Five minutes later, they were sitting at one of the wooden tables under the clump of willow trees behind their building, a lovely shady spot for eating outdoors on a summer’s day. The humidity of January had finally gone—as had the summer storms—February so far having the kind of beautiful weather that brought tourists to Sydney in droves.

      Trish had her lunch with her—sandwiches and juice brought from home. Leah hadn’t quite got into that kind of budgeting as yet, and had a standard order with the canteen for a no-butter salad sandwich, low-fat muffin and black coffee, which she collected every day right on one.

      ‘The new boss keeping you busy?’ she said as soon as they sat down.

      ‘I’ll say,’ Trish told her as she unwrapped her ham and tomato sandwiches. ‘Under those disarming smiles of his, he’s a regular powerhouse, and very clued-up. He’s had Jim answering some sticky questions, I can tell you. I think Jim’s a bit worried.’

      ‘And so he should be,’ Leah said wryly.

      ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘You know what I mean, Trish. There’s been a lot of money wasted around here. That very expensive Christmas party last year, for instance. Not to mention the sales conference at one of the most expensive resorts in Australia. Then there was the total refurbishing of the offices. To top it off, the whole sales fleet of company cars have just been replaced after only being on the road one year, with all the managers getting more expensive models.’

      ‘When you put it like that, things could look bad.’

      Leah could have also added that the new field sales manager hadn’t gotten her job because of her experience in the position. The only positions Shelley had experience in were those in the Kama Sutra.

      Trish wasn’t the only little dolly bird Jim had on the side. How Trish didn’t know about Shelley constantly amazed her. All the reps knew. Heck, just about everyone here knew. Except Trish.

      Leah didn’t have the heart to tell the girl herself. She’d find out what a rat Jim was soon enough.

      ‘A man like Jason Pollack is going to put it all together like that in no time flat,’ Leah said, snapping her fingers.

      Trish looked worried. ‘Jim might get the sack.’

      Now there was a satisfying thought. Leah believed in bastards getting their comeuppances.

      The trouble was, they rarely did. From what she’d heard, Carl was as happy as Larry with a new fiancée, some stunning, up-and-coming actress who no doubt didn’t have a single physical flaw.

      As for Jim… He was a clever and consummate liar. He’d probably worm his way out of things. Or end up with a golden handshake, plus another top sales job somewhere else. Jim was only in his early forties, a good-looking man who could be very impressive when he wanted to be.

      His silly wife adored him.

      No, bastards didn’t always get their comeuppances in life, came Leah’s cynical thought. Take the new boss himself. He’d have to be a right bastard, marrying a much older woman for her money like that. And what happens? She conveniently died after no time at all, leaving him scads of money, plus the freedom to do exactly what he liked for the rest of his life.

      How convenient!

      ‘It’s all very worrying,’ Trish said, having not yet touched a bite of her lunch.

      A wave of sympathy pushed aside Leah’s sarcastic thoughts.

      ‘You don’t have to worry,’ Leah said, reaching across to touch Trish gently on her arm. ‘You haven’t done anything wrong.’

      ‘Haven’t I?’ Trish’s eyes suddenly filled. ‘I’ve been sleeping with a married man, Leah. Trying to take him away from his wife and family. That’s not right. I know she loves him. And so do his kids. My mother would be utterly ashamed of me, if she knew…’

      Leah handed over the paper napkin that came with her lunch, shaking her head as Trish made a right mess of her makeup with her tears.

      ‘Break it off with him, Trish,’ she advised. ‘Give yourself a chance to find someone else.’

      ‘It’s all very well for you to say that, Leah,’ Trish said with a flash of envious eyes as she mopped up her tears. ‘You could get any man you want. Just look at you. You’re utterly gorgeous, and you’re not even wearing much makeup.’

      ‘Skin-deep beauty is not all it’s cracked up to be, Trish. Or a recipe for success with men. My first husband dumped me.’

      Trish blinked her surprise. ‘What? I didn’t even know you’d been married!’

      Leah had carefully avoided mentioning Carl. When she’d filled in her application form she’d put single as her status. And when she chatted with the girls at work, she always carefully steered the conversations round to their lives, not hers.

      When they occasionally asked her about her love life, she always said she was between boyfriends. When any of her coworkers asked her on a Monday morning what she’d done that weekend, she say she’d gone home to visit her widowed father. She had admitted she’d lost her mother in a car accident not long back, but had never mentioned her marriage. Or her hated scars.

      ‘How long were you married for?’ Trish asked.

      ‘Six months.’

      ‘He left you after six months!’

      Leah smiled a dry smile at Trish’s bug-eyed surprise. ‘Why do you think I’m a bit cynical at times?’

      ‘I don’t think you’re cynical. I think you’re very nice.’

      Leah laughed. ‘Scratch the surface and you’ll find a bitter divorcée.’

      ‘Really? Well, at least that explains why you don’t have a boyfriend. I was beginning to think you were having an affair with a married man too, and didn’t want to admit it. But I can see now that that’s not your style.’

      ‘Certainly not,’ Leah said. ‘And, Trish, please don’t mention my marriage to anyone.’

      ‘Why not? People wonder about you, you know.’

      ‘What? Why?’

      ‘Because you’re clearly too good for this job, Leah. It’s not just the way you look, but the way you talk, and walk. You went to one of those schools, didn’t you? The kind that does deportment and stuff. I’ll bet you were an aspiring model at one stage. Or an actress.’

      ‘I…er…yes, I did do a modelling course once,’ she admitted. Her grandmother had given it to her for her sixteenth birthday.

      Dear Gran. She was gone now, too. Along with her mother.

      ‘Eat up,’ Leah advised, not wanting to think about sad things any more. ‘And give that Jim the flick.’

      ‘I’ll try,’ Trish said, but didn’t look too sure.