People love you most when they need you.
I’d started to get uncomfortable around Wendy, mostly because of how comfortable she was getting around me. She was an attractive woman: long legs, blonde hair, a penchant for wearing bright-red clothing which suited her obscenely well. But she also wasn’t my type. So when she emailed me for an early morning meeting, complete with coffee and croissants, it felt as though I’d been tricked into having a breakfast date with someone I didn’t especially like. She had a sofa in her office and two armchairs, with a squat coffee table centred between them; this is where the pastries and caffeine were. Wendy leaned forward to pour herself a drink.
‘Coffee?’
‘Please,’ I said, not taking my eyes off my laptop screen. We were sitting on the sofa together so she could go through my spreadsheet of publication plans. Or so she could easily rub her bare thigh against my own; that may also have been her motivation. I took the drink from her and swallowed half the cup in two mouthfuls.
‘Rough morning?’
I laughed. ‘Surely it’s too early in the day to be rough?’
‘I don’t know about that. I had a meeting with the dragon herself first thing.’ When I didn’t reply, she clarified, ‘Eleanor. You know, your best friend.’ She nudged me.
‘I think Eleanor and I are on better terms at the minute.’
‘Because you’re the best social media manager we’ve got, and she’s got a campaign.’
‘And here I thought she liked me for my mind.’
‘Hmm.’ She leaned back. ‘It does seem to be a good mind.’
I clicked into the sheet for Wendy’s earliest release. ‘Brockwell?’
‘He’s a nice chap, he deserves for this book to go well.’
‘Well I’ve got everything staggered over the weeks leading up to publication.’ I pointed to indicate the timeline. ‘This is when cover releases and snippets from the book are due, and they’ll go out at the same time across all our platforms. I’ve spoken to Keith and he’s said he’ll be updating the website with the same promos that I’ve put together for this too.’
‘Where are the bloggers factored into this?’
I highlighted a cluster of spreadsheet cells written in red. ‘These are the releases for pre-publication, so anyone who has advanced readers’ copies to get through. I’ve got all their social media handles in a separate document, but it’s also part of the ARC deal that they tag us in their reviews when they’re shared. They’ll post them to the usual book sites, too, although that’s less my department.’
‘Have you eaten?’ she asked, in the split second where I was foolish enough to pause for breath.
‘I’m not much of a breakfast person.’
‘M, come on, I can’t eat all of these pastries on my own. Think of my waist.’
Come on, Wendy, you’re better than that. Despite being lured into paying her a compliment, I shook away the offer of a croissant. ‘Think of my waist,’ I said, holding a hand up in protest. If she’d ordered that many pastries to feed one person then shame on her. The more likely explanation was that she had writers coming in throughout the day, and writers – or, starving artists – were a hungry bunch, especially when meeting with an agent.
‘Your waist looks fine to me,’ she said, relaxing more against me.
‘Well it won’t do if I eat those pastries,’ I replied, trying to sound jovial. Surely this is sexual harassment? I thought, scrolling along to the right point in the Brockwell timeline. ‘Now, this is where the social media comes in after release day. We have graphics scheduled for release here, here, and here. Brockwell is also doing a social media takeover the evening of his publication day, where he’ll be engaging with readers and answering questions.’
‘You’ve dealt with him directly?’
‘He emailed me about doing something like this. He didn’t mention it?’
She thought. ‘No, sly thing, he didn’t.’
‘Is it a problem?’
‘Oh, Wendy just hates it when her authors take initiative and cut her out of something.’ Eleanor peered around the corner of the door. I wondered how long she’d been eavesdropping on our breakfast date. ‘It makes her feel useless, doesn’t it, Wendy? Like you’re not even needed.’ She smiled; a theatrical and forced expression that perfectly suited her tone.
‘We’re in a meeting,’ Wendy answered, and, despite my disinterest in her as a mate, I had to admit there was something attractive about her dignity.
‘I need M for a minute.’
I went to stand up and Wendy set a hand on my arm. ‘As I said, we’re in a meeting.’
There was a strange moment between the two of them then. One glared at the other with such vengeance. I started to wonder whether this was a preamble for the style of female violence that you only ordinarily find on the Discovery Channel. Trapped between the scorned brunette and the territorial blonde, how will the antelope find a safe way back to their own tribe of computer warriors on the other side of the building?
‘M,’ Eleanor eventually said, ‘are you free this afternoon?’
‘I have some time at around three.’
‘My office?’
‘Is this about the Patis publication?’
Eleanor glanced at Wendy before she answered. ‘No, it’s about something else.’
I considered asking for the specifics, but the thought of dragging this skewed exchange out longer was an unpleasant one – especially with only half a cup of coffee in me. ‘I’ll just bring my laptop then and see you at around three.’
‘Great.’ She looked at the other woman. ‘Wendy, pleasure as always.’
‘Likewise.’ No sooner had Eleanor rounded the corner and Wendy added, ‘Bitch.’ I was aware of my eyes widening; I couldn’t stop the reaction. ‘Sorry, M, you shouldn’t be caught up in that.’ She leaned forward to pick up her mug. ‘But you also shouldn’t jump to her demands either.’
‘Like I said, Eleanor and I are just about back on good terms–’
‘Because she needs something.’
I had to admit I felt wounded, even though I knew Wendy was right. ‘Still.’
‘Still nothing. She can’t punish you forever and nothing you said about her was unfair.’
This felt like an opportunity. ‘You think so?’ I pushed.
‘Absolutely. You were well within your rights to say what you did.’ She let out a quiet snort of laughter. ‘Maybe not within your rights to say it in front of so many people. But, still. Eleanor brings that out in a lot of us.’ She sipped her drink. ‘Anyway, enough about her, more about Brockwell. Walk me through this publication day thing…’
I was left with the same blank spaces. But I’d seen how people reacted to me, how they looked, and I knew that whatever I’d said wasn’t anywhere near as justified as Wendy was trying to convince me it was.