Sarah was greeted by the members of the aftercare team with cheers and gentle hugs; she was pleased to see that Daryl was there, although he looked somewhat shamefaced, especially when she turned to him and he could see the dressing.  She walked over to him and took his hand.

“I’m glad to see you’re still here.”

“Sarah, I feel so bad about what happened with Natasha.”

“Don’t.  Natasha is a product of her parents; she was very persuasive as a friend, and when that didn’t work, she bullied and made threats to you.  You aren’t responsible for this.  She is.  Okay?”

Daryl nodded, and looked slightly less upset. “Did it hurt much.  When she cut you?” he asked.

“Not at the time; I was too busy trying to remember the self-defence techniques I was taught, then I was making sure that Al knew I was about to do something. He has extremely quick reactions.  By the way, I may as well tell you before the whole building knows.  Al and I have been seeing each other for a while now, and he asked me to marry him last night.”

She showed them her engagement ring proudly, and received another cheer.

“I was hoping for a cheer or two but this is more than I expected.” said Millie as she walked in through the door.

“Millie!  You’re home!”  Sarah threw her arms around her friend, almost forgetting about the cut on her face.  Millie returned the hug just as exuberantly and then held Sarah at arms-length.

“Al told me that you’d been in an accident but he wouldn’t give me any more information.  He said that you’d explain.  In fact, he was extremely mysterious, and now he’s grinning.  What’s gone on while I’ve been away?”

“More to the point, what have you been up to while you’ve been away?  You said you had a surprise.”

Millie went back out through the door and returned holding the hand of a young girl dressed in a sari. She looked around and smiled at everyone, but appeared rather shy.

“Allow me to introduce Jiara; Tom’s half-sister,” said Millie proudly.   “I’m afraid her parents died some years ago.  Her older sisters are married with children, and Jiara has always wanted to come to England.  So, she has come to stay with me.”

“You are very welcome, and Tom will be so pleased to find that he has a sister.” said Sarah.  “This seems like a good time to tell you that I shall be moving out of the flat.  Al and I are engaged.”

Sarah held out her hand for Millie to examine the ring and was rewarded with another hug.

“No wonder Al was grinning!  I shall be sad to lose you as a flatmate Sarah, but I can’t think of two people better suited to each other.”

The room went quiet as Oliver stood in the doorway, hands on his hips and not looking too happy. Millie walked over to him and gave him a gentle hug, whispering in his ear, “Stop looking so miserable Oz.  We have a great deal to celebrate, and I still don’t know why my friend is walking around with a dressing on her face.”

“You may think that you have a lot to celebrate Millie, but in a week’s time we may all be looking for another job if the show gets shut down – or haven’t you been brought up to date by your best friend yet?”

“Oliver, I have just flown home from India.  I am tired, and I could have gone home and stayed there till next Monday when my holiday ends. Now that I’ve told everyone that I’m back I think that I WILL go home – if that’s okay with you?”

Oliver shrugged and stomped off down the corridor. Sarah felt like rushing after him and giving him a good kick up the bum.  Al raised his eyebrows in warning, and Millie touched her arm.

“Leave him. He’ll calm down and feel very sorry eventually.  Here’s Jenny!  I’m back but I’m going home to unpack.  Can I introduce you to Jiara, Tom’s half-sister?  She’s coming to stay with us.  Is there any chance I can steal Sarah away?  We have a lot of catching up to do.”

“Of course.  It’s good to have you back Millie,” said Jenny.  “Sarah can explain why Oliver is in such a foul mood as well. I meant to say, well done Sarah, so far, the press call has had some positive results online.  Even that young whippersnapper from the Mail had something nice to say about you.”

They said their goodbyes, and went back downstairs to the entrance; Al arranged for a black cab to take them back to the flat and promised to come round when he finished work.  His boss was also very happy with all the positive publicity for the security firm. The journey home was filled with Sarah explaining the attack, and the possible repercussions from the inquest on the guest who committed suicide.  Millie was rather stunned at Natasha’s level of involvement in all the things that had gone wrong while she was away.  Jiara was quiet, but Sarah could see that she was fascinated by the conversation and taking it all in.

Getting Millie and Jiara’s luggage up to the flat took some time, and once inside Millie and Sarah collapsed on the sofa.  Jiara looked around, unsure about what to do.  Buster strolled out of Sarah’s bedroom, and jumped up on the sofa, making a beeline for Millie. Then he spotted Jiara, and in a rare moment of sociability, jumped down again and began to rub himself around her ankles, emitting a loud and unusual purr when she stroked his head.

