She looks up. “What?”
I put the cake in the oven. “Nothing.”
I don’t recall the cakes we made that day something sickly, something pink, no doubt – but everything else is engraved on my heart. I remember the frustration as my daughter made a mess I’d have to clear up. I remember wiping sticky hands on a Cath Kidston apron; watching the clock, simultaneously longing for work, and dreading it. I remember passing the baton of parenthood to my husband. One in, one out, like multi-storey car parks at Christmas. The ever-present buzz of my Blackberry. Sorry, I know it’s the weekend, but…
Four hours later I was standing at a sports stadium on the outskirts of Oxford, sweating in a helmet and fireproof boiler suit, calling for more resources as football hooligans threw bricks at my officers. Beneath our feet lay a carpet of crushed glass, as though the tarmac were dusted with sugar.
I loved my job. I’d joined the police in 1999 on what was known then as the High Potential Development Scheme, navigating the suspicion with which all graduates were viewed, and more than earning my stripes. I sat my Inspector’s exam five months pregnant with twins, already too vast to squeeze into the combination chair-desk provided. I was ambitious, driven, and good at my job. There was nothing I’d rather be doing.
Denne historien er fra October 2020-utgaven av Cheshire Life.
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Denne historien er fra October 2020-utgaven av Cheshire Life.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Home From Home For Christmas
Want to get away for the festive season but somewhere that’s comfortingly close? Here is our top 10 of feel-good escapes in and around Cheshire
LAUREN SIMON
Lauren is still in shock about where she lives, but is making the most of autumn in Cheshire
LOUISE MINCHIN
The BBC breakfast host on life beyond the red sofa
KALINI KENT
In conversation with Cheshire’s movers and shakers
AT HOME WITH Dave Lister, Lloyd Mullaney, Trunk of Funkster CRAIG CHARLES
The multi-faceted entertainer spends his working life here, there and everywhere, and he’s very happy he has Cheshire to come home to
CLARE MACKINTOSH
Where does the author of four bestselling novels find inspiration when she’s stuck for words?
Suits you
Your chance to take home a bespoke tailored suit made in the heart of Liverpool
Swamp thing
Kunal Trehan and Thomas Hope are creating the home of their dreams in Sandbach, and started with the very damp grounds
An autumn stroll with Darcy and Elizabeth
A quarter of a century ago Colin Firth took a swim and plunged Cheshire’s Lyme Park into global fame
A BRUSH WITH CHESHIRE
Explore our diverse county through the eyes and imaginations of these artists and their very different styles