Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
“And he moved the meeting up by an hour? I wouldn’t have gone to get my lunch if I’d known.”
I spent the entire weekend with Ben. We watched two and a half Daniel De Luca movies. We went out for brunch on Sunday, where we’d had two mimosas each and eaten a truckload of avocados. He’d run me a bath that smelled just like him and then refused to join me in the water despite the tub being big enough for a dozen people. Instead, he sat on the bathroom floor and we talked about whether he should get a dog and how much I don’t want to live in Brooklyn. About how he felt when he first moved into his house, and the sunsets in Madison County. When the water had reached room temperature, he’d toweled me dry, applied lotion all over me, and combed my hair. I wondered if there was a chance I could bottle our final weekend together so I could take part of it back to New York.
At no time did he mention anything about changing the time of the health check.
“Don’t worry,” Gail says. “James isn’t going to be angry with you. You had the presentation ready for him. You briefed him. If he’d have wanted you in the meeting, he would have told me to call you, and he definitely didn’t.”
I sigh and lean back on my desk. “He’s been up there over an hour. Is that normal?”
“For most health checks, yes. But Ben is usually too busy to spend the time. Stop worrying.”
Easy for her to say. If I went back to New York without a place on the management fast track, what would I be left with?
Precisely nothing. No fiancé, no home, no job.
The elevator doors ping open and I jump to attention as Mr. Jenkins bounds in our direction. He’s smiling as he passes my desk. I hold my breath, waiting for him to give me some indication of how it went.
Just as he gets to the office door, he turns. “Good job, Tuesday. You covered every base. He was very happy. You’ve impressed me. I’m happy to put you on the fast track.”
He doesn’t wait for a response before heading into his office and shutting the door.
I turn, open-mouthed, and stare at Gail.
“See? I told you not to worry,” she says.
My brain feels empty, like I don’t know how I’m feeling or what I’m thinking. I’ve been waiting for months to hear those words from Mr. Jenkins. I should feel elated. It was what I’d dreamed of when I checked in at the Daniel De Luca hotel all those weeks ago. It was the entire reason for being in London.
Having a job means my career up to this point hasn’t been a waste of time. It means I can build forward from now on. It’s the bit of good news I needed so badly.
I jump at the sound of Mr. Jenkins’s office door opening again. He leans out. “Take the rest of the day off, Tuesday. You earned it.” Then before I can protest, he goes back inside and closes the door.
“Take the day off?” I ask.
Gail narrows her eyes, like she wants to ask me a question.
“He’s joking, though, right?”
“I’ve only seen him do it once before,” Gail says. “To me, actually. I ignored him, and he was furious when he found me still at my desk. If I were you, I’d get out of here.”
This day is turning into one of the most surreal I’ve had since landing in London. And that’s saying something, given the things that have happened to me on this trip.
That was it? Health check complete. Career salvaged. Half a day off.
Then back to New York? Or Brooklyn.
And then what?
“Can I make an observation, Tuesday?” Gail asks as I slip my half-eaten croissant left over from breakfast into my bag.
If Ben was here, he’d say Gail shouldn’t ask if she should make an observation, she should just do so. I smile to myself, despite my insides feeling like wet sand. “Of course you can.”
“You’ve worked really hard while you’ve been here,” she says.
I check my bag for my headphones and wallet. “Thanks.”
“I started off in client relations,” she says, and I snap my head up to meet her gaze. She shrugs. “I liked it well enough, but I didn’t love it. I always knew I wanted to love my job.”
I nod, encouraging her to go on. She’s clearly got more to say.
“And then James’s secretary left to get married; that’s what a lot of women did in those days. They asked me to step in—again, it would never happen now. I was lucky, because I love this job. I can see the impact I’m having on James every day. I lighten his load, keep unnecessary nonsense from crossing his desk, make sure he doesn’t spend time doing things he shouldn’t. I get a real kick out of seeing the fruits of my labor.”