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A week after their business presentation at Persford University, Matt Pearson and Brett Chandler were invited back to discuss their proposal in more detail and to agree on the terms of their contract. This time Matt was waiting for Brett in the coffee bar as the rain was teeming down outside, once again Brett was cutting it fine. Matt looked up from his phone to see Polly Thomas, Nick’s wife walking swiftly up to the counter to get herself a drink.
Getting up from his table he went up to her, ‘Morning, Polly! Good to see you.’
‘Oh, hi, Matt, how are things? Nick tells me you’re starting a new venture?’
‘Well, yes, that’s why I’m here, well we should both be here but Brett’s not arrived yet,’ and he rolled his eyes, indicating his frustration.
Polly smiled. ‘So how’s the consultancy going, er, sorry I’ve forgotten the name of your company.’
‘PerzSolve, yes, well it’s early days but we’ve been invited back by Professor Plumpton and the Innovation Department to discuss our contract. We’re trying to get a start-up cancer company off the ground here. It looks really promising.’
‘Oh, I’ve heard about that, I know Hilary in Innovation. It could be so good for the university, really put us on the map,’ and she smiled encouragingly at Matt.
‘Fingers crossed,’ he indicated.
They were momentarily interrupted as Polly ordered her coffee.
‘So how’s your work going? Sorry about all that business you had recently,’ he whispered. He was worried he’d said the wrong thing as Polly seemed to stiffen at that point, perhaps Nick shouldn’t have told him about the harassment she’d suffered. He should have realised that Nick tended to get carried away and reveal some details which others would rather have kept secret. He just hoped he wouldn’t be the cause of a marital argument this evening when Polly returned home.
‘I’m fine thanks, really enjoying my new role, we’ve drawn up a really good, well we think it’s good, whistle-blower policy here, it should make things much better and avoid some of the mess I had to sort out when I was in finance.’
‘And how’s Nick doing? Is he fully recovered?’
‘Yes, he’s much better thanks, he only gets headaches occasionally now, which is a big relief. I’ve been very worried about him recently. Physically he’s OK, but...’ and she trailed off.
Matt raised his eyebrows, willing her to continue. She indicated that they should go and sit down.
‘It’s just that he’s been a bit undecided what to do as far as his career goes. I’m glad he’s taken a break, he needed to take stock and with me having this job we’re OK financially, well for a while anyway,’ and she paused to take a few sips of her drink. ‘It’s just that he seems to have these mood swings. He’s always been used to being really busy and occupied and now he’s considering a move into teaching, which is good, don’t get me wrong, but he’s missed the intake this year so needs to find something to tide him over and occupy him.’
‘It can’t be easy, I know I found it a bit hard when I left BioQex. I’m sorry to hear that he gets a bit down but I’m sure he’ll make an excellent teacher.’
‘Me too. The trouble is we’ve got a rather annoying neighbour at the moment and poor Nick is there at the house more than me and is getting a bit focused on him. I feel it’s eating away at him, sometimes he gets so depressed about it. Anyway, they’re only renting so we are hoping they will be off soon.’
‘Oh that’s a pain, we had an annoying neighbour a while ago, always coming round talking about her boys when we weren’t interested, it’s difficult, you don’t want to be blatantly rude to people like that. Sometimes we just didn’t answer the door, almost had to hide behind the sofa!’ and they both chuckled.
Polly looked at her watch, ‘It’s been good to catch up. Perhaps next time you are here we could meet up for lunch? Have a proper chat, I could even get Nick to come along and meet us here?’
‘Sounds great. Oh, look who’s decided to turn up,’ he said jokingly looking over to see Brett striding in confidently, as usual, furling his umbrella and shaking the rain off his coat.
‘Right, well good luck, Matt,’ and she waved goodbye nodding at Brett who by now had reached their table.
‘Polly, hi, not leaving on my account, is it my aftershave you don’t like?’ asked Brett.
‘Ha! No, don’t worry. Good luck, Brett, must go now,’ said Polly smiling as she hurried away.
‘Hi, sorry I’m a bit late,’ said Brett, still gazing over at Polly’s receding figure. ‘She’s an attractive lady isn’t she? Lucky old Nick.’
‘Look, you’re almost a married man,’ said Matt.
‘Spoilsport,’ replied Brett, ‘no harm in looking.’
‘Look, we need to concentrate on this morning, there are all the fine details we have to iron out.’
‘Yes, boss,’ replied Brett, ‘come on then, don’t dawdle.’
Brett could be insufferable at times but as they walked away Matt had an idea he wanted to discuss with him before they reached the professor’s office. It had been a very timely encounter with Polly.
**
Ron Radford was having a busy morning. He’d just had an update from one of his men who was undertaking some preparatory work. Things were looking promising, he’d used one of his most reliable employees. His unofficial business mobile rang once more, ‘Cole,’ he answered.
‘It’s Lee,’ said the caller.
‘Hello, my boy, I hope you’ve got some interesting news for me, I don’t like to be bothered unnecessarily.’
‘Yes, I’ve just heard that things seem to be moving at the university, so to speak. There’s another big meeting today where some consultants are going along to sort out this new spin-off company.’
‘Oh, well that is interesting,’ replied Cole.
‘Well according to that tart, Erin, it means that they should have a plan and be able to move ahead. She’s overheard that Prof speaking and he reckons if they get some more manpower sorted out and they can organise things better then, well, it will get a boost.’
‘Any idea of a time frame?’
‘Not at the moment but she’s going to have access to the minutes of the meeting today, she’s sitting in on the meeting. They’ve got lots of documents, she’s going to take some copies.’
‘Excellent. How bright do you think this Erin is?’
‘No idea, she’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but not a complete moron. She managed to get those details from personnel that you wanted didn’t she?’
‘She did indeed and we’ve been able to set up a bit of surveillance on a certain student and his pretty girlfriend.’
‘Yes, I did hear about that from chatting to the boys. Was there anything else you needed me to do? I’m more than happy to help with anything.’
‘Not at the moment. You’ve given me some things to think about, thanks, Lee. I’ll be in touch. And remember, I want to know what’s going on all the time. Got it?’
‘Yes, sure, I’ll be in touch,’ and he ended the call.
Lee’s heart had been racing. He always felt nervous when talking to Cole, he was easily upset and it wasn’t a good idea to annoy him. He needed this job though, otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to manage. Refusal to cooperate wasn’t an option otherwise he would be shopped to the police and he didn’t want another stretch inside, no way. This could be a good opportunity with Cole though, it might enable him to progress through the ranks of his team. Perhaps in the future, he wouldn’t be at the very bottom of the rung doing all the dirty work, maybe he would have a more supervisory role in charge of one of his business outlets. He needed to keep in close contact with his mate Scott and make sure he got all the information from his girlfriend Erin, he was certain he could be made to comply. After all, he wouldn’t want to look at Erin if she got knocked about a bit would he? It was lucky that Erin hadn’t been exactly whiter than white in her time at the university. Silly Scott for telling him about it he thought. He looked at his watch, he would go to the gym for a while then get some sleep before he started his evening shift at the club. Later today he would hopefully get another update on what was happening at the university.
