Page 23 of The Dicktionary Club

‘Thanks.’ I smiled as I approached my friend.

‘Looks good, eh?’ Katy said proudly.

I examined the table, turning some of the cans slightly to ensure they all faced the exact same direction. ‘Yeah, it looks fab! Have you handed any out yet?’ I asked.

‘Yup!’

‘And .?.?.??’ I gazed at Katy, who looked confused at my questioning.

‘And .?.?. I’ve handed out samples.’

‘Katy, you need to ask them for reactions so we can film it for the client’s socials.’

‘But most of them are hurrying past to get to a gym class or something,’ she replied, quickly defending herself.

‘OK. Watch this.’ I grabbed a can of Blaze Boost and approached a group of girls striding through the reception in clouds of chatter. ‘Hey, would you girls like to try out the best new organic energy drink on the market?’

They paused, hovering slightly.

‘Come on, it’s free!’ I beamed.

‘Can we try after class? We’re running late,’ one eventually answered for them all.

‘Sure!’ I replied cheerily. ‘Have a great workout!’ As soon as they were gone, I turned and headed back to a smug-looking Katy.

‘Told ya!’ she crowed. ‘Maybe we could catch them on their way out?’

‘Why would they want the energy drinkafterthe workout? That’s literally the full point of the product.’ I budged her shoulder and knocked her off balance slightly. We both giggled. ‘We just need to think of how they can’t say no.’

‘Oh my God! Don’t look. Don’t look, Ella!’ Katy blushed hard, and I immediately turned to see what I shouldn’t be looking at.

A tall, handsome man in a suit was striding into the gym. The girl at reception almost flew off her chair to scan him through the turnstile, yet he only acknowledged her with the slightest tiltof his head. Still she seemed to instantly cream her knicks.

‘Excuse me. Excuse me, sir – would you like to try Blaze Boost, the best new energy drink on the market?’ Katy slobbered the words so quickly that it took me a second to make sense of what she’d actually said.

‘No. No, thank you,’ he replied, his voice deep, dark and husky-ish. Although he spoke to Katy, his eyes remained fixed on me.

‘It will take one second to try, sir. We are only looking for honest reviews,’ I added.

A group of glamorous women passed us, whispering and giggling in his direction. He turned when he noticed the crowd and without another word, he lowered his head and walked towards the changing rooms. Katy finally exhaled when he was out of sight.

‘Oh my God! Did you see him? Did you see the way he stared at you? Can you believe he stared at you like that?’

I nodded. ‘I know, disgusting, right? Like I’m some piece of meat.’

‘Piece of meat! Do you realise how lucky you are, Ella? Do you even know who that was?’

‘The manager?’ I shrugged back, having never seen the man before in my life.

‘He’s Philip Khan!’ she almost screeched, and I noticed people glance over at her bubble of excitement. ‘The owner of the biggest hotel and nightclub chain in the UK. He owns that posh place in Edinburgh, the one we went to at Christmas and we got chucked out because Zola snuck in a bottle of Glen’s! Don’t you remember?’

I burst out laughing at the memory of us all, half cut, getting thrown out on the streets of Edinburgh in the snow.

‘And I heard the Beckhams spent the week partying with him on his yacht last year in Cannes. I didn’t realise he trainedhere! Wait till I tell Zo. Mate, fucking Phil Khan, aaaaagh!’ She brought out her phone and began typing.

I reached over and pulled it out of her hands. ‘We still have our own CAN to FILL because that cunt wouldn’t drink any of our product, Katy! We need to concentrate.’

‘Ella, it’s Philip Khan,’ she persisted.

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