“This is Buster, Jiara.  He is usually cross and will only pay attention to people if they are giving him food. He seems to have taken a liking to you though.  Did you want to have a bit of a lie down and snuggle with him?”

Jiara nodded vigorously.

“My room’s a bit of a mess at the moment but I changed the sheets in your room and Tom’s.” said Sarah.

“Tom’s room will be fine.  I’ll show you the way.”

Millie took Jiara down the hallway and showed her where the bathroom was on the way.  Sarah could see that there was already a bond between the two of them by the way that Jiara responded to Millie’s hug.  She took advantage of their temporary absence to put the coffee maker on.  Millie reappeared and sat down at the dining table with a small sigh.

“I had to bring her home with me Sarah.  She’ll be twenty-one in a few months, and her sisters were making noises about marrying her off.  She is so bright and wants to continue her studies; where better than here?”

“What happened to Ram?  Did he ever find out about Tom?”

“Not for some time; his mother intercepted my letters but didn’t destroy them luckily.  He found them after she died, but that was only a few years ago. He wanted to come looking for us, but his wife was poorly, and Ram wasn’t in the best of health either.  He died about a year ago and that’s why the trail had dried up when you went searching for him. When I arrived in India and started making enquiries, I was pointed in the direction of Ram’s daughters, and the family solicitor. According to his will, Ram had left a substantial amount to Tom, and to any of his children who were still single at the time of his death. Ram felt that his two older daughters should be the responsibility of their husbands; they were not happy about this and tried to get the will overturned, but failed.  When she heard about Tom, and her own legacy, Jiara begged me to take her back to England with me.  How could I refuse Sarah?  She is the spitting image of Ram, and by taking her under my wing, I feel that I’m doing what he would have wanted for her.”

Sarah nodded.  “It’s a shame that you two didn’t get to meet up, but at least you know that Ram was aware of Tom, and that he wanted to do the best for him.  I was worrying about moving to Al’s but now that you have Jiara here, you and Buster will have plenty of company.  I bet you’re really looking forward to taking Jiara for some retail therapy!”

“I am, but is the situation with the show really that serious?”

“You and I are both in the clear because you were down in Cambridge with Tom, and I hadn’t started working on the show at the time.  Blame for the mishandling falls squarely at Natasha’s door, but it’s Oliver that will be criticised the most heavily.  There is evidence of the nasty way he spoke to the poor chap; as he and Jenny co-signed Natasha’s contract they are responsible for employing her in the first place.  I don’t mind telling you Millie, I was more scared of Natasha than Marta; the evil things she was saying just spurred Marta on.  I was lucky that Al stepped in when he did, much more and I think it would have been Natasha who was doing the stabbing.”

“So, tell me more about you and Al? Is this the real thing this time?”

Sarah blushed and looked down at the ring on her hand.

“We went out for a drink and a meal after you flew out.  We had a wonderful evening and I think we both felt it was the start of something.  I knew for definite the first time I visited his home.  That was after Marta tried to hold me captive here.  I’ve loved living here Millie, but Al’s cottage shows a side of him that most people don’t see.  I got totally lost in his library of amazing books; some of my favourites but quite a few that I’ve always wanted to read.  He took me round to meet his sister Maggie, and his nieces and nephew.  They were so welcoming and obviously adore Al.  It was Maggie that gave Al the ring to give me; it used to belong to their Mother.   You’ve known him a lot longer than me, you know what a special man he is, don’t you?”

Millie laughed. “I knew that Al had his eye on you right from the start.  He’s not known for showing his feelings, but I could see by the way he watched you – and watched out for you – that there was the beginning of something good. Stay at Al’s at night but don’t be in too much of a rush to move out; Jiara will be happy enough in Tom’s room for now, she was a bit like Cinderella with her two ugly sisters. Having privacy and opportunities to do what she wants are just what she needs now.  She misses Ram terribly.”

“Were they really that bad?”

“I never met Ram’s wife, but looking at the family pictures when I visited, the sisters definitely don’t take after Ram in their looks, intelligence or manners.”

“How do you and Jiara get on?”

“I think we took a shine to each other from the start, that was before all the legal stuff began. The woman who was helping me find out information on Ram and his family introduced us, and help to track down the solicitor. He wasn’t quite so pleased to see me at first; I was the wicked English woman who bore a son to Ram out of wedlock after all. Jiara is such a quick learner, and is fascinated by everything around her.  I think the sisters were hoping to make some money out of marrying her off. I also think that’s why the solicitor helped us in the end.”

