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of my pocket and placed in her outstretched hand. She immediately opened up the bag she had over her shoulder and dropped it inside.
    “Wait, what are you doing?” I said, alarmed.
    She ignored me, turning her attention to Holly. “Go and close up reception, then you can log off and head home if you like.” She glanced at Rob. “You too, Rob.”
    “Okay,” he said carefully. “If you’re sure?”
    “Marley, listen—” I began, stepping forward.
    She didn’t even look at me, her attention still on Rob. “I’m sure,” she said. She was all business now, back to her old self, rapping out instructions. She turned to Brian.
    “Brian, get on the phone to Ed’s PA in London. Tell them we’ve got nothing critical going on and I’ve sent everyone home for Christmas early. Then do a follow-up email in my name to the partners on the board confirming the details. Phones can go on divert to the London PAs. Once you’re done, you can head off too.”
    Brian nodded and headed for his desk.
    “Okay, listen,” I said, moving to stand right in front of her. I held my hands up in a gesture of surrender. “We’ll close up the office like you want. I won’t even call Phil. But I’ll still need to log on at home today or tomorrow in case anything urgent comes up, so I’m going to need my phone back. I can’t even work remotely without the password app.”
    “Nice try, but no way. It’s for your own good.”
    “But—”
    “Suck it up, kid.”
    I recognised that tone. It was the one she used when she’d made up her mind—there was no changing her mind on this.
    “I’m sure you can find something other than work to do, for a day or two,” she added as she headed for the door. “You might even try having some fun.”

Chapter Four
    H alf an hour later, I found myself standing outside the front door of the office, watching as Marley peeled away from the kerbside in her Porsche.
    “Bye, guys,” Holly called out as she emerged from the building behind me. I turned to see her legging it down the street away from me, clearly worried I’d try to countermand Marley’s orders. “Have a great Christmas!” she called as she disappeared round the corner.
    Brian was already gone, having been first out the door after carrying out Marley’s instructions.
    I turned to my last remaining colleague. Rob stood beside me on the wet pavement, looking far too good in his navy peacoat. As always, he glowed with good health and vitality, the chestnut strands in his hair glinting in the pale winter sun. Right now he looked happy, a small smile curving his wide, mobile mouth as he gazed ahead, unaware of my scrutiny.
    I wondered what he was thinking about—probably what he was going to do with the rest of his day.
    “Well,” I said. “I guess you got what you wanted after all.”
    He glanced at me, his smile fading. “What do you mean?”
    I shrugged. “You wanted to leave early, didn’t you? And here you go. You got your wish.”
    Rob’s lip curled. “And it’s just killing you, isn’t it? The thought of me actually getting to leave early when you were so determined to prevent me.”
    I opened my mouth to defend myself but the words stuck in my throat. What could I say? I’d refused his request, hadn’t I? And here I was bringing it up again.
    “You know what’s funny?” Rob went on, turning to face me properly. “When I first met you, I really liked you.”
    I stared at him, astonished. “You liked me?”
    “Yeah. You were funny and quick and incredibly bright”—he counted my qualities off on the fingers of one hand as he spoke—“and even though I could see you were a demanding sod, I thought you were a good guy. When you told me you were going to speak to your boss about getting me a job at Quicks, I figured that underneath the bark, there was a good heart to go with the pretty face.”
    I blinked at the “pretty face” comment but before I could consider what it meant, Rob added, “And then I started