Rachel Ryan
So it hasn’t occurred to anyone that I might have been promoted because I’mgood at my job?
Kemi Percival
Ahhh, don’t be like that, Rach, we all know how good you are!!!
We’re just jealous you get to work with HH.
Donna pointed out what a cushy gig it is.
Rachel Ryan
Ha. I bet she did
I only found out on Friday – it was a complete surprise.
And I promise you, I didn’t ask for this. I swear I’d rather have stuck with Greg.
Kemi Percival
Baaahahahahaha!!!
Pull the other one, it has bells on it
Now more frustrated than anyone should be before 9.30 in the morning, Rachel decided not to dignify this with a response.
She clicked theXin the corner of the IM window, took a breath that she hoped would be calming, and started reading her emails.
Rachel and Jack had been summoned to a 10 a.m. ‘kick-off’ meeting with Isaac and Greg, presumably to discuss whatever work they’d been assigned. As it drew closer Rachel felt anxiety begin to press on her, like a dead weight she couldn’t shake off.
She and Jack hadn’t spoken properly for over a week. She hadn’t sought him out after Friday’s meeting, and it seemed he hadn’t looked for her either. Rachel knew the mature thing might have been to talk about it, though she couldn’t see an upside. If they disagreed about how to handle their situation, it would immediately make everything worse – but the alternative was burying the hatchet, perhaps even an attempt at being friends. She would rather have drowned herself in a vat of Angeljuice.
Rachel felt almost as sorry for Greg as she did for herself. He’d found her first thing this morning, wretched and ready to fall on his sword. He blamed himself – said he’d talked up Rachel’s brilliance to everyone who would listen since the takeover, making it clear she was underused and ripe for promotion. He’d even argued that she needed a workmate as bright and talented as herself, never dreaming that Jack might be considered the ideal candidate. Rachel didn’t have it in her to remonstrate with him. She knew Greg’s intentions had been good, regardless of the consequences.
When she arrived at the meeting room, he and Isaac were already there. Greg’s face implied he might as well be in purgatory, and Rachel threw him a resigned sort of smile. She hated that he felt bad about this.
Before she was fully through the door, Jack arrived behind her. Rachel caught a waft of whatever dark, smoky aftershave he was wearing as he followed her inside. It smelled deep and sophisticated, like vintage leather, spices, burning wood … It lingered in her nostrils as she took her seat.
‘Morning, all!’ Isaac beamed, then nudged Greg with his elbow and said, ‘What do you make of my dream team?’
Greg looked ruefully at Rachel, then said, ‘Great. Very impressive.’
Isaac seemed confused for a moment. Rachel assumed he’d never heard Greg answer an open-ended question so concisely.
Brushing off his bewilderment, Isaac began to outline Rachel and Jack’s first joint project. ‘I see you two working almost as a pitching team; you’ll focus on one-off projects that could lead to longer-term business, and also on winning new accounts. You’ll do the groundwork for the new stuff – set the agenda – before handing over to more junior staff. Greg, as our overall head of client services, will want to stay abreast of what you’re doing – but mostly you’ll run this yourselves, and ultimately answer to me. The first thing I have for you is interesting – a proper challenge. All right, I’ll be honest … It’s what my rugby-obsessed son might call a hospital pass.’
And there was me thinking things couldn’t get any worse, Rachel thought. Jack caught her eye and made a face that suggested he didn’t like the sound of this either. She refused to acknowledge she’d noticed it, instead looking down at her notebook.
‘The client is British House and Garden Heritage – or rather its director general, Sir Humphrey Caldwell,’ Isaac went on. ‘They’re after a plan that will help increase visitor numbers to their key historical sites, particularly young people. Humphrey is a … difficult sort of person. Old-fashioned. Struggles with modern developments such as the internet, women’s rights and the fact that we’ve lost the Empire.’
Sounds delightful, Rachel thought, then clenched her teeth for fear she’d say something similar out loud. She could feel Jack looking at her and sensed he was trying not to laugh at her obvious horror. Urgently, she tried to neutralise her expression.
Isaac, however, seemed unperturbed by his characterisation of Sir Humphrey, and apparently hadn’t noticed his colleagues’ reactions to it. ‘I think the key thing with him,’ he went on, ‘is probably keeping your head when he’s unpleasant – reminding yourself that this is all part of agency life. Humphrey is of a certain generation. From a certainechelon of society.’ He turned to Jack and said, ‘You went to Harrow, didn’t you?’
‘Yes,’ Jack replied, nodding and shrugging his shoulders.
‘Good. So did Sir Humphrey. We’ll need to find a way to drop that in.’
