Free Claudia's Big Break by Lisa Heidke Page B

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    It was a vibrant and exciting time and I had visions of one day starting my own consultancy. When the company went belly-up, I was devastated. But I’d met Marcus at several events and when he offered me the job as his office manager I grabbed it with both hands. I promised myself I’d look for something more suitable but I was already in love with George by that stage and was thinking about having a baby. Then George left me in debt, I had an affair with Marcus . . . and here I was. I turned my mind the ‘what ifs’ of my life. What if I had never met George? What if I had never met Marcus? I liked to think I would have started my own company. I certainly wouldn’t be in the mess I was now.
    As an office manager, more often than not I was reconciling accounts. And I was hopeless at it. The figures never added up. It always looked like the company was losing money. But whenever I talked to Marcus about it, he just shook his head, laughed and told me his accountants would take care of everything.
    I had to face the cold hard facts. Although my job was boring, at least it was a job I was being paid for. Still, a couple of things worried me about going back to the office: a) I didn’t want to fall back into old habits — ie resume my liaison with Marcus, even though the sex was thrilling; b) I liked Marcus as a person. What if he ignored me? Or worse, treated me like any other employee?
    Eventually I fell asleep, but it was a disturbing night punctuated by dreams of boyfriends past, croaking frogs and several faceless people having sex on my favourite navy leather sofa (the one trapped in storage). Throughout the night, though, one face kept popping in and out of my dreams: Jack Harper’s. Bloody hell!

8
    T he next morning when I woke up and peered out the window, the sky was a brilliant blue. It was the Santorini postcards promised, and very quickly all of my concerns disappeared into the dazzling sunlight.
    â€˜Greetings,’ I said, walking out onto the patio where Levi was eating a local version of Weet-Bix and Sophie was drinking green tea. I quickly noticed that all the outdoor furniture was upright and perfectly placed in the glittering morning sunshine. Bending over, I kissed Levi. He looked up from his bowl and raised his favourite dinosaur to me. After ruffling his hair, I sat down next to Sophie.
    â€˜Have you ever seen anything like it?’ Sophie said, looking across the ocean. ‘So serene. Cruise ships sail in, cruise ships sail out. And all the time, the water remains calm, a gorgeous azure blue. Hear that?’
    â€˜No. What am I listening to?’
    â€˜Bouzouki music.’ She lifted her head towards a distant church. ‘Over there. Sorry about last night. Just venting. Jet lag and all.’
    â€˜Let it go. Don’t be so hard on yourself.’
    â€˜Yeah, but . . .’ She looked at Levi.
    â€˜He’s fine.’ I watched as he dribbled milk and Weet-Bix down his blue Yo Gabba Gabba! T-shirt. ‘How about I make you some toast?’
    â€˜I’m not hungry.’
    â€˜Yogurt and honey?’
    â€˜Really, Claudia,’ Sophie said, her voice rising. ‘I’m not hungry. Besides if I’m going to wear swimmers and inflict my flab on unsuspecting beach-goers, I’d better not get any fatter than I already am.’
    I was about to bark at her when Tara appeared.
    â€˜Blimey!’ she croaked as she staggered out onto the terrace, shielding her eyes from the blinding sunshine with her left arm.
    â€˜Breathtaking, isn’t it?’ I said.
    â€˜How’d you know? It’s so glary.’ Tara picked up a glass of water from the table and took a sip, before sitting down beside me and helping herself to yogurt and cherries. ‘So, what’re we doing today?’
    â€˜We could explore that volcano,’ said Sophie, looking towards Nea Kameni.
    â€˜What? That thing over there?’ Tara replied,