‘Ginger,’ said Carla, in a sort of husky, come-hither voice she normally reserved for the men she wanted to impress around the building. ‘Can I talk to you for a moment in my office?’
‘Sure,’ said Ginger, about to grab her pens, notebook and tablet.
‘You won’t need any of that,’ said Carla.
Ginger followed Carla’s gently swaying hips. How did a person do that? she wondered. Some sort of motorised hip movement that just made everything sway. No wonder all the men were crazy about her.
In her office, Carla shut the door, that friendly smile still on her face. It was the smile that was making Ginger really nervous. It was the sort of smile that a woman-eating snake gave before she swallowed a person whole, reticulated jaw opening up to gulp them right down.
‘So,’ Carla sat elegantly behind her desk and motioned with one perfectly manicured hand for Ginger to sit too. ‘I hear you’ve been promoted. Won’t be working in our little magazine anymore.’
‘Yes,’ said Ginger, not even slightly surprised. The editor hadn’t said that he’d told everyone else, but then of course Carla was on the management team and she’d know all about it ...
‘I was all for it,’ Carla said gravely. ‘I really believe in women getting ahead.’
It was all Ginger could do not to laugh out loud, but as it was she managed to hold it in somehow. She and her friends helped each other. Carla never helped anyone but herself. But if Carla wanted to think denial was a river in Africa, that was fine by Ginger.
‘You did a really good job on those gym pieces. Funny and real. The readers really liked them. Great ratings and a lot of readers on the internet version of the paper.’
‘Yes,’ said Ginger carefully. She wasn’t sure where this was going, but there was a hint of danger. As if Carla was already working up her jaw for the whole body-swallowing thing.
‘That guy Will Stapleton who runs the gym,’ went on Carla. ‘What a charmer he is. I knew you’d like him. Everyone does, totally gorgeous and sexy, isn’t he?’ She smiled then at Ginger, a smile that said so many things. ‘I put him onto you because I knew he’d take care of you. He’s great with people who need ...’ Her eyes scanned Ginger’s body. ‘With people who need extra help. And he’s kind, you know. Kind to everyone. Of course, women are always falling in love with him ...’
Ginger could only stare at her. All the joy of the previous night vanished.
‘He is kind of charming, isn’t he?’ she said, doing her level best to smile. She would not break down in front of this bitch.
‘Yes, very charming, and as I told him when I set up that initial meeting with you, it would be so good for his gym to be featured in the paper. After all, people would kill for that sort of PR. Two months of articles in theSunday News. Who wouldn’t doanythingfor that?’
Ginger had no more fight left. She just stared at Carla.
‘I rang the gym earlier to check on my free membership and guess what, some guy on the desk said you and Will had been on a date last night? Sweet,’ Carla went on. ‘I’m sure you had a great time with him, but I have my eye on him. So hands off. He’s out of your league. I asked him if he’d come with me to the newspaper awards and, naturally, he said yes. He knows it would be fabulous publicity and think of all the contacts he’d meet. I hear on the grapevine you might be up for one ...’
‘Really? I’ve never been and, no, I hadn’t heard that rumour,’ said Ginger. Somehow, she rose gracefully, smiled, and said, ‘Lots of work to do, Carla. Bye.’
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Jodie when Ginger raced over to their corner and frantically grabbed her handbag and her phone off the desk.
‘Nothing,’ said Ginger. But she knew she was going red, knew she’d cry any minute now and she had to get out of the office before that happened, before anyone else witnessed her pain. Even Jodie and Fiona, her dear friends. She couldn’t let them see how hurt she was. Because Will had used her. Will and Carla had used her. First Liza, and now them.
Will answered on the first ring.
‘Hey gorgeous,’ he said in a warm tone.
Ginger felt like a volcano that had been building up pressure for thirty years and today it was going to blow.
‘You never told me you knew my boss, Carla. And how could you agree to go to the press awards with her? Why did you agree?’
‘Ginger,’ he protested, ‘she phoned this morning. She’s sort of pushy. I knew she wanted a free membership when she suggested us for the magazine feature and the gym needs more publicity, but it’s just work, Ginger.’
‘Just work. Which part? Her or me? At least I know now, Will.’
‘It’s not like that—’ he protested. ‘Damn it, Ginger, after everything we shared last night—’
‘Exactly. You didn’t share one vital thing. All the old girlfriends, yes. The fact that you know my bitch of a boss, and were capable of going to an event with another woman when you’re allegedly going out with me, no. You never told me any of that. So case closed. Goodbye, Will. It was, briefly, nice knowing you. Until you showed me your true colours.’
And she slammed down the phone.
He kept phoning and phoning, but she blocked his number and deleted it. He could try to wriggle his way out of this one, but it was no good.
