Confessions of a Reluctant Recessionista

that, at present, they had a staff of just six people: himself and Oliver, Melanie, who covered marketing, Peter and Fabio who took care of research and purchasing and Aidan who dealt with all the IT. The fact that it was such a small team boded well: opportunities to rise up through the ranks – and to break out of the assistant mould – were far more likely to present themselves in a team of seven than in a team of seven hundred.
    I arrived back at the flat ready to open the bottle of Moët which I’d bought to replace Jude’s offering.Drinking before midday is not something I usually do, but since I’d already started, it seemed reasonable enough to carry on. In any case, that day I felt as though I’d been given a reprieve; I’d been flat on my back, strapped to the gurney, waiting for the lethal injection and at five minutes to midnight the Governor had called. A bit melodramatic, perhaps, but I was days away from defaulting on my many debts. In any case, I burst through the front door, yelling, ‘Jude! Crack out the champagne! I’m no longer unemployed!’
    Silence. That’s odd. She doesn’t go into college on Fridays. The door hadn’t been double-locked so I was pretty sure she was in.
    ‘Jude!’ I called out again. ‘Where are you? You’re not in bed, are you? It’s nearly twelve o’clock, for God’s sake.’ I gave her door a perfunctory knock before pushing it open. Then I closed it again. Very quickly.
    ‘Shit. Sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry,’ I called through the door. I could hear some muffled giggling from the other side. ‘Hi, Matt,’ I said. ‘Good to see you again.’ I’d been so wrapped up in thoughts of my job interview I’d completely forgotten Matt was arriving today.
    Several hours later (to be fair to them they hadn’t seen each other in months), the happy couple emerged.
    ‘Sorry about the interruption,’ I said, feeling myself blush as I said it.
    ‘Did you interrupt?’ Matt asked with a grin. ‘I didn’tnotice.’ He came over and gave me a kiss. He looked very tanned and very tired.
    ‘How was Sierra Leone?’ I asked.
    ‘Good. Bit grim in parts, but basically promising. Darfur, on the other hand …’ he passed his hand over his eyes and shrugged, ‘… doesn’t bear thinking about.’
    Jude was hopping about from one foot to the other, clearly desperate to say something but not wanting to interrupt.
    ‘So?’ she asked. ‘What happened? You were yelling earlier – I couldn’t really hear what you were saying …’
    ‘The earth was moving,’ Matt said.
    ‘Of course it was … So? Was it good yelling or bad yelling?’
    ‘It was good yelling. Very good yelling.’
    Over a glass of champagne or three, we decided that we’d all go out to dinner to celebrate Matt’s (temporary) return to the UK and my new job.
    ‘I’ll get this one,’ Jude said. ‘You can repay the favour once you’re a successful wine entrepreneur.’
    The three of us headed into town to the Anchor & Hope in Waterloo. As usual, the place was packed to the rafters, but Jude, who used to work behind the bar, managed to get us a table straight away.
    ‘For three?’ the waitress asked us.
    ‘Four, please,’ Jude said.
    ‘Three,’ I corrected her.
    ‘No, four,’ she said with a smile.
    ‘Awww – you invited Ali! That’s so sweet of you,Jude,’ I said, squeezing her arm. The waitress escorted us through the pub to a table at the back and took our drinks orders. ‘You know Ali isn’t drinking at the moment,’ I told Jude and Matt. ‘She’s just … being healthy. Don’t make a big deal out of it, OK?’ The pregnancy was still not common knowledge.
    ‘OK,’ they chirruped in unison, grinning at me.
    ‘What?’ I asked them. ‘I know you’ve just spent eight hours shagging but do you have to look quite so pleased with yourselves? You’re starting to make me feel ill.’ The waitress brought over a bottle of red. She was just pouring me a glass when I saw him, pushing through the crowd, walking towards us.
    ‘Jesus Christ, Jude!’ I hissed at her. ‘You invited Jake? Do you not recall that he isn’t speaking to me?’ There was no time for her to reply, he was already upon us, he was standing right next to the table. He was tall. He was incredibly tall. Had he always been that tall? He bent down to give me a kiss on the cheek.
    ‘Congratulations on the new job, Cassie,’ he said with a smile. He was wearing jeans and a white Fred Perry shirt underneath