Chapter 3
L ater that same evening, Hannah stared at what was supposed to be baked salmon with teriyaki sauce, but the blackened material in front of her didn’t look like something anyone should eat. While she was great with meal prep, somehow she always managed to lose track of time after putting everything in the oven and so her culinary creations always wound up blackened – except for the ones that were supposed to be. Conversely, for some reason, those ended up underdone.
‘So much for “foolproof”,’ she muttered, scraping it all into the garbage.
And that had been pretty much the theme of the day.
Following that terrible start at the coffee place, she’d struggled to regain her composure.
The same company notwithstanding, it was still difficult starting over in a different location, with a brand-new working environment, and new colleagues too. While everyone in the Lotus office in Rockefeller Centre had been quietly welcoming, and her new boss Wes, had assured her she’d settle in in no time, Hannah still knew she had a lot to prove. And she wasn’t sure either whether the rumour mill had managed to follow her over to this side of the country. Nothing had been said, of course, but since it was the same company she guessed it was probably only a matter of time. Which would inevitably make her office-newbie getting-to-know you opportunities much trickier. Hannah winced at the thought.
Well, regardless of recent personal wobbles, when it came to the job she knew she was one of the best in the business and, social challenges aside, was definitely champing at the bit to get started on her new client list to truly prove her worth.
Her stomach rumbled. She’d grabbed a bagel at her desk between a succession of welcome meetings, and save for that and this morning’s cannoli, she thought – cringing afresh at the memory – she’d had very little to eat and was starving.
Having burned through most of Courtney’s delectable Dean & DeLuca stash at the weekend, she scrolled through her phone in the hope of finding a takeout option that could deliver at warp speed. Just then, it buzzed in her hand.
Seeing the Caller ID, she grinned. ‘Hi!’
‘Hey East Coast,’ her best friend and sadly former colleague Zoe, greeted. ‘How’d your first day go?’
When she and Hannah first met at Lotus PR’s Century City office all those years ago, the Texan redhead had been very standoffish and aloof. At the time, they were the only women in their department on a male-dominated floor. Hannah had made repeated attempts to be friendly but had been met with nothing but resistance. She’d decided she probably wouldn’t ever get close to renowned ballbreaker Zoe Maxwell but just didn’t have it in her to stop trying to break the ice at least.
One day, during a meeting, a senior executive had jokingly suggested that if they really wanted to land a client they’d been pursuing for months, Zoe might consider combining business with some good old-fashioned pillow talk.
Hannah had stood up before she’d even realized it and glared at the guy, her heart pounding.
‘Is that something you consider part of your own repertoire?’ she’d challenged, before she could stop herself.
To his credit, the executive’s face had turned beet-red and he’d looked properly ashamed. And after stammering out an apology, he’d proclaimed the meeting adjourned.
As Hannah was leaving the office that evening, Zoe had caught up with her at the elevator.
‘You know, you didn’t have to do that.’
She’d shrugged. ‘I know.’
‘Why did you then?’
‘We’re the only two women here – if we don’t have each other’s backs, who will?’
Zoe had stared at her. ‘You really believe that?’
‘Why wouldn’t I?’
‘I don’t know where you’ve been, but in my world, people aren’t out there helping each other. They’re all just doing whatever it takes to get ahead, and if that means stepping on someone else regardless of gender, that’s just the price of entry.’
‘Well, then you need to get out of that world,’ Hannah had advised her, ‘and spend a bitta time in mine.’
That had been the beginning of a wonderful friendship, and it was the only regret Hannah had about leaving LA. Zoe was currently visiting her parents in Canada, and while Hannah secretly hoped she might stop over for a visit on her way back, Zoe’s hatred of New York was legendary.
‘It was … good,’ she said, answering her friend’s query about her first day. ‘Though they’re already pawning me off with the lost causes.’
Hannah had no illusions that she’d waltz straight into the New York office and get handed prime accounts. Instead, she’d have to earn her chops by handling some of the company’s newer or lower-priority clients.
‘That won’t last once they figure out what a prize you are. For example, there aren’t many people I know who could charm a millionairess into letting you crash at her brand-new pad.’
‘It wasn’t like that and you know it. But it’s been such a godsend all the same. I don’t know how I can ever repay her.’
‘So what’s the place like? I hope Courtney hasn’t turned it into a grown-up Barbie Funhouse.’
‘Dreamhouse, you mean. And nope, very tasteful – incredible actually, like something from a movie. And if you come and visit you can see for yourself.’
‘If I ever make it out of here alive, you mean. Honestly, I love my folks, but being back in this town is like being in a different century.’
Hannah could relate to that big-time. She hadn’t been back to Limerick in almost a year and whenever she did return home for visits, the insular village somehow always served to regress her to that same insecure young woman she’d worked so hard to leave behind.
Since the pandemic, her parents, both now pushing their seventies, were reluctant to travel, which meant visits across the Atlantic to see her were sadly a thing of the past.
‘Ha, speaking of a different century … ’ She went on to tell Zoe about the old guy next door, the only snag in her newfound dream setup.
‘Well, there you go then.’
Hannah frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘PR is quite literally your job. If you want to find a way to pay Courtney back, there’s your chance. Hit him with a charm offensive and pave the way for some positive neighbourly relations?’
‘I don’t know … with a lawsuit in the offing, the last thing I want is to step on any toes.’
‘Oh, come on, getting people on side is your speciality, so you’d be doing Courtney a huge favour. Think of it as a side hustle, something to get your teeth into until you’re off probation and assigned more interesting talent than the dregs. Honey, I’ve seen you in action. There isn’t a man alive who can resist your legendary Irish charm. So why not work it on Grandpa next door?’