Page 10 of A Smart Girl's Guide to Second Chances
‘You’re on this project for a reason. You’ve brought new products to market before...’ Miranda said.
‘Not in this sector. And healthcare is—’
‘Look,’ Miranda said, ‘I know we use a lot of ridiculous terminology and long words around here, but this case is a simple one. The client has bought a fancy new product, and the executive team are paying us to tell them what to do with it.
‘It’s a short project – only a few weeks. It’s a client we haven’t worked for before, and now we’ve got our foot in the door. If we nail it, they’ve indicated they could buy more work. This could be huge for us, especially in this economy. The partners are watching us on this one. They’re watchingyou.’
My heart sank as I processed the news. Miranda was sponsoring my promotion, an early promotion. Which meant that this case would require me to work at the top of my game to prove myself one final crucial time to the partnership.
I thought of Alex, sitting in his glass office, looking smug and infuriating. I couldn’t work with him, and I especially couldn’t workforhim.
‘Think about it over the weekend,’ Miranda said, intuitively knowing when to leave some space in the conversation.
I could see most of the office through Miranda’s glass walls. On Fridays there was always a vibe on the floor as my colleagues gravitated back from their clients’ offices in time for end-of-week drinks. I could see some of the assistants mixing cocktails on the drinks cart that would be wheeled from desk to desk as soon as the clock struck four – Knock Off O’clock. A group of grads were filling every crevice of a junior partner’s office with rainbow balloons for his birthday. When he got back from his meeting it would be hilarious to watch him remove them. Over the last almost-decade, this place had become a home.
I took a deep breath and plastered on a smile. ‘Will do. Thanks so much for the heads-up,’ I said. ‘And for pushing me forwards.’
‘You’re welcome. We have the ATG offsite on Monday so let me know your answer by Sunday,’ Miranda said, smiling warmly. ‘Now, I better hit the road. I’m taking the kids camping this weekend.’
Of course she was. Because Miranda never shied away from the hard things. She would finish her eighty-hour work week and then race home to drive, no doubt for hours, to a national park, to spend the weekend with her three school-aged children at a campground lacking any modern conveniences.
I could already picture the out-of-office she was about to write:After missing two kids’ music concerts this week (terrible mother or genius – you tell me!?), I’m taking my gang camping for the weekend. If you need me, please send me a message, though I’ll only be checking my phone intermittently at the tops of various mountains. Otherwise, I’ll be online Sunday night. Enjoy your weekend!
She’d chosen to play life at the highest level of difficulty, on every front. How could I turn to her and say,Actually, in the lead-up to the wedding, I was hoping for an easier project so I can really focus on table arrangements and seating plans. And ideally a job without my awful university boyfriend, who’s resurfaced from my past like a swamp monster.
‘Have a great weekend with the kids!’ I said instead in my most upbeat voice.
By the time I got through the unread emails I’d ignored all day, I found myself completely on edge. Over the next twenty-four hours I would have to decide if, for the next five weeks, I was going to be in regular contact with the only person on earth who made me feel completely dysregulated. Could I play kumbaya with my ex-boyfriend so I didn’t miss out on the promotion I’d worked so hard to gain?
And now I had to attend my mum’s birthday dinner with my entire extended family while pretending that everything was okay. I swiped on some fuchsia lipstick to offset my navy suit, grabbed her cake out of the office fridge and ordered an Uber.
I called Lily en route. Matt was always the person I’d call when I needed to troubleshoot, but we’d never had the ex conversation. I couldn’t exactly call him, tell him I was fifteenminutes away then drop in,Guess what? This weekend I have to decide whether or not I can work with my uni boyfriend, whom I’ve never mentioned. He broke my heart... Any thoughts?Lily, however, had the necessary context.
‘I know it’s probably bathtime or dinnertime. Or you’re doing something hideously cool like drinking orange wine, so hang up on me if you need to,’ I said when she answered.
The FaceTime button popped up.
‘I need to see you,’ she said.
‘Why?’
‘Because something’s clearly wrong.’
I pressed the green tick. Lily’s face popped up on the screen. Beneath a razor-sharp fringe, her eyes were framed by heavy square black glasses and her dainty ears supported more earrings than gravity should have allowed. I guessed from her contoured cheeks and the swoops of eyeliner under her frames that she’d just come home from the store – the literal and figurative face of epically cool Lily Li Jewellery.
‘Alex Lawson is my new client,’ I said. There was a pause down the line.
‘Alex-Alex?’ she clarified. ‘Oxford Alex?’
‘Yes,’ I confirmed. ‘It’s really thrown me. The wedding planning lurches from one disaster to the next. Mum keeps wanting to be more involved and it’s driving me mad. And now I’m up for promotion in a few weeks, so have to kill myself to impress my bosses. And if I’m going to have a proper shot at getting the job, I have to kiss the arse of the most infuriating man on the planet.’
‘Okay, that’s a lot,’ Lily said. ‘Particularly when you have, in fact, kissed his arse in real life.’
‘Not helpful,’ I said. ‘Do you think we could pretend not to know each other? We did today in front of everyone.’
‘I’m not sure lying is traditionally a hallmark of professionalism,’ she replied.
The phrase ‘Integrity Always’ floated across my mind. ‘It wouldn’t be lying so much as making a targeted omission of fact,’ I replied firmly.
