The Green Hills of Home by Bennet Emma

Author:Bennet, Emma [Bennet, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-12-08T00:00:00+00:00

John was in the office at the usual time on Monday and immediately switched on his computer and began scrolling through the emails. He was surprised there was nothing from Gwen; he’d specifically told her that he needed to hear about the corrections to chapter four by this morning.

John stomped, paced, grumped and generally acted like a bear with a sore head until noon. Finally he heard Big Ben chime twelve and he picked up the phone and dialled Gwen’s number. There was no need for him to look it up; he knew it off by heart having glanced back and forth at it for the last few hours. The phone rang for some time before it was answered by a female voice. A female voice that John didn’t recognise.

"Hello?" said the woman.

"Hello, is Gwen there please? This is her editor, John Thatcher."

"Oh, I’m sorry but she’s not here, I’m her friend Sarah. Gwen’s at the hospital, her Mam had another stroke."

"Is Edith alright?" asked John anxiously, forgetting to put up his usual shield.

"Yes, she’s going to be fine, but it was pretty touch and go for a little while," replied Sarah.

"And how’s Gwen?"

"Tired and worried, but OK."

"And she’s staying at the hospital?"

"Yes, they’ve got some rooms there for families to sleep in."

"What about Oscar?" wondered John.

"I’ve been looking after him."

John talked to Sarah for a little longer and when the conversation finished he returned to pacing his office deciding what to do. He knew he wouldn’t be able to relax or concentrate on business until he’d seen for himself that Gwen was alright.

John was in no mood to enter into a long argument with Paul: he needed to get back to Wales as quickly as possible, and all his extra mental energy was being spent trying not to analyse exactly why he was so desperate to get to and comfort Gwen.

He figured the best way to get what he wanted was to surprise Paul so he didn’t have a chance to be difficult about John returning to Wales when he’d only just got back.

He knocked briskly on Paul’s office door and walked straight in, to find Paul in a rather compromising position with his assistant, Julia. The pair pulled apart immediately, Julia’s face was beetroot as she tried to avoid John’s gaze.

"I need to speak to you," announced John.

Paul managed to compose himself quickly and dismissed Julia before turning to face John and hear what he had to say.

"Something’s come up with Gwen Jones’ manuscript. I need to go and see her for a few days."

"Not big problems I trust?" asked Paul suspiciously.

"No, not at all," answered John.

"Can’t it just be dealt with over email?"

John resisted the urge to retort that if it could be dealt with via email then he would be dealing with it via email and merely replied "No, I’m afraid not, I’ll get back as quickly as I can. Was Julia okay, she seemed a little flushed?" asked John, seamlessly changing the subject.

Paul appeared flustered

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