Page 44 of The Holiday Cottage

“Almost exactly a year.” If only all questions were that easy to answer.

Rosalind’s mouth twitched. “And in that year, how many times would you say that you’ve dropped the ball?”

Imogen stared at her. Was that a trick question? “I—I think this is the first time, Rosalind.”

“Itisthe first time.” Rosalind sat forward. “So why aren’t you fighting to save your job? Instead of marching in here reminding me what an asset you are, you come in clutching your resignation. Why?”

“I assumed you were going to fire me.”

“Why would you assume that?”

Because her mother had stripped away her self-esteem.

When Imogen didn’t answer, Rosalind frowned.

“I don’t get it, Imogen. I don’t understand what’s happening here. I’ve seen you fight for your clients. I’ve seen you handle obstacles and objections that would floor most people. You are a champion problem solver. Why aren’t you fighting for yourself?”

Imogen swallowed. “I lost a client.”

“Even if that were the case, why aren’t you sitting there telling me how many clients you’ve won for us this year alone? Why aren’t you slapping numbers on my desk and forcing me to acknowledge that you’ve won far more than you’ve just lost? Because that’s what you should be doing. And normally that’s what youwouldbe doing.”

Imogen stared at her. That would have been a good tactic if she’d thought of it. And maybe she would have thought of it if her recent encounter with her mother hadn’t left her feeling so worthless. She hadn’t gone about this the right way at all. She hadn’t tried to save herself because she hadn’t felt she was worth saving. But Rosalind seemed to be doing it for her. Rosalind was giving her the tools she should have reached for herself.

Her mouth felt dry. “I won four major accounts in the first half of this year.”

“You did, indeed.” Rosalind’s expression relaxed slightly. “And all those accounts are showing excellent growth.”

“I won another two in September.”

“Yes. You’re an asset, Imogen. Which is why you won’t be losing your job, and why—” Rosalind reached for the envelope Imogen had placed on her desk and tore it in two “—I won’t be accepting this.”

Imogen felt dizzy with relief. She wasn’t losing her job. She felt a rush of emotion and had to stop from flinging herself across the desk to hug Rosalind.

“But what about The Work Nook? They fired us.”

“They didn’t fire us.”

“You said we no longer have the account.”

“We don’t. But that’s not because they fired us,” Rosalind said. “I was given a detailed account of what happened by Sophie, including the degree to which they were hounding her all of yesterday, which in turn led her to hound you. And your advice, even from a distance, was excellent by the way. The speaker arrived on time and the event went off without a hitch. Sophie stepped up.”

Imogen felt relief flood through her. At least no one could say the event had been a failure.

“So why have we lost the account?”

“Because I told them we could no longer work together.” Rosalind’s tone was clipped. “No matter what the stress, I won’t have any member of my team spoken to the way they spoke to Sophie. There is no excuse for it, and that’s what I told Alan Marsh when he rang to complain. We’re an extension of the client’s team, not a punching bag. I expect civility and respect. If they can’t behave professionally, then we won’t deal with them.”

Imogen felt her jaw drop. Rosalind had resigned the account? That was either brave or stupid. Brave, she decided, remembering Sophie’s voice as she’d told Imogen what the client had been saying to her. But most bosses would have swallowed the insults for the sake of the business.

Not Rosalind.

Imogen’s respect for her boss grew still further. “That’s—surprising.”

“If you think that, then you don’t know me as well as you should. I don’t tolerate abusive relationships in my private life or my business life. What sort of a team would we be if we didn’t defend and take care of one another? Our business works because of excellent teamwork. My job is to nurture that. And anyway, his team need so much hand-holding it’s hardly a cost-effective account for us. I’m sure you’ll come up with some ideas for how we might plug the gap left by their departure.”

Imogen’s head was reeling. “I will. I definitely will. I’ll get onto that right away, Rosalind.”

“No, you won’t.”

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