‘Is that what you’re after?’ Kelsey’s mind raced, trying to catch up. If this was to be a regular thing, she could certainly use the money, no matter how brusque her boss would be. ‘Icoulddo some freelance work for you, yes. No problem. How many jobs a week would it be?’
‘Depends. Sometimes one, sometimes none. I re-run old pictures from our archives where I can.’
‘Oh, OK.’
‘Today I need someone to take some pictures for an interview with a retired actress. It’s for a feature we’re running in the lead-up to the sixtieth anniversary of the town’s main theatre company.’
‘I can do that.’
‘Today?’
‘Is this actress expecting a photographer to turn up?’
‘Does that matter?’
‘Um, well, yes. I expect she’d like to know I’m coming.’
‘I’ll ring her now, tell her you’re on your way.’
‘Oh!’ She hadn’t even confirmed she was free this afternoon, and he hadn’t actually offered her any money yet. This guy was something else. ‘Should we talk about payment first?’
Kelsey had learned her lesson on this score, arriving in town early that summer, having already signed a contract with Norma Arden for her guiding services and never thinking to ask about the hourly rate until she was sitting in Norma’s office. Kelsey inwardly groaned at how green she had been only a few short months ago.
‘Eight pounds an hour. You can do this in an hour, I expect. She’s local.’
Eight quid?That would buy bread, milk and tea for a week.Come on Kelsey, she told herself,screw your courage to the sticking place.‘My hourly rate is thirty-five pounds for jobs within the town boundary.’ Instantly, she felt her cheeks flush. She hadn’t been required to provide an hourly rate since setting up her fledgling business and had plucked this figure out of thin air.
He was staring her down. ‘Sixteen and you’ve got a deal. If you get the pictures to me by five.’
Hold on, she thought.He needs these pictures by five, and he doesn’t exactly have a queue of photographers lining up to take them, so short of doing it himself, I can afford to stick to my guns.Kelsey rose to leave. ‘My rate is thirty-five pounds, but if you can find someone else…’ Her voice was just beginning to waver when he interrupted.
‘Fine. But go now. Here’s her address, and my email address. Send the pictures straight away.’ Mr Ferdinand handed her a Post-it note.
That was like something offThe Apprentice, Kelsey congratulated herself.Who knew I was so good at wheeling and dealing?Wait ’til I tell Jonathan about this!
‘Get some shots of her with some old theatre memorabilia or something, some old costume or a prop?’
The nasal whine of his speech woke her from her self-congratulatory state, and she recalled the young man’s words as they passed on the stairs, sharpening her thinking. She’d better ensure she got paid first. She drew a slim notebook from her satchel, wrote her new bank account details in it and tore the page free.
‘I’ll invoice you properly later today, but this is my account. You can transfer the money direct.’ Her heart swelled with the feeling of triumph, and even better than that, of competence. She really was prepared for anything her new career brought her way. She had even asked a member of the legal team at Mirren’s newspaper – who did a bit of freelance work of her own – to draw up a copyright agreement for exactly this kind of situation, and she’d send it to Mr Ferdinand to sign along with her invoice for payment.
Her smile of self-assurance faded, however, as Mr Ferdinand snatched the paper and skewered it through an upturned nail on a wooden block upon his desk which was, she noticed, rather ominously pierced with at least a hundred other notes.
‘Unusual in-tray you’ve got there,’ she said with an awkward nod towards the rusty spike, but Mr Ferdinand simply blinked with a little scowl of annoyance. ‘I’ll be off then.’
‘Deadline’s five p.m., Miss…’
‘Anderson?’Has he forgotten already, or does he simply not care?‘Kelsey Anderson.’
Harrumphing, he showed her the door with a weak swing of his bony hand.
And that was it. Kelsey had a new freelance commission and, potentially, a long term client. She clutched the paper to her chest as she made her way downstairs and out into the October afternoon light.
She wasn’t a stranger to sudden turns of fate, so this new development felt comfortingly familiar. Hadn’t she signed a contract with Norma knowing next to nothing about her new boss, or indeed, about her new town? And now here she was, the newest recruit to a newspaper’s staff in that very town, and why not? Recently, life seemed to want to take Kelsey in all manner of new directions and she intended to go with it.
She checked the time on her phone: two thirty. Turning the paper in her hand, she peered down at the address, hoping this actress lived not only nearby but in an area of town she was familiar with. She gasped in delighted recognition at the words.
Blythe Goode. Ground Floor, Flat A, St.Ninian’s Close.
