Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
Cause nothing else matters
Connie fingered the letter gently, running her index finger thoughtfully along the edges of the expensive, thick paper and reread it, hardly able to believe what she was reading. When she'd met Jeremy Hines ten years before as well as being a good friend, he'd been a valuable asset in her fast growing catalogue of "friends in high places" but since the death of his wife she'd hardly seen or heard anything of him so this letter had been a bit of a bolt from the blue. When she'd seen the official looking envelope from the DOH addressed to her rather than her husband, she'd been a little worried and half wondered whether there had been another complaint about her conduct but she couldn't have been further from the mark. It appeared that out of sight was not out of mind and when Jeremy had been looking for someone to direct a new cardiac unit he'd known immediately who was the best man for the job. From what the letter said this job was the stuff of dreams; a once in a lifetime opportunity to head up her own clinical and pioneering research centre complete with a budget with so many zeros on the end the mind boggled at the mere sight of it. Further more, she would have a staff of fifty hand picked surgeons working beneath her and already she was mentally weeding through the junior doctors she'd worked alongside in the past, wondering which ones she'd head-hunt, feeling a small pang of sadness that she couldn't ever have Will Curtis on her team. She sat at the table planning the crack team of the most talented, accomplished surgeons who would work for her at the unit, wondering whether she would be able to lure Diane Lloyd away from her unwavering loyalty to Ric Griffin. She doubted it would be easy but she was going to have a good go at it – Diane was one of the best surgeons she'd ever worked with, despite having the wrong specialty. She'd been asked to attend an interview for the post but she knew it was a formality; she was handpicked for the job and Jeremy wouldn't have done that if he wasn't sure. Picking up the letter, she read it for the sixth time and spotted another detail that she'd missed the first five times, the last line never really sinking in before when her head was reeling with excitement from the content of the main body of the letter. The job wasn't in Holby – that didn't surprise her – but it wasn't, as she'd assumed, in London. Instead, she was being asked to head up the new cardiac hospital in Manchester, which opened up an entirely new can of worms.
'Connie, get changed' Michael instructed as
he walked into the kitchen that evening, changed from his usual work
attire into a much smarter black suit 'I'm taking you out for
dinner' he added with a smile
'Oh…' she glanced up from where she sat
at the table, sipping coffee, the letter tucked neatly into her
pocket until she felt ready to discuss it with her husband
'Come on; I've made reservations at
Mendel's' he pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around
her 'half an hour, come on'
'Mendel's' she said thoughtfully,
removing his arms from around her waist and making her way to the
stairs 'and what's all this in aid of?'
'Can't a man take his wife out for dinner
without there being a reason?' he asked, following her into the
bedroom as she slipped out of the slim fitting black jacket and
dumped it and her skirt unceremoniously on the bed before crossing
the room to the walk in wardrobe and opening it to examine the
contents.
'Black dress or white suit?' she mused,
gazing at both garments thoughtfully before glancing at her husband
who shrugged and perched on the bed 'I think the black' she
decided, placing the suit back neatly in the wardrobe before gently
stepping into the dress 'much smarter. Zip?' she added and
Michael obliged willingly, taking his wife's arm and spinning her
around so he could look at her properly, smiling with satisfaction as
he took in the curves encased in black silk with pleasure.
'Jimmy Choo or Manolo Blahnik, it's a tough
choice but you must make it' he teased her lightly, kissing her
softly on her bare shoulder as she laughed and picked up her selected
shoes, slipping them carefully on her feet and admiring herself
briefly in the mirror before moving her phone, pager and purse into a
smaller bag from the large brown bag she carried during the day and
turning to her husband 'do I look alright?'
'Fantastic' he smiled warmly, his smile
broadening as he heard a car pull up outside 'right on cue' he
grinned and led her downstairs to the limo that he'd managed to
hire at short notice
'It must be bad' she remarked as she walked
out of the door and nodded at the driver who she vaguely recognised
as the one who took them to regular charity balls before sliding onto
the back seat of the car
'What?' he asked curiously as he slipped in
next to her and put his arms around his wife
'Whatever you've done that you're
apologising for' she laughed leaning her head against him thinking
that, unwittingly, her husband was setting her up with the perfect
opportunity to tell him her news.
'I have something to tell you' she said,
entwining her fingers with his gently across the table, glancing out
into the completely empty restaurant; buying out the whole place for
the night had been Michael's latest romantic gesture although she
had no idea what it was in aid of.
