Clare returned to Bristol one Saturday in early July. It was decided that she would stay with Angie and Matthew for the time being. There was plenty of room in the house and it would be good for them all; company for Angie when Matthew was out on call at night and company for Clare who was still grieving. Clare was happy with the arrangement. She would have her own bedroom upstairs and turn the small study downstairs into a sitting room.

It was odd, but as Monday morning approached Clare felt nervous about going back to work and she arrived early with Angie, not wanting to be conspicuous. When they arrived in the Partners' Corridor, Angie went off to the ladies, but Mark spotted Clare and followed her into their office.

"Good morning, Clare." he said "It's nice to see you back where you belong." He flashed a showy smile of perfect, white teeth.

"Good morning, Mark." she replied. "It looks like it's going to be a nice day."

"Especially for Alan, he's been like a bear with a sore head." Mark laughed and Clare laughed with him. He then left.

On Clare's desk was a small bunch of pink rose buds in a glass vase. Picking up the card she read, 'Welcome Home Clare,' it was signed by Bob and Alan. Tears pricked her eyes.

'They're so thoughtful.' she whispered to herself.

Alan came in just then, looking very smart in a navy blue suit with a pale blue shirt and a dark blue tie. "Mrs Porter, I presume?" he said taking her hand. "Haven't we've met somewhere before?" Clare smiled. He shook her hand sedately and grinning boyishly, went into his office and closed the door behind him. Angie came in and the day began in earnest. They happily settled down into the ways of the Dixon and Halfpenny office. Hard work and enjoyment!

The next day, Mary and Catherine came in to see Clare.

"I'm sorry, Clare, we know you've only just come back," said Mary "but we need to speak to you."

"Let's go into the Conference Room." said Clare and she led them in and closed the door. They sat down at the long table.

"It's that Gary." said Catherine looking annoyed. "We can't stand him, he's such a loud mouthed lout he's getting us down."

"I wouldn't repeat what he said to me!" said Mary "I'm a happily married woman, I don't want to hear those kind of remarks. I know I'm overweight, but that's none of his business."

"It's that bad is it?" asked Clare.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is," said Catherine "I was going to hand in my notice, but I heard you were coming back and I thought that you might sort it out for us."

"Oh, don't leave, I'm sure we can work something out. When did Gary join us?"

"A couple of months ago. He's on six month's probation. Nobody likes him and we all feel he can't be trusted." Clare told them she would discuss the problem with Bob and let them know his decision. They all went back to their respective offices.

Clare sat down at her desk, thinking the problem through. There was a spare office next to them, perhaps it would be better if Mary and Catherine moved in there? It would be more peaceful away from the 'kid brothers' and it might prove more productive for the whole office. She mentioned it to Angie.

"What do you think, Angie?"

"That's brilliant, I don't know why we didn't think of it. It would give them more room. It's been squashed in their office since Gary came."

"And nobody thought of it?"

"No, it took you to think of it because you're good with people and you always sort them out."

"You missed me then?" smiled Clare.

"We all missed you and we're so pleased that you're back."

"Alan certainly missed me, everyone keeps telling me he was like a bear with a sore head." said Clare, laughing.

Clare had a lovely second day in the office. She had a discussion with Bob and he agreed that Mary and Catherine should move into the empty office, but said to hold fire for the moment, as he needed to talk to Alan about an office meeting.

Alan came in to talk to them during the afternoon and he and Angie explained to Clare about Gary. She hadn't met him yet and was beginning to wonder why they'd taken him on.

"It was Bob." said Alan "A friend asked him if we had a job for his son and Bob, without thinking properly, said we could do with more staff."

"Gary's a mad driver." said Angie "He's drives around like a lunatic. He squeals the tyres and everything. And you should see his girl friend!" Angie stopped. "No, you wouldn't want to see his girl friend." she said puckering her nose.

"More to the point, he's selfish and arrogant and hard to get along with." said Alan seriously. "He's a piece of work, but I'm pretty sure he'll dig a hole and then fall into it. He's that sort of a guy."

The next day, Angie introduced Gary to Clare when he came into their office. Clare could see what they meant. He did seem arrogant. He looked Clare up and down in a leering way, like Brian Breeze from Williamson's. It made her flesh crawl!

That afternoon, Clare had her own encounter with Gary. She was upstairs, opening the stationery room with the key, when Gary walked by and whispered crude remarks in her ear. He laughed, obviously thinking it funny. Clare was disgusted and she shouted at him. "How dare you! You won't get away with this." Gary sneered at her, brushed rudely past and walked away.

Several people came out of the upstairs office to see what the commotion was about and Clare was embarrassed. By now she was shaking with anger. "Are you all right Clare?" asked Geoff, who was standing by her side.

"Yes, I'm all right, but I'm going to find Bob." she said. She waited for the lift and when it arrived Geoff followed her in, protectively. On reaching the ground floor he asked,

"Are you sure you're all right, Clare? I know what that Gary's like. He's not nice. No, not nice at all."

"Yes, Geoff," she said, patting his arm. "I'm all right. I'll go and find Bob. You're a good friend." She reassured Geoff who, satisfied she could cope, went back upstairs in the lift.

Clare wandered into the Partners' Corridor and knocked on Bob's door. "Come in" he called. When Clare walked in, Bob was standing by the open window smoking. He turned sharply towards her and quickly stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray on his desk. Although there was a no smoking policy in the office, Bob chose to ignore it.

"Oh! Clare. Is there something wrong?"

"I'm sorry to trouble you, I know you're busy, but I've got a complaint to make."

"Oh no, it's not Gary is it?"

"Yes, how did you guess?"

"What's he done now?" asked Bob.

"He said something very inappropriate to me and I'm quite disgusted, it was extremely crude. No one has ever spoken to me like that before."

"I'm so sorry Clare, that's awful. Sit down, I'll fetch you a cup of coffee."

Clare was relieved to sit down as she was trembling. Bob brought her a coffee and apologised profusely.

"I'm so sorry, Clare." he said.

"It's not your fault, Bob, it's him."

"But it is my fault Clare, it is. I took him on as a favour to a friend. Believe me when I say I regret that decision every day. I'll never do it again."

"Oh dear." said Clare.

"Yes, oh dear!" said Bob. And his eyebrows jumped up and down with the gravity of the situation.