In Your Dreams by Tom Holt, Tom Holt Read Free Book Online Page A

some of the time. I help out with a lot of different stuff, actually. While I’m making up my mind which field I want to specialise in, you know.’
    â€˜Amazing.’
    (But this is wrong , yelled a little voice inside his head. This time yesterday, you were in love with Sophie for ever and ever. In fact – how do the time zones work, is California eight hours behind or eight hours in front? – quite possibly, where Sophie was right now it was probably still yesterday; and already, here he was: Paul Carpenter, love’s lemming, adding to his already impressive collection of Frequent Faller points. The rebound is one thing, but the human heart shouldn’t be a pinball machine. Wrong —)
    â€˜Well,’ his voice said, ignoring all that, ‘it’s just a job, really, better than digging peat or stacking shelves. I’d have jacked it in long ago, only—’ Yet another nasty thought struck him. ‘Melze,’ he said, ‘have they made you sign a contract or anything? Only, there’s this clause—’
    She shook her head. ‘They told me about that,’ she said. ‘That’s just for the professional staff. General help like me, we can come and go as we please. I suppose they reckon we can’t give away trade secrets to rival firms because we don’t know any, and if we tried to blow the whistle on them, for being wizards and all, or sell the story to the tabloids, nobody’d believe us because we’re just silly girls.’ She shrugged. ‘Which is fine,’ she said. ‘Actually, I think I’ll stick around for a while. I mean, it’s weird, yes, but it’s a bloody sight better than the dump I was at before. One ten-minute coffee-break, and the staff room had cockroaches.’
    â€˜That’s—’ Paul bit off the rest of the sentence. He’d been about to say, That’s wonderful, I’m so glad you’re going to be working here. But why not? After all, she was his oldest friend. ‘That’s disgusting,’ he said. ‘What’s the coffee room like, by the way? I’ve never dared go in there.’
    â€˜Haven’t you? Why not? Is there a manticore in the cupboard under the sink or something?’
    Worse than that, it’s always full of girls. All a manticore can do is eat you. ‘I don’t think so,’ he said. ‘But you never know around here. I mean, one of the staplers in the front office turned out to be the senior partner.’
    Melze giggled. ‘I heard about that,’ she said; and then (slight change of tone of voice): ‘Wasn’t it you who rescued him?’
    â€˜Yes, me and—’ Pause. ‘Me and one of the other clerks. She’s not here any more, though. Got posted to the Hollywood office.’
    Paul had done his best to gloss over the obtrusive pronoun, but Melze was on to it like a ferret on a lame rat. She didn’t say anything, but the focus of her eyes changed a little. ‘And how about you, then?’ she said. ‘Anyone special?’
    And that, Paul couldn’t help thinking, was a bloody good question. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Not right now.’ He hoped she’d grown out of the knack of knowing when he was lying. ‘You?’
    She shook her head; and he made a point of not noticing the way her hair floated round her shoulders. ‘Not since the creep at Uni, really. Before him, lots. All messy and horrid. Truth is,’ she went on, ‘I’m not particularly good at—’ He could hear her open the inverted commas – ‘relationships. Someone once said I fall in love like a young subaltern going over the top in 1914. A bit harsh, but basically true. I’m surprised you’re still on the loose, though.’
    Eek , Paul thought. That was a topic that ought to be sealed off by angels with flaming swords and Rottweilers. Time for a change of subject. ‘So,