For some reason the work had slackened off so when Clare returned to the office she had an easy few days. Alan was on Annual leave so Clare and Angie were able to have an in-depth conversation.

"What was Marie like?" asked Clare "I saw how lovely she was from Alan's photo."

"Alan's Marie? Stunning, gorgeous, with legs up to here." Angie pointed to her waist.

"A figure like a super model with the most beautiful, long blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked lovely, but she wasn't half as nice as she looked. I couldn't imagine her with children she wouldn't have the patience. She was hard, cold and ruthless, I would say, not warm or generous and she was nothing like Alan at all."

"Really?"

Clare was taken aback, it wasn't easy to think of Alan with someone like that.

"I didn't like her, I'm sorry to say. I always thought Alan could have done better for himself. Looks aren't everything, but men seem to think so, sometimes." Angie lowered her voice, although the door was closed and there was no one around. "I'm beginning to think, Clare, it was just...well, you know...purely a physical thing."

"I suppose it could have been." said Clare "Whatever it was she didn't seem to make him very happy. Did I tell you I found Alan cutting up his wedding photographs with a pair of scissors?"

"No!" said Angie. "With a pair of scissors?"

"Yes, it was funny really the way he did it, he had cut them into little squares, all stacked in a tidy pile. I would have torn them up and thrown them around in a fit of temper, but not Alan."

"Ah." said Angie "Poor Alan. It's such a shame. I could wring her neck, the nasty bitch." Clare raised her eyebrows and smiled, but said nothing.

"Well," said Angie, "I apologise, I don't usually say things like that, but really, what a nasty woman!"

"After all she's done, Alan could have gone to town and said all sorts about her, but I haven't heard him say a single word against her." said Clare.

"Oh well, that's Alan for you. I've never heard him say anything about her either, what a shame we can't say the same about me." said Angie. She smirked and they laughed together. "I must say in my defence, that's a word I don't use often."

"Let's hope Alan finds someone really nice next time. Someone who can make him happy," said Clare.

"Well, he certainly deserves someone." said Angie.

The morning passed slowly and just before lunchtime Angie said "Shall we go shopping? It might cheer us up."

"That's a good idea." said Clare. She was gradually getting over the miscarriage, especially if she wanted to go shopping. Just before they left the office she said, "I do appreciate you Angie, you know that don't you?" For all of two seconds Angie was partly serious. "Same here. Come on, I'll race you down the stairs". She rushed out of the door, with Clare close at her heels and down the stairs and into the car park. They were going to town in Clare's car, as it was still raining. Bob Dixon was just unlocking his car and he asked, "Who won this time?"

"I did, of course." laughed Angie.

They arrived back at the office fifteen minutes late, loaded down with shopping bags. (Fortunately, Bob was out that afternoon.) They each had a new pair of shoes and Clare had bought Hal new socks and two new ties. Clare told Angie she had 14 pairs of shoes at home and she needed to sort them out. Angie said she had 33 pairs of shoes at home "How about that for a record? I wonder if there is a record for an amount of shoes?" she asked.

They chatted away and found someone had left work on their desk so they divided it between them and got down to it. Clare said again "Thanks for being such a good friend, Angie."

"Oh shut up and get on with it, whatever it is." Angie replied.

They had a serious conversation about life in general and Angie said she thought all races were the same. People just thought they were different because of colour, or religion, or culture, but at heart they were basically the same.

"I wish they'd wake up to the fact." she ended.

Clare asked Angie if she wanted children. Angie replied, "Definitely babies – have you ever seen black babies Clare, they're too cute for words, but we need to find a house before we start a family and it's proving more difficult than we thought. It's so expensive these days and Matthew was a mature student. He had other jobs before he went off to study. As his parents aren't that well off, he paid for all his own fees and now he has a large debt to pay back. It's going to take us forever."

"That's a shame." said Clare. They stopped talking for a while to answer the phone and work on their computers.

"I like black babies, in fact I like all babies." said Clare, "Black babies sometimes have their hair..." Clare tried to explain.

"I think you mean corn rows." said Angie.

"Corn rows? I've never heard of those."

"So there is something you don't know!"

"I don't know everything." said Clare "I read a lot that's all, you're bound to pick up bits and pieces."

"Any more bits and pieces," laughed Angie "and they'll be coming out of your ears!"

All in all they had a good day.