A text message appears: CALL ME ASAP.
“That woman,” says Neve slowly, “is a bully.”
Leo taps one knuckle against his lip. “There could be a crisis of some sort.”
“You’re in an abusive workplace relationship.”
Leo feels his face heat up. It’s as though she has pointed out something unmanly and unforgivably weak about him.
“That’s not true,” he says. Is it true?
“You work like a dog seven days a week.”
“I work like a dog?”
He looks at the dog, who has never worked a day in his life.
The phone rings again. Leo can’t stand it. He snatches it up. “Lilith?”
“Just checking in,” says Lilith. “I hear you’re working from home this afternoon? One of the children sick this time?”
“No.” Leo clears his throat. “It just made more sense to come back here after—”
“What a relief! Have you seen that email about the cost overruns? Little bit of a concern.”
“Ah, not yet.” It must surely have been sent in the last five minutes. He can hear the clink of glassware. Is she out to lunch?
“How’s the lovely Neve? She at home with you now?”
“She is,” says Leo. “She works from—”
“That’s so nice, spending time together in the middle of the day! Give her my love, won’t you. Let’s just make sure we stay on top of things, it’s a crucial time, but I know I don’t need to tell you that.”
The phone goes dead. “Lilith sends her love,” says Leo.
Neve sits cross-legged on the floor, looking up at him like a diligent student attempting to answer a tricky question.
“Do you really think I’m in an ‘abusive’ work relationship?” he asks.
Neve exhales. She pats the dog for a reflective few seconds and finally lifts her chin. “I remember how excited you were seeing your projects built. I remember when we drove past that overpass down south and you explained how you had to solve some issue with the piers. You were so happy about the piers!”
“The abutments,” says Leo. “The height of the abutments, it was tricky because I had to—”
“That’s okay, honey, I don’t need to hear it all again, as fascinating as it was. My point is, I loved how you loved your work, I loved that about you.”
“But now you don’t love it anymore,” guesses Leo. “Because I work too—”
“I don’t think you love it anymore.”
“What? I still enjoy my work,” says Leo defensively.
“I don’t think you do. Sometimes I think you don’t enjoy your life that much. I think you’re in a constant state of terror.”
“Terror? Come on.”
“She’s got all of you. There’s nothing left for us. Even when you’re with us, you’re not really with us. You’re thinking about work.”
“I’m not allowed to let a single thought about work cross my mind when I’m with my family?” He knows that’s childish. He’s also thinking about that cost overruns email right now.
Neve doesn’t bother to answer. She gets to her feet and brushes dog hair off her pants. “Speaking of work, I should get back to my fishery trainees.” She points at her computer.
Leo remains sitting in her chair. “So that’s it, you’re going to make all these allegations—”
“They’re not allegations, they’re just thoughts, and maybe I’m wrong about everything, maybe Lilith is a lovely, inspiring woman and I’m just…maybe I’m jealous? She looks so good in a pantsuit. Maybe I’m just tired? Maybe I’m scared to death about the fucking—excuse the language—psychic. I don’t know. Give me my chair back, please.”
He stands. He can’t work out how to feel. He can’t defend himself because Neve has effectively withdrawn all her comments. The woman is an evil genius.
She sits back at the desk, puts her hand on the mouse, then she swivels around.
“If you knew you really were going to die when you were forty-three, what would you do?”
He sighs. “I promise you there will be no workplace accident.”
“But if you got a terminal diagnosis. If you were given, I don’t know, six months to live—and money was no object and you still felt okay—how would you want to spend your time?”
He answers honestly.
“Nothing too crazy. I’d just want to hang out with you and the kids, with Mum and my sisters.” He pauses as he really considers it. “So we really don’t need to worry about money in this hypothetical scenario?”
