“Good morning Jay!.. Did you have a nice holiday?”
“Yes thanks Simon.. It was very ..err.. different.. Yes.. that would probably be the best way of describing it” Jay wanted to kick himself for maybe giving too much away.
“Why’s that?”
“Oh.. it was nothing really.. It wasn’t quite as relaxing as it could’ve been.. what with family and all”
“Yes.. I know all about that.. We took the mother in law on holiday once.. It made Disneyland feel like a nightmare on Elm Street. Unfortunately we had to bring her back”
Jay laughed, then caught a glimpse of an unobtrusive gold ring on Simon’s hand which shone in the sun light. It bore a distinctive motif - a sword and a serpent – just like the police inspector’s tie pin.
Simon looked up at Jay’s hair “Not wishing to be intrusive Jay.. but what’s with the hair colour?”
“Oh that.. that was just a holiday prank.. some friends decided to take advantage of me whilst I was sleeping.. It’ll wash out”
Simon stared into Jay’s eyes with a look that told him that he knew Jay was lying. “Aha..” Simon walked over to Jay, put his arm around his shoulder and walked him away from the others in the office towards the coffee machine “..Paul has been very impressed with your work on CHAPS Jay.. I’ve heard you’ve also been doing some good stuff with expenses?”
“Yes.. I made a little script.. It wasn’t much really” replied Jay.
“Excellent initiative Jay!.. That’s exactly what makes a good leader!..” Simon pulled himself round and stood in front of a rather confused Jay “..I want to send you on a management training course.. if you up for it?”
Jay thought for a moment, trying to take in what was being said.
“Yeah.. err.. yes.. I would love to!.. Thank you!”
“Good to hear Jay!.. I’ll let Management Training know.. They’ll get in touch with you and coordinate the rest”
“Thanks Simon” Jay walked back to his desk trying to disguise an overly self-indulgent smile. He noticed Steve had tried to call him on his mobile.
“Hi Steve.. How are you bud?.. It’s been a while”
“Hey Jay.. Yes it has. Things are fine thanks.. Are you back at work?”
“Yeah.. got back this morning.. I think the course is already paying off – the boss is going to send me on a management training course!”
“Well done!.. It was useful then?”
“Yeah.. definitely!.. I learned a lot.. more than I bargained for ..that’s for sure. Anyhow.. shouldn’t we meet up some time and catch up on things?
“Absolutely.. It won’t be easy getting hold of Ben though”
“Why’s that?”
“He’s head over heels”
“What?.. Really?.. Ben??.. Who is the poor victim this time?”
“You’re not going to believe this ..but..”
“Oh come on.. put me out of my misery Steve!”
“Well.. erm.. Ben is now going out with ..Lucy!”
“What?!.. You are joking right?.. Really?”
“Yes.. it’s true.. I went round to Ben’s the other day and it took him ages to answer the door.. Turns out Lucy was there.. and they’ve been seeing each other for several weeks apparently.. unbeknown to us”
“Good for them!.. Strange he didn’t mention it though”
“Yeah.. But they looked very happy.. and I dare say.. good together”
“That’s good to hear”
“So Jay.. how’s things with your better half?”
There was a short pause.
“Different.. things are different to what they were to be honest.. It feels as if something has changed but I can’t quite put my finger on it..”
___________________
A small parcel had been wedged into Jay’s letter box when he got home. He hadn’t ordered anything on the Internet so he opened the package carefully, trying not to think about letter bombs or Anthrax. There was a small box inside with an elastic band pulled around it. Jay opened the box slowly. There was a card with the words ‘Thank you’ hand-written in blue fountain pen ink. There were no names or initials. Jay pulled the card out to reveal a pair of silver cufflinks lying underneath, each bearing an emblem with a sword and a serpent.