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And—oh no…
Gail was resigning too?
She couldn’t. She was one of the main points of contacts and was really popular.
I might as well throw in the towel now.
Especially with young, hungry and ambitious agencies like Rhonda’s circling, fishing for new clients and probably gearing up to poach staff too.
There was only one thing for it. If the agency was to have any chance of survival, I’d have to go to London to sort this out. And it couldn’t wait. I had to go.
Immediately.
I’d landed safely and was in a taxi en route to my house. Mum was going to meet me there and take Leo. Thankfully he’d been good during the flight and was now sleeping.
It was a mad rush to get everything together. I’d called Lorenzo straight away, told him what had happened and that I needed to go, and even though I knew it would be full-on, I thought it was best to take Leo with me. He understood and luckily, was able to leave work to drive us to Pisa airport.
There wasn’t much I needed to take, so I just flung a load of stuff in a suitcase, mainly for Leo. I thought we’d have to get some formula on the way so I could make up some bottles, but then I remembered the tin I’d bought Marta was still in Leo’s overnight bag. There was loads left, so not sure how she managed to make that amount stretch three days, but anyway, that saved me some time.
It was strange to be back. To hear the familiar sound of people speaking English. To be surrounded by hustle and bustle, the buzz of being in a busy city. But as much as I wanted to stare out of the window, I needed to focus. Think of a plan of action.
Apart from Lorenzo and Mum, I hadn’t told anyone that I was coming back. Not even Harrison, as I didn’t want to risk him letting it slip to the team. I needed to have a true picture of how everything was running. See what wasreallygoing on at the office for myself.
After Mum collected Leo, I showered, did my hair and make-up and slipped into a bold yellow structured dress. Today wasn’t a day for casual clothes. Today I was fighting for survival. I needed my armour. I had to look the part. I had to take charge and be Sophia, the strong, in-control boss.
As I strutted through the open-plan office with my heels clinking against the solid oak floor and past the rows of glass-and-chrome desks, the gasps were audible.
‘Hello, everyone,’ I said as I walked up the floating glass staircase that led to the mezzanine directors’ floor and my old office.
Robyn had her head on the desk. Was she sleeping? No wonder things were going down the toilet if she was having afternoon naps. I opened the door.
‘What the hell’s going on?’
She jumped out of her seat and stood up. God. I hated to say it, but she lookedawful. All the colour had drained from her face, her eyes were bloodshot and it was like she’d stepped out of bed, then dragged herself to the office without showering or putting a brush through her hair.
That was not like Robyn at all. Clearly she still wasn’t well. I felt a twinge of sympathy and guilt for shouting at her, but this was serious. I had to get to the bottom of things.
‘Sophia! What are you doing here? I was… I was just going to call you…about the emails this morning—I…’
‘Enough!’ There was so much steam coming out of my ears, I could power a hundred trains. ‘Enough of the excuses! Three major clients, Robyn. We’ve lostthreeof our biggest clients in less than a month and Gail has resigned…’
‘She’s what? Oh no!’
‘You didn’t know?Jesus. What is up with you? You used to be so reliable. I trusted you to take care of things. I even took on more work because I suspected you were getting overwhelmed. I’ve asked you so many times if you could handle things. And you assured me you could.’
‘I know, I know. I…’
She broke down, crashing back on to her seat.
Not the waterworks. I hope she didn’t think a bit of crying was going to make me forgive her. This was serious. Without those clients, I would almost certainly have to lay off several members of staff. And it wasn’t just the jobs that were at stake. It was the entire company. If I had to close, it would affecteveryone.
‘I’ve let you down, I know that,’ she sobbed loudly. ‘It wasn’t planned. I was careful, I was sure I was, but thenbang, it happened. And since then, I’ve been so ill I haven’t been able to function and…’
‘What are you talking about? What wasn’t planned?’
‘The baby. I’m pregnant.’
WTF.
