Second Time Around Read Online Free

that she planned to tell anyone. It would only mean more fucking tests, and Suzie wasn’t staying in this room a moment longer than she had to.

Chapter Three
    Katie carried two beers over, oblivious of the admiring looks from the guys who parted to let her through. ‘It’s like a scrum trying to get a drink in this
place,’ she said, squeezing into the seat next to Jess. ‘To your mum!’
    ‘To Mum.’ Jess smiled.
    ‘Remind me why we’re here again.’ Katie looked round with distaste.
    The stuffy pub was packed and the noise level had risen as more alcohol was consumed.
    ‘One of the guys is leaving the Gazette and the boss asked me to drop by. One drink and we can go.’
    ‘It’s a small paper. Do you really care that much about them? They’re lucky you write for them, if you ask me.’
    Jess smiled. ‘It’s small but Louis lets me cover current affairs and politics and I want to build on that and move away from the lighter, fluffier pieces the bigger papers ask me to
do.’ She pulled a face. ‘It’s hard to get taken seriously as a journalist if you’re commenting on the fashion at an awards ceremony.’
    Katie looked round the dingy bar, her eyes narrowing as they settled on Jess’s colleagues from the newspaper. ‘Not the friendliest bunch, are they? A couple of women over there are
staring at you, and not in a good way; and that guy you introduced me to looked straight at my boobs.’
    ‘Don’t feel special. Tim’s like that with all women and he’s the religious correspondent.’ Jess smirked. She didn’t comment on her female co-workers. She knew
they resented her and she didn’t like to dwell on the reason why.
    ‘Is the editor nice, at least?’
    ‘He is.’ Jess smiled, remembering the day she’d stumbled from the hospital after the doctors had explained they didn’t know if Mum would ever wake up, and gone straight
to the monthly meeting at the Gazette . She’d sat through it, unable to take anything in. When it was over Louis Healy had taken her aside and asked if everything was
okay, and she’d broken down, sobbing. It was embarrassing, crying on your boss’s shoulder just a few weeks into a job, but she was beyond caring. Louis had led her into the privacy of
his office and given her a large brandy in a paper cup from a bottle stashed in his filing cabinet.
    ‘For emergencies,’ he’d said with a grin.
    Jess was numb in those first dreadful weeks, going through the motions on automatic pilot, and she’d never forget how kind Louis had been. When she wasn’t by her mother’s
bedside, he’d urged her to write, pouring her sadness and loss into her work. It was a welcome distraction and she’d written some of her best pieces during that difficult time.
    They started to meet for coffee or a drink outside the office, as Louis was concerned that the other staff would accuse him of giving Jess special treatment. At first, she had thought
she’d imagined the lingering looks, the light pressing of cheeks, later accompanied by a kiss to the side of her mouth. Then his hand on her back as he bent over her, studying her copy, so
close she could feel the warmth of his breath on her cheek. He was a lot older than she was and not really her type, but, when he finally took her in his arms, it was easier to go along with it
than to push him away. She was flattered and comforted by the attention.
    ‘Can we get out of here now?’ Katie asked, breaking in on her thoughts. ‘You’ve done your duty and I’m starving. Pizza?’
    ‘Sounds good.’ Jess smiled.
    When she finally left Katie, Jess decided to call in on her mum before going home. She had some research to do for a piece she was writing on the price and availability of
childcare for a tabloid newspaper, but she wanted to check her mum was doing okay first. Noel was in his final term of university studying engineering and spending most of his time either at
lectures or in the library so Suzie was alone much of the