Page 59 of A Smart Girl's Guide to Second Chances
‘Consulting wasn’t my first choice either,’ I admitted. ‘It was medicine.’
‘What happened?’ Miranda asked.
I paused, not entirely sure how to answer the question. The summer before my final year at school I’d had a plan – the med-school deadlines were highlighted in my diary, I was enrolled in advanced maths, chemistry and biology. Then, just before the year began, Mum and Dad split up. Every time I opened my UMAT practice exam books, I had what I’d soon learned were panic attacks.
My parents were so distracted that they didn’t even notice that I’d switched all my subjects – exchanged the sciences for economics and business studies. Neither of them had come to the careers evening (theme: Live Your Dream), so they hadn’t seen me when I’d trailed Lily – who was following her parents – to sweep up all the commerce and law school brochures. By the time Mum asked me when I had med-school interviews, it was too late. I’d expected a fight, but she surprised me by quietly accepting that I’d changed my mind.
‘I’m from a family of doctors,’ I finally replied. ‘And I think I just saw how much medicine requires of you. It’s not just a job, it’s a vocation, a calling, a... life.’
The room’s lights were dimmed and two women in chic maxi dresses clacked onto the stage. It was showtime.
An hour later, everyone in the room felt upbeat about their gender and was ready to conference.
‘I have to do my plenary session soundcheck soon,’ Miranda said. ‘I was going to email you my notes on the ATG presentation, but I may as well give them to you now.’
Miranda had no boundaries between work and life. I had lost count of the number of calls I’d had with her while she’d been at her kids’ swimming lessons. So, I knew she wouldn’t think twice before digging into a case on a Sunday morning.
She reached into her emerald leather handbag and pulled out a copy of the printed slide deck I’d sent her on Friday afternoon. The ATG executive leadership team had a meeting in a week, and our recommendations were going to be front and centre. I quickly flicked through the pages, skimming her handwrittenmark-up – most of her comments were easy changes or questions I could work through with Lucas and Adrian.
I flipped to the final slide – the one where we were going to tell the company’s leaders what we thought they should do with Alex’s work – and froze. The team had spent the last week working up options one to three. But in Miranda’s scrawl, there was now a fourth option – one we hadn’t discussed. And next to it was a heading:Recommended Option.
I looked up and saw that Miranda was watching me. ‘I’m guessing your first question is why are we blowing up your ex-boyfriend’s career?’
Chapter 27
‘Was shelving Alex’s work always going to be a possible recommendation?’ I asked.
‘Yes,’ Miranda said, and I could tell from her expression that not only was this always a possibility, but a probability. That all the work we’d been doing was largely ornamental.
‘Why would they buy his company then sideline that company’s main asset?’
‘You tell me what you think,’ Miranda said, leaning back in her chair.
‘Because... enormous companies that make their profits from intellectual property buy companies that have developed new tech all the time. But sometimes, when it comes time to sell the product they’ve bought, they realise it won’t make them as much money as they thought it would.’
Miranda nodded. I’d got an A+. Though for once I’d rather have got it all wrong.
‘This doesn’t happen often. But it does happen,’ she said.
‘So why did they spend a fortune on Stern if they suspected they might not take the tech to market anyway?’
Miranda sighed then leaned forwards. ‘I think they realised that the tech wasn’t going to be the golden goose they’d hoped for soon after the deal was done. And, as you know, executives love to be able to point the finger at us, rather than admit thatthey’re responsible for a bad decision. I think that’s why they brought us in. Is this going to be a problem for you?’
I sighed, every part of me from my shoulders to my stomach feeling knotted. Instead of Alex’s tool being used in hospitals all around the world to diagnose people at risk of heart disease, it would exist only in the loss column of a company’s financial report and as a patent no one else could use.
‘I didn’t know he’d asked that I be staffed on this project until yesterday,’ I said, not directly answering her question. ‘Did you know?’
I could see her running a risk/reward analysis of all her possible replies.
‘That the request came from him? At the start – no. But yes, I was aware that the company had asked for you to be part of this project.’
‘Did you wonder why?’
She laughed drily. ‘I assumed one of the executives had gone to uni with your dad or something. We get strange staffing requests all the time, and that’s normally why.
‘Look, I probably should have questioned it at the time, but I wanted to work with you. Then when I found out that there was a history between you and Alex Lawson, I did a bit of digging and discovered he’d made the request to staff you. I’m sorry I didn’t give you the full picture. I had to put the client first, and ATG is a very exciting client for us. All of us.’
I nodded. ‘Client first’ was one of our company values. Miranda was just living by them.
