Page 232 of The Girlfriend Clause
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“Oh my God.”Mum was standing with her hands on her hips, watching the TV. “I look about sixty.”
“Mum, you are about sixty.”
“I’m fifty-eight!”
On screen, a woman lay on a pale carpet in a suspiciously elegant sprawl, an expression of composed inconvenience on her face. Her lilac knitted top was stretched over a rather ample bosom.
“—but when Margaret had a fall, she wasn’talone.”
“They really should have just booked someone older.” She tutted. “They’ve styled me like a granny.”
The voice continued, “Hello, Margaret. This is CareLine. Are youhurt?”
Murray leaned out of the kitchen. “Don’t worry,Margaret. You don’t look sixty.” A beat. “You look like thebeforephoto.”
“Bloody CareLine. They’ve added a decade and taken my cheekbones.” She huffed. “Still, two days’ work. Falls pay better than youth.”
My phone buzzed.
James:Where areyou?
Me:Still at Mum’s. Why?
James:Turn on the BBC news. Now.
I frowned and reached for the remote. Amara Patel’s voice filled the room.
“—has announced a significant internal shift following recent restructuring at the pharmaceutical firm.”
Footage of the Novexia building cut to a stock image of medics providing trauma care.
“Isn’t that where you used to work?” said Mum.
I nodded.
“The new unit will focus on emergency deployment of trauma-response medication, with staff redeployed into fixed-term roles supporting international aid efforts. The company says the move will allow Novexia to retain specialist staff while responding to urgent humanitarian need.”
“What does that mean?” Mum asked.
“After I left, I kept thinking about what happens next for people like that. Not soldiers. The ones who don’t choose to be anywhere near it. The ones who survive the blast but don’t get help in time. Traumex isn’t perfect, but it works. And in the right hands, quickly enough… it gives people a chance they wouldn’t otherwise have. I can push it where it’s actually needed instead of where it makes the most money…”
“He wants to help others in need,” I said.
God,he was doingit.
A photo of Liam appeared.
“Oh,he’shandsome,” Mum said.
He was more than just handsome. He was kind and smart and funny. He wore a Snuggie… even bought me one so I could share in his fun. He watched romcoms and drank sherry and pretended he liked it just to keep me company. He was so much more than a lone-wolf CEO.
He was a man who always tried to do the right thing.
And for a short time, I’d thought we’d beokay.
“In a statement, CEO Liam Roth described the initiative as an extension of existing strategy, rather than a change of direction,” said Amara. “The announcement follows criticism of earlier job losses. Novexia has not confirmed how many roles will now be preserved.”
