‘We’ll be back soon,’ Nia said. ‘Best sausage sandwiches in London.’
27
NO
Wednesday 5 June 2013
‘Look, everyone knows what he’s done, so I don’t think we should pretend it hasn’t happened,’ Anna said.
The comment was met with silence from everyone in the meeting room, and Anna felt put out. Was she invisible? It was an emergency meeting, called by Deborah after the news had broken that a fairly major celebrity whose autobiography they were publishing had been caught shoplifting. The book was due out in a month and the publicity for it was in full swing on both sides of the Atlantic. Anna had never seen Deborah so stressed.
‘We can’t pull it altogether,’ Deborah said. ‘That isn’t an option.’
Suddenly, David’s voice was loud in the room. Anna jumped; she hadn’t known he was on the call. ‘You’re right, we can’t pull it. But we could try to work the scandal to our advantage rather than trying to play it down.’
There were mumbles of agreement.
Someone from sales spoke up. ‘Yes, that’sgood. I mean, it’s not like he hurt anyone. It’s not the kind of crime people feel strongly about.’
Anna couldn’t believe what she was hearing. David had literally repeated the thing she’d said, the thing everyone had completely ignored, said it in a slightly different way, and now he was the hero of the hour? She looked at Deborah for some kind of confirmation that she was right to be outraged, but Deborah was still acting antsy, her eyes never resting on anyone or anything for more than a few seconds.
‘I said that,’ she found herself saying.
‘What?’ David asked. ‘Anna, is that you? Can you speak up a bit?’
Anna imagined she was in the same room as him. She imagined picking up the coffee pot from the middle of the table and throwing the burning liquid in his face.
‘I just said that there’s no point in trying to pretend it hasn’t happened. That we might as well make the best of it.’
‘I don’t remember hearing that,’ David said.
‘Deborah?’ Anna asked, hating herself for the pleading tone of her voice.
‘Sorry, Anna, I must have missed it, too.’
‘Let’s move on, shall we?’ David said.
And that was that.
Anna fumed about it all afternoon. She was still angry when Deborah asked her to come to her office before she left for the day.
‘I’m sorry about that, earlier,’ Deborah said.
‘The thing with David?’ Anna asked.
‘Yes. I missed what you said, but I know what it’s like to be treated like that. You know, you hit forty and you become invisible, in all kinds of spaces. In some ways it’s a relief – I’ve nevermissed the catcalls from van windows – but at work it’s bloody infuriating. So I’m sorry.’
Anna wasn’t sure what to say.
‘Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m retiring, at the end of the year. I wanted to encourage you to apply for my job when I go.’
Anna was taken aback. Her brain hadn’t quite made the shift from one thing to the other.
‘Retiring?’
Deborah nodded. ‘It’s a little early. But that’s not important. I’d like to see you take over from me. Between you and me, you’re the best person for the job. I hope you’ll give it a shot.’
‘I will,’ Anna said. ‘Thank you.’
