Page 4 of Somewhere Only We Know

‘Yeah, well, I have very strong feelings towards our future client, Maggie,’ said Anna, darkly.

‘I hear you.’ I dropped the used towels into the rubbish bin and picked up my bag.

‘I mean where does he get off, telling us that he doesn’t like to do business with women because they’re crap at golf?’ Anna continued. ‘Perhaps I should have let Lee join us after all.’

My hackles rose but I didn’t let it show. Lee Masters was a sales manager like me, and foaming at the mouth that he hadn’t had the chance to seal this deal with Vap-A-Rise. No doubt Kevin would have preferred all-lads-together Lee, but I’d been the one to make the initial contact with Vap-A-Rise and I didn’t give away my sales leads easily. My team handled the higher-value clients with multiple locations. Lee’s team looked after the smaller customers. He was constantly trying to poach my accounts, but to no avail. My strength was client management and Anna knew that. I looked after people, I knew what they needed and delivered it. Lee promised customers the earth to gain a rapport with them. Unfortunately, he didn’t always deliver, and Anna knew that too, and yet somehow he always managed to come up smelling of roses.

‘The idea of Kevin possessing even one iota of sporting prowess is ludicrous.’ I ran a hand over my hair, smoothing any flyaways. I wore it poker-straight, but the slightest hint of damp in the air and the unruly kinks returned. ‘I’d like to show him what I can do with a nine iron.’

Anna paused from applying her lipstick. ‘Do you even know what a nine iron is?’

I gave myself a cursory glance in the mirror. I avoided it as much as possible now. There were only so many times you needed to see your eyebags when they looked like hollowed-out avocado skins. ‘No. But I’m pretty sure he’d know about it if I whacked him in the balls with one.’

She sniggered. ‘Let’s take a rain check on that until we get the deal in the bag, shall we?’

The deal in question wasn’t only worth a significant amount of money to ShopSwift, it was important to me too. It could be my ticket to promotion to sales director and a seat at the boardroom table when Anna’s father Ron retired in a few months’ time. It would be between Lee and me; I really wanted it to be me.

My phone vibrated with a text from the depths of my bag. It was from George, my junior sales executive.

When will you be back? I’ve written an email and I’d like you to read it before I send it.

Twenty-one-year-old George had been with me for three months and still came to me for things which by rights he shouldn’t need help with. But it felt good to be needed, so I didn’t pull him up on it. Besides, what he lacked in experience he made up for in his eagerness to do the right thing. I typed back an update before answering my boss.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll keep my opinion about Kevin to myself – my eye is firmly on the prize. You know how ambitious I am.’ I looked at Anna, hoping that my meaning was clear.

‘You’re the best salesperson we have. But …’ She paused, resting a hand on my shoulder. ‘I worry about you. You are okay, in yourself, I mean?’

I detested that question; what did it even mean?

‘Absolutely,’ I said, heading for the door. ‘Let’s go and wrap this meeting up, shall we?’

An hour later and we were almost finished. Anna had been checking her watch for the last twenty minutes, as keen to get out of here as I was. If it wasn’t for the company we were keeping, lunch would have been enjoyable. Give him his due, Kevin’s choice of venue, the Lock and Barrel, was a lovely pub with an impressive menu and a fabulous view of the canal. A row of narrowboats was moored outside and on the opposite bank, a flock of sheep grazed in the field.

Our waiter appeared to clear the table and asked if everything was okay.

‘It was delicious, thank you.’ I smiled as I handed him my empty coffee cup.

‘You know, you’re a lot more attractive when you smile,’ said Kevin, with a leer.

Beside me Anna sucked in a breath.

And you’re a lot more attractive when you keep your mouth shut, I thought. I could almost hear Brontë’s voice in my ear. Go Mum! Don’t let him get away with that.

‘ShopSwift don’t employ me to be attractive,’ I said instead. ‘They employ me because I deliver results. For our company and for our clients too. Which is why I’m confident that we will not only provide you with the best e-commerce package on the market, but we’ll exceed your expectations. So,’ I leaned forward, fixing him with an intense look. ‘Do we have a deal?’

Kevin gave me a cocky smile, wide enough for me to see that it had been some time since his backside had graced a dentist’s chair. He picked up his brandy glass and swirled the liquid around a couple of times. A double measure of a label which had cost even more than the dozen oysters he’d insisted on ordering at our expense. My dislike of the man was growing exponentially.

‘I’ll sleep on it,’ he said, throwing the rest of his brandy down his throat. ‘Thanks for lunch, ladies. Now I’ll visit the little boys’ room and be on my way. I’ll be in touch in a week or so.’

He pushed his chair back from the table, causing the feet of it to screech across the flagstone floor. He stumbled against the table next to ours and it suddenly struck me that he might be tipsy. We’d had a bottle of wine with lunch; Anna and I had barely touched ours as we were both driving. He’d been sipping a gin and tonic when we arrived, and now the brandy. Anna and I rolled eyes at each other.

‘A week or two?’ I shook my head in despair. ‘This is turning into the longest negotiation in history.’

‘Arsehole,’ she muttered, handing her credit card to our waiter.

‘How do men like that get so far up the career ladder?’ I fumed. ‘How do they get away with saying shit like that?’

‘Because we let them?’ she replied wryly. ‘Although I thought your reply was brilliant, Maggie. You put it much better than I could have done.’