‘Did you sleep here?’ Janet found Gill already at her desk when she got into work early.
‘No, I didn’t,’ Gill said, her tone clipped, brusque. Janet looked at her; she had dark circles under her eyes. Janet knew Gill could manage on five hours a night but it didn’t look like she’d even had that.
‘Did you want something?’ Gill said without looking up.
Janet felt awkward. ‘No,’ she said. Pardon me for breathing. She retreated to the outer room, hung up her coat and logged on to the system but she found it hard to concentrate, wondering why Gill had been so short with her.
Gill could be sharp, critical, but only when someone had done something wrong or not done something important and needed a kick up the arse. She was fair, she didn’t lose her temper without good reason and she wasn’t ever manipulative or sulky. If something got up her nose she tackled it head on. Janet shuffled in her seat, tried to focus on the statements she was reviewing and shut out the voice in her head, quibbling about Gill cold-shouldering her.
Lee came in and waved hello, then Kevin.
Had she misheard? Had Gill just been so preoccupied with work that she’d made the remarks without being aware how curt she sounded? Or was it to do with Olivia’s death? Had something happened that Gill couldn’t tell her about?
This is bloody ridiculous. She got up and went to Gill’s door. Knocked and went in without waiting for permission. ‘What’s going on?’ she said.
‘What?’ Gill scowled, took her specs off.
‘Something’s up. I’d rather know what it was than sit out there trying to guess.’
Gill stared at her, looking annoyed, a glint in her gaze. Janet held her ground.
‘It’s nothing,’ Gill said, ‘just-’ Then her mouth twitched and Janet was stunned to see her eyes fill with tears.
‘Come on,’ Janet said. The ladies’ toilet was the place of sanctuary, somewhere away from prying eyes and the demands of phones and e-mails. Gill followed her there, perched against the sinks, arms folded.
Janet leaned on the wall. ‘I understand, if it’s about Olivia, if you can’t tell me-’
Gill shook her head, screwed up her mouth, and squeezed her eyes shut. Then she looked across at Janet. ‘It’s Dave,’ she said.
Janet felt a stab of relief. Not her then. Not Elise. ‘Now what’s he done?’
Gill tried to speak, faltered. ‘He… erm… stupid bugger’s on the piss, big time. All the time.’
‘Oh, no.’
‘Found him covered in his own sick last night, out in our summerhouse,’ Gill said.
‘Oh, Gill.’
‘Idiot.’
‘But he’s all right?’ Janet said.