Chapter 43
43
The Simon Langley Literary Agency was in a very different building to my current place of work. Sleek and next to the River Thames, it felt more modern and had a good buzz to it. Simon’s office was up high, offering an impressive view of the city. I looked out of the huge window in reception while I waited and ticked off all the landmarks I could see from there. And it was most of them.
‘Freya, thank God you’re here!’ Davis came into reception. He was wearing a smart suit and looked nervous but smiled when he saw me. And held out his hand for a firm shake. I followed him through into Simon’s office. He stood up and came to the door to greet me. He couldn’t have appeared more different to Hayley – a man in his sixties with salt and pepper hair, a warm smile, wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
‘Freya, Davis has told me so much about you. It’s lovely to meet you.’
I returned his smile and shook his hand. ‘I dread to think,’ I replied.
Davis chuckled. ‘I told you – she tells it exactly how it is.’
It was still jarring to hear people complimenting my honesty. I had thought I needed to change that. We all sat down in the sofa area of the large office. It still managed to be cosy, with a huge bookshelf, a floor lamp and lots of plants. The view behind Simon’s desk was hard to stop looking at too.
‘I finished He’s Behind You ,’ I told Davis after I had turned down any refreshments. ‘And it’s great. But I was surprised by the romantic part after everything you said at the romance conference.’
Simon shook his head. ‘We said yes to the invite for Davis to join the panel there because we were planning to post a snippet of the romance scenes to surprise everyone afterwards. But at the party, as you know, things went awry so we held off doing that. And now his publishers are on the fence about even publishing the book.’ Simon was quiet and calm in how he spoke but his body language screamed of being disappointed in his client. I glanced at Davis and he looked abashed, a far cry from the arrogant author I had encountered at the conference.
‘I can see why you wanted to be at the romance conference now,’ I said, things clicking into place. I knew they had been trying something new by inviting authors of other genres to do that panel with Jake but as Davis had been so critical about romance, I had been confused why he had accepted. Now, it all made sense.
‘That would have been great publicity for the book.’ I raised an eyebrow. ‘But why were you so condescending about romance books while you were there? You told Jake on the panel that romance was really easy to write compared to crime and thrillers.’
Davis sighed. ‘I know. It’s Jake. He gets my back up and pushes me to be a dick. It all started at uni, this rivalry… I can’t help but wind him up.’
‘Your rivalry is ridiculous,’ I replied, annoyed with them both, frankly. ‘You have damaged your careers because of it. Is that what you want? To give it all up?’
‘Christ, no!’
‘Did you find the romance easy to write?’
He avoided my eyes and shifted in his chair. ‘No. It was really hard. It was the part of the book I spent the most time on to make it just right.’
‘You know who could have given you advice for it? Jake Richards.’
Simon nodded. ‘I told him that.’ He leaned forward. ‘We know you really helped Jake get back into favour with his readers. We are now in a similar situation. Is there anything Davis could do, do you think?’
‘Personally, I am on the fence at wanting to help you, Davis. Professionally, I do think this is a great book and I would love to see it out in the world.’
I sighed then. It was difficult. Was I being like Hayley if I helped him? Or if I helped him on my terms, was it both a good move for my career but also something that went along with who I was, and not who I thought I should be?
‘What I think you should do is tell your readers that not only do you not think romance is easy, but you’ve included it in your new book because you were inspired by Jake Richards.’
Davis choked a little bit. ‘What?’
I nodded. ‘This feud needs to end. Jake is really popular right now. If you make up with him and talk about how he’s inspired you, I think both you and his readers will love it. Say you’ve become a romance fan and have included it in your book. I noticed there is no dedication in the book. But you mentioned you’re a believer in romance now in your personal life. Hasn’t your girlfriend helped to inspire a romantic side to you?’
‘Let’s not get crazy now,’ Davis said but he did smile at the mention of her.
‘You could dedicate it to her. Talk about that too. Humanise yourself after the mess-up at the conference. Tell your publisher your plan and hopefully, they will stop threatening to pull the book.’ I looked at Simon. ‘What about asking Jake to read and do an endorsement quote too?’
‘He wouldn’t,’ Simon replied quickly.
