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‘Hey!’ Lara slides up to my desk.
‘Morning, honey.’ Her face instantly makes me happy.
‘I know this is ridiculous, but I have to ask…’
‘Lara, I’malwaysprepared for your ridiculousness.’ She pinches me. ‘Ow!’
‘Are you shagging Caleb?’ She screws up her face in disgust.
‘No! Why on earth would you think that?’
‘You never take time off, he never takes time off…then you both start taking the same days off, and…’ She raises her eyebrows.
‘His mom got rushed to hospital a couple of weeks ago and I went to help. She was cremated yesterday, so I went with him.’
‘And he’s in today?’
‘I know; but don’t say anything – he’s stoic.’
Lara nods in Caleb’s direction. He is sitting in Nicole’s swivel chair, playing suggestively with the hem of her skirt and throwing her flirtatious looks as she stands over him, giggling and swatting his hand away playfully.
‘He’s clearly distracting himself,’ Lara says sarcastically.
‘Maybe that’s what he needs. Thankfully he’s going away with his friends soon, so that’ll do him some good.’
Lara feigns surprise. ‘He has friends?’
‘He’s not that bad,’ I defend him.
‘I suppose he isn’t as appalling as I thought. Still planning on getting him back for that moustache, though.’
‘Didn’t you get him back with that little stunt you pulled in front of Nicole?’
‘Nope. I was hoping she’d set him on fire. Instead, he turns up the next day with no burn marks.’
‘Maybe you should—’
‘Ariella?’
I turn back to my desk to see Harrison Ivory, one of the company’s co-founders, hovering over me.
‘Hello, Harry,’ Lara sings as she bats her eyelids at him.
‘Lara.’ Harrison clears his throat nervously and avoids eye contact. I try not to smile. I’ll ask Lara later. Actually, I won’t. I don’t want to know.
‘Ariella, can you pop upstairs now to see Chris and me for a couple of minutes?’
‘Of course.’
I grab my phone, notepad and pencil before I follow Harrison to the lift. I like Harrison, and Christopher Bow, our founders. They are young, down to earth and always looking to keep the company evolving. I’d been hired by Christopher, the steady, sensible COO, who oversaw operations and delivery, but started reporting to Harrison, the charming and fun sales head, after my second promotion.
When I joined, I didn’t think I’d last long, but Harrison and Christopher seemed to like what I was doing. I initially ran local and international events for clients, often travelling from one city to the next to deliver them. Today, I am responsible not just for the entire events team and global delivery, but also for the compliance and safety of every Ivory Bow event worldwide. I am still unsure how I got here, but I have enjoyed the journey and challenge. Each promotion, however, increasingly anchored me to the UK, which relieved Jasper no end.
‘I heard your boyfriend broke up with you,’ Harrison says gently as we enter the lift.
‘Yes.’ I don’t bother to correct him, and avoid eye contact, because I don’t want to go into the details of my personal life with him. I respect both Harrison and Christopher very much, but our relationship has been strictly professional up to this point, and I am not about to let that change.
‘He’s a complete idiot to let you go. If you need anything, let us know.’
