‘I don’t know what you gals were thinking with that pitch, but I had some fast explaining to do once you’d gone,’ Brooke said, exasperated.
It hadn’t taken long for the jury to deliberate.
‘A couple of slides got mixed up,’ I said, glumly, not even bothering to fake smile.
‘Well, however bad you thought it was, double it. I was mortified. Greg made me walk him through the whole pitch process to prove you’d had the same brief as Amplify because he couldn’t believe it. Your work made him question my professional capability.’
‘I’m so sorry we put you in that position, Brooke.’ Heidi was furious.
‘Too late for apologies now. It was a horror show, but what’s done is done. And with that said, I hate to deliver bad news, but you must be expecting it. We’ve appointed Amplify as our agency of record going forward. I’d have been sorry either way as I was rootin’ for ya’ll on both sides – I really was.’
Brooke had waited till 5 p.m. to put us out of our misery. We’d known the ‘thanks, but no thanks’ was coming, of course, but to hear it officially confirmed was still a gut punch. And just the beginning of a whole world of shit. Telling the team, making people redundant, handing all our files over to those smug-faced cheats, and then finding a new job myself. I had a few thousand in savings, but that wouldn’t get me very far on London rent.
‘Needless to say, we are very disappointed to hear that,’ Heidi said, pulling the spider phone close. ‘And this isn’t my normal approach in any situation, let alone a pitch, but I feel compelled to tell you there’s been some dirty tricks at play with Leo and Zach.’
I pulled a panicked face, worried what she might say next. Not that it could do any more harm than had already been done.
‘Dirty tricks? In what way?’
‘We didn’t want to cause a scene in front of Greg, so out of pure professionalism we kept quiet during the meeting, but I’m sorry to say the idea they presented was ours.’
‘What?’ she shrieked. ‘How can it have been?’
‘Your guess is as good as mine. I’ve left messages for Leo, but he’s not returning my calls.’ Heidi said, clicking her tongue. ‘Funny that.’
‘We thought you should know before we take it any further,’ I added, trying to soften the tone.
‘That’s the real reason our pitch was such a shambles.’
Brooke tutted. ‘Now, now, Heidi, darlin’, you gotta take feedback as a gift in this game. Amplify won the deal fair and square, and nobody likes a sore loser.’
‘It’s true!’ I blurted. ‘That line was mine. I said it to Heidi myself. I don’t know how they knew what we were working on, butunimaginable momentswas our line. With very different executions of course.’
‘Very differentis one way to describe them. I’ve never been so embarrassed. Look, ladies, it’s a valiant attempt to switch the conversation up but I’m afraid the decision has been made. I need to run as I’m on another call in five.’
‘Can I just…?’ Heidi tried.
‘Sorry, sweetie, I really have to go,’ Brooke said firmly. The conversation was over. ‘But let’s grab dinner next week, hey? I want to thank you both properly for all the work you’ve done for Excalibur Cruises over the years. No hard feelings, y’all. Bye for now.’
‘Byeee!!!’ We put our best cheery voices on as she hung up, then Heidi slammed her hands on the table and screamed. She looked about ready to hurl her coffee cup at the wall.
‘Over the years?’ Heidi spat. ‘As if Excalibur has been an insignificant side project – not the bedrock of my business and ten years of my life. Get me Leo on the phone. NOW.’
I jumped at that. I couldn’t help but think this was all my fault somehow. Leo must have seen something in one of my notebooks or maybe I’d said something that gave our idea away. The only in-the-flesh connection between their team and ours was the two of us. This was my comeuppance for fraternising with the enemy. But I couldn’t let Heidi find out on a conference call or through some other random route. I’d be losing my job now anyway, so there was nothing more to lose. She may as well hear all the bad news at once.
I put the business card he’d given me in Madeira on the table and traced the outline with my fingers.
‘Go on then, hurry up! What are you waiting for?’ Heidi shrieked, standing up and striding up and down the boardroom. I’d never seen her so angry.
I shrank back in my chair, feeling like a total traitor. ‘Before we call him, there’s something I need to tell you.’
Heidi whipped round to face me, her eyes glassy. ‘What?’
Eek.This didn’t feel like theidealtime for a tell-all confession, but it was too late to change my mind now. I had to put my big-girl pants on and do it.
‘I’ve been racking my brains trying to work out how they could possibly have known what we had planned and I can only think of one thing.’
Heidi’s eyes widened, as she waited for me to continue.
