Page 41 of The Alpha Escort Agency
Alice’s clamped mouth falls open. The thoughts in her mind swirl. Weren’t things bad between Ed and Maria? But now they’re engaged?
“All that sneaking around,” Maria continues in a whisper, “was him planning the proposal and getting the ring specially designed. He wanted it to look just like his Grandmother’s ring, only more modern and with a much bigger diamond. I’m going to send you a picture.”
Alice’s phone pings as relief floods through her, followed by a sudden jolt of excitement. She shrieks loudly down the phone until she runs out of breath and then screams, “Oh my god, Maria! Engaged?”
“I know, can you believe it?”
“How? When? How?”
Maria hiccups a second time. “It was so sweet, so romantic.”
“Tell me, then!”
“We were meant to be meeting some friends for dinner in Waterloo and we were walking along the Southbank and then just as we got to the London Eye, this man in the crowd starts singing and then another one joins in and then another and before we knew it, we were being serenaded by this barbershop quartet. And I thought that was a bit strange. And then I realised everyone was looking at us and that the song they were singing was our song. And I turned to Ed to say, you know, what a coincidence, and he was down on one knee. I couldn’t speak. Not for about five minutes and Ed started to get a bit nervous and his knee was hurting on the hard pavement, but someone whisked us into our own private London Eye booth, and there was a table set up for the two of us with champagne and he asked me again, and offered me the ring, and I said yes.”
Alice smiles, it’s not the proposal she’d want — she’d die of embarrassment — but she knows it’s just the type of outlandish, over-the-top gesture that would melt Maria’s heart. And she has to hand it to Ed that he knows her best friend — his future wife — very well. “Oh my gosh, Maria, that is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I know,” Maria squeaks. “I have a video of the whole thing because Ed had someone tape it. I’m going to send it to you.” There’s some mumbling noise in the background and some giggling. “I got to go. Ed checked us into the Ritz and we want to make the most of it.”
Alice whistles. “Wow, fancy.”
“I know!” There’s some more voices and Alice hears Maria tell Ed to give her one more minute. “Before I go. I just wanted to ask you, would you be my maid of honour?”
A lump forms in Alice’s throat and it takes her a moment before she can speak. “Maria, you know I’d be honoured … wait, does this mean I get to plan the hen do?”
“I gotta go.”
“Okay, okay. I’m so pleased for you, sweetie. Give Ed a big hug and kiss from me.”
Snuggling back into the cushions, she opens the photo of the ring, which she has to admit is a complete dazzler, and sends Maria a series of emotional emojis and then watches the video. Soon she has tears streaming down her face, and she has to go fetch a tissue and blow her nose. Her friend has never looked so surprised and so happy. The whole proposal is so carefully orchestrated and romantic, she can see why Ed’s been sneaking around to prepare it for so long. In the footage, he is white as a sheet and she can almost see his knees knocking together. The genuine look of relief that washes over him sets off a fresh set of tears and she wonders how she’ll make it through the wedding ceremony, if this is how she reacts to the proposal. She watches the video another five times and then sends Maria a gushing message about how much she loves them both and how honoured she is to be a bridesmaid.
???
It’s the day of the big pitch. She has a permanent headache and a sore back because she’s spent every waking moment of the last few days glued to her laptop or working with her team. But now this is it, here they are, Alice and the three members of her team, Anya, Chris and Callum. All of them are younger than her and all of them look as nervous as she feels. They are sitting in a small reception area waiting to be called. Anya grips the visual boards, her knuckles showing through her skin. Callum’s leg jiggles. And Chris is biting the skin around his thumbnail.
Alice closes her eyes and concentrates on her breathing. Looking at the others is making her feel worse. Once again, she runs through her opening gambit, the main points she wants to hammer home, and the answers she’s practiced to any likely tricky queries. This is it. She couldn’t be any more prepared. Now she just wants it over.
“Hi.” It’s the client, Claudia, who she’s been sidling up to for the last nine months. She’s very skinny with a shaved head and a lot of makeup. She looks beautiful — like someone who works for a cosmetic brand should.
Alice opens her eyes, smiles widely and stands, holding out her hand to Claudia.
“So glad to be here, Claudia,” she says, shaking the other woman’s hand firmly.
“We’re glad to have you and very excited to hear your ideas. Follow me.” She gestures towards the team and they follow her into a large boardroom. There are more people than she had been expecting. She counts six, all gathered around the large conference table and staring as she enters. One by one she makes her way around the room, introducing herself, meeting eyes, making the odd friendly comment or witty observation. Her confidence seems to rub off on the rest of their team. She can smell them relaxing.
After that it goes swimmingly well. She holds their attention as she presents her ideas, talking them through the marketing strategy and wowing them with the creative visuals her team has prepared. Excitement and energy pulses in the atmosphere and somehow she keeps that going through the more dry detail of the numbers and reasoning, and by the time she reaches the end, they are brimming with questions.
She sits down on her chair and lets her team answer the first few questions. Humouring them when they want to see the animation Callum has created a second time.
Towards the end of the hour, the only man there from Symix, the Financial Director, leans forward to ask a question. He has been quiet for the whole of the pitch. She’s tried not to let his critical gaze or his silence bother her, because he is clearly an Alpha, his scent just about detectable above what smells like some strong blockers. A cosmetic company is a funny place to find an Alpha and he isn’t the boss here.
“Alice,” he says, his face serious.
“Hi,” she says, keeping her features and her scent neutral.
“Perhaps you could tell us a bit about you and your experience.”
To anyone else she knows that sounds perfectly reasonable and entirely innocent. But she knows it's not. She knows it’s loaded.
