‘So, the reason I asked you to come in, rather than just chatting to you over the phone, is that we’re in a very exciting position,’ she tells me. ‘We’re expanding, and there are a number of roles we’ll be opening up that I think you will be able to help us with.’
For the first time in what feels like forever, I’m actually in a good mood as I leave a little over an hour later. Shirley’s given me the details of six positions that they’re going to be looking to fill, and my mind is already coming up with some possible candidates as I make my way towards the underground. This is what I need to help put Gabriel behind me, I decide. Stop moping and focus on my work. Oh, and project Ro-Ro, of course. Priya and I both agree that the first meeting between Rosie and Robert was atentative success, but they might need a bit more of a push. Maybe we should organise another evening at the weekend.
My head is full of all this as I walk into the office shortly after eleven, so it takes me a moment to notice that both Lily and Sonya are looking at me strangely.
‘What?’ I ask, automatically feeling around my mouth in case there are any crumbs lurking from the Danish pastry I ate on the way over.
‘There’s someone here to see you,’ Lily says carefully. ‘We’ve, umm, put him in the meeting room.’
‘Who is it?’ I’m wracking my brains now, trying to work out if I’ve inadvertently double-booked myself. I’d be the first to admit that I haven’t been bringing my A-game over the last few weeks, so it’s entirely possible, although I’d like to hope I’m still capable of being more organised than that.
Lily glances at Sonya, who almost imperceptibly shakes her head. ‘It’s probably best if you see for yourself,’ Sonya says.
‘I need to get the details of these new positions onto the system while they’re still fresh in my mind,’ I tell them. ‘Can’t one of you deal with it?’
‘He asked for you specifically,’ Lily replies.
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake,’ I growl. ‘It had better not be Trevor whatsisname, come to badger me again about why I haven’t found him a position yet, I’m not in the mood.’
‘It’s not Trevor,’ Lily tells me. ‘Just go and look, will you?’
I sigh. ‘Let me get my coat off and grab myself a coffee.’ I plonk my bag down on my desk and head for the kitchen.
‘Never mind the coffee,’ Lily calls after me. ‘I’ll bring you one in a minute.’
‘What the hell is the urgency?’ I ask.
‘It’s not urgent, as such,’ Lily replies. ‘It’s just that he’s been here for a while and it’s probably a good idea not to keep him waiting too much longer.’
I’m still trying to work out which of my clients has come to hassle me as I open the door to the meeting room, so it takes me a moment to properly register the person who is getting to his feet to greet me. When I do, my mouth opens in shock.
‘Gabriel,’ I say, once I’ve recovered the power of speech. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I’ve come to see you,’ he says simply.
‘Why?’
‘Because I have a number of questions I want to ask you. Don’t worry, I’m not going to make a scene.’
‘I think, if anyone around here is going to make a scene, it should be me,’ I tell him coldly. Now that I’ve recovered from the initial shock, I can feel the fury starting to course through my veins.
Gabriel looks nonplussed. ‘Sorry, I’m not following. Are you angry with me?’
‘Oh, no,’ I say sarcastically. ‘What on earth have I got to be angry with you about? I mean, besides completely blindsiding me and dumping me with no more care than you’d give a used teabag.’
‘Look,’ he says. ‘If this is about the way Harvey spoke to you at the airport?—’
‘Are you for real?’ I’m aware that my voice is getting louder and I force myself to bring it down a notch or two. This is not a conversation that needs to be overheard. ‘Yes, I was horrified by the way Harvey treated me, as if I was some kind of toy you’d grown out of, but I was more surprised when you didn’t stand up for me at all.’
‘I did, remember? He would have just bundled you into a taxi.’
‘Oh, well done, Gabriel. Give yourself a gold star for going two minutes out of your way to drop off the suddenly inconvenient woman.’
‘I should have stood up to him, I know, but I was on the back foot. When he suggested a warm-up concert in Jamaica before we went to the US, I never realised that he was going to go the whole hog with sponsors and so on. I did try to make it up to you though, with the car and everything. I was going to apologise at the after-concert party, but then you never showed up.’
‘Of course I never showed up! You specifically asked me not to show up in your shitty, cowardly, “thanks for everything, now fuck off” letter. Do you even have the first idea how humiliated that made me feel?’
He stares at me blankly. ‘What letter? I never wrote you a letter.’
