If I Never Met You(102)

‘Hello, Ms Watkinson,’ Salter said. ‘Sit please. An email chain has been brought to my attention between yourself and Mr Carter that suggests that the pair of you have been pretending a romantic liaison for effect, is that correct?’

‘Yes,’ Laurie said. She didn’t think lying was a remotely good idea at this point, and even if she did, she’d had no time to think of any.

‘Can you explain to me, why you did this?’

‘I …’ Laurie threw a look at Jamie and Salter bellowed ‘DON’T LOOK AT HIM PLEASE, I AM ASKING YOU!’ making Laurie jump out of her skin. She’d never seen him this angry.

‘I’d been left by Dan Price, for another woman, who he’d got pregnant. I was in the situation of still having to work with him here. I wanted to make him jealous, to get my own back.’

It sounded as tawdry and ridiculous as it was, repeated in this room.

‘Why was Mr Carter moved to help you?’

‘He …’ God, she couldn’t think of how to cover this up, ‘he wanted to apply for a promotion and felt it would better his chances if you thought he had a girlfriend.’

Laurie really hoped Jamie had already come clean. It was his only hope.

‘The fact you work in law, and this was a deception. That gave you no qualms?’

Laurie thought her only way to survive was self-lacerating honesty.

‘I told myself that it was my private life, nothing to do with my work and therefore had no bearing on my job. I am pretty appalled and ashamed at this now I stand back and look at it from a distance, but the break-up had put me in a hyper state, I think. I wasn’t eating and I wasn’t sleeping much either. I was consumed by the pain of what had happened.’

‘Yet you knew Mr Carter was doing it for professional advantage?’

‘Yes.’

‘I don’t think the hygiene of this being personal and not professional existed quite in the way you think it does. If you were involved in Mr Carter’s pretences, and you knew he wanted to be made partner as a result, you are an accessory to what he was doing. Are you not?’

‘Yes.’

A heavy silence.

‘Mr Salter. I have no idea if I am making things better or worse by saying this, but I don’t want to be involved in any more lies—’

‘A rather late arriving fit of conscience,’ he spat. She was going to be sacked. Surely.

‘Jamie and I are together. We became involved for real, some weeks back.’

‘You’re in a relationship now?’

Laurie said, ‘Yes,’ at the exact same time that Jamie said, ‘No.’

This was the first he’d spoken. Laurie stared in shock at Jamie.

‘Which is it?’ Mr Salter said.

‘We’re not,’ Jamie said, firmly, glancing at Laurie. ‘We had … crossed a line or two for authenticity’s sake, got a bit carried away. But we certainly aren’t together.’

Jamie barely met Laurie’s eyes, set his jaw and stared straight ahead.

Mr Salter saw all of this, she realised, as she turned back and his rheumy gaze came to rest on Laurie.

‘Alright, I’ve heard enough, Ms Watkinson. I feel severely let down by you, and by this. We had spoken in this office, on trust, which I believed was mutual. Consider this a verbal warning and if you do anything to piss me off in the foreseeable future, I might skip the written stage. Close the door on your way out.’

Laurie was desperate to speak to Jamie, to find what had happened, and she didn’t have to wait long.

A junior from the criminal department called Matt appeared in the doorway, and said, breathlessly: ‘Jamie Carter’s been sacked. Immediate effect.’

Laurie, Bharat and Di almost comically scrambled to get past one another and out to see what was happening.

A Roman amphitheatre of spectators had gathered on the second floor as Jamie exited the criminal office, holding a briefcase, his coat, and the umbrella that Laurie once remembered him jamming lift doors with.

A very sad-faced Mick, the security guard, was guiding Jamie towards the stairs. Laurie made to go after him.

‘I wouldn’t follow him out,’ Michael said, arms folded, ‘Or they might just lock the door after you. You don’t want any more of his reputation smeared over you.’

‘He’s my boyfriend, so I’ll see him out, thanks,’ Laurie said, to an audible ‘ooh!’ from the crowd, presumably both at the declaration and the insubordination. She glimpsed Dan, looking pig sick at the back. At least her honesty with him had stopped this being any gotcha.

‘You can stop the show now, we’ve all seen the email,’ Kerry snapped.

Laurie turned.

‘You know what, I couldn’t care less what you do or don’t think, Kerry. You’re not the policewoman of my private life. Or anyone else’s here for that matter.’

‘Can I get an Amen!’ Bharat shouted, from the back of the crowd, and incredibly, a reasonably hearty ‘AMEN’ went up. Kerry scowled, looking green as a parrot.

Laurie walked down the stairs with Jamie and out through the lobby, Mick holding the door for them, beckoning for Jamie to hand over his security pass and pulling the door shut behind them.

Once they were outside in the street, Jamie turned and said: ‘I hate to say it, but Michael’s right. Go back in, now. Salter’s temper’s on a hair trigger. If he hears you’re out here with me you could get sacked too.’