“Yes?”
“That’s not all.”
I could hear a serious note in his voice that made me sit back down, perching on the edge of the cushion cautiously.
“We still need the budget to go towards marketing and events.It’san important part of the initiative, and it’s what will best achieve the goals we laid out.”
“I understand,”Isaid, nodding as if he could see me. “Butthe contractor plan will work, right?”
“It will,”Dafyddsaid, andIlet out a behemoth sigh of relief. “Butis that what you want?Towork part time?”
I remembered whatMorganandPatriciahad said about not cutting myself off forTeddy’ssake, andIthought hard for a moment about what he was asking me.Really,I’doffered the part-time work as a solution so that we could getTeddyon board, not becauseI’dactually wanted that for myself.Itwas also highly impractical for my life situation; couldIeven do that around working for the rescue?WouldIneed to find a different part-time job?I’dbeen a godawful waitress during uni.
“Chloe?”Dafyddasked, andIrealisedIhadn’t spoken in several seconds.
“No,”Isaid honestly, “Idon’t want that.”
I hated myself for saying it; it felt like a betrayal of my love forTeddy.Butit would be betraying myself to answer any other way, and ifTeddyreally loved me, she wouldn’t want that.
“Well,Ihave another idea,”Dafyddsaid, andIsat back into the sofa, letting it envelop me.
“Tell me,”Isaid. “BecauseIdon’t.”
“What if you came to work for me?”
I sat up again, my head reeling from the whiplash, both physical and conversational. “What, like at the council?”Icouldn’t help the scepticism that crept into my voice.
Again,Dafyddlaughed at me. “Youdon’t have to sound so put off.”
I felt my face redden. “Sorry.”
“But no, not as an employee.Aspart of the same scheme that the grant is part of, we have a budget for consulting as well.Youcould still work part time atGwenynen, but instead of having to scrounge for more clients or do something else part time, you could spend that time working with other businesses.”
My mum’s words about working as a consultant came back to me all at once, andIfrowned.Butthis wasn’t the same thing,Ididn’t think.
“I think what you did atGwenynenis really impressive,” he continued, “and not many local businesses or organisations can host events like the one you pulled off last weekend, but theycouldbenefit from your partnership-driven approach.”
I smiled. “Youthink so?”
“I do.Idon’t know what it would look like necessarily– maybe some clinics, or workshops, or one-to-one consulting– but we can discuss it if you’re interested.BecauseIwould hate to see you doing less of what you’re good at because you went to bat for someone you cared about.”
My cheeks warmed yet again. “SomeoneIcared about?”WasIthat transparent?
“Remind me to tell you sometime howImet my husband,Hao.”
I laughed. “Deal.”
Dafydd was quiet for a moment before continuing. “I’mreally impressed with you,Chloe.Whatyou’re doing has the potential to impact the community in a big way.AndIthink myself and others would be lucky to work with you.”
“Thanks,Dafydd,”Isaid, simultaneously bursting with pride and wanting to melt into my sofa.
“Let me know when you sort things out withGwenynen, and we’ll put in another meeting to talk through next steps.”
“Will do,”Isaid. “Andthank you again.You’redoing the right thing.”
“I agree,” he said. “Havea good day.”
“You, too.”