Millie yawned.  The day’s travel was taking its toll.

“Go and lie down.  Al won’t be here for another couple of hours yet, and I’ll get some of my stuff packed.  He went shopping yesterday so there are plenty of goodies in the fridge.  I’ll go home with him tonight though; I think you and Jiara need to settle in here together.  Buster has already made his feelings known!”

“In the words of the song – wake me up before you go-go.”

Millie hugged Sarah, managing quite skillfully to avoid the dressing on her face.

Buster had decided that he did not want to share a bed with Sarah and Al that night; Sarah had closed all the other doors, so he had to settle on the sofa.  When they emerged the next morning, he made a mad dash for Sarah’s bed and sat on the pillows bristling and growling ominously.  Feeling that even Buster’s tantrums could do little to spoil her mood, Sarah left him where he was, and after putting his food down and cleaning out the litter tray, she got on with finding something to them both to eat that wouldn’t be affected by pre-press call nerves.  Al was very reassuring on the drive to work, but reminded her that she couldn’t refer to any details regarding Marta, Natasha or the pending Coroner’s verdict.

“Just stick to the fact that your attackers are unwell, and that you are extremely grateful for the self-defence lessons, and that fact the night security guard was so on the ball.”

“And you.  You were on the ball too.”

“Just be prepared for the tabloid journos to make nasty comments about us.”

“Will they? Really?”

“The trashy ones probably will.  I’ve stood in at too many of these press calls; they start off well enough but if you don’t give them what you want, they start digging at you.  Bit like Oliver really.”

“Oh, well.  If I can handle Oliver …”

“Just don’t let them wind you up, and if in doubt blink at me.”

“No sucker punches this time though.”

“Okay.  Here we go.  We’ll probably have to run a bit of a gauntlet just to get in the studio.  Just keep walking and smile – a bit.”

There was a crowd of people outside the door; fluffy microphone booms, cameras, and handheld microphones.  Al managed to shield Sarah from them and get her in through the side doors.  The camera flashes were blinding and disorientating, causing her to regret making the decision to come into work today.  Jenny was waiting by the security desk, and gave her a hug, carefully avoiding the dressing side of Sarah’s face.  The press call was scheduled for nine-thirty in one of the recording studios.  Al signed them both in, gave Sarah her lanyard, and then, as defiant gesture, he took the hand that was wearing the engagement ring and kissed it, before whispering in her ear.

“Be strong.  This will all blow over quickly. I’ll see you at the press call.”

Jenny and Sarah went upstairs in the lift, for a meeting with Oliver and some of the legal team about what should and shouldn’t be said.

“How bad is it under the dressing?” asked Oliver.

Jenny showed him the picture she’d been sent yesterday.

“Ouch.  You came off worse then?”

“Not really, Al knocked Marta out with a punch, and Natasha broke her ankle again when she fell over. The pair of them were hell bent on stabbing me.  The knife came from Natasha’s Mummy’s kitchen apparently.”

“That woman has a lot to answer for.  Am I right in thinking that Natasha has left a trail of disaster in her wake?”

The woman from the Legal team produced a printed list from her folder and handed it to Oliver.

“Jesus Christ!” he said, “Who employed this nasty little female in the first place?”

“Erm. You did,” she said, “Sorry Oliver, but your signature is on her contract, and yours is too, Jenny.  We are well aware that there was pressure from the Chief Executive’s department due to Natasha’s mother being employed there.  There is also a question of the girl’s references; they were never followed up, again possibly due to her mother’s position in the Chief Execs office.  Looking more closely at them, the information is largely identical, and can be traced back to members of the maternal family who should never have given references in the first place.  We’ve checked out her CV as well now; her actual exam grades were very poor; she didn’t attend a university or get a degree. Under normal circumstances she wouldn’t have even got through to an interview stage.”

Oliver and Jenny were looking very uncomfortable; the woman turned to Sarah with another piece of paper.

“This is a list of subjects that we don’t want you to discuss at the press call, Sarah.  You were not employed by the company at the time when the gentleman took his life, and I believe that your colleague Millie was on leave.  As a consequence, you are not to be drawn into answering any questions regarding the inquest. As far as we can see, the situation regarding your attacker was dealt with efficiently, and the only fly in the ointment appears to have been Natasha acting on her own agenda. By the same token, the security staff acted in a timely and effective manner, but we understand that you are in a relationship with one of the staff, and this may draw some unwanted questions.  You must be careful not to name any names as both females involved in the attack are under investigation.  Is that clear?”

