Chapter 6 #2
At 11 a.m. on the dot, Lorraine opens the meeting room door and Frannie stops talking mid-sentence. We file in, seating ourselves at one end of the table, while Lorraine joins Gordon, head of production, at the other end.
‘You know why you’re here, so I’ll get straight to it.
Hargreaves were very impressed by all three pitches.
Their exact words were,’ she says, consulting a piece of paper in front of her, ‘“spoilt for choice” and “a near-impossible decision”, so thank you to all three of you for your stellar work. You’ve done the agency proud. ’
I try catching Sophie’s eye again to share the moment, but she’s staring straight ahead.
‘To that end, we have decided to award a ￡1000 bonus to the two creatives whose campaigns were not selected.’
Now this is a first – and not a bad consolation prize. I glance over at Frannie, who lifts her eyebrows at me excitedly.
‘So, the campaign that Hargreaves selected is…’ Lorraine pauses for the longest moment in the history of humanity. ‘Drew’s Home for the Holidays reboot with Max Stirling. Congratulations, Drew.’
Sophie’s head swivels sharply in my direction, her lips parted in surprise. But it’s unclear what’s caught her off-guard. Was she counting on her pitch being chosen, or is she shocked that I’ve landed a megastar?
‘Congratulations,’ says Frannie. ‘That sounds brilliant, Drew.’
‘Thanks, Frannie,’ I reply.
‘Yeah, congrats,’ says Sophie, sending a lipless smile my way.
‘Of course, we’ll be meeting with Max Stirling’s people to discuss the terms,’ Lorraine continues, pulling my attention away from Sophie, ‘but we’re confident that will go as planned.
Although, Stirling is filming right now, so we may only get him for two or three days.
That will make our schedule tight – especially as they agreed to the four-advertisement package. ’
That was a long shot, pitching four commercials – and I half-expected that they’d go for less – so this is even better news. Great for the résumé.
Gordon explains next steps for the production team, including building a partial replica of the Home for the Holidays living room. ‘And we’ll be clearing Jane’s calendar so she can be your production manager – she’s had the most experience with this kind of project,’ he tells me.
He’s right, but Jane typically works with Sophie – they’ve partnered on dozens of accounts over the past few years.
How’s Sophie going to feel about that? I look over.
Pissed, if that scowl is anything to go by.
Or maybe she’s just disappointed that I won the account.
Either way, I’m still in Sophie Reid’s bad books.
Lorraine wraps up the meeting but as I’m leaving, she asks me to stay. I hang back, waiting for the others to leave, then take my seat again.
‘I won’t keep you, but I wanted to run something past you,’ says Lorraine.
‘Sure, what’s up?’
‘This will be a huge undertaking and I know you’re up to the task, but I wanted to float the idea of Sophie as your co-creative.’
‘Oh, uh…’
‘You’d still be lead, of course – it’s your campaign,’ she adds hurriedly. ‘But Sophie’s concept was not dissimilar to yours – tonally, I mean. Family-oriented, the innocence of childhood… I feel like she could bring something special to the project.’
‘Okay.’
It’s rare for me to collaborate with another creative. It’s also rare for Emberstone to officially assign a second creative to a campaign, but Lorraine’s right about one thing. This will be a huge undertaking.
And Sophie’s talented. Joining forces could really elevate this campaign – and by extension, my career. But I’d bet my left arm that Sophie would rather eat hot coals than work with me.
‘I didn’t want to mention it to Sophie without speaking to you first,’ Lorraine continues. ‘So, what do you think?’
I hesitate for a second. Will Sophie even agree to a collaboration? I guess she could surprise us.
‘Look, Sophie’s an amazing creative and if you think we’d work well together, then I’m in,’ I reply.
Lorraine’s mouth widens into a smile. ‘Perfect. Thanks, Drew. That’s all I need for now,’ she says, subtly dismissing me.
I head to my desk and my ass has barely landed in the chair when Gen’s head appears over the wall of my cube.
‘I heard the news,’ she says.
‘Hey, yeah. Can you believe it?’
‘Again with the false modesty,’ she says with an eyeroll that would impress Maisie. ‘Pop round tonight to celebrate? I’ll have Chris pick up some steaks, we can open a bottle of red…’
‘Thanks, Gen, but I’ve got a date.’
‘If she were actually a date, you could bring her over. You’re talking about a shag,’ she adds in a judgey whisper.
‘Hey now, come on.’
‘You can “hey now” me all you like, but you can’t remain a bachelor forever, Drew.’
‘First off, there’s no reason I can’t. Second, I’m only twenty-nine, so what’s the rush? And third…’ I lean closer. ‘Can we please not have this conversation at work?’
She straightens. ‘Okay, fair. But we’re celebrating this weekend, okay?’
I salute her. ‘Yes, boss.’
Her expression softens. ‘I really am proud of you.’
‘Thanks, Gen.’
‘Oh, I almost forgot. Did you say you’d take Maisie and her friend to see the new Smurfs film tomorrow afternoon?’
‘Is that what she told you?’ I ask with a smirk. ‘Because what I actually said was “we’ll see”.’
‘Ah, that sounds more like it.’
‘Look, I’m happy to hang out with Maisie and her friend, but it’s a no on the Smurfs. I was thinking mini golf.’
‘Oh, Mais will love that. And you know who the friend is, right? It’s Sophie’s daughter, Harlow.’
I sit back against my seat and break into a grin.
‘You don’t say?’
‘She and Maisie met at the Family & Friends Party.’
‘Oh, I know. I was there.’
And so was Sophie, which gets me thinking…
‘Anyway,’ Gen continues, ‘they’ve been messaging on HappyChat ever since – fast friends it seems.’
Oh, man, this is getting better and better. If the girls are hanging out, surely Sophie will want to accompany Harlow. And if she and I are going to be working together… This could be a turning point.
Yeah and nothing to do with having a crush on her.
I tell my inner voice to shut it. Sophie’s off-limits – now more than ever. But it would be good to get to know her outside of work.
‘Let’s lock in mini golf,’ I say. ‘And I’ll stick around for that steak dinner after I bring Maisie home.’
‘You sure? You don’t have another date teed up?’ Gen teases.
I do, but I’m not telling Gen that. I’ll cancel.
‘Nope, free as a bird,’ I reply with a grin.
Now I just need to wait to hear from Lorraine. I wish I could be a fly on the wall when she talks to Sophie.