Silly Games

Part Twenty Seven

A/N Sorry my internet has been down for a few days been struggling to update any thing! Hope you're all still with this story!!

She’d made it through another week! It was Friday night and Laura had managed to survive, that was how Laura was judging time. Dogs were walked, owners were happy, people were fed and most importantly the staff were paid. It didn’t mean that it had all been easy for her, it had been anything but. Tomorrow was Saturday. Not that the weekend heralded any break in proceedings, it just meant that she didn’t have to figure the dogs into her daily schedule.

Ben had emailed her a couple of days earlier, he was ecstatically happy; Alana and he were desperately in love and planning a wedding for early the following year. It had elicited a deep gulp from Laura; once her best friends were married she’d really have to move out. But part of the deal that she got with her work for Ben was that she got free rent, it meant that Ben paid her a lot less than the going rate. But if she moved out, she couldn’t survive on what he paid her; she’d have to either look for another job, or finish working for him altogether.

She’d groaned at the thought of starting out all over again, she’d been happy with her life until very recently. And now she was looking at everything changing. Realistically she’d known that she couldn’t spend the rest of her life living in someone’s spare room, at some point she’d have to be more financially independent. But that had seemed a long way off. Suddenly it was here in front of her, a real bonafide threat!

So come Friday night she intended to head to Al’s pub again, Michaela said she’d try and join her, but for Laura it didn’t matter, she needed to get out and about, it was more than important, it was vital. She needed something positive to lift her bad mood, and the pub had been fun the previous week, so she was suitably optimistic. 

As she was just opening the front door to leave, her phone rang.

                “Miss Marshall?”

Laura paused to lean against the door frame, “it is, yes.”

                “I’m Marcia Silverstone from the ‘Heroes of Britain’ Awards; you’ve been nominated for recognition in the West and Wales division.”

Shit! Laura cursed, she completely forgotten about the paperwork she’d discarded at some point in the last week. “Sorry...yes...” She was flummoxed.

                “We hadn’t received your confirmation that you were attending and whether you needed a room, plus there’s your menu choices at the dinner and if you have a companion attending with you.”

Laura shook her head, “I’m sorry, I am SO busy at the moment, I’ve been abandoned by my work colleague,” she apologised, “I really didn’t read the information properly...and then I completely forgot about it.”

                “Do you need me to email you the details again? I just need confirmation by Monday as it’s only two weeks away!”

They exchanged details and Laura’s mood changed yet again. Now it was indescribable. She didn’t feel worthy of all the fuss, she wasn’t one for being the centre of attention. As she read the information in the pub, the pages she’d so easily thrown to one side, she felt more and more nauseous.

                “Whatcha reading?” Michaela slid into a seat opposite Laura placing a glass of wine on the table.

Laura smiled, she’d missed her friend. The romance with Paul was going well so she was spending more and more time with him, Michaela had been such a reliable friend, always there for Laura that she was only now realising how much she had taken her for granted.