I automatically took it, but my bemusement was about at the same level as Charlie’s, judging by the look on his face.
‘You know each other?’ Charlie asked.
‘No,’ I said.
‘Yes,’ said Greg at the same time.
Charlie looked at me. I did a little shake of my head.
‘Well, she doesn’t know me, of course, but I definitely know you!’ Greg enthused. He suddenly seemed to register our expressions.
‘You have that lifestyle blog, don’t you? Brighton Belle? Mel absolutely loves it! Always raving about it. You’ve seen her through some long nights with the babies!’
‘Oh, I see! That’s great! Thanks so much. I’m really glad she likes it.’
‘She’s not going to believe that I met you today! Come on, come up, come up, and we’ll take a look at those contracts.’
‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’ I asked.
‘Of course not!’
We headed towards the bank of lifts and I stole a glance at Charlie as we did so. He caught me and gave me a smile.
‘Are you OK for time? Do you need to get back?’ I asked, quietly.
‘Nope. No rush.’
I smiled, happy to have my friend beside me.
A short while later and Greg had gone over the contracts with us both, explaining anything that I wasn’t entirely sure about. We’d agreed that it seemed a pretty fair deal for everyone concerned, and I now felt much better about signing it, knowing that I fully understood everything I was putting my name to.
‘So, this could mean great things for the blog, then?’ Greg asked.
‘Absolutely!’ I replied. ‘But can I ask you to keep it under your hat until the announcement is officially made? Glam said something about wanting to do a bit of a splash reveal thing on all their social media so I’m sort of supposed to not tell anyone at the moment.’ I pulled a face. I knew that this could put Greg in an awkward position if he was eager to tell his wife that he’d met a blogger she liked.
‘Of course! I’ll just tell Mel that Charlie dropped in to say hi and brought his friend with him.’ A look crossed his face. ‘Actually. I’ve just remembered. I owe you an apology, don’t I? About what I said on the phone, I was just…’
I waved my hand in dismissal. ‘Don’t give it another moment’s thought. Really.’
He smiled, a little bashful. ‘Thanks. I’m definitely going to be asking whether I’m on speakerphone before I go off again, that’s for sure!’
I tilted my head, smiling. ‘Couldn’t hurt to check.’
‘Exactly.’
Charlie shook his head and then they did that thing that men do that wasn’t quite a hug but sort of was, involving back slapping and handshaking all at the same time.
‘Thanks again for doing this,’ I said, shaking Greg’s hand. My natural predilection to hug people was being sorely tested today but I’d done well this morning in the meeting and continued my effort now.
‘Any time!’ Greg said, covering my hand with his other one. ‘Really. Any time. Anyone who can get Charlie out of the office to take a lunch break is OK in my book.’ He gave the most unsubtle wink to Charlie I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t help grinning. Charlie just rolled his eyes.
‘I take lunch breaks all the time.’
‘Sure you do.’ Greg nodded, then swung his glance to me and immediately changed the action to a head-shake.
‘Thanks, mate. I’ll talk to you soon,’ Charlie said as the lift pinged its arrival. The doors opened almost silently and he indicated for me to step ahead of him, following in behind. I pressed the button marked ‘lobby’ and the doors slid closed again and we descended smoothly back to ground level.
‘I do take lunch breaks,’ Charlie said after a moment’s silence.
