The Syndicate by GJ Minett

Author:GJ Minett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction

15

May 2018

Clapham

Anna has never been one to ponder life’s great questions as to the true nature of things. The way she looks at it, when your mother walks out on you barely a month after you turn seven and your father effectively withdraws from family life, abdicating responsibility for you and your younger sister, you barely have time to draw breath, let alone indulge in philosophical speculation. When she was at school, her friend Cassie had a ring binder and on the front it said something like: When you are up to your neck in alligators, it’s easy to forget that the goal was to drain the swamp. She never had any trouble working out what it meant. At fifteen she was doing nothing but fighting off alligators and eight years later they’re still coming at her in droves. And the swamp, as far as she’s concerned, can look after itself.

Every so often though, there is a chink of light, a parting of the clouds that makes it possible, however fleetingly, to believe that beyond the chaos and random nature of life, there just might be some underlying sense of order, a pattern that brings everything together in a coherent and convincing way if only you can find the time and space to see it. And today has been one of those days.

As she lies back in the bath, with the steam working on her pores and the bubbles foaming under her chin, she closes her eyes and reflects that there just might be a God after all. She signed the contracts for Praia D’El Rey a week ago and is due to fly out in just over a fortnight. Her flight is booked, she’s spoken to the manager of Cristi’s about her accommodation and what she’ll need to bring with her. At work they were a little on the shitty side but even they aren’t closing any doors for good and they suggested, albeit grudgingly, that there may even be a way back in for her if she needs it in the autumn. For the past few days she has been walking on air, smiling her way through the tours even as the rain hammered on her umbrella and found its way inside the upturned collar of her raincoat. She can do that, knowing it won’t be for much longer. Everything is set fair. No clouds on the horizon.

Except one.

Every morning since Ches broke the news to her that evening in The Ascot Lounge, she’s promised herself that she’ll ring Emmie and let her know. And every evening, she’s found herself bottling it. Her sister’s term finishes towards the end of next month and she’s got a holiday job lined up at a local dance school in Northampton where she’s worked for the past two summers, helping with the younger children. She’ll be working there until she goes back for her final year at the Dance Academy – apart, that is, from a two-week break when she’s booked time off to come to London and live it up with her big sister.

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