I shrugged. ‘He might do if you end the feud,’ I said to Davis. ‘It’s up to you. But I think it’s the only way to turn around opinions right now. I’ll be honest: at the conference, I found you arrogant and annoying. I think a lot of people do.’
‘God, Freya, you don’t need to be that honest,’ Davis said, folding his arms across his chest.
‘Actually, I think she does,’ Simon said, giving me an approving look. ‘I haven’t always been as honest with you as I should have been. We’re old friends and go back years, but as you got more successful, you did become different to the man I first met as an aspiring author. And sometimes, I have been worried you’re changing into someone that might become too difficult to work with.’
Davis looked shocked. ‘Mate, you should have said… I hold my hands up, I know I haven’t been easy to work with sometimes. Honestly, this job is so stressful and I tend to act out when I’m stressed. And drink too much. In fact, I’m wondering if I need to quit the booze altogether.’ He turned to me. ‘Freya, I hate to admit it but you’ve given me some great advice. Whether I can actually follow it all through and get people back on my side, I don’t know. But I want to try. I have to try. I believe in this book and I want to see it on the shelves. Even if that means resolving things with Jake bloody Richards.’ But he winked at me and I knew he realised it was what had to happen.
Simon smiled. ‘Well, Freya, you’ve won Davis over so how could you not win me over? I know you might be happy with Hayley Harper but you are just what I’ve been looking for here. I’m about to start the journey towards retirement and I want to bring in some new blood that can make that happen. I think we’d make a good team until then. And you certainly seem able to handle Davis.’
‘If you can handle Davis, you can handle anyone,’ I said with a laugh. Luckily, they both chuckled along with me and Davis didn’t seem to take it personally.
‘If I could persuade you to leave Hayley, you could come and work here. We could co-agent Davis and a couple of my other authors for a while, then you could start to take on your own clients and, with time, take on some of mine too. I have no doubt you have the skills to be a great agent, and I want to help make that happen. I would give you a pay rise, of course. And you could start here as soon as you wanted,’ Simon said. ‘What do you think?’
I started at him in shock. ‘Huh?’
‘Davis told me you were honest and capable and ambitious, and I have seen that today for myself. I think I could be a good mentor to you. But you’d also help us here. We may have become a bit stuck in our ways. You could be the breath of fresh air we need. And Davis certainly has warmed to you. I think all of our clients would do so as well.’
‘Wow.’ His offer started to sink in. I glanced at Davis, who was beaming with what looked remarkably like pride. ‘You would let me actually look after clients?’ Hayley was set against that, and I knew she wasn’t a woman to change her mind. Simon was offering me what I wanted so much sooner, and I liked him instantly.
Simon nodded. ‘I would. How about I take you on a tour and give you some of our clients’ books and you can have a think about it? But if you’re completely happy where you are, I understand if you don’t want to even do that…’
I shook my head. ‘I want to do that. I definitely want to consider your offer.’ The thought of leaving Hayley was terrifying. Even telling her about this threatened to bring me out in a cold sweat. But I was getting a good feeling in Simon Langley’s office, and I had told myself to listen to my gut from now on. My gut was telling me this could well be my future.
Davis pulled his phone out. ‘I’m going to phone Jake right now, see if he’ll meet me for a coffee. I’ll tell him this is all your fault.’
Davis left Simon’s office so quickly, I couldn’t stop him. I wasn’t sure how Jake would react to hearing from Davis or my involvement in encouraging it, but I hoped he would be happy that I was being myself again. Part of me wanted him to also be proud of me but I knew I needed to stop thinking like that. If I did leave Hayley’s agency, we wouldn’t even have a professional relationship any more. I would be moving on from Jake Richards and even though that was sad, I had to make the best of this opportunity.
‘Ready when you are,’ I told Simon.
After he had shown me round and given me a tote bag full of books, I promised to think about his offer and get back to him ASAP. I left his office, stepped back onto the London streets, hot from the midday sun, and walked around in a daze, thinking over everything he had said. I knew this was the right move. But it was terrifying too.
I pulled out my phone to message Liv.
SOS. Can we meet for a glass of wine tonight? So much to tell you!
She replied instantly.
Tell me where and when…