A Silver Lining Read Free Page B

Italian suits and planning company parties. She flirted with all men, but soon started to single him out as her target. At first Mollie hadn’t minded. Her over the top attempts to flirt with him had seemed more laughable than anything else. But over time it got embarrassing. James had been afraid to rebuff Glenda too much – he was an ambitious young man and angering the boss’s only daughter was not the way to advance his career. Mollie understood this, but Glenda’s attempts at flirting got more blatant. Mollie became the laughing stock of the office, the whole thing made her look foolish. After a particularly fraught summer barbecue Mollie had gotten drunk on a few too many dirty martinis and handed in her notice, talking up the new company she was setting up with confidence born of strong liquor and a dinner of cocktail sausages on sticks. She’d gone home, eaten a family size bag of Doritos, changed her number and never looked back. Well, not much.
    And now she was here. She wasn’t sure what part hurt the most, seeing his face and remembering what they’d had or the fact that he was witnessing this omnishambles. She’d left her previous job on a high, blithely convincing anyone who wanted to listen (and many who didn’t) that a bright new future lay before her. And here he was now, witnessing the shambolic mess that was her professional life. She was just glad that he didn’t know about the financial mess she was also in. That would be truly humiliating.
    Still, she was sure she could see something of a smirk around his lips that she didn’t like. She was in charge of this show – such as it was – it was time she started to look like it.
    ‘Calvin, we’ve actually decided that as Tim’s away, the best thing is to mesh your two visions together,’ said Mollie. ‘We think having a ‘presenter’, as such, isn’t the best way to go. We’d like to interview you tomorrow, for some talking head pieces.’
    There was silence in the foyer. Even the receptionist had stopped to look at what was happening. Mollie suddenly felt a dart of trepidation. Maybe arguing with a man who could bully bulls into submission wasn’t the greatest idea in the world.
    Calvin’s eyes were hard as ice. He might be a buffoon of the highest order but he was also a senior person in this company. He wasn’t to be messed with. She could see Greg shaking his head slowly behind Calvin’s back. She knew what he was thinking. If they didn’t complete this job, it didn’t matter about their reputation – they were sunk. The cash this would bring in would pay the rest of the crew and, if they couldn’t pay their crew, then they couldn’t provide a service. It would be game over, simple as that.
    ‘Maybe your way is best,’ she conceded reluctantly, pulling out her clipboard and biro. ‘What other ideas do you have?’
    The beaming smile sprung back onto his face so quickly that it took Mollie by surprise. ‘You are going to love this!’
     
    Greg set up the camera to get the intro to the scene. Mollie looked over the pages and pages of notes that she’d taken as the questionable genius that was Calvin had dictated his vision.
    ‘Are you ready for this?’ asked James behind her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She hadn’t heard him creeping up behind her.
    ‘You never know,’ she said, keeping her voice carefully measured. ‘He might be a natural in front of the camera, some people are.’
    ‘What, you’re hoping he’ll magically morph into a charismatic businessman straight from central casting?’ he scoffed.
    ‘You never know,’ she ventured, trying to inject some confidence into her voice. ‘It could happen.’
    ‘Unlikely,’ said James dismissively.
    His tone irritated her. ‘What makes you so sure?’
    ‘Seeing him give a keynote speech at a conference in Frankfurt last year.’
    ‘And?’ asked Mollie, almost afraid to ask. ‘How did it go?’
    ‘There are no