I told Louis I had to take some urgent holiday leave for family reasons. His brow rumpled.
‘Is everything all right?’
‘My sister’s leaving next week for a couple of years in the States and my mother’s not taking it very well.’ It was too lame, even though it was the truth, so I added, ‘and to make matters worse, my father’s just had a heart attack.’
It could easily happen, I told myself, to ease the niggle of guilt in my gut. He was a sitting duck – overweight, no exercise and a workaholic. Even in his down time as Head of Law at the University of Sydney, he was doing research and writing academic papers.
It was obvious Louis was irritated about the disruption this would cause but trying not to show it in the name of compassion. ‘All right, brief Jared on what you’ve got happening next
