Chapter Fifteen #3
“Lara?” Sadie’s shrill voice comes in my ear. “Lara, come quick! I need to talk to you.”
I really don’t feel like talking to Sadie. But nor can I keep sitting here with Ed looking at me with so much concern. I think he’s guessed this is all a total shock to me.
“I’ll be back in a second!” I say overbrightly, and push my chair back. I head across the crowded room, trying to ignore Sadie, who’s pursuing me, jabbering in my ear.
“I’m very sorry,” she’s saying. “I thought about it and you’re right, I was selfish and thoughtless. So I decided to help you, and I have! I’ve found you a candidate! A wonderful, perfect candidate!”
Her words interrupt my painful, circular thought pattern.
“What?” I turn. “What did you say?”
“You may think I’m not interested in your work, but I am,” she announces. “You need a trophy, and I’ve found you one. Aren’t I clever?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ve been listening in on everyone’s conversations!
” she says proudly. “I was starting to think it was hopeless, but then I heard a woman called Clare whispering to her friend in a corner. She’s not happy.
It’s the power games, you know.” Sadie opens her eyes at me impressively.
“Things are getting so bad at her place, she’s thinking of quitting. ”
“Right. So the point is—”
“She’s a head of marketing, of course!” Sadie says triumphantly.
“It was on her badge. I knew that’s what you wanted, a head of marketing.
She won an award last month, you know. But her new ‘chief exec’ didn’t even congratulate her.
He’s a total pig,” she adds confidingly. “That’s why she wants to leave.”
I swallow several times, trying to stay calm. A marketing head who wants to move jobs. An award-winning marketing head who wants to move jobs. Oh God. I would die and go to heaven.
“Sadie…is this for real?”
“Of course! She’s over there!” Sadie gestures at the other side of the room.
“Is she into sports? Exercise?”
“Brawny calves,” says Sadie. “I noticed them at once.”
I hurry to a nearby board and look through the list of guests. Clare…Clare…
“Clare Fortescue, marketing director of Shepherd Homes?” I feel a jab of excitement. “She was on my new long list! I wanted to talk to her, but I couldn’t get through!”
“Well, she’s here! Come on, I’ll show her to you!”
My heart is thumping as I cross the crowded room, searching all the faces for someone looking like a Clare.
“There!” Sadie is pointing at a woman with glasses in a royal blue dress. She has cropped dark hair, a mole on her nose, and is on the short side. I probably wouldn’t even have spotted her if Sadie hadn’t pointed her out to me.
“Hi!” I walk up to her and take a deep breath. “Clare Fortescue?”
“Yes?” she says briskly.
“May I have a quick word?”
“Well…OK.” Looking a bit puzzled, Clare Fortescue allows me to draw her away from the group she’s in.
“Hi.” I give her a nervous smile. “My name’s Lara, and I’m a recruitment consultant. I’ve been meaning to make contact with you. Your reputation has spread, you know.”
“Really?” She looks suspicious.
“Of course! In fact…I must congratulate you on your recent award!”
“Oh.” A pink tinge comes to Clare Fortescue’s ears. “Thanks very much.”
“I’m recruiting for a marketing director position right now”—I lower my voice discreetly—”and I just wanted to mention it.
It’s a really exciting sportswear company with massive potential, and I think you’d be perfect.
You’d be my number-one pick.” I pause, then add lightly, “But, of course, you may be very happy where you are right now….”
There’s silence. I can’t tell what’s going on behind Clare Fortescue’s glasses. My whole body is so tense, I can’t even breathe.
“Actually…I have been thinking about a move,” she says at last, so quietly I can barely hear. “I might very well be interested. But it would have to be the right situation.” She gives me a bulletlike look. “I’m not compromising myself. I have standards.”
Somehow I manage not to whoop. She’s interested and she’s tough!
“Great!” I smile. “Maybe I can call you in the morning. Or if you had a few minutes to spare right now?” I try not to sound desperate. “We could have a chat? Just quickly?”
Please…please…please please please…
Ten minutes later I walk back to the table, giddy with joy. She’s going to send me her résumé tomorrow. She used to play right wing in hockey! She’s a perfect match!
Sadie seems even more thrilled than I am as we head back to the table.
“I knew it!” she keeps saying. “I knew she’d be right!”
“You’re a star,” I say joyfully. “We’re a team. High-five!”
“High what?” Sadie looks perplexed.
“High-five! Don’t you know what a high-five is? Hold up your hand….”
OK. It turns out high-fiving a ghost is a mistake. That woman in red thought I was trying to hit her. Hastily, I resume walking. I arrive at the table and beam at Ed. “I’m back!”
“So you are.” He gives me a quizzical look. “How’s it going?”
“Brilliantly, since you ask.”
“Brilliantly!” echoes Sadie, and jumps into his lap. I reach for my champagne glass. Suddenly I’m in the mood for a party.