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pink. 
    “Well, well.” She muttered, flipping it over as she paced slowly through the hallway.  The message was simple and to the point. 
     
    ‘My darling Anthea, still having a wonderful time, sushi’s great – you’d love it.  I’m writing to let you know I’ve met someone, I’m sorry but I get very lonely out here.  I think you know what I’m trying to say.  I’ll always be fond of you.  Will be in touch about my things.  Yours, Ben.’
     
    “Great!”  Unsurprised, Anthea sniffed, furiously scrunching up the postcard.    “You bastard!  You get very lonely?  Whose damn fault is that?”
    She thumped down on her kitchen bin pedal furiously with the point of her black patent kitten heels and dropped it in with an air of finality.  Still, she didn’t feel nearly as disappointed as she thought she might; in fact she felt a strange pang of relief as the anger died away. 
    In her mind, at least, she had dumped him months ago.  They had been together for the best part of six months when Ben announced he was off to Japan to help run an IT business, just as the general election campaign had been hotting up.  She had pleaded with him to wait just a few more weeks, but he had shrugged with indifference and gone anyway.
    Anthea flicked on the television to catch the ten o’clock news.  The ‘No to Cornish Devolution Alliance’ had kept her busy most of the evening.  She dared not remember the allegedly ‘Cornish’ pasty forced on her at that faceless hotel, but she and the poor Cornish guests had to make do with what they were given – gristle and a slight feeling of nausea.
                “Westminster is in shock tonight after Opposition Chief Whip Tristan Rivers resigned during Rodney Richmond’s first Shadow Cabinet reshuffle as Opposition Leader.  Mr Rivers, whose was in charge of keeping wayward MPs in line, later issued a statement saying he felt the time was right to step down from the Shadow Cabinet to pursue his own political interests.  He also clarified he had not been offered any other job.  Mr Richmond has now appointed a new Chief Whip, MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, Bronwyn Davies.  The other surprise exit was Shadow Environment Secretary Martin Arnold.  Our Chief Political Editor Zoe Simpson reports.”
                Bronwyn Davies’ appointment had been known only minutes after Anthea’s meeting with her leader, leaked on Twitter by the usual suspects.  She was 15 years older than Anthea, experienced and with a robust enough personality to take on the whole of the Parliamentary party at once.  She continued to watch Zoe Simpson’s report, her dry mouth longing for a glass of something red and alcoholic to wash away the stresses of the day.
     “Mr Rivers didn’t have an easy relationship with Mr Richmond from the start, and a number of MPs have said to me privately tonight that he just didn’t have enough clout.  Shadow Devolution Secretary Anthea Culverhouse had been tipped for the job of Chief Whip.  What isn’t clear is whether she was offered the job but turned it down, but one source close to the leader said tonight they wanted to bring in a fresh face from outside the Shadow Cabinet. The other new face is Deputy Chief Whip Derek Bradbury, who succeeds Martin Arnold after his mysterious exit at Environment…”
    “No I bloody wasn’t asked, Zoe.”  Anthea sniffed bitchily to herself.  “And you know full well I wasn’t.”   Shrugging off her jacket, Anthea rewound the report and watched the entire thing again.  The wine could wait a few more minutes.
     
    *****
     
    Richmond was talking.  On and on.   Cornish bloody devolution again.  Colin Scott blinked away a glazed look and cast a subtle eye over his watch.  It was all so fucking pointless.  An issue over which he was never consulted was taking up far too much of his precious time at such a late hour.  It disgusted Colin, how Richmond feigned this… like for