Page 83 of Love Letters on Hazel Lane

‘And did you tick any of them?’

‘I didn’t tick anyone.’

‘Oh? How come?’

Jo wondered if she should mention Razz. Admit how much she liked him. After all, she didn’t know for sure how he felt about Zoey. It was jumping to conclusions to assume that a tick in a box meant they’d start a relationship. They might have had a first date and decided they weren’t each other’s type after all. But the fact remained that Razz had ticked Zoey’s box whilst he hadn’t ticked hers. What was the point in telling Kate about her feelings for him now? She needed to put him to the back of her mind and focus on her work situation. That was why she’d asked Kate to meet her for a drink this evening. Not to talk about men.

‘I want to focus on work,’ she said, ‘rather than men. It’s all gone a bit… well, tits up.’

‘My work’s crap at the moment too.’

‘Seriously? I thought you liked your job.’

‘I used to, but it feels pretty pointless. I spend all day dreaming up ways to market products that no-one needs. It’s not what I want to do with my life.’

‘What do you want to do?’

‘Well,’ said Kate. ‘What I want to do – and I’ve never told anyone this before, not even Emily – is become a life coach. I love giving advice. As you may have noticed.’

‘Yeah, a bit,’ said Jo, thinking back to how Kate had started giving her dating advice, practically from the minute they’d first met. None of it had helped – not so far anyway – but she didn’t like to say. Maybe Kate’s work advice would be better than her dating tips.

‘Anyway, we’re here to talk about you. Tell me about your job.’

‘The production manager’s going off on maternity leave and they’ve asked Leona, not me, to cover for her. I’ve been there longer and have way more experience so it’s a bit of a blow. It’s too late to change their minds about the maternity cover, but I want to make sure I’m not overlooked in future.’

Kate looked thoughtful. ‘Put your resentment aside about not getting the maternity cover and think of a way to impress your boss. What’s his name again? David?’

Jo nodded.

‘You’ve got to make David kick himself that he didn’t give you that promotion.’

‘Yeah, but how? I’ve always done a good job. Well, I slipped up once and lost a document – still can’t see how that happened – and then I said I wasn’t available for a shoot. But it was short notice and it was the weekend of the Scrabble festival. Other than that, I haven’t put a foot wrong. Everything organised. Double-checked. Triple, even. I don’t see what more I can do.’

‘You need to go the extra mile.’

Had Kate read the same article that Gemma had sent? Jo wondered.

‘The extra mile?’

‘Yep! Do something to make yourself stand out. What could you do that you haven’t done yet?’

‘I’ve never come up with a killer programme idea,’ said Jo. ‘I’ve suggested a few but they’re never good enough. If I suggested a fascinating documentary or devised a brilliant format for a new game show, he’d be impressed. Although… well, I’m not a particularly creative person. My strength lies in organising things.’

‘Rubbish,’ said Kate. ‘Look at the festival. Yes, you did a brilliant job of the organising, but it was much more than that. You came up with the idea of Scrabble speed-dating. And the tombola with letter tiles. The craft room activities…’

‘That was copied from Instagram.’

‘You thought of the whole idea in the first place. You’re very creative.’

‘Yeah, but that was about Scrabble. I love Scrabble so much – I felt inspired.’

‘Then think of a programme idea about Scrabble.’

‘Like a Scrabble game show?’

‘Why not? I think Scrabble’s a bit geeky but there are millions of people around the world who disagree with me.’

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