air on my skin when Tommy pulled down my dress, I shivered. I opened the window a little wider. There would come a point soon when I’d have to think about the things that had gone on between us, when I’d have to acknowledge the things I’d let him do. But for now I found that it was like looking directly into a very bright, blinding light; a light so strong that even just to glance at it would be to bruise your eyes. And so until then, until I was ready, I decided it best to keep looking off to the side, into the corners, where that same light did nothing more than flare and shadow on the walls.
I arrived back at the office just before eleven. Planning to use the time between now and the pitch to check in with my team and give the presentation one last going over, I pushed through the swing-doors, ready to get everyone keyed up for the day ahead. But, apart from Hayley in reception, the place was a ghost town. For a moment, I considered the possibility a practice fire alarm was in progress and that everyone was outside, on the grassy square next to the building. Then I saw them.
Sitting around the boardroom’s large oval table, the sales team were turned to face Yvonne and Nick, who were standing either side of the plasma screen, pointing at what looked like the third page of my presentation. Wearing a purple and white zebra-print wrap dress that pulled at her bust, Yvonne had moussed her short, hennaed hair close to her head.
I thought that maybe they were doing a rehearsal of some kind, but then I saw the three people at the opposite end of the table. Two men and a woman. Surrounded by the lion’s share of coffee, pastries and flowers. The buyers. The Griffiths account. The pitch was already in progress?
Panic rising in my throat, I tried to rationalise the reasons behind what I was seeing. The meeting had been in my diary for nearly a month. Had I somehow got the time wrong?
Hoping I hadn’t missed too much, I was on my way to the boardroom when Hayley bolted from her desk and ran ahead of me.
‘Um, you’re not to go in,’ she said, blocking my way.
‘Why on earth not?’ I said, unable to take my eyes off the scene in the boardroom. I tried to move past, but Hayley sidestepped to the right, once more placing herself in front of me.
‘Yvonne said you’re to wait out here until they’re done.’
‘The meeting wasn’t till this afternoon.’
‘They called first thing,’ she said. ‘They’ve had some crisis at Head Office. They were going to cancel completely, but then Yvonne persuaded them to bring the pitch forward.’
I watched as Yvonne reached down to the laptop and pressed a button, bringing the next slide onto the screen. As she came back up to standing I caught her eye. She shook her head, a tiny warning shake, and then, without drawing breath, she continued to address the room.
I watched the remainder of the pitch play out from my desk. I knew every beat of the presentation, and through a combination of lip-reading and mime I found I could anticipate almost exactly which point they’d reach next. Yvonne and Nick seemed to have decided to do the whole thing as a two-hander. Laughing in all the right places, they made sure to offer each other perfectly timed supportive nods and eye contact. They made a good team.
The PowerPoint complete, they took questions and, after a brief discussion, the three-strong Griffiths contingent looked at their watches, smiled their thanks and got to their feet. It was all over.
I stayed where I was until Yvonne and Nick had seen them out and then I went over to where they and the rest of the team stood by reception. Shouty laughter and jittery backslapping filled the air.
Ignoring the hush that fell as soon as I got near, I prodded Nick on the shoulder.
‘I knew you were ambitious,’ I said, loud enough for everyone to hear. ‘But I never thought you’d stoop this low.’
Nick looked to the floor.
I turned to Yvonne.
‘Did he tell you I was in here first thing? Did he tell you I’d nipped home to get something for this, for my presentation?’
I prodded Nick again.
‘At least have the balls to look at me.’
He lifted his head, a pained expression on his face. He opened his mouth,