Chapter 18
‘Sorry, Warwick,’ Issy said as she entered the site office. ‘I was on the phone to my dad. He was keen to get an update on the project.’ She watched him, curious to see what he made of that, but she could read nothing. She went on. ‘Spencer messaged too. I didn’t know you two were old friends.’
Warwick shrugged. ‘Wouldn’t say friends, exactly.’
‘He said you went to primary school together.’
‘Primary school was a long time ago.’
‘But you stayed in touch, I hear?’
Warwick nodded. He was a man of few words, Issy was learning. She sighed. If she was going to pull this off, she needed his help.
‘Warwick, I want to apologise for yesterday.’ She swallowed hard, almost unable to form the words.
It felt distasteful, shameful almost, to admit she was even slightly wrong.
Attack was the best form of defence, in her opinion.
It was a basic survival strategy in the Ashworth family, but something told her it wouldn’t work with this man sitting in front of her, eyeing her warily.
The corners of his mouth turned down as though he wasn’t sure what she meant. He wasn’t going to make this easy for her, clearly.
‘I think we got off on the wrong foot,’ she said.
‘A message was meant to be sent from the corporate office, to let you know I was coming down to oversee the final stage of the project. It was obviously an inconvenience to have me turn up without warning. To be honest, it put me in a tricky position too. The team seemed thrown by it.’
He rubbed his stubbled cheek. ‘If you don’t mind me saying, I think it might have been your approach that threw them.’
Her heart rate picked up. ‘My approach?’
He cleared his throat, shifted in his seat. ‘Can I give you a bit of feedback?’
She bristled, sensing criticism was about to follow.
No, thank you, I’m fine, she imagined saying, as though he was offering her an unwanted cup of tea.
She didn’t want feedback. No one ever wanted feedback.
She was positive about that, despite what they might say.
Instead, she arranged her face into an expression designed to look open and attentive. ‘Of course.’
‘You know that old saying, “You don’t need to be liked, you need to be respected”?’
‘Yes, of course,’ she said, feeling patronised. It was one of her father’s guiding principles. She could hear his commanding voice in her head: You can’t build an empire by being everyone’s friend.
‘Well, in my experience, that’s rubbish.’
She must have looked confused, because Warwick went on. ‘Issy—is it okay if I call you Issy?’
She nodded.
‘Blokes like this don’t give a damn what your last name is. If you pretend to be someone you’re not, they’ll see right through you. If you’re out of your depth, but you’re pretending you’re not, they won’t save you from drowning.’
Issy straightened, frowning. ‘I’m not out of my depth.’
‘I’m not saying you are.’ He gave her a reassuring smile. ‘I’m just saying, be honest with them. They’re good blokes, but they can smell crap a mile away.’
‘Right, okay,’ she said, not sure what to make of this advice.
‘Thank you, Warwick. That’s very helpful.
’ She reached for her bag and took out her laptop, signalling the end of his little feedback session.
‘Warwick, my father is adamant that the launch must go ahead as planned. From what I saw yesterday, that will be a tall order, but not impossible. I suggest we redirect all efforts to finishing the entertainment space, and leave the residential development to open at a later stage. I’ve checked the contracts and there was some leeway built into the completion dates for the apartments. ’
She waited for him to respond.
When he said nothing, she sighed. ‘Do you think that will work?’
He shrugged. ‘It’s doable, I guess. You sure it’s okay for us to launch without the apartments being ready?’
She nodded. ‘Yes, it’s fine.’ It would have to be. ‘You know, Spencer has enormous respect for you, Warwick. He said you’re a gun. That if anyone can get this project back on track, it’s you.’
He leaned forward, a slight smile playing on his face. ‘He said that?’
‘He did.’ She lowered her voice. ‘I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but he said he thinks you have a lot to offer Ashworth Property.’
He sat up a little straighter. ‘He did?’
She nodded. ‘If we can deliver this, I suspect there will be some great opportunities ahead for you.’ She opened the project plan document and turned the laptop so they could both see the screen.
‘As far as I can tell, this plan is basically a fairytale. Let’s get on the same page, then we can work out what we need to do to salvage the project and meet the launch deadline. ’