'You're pregnant' he groaned and she
smiled enigmatically, enjoying winding him up for a short time,
knowing how relieved he'd be when he found out what it really was
she wanted to talk to him about 'it was the night of the ball,
wasn't it? I knew we should have been more careful'
'Don't panic' she laughed, watching him
pale and then colour up at the realisation she'd been pulling his
leg 'I'm not going to be lumbering us with a child'
'Good' he smiled, not feeling any need to
pretend to his wife that children were something he had the remotest
interest in; she was as indifferent to the idea as he was 'as it
happens, I bought you here because I have something to tell you'
'I knew you'd done something' she rolled
her eyes dramatically 'is she a secretary or an intern?'
'What?' he asked confused
'The girl'
'What girl?' he looked at her mystified
'You've either been caught sleeping with
someone or caught out after sleeping with someone' she told him,
biting her lip 'Which?'
'Neither' he said, exasperated 'honestly
Connie' he shook his head and then laughed as she looked worried
'if I was going to tell you something like that do you honestly
think I'd be leaving that glass where you could reach it to throw
at my head. No, the big news is, I've been promoted'
'That's fantastic' she beamed, preparing
to tell him about her own promotion so they could start ironing out
the logistics. The beauty of his job was that, although he had to
travel around the country he could be based almost anywhere.
Manchester included.
'You're looking at the new head of the
Department of Health for Holby and Bristol. No more travelling
Connie; I might actually get to see you occasionally now' he
grinned broadly and she felt her own smile slip momentarily before
she dragged it back and pasted it on her face.
'Well that will make a nice change' she
managed, draining her glass and filling it up with more of the
expensive champagne that had been on ice when they arrived.
'What was your news?' he grinned at her,
picking up a strawberry and guiding it gently between her lips,
stroking her face as he bought his hand away from her face.
'Um…' she swallowed hard and took another
mouthful of champagne not wanting to ruin the magical evening with an
inevitable row about whether his career was more important than hers
and who should take their dream job at the expense of the other 'its
not important'
'Morning' she awoke sleepily in his arms
and gazed up at him still dozing, his hands toying with her hair, a
small smile of satisfaction following the night before on his lips
'Morning' he murmured, kissing her lightly
'sleep well?'
'After all that exercise, I slept extremely
well' she gave a slow smile and rolled away from him, pulling the
covers off him and wrapping them around her as she made her way to
the bathroom
'Hey' he protested as he watched the duvet
walk across the room and his wife grin cheekily back at him as she
squeezed out the toothpaste and began to brush her teeth 'you said
you had something to tell me' he stood up and followed her into the
bathroom, snatching a towel from the heated rail and wrapping it
round his middle before groping in the cupboard above his own side of
the double basin for his razor
'I said it wasn't important' she reminded
him as she reached for her make up and expertly started to apply it
'and it isn't'
'It must have been' he told her and frowned
slightly 'there's nothing wrong is there? I mean, you're not
ill'
'No' she told him firmly 'its… I've
been offered a new job too, that's all'
'Well that's brilliant' he dropped his
razor into the sink with a clatter and wrapped his arms around her,
spinning her around before planting a kiss softly on her head 'what
job is it'
'I've been asked to head up the new cardio
unit for pioneering treatments and research' she gave a small smile
and he beamed having read plenty about the unit but never for a
moment thought that Connie could be asked to get involved with it,
let alone run the place 'its got a budget that makes me feel
light-headed just thinking about it, team handpicked by me, brand new
state of the art premises…'
'That's great' he suddenly didn't sound
so happy as he remembered something else from the article he'd read
'but isn't the unit in Manchester'
'It is' she nodded 'which is why I didn't
say anything last night. It's going to need some thinking about…'
'It is' he nodded and then glanced at the
clock 'and now isn't the time. We're going to be late; we'll
talk about it tonight. I'll pick up a take away and a bottle of
something on my way home'
'Fine' she turned back to the mirror,
resisting the idea that the fact that he chose to celebrate his own
new job with a no-expense-spared dinner at a posh restaurant complete
with limo and champagne whereas her promotion was greeted with a
chicken korma and a bottle of Merlot was probably not a good sign.
If he'd been as overjoyed about her job as she was about his, he'd
be preparing a repeat performance of the previous night or at the
least suggesting they ate the korma in the restaurant rather than
propping up the sofa.
