She looks at me with an open, earnest smile.
Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty of ideas, but, in the four years that I have worked at Abbingtorn, nobody has ever asked me for any of them. I’m not used to voicing my ideas and I don’t really know where to start. There’s a line of communication, which is always filtered through Pippa, and we do not ever break that mould.
But Evie is staring at me now, glossy lips pursed into the softest and most supportive of smiles. I try to speak, but the words get stuck somewhere in my throat. So, I do the only thing my anxiety-riddled body will allow and hold out the notebook. She crosses the space between us and I hold my breath as I let her scan the pages in my hand. Delight and confusion dance across her features, nose scrunching at sentences, fingers tracing over my wobbly letters and shoddy diagrams. Sheactuallywants to know. Sheactuallycares. And even from here, I can tell it’s making Pippa furious.
‘There’s a question mark by water features. You don’t like the idea either?’
I hear Pippa’s sharp inhale at Evie’s query, daggers shooting into the side of my head.
Two years ago, Pippa decided she needed an ‘event signature’– something people would see and know they were at a Pippa Shaw soirée. Why she decided on water features, I could not tell you. I also couldn’t tell you why she consistently picks the tackiest ones around. I just can’t bear to see Evie broughtdown to her level. They’re not her brand– they’re not even remotely close– and she shouldn’t endure them at the expense of Pippa’s weak attempt at having a personality.
‘We all love water features, of course. They’re a Pippa Shaw staple,’ I say as diplomatically as possible.
‘But?’ Evie asks.
She can already tell what I’m thinking and she’s pressing me to go on, despite Pippa’s death stare.
‘I just don’t know if they should be the main feature for this event.’ I hesitate, but Evie nods for me to continue. ‘It’s called a “Summer Splash”, which to me implies more waterparkthan it does waterfeature. You know?’
‘I do,’ she says, musing this over. ‘So, you think we should go down a water-ride route?’
‘Your brand screams luxury, and luxury is not found in family water parks.’ I wrinkle my nose, thinking of the garish colours, the smells, and the screams of children. ‘I think you could still have some fun with it, though– water parks and pool parties with a twist, you know? More adult, more upmarket, more. . . you.’
Her face grows more animated the longer I speak, at least until she surveys the crowd and narrows in on the less-than-impressed man to my right.
‘Aiden, you’re frowning.’
Of course, he’s frowning. I could tell him he’s just won the lottery and he would frown at me. Aiden hates my guts, and, by the looks of it, he’s done pretending otherwise.
‘It’s all good.’ He shrugs, feigning apathy.
‘Well, it’s clearly not.’ Evie continues to watch him closely. ‘Speak your truth.’
‘I just feel like it’s a bit obvious.’
‘Obvious?’ I say.
I’ll tell him what’s obvious. The way he dresses like a nineties R&B singer because he hasn’t got any style of his own,that’sobvious.
‘Resort. . . Summer. . . It just seems a little basic, you know? An obvious link,’ he says.
Pippa barely masks her snort of derision and I scoff at his words.
‘We wouldobviouslymake sure it wasn’t basic,’ I say.
‘And how would you do that exactly?’ he asks.
Well, I don’t know, Aiden. I just came up with it and no one was supposed to read my half-thought-out notes until they were fully formed and typed up.
I think for a moment, trying to recall the key points from the brief Aiden emailed around.
‘The point of the event is to launch a luggage line, so we could make this place a holiday resort– multiple holiday resorts.’ I wave a hand around the grounds, sectioning it off as the vision springs to life in my brain. ‘If we have multiple water rides– one in each quadrant, there could be a theme with each representing a different country you’ve been to. So, we—’
‘It has potential, but I don’t think it’s big enough,’ Aiden cuts in.
‘And how, exactly, would you make it bigger?’ I say.
I don’t quite understand what’s not big enough about multiple holiday resorts, and, frankly, I’m not convinced that he does either.
