Page 47 of Faking It (and falling in love)

Sienna returned a few moments later with the client and passed Philippa a file of papers. This was a two-person job. Philippa opened the file, impressed with the quality of the work Sienna had done so far.

The day passed quickly, and before long Philippa, Sienna and Roderick were strolling along Colmore Row towards Gerry’simpressive building. The receptionist there was ready for them and showed them straight up to a top floor office with panoramic views of Birmingham. Gerry was there, along with four of his colleagues.

“Welcome, Philippa,” he said, shaking her hand. “I hope you’ve been offered a drink.”

“We have,” said Philippa. “Let me introduce my team to you.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

“That was incredible,” said Sienna, sitting at a high table in the upmarket bar she, Philippa and Roderick had directly adjourned to following the meeting.

“It was,” said Philippa. “You did an excellent job. Well done.”

“I can’t believe he just said then and there we had the contract,” said Sienna. “I didn’t think that would happen.” Her eyes were wide.

“It’s certainly unusual,” agreed Philippa.

Roderick returned from the bar with a bottle of Champagne and three glasses. “If we can’t celebrate with bubbles today, when can we?” he said, grinning as he sat down. “Well done to you both. That was outstanding work.”

Philippa raised her eyebrows. She hadn’t expected him to be so magnanimous. “Well thank you, for being here and helping to answer questions.”

“You’re welcome. Anything I can do to get it over the line,” he said, pouring each of them a generous glass of fizz. “And Sienna, you’ve done a great little job on this.”

Philippa sighed inwardly. “There’s no little about it. Sienna did a great job.”

“Thanks,” she said, her face glowing as she looked across at Philippa, barely acknowledging Roderick.

“And I have to say, Philippa,” said Roderick, clearly keen to stay in the conversation, “the design work you had done was a stroke of genius. It really brought everything to life. I loved it.”

“Thanks,” said Philippa. “Sienna worked hard on that, too. But yes, I agree. It seemed to impress the panel.”

Philippa texted Alex to meet her outside the bar in half an hour. In a bid to reclaim her life from work, she’d decided she would only stay for one drink with her colleagues. She was excited to see the woman who had turned her into what Chrissie termed ‘giggly Philippa’. She wondered if that was a version of her that Dottie had ever seen. Perhaps she should.

The three colleagues replayed the key moments from the presentation, including the moment that Gerry had proffered his hand across the boardroom table to shake Philippa’s. “It was like a scene fromTheApprentice,” said Sienna, her cheeks pink from the bubbles.

“That was brilliant,” said Roderick. “But hey, I need to make a move. The wife will never forgive me if I’m late home.” He rolled his eyes. Sienna laughed awkwardly, but Philippa’s face remained stoney. She made a mental note to ensure that Roderick had done his EDI training, particularly when it came to gender equality and sexism.

“God, you’re fearless,” said Sienna after Roderick had left the room. She drained her glass and poured herself another. “You just faced him down right there.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” said Philippa drily. Technically, Roderick was a partner in the firm, albeit a junior one, and she didn’t want to criticise him in front of an employee. She did allow herself the glimmer of a smile though.

“You are, though,” said Sienna. “Wow, this has totally gone to my head.” She took another generous sip.

“Well, we deserve to celebrate,” said Philippa. “After all, we’ve just taken our company into a new chapter. You deserve a bit of fun.”

“Maybe you do, too,” said Sienna, looking intently at her boss.

Philippa laughed. “I think we all do.”

“But I mean it,” said Sienna. “You work so hard, and you seem on top of everything. I feel like you deserve to relax a bit.” Sienna’s voice was low, and Philippa had the sense that she was trying to say more than just those words.

Philippa smiled. “Well, perhaps.”

Sienna adjusted herself on the stool she was on to face Philippa and leaned slightly forwards. “I think you don’t get how amazing you are,” she said.

“Sorry?” said Philippa, aware that Sienna’s hand was apparently resting on her knee.

“You can’t see it,” said Sienna, into Philippa’s confused face, “but I can.”

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