Page 1 of Perfect Night

CHAPTER 1

CHARLIE

It had been one of the worst days of Charlie’s life!

Okay, that was a tad overdramatic, but everything which could go wrong today had not just happened, but had done so on an epic scale. After he’d inhaled something which claimed to be a sandwich, Charlie prepared for a meeting with his boss. Whoever put big client meetings in the diary for a Friday afternoon was a sadist, which was the perfect description of Nathaniel Klein, owner and CEO of Sumptua. Yes, the guy was that pretentious. Nathaniel aside, Charlie loved his job, as he was actually good at it, even if he kept being overlooked.

His phone pinged with an email, which he would usually ignore when he was in the prep zone, but a quick glance told him he couldn’t. It was his mum’s care facility; well, it was the finance department. He was overdue with the fees, and their emails had become less tolerant than before. His mum didn’t need full-time care, but she needed to be in a place where it was available if necessary. Her disability benefits would only get her somewhere basic, which wouldn’t give her the independence she deserved. Charlie couldn’t do that to the woman who’d raised him by herself despite her ongoing health issues. He’d found her somewhere better and paid the difference.

The staff had been understanding before and knew not to discuss the financial situation with his mum. Charlie didn’t want her worrying. As far as she was concerned, the extra was not a lot, and he could easily cover it. Thankfully, he had something lined up for tonight with his side hustle, which would net him a decent amount, so he could clear some arrears. He put his phone face down, putting off the inevitable until later. He had to be prepared to wow his boss at their meeting, so he could finally take the lead with a new client.

Sumptua was a marketing agency which worked with the biggest names in property development. The company had originally started out with a broad remit of clients, but Nathaniel soon realised there was more money in being niche, and it matched his personality: one-dimensional. Charlie was an account executive, which basically meant he did all the donkey work whilst others took the credit and were lavished with gifts from their satisfied clients. He’d been working at Sumptua for three years and had been asking about a promotion for the last eighteen months. He was long overdue, as some of his friendlier colleagues had pointed out. Charlie was convinced Nathaniel enjoyed constantly dangling the opportunity in front of him. Charlie wasn’t sure how much more he could do to prove himself worthy. Every time he thought of resigning, he talked himself out of it. He’d only have to start again somewhere new to prove himself. He’d put the work in here, and if he was a bit more patient, it would pay off. His long-term dream was to have his own agency with a focus on sustainable and inclusive projects, but it was a long way off. His first step was to get promoted.

Nathaniel’s door was open when Charlie arrived for their meeting. His office was the definition of opulence. They were in the West End, with Nathaniel’s corner office overlookingGrosvenor Square. The building had a Victorian feel to it, but the interior was slick and modern. The windows flooded the room with light, which bounced off all the glass and chrome Nathaniel had everywhere. There was a tackiness to it, the kind you saw when someone in the lowest echelons of social class won the lottery, although Nathaniel came from money, so there was no logical explanation for his poor taste. Charlie knew it was safe to be a bitch, as long as it was all in his head.

Nathaniel could be handsome if he didn’t try so hard. He was overly polished and everything about him was immaculate: clothes, hair, nails, watch, and even his wedding ring. His poor wife. The guy cheated on her constantly. It wasn’t even a secret in the office. They’d all heard him screwing his latest intern last week. Everyone just ignored it. Even though he’d clearly spent time and money on his appearance, he always had an uncomfortable sneer on his face, which made him unattractive.

“Charlie, you’re finally here. Have a seat.”

Charlie glanced at his watch. He was two minutes early, but did as he was told.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to stand you down from the meeting today.”

Charlie should have expected this, but he still deflated.

“I know you put a lot of work into the pitch, but it was way off what the client was looking for. I’ve had to spend a lot of time turning it around so we’re ready for the meeting. This one needs to be handled solo.”

“That’s disappointing. Can you tell me what specifically was wrong with the social media strategy? I thought I’d understood the client brief, and I did a ton of research so it aligned to their values. We even spoke about my idea, and you told me to go for it.”

“Charlie, I think you’ve been here long enough to know what was wrong with it. Do we need to have this conversation again?”

Well, that made him feel about two inches tall, but the guy was bullshitting, and Charlie didn’t know how to respond politely.

“What’s this really about, Charlie?”

Charlie wanted to scream at his boss. It was always the same. He’d been told his work wasn’t good enough, but could get no meaningful feedback. How was he supposed to progress if he wasn’t told where he needed to improve? His colleagues said Charlie was good, especially on the social media side. They came to him for advice on their own pitches. He was seen as the social media expert of the company. It was an area he wanted to specialise in for when he had his own agency, but Nathaniel had advised him to become a fully rounded generalist marketeer first. It made sense, but not if it was going to hold him back.

Charlie had to say something so he didn’t appear ungrateful. He needed this job, and the name on his CV wouldn’t do him any harm, but it was hard not to be frustrated.

“I’m just disappointed not to be attending the pitch.”

“I get that. I was in your position once. Learning the ropes. I’d have you in there to observe, but I really need your help with something else.”

And there it was. Nathaniel wanted to offload some crap on him to deal with before the end of the day, and Charlie would do it as he always did, no matter what time he left the office.

It was almost six o’clock when Charlie sent through his work to Nathaniel, which ironically was a social media strategy for an established client. Charlie wasn’t waiting around for it to be dissected, although Nathaniel had left the office two hours ago. The only person left was Alison, Nathaniel’s PA. Charlie packed his desk up, putting stuff in his locker. Only Nathaniel andAlison had their own desks. It was a free-for-all for everyone else.

“Celebrating tonight, golden boy?”

He looked up at Alison, who was smiling. Most people described her as a Rottweiler in the way she protected Nathaniel’s diary, but Charlie had always got along with her.

“Why am I the golden boy?”

“That social media strategy for Steele Property Holdings. They loved it.”

Charlie tried to keep his face impassive, and saw he had clearly failed when Alison looked at him with a sympathetic smile.

“He did it again, didn’t he?”

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