Free Bound to You by Nichi Hodgson Page A

graduate ambition and translate it into flailing free labour.
    ‘Oh!’
    I could tell Susan didn’t understand.
    ‘It’s just what you have to do, Susan. Eventually you get enough experience to apply for a paying job.’ At least I hoped that’s how it would pan out. ‘I’ve been trying to save up money so that I can afford to work the next month unpaid. But thank you for saying I’m welcome back.’
    She smiled at me like a deputy headmistress dismissing a prefect. ‘Well, you always will be. Take care of yourself – and who knows, maybe next time you’re back it’ll be with a ring on that finger!’
    I feigned a smile in reply and muddled my way out of her office.
    That evening I called Gina. She had texted me to say she wanted an update on how the holiday had panned out.
    Gina was one of those supremely life-enhancing people who combine dry humour with a relentless optimism, and have a rare ability to see the wood for the trees. I had known her almost exactly the same length of time as I’d known Christos. We also met in our final year at university and I knew I wanted to be her friend from the moment I saw her. There was something about Gina’s strut that exuded a sense of shrewd mischief and before long we were curled up in each other’s rooms discussing Sylvia Plath, the merits of men in eyeliner and watching episodes of the awful yet addictive US sitcom,
Gilmore Girls
.
    These days, Gina was a restaurant manager. She still had the same long, loose black curls; she still loved to dance in cute boots and coloured jeans, and was still impervious to most male attention, despite being jaw-lockingly attractive. Gina prioritised her friends and her family above anything else, often to her own detriment.
    Now I tried to put into words how things stood with me and Christos and found myself struggling.
    There was a sceptical silence on the other end of the line before she launched into a barrage of questions. ‘So, when is Christos coming back? Is he back now? Will he be back for your birthday?’
    ‘Soon. Not yet. Yes. Everything’s fine, really.’
    But Gina wasn’t going to be palmed off that easily.
    ‘So what happened about the living arrangements? Did you manage to convince his parents that you’re an excellent study companion?’
    ‘No. But we talked it through,’ I lied.
    ‘So does that mean he’s going to be staying at yours most of the time? Did he agree to evening study breaks?’
    ‘We didn’t get on to discussing the fine details.’
    ‘You know, Nichi, you deserve his time. If he treasures you . . .’
    ‘He gives me his time, Gina,’ I snapped. Then I backtracked. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.’ I sighed. ‘I’m just a bit on edge, what with the new flat and the up-and-coming internship. Anyway, tell me how you are . . .’
    Thursday was my birthday. Ordinarily I’d have taken the day off but with only three working days left at the hospital before I went wageless, it made no sense to lose a day’s pay.
    I was late to the office. My mum had called me from Australia and then Christos rang on his way to the university library. He’d arrived back in London yesterday morning and had spent the day moving all of his things out of our old flat, which we had now officially vacated, and into his new one.
    ‘
Kronia polla
, Nichi
mou
! Happy Birthday! Do you have your present?’
    ‘I do! Shall I open it while I’m on the phone to you?’
    ‘No, that makes me nervous!
S’agapo
! Open it when I’m off the line.’
    We were meeting for dinner later, but Christos had wanted to make sure I had something to unwrap when I woke up. Before I left Greece, Christos had pressed a tiny blue box on me. ‘Not a diamond,’ he laughed. I opened it now. Two tiny star-shaped silver earrings twinkled back at me. They were from an exclusive Athenian jewellers. They were beautiful. The man could have written a textbook on how to woo.
    As I hurried through A&E to my office, I thought about