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and our figures are up twenty per cent. This is exactly the time when staff get greedy. Anyway, don’t you worry about it – that’s my job. Sorry to miss dinner.’
    ‘Again.’
    ‘Come on, Ava, don’t start.’
    ‘Paul, you haven’t been home before midnight in two weeks. I’m fed up.’
    ‘The business is going well, you should be happy. Besides, once this security equipment is in place, I’ll be able to watch everything from my laptop, so I can be home more.’
    Great, I thought. When he can access the pub from home, he’ll never switch off and unwind. He’ll be glued to the bloody laptop. I didn’t feel like a fight right now, though. ‘I’m pleased that things are going well, but I’d like to see you once in a while, and so would the girls.’
    ‘I’ll be home for dinner tomorrow. Besides, I see the girls every morning at breakfast. I don’t see why –’ A female voice called him in the background. ‘Look, I’m sorry, I have to go, Ava, I’ll see you later.’ He hung up.
    I flung my mobile onto the passenger seat. Of course I was pleased the pub was doing so well, but with both of us working long hours and looking after the girls and now Charlie, Paul and I hardly had any quality time together any more. What was the point in working so hard and making money if we never got to enjoy it?
    When the girls were small and we were living in a sleep-deprived haze, we used to fantasize about the trips we’d take when they were older – long weekends in Berlin, New York, Barcelona, Milan … Then when we’d had that scare eight years ago, we reiterated our commitment to living more and working less. But instead of doing things with me, Paul had taken up surfing, become completely obsessed with it, and spent all his spare time chasing waves. And then Happy Dayz had taken off and suddenly here we were, still working hard and too busy to enjoy it all. We hadn’t done any of the things we’d planned. In fact, we saw less of each other now than we had when the girls were babies.
    Sarah and Ali came out of the school gate together. They were both full of chat.
    ‘Honestly, Mum, you should see the amount of homework we got – our first day!’ Ali said. ‘It’ll take hours to finish.’
    ‘How’s David?’ I asked.
    She beamed. ‘He’s just great.’
    ‘You should see them, Mum,’ said Sarah. ‘It’s sickening. They go around holding hands all day long and Ali stares at him with these big moo eyes.’
    ‘Ah, young love.’ I smiled.
    ‘Hey, Ali, who’s that new girl in your class?’ Sarah asked. ‘Everyone was talking about her today. She looks like a super-model.’
    ‘Her name’s Tracy. She’s been expelled from three schools. She’s good-looking, but I don’t think she’s very clever. She thought Aung San Suu Kyi was a form of martial arts.’
    Ali and I giggled. Sarah looked at us blankly. ‘What’s so funny?’
    ‘Come on, you must know who Aung San Suu Kyi is?’ Ali said.
    ‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. Does that make me thick, too?’
    ‘No, it makes you uninformed,’ I said. ‘You should pay attention to current affairs.’
    ‘ Booooring . Besides, that Tracy girl doesn’t need to know about current affairs – she’s going to make millions as a model. Everyone was talking about her. And all the guys were drooling over her.’
    ‘She wants to go to New York and model,’ said Ali.
    ‘Is she really that good-looking?’ I asked.
    ‘Yes, and she’s stick-thin,’ said Sarah. ‘I bet she eats nothing. Did you see what she had for lunch?’ she asked Ali.
    ‘No, Sarah, I don’t go around staring at people’s lunch boxes.’
    ‘You were just too busy staring at David. I’d say she lives on rice cakes,’ Sarah said.
    ‘How could anyone live on those? They’re like cardboard,’ said Ali.
    ‘Nobody’s that thin naturally so she must starve herself,’ said Sarah. ‘All models do.’
    ‘That’s ridiculous,’ I said. ‘Being too thin is