The Factory Girls – Episode 21


By the end of that afternoon, however, Helen regretted her foolish assertion. She was that useless. She’d been poring over the wretched contract for over an hour and could barely understand any of it, let alone find a miracle clause to save the factory! Harry had been stuck in front of CBeebies for far too long and now it was time to fetch the others. She’d had a text from Kevin saying he was still out hunting, which sounded as if he might track down a nice bit of venison or grouse, so the kids were all hers and there would be no peace to think straight, let alone to wade through legalese. She was beginning to suspect her promotion had been a fluke, after all, and that she should give up pretending and go back to what she did best.“Come on, Harry,” she said, tickling her gorgeous toddler as she scooped him up into her arms. “Let’s take your trike to school, and then maybe the swings.”“Swings, yay!” Harry kissed her, a big, wet smacker right on the nose, and Helen had to smile.“Stupid contract,” she muttered and, leaving it on the ironing board, she made for the door.

****

Jonathan headed down the high street towards the library, holding a fierce internal argument with his heart which seemed to be throwing crazy dance moves inside his chest. Ridiculous. What was there to get nervous about in looking at a few books? He went to the library a lot, right? It wasn’t that unusual to be returning already and, besides, there might be some useful books on the history of Deveroe to give context to the Save Our Factory campaign.He pushed on the doors and went inside. Where was the local studies section? Upstairs, hopefully! Best to check there first. Except that Local Studies was right before him, clearly marked just to the left of the door. It wasn’t so much a section as a shelf, and it didn’t take him long to pick out a couple of interesting-looking books. He supposed he might as well look for a novel whilst he was here. Always good to stretch the mind!Trying to look nonchalant, Jonathan took the stairs to the upper room. It was fantastic up here, with a spectacular view out of the big bay window, and the internal workings of the town clock displayed in an elegant glass case. But neither drew his attention now. Instead, he padded over to Classic Literature and drew out the first book he came to, bending to peek through the gap at the best view of all . . . into the little study alcove. And she was there! Dana’s beautiful hair was pushed over to one side and her pretty face was creased in concentration over a big textbook. Jonathan felt like Romeo watching Juliet from beneath the balcony, or Eponine watching Marius. Or was he just a Peeping Tom? Ashamed of himself, he stepped back, caught his foot on a chair and stumbled.

Reporter

Used to make posts more anonymous, eg a criminal case where you don’t want to expose the actual journalist.