Chapter 13 #3
‘I see a beautiful partnership developing,’ Megan interjected after ten minutes, clearly bored of their work talk. ‘Are we eating as well? I might order some nachos.’ She stepped down from the booth. ‘Josh, come and help me.’
Subtle, Megan, real subtle.
I glared at her from behind my negroni as she pulled at Josh’s sleeve. Josh, looking very confused, followed her and couldn’t turn back even if he wanted to, as Megan had her arm around his shoulders in a sort of headlock as she dragged him back to the bar.
‘She wants a lot of nachos,’ I said to Simon, my heart leaping as we were suddenly alone again.
He smiled. ‘So when do you start this new job of yours?’ There was something about the immediacy of his asking soon after the others had left that made me wonder if he had been wanting to ask this question for a while.
‘In the New Year.’
‘In Toronto.’ He swilled his beer around gently.
I nodded. ‘Yeah. It’s at this studio that I know really well from working with Pim – she’s the actress I work for – she was on a show of theirs for a while, so I met a lot of people backstage.’
He nodded now, continuously and with a forced smile.
‘What sort of work will you be doing?’
I laughed breathily, unsure how to talk about a job I had such impostor syndrome from. ‘Well, it’s an assistant TV producer role.’ I flushed. ‘Josh and Megan like to drop the assistant as I’ve been an assistant for eight years.’
Simon smiled encouragingly but said nothing.
‘I’ll be supporting the main team of producers initially,’ I said, playing with the umbrella in my drink again.
‘And helping produce ideas for the shows that they have. Mostly they produce game shows with celebrities and the like. The kind of thing you might watch on daytime TV when you’re ill or if you’ve got a hangover.
’ I stopped myself degrading the studio with an awkward laugh.
I didn’t know why I was talking down about the job.
It was a great job, one I was barely qualified to do and mostly got because of nepotism and recruitment laziness.
Salient had wanted someone that knew the team, who would fit in and know how to handle the celebrities.
All things they knew I could do from my time with Pim on their many shows.
Everything else I needed to know I would learn on the job and maybe I would work my way up.
That was how most people did it, start from the bottom and work their way up.
After all, there was no ladder with Pim, only a car door to open and shut.
This job would give me the opportunities to grow, to develop new skills and earn more money, and, more importantly, give me roots in a new city. The roots I’ve always wanted.
‘I move in January. It’s going to be great.’
‘Sounds it.’ Simon had some more of his beer before suddenly asking, ‘Weren’t there any jobs in the UK you wanted?
’ I hadn’t even applied for any, I hardly looked.
Every time I opened a vacancies page my mind would roll through all the scenarios of getting an interview, only to be rejected for some nepo baby fresh out of university.
The disappointment seemed far more potent than applying out of the country. ‘Seems a long way to go for a job.’
I fell silent, slightly stunned.
I considered him for a moment, before forcing myself to answer.
‘It’s quite a competitive area. There aren’t many Broadcast Production Assistant jobs in the UK.’
‘Surely Pim would have given you an in?’
‘I don’t want to be a nepo baby,’ I joked, though that wasn’t the full truth either.
I wasn’t aware of many studios in the UK that Pim had connections with; we were hardly ever in the UK for work.
Any connections she did have were probably out of date.
I had never dared to ask her for help, not directly at least. Not only because of the nepotism, but because it felt disrespectful to ask: I know I’m your assistant but could you help me get another job using your connections?
Besides, I was used to fighting for others, not for myself.
I moved hair out of my eyes. ‘That being said, I think I mostly got this new job because I got the chance to work with the company during one of Pim’s TV stints, so who am I to say I hate nepotism?’
‘That’s not nepotism, that’s networking.’
‘Sure,’ I mumbled. ‘That’s just the industry, I guess.’
He nodded, saying nothing more for a moment. And then he smiled again, his lovely warm, slightly lopsided smile. ‘I’m happy for you.’ He lifted his beer in the air. ‘To you and your new job!’
I felt the light in me flicker as I remembered my new job. My new home come the New Year. The new start I was really looking forward to. The do-over I needed for my life to really begin. It was in Toronto, not London. No relationship could last, so I shouldn’t be cruel and let it begin.
Forcing a placating smile, I lifted my glass to his bottle with a light chink.
‘And to you, for your first Great Christmas Pudding victory. I hope this will become an annual thing?’
‘Once will be enough.’