Page 95
I absentmindedly start doodling, drawing the outlines of an HMS Victory, adding in the waves and sketching the sky. I’m just finessing some shading when I feel Tom behind me.
“What?” I ask, turning my head to look up at him.
“Nothing.” His expression is soft.
I turn to face him more fully and he blushes.
“I just had an amazing day and was thinking that I could do this with you forever.”
The words fizz in the air between us, filling me with a gentle sort of joy. I reach back and squeeze his hand as my heart does a ridiculous somersault.
“It was pretty great,” I smile at him. “And forever sounds good to me too.”
Before I can become even more soppy the doorbell rings, pizza arriving. I stow away my sketchbook as Tom goes to the door.
“Belillo’s?” I ask as he brings the boxes through. “I didn’t realise they’d started delivering.”
“Yeah, they started a few weeks ago. I don’t think we’ve had it together since we bumped into each other in the shop all those months ago.” He grins at me. “Maybe this time you won’t run away from me.”
“Sorry about that.”
“It’s ok. I got the girl in the end.”
“The girl and the garlic bread.” I wave a piece at him.
“You’re pretty much equal place in my heart.”
Tom reaches across the table and takes my hand, and I give him a smile remembering his words from earlier. The rest of my life would be amazing if it was filled with days just like this. Days with Tom.
Chapter 38
Claire
“Claire, have you got a minute?” Damien sticks his head out of his office and gestures for me to come over. He’s holding a stack of photo proofs in his hand, vibrant colours catching in the office lights. I haven’t seen our creative lead properly since the meeting where I first showed my photographs.
He was in touch to get the rest of the pictures, and I sent my watercolours and sample designs, but we haven’t chatted face to face since then. Even after I mustered the bravery to send in one of the emails full of ideas that usually just sit in my draft folder forever, just gathering dust.
“Sure.” I stand, grateful for the distraction from adjusting the font sizes on a PowerPoint.
I take a seat in Damien’s office. It’s an amazing room. He’s got a view out over the city and so much space to himself. One wall has a giant corkboard where he’s stuck pictures and inspirations for different campaigns his team members are working on. I can see some of the pictures I took of Ashcroft, and wait… is that a print out of the website redesign I was messing around with? I look more closely… it is. I can see my watercolours.
“Sorry to grab you so abruptly, but I wanted to have a chat about the school campaign you were working on and the designs you sent me," Damien says. “We sent the final materials over to the school last week, and they’ve already got back to us about them. How did you find the campaign?”
“Ashcroft? It’s been really fun,” I tell him. And it has been. It’s not just being around Tom that’s made it fun. It’s the atmosphere of being back at a school, of interacting with a group who all have such an infectious energy.
Damien nods, flicking through a folder on his desk. “I’ve seen the draft layouts. And the photos. Claire, they’re fantastic. And so are the layouts you sent the other day in your email.”
I blink. “Oh. Thank you!” I thought he had forgotten about those considering I’d never really got a reply.
He glances up, smiling. “I mean it. The board loved the mock-ups. And Jack said you’ve been working hard on the photography.”
I shrug, trying not to sound too pleased. “Well, I was already on-site for some of it, and it made sense. I’ve done bits of photography before so I was happy to help, but I was really glad that you all liked the preliminary pictures I took on that trip. And I love design. I’ve been doing a design course in my free time and wanted to try it out with our work.”
“It’s paid off,” he says. “When I opened the attachments on that email I was blown away. They’re fantastic, Claire. I think we’re going to end up using them, along with the specific photos that you’ve taken and edited from the school.”
I glance out the window, trying to avoid looking like a tomato. “That’s really nice to hear.”
Damien leans forward, elbows on his desk. “Look, I’ll get straight to the point. Some of the members of the school board work for other companies too, and after they saw what we’ve been doing at Ashcroft they’ve reached out to us to work with them again. They specifically mentioned you and the creative work you’ve done.”