'Its good news Connie but it does complicate
things somewhat' he kissed her neck softly, brushing his still-damp
cheek against her shoulder before going to get dressed leaving her to
finish putting her make up on in peace
'You done?' Michael stuck his head round
the door to her office and she glanced up from her paperwork giving
him a distracted smile
'Almost' she nodded, slipping another piece
of paper from an envelope and scrawling her signature on the bottom
of it 'yes' she smiled triumphantly and pushed the lid back onto
her pen 'do you think there'll be as much paperwork in Manchester
as there is here?'
'Probably more' he shrugged 'does that
make a difference'
'No' she glared at him and pulled on her
coat, wishing that he could bring himself to be a little happier for
her than he appeared. Throughout the day it had become abundantly
clear that Michael was displeased that there was even a question mark
over whether she would take the Manchester job; despite appearances,
he still had the old fashioned idea, drummed into him by his father,
that her career should be secondary to his. It was an attitude that
had caused disagreements before and she could tell that tonight they
were heading for a real humdinger of a row that would only be averted
by her picking up the phone and declining the job and she wasn't
prepared to do that.
'So you intend to take the job then' he
said, his tone clipped, his face impassive although she could see
anger burning in his eyes
'Yes' she told him, taking her bag and
rummaging through it, ticking off items on her mental checklist of
things that she always carried with her before storming from the
office 'are you coming or are you taking the bus?'
'I'm coming' he pulled the door to the
office shut behind him and they walked down the corridor, the
uncomfortable silence punctuated by the occasional good night to
their colleagues as they made their way to the lifts
When they reached their car where she
immediately went to the driver seat, ignoring his instinctive move in
the same direction, watching as he backed off, not about to allow her
to add "always insisting on driving" to her list of grievances
that was about to be unleashed.
'Is your career really so important that you
want us to spend our lives living 200 miles apart?' he asked as she
started to pull out of the space and he watched her fingers tighten
around the wheel as the row started before time
'I might ask you the same question' she
remarked, slamming the car up a gear and pushing her foot hard down
on the accelerator, ignoring the astonished look of Ric and Zubin as
she roared through the car park past them, driving far too fast
'But this is what I've worked for all my
life' he protested 'you're not being fair'
'And why do you think I do what I do? I've
dreamt of an opportunity like this for years, Michael' she snapped
'you're not being fair; there are DOH branches all over the
country – there's only one unit like this and only one chance to
head it up. They won't ask me twice'
'But the DOH for Manchester already have a
chair' he sighed 'I won't get a job like this up there'
'Well it seems that one of us is going to be
disappointed then' she said casually 'it isn't going to be me'
'Connie, this makes no sense; even with your
budget, your job won't pay nearly as well as mine' he attempted
to convince her but he knew it was futile
'Oh come on' she rolled her eyes
dramatically 'we don't need the money; if we both retired now
we'd still be able to live extremely comfortably for the rest of
our lives. This is about your job being more important than mine
because you're the man and I'm the woman'
'That's not true' he protested 'Your
job is every bit as important as mine – more so because you save
lives, I just rearrange paperclips'
'Modesty might work on Zubin, it stopped
working on me a long time ago' she commented angrily as she pulled
onto the motorway and immediately started to break the speed limit
'Are you sure you're up to running the
unit?' he changed tack although he knew he was heading into
potentially stormy waters; this particular line of attack would send
her into a blind rage and he knew it but he couldn't think of
anything else to do 'I mean lets face it; you've hardly made a
success of the hospital here, have you'
'I beg your pardon?' she turned and looked
at him in astonishment, slamming her feet on the brakes as she
realised the HGV in front had stopped and she hadn't seen
'Will you please watch the road' he
muttered, glancing at the driver of the car behind who was making
obscene gestures at them
'Want to criticise my driving as well as my
management?' she snapped, daring him to continue with the line he'd
taken
'No sweetheart, your driving speaks for
itself' he remarked caustically 'but really Connie; what with the
tanker and the strike and Will… well it's just been one thing
after another, hasn't it'
'None of that is my fault' she protested,
feeling tears prick at the back of her eyes as he took every
achievement she felt she'd had in the past year and ripped it to
shreds without so much as a second thought
'Oh come on Connie; you wouldn't still have
your precious job if it wasn't for me' he told her firmly 'I
had to pull so many strings I may add puppeteer to my CV'
'Perhaps I should take this exit' she
mused, tapping her fingers tensely on the wheel as they sailed past a
junction
'Why would you do that?' he was confused
'Well, Zubin lives near here; you could
compare notes on how everything is my fault and join him in plotting
my downfall'
'That's
ridiculous Connie' he sighed but she ignored him, deciding that the
conversation was most definitely over which suited him; if they
weren't arguing there was a reasonable chance they'd get home in
one piece.