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Speaking of Samantha, she did say to call in case of an emergency. Jules has been reluctant to interrupt her new-mother life and nothing at work has been an emergency anyway. Unless you count the staff kitchen running out of coffee pods that one time.
Samantha answers quickly. ‘Jules. Hey.’
‘Hey. Are you whispering?’
‘Yeah. Angelica’s finally napping. Way too late in the day for it but that’s a future-me problem. Hang on, I’ll just—’ There’s the sound of a door opening and closing, then Samantha asks at a regular volume, ‘How’s it going at the office?’
‘Fine. Busy, but that’s usual.’
‘Urgh. Sorry you got stuck filling in for me on top of your other work. The company wasn’t keen on me having a newbie trained up to temp my role. I did bug Patricia to get a temp in at entry level instead, but she was sure you could handle everything.’
Jules takes the compliment with a grain of salt. She’s confident that before she had stepped in for Samantha, Patricia wouldn’t have been able to pick her out of the IT department. And there’s only four of them, two of whom are men. More likely it was a budgeting thing, because god knows that’s the way the company has been heading since the new CEO came on-board last year.
‘Speaking of Patricia … she spoke to me today about a conference next week?’
‘Oh, fuck. I mean, duck,’ Samantha corrects. ‘Jules. I am so sorry. I was meant to talk to you about that ages ago and it completely slipped my mind! You know how it is, baby-brain and all that. Well, I guess you don’t know, but it’s real. I’m getting interrupted sleep every night and I can’t remember the last time I had a proper sit-down meal. Don’t get me wrong, little Angelica is my greatest love, but my head feels like one of those lotto ball things; lots going on inside but it’s a bit random what comes out as action.’
Jules has fatigue merely listening to Samantha talk. ‘It’s okay. I said I’d go.’
‘Thank the IT overlords,’ Samantha says. ‘You’ll be great, I know it.’
‘Any insider tips? I’ve only attended once and it was years ago.’
‘It probably hasn’t changed much. You’ll have more free time than you think, so bring stuff to do. What else … Of course, it’s fantastic for networking if you’re into that, plus they have an open bar at the welcome night which is a hoot. Beware of the marketing people though, they can get a little handsy.’
Jules knows one marketing person she wouldn’t mind getting handsy with. Maybe Cameron can be her ‘stuff to do’ in her spare time. The thought makes her insides melt, like thoughts of him usually do, but her fantasies have never had the possibility of becoming reality before. She doesn’t appreciate the new sensation of ants crawling over her shoulders because of it.
‘Okay, thanks,’ Jules says. ‘Had you started prepping the presentation? It’d be good to get a sense of what you were going to say.’
‘Yes. Yes, I have. I started a list and put it … somewhere. Can I send it to you later? It’s a thirty-minute talking time then audience questions. I was going to go into UXD and navigability of the e-commerce site, but focus more on our research and the focus groups we did. You know, bridging the gap between product and consumer.’
‘Sounds great. I’ll flesh out whatever you’ve got.’
‘You’re a lifesaver. Some people’s presentations are shockers, so don’t stress too much. You’re gonna kill it. Don’t kill it too much though,’ Samantha jokes, ‘I want my job to be there for me in another few months!’
Jules’s gut spasms. ‘I don’t think that’s going to be an issue.’
The sound of a baby crying carries through the phone.
‘Oh, duck. That’s Angelica. Better go. Text me if you need help!’
Jules throws her phone to the foot of her bed, feeling better about the conference part of next week at least.
She searches her desk for a blank sheet of paper to start listing talking points which will hopefully supplement whatever Samantha’s going to send through. It should be easy to fill her allotted time. Start with the high-level concept of e-commerce driven by individual consumers, then go through the research process, covering how they selected for focus groups, the methodology behind the questions, before ending with development of the actual site.
Forty minutes later, she’s filled two sheets with notes. If only she had notes on how to approach three hours alone in a car with Cameron.
***
The pizza, like anything Tori cooks, is fantastic. As is the wine Cat brings home to accompany it. In true Friday-night fashion, they sit in front of the TV with the music channel playing in the background. Jules and Tori share the couch while Cat sits on a cushion on the floor at one end of the coffee table, eating her pizza with a knife and fork, the blonde pixie-cut she’s growing out held back with a cheap plastic hairband.
‘So you’re going to be away all next week attending this conference. With Cameron. Who is the marketing man you’re interested in. That’s what’s happening?’ Cat lays out after Jules’s recount.
‘Correct,’ Jules says through a mouthful of mushroom pizza.
‘Lady, this is your chance!’ Tori exclaims, leaning forward to whack Jules’s leg. ‘Make your move. Throw your hat into the ring. Show him what you’ve got.’
‘Yes, because that sounds like me.’ Jules rolls her eyes and reaches for another slice of pizza from the trays on the coffee table.
