Brooke tilted her head in thought. ‘You both make good points.’
Leo and I eyeballed each other over Brooke’s head. He was kind of sexy in professional mode, using his powers of persuasion and a finely tuned turn of phrase to present his argument. NLP in full swing.
‘Then we’re all agreed,’ Brooke said, giving him a run for his money.
‘Yes,’ Leo and I said at the same time, then laughed.
‘Now if y’all will excuse me, I need to go to the little girls’ room.’ She flounced off, her silky kimono glittering in the lights, leaving us both feeling like winners.
‘Nice try, cosying up to the client and trying to get her on side,’ I said.
He frowned, exasperated. ‘Chill! We were just chatting and it came up. I want this to be a fair process too, you know. We’re the new boys, remember. We’re the ones on the back foot.’
‘It doesn’t feel like that.’
‘I’m also finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate with you constantly in my periphery.’
I tilted my head, confused. ‘Are you? In what way?’
‘In every way. This is why I don’t mix business and pleasure.’
‘Neither do I!’
‘At least we agree on that, then.’
I put my headphones back on and Leo’s face was a picture as I stormed off. What was he even talking about? How dare he! Did he expect me to disappear so he could wave his work willy at Brooke without challenge? Cheeky bastard. He’d have to get used to me being in hisperipheryfor another week or so, at least, whether he liked it or not.
Eleven
Sunday 27th June
Esmeraldaleft Ponta Delgada in the afternoon, and we were already well on the way to Terceira Island by the time we’d finished dinner. Another gorgeous day on the Portuguese seas, and the warm breeze tickled my shoulders as I sipped my Amaretto on the rocks. I could almost pretend I was on holiday if I closed my eyes, until Heidi appeared out of nowhere.
‘There you are! I was about to press the man overboard button. Now. Where are we up to with pitch ideas?’
She looked at me expectantly and I put my drink down with an inward sigh. Byweshe meantme.
‘Nothing beyond what we discussed yesterday,’ I said. ‘I’m letting my brain percolate the ideas for a while.’
‘OK, well let’s percolate together!’ Heidi said, clearly having no idea how percolating worked. But there was no appeasing her when she was like this. I repositioned my umbrella and sat up.
‘We need to appeal to a younger audience,’ I said, confidently.
‘Yes, yes, agreed.’ Heidi wroteyouthon anEsmeraldacoaster in capital letters.
‘And the key to unlocking a great campaign is working out what’s stopping young people booking a cruise right now and meeting them where they are. Leaning into their reality.’
What’s their problem?Heidi wrote next to it. ‘Uh-huh, sounds good. Which is what?’ she asked from over her glasses. ‘What exactly is their reality?’
‘It’s obvious from the data, isn’t it?’ She nodded and wrote down D-A-T-A. ‘The young people think it’s too expensive and for old people and we need to convince them otherwise.’
‘Well, yes. That’s the brief. But how?’
‘That’s the part I’m percolating.’
She clicked her pen off, exasperated. ‘Well, let me know when you’ve got something. We haven’t got forever.’
There was a flurry of excitement as Barbie Queue emerged poolside in fullBridgertonregalia: a pale pink bustled-up skirt and a corset that left little to the imagination. She lifted her petticoats to walk through the bar, then delicately cleared her throat.
