The following morning, I settle back in my chair and wait for Glenn’s lawyer to read through and okay the amendments to the legal paperwork and contracts. He nods his approval, and Glenn smiles widely as he reaches for a fountain pen in his breast pocket and signs with a flourish. He winks at Summer, who’s seated beside me colouring a picture of an elephant purple.
“Well, Eva. That was easy. I think my guys are going to get along with you just fine.”
“I hope so.” I give him a relieved but apprehensive smile, and look across at Jacqui for anything else we need to do. I can’t believe it! I now have a whole company of staff and have just taken over twenty years’ worth of ongoing contracts in a few hours. Of course, it isn’t guaranteed they’ll continue to use E:Vents, but with the introduction Glenn has agreed to send out and the mixer party I’ll arrange, there’s a bloody good chance.
“That’s it. So, when do you meet your new employees?” Jacqui asks as she gathers up her paperwork into a smart, leather, zip-up folder.
“After lunch.”
“They can’t wait, Eva.” I throw Glenn a glance. He smiles knowingly. “They know the deal though. They’re all on a probationary contract, until the dust settles and you can see who works well where. I assumed that’s what you’d do.”
“Thanks.” I smile. “I’m glad that won’t be a shock.”
“But office space? What are you going to do? I’m sorry I couldn’t extend my lease.”
“It’s okay. The top floor here has been available since we originally moved in. I’m going to see it in about...” I glance at the time. “...twenty minutes.”
“You’ve got it all covered.” Glenn smiles kindly as he rises and reaches out a hand to shake mine. “I expected nothing less.” He extends the same hand to Summer, and if I’m not mistaken, is a little surprised when she takes it. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Summer. I hope you feel better.”
“I’m good.” She shrugs and goes back to colouring, and Glenn smiles at me.
“She’s fine now, thanks. Preschool has a forty-eight-hour rule for sickness bugs.”
––––––––
When Summer and I have said our goodbyes (she’s really enjoying being Muma for the day—God only knows why), I take her hand and lead her to the lift, ready for our viewing.
“...The company is very busy. So, we need a bigger office for all the new staff...” I continue explaining, as we disembark into the centre of the open-plan office space, which is basically a glass box with desks. The manager is already waiting.
“Eva.” She smiles warmly, but I have no idea what her name is. “Glad things are going so well for you and E:Vents.”
“Yeah.” If only you knew. “Thanks.”
“And who is this?” She smiles in a way that says she’s not really keen on kids.
Summer gasps and rushes right up to the far-end window, pressing her hands and nose flat against the glass. “Sorry!” I mouth at the manager.
“Muma! I can see The Shard!”
“That’s Summer. She’s helping me out today.”
“Hmm.” She straightens out the distaste on her face and launches into the spiel. “So, room for twenty employees with an additional corner office. You’re looking at six hundred square feet of open-plan potential.” She gives me a winning smile. “Lots of natural light, and it comes fully furnished. As with your current office, all the bills are included. Including fibre broadband.”
“And the price?” She hands me a card with a number written on the back. I raise my eyes to hers slowly, choosing my words carefully.
“This place has been empty for how long?” She hesitates.
“Since January 2015,” she admits, almost bitterly.
“And that surprises you?” The words fall out before I can stop them. It seems my patience has just run out. The manager snaps her mouth shut, and my irritation bubbles. “Look. It’s an office. No one’s here for the view. It’s a space to work. I doubt anyone will even notice it. We are standing in a filthy, deserted roof space at the top of a converted warehouse. There’s still metal sheeting on the supporting beams, the furniture is falling apart, the floor looks like it was probably laid by the original builders, and you want me to pay how much for it? No. I’m good. Thanks anyway.”
“Eva, listen.” The manager giggles in a nervous twitter. “I take your point, but this office is worth much more than I’m charging.”
“Not to me.” I shrug. That is literally more than my entire new staffing bill.
“Okay. So, how about we negotiate?”
“I’m listening.”
After half an hour of hashing things out, I eye the manager dubiously. “Cleaned up, decorated, new furniture, new floor, all before the end of the month for a three-year lease paid upfront, at the new amount, with working access to the kitchens?” I confirm.
“Yes.” I can see her holding her breath. Hmm.
I extend a hand.
“Deal.” She shakes it with an almost trembling grasp. She looks like she’s having a bad day. Well, I’m a bloody expert on those recently. I’ll go for the small wins wherever I can. Or a fairly big, less-than-half-price win, in this case.
“Can we gwet lunch now, pease?” Summer asks.
