‘You do that every day in the office, Martha. You amuse me endlessly.’
‘I’m glad I’m such good value.’
‘Talking of value. Will you accept the job offer from Topolino? Did they tempt you with an appropriately juicy carrot?’
She made an attempt at insouciance. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
He laughed. ‘I knew they’d want to poach you.’
‘On what basis?’
‘That you came up with exactly the right campaign for them. What did Charlotte offer you to jump ship?’
Martha could see there was no point in denying what Jason clearly already had a good handle on. ‘It’s a generous package,’ she said, ‘and worth considering.’
‘I should hope it is. You’d be a valuable asset to them. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t want to lose you. I value you enormously and the team is going to miss you while you’re on maternity leave. Just so you know, if I need to compete with Topolino, I will.’
Martha had to wonder if this whole day was one big surreal dream – getting stuck in the lift, fainting in the office, being driven home by her boss who was now negotiating an increase in her salary if she stayed.
She was still trying to come up with a suitable response when he said, ‘You don’t have to give me an answer now, not after the day you’ve had, but I do want you to know that I’d personally be very sorry to lose you.There, now that we have that out of the way, you can relax. How about some music?’
‘Sure,’ she said, thinking that relaxing was the last thing she was capable of doing. But after he’d tapped at a couple of buttons on the steering wheel, gentle piano music filled the car.
‘Nothing like a bit of Satie, particularly the Gymnopédies, to unwind the mind and body,’ he said.
‘I had you down as more of a thrash metal fan,’ she teased.
‘That’s what I play on my way into work of a morning, it pumps me up ready to kick ass.’
She could well believe it. ‘I think you should have “Eye of the Tiger” playing at full blast in the foyer to herald your arrival,’ she said.
He laughed. ‘Now why didn’t I think of that?’
They were only a short distance from home and where Tom would be waiting for them, when Martha knew it was now or never for her to ask the one question she had always wanted to ask her boss.
‘Jason …’
‘Yes?’
‘Why do you click your pen during any meeting we have?’
‘Do I?’
‘You know you do. You give it three clicks in quick succession every time you do it.’
‘How interesting. And why do you think I do that?’
‘To put people on edge.’
‘And does it?’
‘I can’t speak for the others, but it drives me crazy. It’s like Chinese water torture waiting for the next click.’
He shot her another sideways glance. ‘Who knew that within that tough outer shell of yours,Martha, you were such a sensitive little soul.’
‘So why do you do it?’
‘It helps me think. Anything else you want to ask?’
