‘Have you seen this?’ announced Felicity, throwing a newspaper onto Sasha’s desk. ‘This is completely outrageous. How come you haven’t issued a statement saying this isn’t true?’
Sasha studied the newspaper, keeping her expression placid. Plastered over the front page was a picture of Felicity looking tired after returning from her trip to the Maldives, and a scathing article exposing her stealing recipes from colleagues and even her housekeeper. She’d run off to the Maldives in early December, hiding away after the disastrous day she’d tried to create the triple-layer chocolate chestnut cake she’d supposedly not stolen from Esme. It had been a disaster and Sasha had been furious. Felicity had clearly hoped that by returning in the New Year, it all would be forgotten and she could slip into the country without anyone noticing.
Sasha did her best to hide the wry smile on her face. Esme had been right all along and luckily, the food critic who wrote the article had been able to find out Felicity’s arrival time somehow. Keeping her voice calm, Sasha said, ‘According to this article, Felicity, you don’t have a cookbook from your grandmother. In fact, according to some secret source, you’ve been stealing recipes from quite a few people.’
Felicity stared at her with barely concealed hatred, tossed her hair and laughed. ‘It’s all lies, Sasha. Surely you can see that?’
‘Was Esme lying?’
Felicity glared.
‘And who is this new secret source?’
‘I have no idea,’ Felicity answered through a tight smile. But Sasha could see in her eyes she did have an idea of who it was. Sasha hoped that person wouldn’t be crossing paths with Felicity anytime soon.
‘If I were you, Felicity—’ Sasha placed the paper flat on the desk‘—I’d get onto your agent and PR team straightaway before your reputation is completely ruined. I didn’t feel in a confident enough position to issue any sort of statement on behalf of the network.’
‘And what about the show?’
‘We’ll continue filming this series. But we’ll have to wait and see whether we commission another one.’ She held Felicity’s furious gaze. ‘It’ll depend on how the viewing figures are hit by this.’ She gestured to the paper.
‘But this is all nonsense,’ said Felicity, her voice growing louder.
Sasha wasn’t in the least bit intimidated by Felicity’s evil glare or her shouting. Sasha had made her career through hard work, sheer grit and determination. She’d never treated anyone the way Felicity had treated her and the fact that she’d lost one of her best, most talented food techs because Felicity couldn’t think for herself made her beyond angry.
‘You must see this is rubbish, Sasha.’
‘Some might call it a revelation.’
Felicity spun in her Louboutins and stomped out of Sasha’s office. As soon as she had left, Sasha let the smile she had been holding back spread across her face. Serves Felicity right, she thought. But knowing the truth now, having seen and spoken to Felicity face-to-face, Sasha felt a deep regret as to how they had treated Esme. How she had treated Esme. Sasha glanced again at the newspaper before opening her weekly email from the research team. It detailed up-and-coming cookery writers they might want to keep an eye on and one name stood out.
Sasha sat back in her chair determining the best course of action. Esme’s name was there. It seemed she was carving quite a niche for herself online with what they’d called ‘a crazy new presenting style’. She noted her blog was called Grandma’s Kitchen and Sasha smiled. Good for Esme not letting herself be kept down and sticking to her guns. They’d done her a disservice and Sasha was determined to put it right if she could. She picked up the phone and called a producer friend at a rival network.
‘Richard, it’s Sasha.’
‘Hey, Sasha, how are you? Have you thought any more about my offer? Our latest offer was very generous.’
‘I have actually, now you come to mention it.’
‘We’d love to have you here and don’t you think the show I pitched sounded great?’
‘It does,’ Sasha chuckled. She’d been holding out to see if they upped the money they were offering and now they had, and she’d seen Felicity’s response, she was sure. ‘I liked it very much, but I think I have a better idea.’
‘Oh, yeah, what’s that?’
‘It involves a food tech we had called Esme Kendrick and trust me, this girl’s going to be huge. She has a crazy new presenting style, great recipes and she’s making quite a name for herself online. We could be in at the very start of a career that I’m sure is going to go places.’
‘You’re kidding!’ Richard laughed. ‘Sounds good. Let me get my pencil.’