Chapter 16
SOPHIE
‘Good morning, you gorgeous woman you.’ I’ve been watching the door and I pounce on Jane the moment she arrives.
She eyes me suspiciously.
‘You’re never this early and you’re all dressed up… What’s going on?’
‘What’s going on is that I brought you a coffee – pumpkin spice latte,’ I say brightly, bringing it out from behind my back.
She takes it, her eyes narrowing to slits. ‘I thought pumpkin spice lattes were “clichéd”,’ she says, making air quotes one-handed. ‘And you didn’t answer my question.’
‘I’ve—’
‘Walk with me,’ she says, heading towards her cubicle, and I fall into step beside her.
‘I woke up with this idea, see – total brainwave.’ She glances my way and I give her the ‘squee’ face, but her expression doesn’t waver. ‘Okay, I’m sorry I was judgey about pumpkin spice. It’s a perfectly legitimate way to ruin a good coffee.’
She tuts, her facade cracking, then sniggers softly. She drops her handbag on her desk and sits, leaning back in her chair. ‘So, this brainwave… Let’s have it then.’ She watches me over the rim of her coffee cup as she sips.
I practised this in my head on the way into work – mostly for when I present it to Drew, but Jane can be my guinea pig. I explain the broad concept, then take her through the four individual ads. As I talk, she sits up straighter, her eyes locked on mine.
‘You watched the film then?’ she asks quietly, her head slightly angled.
‘Yeah – with Harlow last night.’ She regards me closely, kindness in her eyes. ‘It was easier than I thought and Harlow and I had a good talk – about Daniel, missing him.’ I leave out the part where Harlow encouraged me to date Drew – and why.
Jane smiles and reaches for my hand to give it a squeeze.
‘Anyway,’ I say, returning to the campaign, ‘when Drew gets in, I’ll go into the details, and I’ve already drafted three of the four scripts, but what’s your gut reaction?’ I ask.
She licks her lips and sets down her coffee cup, taking so long to reply, my stomach tightens. Maybe it was misguided putting this much stock in an idea spawned at 5 a.m.
‘I think it’s great idea,’ she says as if she’s choosing her words carefully.
‘Oh, god, is there a but coming?’ I ask, already knowing the answer. ‘Why is there a but?’
‘Just wondering how much of what I’ve already done will need to change,’ she asks with a crinkle of her nose.
‘No, no, none of it. We’ll still be using the Home for the Holidays set,’ I assure her. ‘That’s the final ad.’
She expels a half-sigh, half-laugh. ‘In that case, I think it’s a brilliant idea.’
‘Really?’
She nods slowly, beaming at me.
‘Now all you need is for Drew to abandon his concept and green light yours,’ she says, then takes another sip of coffee.
Spell broken.
How would I feel if the situation were reversed? Probably pissed off at the gall of him.
‘Do you think he’ll go for it?’ I ask warily.
She holds up a palm in a one-shouldered shrug. ‘Only one way to find out.’
‘One way to find out what?’
I start, spinning around to find Drew standing outside Jane’s cubicle wearing a half-smile.
‘Oh, hey, Drew,’ I say, hoping he hasn’t caught us talking about him.
‘I got your message,’ he says, holding up the sticky note I left on his desk earlier – all it said was that I had an idea I wanted to run past him. ‘So, what’s this big idea?’
He leans against the partition, a challenging glint in his eyes.
‘How about we meet in five and I’ll fill you in?’ I say, ignoring that my brain has started shouting, Imposter!
‘Great,’ he says. ‘I’ll grab our usual room.’
He leaves and I turn to Jane with a grimace.
‘Don’t worry,’ she says with a wink, ‘he doesn’t know you well enough to realise you’re bricking it.’
I snort softly, then excuse myself. I need a be-like-Hannah-Waddingham moment.
A few minutes later, after I’ve done my power stance in a toilet stall – tricky, considering I had to stand side on – I meet up with Jane and Drew, closing the door behind me.
You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain, I tell myself.
If Drew doesn’t agree to the change in direction, we’ve already got a solid concept. Either way, I’m positive the client will be happy and that we’ll meet next week’s deadline.
But if he does agree… This could be the best work I’ve ever done.
I draw in a deep breath.
‘Okay, so at the moment, we’ve got Stevie living in his childhood home with his wife and their kids, which hints at his parents no longer being with us, even though we don’t call attention to that.’
Drew nods along.
‘But what if they were still with us?’
Drew stops nodding, the corners of his mouth lifting. ‘Okay?’
‘So, Stevie’s actually living in London with his family, not his childhood home, and it’s been years since they’ve had Christmas with his parents and the rest of his family – he’s super homesick.
So last-minute, he and his wife hatch a plan to surprise his family, and they take the kids to the US for Christmas. ’
‘Cool, I like that,’ says Drew. ‘A good tie-in with the UK – the wife and kids can be British… So, then the rest of the campaign is the whole family together in the Home for the Holidays house?’
‘Not quite. Because what Stevie and his wife don’t know is that the family’s planned to surprise them in London. So, we’re talking his parents, his brother and sister, their spouses, and their kids… all travelling to London.’
Drew breaks into a grin, then starts laughing, and I stop.
‘Is that… What is that?’ I ask, circling my finger at his face. ‘Does that mean you like the idea, or think it’s completely bonkers?’
‘No, no, keep going,’ he says, signalling for me to proceed.
I glance at Jane, who offers an encouraging nod.
‘Okay, so in the first ad, we’ve got Stevie confessing to his wife that he misses his parents – he wants to “go home for the holidays”, then he and his wife break the news to the kids…
They’re over-the-moon excited and we’ve got the family racing through the airport, then on the plane – still excited…
But when they get to the front door of his childhood home, the lights are out and nobody’s home.
