“We’re a family business. This would be a big job for us, I won’t lie. With a bigger firm, this would be bread and butter. And I’m sure that comes with apparent advantages. But it also means they wouldn’t have their hearts in it the way we would.”
I finally chanced a look at Dad and was surprised to see that his smile had grown, bolstering me. My instincts had been right– or at least he thought so.
“This job would be our biggest this year, and next year, too. And the year after when we win the rest of the work from you.” Tim smiled; apparently he liked the confidence of assuming we’d win the rest, so I leaned into it, switching from “woulds” to “wills”. “We won’t have a dozen other similar projects going on simultaneously. Our hearts will be in it, and you’ll be the most important client we have.”
I was possibly going a little overboard on the ego stroking, and I worried I’d taken it too far, but Tim nodded enthusiastically at that last part, and I knew I’d nailed it. He brought his hands down flat on the table and pushed his chair back. I held my breath as I waited for his verdict.
“Honestly,” he said, “I couldn’t agree more. Let’s do this, shall we?”
* * *
When we got home,Dad gushed about the meeting as if he were giving the football highlights, relaying every single detail of the presentation to Mum.
“Amy was wonderful,” he said, and I could have cried at how touched and surprised I was by his enthusiasm. “She had an answer to every question. She’s really levelling us up, you know.”
Mum beamed at me and pulled me in for a hug. “Oh, well done, darling.”
“I’m so proud of you, Amy,” Dad said, putting a hand on my shoulder as Mum pulled back. It was heavy and warm, rooting me to the spot. “And if you’re up for one more big task this summer, let’s set up a meeting with Jack and the guys to talk through the changes you want to make.”
My mouth fell open. Dad had been fighting me every step of the way so far. “Really?”
He nodded. “You’ve proven that you know what you’re doing, and you’re not trying to change who we are at our core. So let’s hear it. End of the month okay?”
It would be tight– there wasn’t long left in August– but I needed to jump at this chance before his technophobia took over and he changed his mind. So I nodded, and Dad grabbed my hand to shake it. This time, I shook just as firmly as he did.
* * *
Phil was sohappy for me that he insisted on taking me out for dinner before D&D. I joked that Ethel should come with us since we’d be eating so early, but he said that Anil had the day off from his day job, so he could pick Ethel up from physio. So I took a shower and put on a nice dress before heading over to the hospital with Phil to get Ethel settled.
“Get in here,” Anil said, wrapping me in a hug. I’d seen him more than ever in the last couple of months since I’d been around more, and I had to say, I loved him. We had a surprising amount in common– it turned out he was into crystals too, so we’d chatted loads about that, and he was a huge reality TV buff.
“We still need to arrange a MAFS date,” I said.
“Hey, it’s your boyfriend keeping me so busy in the evenings. Take it up with him.”
We said our goodbyes, and Phil and I thanked Anil again for coming over early before we left. On the way out of the hospital, a beautiful blonde woman in an NHS uniform stopped Phil as we passed.
“Poppy!” he said, surprised, dropping my hand to step forward and hug her. “It’s so good to see you.”
“Yeah, well, it’s been a while,” she said, holding onto the hug for a long moment before stepping back. Then she saw me watching over Phil’s shoulder, and her smile grew even wider.
“You leaving work?” Phil asked.
Poppy looked down at her smart watch. “Yeah, today was an early shift, and my little one needs picking up from daycare in a few. But it’s right around the corner, so I’ve got a minute. Tell me what’s going on here!” She pointed between Phil and me. I wondered why she would be so surprised that Phil had a girlfriend. I supposed he had been a serial dater, but was it so out of the question for him to have found someone?
Phil looked back at me and frowned as if he’d forgotten I was there, and then laughed. “Oh! Of course. Sorry. Poppy, this is Amy. Amy, Poppy.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, holding my hand out. Poppy shook it, still grinning.
I tried to battle the instinct, but I was a basic bitch at heart, and I couldn’t help but cuddle up to Phil when she dropped my hand.
“Well, good to see you,” Phil said, draping his arm across my shoulders. “Hope you’re keeping well.”
“Good to see you, too,” she said, smiling again, but she looked a bit confused. Phil hadn’t exactly answered herquestion, and I wasn’t sure why. But she clearly had bigger things to worry about– or littler things, from the sound of it– so she waved and walked off in the opposite direction from us.
“Who’s that?” I asked as we started towards the car park again. Phil still had his arm around me, and it made it difficult to walk, so I shrugged it off to hold his hand instead, but he just let it drop altogether.
“Oh, that’s Poppy.”
