Never Mind The Botox: Rachel by Penny Avis Read Free Book Online Page A

year. Will you come with me?’
    ‘If I have to,’ said Harry.
    At least that’s a yes, Rachel thought.
    ‘Great, I’d really like you to,’ said Rachel. ‘It’s black tie so we’ll have a chance to dress up for a change, which will be fun.’ She held her breath slightly.
    ‘Oh, you’re joking! That’s not my idea of fun. And besides, I don’t have a penguin suit,’ said Harry.
    ‘That’s okay, I can hire one for you. There’s a suit hire place just near the office.’
    ‘Fine,’ he said, looking sulky.
    ‘Come on, Harry, it’s not that bad. I go to loads of your work things.’
    ‘That’s because they’re fun. Your work parties are boring as hell.’
    ‘That’s so not true,’ said Rachel. ‘You just can’t be bothered to make an effort.’
    ‘Rubbish. I talked to loads of people at the last one,’ said Harry.
    ‘Only after you’d pretty much drunk your own body weight in red wine and then you mostly insulted them.’
    They sat in silence, glaring at each other, for a few moments.
    Rachel decided to change tack. ‘Look, Harry, I really need the next few months to go well for me. The director promotions are coming up and I could do with staying under the radar. Let’s just go and try to have a nice time, shall we? I promise I’ll make it up to you.’ She put her hand on the inside of Harry’s thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze.
    ‘If you say so,’ said Harry, pushing her hand away and getting up. He went into the sitting room and turned on the TV.
    Rachel stayed in the kitchen. Why were these conversations so hard? And why did they always end up arguing? To most people, getting an invitation to a party was a good thing. Maybe she just had to accept that Harry would never be interested in her work. She knew he was interested in her, and after all, that was what mattered.

Chapter 5
    Rachel and Rosa spent the next morning preparing a list of invoices that they needed to get out from filing. Once they’d finished they went into the accounts department and set themselves up on a spare desk near a long row of grey filing cabinets. Around them, the finance team were chatting away, making coffee for each other and generally getting on with the jobs of the day.
    ‘It’s got a nice atmosphere this place, don’t you think?’ Rosa said.
    ‘Yes it has. They’re a pretty friendly bunch. I wonder if they get an employee discount on treatments,’ said Rachel.
    ‘Ooh, I hadn’t thought of that,’ said Rosa. ‘That would be quite a perk! We should see if we can spot people who’ve had something done. Mind you, I guess if they’re as good as they say they are here, we probably won’t be able to tell those who’ve had something done from those who haven’t.’
    ‘But don’t you think that the office staff here are generally more attractive than your average accounts team, though?’ Rachel asked. ‘Where’s the standard stock of dowdy women and overweight men in zipped cardigans?’
    Rosa looked around. She had to admit that the number of flat stomachs, pouting mouths and feline eye shapes was probably quite a bit higher than in the rest of the population.
    ‘Yup, fair point,’ said Rosa. ‘You can’t blame them, though, can you? I mean, if you work in a cake shop where they give you free cakes, you’re bound to eat them at some point.’
    Just as Rosa was talking, a tall skinny woman with a smooth, expressionless face walked past their desk. Rachel nodded at Rosa knowingly and sucked in her cheeks. Rosa looked at the woman, who immediately smiled at her and said ‘Good morning’ in a singsong voice.
    ‘Oh, er, yes, good morning,’ said Rosa, rather caught off guard and trying hard not to laugh. ‘Rachel!’ she said once the woman was out of earshot.
    ‘What? You were the one who wanted to play spot the nose job,’ said Rachel, laughing. ‘I couldn’t let a classic frozen fish face go unnoticed. Anyway, that’s quite enough taking the piss out of the client. We should