He uses the hidden key, which is in its usual spot, and they go inside.
The house is fully decked out for Christmas – stockings hanging on the fireplace, the whole shebang – but completely empty.
‘Next ad is the rest of the family making the same journey in reverse… running through the airport – only there’s more of them this time – on the plane, lots of talk about London, super excited to see the famous Hargreaves window display…
blah, blah, blah. And they end up on Stevie’s front doorstep – only nobody’s home.
Peek through the windows – the place is decked out for Christmas but completely empty. Then we—’
‘Hold up,’ says Drew, his hand raised.
He stares off, his face contorting as if tiny people are wrestling under his skin. He closes his eyes for a long moment – too long – and I look at Jane again. She lifts her shoulders in a shrug – even she doesn’t know what this means.
Drew’s head drops, pivoting from side to side, then he looks up. He goes to speak, but nothing comes out – just an open mouth and no words.
‘For fuck’s sake, just say it,’ I tell him.
‘It’s fan-fucking-tastic,’ he replies.
‘Wha— Really?’
‘Ah, yeah,’ he replies, sounding a lot like Harlow. ‘And sorry about saying fuck but you said it first.’
I burst out laughing and take a big step back, my laughter turning into a sigh. ‘You really like it?’
‘So much better than my idea – that was too… static. This is… kinetic and funny and it ramps up the stakes. And I love the detail of them running through the airport – as if the entire family can’t get it together to be on time.’
‘I thought that might resonate with you,’ I quip, instantly recognising that I’ve gone too far. ‘Sorry, I didn’t me—’
‘Yeah, you did and it’s okay. And it’s not like it isn’t true,’ he says with a self-deprecating smile. I breathe a little easier.
‘So, once they realise, how do they all get together?’ he asks. ‘Where do they end up?’
‘How about in the very expensive set we’ve already started building?’ Jane pipes in.
Drew and I both look at her, then our eyes meet.
‘That what you were thinking?’ he asks.
‘Yep. Gives us the chance to lean heavily in the nostalgia and – added bonus – Jane won’t hate us.’
‘Hate is a strong word,’ says Jane. ‘More like peevish disdain.’
‘Well, we can’t have you peevishly disdainful, Notso,’ says Drew, flashing his trademark smirk. Only, it’s less irritating than usual.
‘Damned straight,’ Jane replies. ‘Do not mess with a perimenopausal woman, especially one who called in favours on your behalf. But you haven’t told him the best part, Soph,’ she says, handing over to me.
‘There’s a best part?’ asks Drew. ‘What, is Santa himself gonna come down the chimney?’
‘Uh-uh. Stevie’s Uncle Mark. That’s the final part of Stevie’s surprise for his parents – he flies his dad’s brother in from… I don’t know, somewhere – we’ll figure it out – but the final ad is an homage to the film.’
‘And your original tagline still works, Drew,’ says Jane. ‘If you’re together, then you’re home.’
‘Actually,’ Drew jumps in, ‘with this new take, I think it resonates even more.’ He regards me with obvious admiration, and my insides somersault. ‘Sophie, this is… Thank you.’
‘Eh, just doing my job,’ I say, batting away the compliment as if this isn’t some of my best work.
What’s wrong with me? Why am I not owning this?
‘Gotta go – production meeting,’ says Jane, getting up. She pauses at the door. ‘And I’ll start designing the London house. I think we’ll get away with filming on location and set dressing. I’ve got a couple of places in mind.’
‘Awesome – thanks, Jane,’ says Drew, dropping the ‘Notso’. Who is this uber-professional Drew?
‘We’re the Dream Team, remember?’ Jane replies. ‘We’ve got to live up to our name.’
She shoots me another wink and leaves.
‘Sophie,’ says Drew, and I meet his eye. ‘I mean it – you’ve really knocked it out of the park.’
His intense blue eyes stare into mine and my topsy-turvy insides do another flip. This is where I’m supposed to graciously accept the praise but instead I look away, busying myself with my notes.
‘Thanks,’ I say evenly, not making eye contact.
After a lengthy moment, he clears his throat. ‘So, you’re good on scripting then? ’Cause I’ll need to get on to casting right away.’
‘Yep,’ I reply with a nod, pretending to be engrossed in what I’m reading. I glance up. ‘You’ll have all four drafts by the end of the day.’
‘Wow – that’s great.’
‘And I’ll finalise them over the weekend.’
‘Oh, you don’t need—’
‘No, I do. Hargreaves is expecting them and I put us behind.’
His shoulders fall into place and he smiles. ‘Thanks, Sophie.’
‘Yep.’
I shuffle my notes yet again, inwardly rolling my eyes at myself. At this rate, I could become a croupier.
‘I’ll loop Lorraine in and catch up with you later then,’ says Drew.
He finally leaves and I let out a long breath, plonking onto the nearest chair and putting my head in my hands.
What the hell was that?
And I don’t mean Drew being impressed or his willingness to change directions – I’ve had wins like this before – dozens of times over the years. I mean the other thing.
I am not okay with my insides turning to mush because Drew liked my idea and paid me a compliment.
‘Just concentrate on the work, Sophie,’ I say out loud. I gather my things and I’m nearly out the door when Harlow’s voice pops into my head: I don’t think Daddy would mind. He would want you to be happy.
I stand perfectly still, my gaze unfocused as a giant question mark hangs over my head. A second or two later, I break out of my stupor. My insides may be acting like teens at a Harry Styles concert, but there’s no way that getting tangled up with a player like Drew Parker is a good idea.