Even though it was meant to be summer, the sky above him was a deep, dark gun-metal grey. It was three-layers cold and the lack of office girls in skimpy tops on their way to work made him wonder if he had missed the memo about the entire season being cancelled. As it happened, a beautiful summer’s day would have been completely wasted on Ian, given his current mood. Although some fifteen hours had passed since Emma had broken the news that she would be temping in his office for a whole month, Ian was still finding it hard to come to terms with. He had put on a brave face as he took her out to Brindley Place for a drink and a bite to eat, and did his best to fuss over her and make it clear that he was really happy. But the truth was very different. He wasn’t happy. He wasn’t happy for her at all. The more she kept going on about how much fun it would be getting the bus to work together, having lunch together and getting to put names to all the faces of his work friends, the more Ian thought that this was the end of life as he knew it.
