Page 39 of The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love

‘A whole seven days.’

‘You know that’s enough time.’

‘George.’ She says my name so softly I feel the air leave my lungs. ‘Do you have it, yet? The big idea? Even the kernel of a big idea?’

My pacing falters. I think of all the ideas I’ve discarded. Not one gave me the tingles let alone the jolt of electricity I feel when I stumble onto the big one. ‘Okay,’ I admit. ‘I’m cutting it close with this one, but you know I’m good for it. I’ve never missed yet.’

‘But you haven’t got any workable solutions bubbling away under the surface?’

The fact that I don’t answer gives her the answer she’s been fishing for all along.

‘The agency is a team,’ she says, swinging around in her chair to face me fully. She looks me square in the eye. ‘We’re a team. Right?’

‘Right.’

She nods her head. Crosses her legs gracefully. She is always so calm. ‘So then given that, it doesn’t really matter who it is that comes up with the big idea, as long as we do come up with one, right?’

‘Wrong!’ How can she say that? Absolutely it’s on me to come up with the big idea. I’m the account manager. The brand-new senior account manager.

‘Hey,’ she soothes. ‘You think I don’t see how hard you’ve been working? It’s only been a few weeks since you had that panic attack?—’

And that she would bring that up right now… ‘That was a one-off,’ I state emphatically.

Except, it wasn’t.

I’ve been having them regularly.

Like clockwork.

‘Well of course it was a one-off,’ she soothes again, except … is it my imagination that she doesn’t sound as confident when she says it? ‘George, you think I don’t understand how that could have thrown you for a hot minute? You think I don’t know how hard it is to come up with idea after idea? That I couldn’t possibly understand the added pressure of the promotion? Of having a new team to manage? You think I don’t get how easy it is to go stale?—’

‘Stale? What the fuck, Anya?’ I’m gutted she would even insinuate this. ‘I have not gone stale. I couldn’t be less stale. Stale is not a word in my vocabulary.’

‘But you could use some help with this one account.’

It’s not a question. It’s a simple, business-like statement.

‘I don’t need Tim Duggins’ help. I can’t get behind any of his ideas and every idea I come up with he actually checks whether it’s an order or a request.’

‘I know Tim can be a little … literal, but you won’t accept my help, either?’

‘I—’

She cuts me off with, ‘Because when I take the helm at the agency I kind of thought you’d be right at my side. Or was I wrong about that?’

‘That’s not for years, yet.’

‘But you best bet I’m going to be ready for whenever the time comes, George. It’s what I’ve always wanted. I’ve been completely transparent about that with you and I’ve always been given the impression, by you, that it was what you wanted, too?’

‘Of course it is.’

‘So, what part of me helping you with this one account, actively goes against the end goal, here?’

I sigh because she’s right. I have to look at the bigger picture. ‘Let me go put on some clothes and you can tell me what you’ve come up with so far.’

Chapter Twelve

A PIECE OF THE PIE

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