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CHAPTER SEVEN
TOBIASWASINher office when she returned.
‘Everything okay?’ Beatrice frowned.
‘I was just leaving you a cupcake,’ he said. ‘I know you couldn’t get there, but...’ He smiled. ‘We’re having a boy.’
‘Wow!’ Beatrice said.
Actually,wow!
His excitement was catching, and Beatrice found herself smiling as he showed her a photograph of the scan and spoke about Esther. ‘She’ll be at the Flower Festival...’ he told her.
‘Will you?’ she asked.
‘No chance. We don’t get in till ten that morning and I’ll be crashing.’ He shook his head. ‘But if you want company, Esther would love to meet you.’
He was kind.
They were all kind here.
And when Jordan called her upstairs a short time later Beatrice listened carefully to all that was being offered to her, amazed at the benefits package they had put together in order to tempt her to accept the permanent role.
Her choice of press officer, her own assistant, a driver to and from work and the salary... Well, she might even be able to afford the mortgage on a teeny cupboard on the marina...though not one with a balcony.
In her head she was actually thinking of marina views and weekends and coffee shops and being here!
‘Now,’ Jordan said, ‘we have a lot to discuss.’
Yes, there was always room for negotiation. Maybe she could get that balcony after all!
But Jordan wasn’t all smiles and waving a contract. ‘Beatrice, before we go any further I might ask Deborah from HR to come and join us.’
‘HR?’
‘Well, I don’t want to have to stipulate the number of events you attend, or how you present yourself—’
Beatrice frowned, and then looked down at her immaculate grey shift dress and neat flats and knew she presented herself professionally at all times. ‘Do I get a wardrobe allowance for official functions? If there’s a dress code...’
‘Dress codes are the easy part—it’s the social aspect.’
Yikes.
‘I don’t want to tell you to show up voluntarily and smiling...’ Jordan shuddered. This was clearly a conversation she knew was necessary but which she was dreading. ‘Why don’t I call Deborah now?’
Julius had indeed been right.
Beatrice knew her attitude was being challenged.
‘Jordan, you don’t need to call HR before you speak with me.’
‘The royal family is the touchstone of our culture, our calendar...’ Jordan closed her eyes and took a breath. ‘Take the Flower Festival—it was cancelled last year...’
‘I do understand it’s especially important this year.’
‘It’s important every year; it’s a part of us as a nation.’
And Beatrice could be one of the‘us’.
