"DID I? You do have a good memory. It's true; there's a little place half a mile from here. I always jog there and back and stop half way for a hamburger and milkshake. I never eat lunch unless Darius drags me off with him; it breaks up the day too much. I like to work through the day until mid afternoon, then have an hour off, and when I get back I'm fit for another four or five hours work before I go home."
"I've been walking around for hours, Jude. I'm dead tired. Could you skip your jog today, and just walk at my pace to this fast-food joint? Would you mind? You can jog back after we've talked."
"OK," he said, and they set off side by side. She felt Jude eyeing her sideways, waiting for her to start talking, but somehow it was much harder than she had imagined it would be when the idea first came to her. It had seemed simple, then. Now she had cold feet.
"Bad business, this explosion in Wales," Jude said after a silence. "Darius doesn't know yet whether it was carelessness or an inherent design fault in the equipment. If it's the latter, we're in trouble."
"It must be very worrying," she said, only then looking at the events of the past twenty-four hours from Darius's point of view. She had been so busy concentrating on her own problems and fears that she hadn't thought about what was happening to Darius. "Nobody was killed, though, were they?"
"Two people were injured. Thank heavens, it was a lot less serious than we'd feared at first, but any problems with the electronic equipment can be potentially disastrous for us. Bad publicity for us."
"That's why Darius had to go to Wales at once," she accepted flatly.
"Exactly." They slowed in sight of the restaurant, which was almost empty.
Jude gave her a boyish grin. "I'm starving. I never think I'm hungry until I get here, then my stomach starts clamouring for food. A Pavlovian reaction, I'm afraid. How about you? Eaten today?"
"Yes, but I'll have a cup of coffee with you."
"Fine. You sit down at a table while I get the food. Want a doughnut or a hot apple turnover?"
"No, thank you." She picked a table in a quiet corner and sat down.
A moment later, Jude joined her, carrying a tray of food; french fries, hamburgers, strawberry milkshake, coffee. He sat down and handed Samantha the coffee, then began eating hungrily. She stirred cream into her coffee and waited for a moment to let him sate his hunger a little. No wonder he was so thin, his face angular and bony. He obviously didn't eat a proper diet.
She told him so scolding him a little and Jude grimaced at her.
"Don't you start. Darius is always nagging me about my diet. That isn't what you needed to talk about, is it? Darius didn't send you to nag me into eating at regular hours?"
"No," she said huskily. He finished one hamburger and carefully wiped his fingers on a paper napkin, then looked up at her thoughtfully.
"What's wrong, Sam? I know something is, I can see it in your face. You're pale and you look far from happy." He looked down again, cleared his throat, still automatically wiping his fingers, although they were quite clean now. "If I can help, just ask, you know I'd do anything for you," he muttered in a low voice, and she was very touched.
"Thank you, Jude." She kept her eyes lowered. "I do need your help. I want you to get me a job."
"A job?" He looked totally astounded, staring at her.
"With the company," she added, and Jude took an audible breath.
"I don't understand," he said, after a long pause. "Why ask me? Why haven't you asked Darius?" She looked up again and their eyes met. Jude frowned. "Or have you? Did he refuse, is that it? Sam, I'm sorry, but I can't interfere between you and Darius, you must realize I can't."
"I haven't even breathed a word to Darius," she said. "I know how loyal you are, Jude, and how long you and Darius have been good friends."
"Since we were ten years old," he said, as if she didn't know all about it.
"I know, and I know that's why you wouldn't tell me if he was having an affair with anyone." She watched Jude's face intently and saw the shock in it, the redness rising under his skin.
He didn't answer that time, just stared back at her, his mouth tightening. His silence was as good as a reply, and Samantha's eyes filled with the anguish she felt. She looked away, blinking to stop the escape of the tears which were burning under her lids, Jude would hate it if she cried. He hated this already; he was stiff with embarrassment and misery.
"I'm not going to ask you anything like that, Jude," she said, letting him off the hook. "But will you give me a job? I can't stand it down in Sussex by myself a minute longer. I'll go crazy. I miss Paris so badly, and the house runs like clockwork. I'm not needed there any more, except in the holidays when Paris is home. If I could have another baby it might be different, but I can't, and I'm bored and miserable. I got married too young, I think. I missed a lot and I'd like to catch up on things. Work in London, have a flat up here, meet people..."
"What about Darius?" Jude burst out, looking distraught.
"Darius?" Samantha looked through the window at the busy street. Her dark blue eyes were remote now; she had forced all visible signs of pain back below the surface, hidden them away. "I've left Darius," she said quietly. "And I am not going back to him."