Page 60 of The Honeymoon Affair

‘I look forward to meeting him. I’m thrilled at the chance to work with him.’

I get the feeling she’ll handle him well. And I think he’ll like her.

Syd goes back to her desk, and I tell Graham that I’ll chat to Charles but that I’m sure he’ll be eager to receive Syd’s editorial notes and push on with the rewrites.

‘Great,’ says Graham. ‘It’s a bit of a gamble for us, you know.’

‘It’s a sure thing, Graham,’ I say.

‘I love your confidence.’

‘My confidence is in my author and in you.’

He laughs. ‘Always a pleasure to see you, Ariel,’ he says.

‘And you.’

We shake hands again and I leave his office. I wait until I’m out of the building and leaning against the wall before punching the air and reminding myself that I’m a brilliant agent.

I meet Ekene and Maya for dinner that evening. We go to a modern Spanish restaurant in Soho, where we order paella Valenciana and more cocktails than we should, given that it’s a weekday. But it’s also nearly Christmas and the restaurant is buzzing with people drinking even more than us. There’s an end-of-season feel about things, as though nobody cares about tomorrow. And I don’t care either. Because Graham has accepted Charles’s book and a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

I FaceTimed Charles from my hotel, and because I couldn’t keep the beam off my face, he knew immediately that everything was OK.

‘He loves it but is suggesting a different editor.’ I made my tone and my expression excited and positive. ‘A young woman named Sydney Travers. She has experience in the genre.’

‘I thought we were transcending genre?’

‘It’s a crime novel, Charles. That’s a genre.’

‘But it’s my crime novel. Not any old crime novel.’

He was back on the horse of confidence, obviously.

‘Of course. But better to have someone who’s good at it, don’t you think? After all, you had your beta reader look at it precisely because she had experience.’

‘You’re right.’ His voice softened. ‘Thank you so much, Ariel. You’re a superb agent. You really are.’

‘I do my best.’

‘I couldn’t manage without you.’

‘I know.’ I laughed.

‘So tell us about the book,’ demands Ekene as the waiter arrives with the bottle of champagne I ordered.

I give them a brief résumé.

‘Sounds interesting.’ Maya takes a sip of champagne. ‘How are Xerxes going to publicise it?’

‘We haven’t talked about the campaign yet.’

‘I’d be happy to work on it,’ she says.

Maya has done work for Xerxes in the past and would be a good choice for Charles’s PR, as she’s experienced with crime novels. I tell her I’ll talk to Graham.

‘Congratulations to you and to Charles.’ Ekene raises her glass. ‘The poster people for civilised break-ups and working brilliantly together.’

‘We seem to get on better apart,’ I say. ‘It was too hard to separate the personal from the professional when we were married. Leaving aside the entire Cosmo Penhaligon episode, Ma Miller was always there sniping away in the background. Which was a bloody cheek when you consider I invited her to all his book launches and the premiere of the movie. I’m glad not to have her in my life any more.’

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