“Yes, sweet pea. Let’s go eat. Thank you,” I tell the manager again. “Can you email me the new contract, please? We have a busy afternoon.”
“We’re meeting the new stuff,” Summer tells the manager importantly.
“Staff. We’re meeting the new staff.”
“That’s what I said.” I give her a look, and she giggles. She knows she’s not really in trouble.
––––––––
The rooftop terrace café is literally just across a landing and up a ramp from here. It’ll be handy for the coffee run. Summer dashes off to choose a booth and leaves me in the lunch queue. It’s the kind of five minutes of peace I’ve come to loathe. Will is in there. And Bells, and Gary, and all the other people I thought loved me. Who I wish I could stop loving. I pull out my phone and check the weather, just for something to do. We’re forecasted bright sunshine for the whole day. Funny, feels like rain to me.
––––––––
“Can we see Mae tonight?” Summer asks as she negotiates a forkful of beans and jacket potato to her mouth. The stab of pain is sharper than I thought it’d be.
Mae.
“Umm...” I clear my throat, but the lump won’t budge. “I...don’t think so. We’re going to be really busy here today. We might be late.” Summer gives me a pouty face, and I change tack. “Besides, we could go to a nice restaurant for dinner while we’re in town...We’ve had a big day.” Her face lights up, and she starts talking options at me while I smile and nod, and try to eat some of the sandwich I bought. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it tastes like cardboard to me.
I drop the half-eaten sandwich back onto the plate and pick at the salad instead, as Summer eats so fast you’d be forgiven for thinking she hadn’t eaten breakfast and two snacks already today.
“That was quick!” I observe as she chases the last two beans around her otherwise empty plate with her fork.
She nods and spears them instead, one at a time. When she looks up at me, she has an orange moustache and a cheeky grin, and I’m suddenly so grateful for my girl.
“I love you, sweet pea.” She is my own little sunshine. I think I’d be at the bottom of a six-foot hole by now without her.
“I luff yow twoo.” She picks up her napkin and tries to wipe her face, but just ends up smearing the bean sauce further. I chuckle and jerk my head towards the ladies, before pushing the chair back and standing. Summer hops up and takes my hand, and we go prepare to meet fifteen new members of E:Vents’s staff.
***
I stand beside Glenn as he introduces me, Summer clutching my hand sweaty tight, with seventeen pairs of eyes assessing me, including Glenn and Jacqui. “So, over to you, Eva.”
“Thank you.” Crap! I’m supposed to give a bloody speech? “Hi, everyone. I’m not going to stand here and make some huge speech. Glenn tells me that you guys already know what’s going on, so there’s no point in me repeating it. I just wanted to come over to meet you, say hi, and to let you know how things will progress from here: You will continue to work on whatever contracts you have. The clients, as you know, will continue to be looked after by E:Vents going forward. The lease on this place...” I indicate the office around us. “...is due to expire at the end of July?” I look at Glenn, and he nods. “I’ve just agreed to the lease of new office space in Covent Garden. You are free to move across at any point, once it’s been released to me. I’ll let you know when, and I will share the calendar with you, so that you can start working on the ongoing clients from my end too. It would help me to know who’s free, and who’s working on what. If you’d like to introduce yourselves?” Phew! That didn’t come out as the jumbled mess I was dreading.
One by one, my new members of staff stand up and give me a brief overview of their roles and clients, and with helpful insights whispered from Glenn, I get a sense of how much they have to do and who can handle what. It pulls me up short when two women identify themselves as ‘the catering department,’ but I smile and nod along anyway. Adapt or die, Eva. Adapt or die.
“Thank you. I’m looking forward to working with you all.”
“Me twoo!” Summer says seriously, and everyone laughs. She frowns.
“Do you want to introduce yourself?” I ask, trying not to giggle. She nods and pushes her hair from her face with her free hand.
“Heweow. My name is Summer. I’m four, and I can climb vewy twall trees.” There’s a big “awww” as all the women melt. The staff is mainly female. And it’s instantly obvious which of the few men are fathers.
“Will you be working in the office, Summer?” one of the organisers asks. I’m going to need name badges.
“No.” Summer eyes her. “I’ll be at pwescwool.”
“Of course.” The woman nods seriously.
“I was poorly yes-erday, so I got to stay with my mum.” She looks up at me, and I give her a wink. “Are we done now?” she asks.
“I think so, unless anyone has any questions?” My gaze travels around the room. The expressions range from curious, to dubious, to thankful, but everyone shakes their heads and declines to ask anything further.
Summer and I say our goodbyes after a quick chat with Glenn, and head out into the afternoon sun. “Let’s go eat, sweet pea.”