The Startling Inaccuracy of the First Impression by A.E. Radley

Author:A.E. Radley
Language: eng
Format: epub

22

The Real Reason for Early Retirement

Verity grazed her fingers over the touchpad of the laptop to scroll further into the document. She was proud that Katie had asked her to read through the article she had been working on.

Ordinarily, Katie flew through writing briefs and claimed them, wrote them, and submitted them in no time at all. This project was different; it was a longer piece which Katie had been struggling with for the last few days.

Apparently, she frequently worked with the client and was keen to keep up her high standards even though she was still struggling with pain as well as pain medication.

Verity had jumped at the chance to read some of Katie’s work and to lend a hand. So far, she’d mainly been assisting Katie through keeping her company and ensuring she ate. The latter could easily be a full-time job.

“If anything doesn’t make sense,” Katie said for the umpteenth time.

“Shh.” Verity waved a hand in her direction. She’d proofread things before, she knew the drill.

Katie pushed herself up from the sofa and slowly walked out of the living room to give Verity some privacy. Verity couldn’t help but look over the top of her glasses and watch Katie leave.

The young woman was getting stronger every day, but that didn’t stop Verity from keeping a very close eye on her. It was nearly two weeks since the accident, and Katie would soon be fully recovered. She’d yet to go outside by herself, her energy level and fear of being around people both preventing that final step. Verity knew that Katie would soon plateau and need to take that last step in order to build up her strength and get fully back to normal.

She’d not brought it up yet, but she knew the time was coming.

Talk of the future wasn’t something she was keen to bring up. She knew that topic would shine a big spotlight on the elephant in the room: the fact that it had been two weeks and Verity was still waiting on Katie every day.

Verity knew that Katie didn’t need the level of support she was giving. When it came to it, Katie would be able to manage just fine, but Verity needed to be there. She needed to see Katie and reassure herself that she was okay. She feared that Katie could easily fall over and put her recovery back, or struggle to change the bedding, or injure herself bending down to the washing machine.

They’d been getting on so well, falling easily into a pattern that seemed to suit them both. Verity spent most of her free time in the downstairs apartment, often knitting or sketching while Katie worked on various writing projects. They shared almost all of their meals. Things were going well.

But Verity knew it just wasn’t sustainable. The pretence that she was there to help Katie would soon be lifted. What would happen then, she had no idea.

The thought nagged at her. What would come next, and when would it

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