‘Thank you so much for having us.’
Brooke waved away our platitudes with a fan she’d flipped out of nowhere. ‘Not AT ALL. You need to understand the product to sell it – right? You should be on these cruises once a quarter at the very least. How else can you keep your ideas fresh and relevant?’
‘It’s a good point,’ Heidi said.
‘And I’m sorry but the recent PR has been looking anything but.’
‘Do you think?’ I said, slightly shocked at her blunt delivery.
Brooke beamed, as if she wasn’t delivering devastating news. ‘That’s why Fran had to go if you want the truth. But we don’t know for certain that she was the problem – it might have been you guys for all I know. Hell, maybe it was a combination of y’all, but we’ll find out soon enough.’
A sucker punch delivered with a spoonful of honey. Thecruising queenwas a total sociopath. I mirrored her smile with an uncomfortable nod, despite myself.
‘Morning, Brooke,’ a throaty voice said over my shoulder. I turned to look and there he was. The super-smooth PR-star who had ruined my life.
‘Leo Kendrick! There you are!’ Brooke drawled, giving him a double air kiss.
‘Here I am,’ he said, lifting his sunglasses with a grin. I’d forgotten how handsome he was with his thick, jet-black hair and dimples. ‘How are you Brooke? Excited for the trip?’
‘Hell, yeah. It’s everything I love all at once. The ocean, travel, work – and competition.’
Leo laughed and held out his hand. ‘Speaking of which. Good to see you again, Heidi, and Kat… it’s been a while.’ His palms were cool and solid like a professional businessman. Mine were hot and sticky like a grubby gremlin and we held on a fraction too long making eye contact for the first time in years.
‘It has,’ I said, a convincing smile concealing the irritation I felt at being in his presence. ‘How have you been?’
‘Very well, yeah. Incredibly busy,’ he said, raking a hand through his quiff. ‘You know how it is in agencies – there’s either too much work and not enough staff or too many staff and not enough work. Right now, it’s the former, so we’re recruiting.’
‘Nice problem to have,’ Heidi said. ‘And Dinky Drinks have settled in?’
It still stung to have lost that pitch to them. Our campaign had been so bloody cute. A school sports day of kids dressed as fruits racing for the win, then drinking their Dinky Drinks together in wholesome harmony. Amplify had gone down the organic, fresh fruit angle – which put the focus on the parents, and the client had loved it.
‘Yes, the ads go live next month,’ Leo said. ‘Feels like we’ve been to every fruit farm in Europe these past few months but we’re happy with the result.’
‘And now you’re off again!’ Brooke said. ‘You’re in demand! Everyone wants a piece of you.’
‘I don’t know about that,’ Leo said, abashed. ‘But I’m very glad to have every piece of me here. We are delighted to be pitching. I’m looking forward to adding the Excalibur Cruises logo to our website.’
I flashed him a filthy look and he laughed. ‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?’
‘Now, now, children,’ Brooke interjected. ‘Play nice.’
‘Are you travelling on your own?’ Heidi asked.
‘I hope not. My creative director, Zach, should be here somewhere.’ Leo arched his nicely moisturised neck to look around the crowd asEsmeraldagave a prolonged blast of the horn and sent a shit-tonne of smoke into the atmosphere. ‘Ah, I see him.’ Leo put his fingers to his lips and whistled, and Zach ambled over like a well-trained dog, wearing baggy shorts and carrying a large leather man bag.
‘Alrigh’?’ he said, in a Welsh accent, giving us all a slight nod.
‘Zach, you know Heidi and Kat from Northstar PR,’ Leo said. ‘And Brooke, of course.’
‘Ofcourse,’ Zach replied, shaking our hands in turn. ‘Good to see you again.’
We’d crossed paths briefly at the Dinky Drinks pitch, when they’d arrived early, presumably to check out the competition. The pair of them walking in was an impossible image to forget – both well over six foot, Zach with his bright blond perm and wire-framed glasses and Leo super clean-cut in his sharp blue suit. They were renowned in the industry as a formidable team and a well-oiled pitchingmachine, and once we realised we were up against them, we knew we were in trouble. But I wasn’t going to let history repeat itself. This time, we’d be ready.
‘Well, ain’t it just peachy that y’all know each other?’ Brooke trilled, delighted. ‘Just a bunch of good old pals goin’ cruisin’ together.’
We side-eyed each other and laughed. More like a bunch of angry snakes trapped in a bag together.
Esmeraldasounded her horn again and there was a kerfuffle at the front of the crowd as trays of empty champagne flutes were marched back up the ramp and onto the boat. An over-tanned man in a captain’s uniform blew a whistle and everyone went quiet.
