I forced a grin, but familiar disappointment settled in.
I gulped down my glass and the waitress refilled it, watching Philip chat and chat on the phone. He’d occasionally glance towards me, then his attention was pulled back to whoever had called. I was halfway through the second glass when he finally came back in.
‘Right. Tell me your news?’ His dark eyes fixed on me playfully – his way of apologising, no doubt sensing I was annoyed at the continuous interruptions.
‘Do you have to take calls when we’re out for dinner?’ I asked, sitting up a little too straight. ‘Surely they can wait until you’re home?’
Philip’s lips twisted. ‘Yes, they probably could, but I like my employees to know they can reach me at any time. It shows I care. Look, I’m sorry!’ He stuck out his bottom lip jokingly.
I eventually smiled.
The waitress approached with her notepad. ‘What are you guys having then?’
‘Could we have the Chateaubriand? Medium-rare? You’re good with that, yeah?’
I handed back my menu. ‘Sure, thank you.’
‘So, come on! No more interruptions. The news. Tell me!’ Philip sipped on his Coke, ignoring the flute of champagne.
‘Well, I’m going to New York in three days to pitch to a huge tech company with the girls!’ I gabbled quickly, taking another gulp from my glass.
There. It was out. It was done.
I watched Philip tilt his head, looking unsure.
‘What?’ I asked.
‘No, nothing. Wow! It’s a shock, I suppose. I thought you were focusing on social media? Making business pages more aesthetic? That type of thing.’
Great start. I felt like he had taken a massive dump over my news, squeezing it directly into my champagne flute.
‘No,’ I said with a laugh that was starting to sound a little forced. ‘That’s basically all the work we can get at the moment, but I was running major events for massive companies before, remember? So, I have to think bigger than Instagram reels. And now we’ve been offered this pitch in New York and .?.?.’
Philip sipped his drink, seeming more convinced. ‘What’s the company? One I know?’
I felt my breath turn shaky, then cleared my throat. ‘Erm, the company is called Flirtify, and they’ve asked the girls and me to pitch to them.’
Philip smiled, his eyebrows raised in shock. ‘Owned by Jimmy Link? Wow. Now that is impressive! Why did they ask you girls? Did you send an application to pitch something specifically?’
I took a swig of champagne and slowly shook my head. ‘No, actually, they read an article about The Dicktionary Club and wanted ideas for setting up something similar in the Big Apple. Cool, eh?’ I took another gulp, finishing the glass and immediately reaching for a refill, not waiting for the waitress.
I noticed the silence between us and eventually gazed up at Philip, who looked like he had been smacked in the face with an eight-ounce steak by one of the kitchen’s beefiest chefs.
‘An article about me?’ he asked, and I managed a tight smile back. There were so many articles when the shit hit the fan with The Dicktionary Club, but almost all of them did mention his name. ‘OK. News really does travel, eh?’ He paused briefly, then continued. ‘I thought you hated that website, Ella. I thought you hated everything it stands for.’ He set his glass down with a small thump that made me jump.
Shit, he’sragin’.
‘Well, I hated what it did to you, to us, yes. But obviously there’s a market for it if these guys are reaching out. It’s an amazing opportunity that we need to explore. If we don’t, then someone else will.’
Stone-cold silence surrounded us. I began wishing his phone would ring again to help ease the tension.
Eventually, I got the balls to look up from the table and into his eyes. Philip was leaning back in his chair, his dark eyes glazed over, staring straight through me.
‘What? Why are you acting so weird? I don’t really think this is a big deal.’ I started to giggle in a pathetic attempt to restore the mood between us.
‘Maybe not for you, Ella. But I don’t think you should go and pitch that horrendous club to anyone else. You and your friends went on dates to review and ridicule men purely for your own entertainment. And I was included in that, in case you’ve forgotten. How do you think it made me feel? And just when I thought we’d moved on from it, you tell me you’re taking the idea to one of the biggest cities in the world?’ Philip shook his head, disgusted with me.
Before I could muster the courage to say anything else, the waitress appeared with our steak.
