We All Fall Down Read Free Page B

Russell – not to mention too old. He likes to surround himself with young yes-men – and women. Especially young women. He wants people around him who won’t question his decisions. And that’s not me – as you know.’
    He smiled. ‘No, it’s not you, and that’s why you’re a valuable asset to the agency.’
    â€˜ Was a valuable asset to the agency.’
    They drank in silence. It occurred to Hugh that it was too like having a last drink with a condemned person. Any minute now a warder will come through the door and say, ‘Time’s up, Ms. Bricknell,’ and she’ll be taken away, never to be seen again. He’ll be left alone, waiting and listening for the distant sound of a trap door, wondering all the time, for days or weeks or months, if the warder is going to return for him.
    â€˜I’m wondering if I could be on Russell’s list.’
    â€˜Doubt it. But then no one’s indispensable.’
    â€˜That’s what worries me.’
    â€˜Your problem is, you make him feel insecure.’
    â€˜Do I?’
    â€˜You’re too independent for him. He doesn’t know how to take you, and that makes him insecure.’
    â€˜I’m not sure you’re right about that.’ But he was half-hearted, unsure in his own defence.
    He began to wonder when he could get away. He was worried about Kate. She wouldn’t be worth living with if he arrived home late again. But it didn’t seem right to leave Fiona alone.
    â€˜I’ve been meaning to talk to you, Hugh, even before this happened. My summary expulsion has prompted me to raise the subject earlier than planned.’
    â€˜Yes?’
    â€˜So I don’t want you to think I’m saying this just because I’ve been fired.’
    â€˜Made redundant.’
    â€˜Whatever.’ She shrugged. ‘Semantics.’ She picked up her wine glass and took, much to Hugh’s relief, a sip rather than a gulp. He studied her. It was obvious she didn’t want to discuss the weather, and he wasn’t sure he was up to discussing anything else at the moment, certainly not anything of importance.
    â€˜Hang on, I’ll get us another drink first.’ He was on his feet and over at the bar before she could object. The large, jovial barmaid asked about his day, but he wasn’t in the mood to chat. He stared around the room. It was quiet for a city pub. There were three couples sitting together, all in their twenties and immersed in themselves, and two old men sitting together in silence, seemingly overwhelmed by the lack of excitement in their lives.
    Fiona stared at him for a second or two when he sat down beside her, took a deep breath, then pitched in, ‘We should go out on our own, you and me.’
    He raised his eyebrows. He stared at her. After a moment’s thought, he said, ‘You’re going to tell me we should pinch the Bauer business.’
    She laughed. ‘Who said the man’s not intelligent!’
    He shook his head slowly, as if at the enormity of her suggestion. ‘Wow.’
    â€˜I don’t believe it. You mean you’ve never thought of it?’
    â€˜Can’t say that I have.’
    He took a sip of wine, his mind racing. It was a big step. It was what he’d always wanted to do, although he thought it would be much further into the future. To run his own shop, to do almost everything in the opposite way to how it was done at The Alpha Agency. To have a horizontal management structure rather than the classic pyramidical one, where everyone would have a say in the day-to-day running of the agency, and where the client-agency relationship would be a true partnership. Clients and agency working together, morally and ethically, to increase their market share. It would be the perfect opportunity to put into practice all the management ideas he believed in. But he thought also of the downside of going out on his own. There