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‘I’m with Abby. Deborah was a nightmare from the start and I hated her.’
‘Which brings us onto the final piece of the jigsaw. I’m going to be honest with you, Ella, and tell you that I was not in favour of hiring you. It’s nothing personal; you just didn’t have any experience of construction.’
‘I was a little surprised to be offered the job,’ I reply.
‘However, Deborah insisted that you were the one she wanted. She gave me this long spiel about how important it was to have more women in the industry, that your skills were transferable, and also that you were prepared to accept a significantly lower salary than someone with more experience. She promised me faithfully that she’d keep an eye on you and support you if you were struggling.’
‘She has a very funny way of being supportive,’ I observe, making Abby snort with laughter.
‘I’m afraid she saw you as an easy target. She was counting on your lack of experience to ensure her little scheme continued to go undetected.’
‘So, when I started demanding we check everything…’
‘Yes, she wouldn’t have liked that at all.’
‘What a bitch,’ I sigh, and Abby giggles again. ‘There’s one thing I don’t get,’ I continue, switching my attention to Abby. ‘When I came for interview, I noticed the way that you looked at Deborah when she walked into the room. You’d obviously sussed her, but I’m guessing you didn’t say anything to your dad. Why?’
‘I tried, believe me,’ she replies. ‘But, by the time I realised what she was really like, she had Dad eating out of the palm of her hand. We had a massive row and I was forbidden from saying anything more about her.’
‘Not my finest hour,’ Christopher agrees. ‘But she never gave me any reason to doubt her. Whenever I was around, she was a model of efficiency and kindness. We were also,’ he blushes, ‘having a bit of a clandestine relationship.’
‘It wasn’t that bloody clandestine,’ Abby retorts. ‘It was obvious what was going on, and she told me more than once that she could make things very difficult between you and me if I didn’t toe the line.’
‘She duped me there too, it seems. After Abby’s mum died, I reckon Deborah saw that I was lonely and exploited it. Thinking of relationships, tell me about you and Noah.’
I blush furiously.
‘I thought as much. He’s obviously holding quite the candle for you too.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I mumble. ‘I know office romances are a bad idea…’
‘Mine certainly was!’ He laughs bitterly. ‘But, if you’ll permit a little meddling from a man who ought to know a lot better, I think he’s a keeper. Do you know what happened on site after you left? Why I had to go down there?’
‘No.’
‘I’ve never come across anything like it, and I’ve been in this industry for a long time. As soon as they’d unloaded your brick delivery, you know, the one Deborah objected to so strongly, they all walked off site.’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘The whole workforce downed tools in protest at your dismissal. Deborah got a call from Kayleigh in the sales office saying that everyone had left, and she and Breanna were being evicted from the office because Noah was locking up the site. I’ve never heard Deborah properly lose her cool before, but it was volcanic. Of course, she insisted to me that she would get the situation under control, but I decided to intervene and go down there myself. She didn’t like it, but I pulled rank.’
Christopher has to break off because Rosie appears again, this time delivering our food. Her facial expression is still mutinous, and I just hope she hasn’t spat in it.
‘Mm, this is delicious,’ he comments, after a couple of bites of his steak and kidney pie. ‘Anyway, I went down there and met Noah and this fellow called John. They were very clear with me about you, Deborah and Williamsons. They couldn’t speak highly enough of you, but the other two didn’t come across so well. They referred to Deborah as “the Bitch Queen”. Are you familiar with that term?’
‘Oh, that is just too good,’ Abby laughs.
‘There’s little love lost between the guys on site and her,’ I comment.
‘But they have immense loyalty to you. That says a lot. Noah wouldn’t let me leave until he’d fired up the computer and showed me your project plan, which I will admit was very impressive. So here’s the pitch. Would you consider going back down there and continuing? In return, I will increase your salary to the market rate for your position and give you a greater say in the sourcing of materials. Before you answer, you might like to know that I took the opportunity to view a few other sites down there, and I’ll definitely be making a long-term commitment to more projects in the area, so I’d like you to consider becoming a permanent member of the team as well.’
‘That depends. Will I be working for you, or are you looking to replace Deborah with someone new?’ I ask.
‘Good question. You’ll be working with me initially, but I can’t run the company on my own; there are too many moving parts, so I need help. However, I’ve learned my lesson and my new associate will be someone I know I can trust implicitly. I’ve already decided who it will be, and I hope you’ll work very well with her once she’s up to speed.’
‘It’s me,’ Abby tells me.
‘And this is the very last thing I want to ask you before you give me your decision,’ Christopher continues. ‘Abby has grown up in the business, but she’s never experienced construction at the sharp end. We were talking about it on the way over, and she’s asked to come and spend some time with you, learning the ropes. What do you think?’
