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“I was absolutely fine then got hit with a massive headache. I’m so sorry, did I missmuch?”
“I don’t know if you managed to meet Mackenzie ornot.”
“No, I left as you introduced him. I’ll introduce myselftonight.”
“He’s staying here if you want to join us in the bar. I’m going to grab a drink with himnow.”
“You go. It’s okay. I’m sure you’ve got tons to talk about. I need to shower and get ready fortonight.”
“Is it him, has he upsetyou?”
I wondered which ‘him’ he was referring to. “I can still throw the bitch out,” hesaid.
“No, it’s fine. She’s obviously his partner. A little crass to bring her but others have brought their partners. Mindyou…”
I grabbed the folder from my bed. I hadn’t thought to check whether he’d added a plus one for the meal. I hoped he hadn’t. I sighed when I saw that he had. Jenny must have missed it when she did the final head count. I pulled out the table plan. We had one cancellation on Scott’s table, fortunate for him but a shame in that we could seather.
I called over to the event manager and asked her to change the namecard.
“Should have left it, had the bitch standing there not knowing where to sit,” Jerrysaid.
“Then I’d be laughed at for doing something petty. It’s fine; go have your drink. Let me get rid of this headache so I can enjoy thisevening.”
“I should have fucked him off,” Jerrysaid.
“Go, I’ll see you later. And congratulations, that was a greatpresentation.”
“Of course it was, one of my favourite people wrote it.” He laughed and gave me a wink as heleft.
I made a cup of tea and settled in the large armchair in the corner beside the windows that overlooked a small garden. I read for a while and sipped my tea, trying to calm my nerves. There was no ducking out of the evening event, and I realised I would be sitting at the same table as ‘him.’
His name hadn’t been on our list, just ‘guest’ of Jerry. We never knew who that guest would be. Sometimes he’d bring a ‘friend’ to an event, other times his mother, who I loved. There was a little part of me that was sad that he hadn’t settled down, found a woman to share his life and wealth with. But I guessed, that wealth was why he chose to keep his circle very small and his bedempty.
I’d tried not to, but I continually checked my watch. I was hoping time would slow down, it didn’t. With an hour to go before I had to arrive, earlier than the rest to ensure the room was set out as expected, I ran the bath. I pinned my hair up, not wanting it to getwet.
I washed, climbed out then wrapped a towel around me. I sat at the small dressing table and applied my makeup. I knew it was a dumb thing to do, but I bought all new: new makeup, new underwear, new dress, and new shoes. I’d had my hair cut. I wanted to walk into that room looking stunning, or as stunning as I could. I wanted to show Scott what he’d thrown away. As I stood in front of the wardrobe and inspected the red floor-length silk dress, with a slit up to the thigh, I cringed. There’d be no hiding inthat.
I styled my hair, dressed, pulled on the shoes, and picked up my clutch. After taking a deep breath, I left the safety of my room and took the lift down. I crossed the foyer and waited for the doorman to flag down ataxi.
When I arrived at the venue, I headed straight to the ballroom. Waitresses were still scuttling around doing last minute preparations. The DJ had set up in the corner and was standing by the bar,drinking.
I found my table and placed my clutch on my seat. I was sitting to Jerry’s left, ‘guest’ to his right. I had thought to move myself but then, if I was directly next to Jerry, it wouldn’t be so easy for him to talk tome.
And I had Fred, who manned the security desk at the office, next to me. No matter what the occasion, the old man was always invited. Jerry wouldn’t allow any member of the team, regardless of position, to be left out. He always sat at Jerry’s table and I was thankful. He would keep me entertained, forsure.
* * *
“Would you like a glass of champagne?”I wasasked.
The waitresses were ready, standing by the door to hand out glasses of bubbly as the guests arrived. I took one from a nearby tray and thanked the waitress. When I heard Jerry laughing in the doorway, I turned my back, pretending to be inspecting something on a neighbouringtable.
“Lauren, babe,” he called out; I inwardly cringed at the term ofendearment.
I straightened my back, jutted out my chin, and turned. I caught the look of amusement on Mackenzie’s face, at least that was something. I was expecting shock, amusement was better than that I guessed. I smiled and walked over; there was no avoidingit.
“Mackenzie, I’d like you to meet my head of marketing, Lauren Perry. She’d be my right hand man if she had agreed. Been with me since thebeginning.”
He held out his hand, I reached for it, trying not to look surprised as a pulse of electrical current ran betweenus.
