It’s not dreadful furniture , I type, a little indignantly. It’s a wonderful piece of original art nouveau .
I look up at Sadie, and she’s sticking a finger down her throat. “It’s minging,” she says, and I can’t help giggling.
Where did you learn that word? I type.
“Picked it up.” Sadie gives an insouciant shrug.
So I told my dad about Josh , I type, and look at Sadie for a reaction. But she rolls her eyes and disappears.
Fine. Be like that. I don’t care what she thinks, anyway. I lean back, take out my mobile, and flip to one of Josh’s texts. I feel all warm and content, as though I just drank a cup of hot chocolate. I’m back with Josh, and all’s right with the world.
Maybe I’ll text Josh and tell him how pleased everyone is for us.
No. I don’t want to hound him. I’ll leave it half an hour or so.
Across the room, the phone rings, and I wonder if maybe it’s him. But a moment later Kate says, “I’ll put you on hold,” and looks up anxiously. “Lara, it’s Janet from Leonidas Sports. Shall I put her through?”
All the hot chocolate drains out of my stomach.
“Yes. OK, I’ll speak to her. Just give me thirty seconds.” I psych myself up, then lift the phone with my breeziest top-recruitment-consultant manner. “Hi, Janet! How are you? Did you get the short list all right?”
Kate emailed the short list to Janet last night. I should have known she’d call. I should have gone out for the day or pretended to have lost my voice.
“I hope you’re as excited by it as I am,” I add brightly.
“No, I’m not,” Janet says in her usual hoarse, peremptory tones. “Lara, I don’t understand. Why’s Clive Hoxton on the list?”
“Ah, Clive,” I say, trying to sound confident. “What a man. What a talent.”
OK, so here’s the thing. I know my lunch with Clive didn’t end brilliantly. But the truth is, he’d be perfect for the job. And I might be able to talk him around before the interview. So I put him on the list anyway, with provisional after his name in small letters.
“Clive’s a really bright executive, Janet.” I launch into my spiel. “He’s experienced in marketing, very dynamic, ripe for a move-”
“I know all that.” Janet cuts me off. “But I bumped into him at a reception last night. He said he’d made it clear he wasn’t interested. In fact, he was shocked to learn he was on the short list.”
Fuck .
“Really?” I summon tones of astonishment. “How… strange. How very strange. That’s not the impression I got at all. As far as I was aware, we had a great meeting, he was enthusiastic-”
“He told me he walked out,” says Janet flatly.
“He… left the meeting, obviously.” I cough. “As we both did. You could say we both walked out-”
“He told me you were on the phone to another client throughout and he never wanted to do business with you again.”
My face flushes red. Clive Hoxton is a mean sneak.
“Well.” I clear my throat. “Janet, I’m baffled. All I can say is we must have had mixed messages-”
“What about this Nigel Rivers?” Janet has clearly moved on. “Is he the man with the dandruff? Applied to us once before?”
“It’s a lot better these days,” I say hastily. “I think he’s using Head and Shoulders.”
“You know our MD has strong views on personal hygiene?”
“I… er… was not aware of that, Janet. I’ll make a note of it-”
“And what about this Gavin Mynard?”
“Very, very talented,” I lie at once. “A very talented, creative guy who has been… overlooked. His résumé doesn’t reflect his… wealth of experiences.”
Janet sighs. “Lara…”
I stiffen with apprehension. Her tone is unmistakable. She’s going to fire me right now. I can’t let it happen, I can’t, we’ll be finished…
“And, of course-I have another candidate!” I hear myself saying in a rush.
“Another candidate? You mean, not on the list?”
“Yes. Much better than any of the others! In fact, I’d say this candidate is definitely your person.”
“Well, who is it?” says Janet suspiciously. “Why don’t I have the details?”
“Because… I need to firm things up first.” I’m crossing my fingers so hard they hurt. “It’s all very confidential. This is a high-profile person we’re talking about, Janet. Very senior, very experienced-believe me, I’m excited.”
“I need a name!” she barks angrily. “I need a résumé! Lara, this is all highly unprofessional. Our in-house meeting is on Thursday. Can I speak to Natalie, please?”
“No!” I say in panic. “I mean… Thursday. Absolutely! You’ll have all the information on Thursday. I promise. And all I can say is, you’ll be bowled over by the caliber of this particular candidate. Janet, I must dash, great to talk.” I put the phone down, my heart thumping.
Shit. Shit . What am I going to do now?
“Wow!” Kate looks up, eyes shining. “Lara, you’re such a star. I knew you’d do it! Who’s this amazing high-profile candidate?”
“There isn’t one!” I say desperately. “We have to find one!”
“Right.” Kate starts looking urgently around the office, as though a top-level marketing executive might be hiding in the filing cabinet. “Er… where?”