Sarah nodded and put the piece of paper down on the desk.

“I was hoping to focus on the importance of getting help for people who behave in a way where they may harm themselves or anyone else.  I was also hoping to say something about the importance of self-defence techniques for women and girls.  If I hadn’t had those lessons as a part of my job, I might possible have been very badly injured or even dead. Touching on the actions of the security staff; Al asked me to marry him yesterday, and my answer was yes.  This is not being done out of gratitude, we’ve actually been seeing each for some months now, but we were quite discreet about it, weren’t we Jenny?”

Jenny nodded, feeling at last that this was something that she had actually done right.

“If you ask Al, he will quite categorically tell you that he didn’t save my life; the communication between us was so good that he was able to understand that I was about to do something to alter the situation, and I needed him to be ready to react. He is a brave and very intelligent man, and I don’t like the way you dismiss him as ‘just a security guard’. Mike, the guy who was on night duty, also played a very important part in the whole incident too.  If anyone deserves some gratitude and praise, he does too. I appreciate the importance of not saying any more than I need to say, and not allowing myself to be goaded by any over-eager reporters.  I’m doing this press call because I hope it will give the whole team some much-needed positive publicity.  I sustained a minor injury, the people responsible were arrested, and those who provided support and medical treatment did an excellent job.  Will that do?”

There was a bit of a stunned silence, and then a round of applause, particularly from Jenny.  Feeling that she had said enough, Sarah went into the wardrobe and makeup room, and allowed herself to be subjected to some very gentle hair-brushing, a dab or two of powder and reapplication of lipstick. Jenny led her down to the sound stage, where Al was already waiting, together with Oliver and two of the legal team.  The usually crowded audience area held half a dozen reporters with microphones and cameras.  Sarah recognised some of them from outside the building; there was one young man in particular who had been particularly pushy as they were trying to get in through the doors.

It wasn’t easy, and Sarah felt the strain of media manipulation as every comment she made was subjected to being twisted and misinterpreted, especially by the unpleasant young man. She decided that smiling at him was the best technique, as the pain it caused helped her to focus and not be tricked into saying anything unnecessary. The other members of the media were more obliging, and eventually they were telling the young man to shut up, and let someone else ask questions.

Then it was over. Equipment was switched off and the room emptied.  Al took Sarah’s hand, and gave her an indiscreet kiss on the pain-free cheek.

“You were awesome; especially with that scrawny little idiot from the Mail.”

“The Mail!  I could have guessed.  Let’s hope the more responsible reporters will print the truth rather some sensationalist rubbish.  Luckily no one I know reads that paper anyway.  I guess we’d better get out of here so they can set up for filming this afternoon?”

“Sorry Sarah.” said Jenny.  “We’ve cancelled today’s recording.  We lost most of yesterday being tied up with the investigations into the inquest, so there wasn’t enough time to prepare for today.  We’ve got some cases lined up for Friday but nothing even vaguely controversial.”

“That’s right!  Friday’s show will be a sanitised version.” said Oliver coldly.

“I take it that the guests still have problems to work through though?  Perhaps this is a time when we need to be more pastoral and less confrontational.”

“Saint Sarah! I hope that I know rather more about what the viewing public wants than you do.”

“I’m sure that you do Oliver.  Strangely enough, even after all that’s happened, I can still see the good in people, and I hope that never changes. I’m due for painkillers now, so if you’ll excuse me?”

Al ushered a very angry Sarah out of the sound stage and into the nearest pod.  He checked to make sure that the camera was switched off, and held her very close. He could sense that she was on the verge of tears, but determined not to cry in front of Oliver.  He passed her his handkerchief.

“Ungrateful little git!” she muttered.

“Yes, he is.  I’ve no doubt that he’ll get it in the neck from his wife when he gets home.  Do you want to hear some good news?”

“Yes please?”

“Millie’s home and she’s on the way over with her surprise.  She said that she couldn’t wait until you got home.  I take it that your phone has been switched off?”

“Hasn’t been switched on since we got here this morning.  When did she text you?”

“Just before the press call.  I had a feeling you might need something to cheer you up afterwards.”

“I do love you, Al.”

“It’s mutual.  I need to get back downstairs to the front desk so that I can greet Millie and bring her upstairs.  Will you be okay now?”

“I’ll go back to the office, and see what the team think of my Phantom disguise.”