Chapter 33
33
Arriving back at the resort after what feels like forever, my stomach does somersaults, thanks to a mixture of nerves and excitement, as we hurry to the hotel conference room that Rick has booked for the pitches.
‘Robin, you’ve got this,’ Andrea tells me, squeezing my hand encouragingly as we navigate the hotel.
‘Do you really think so?’ I reply.
My confidence goes in and out like the tide – only much, much quicker.
‘Of course,’ he says. ‘Your idea is strong, it’s what Beppe asked for, and you really believe in it. What more could anyone ask for?’
I puff air from my cheeks.
‘You’re right, you’re right,’ I reply. ‘I just need to get in there, get it done, get it over with and then…’
‘And then we get to go to Nonna’s party,’ he says. ‘And we will eat and drink and dance the night away – again – and then…’
Andrea stops me in my tracks briefly, lightly pinning me to the corridor wall as he plants a kiss on my lips. He lightly sucks my bottom lip, only for a few seconds, but while it’s happening, I briefly imagine letting Rick sack me, just so that I can stay here, like this, in this moment.
‘There’s no one around,’ I point out in a breathy voice. ‘So, whose benefit was that for?’
‘Yours,’ he tells me. ‘It’s always been for yours.’
I smile like mad – like someone who has just won the lottery, or something – as I pick up the pace again. I wonder, if I win this pitch, if I’ll smile as widely as I am right now.
Stepping into the conference room, I’m greeted by the sight of my colleagues already gathered around the boardroom-style table. Liz, James, Cait, and Henry all sit with varying degrees of tension etched on their faces, while Julie occupies her usual spot to the side, silently observing.
Then there is Rick, who is pacing back and forth. There’s an unspoken tension in the room, something beyond what is there when we’re pitching usually. I just can’t put my finger on it yet.
‘Robin, I thought you weren’t going to show up. Where have you been?’ Rick’s voice barks in my direction.
‘It was Andrea’s sister’s wedding last night, remember?’ I remind him, but he doesn’t seem all that bothered.
‘Come with me,’ Rick insists, gesturing for Andrea and me to follow him.
We step into a small side room through one of the two doors in the conference room. It’s a snug space, furnished with a desk and a sofa.
‘It comes with the conference room, for smaller meetings,’ Rick explains, reading my mind.
Rick still seems on edge – he’s chewing the side of his thumbnail, which is never a good sign. I’ve never seen him do that before because something good was going to happen.
‘Tell me you’ve got something good for this pitch,’ Rick practically begs, his tone urgent. ‘Henry and Cait’s idea hasn’t come off, and Liz and James have come up with something so… so… pretentiously sexy.’
Andrea furrows his brow, clearly perplexed by Rick’s description – especially based on the brief Beppe gave us all.
‘Sexy? What do you mean?’ Andrea questions Rick.
‘Oh, it’s all Fashion Week and men on Vespas smoking cigarettes and – I don’t know – not what I think the client wants,’ Rick explains.
Suddenly it makes sense why he’s so worried.
‘Don’t worry, okay, because I have a great idea, it’s nothing like that, and I think Beppe is going to really like it,’ I reassure him, hopefully with confidence and conviction in my voice.
Whether they are present in my tone or not, I do really mean it; I know that I have a great idea.
‘Okay, well, I need you to put it into a PowerPoint or a Keynote or whatever – if you haven’t already,’ Rick instructs.
‘Oh?’ I respond, taken aback, because we don’t usually have to do that. ‘It’s all prepared, to a high standard, and ready to show the client, it’s just not a slideshow.’
‘The other two have theirs in a slideshow – a real turd-polishing exercise,’ Rick informs me. ‘So, if yours is the stronger idea, I don’t want it to look weaker by not having the same level of presentation as theirs, or both ideas will look shit.’
I feel a pang of anxiety creeping in.
‘But is there even enough time left to do that?’ I reply. ‘I have my laptop in my bag but, I don’t know, it’s not the kind of thing that you can knock out in a few minutes.’
‘Don’t worry, Beppe is busy during the day, so we’re pitching to him tonight,’ Rick reassures me. ‘That’s plenty of time to get things ready.’
