Chapter 45
45
I yanked open the door and hurried through it, towards the lift, my heart pounding from being honest with Jake. It was one thing telling him what I thought on a work front, but opening my heart was a whole other level of honesty and vulnerability. It wasn’t easy but I felt better for having done it. Now Jake knew I had really liked him.
Maybe what happened between us was a good thing. I had been so worried I’d never have anything close to feelings like the characters had in my favourite books, but Jake had shown me that it was possible to have a strong attraction and pull towards someone, to have amazing sex and to feel like the two of you were the only people in the world when you were together.
Luckily, Jake didn’t follow me so I got into the lift and the doors closed. I leaned against the wall with a sigh. I didn’t need that stressful interaction on top of having to deal with Hayley. I straightened up as the lift reached the fifth floor and told myself if I could tell Jake how I felt, I could definitely tell Hayley. Taking a deep breath as the doors opened, I walked through, shoulders straight and head high.
‘You look like you’re on a mission!’ Ellen called out from behind her desk.
‘I am,’ I said, not slowing down to chat in case my resolve cracked. She stared after me curiously as I went to my desk to dump my things then went straight to Hayley’s office, knocking on the open door to make my presence known.
Hayley was at her desk, typing on her phone. She waved me in without looking up as she carried on typing, her long fake nails making a tippy-tappy sound on it. I didn’t sit down opposite the desk though in my usual chair. It felt like I might have the slightest chance at not chickening out if I remained standing. Plus, this way, I actually appeared taller than her too. I kept my hands behind my back so she couldn’t see me wringing them with nerves.
Finally, she put her phone down on the desk and rolled her eyes. ‘All my sister wants to talk about is her wedding,’ she said. ‘She keeps on about me leaving early to go to New York but I was there to see her get married. And she’s sent me about five hundred photos and videos. It’s ridiculous.’
‘Getting married is a pretty big thing,’ I said, thinking that Hayley’s behaviour towards her sister was really telling. I had thought her workaholic ways were something to aspire to, but although she had achieved a lot in her career, it made me determined not to be so one-track minded. Yes, work was important to me. Yes, I was ambitious. But my family and friends were important to me too. I knew if and when Liv married Aiden, I would be almost as excited as she was going to be. I didn’t understand how Hayley could be so dismissive about her own sister’s wedding. It was no wonder she didn’t care about how she’d treated me.
‘So she keeps telling me.’ Hayley folded her arms on her desk. ‘I thought we weren’t meeting until lunchtime? I’m waiting for Jake to come in and discuss the offer we had in from Craig.’
I tried not to think about how I left Jake outside the office after being so honest about my feelings for him. He was probably still standing there, stunned.
I took a deep breath as Hayley was clearly impatient for me to speak or get out. ‘I have been offered another job,’ I blurted out quickly.
Her eyes instantly narrowed.
‘When we talked about New York, you indicated that I could start to take on work that would lead to me becoming an agent,’ I carried on even though the look she was now giving me bordered on murderous. ‘But then you said it would be another six months before I could do anything outside of being your assistant. This new job will start me on track to becoming an agent straight away. And so, uh, I think for my career, I should take it.’
‘Oh, do you?’ she asked icily.
‘I am so grateful for the past six months here,’ I added quickly. ‘I have learnt so much from you, Hayley. But New York was a huge challenge and I felt like you didn’t exactly support me out there and when I came up with an idea that turned things around…’ I had to summon every bit of confidence to keep going as she stared me down. No wonder she was such a good negotiator. I was almost ready to tell her I was talking nonsense but I knew in my gut, I was right. I was scared but there was relief now I had told her my feelings too. ‘You then took all the credit for it. That was disappointing, if I’m honest.’
‘It was disappointing that I had to come out there after you were messing things up.’
That felt unfair. ‘Jake blurted out that article was true; that wasn’t my fault. I did my best to make things better after that, encouraging him to be honest… In the end, that was what worked. Wasn’t it?’ I was confused why she wouldn’t say that had been the right thing for Jake to do.
‘I am your boss and Jake’s agent. You are merely my assistant. But you think in an important meeting, I should give you credit for something that was a fluke in the first place?’
I immediately knew I had done the right thing. We both knew that had been no fluke. She really was incapable of praising someone and didn’t want to admit she had been wrong. That didn’t feel like a good mentor to me.
‘I worked hard out there. I did everything I could to help Jake. And it worked. He’s had a great offer from his publisher. But you refuse to even consider me taking on more responsibility. Simon Langley?—’
‘You’re leaving me for Simon Langley?’ she said with bitterness. Then she stood up and I took a step backwards on instinct. ‘That dinosaur? He thinks more about caring for his authors than making money,’ she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. ‘He might molly-coddle you but he won’t teach you to get the best deals, Freya. This was your opportunity here. But you’re now wasting it. You know what? Any thoughts I had about helping your career are definitely over now.’
I raised an eyebrow. ‘You didn’t give me any indication when we spoke about it the other day of wanting to help me at all.’
Her cheeks turned red. ‘You’re throwing everything I’ve done for you in my face,’ Hayley spat out now. ‘Maybe Simon “Grandad” Langley might be willing to give you a job but good luck being an agent who can’t get in to see any publisher!’
‘What do you mean?’ I asked, uneasy about the now triumphant expression on her face.
‘I’ll make sure no publisher deals with you,’ Hayley replied, her red lips curving into a smile.
‘Don’t you dare,’ came a voice from behind me.
I jumped and turned to see Jake in the doorway of Hayley’s office. I had no idea how long he’d been standing there but with the door open, he’d clearly heard Hayley’s threat.
Jake stepped fully into the room as Hayley’s smile vanished from her face. ‘Freya helped my career so much in New York. I sat back in our meeting and let you ignore what she did and take all the credit for it but I won’t stand back and allow you to ruin her reputation in our industry,’ Jake continued, sounding like his usual calm self but I could hear the edge in his tone, and I was sure Hayley did too. ‘She deserves this new job and a break in her career. And if you try to stop her, I will tell everyone you took the credit for what she did for me. Whose reputation will suffer then?’
Hayley’s mouth fell open. ‘Jake, you don’t understand?—’
‘Actually, I understand perfectly,’ he cut in. ‘You don’t like the fact Freya wants to leave but you have no say in it. You like to get your own way but that isn’t what this job should be about. Freya understands that being an agent is about listening to and supporting your clients, and doing the best for them, and not yourself. That’s why I wanted to come in and talk to you about my deal offer. You didn’t listen to me on the phone about what I wanted. All you cared about was the money they’re offering.’ Jake turned to me. ‘You should take the job, Freya. And Hayley will let you leave immediately but you’ll be paid for the rest of the month. And she won’t say anything negative about your time here.’ He immediately turned back to Hayley, our eye contact kept brief. ‘Right, Hayley?’