared off into the distance, oblivious to Tessa ‘…there’s no real reason why everything should come to a halt just because you’ve suddenly decided that you hate working for him…’
‘Lucy, what are you on about?’
‘I mean…he really did like what he saw yesterday. I know he did. He said he did, but I just get the feeling that he’s not one of those guys who says something just for the sake of it…do you?’
‘Liked what?’ This conversation was getting surreal. What had Curtis seen that he had liked? Had they been playing some kind of adult doctor-and-nurse game for the half an hour that they’d been closeted away in his mother’s house? Surely they couldn’t have been that overcome with lust? A sick feeling clawed away at her stomach, threatening to make her bring up the few mouthfuls of tea she had just swallowed.
‘Well…we were going to tell you this together but…’ She couldn’t help it. She smiled. A broad, thrilled smile that lit up her face. ‘God, Tess, it’s the most exciting thing ever!’
Tessa could think of nothing to say. Her throat had closed up and really she doubted whether she would have been able to speak even if she had wanted to. The truth was going to come at her from every angle, she now realised. It didn’t matter how much she tried to deflect the blows, they would still come because they would never be able to keep a relationship between them silent.
‘You know when Curtis came round the other evening…Lord, but it feels like a thousand years ago!’ Her eyes sparkled as she leant forward, propping her chin in her hand. She had wonderful, tumbling hair that she occasionally straightened, when she wanted to look glamorous. Now, it was a riotous jumble of curls cascading past her shoulders.