Chapter 46

I woke early the following day. I did a few warm-ups and then ran for five miles. I was back home, showered, and dressed before eight o’clock.

I wanted to go to the bank and get some cash to treat Siobhan to a lovely meal in the city. Mom had made tea. I drank mine and then headed out to walk into town. The bank had just opened. I got some money out of my secret account. Then I walked over to Siobhan’s. Her folks had already left for work. I walked across the drive just as the postman was walking away from her door.

I didn’t need to knock. Siobhan had heard the postman and saw me at the same time.

She invited me in, we kissed, and she had a handful of letters.

“Fancy a coffee?” she asked with a smile.

“Oh, yes, please, I said.

She put the kettle on and prepared the cups. Then, as the kettle boiled, she sorted the post. She had two letters addressed to her.

One was an A4 buff envelope, and she opened that first. She read it, looked at me and reread it.

“I have been offered an interview at The Queen Mary’s Hospital!” she beamed.

The Queen Mary Hospital was the big hospital in the city. I had been there twice. Once when I went to visit my Grandad just before he died, and once when I broke my arm at junior school.

“That’s great news!” I said and stood up so we could hug.

Then I felt a wave of panic wash over me. She was away for four weeks.

“When is the interview?” I asked.

“Oh, you are thinking what I am thinking!” she smiled, “But it’s in five weeks, so I will be back by then!”

“That’s good!” I said and hugged her.

Then she opened the second letter.

“Wow, another invitation to an interview, but I can’t make this one!” she shrugged.

“Ring them and explain the circumstances, and I’m sure they will understand,” I told her.

“Yes ... why not? They can only say no!” she agreed.

So I made the coffee while she rang the hospital to ask for a delay. She came back into the room ten minutes later with a smile on her face.

“The lady was a netball player, and she said she could delay the interview if I took the netball camp letter!” she said, sat down, and drank her now-nearly-cold coffee.

“Where is the interview?” I asked as I washed my cup out in the sink.

“It’s at the dental hospital,” she said as she reread the letter

“Where is that?” I asked, and I had never heard of it.

“It’s just around the corner from the Queen Mary!” she smiled and gave me her cup to wash.

“I will go and get the netball letter,” she said and left me to dry the cups.

She also had to fill out two forms stating that she would attend the interviews. She could have posted them, but she decided to drop them in by hand. It would give her time to scope out the journey and stuff, she said.

We walked into town and bought return tickets to the city. The trains ran every twenty minutes, so we didn’t have to wait for long. The journey took about an hour or so. We talked about her job interviews as the train trundled along the track.

Queen Mary’s Hospital was only a ten-minute walk from the train station. We walked hand in hand to the front doors, and then I waited while she dropped off the form.

When she came out, she was smiling.

“It all seems so real now!” she said and hugged me.

We soon found the dental hospital, and again I waited outside while Siobhan went in.

She came out twenty minutes later.

“Wow, the lady in there, Angie, is a player-coach at the local netball club,” she smiled.

“And she moved the interview?” I asked.

“Yes, yes she did!” She also invited me to a trial at the netball club.