Page 86 of Love Letters on Hazel Lane

Jo sighed. She’d known David would love the audience participation stuff. Trouble was, this was winning Leona brownie points, not Jo.

‘I have more details,’ said Leona. ‘If you’d like to hear them. I’ve worked out what the other rounds might consist of.’

Jo listened, barely able to supress her fury as Leona outlined every single one of her ideas, brazenly presenting them as if they were her own. She wanted to speak up there and then, to confront Leona, to point out what she’d done in front of the whole team, to reveal her for the ideas thief that she was, but somehow, she couldn’t find the words. She would talk to David later. When she had calmed down.

*

‘Zeitgeist,’ said David.

Zeitgeist, thought Jo. Good word: 19 points. Although was it German? Or had it been assimilated into English? She would have to check later.

‘Zeitgeist?’ she said.

‘Yes, it literally means “time mind” or “time spirit”.’

‘I know what it means.’ Jo had stayed silent in the meeting, but afterwards, when her heart had stopped racing, she knew she had to stand up for herself, had to tell her boss what had happened.

‘It explains why more than one person often comes up with the same idea at the same time,’ said David. ‘There are several famous cases in history. I made a documentary about it once. Isaac Newton and Gottfried… I forget his name. Anyway, they both discovered calculus. Newton was first, but he hadn’t spoken about or published his ideas so Gottfried thingy couldn’t have copied him.’

‘But Leona did copy mine.’

‘And on the exact same day that Alexander Graham Bell arrived at the patent office having invented the telephone, someone else came in with the same invention. It took lawyers to sort it all out. So you see, Jo, you might have come up with the idea of a Scrabble game show, but Leona did too. Hardly surprising given that you’ve been banging on about your Scrabble festival in the office for the last few weeks. I bet it was that which gave her the idea.’

Jo frowned. She’d barely mentioned the festival in the office.

‘But David,’ she said, ‘this isn’t simply a question of two people coming up with the same basic idea. All those details that Leona came up with in the meeting, the different rounds, they were all my ideas. We might both have thought of a Scrabble game show, but the details wouldn’t be identical. I printed my pitch out on Friday evening. I must have left it on the printer and she must have found it.’

‘Jo, Jo, Jo,’ said David. ‘Why on earth would Leona steal your idea? This is most unlike you. You’ve had a problem with Leona, from the moment she first joined Pop! Productions…’

‘No, it’s the other way round. She’s never liked me.’

‘…And I can see that it probably rankles that I chose her, rather than you, to fill Caroline’s shoes when you’ve been here the longest. But accusing her of stealing your ideas? That’s going a bit far.’

Stony-faced, David sat at his desk, swinging his chair a little from side to side.

Whatever she said, he wouldn’t believe her. She couldn’t prove that Leona had found the print-out that morning. Time to admit defeat.

‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘Probably zeitgeist.’

And with that, she stood up and headed back into the open-plan office, fighting back the tears because the last thing she wanted was to give Leona the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Because that was what they always wanted, didn’t they? Bullies. They always wanted to make you cry.

*

Jo sat on the toilet, mulling over her options. She could confront Leona, but what was the point? Cunning would triumph over honesty, any day of the week. And her colleague was definitely cunning.

No, she’d say nothing. She’d get her work done as quickly as possible and leave the office on time. She’d ring Gemma or maybe Kate. One of them might know what to do, and, at the very least, they would offer some consoling words.

She’d barely sat back down at her desk when her phone pinged.

It was Razz. Finally.

We missed you at Scrabble club. Are you okay?

She hesitated before texting back. She wanted to tell him how much she was missing the festival, missing him, about the programme idea and how it felt like everything had been going right in her life, but now everything was going wrong. But he was probably in a new relationship now; he wouldn’t want to be bothered with her problems.

Fine thanks. I was working late.

I’ve a letter for you.