Chapter 20
“So, welcome, welcome, welcome!” Rachel from PR got to her feet to kick the meeting off, clapping her hands with what could accurately be described as pure, unadulterated elation.
Kate had attended her first publishing meeting full of nerves about the unknown.
This time around she was anxious about the chaos of Sunday, but she’d been greeted with a full body hug from Prue and a double high five from Rachel, plus an actual kiss on the cheek from Joel in sales. Not an air-kiss kind of day, then.
She glanced at Charlie beside her, aware of his familiar cologne, glad of his quiet confidence. They were a team within a team here. No Fiona today, which Kate was relieved about.
“So, Kate. Sunday!” Rachel said, directing her generalized clapping to focus in on Kate in particular, which everyone else at the table joined in with enthusiastically. Kate looked around, then shrugged her shoulders and pressed her hands over her face.
“Don’t,” she said. “I’ve made a mental note to never rely on Sunday trains again. Or trains at all, if it’s something important.”
“Hey, we’re not complaining,” Prue said, tucking her bob—now half-emerald-green, half-jet-black—behind her ears and gazing at Kate over thick-rimmed green glasses.
She really had this hair and glasses combo down.
“It was unconventional, for sure, but it created a golden opportunity, which is where Rachel and the marketing team have been concentrating their efforts ever since.” She smiled across the table at Rachel, who was pretty much bouncing in her chair.
“You’ve hopefully seen some of the reels and posts we’ve put together appearing across social media,” Rachel said. “We’ve gone for a huge push to amplify the message as quickly as possible.”
Kate smiled, unsure where this was headed. “The message?”
Rachel nodded. “So far we’ve directed all of our marketing toward the actual book, but over the last couple of days we’ve pivoted the focus toward you personally, Kate, because your relatability factor is off the scale.”
“It is?” Kate’s gaze flickered around the publishing team and found them all gazing at her intently.
“The iron is hot right now, like, scorching, and it’s our job to turn that heat up even more, especially as we’re still in the all-important launch week. We want that book finding its way into as many shopping baskets as possible over the next couple of days, and that’s where you come in.”
“What are you thinking?” Charlie said, sitting straighter in his chair.
“Well, what’s so great is the way people have reacted to Kate, and to the first love meet-cute angle specifically, so we’ve made sure the story has been picked up by newspaper entertainment pages, online showbiz columns, those type of outlets.
The fact that it happened on Glynn’s show adds the necessary star power to guarantee the clicks, and”—Rachel paused to look around at them all, shiny-eyed with drama, to ramp up the tension—“I’ve managed to land you a spot on the sofa on the Good Morning Show ! ”
Kate gasped. “As in the show that’s been on TV every morning for the last twenty years?
” She’d watched it intermittently, mostly when Alice was a baby and she was flopped, exhausted, on the sofa between feeds.
“I honestly don’t think I can do it,” she rushed on, too freaked out to maintain a professional face.
“What if I say the wrong thing and they see right through me? I haven’t properly acted in front of a camera in years, let alone been on live TV. ”
Anxious eyes swiveled around the table, everyone unsure who should speak next.
“Kate, it’s okay,” Charlie said. “If you’re not comfortable with it, you can absolutely say no.
” He locked eyes with her and everything in his stance and tone told her he’d have her back on this.
She didn’t need to do anything she didn’t want to do.
Relief watered down her alarm to a manageable level, a cooling sprinkler so she didn’t need to get up and leave the room.
“But for the record,” he continued, “you absolutely could do this. Your natural ability to communicate is extraordinary, people will sit up and listen to whatever you have to say. There’s no better spokesperson for the book than you, and a spot like this is promotional gold dust. Everyone around this table knows you can do it.
I have faith in you, and the author themself thinks you’re pretty damn special too.
” He paused, choosing his next words carefully.
“You’re better at this than you think you are, Kate. ”
He held her gaze steadily, and she felt his words settle into her brain and make themselves at home. She could do it. She could sit her guardian angel backside on that famous red sofa and tell the world all about The Power of Love.
“It’s tomorrow,” Prue said.
“Tomorrow?” Charlie and Kate said in startled unison.
“Not going to be a problem?” Rachel said, crossing her fingers in the air on both hands as she fired them her most winning smile.
Charlie looked only at Kate. “We can go grab a coffee downstairs and have a chat about it if you’d like?”
She appreciated his offer to escape for a breather, but she’d made her mind up.
“It’s okay,” she said, consciously forcing her shoulders down from her ears. “I’ll do it.”
The relief around the table was palpable; Rachel looked as if she could do with a double brandy.
Charlie’s intent gaze silently double-checked she was okay with it, and she nodded.
“I’ll make sure I get an early enough train this time.”
Rachel sat down. “No need. They want you on site by eight in the morning at the latest so they’ll send a car for you at six.”
Kate looked at Charlie. “What do you think?”
What she was really asking was Will you come with me?, but she didn’t want to sound needy in front of the whole team.
“I think it’s a terrific opportunity, as long as you’re comfortable with it. You could always stay over in London tonight if you’d prefer, be on hand in the morning without worrying about the early start?”
He was right, of course. In a previous life, she’d have had to juggle childcare and organize meals in advance to have a night away, which was vanishingly rare. There was something liberating about being able to say yes without the need to consult anyone else.
“I need to go home first and throw all of my clothes around in a panic while I decide what to wear, but staying nearby definitely sounds less stressful,” she said, raising a knowing laugh around the table.
“At least you won’t have too long to panic about things,” Prue said, checking the time on her mobile. “In less than twenty-four hours, you’ll be on the sofa with Ruby and Niall.”