‘Probably,’ she admitted. ‘But that’s more about me than you. I just want as few people as possible to know about all this. It’s not that I’m trying to protect him,’ she went on quickly, palms up in defence of her reserve. ‘But I’ve had some time to think over the weekend, and some good advice. Keeping my job has to be my priority right now. Even if I decide I can’t hack working in the same place as Jack, I don’t have enough savings to quit before I’ve got something else lined up. Plus, if people find out Jack and I had a thing and broke up, I’ll seem like the loser who punched above her weight and couldn’t hang on to her man. Can you imagine the delight Donna would take in spreadingthatstory?’
Greg made a face that implied he could envisage her glee all too clearly. The office manager wasn’t one for small talk, but her love of gossip was legendary. If a scrap of significant news made its way around the office, it could usually be traced back to her desk; as far as the contagion of scandal was concerned, Donna was always patient zero.
‘Even worse,’ Rachel continued, ‘if I’m mixed up in rumours that Jack’s a dirty rotten shagger, I’ll look like a sad case: the scorned woman who’s still banging on about something that happened a decade ago. I’m better off just trying to pretend Jack doesn’t exist, and I’m hoping that won’t be too difficult. My guess is Prince Charming will be involved in trying to win big new commercial accounts – the kind of stuff I never get near.’
‘You’ve got it all worked out, haven’t you?’ Greg said, licking cappuccino foam off his index finger. ‘But this is still an epic mess of a situation, IMO. I’d be going postal if one ofmyex-boyfriends turned up to work here.’ He shuddered and made a noise that sounded likeBrrrr. ‘Also, I think therearepeople you could talk to – people you could be honest with – if you wanted to make things easier on yourself. You’re highly valued at the agency. Nobody would want to see you leave over this, and I’m certain you’re safe from redundancy.’
‘Thanks,’ Rachel said. ‘That’s good news. And I’m not going to pretend I’m thrilled about this, but I’ll cope – I promise. You’re in the circle of trust now, but I’d really rather not add anyone else.’
She pushed her cold, half-drunk cup of coffee to one side, assuming they were done. It was almost 10 a.m. now – surely time for them to put in an appearance at the office.
‘While we’re telling each other secrets,’ Greg said, his voice low, ‘I have some news.’
Rachel sat up straighter in her chair; his tone was earnest and his face suddenly serious. He was about to tell her something significant.
‘Karen’s leaving the agency,’ Greg said. ‘You know her partner’s French – well, they’re finally going over there to set up home in Provence. I had to wait until the takeover was finalised for confirmation, but I got the news on Friday night: I’m replacing her.I’mgoing to be the new head of client services.’
Rachel let out a little yelp of excitement. ‘That’s amazing! Well done. You’ll be great, and you SO deserve it.’
Greg was glowing with pride, but the corners of his mouth had turned down. ‘I’m thrilled, obviously. But you know this means we won’t be working together so closely any more, right?’
‘Of course,’ Rachel said brightly, as if she’d seen this coming and made her peace with it. In fact, the thought of retiring their double act was a gut punch. She and Greg had worked in near-constant partnership for almost four years, and the truth was she’d loved it – sexy vegetables and all.
Rachel considered the other members of Greg’s team. Would she end up working with Theo? Clients supposedly loved him but she struggled to take him seriously. He rode to work on a scooter, spoke fluent Corporate Bollocks and wore raspberry-pink chinos with suede boat shoes all year round. Rachel feared it would take more thanblue-sky thinkingto prevent her from punching him if they spent too much time together.
Partnering Ella might be okay; she could best be described as harmless, though she was so giddy and girlish that Rachel felt like a miserable crone in comparison. She cringed slightly as she recalled that Ella’s preferred term for Prosecco was ‘loopy juice’.
Rachel stood up, selfish thoughts tumbling away as she moved around the table to give Greg a hug. Her eyes were shiny with unshed tears when they pulled apart.
‘I’ll miss you,’ she said.
‘Oh, you won’t,’ Greg replied, waving a hand. ‘You won’t have the chance. I’ll still be in the office every day. ALSO, you’ve been promising you’ll come to Thursday-night yoga with me for months – so now I’m going tomakeyou. And just so we’re clear …’ he added a moment later as they clattered through the door onto the street, ‘anyone who thinks you were punching above your weight with Jack is a moron. You’re kind, clever, funny andwaymore gorgeous than you realise. It’s him who wasn’t worthy of you.’
Over the next few days, Rachel’s plan to carry on as normal met with more success than she expected. She finalised the content for It’s All Good’s shiny new website, then caught up with tasks that had been pushed down her agenda by recent events.
Jack spent almost all of his time shut away in meetings with the senior management team, which suited Rachel perfectly. It allowed her almost to believe that the events of the previous week had been a bad dream.
On Monday, Rachel had coolly rebuffed Jack’s single attempt at engaging with her. When she and Greg had arrived back at the office after their pow-wow, Jack’s apprehensive wave was put down with a stiff ‘Good morning’ as she stalked past and didn’t look back. Since then, their interactions had been limited to polite nods in passing or the occasional holding open of a door.
Greg’s promotion had mostly been greeted with smiles and satisfaction. He was well liked, hard-working and, as far as the agency’s clients were concerned, a safe pair of hands. Happiness for Greg, however, was tempered by unease about what might be in store for the rest of the staff. One-to-one chats with people whose jobs would be affected by the restructure had started, and not everyone emerged from them calm.
Rachel, more relaxed than many of her colleagues thanks to Greg’s reassurance, assumed she was unlikely to be summoned to such a meeting – for which she was abundantly grateful.
‘I’m actually okay,’ she told Anna over dinner on Wednesday night. ‘I mean, it’s a weird situation, but so far nothing I can’t cope with.’
By Friday lunchtime Rachel was congratulating herself on surviving the first – and surely worst – week of her altered working life. Yes, it had been odd and uncomfortable seeing Jack here and there around the building. As predicted, though, they’d had very little to do with one another – and no doubt Rachel would become increasingly indifferent to his presence as she got used to it. She decided to reward herself with an overpriced ‘artisan’ sandwich and a stroll around Upper Street’s shops.
When she returned to her desk, an email invitation to a 3 p.m. meeting was waiting for her. It was from Isaac, and the subject line simply readCatch Up.
Shit. What could one of the agency’s co-founders want her for? What if Greg had been wrong and her jobwasn’tsafe?
Shakily, Rachel double-clicked to open the message. Instead of a proper meeting agenda, Isaac had written some vague fluff about chatting through plans for the future of the agency and how she might fit in.
She felt her breath stop in her throat as she scanned the list of meeting invitees and saw that, alongside her name, [email protected] was listed.Brilliant, Rachel thought.I may be about to find out I no longer have a job, and the Fates have decided that the ideal witness to my humiliation is HIM.
She pushed herself up in her seat so she could properly survey the room. She had studiously avoided looking over at Jack’s desk all week, but now her gaze was drawn to it. What was this meeting really for? Did he know more about it than she did?
He was on the phone, staring down at a notepad and absently chewing on the end of a biro. Rachel had always enjoyed looking at him when he wasn’t aware anyone was watching; his face was different, somehow – open, rather than artfully arranged.Stop it, she warned herself.
