The Hopes and Dreams of Lucy Baker: The most heart-warming book you’ll read this year. Jenni Keer

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       Chapter 5

      Richard Tompkins, a silver-haired, quietly spoken man, waited for absolute silence before his low, throaty rumble commanded complete attention.

      ‘As you all know, Vernon retires on Friday, having been with the company for nearly thirty years, so make sure you all take the time to sign the card that’s going around. Pat has kindly taken the reins with regard to his leaving party and has organised a buffet at the The King’s Arms by the waterfront on Friday evening.’ Pat’s cheeks flushed as she looked at her feet and shuffled the wheels of her office chair slightly backwards. ‘Please make an effort to attend, especially as the company will be providing a case of wine to get the party started.’ A ripple of surprise ran through the office and a few people decided they might tip out for poor old Vern after all. ‘I can also confirm that our replacement general manager, Sam Mulligan, will start first thing Monday. Sam has a solid background in the retail toy market and has been contracted specifically to give the company a bit of a shake-up. I am fully aware we are lagging behind the times and we need to embrace the twenty-first century. Changes and economies are likely.’

      ‘Is that code for redundancies?’ someone asked from the back.

      Lucy’s heartbeat quickened and she stared hard at her sensible shoes. Surely she couldn’t be unlucky enough to be made redundant twice?

      ‘I won’t lie to you, it’s a possibility. She successfully reversed the fortunes of the failing Toy Box chain, but she had to cut out a lot of dead wood. As you know, it’s now one of the leading online retailers in the country.’

      ‘She?’ repeated an incredulous Adam. Lucy also lifted her eyes in surprise.

      ‘I’m not sure Sam Mulligan’s gender should have any bearing on the matter, because I can assure you it will make no difference to her competence. Or is it that you have a problem working for a woman, Adam?’ asked Richard.

      ‘No, no, of course not. I just assumed…’

      ‘Never assume,’ said Mr Tompkins. ‘Right, I have some phone calls to make. Thank you all for your time.’

      Lucy’s heart gave a little skip. A female boss. All the managers at Tompkins were currently male and had been so since time immemorial. But then it was a traditional firm. It was only five years ago the sales team had stopped posting hand-written order forms down a huge drainpipe for the warehouse team to pick. A shake-up was certainly needed and she was excited to think a woman would be responsible for it, as long as Lucy wasn’t part of the dead wood Mr Tompkins had alluded to.

      As Richard left the office, there was hushed discussion.

      ‘Dearie me, not looking good for you, Lucy-Lou. Last in, first out,’ Adam said, stroking his chin and finding a small patch of whiskers missed by his razor that morning.

      ‘She wasn’t last in,’ said Jess, putting her hand on Lucy’s knee. ‘There are warehouse staff who only started at Christmas. Lucy’s been here a year. And she’s bloody fantastic. This new manager would be a fool to lose her.’

      Lucy smiled at her friend but coloured at the attention.

      ‘Out of my hands, I’m afraid,’ said Adam, adjusting his cuffs and brushing imaginary fluff from his tie. ‘Back to work now, team. Our customers need us like books need worms. Accounts back downstairs please. The phones are calling.’

      ‘Someone needs to tell him his expressions are rubbish,’ whispered Jess.

      ‘Don’t you dare spoil our fun.’ Connor leaned forward, poking his head between Jess and Lucy. ‘I’m compiling a book of them. We need some entertainment to get us through the day.’

      An afternoon of customers chasing late deliveries and grumbles from the warehouse went by quickly, but Lucy wasn’t as focused as usual. The meeting had unsettled her. Jess’s job was safe as there were only three of them in accounts and they were always overworked. But this new manager might decide to make economies in the sales office, as there were often times when Adam paced the floor liked a caged, novelty-sock-wearing lion. If he wasn’t always fully occupied it meant they were overstaffed and Lucy suspected the disorganised girl with the messy desk might not make the final cut.

      After an unsettled week at work, with everyone trying their best to ignore the redundancy-shaped elephant in the room, the last thing Lucy felt like doing that evening was attending Vernon’s retirement party. As she wrapped her sausage sandwiches in foil and grabbed a yoghurt from the fridge, she saw the skinny black streak of cat leap up onto Brenda’s fence. Not having seen it since that night at George’s, she’d assumed it had moved on to pastures new, but if it was still hanging about, then it was still homeless, and this was something she had to address.

      Checking she had ten minutes to spare, Lucy rang the rescue centre for advice, hoping to catch someone in their office. The plight of the cat, with its kamikaze-esque homing device, was weighing on her mind. She was in luck. The cheery gentleman on the end of СКАЧАТЬ