‘Tonight?’ I practically squeak.
‘Yeah, so plenty of time for you to practise too,’ he says. ‘And Andrea, I know you don’t need to be here, but if you want to stick around until then, I’m going to order some lunch in.’
‘We can’t do tonight, sorry,’ Andrea tells him. ‘It’s my nonna ’s birthday, she’s one hundred years old today.’
‘Well, happy birthday to your nonna . But sorry, that’s just not going to be possible,’ Rick says dismissively.
Andrea practically laughs in Rick’s face.
‘You know I don’t actually work for you, right?’ he says to Rick.
‘You’re right, but she does,’ Rick responds, pointing at me. ‘It turns out there is an intern at Come a Casa who speaks great English. She’s going to come too, so you, Andrea, can go to your party and you, Robin, can stay here and do your job.’
‘You can come after your pitch?’ Andrea checks. ‘I can come to get you.’
‘No can do,’ Rick tells him. ‘We’ve arranged to have a dinner afterwards – to hopefully celebrate winning the pitch. Even if we do, the schmoozing doesn’t stop there. Come on, Robin, you knew what you signed up for.’
I exchange a glance with Andrea.
‘Oh, Robin, no! ’ he protests, clearly reading my mind.
‘Let me give you two some privacy,’ Rick says. ‘You can have the room. I’m sure you will figure this out between yourselves but, Robin, I don’t want you leaving it until your presentation is done, okay? Okay.’
Without waiting for a response, Rick leaves the two of us to it.
‘You’re not coming?’ Andrea asks me, sounding like he already knows the answer. ‘Not at all?’
‘I can’t, can I?’ I reply sadly. ‘This is my job.’
‘Can he make you work all evening? Even if part of it is only dinner? Can’t you skip that bit, or can’t he reschedule, for the daytime, on another day?’ Andrea asks, trying to find a solution. ‘Nonna is going to be so disappointed. I know that the two of you can’t talk but all she keeps telling me is how much she likes you, and how happy she is that you’re a part of our family now.’
The only problem there is that I’m not part of the family, am I? And, no matter what I want, that’s something that needs putting right asap. We can’t keep lying to everyone like this; someone is going to get hurt. To be honest, I think someone already has. Whether it is Andrea, because I’m letting him down right now, or me, because I know that, if it comes down to it, he wants this job in LA, and I need to convince him to take it.
I sigh, really feeling the weight of the situation, but knowing that there is nothing I can do if I want to keep my job.
‘I know Rick, he’s not going to do that,’ I explain. ‘But look, it’s okay, you go to your party, I’ll stay here and do this. In a way, it’s just like we practised.’
‘What do you mean?’ Andrea replies, his face showing disappointment.
‘Our break-up,’ I say. ‘Wasn’t this the whole point?’
Andrea’s expression falls, and I feel a wave of guilt wash over me.
‘Right, yes,’ Andrea replies with a sad resignation in his voice. ‘You think I’m holding you back from work, I think that you work too much. You’re exactly right. I’ll go, tell that to my family, and you stay here, tell that to your boss.’
‘I wasn’t saying that we should still do it,’ I quickly insist, but it’s too late. Andrea looks heartbroken – just like we had planned.
‘This wasn’t a good idea,’ Andrea says, his tone heavy with disappointment. ‘I’m going to go back to my family. Good luck with your work.’
‘Andrea, wait,’ I plead, reaching out for him.
He approaches me and takes my hand. Then I realise it’s the hand with the engagement ring on.
‘I will need to take this back,’ he says simply. ‘If I tell my mamma that we’re over, she will worry if I don’t have her ring.’
‘Right, yeah, of course,’ I say as I remove the ring – thankfully it goes on and off really easily now, almost like it was made for me. It’s not mine, though, is it? ‘So, it’s really over?’
‘ Sì ,’ Andrea confirms with a heavy sigh. ‘Good luck, Robin.’
He leans in, kisses me on the cheek, and then he leaves.
I sit down on the sofa and drop my head into my hands. I feel terrible, of course I do, but this whole thing has always been about work.
I just need to grab my laptop and get on with it. Otherwise, what was it all for?