Page 67 of Long Story Short

‘Getting married is a pretty big thing,’ I said, thinking that Hayley’s behaviour towards her sister was really telling. I had thought her workaholic ways were something to aspire to, but although she had achieved a lot in her career, it made me determined not to be so one-track minded. Yes, work was important to me. Yes, I was ambitious. But my family and friends were important to me too. I knew if and when Liv married Aiden, I would be almost as excited as she was going to be. I didn’t understand how Hayley could be so dismissive about her own sister’s wedding. It was no wonder she didn’t care about how she’d treated me.

‘So she keeps telling me.’ Hayley folded her arms on her desk. ‘I thought we weren’t meeting until lunchtime? I’m waiting for Jake to come in and discuss the offer we had in from Craig.’

I tried not to think about how I left Jake outside the office after being so honest about my feelings for him. He was probably still standing there, stunned.

I took a deep breath as Hayley was clearly impatient for me to speak or get out. ‘I have been offered another job,’ I blurted out quickly.

Her eyes instantly narrowed.

‘When we talked about New York, you indicated that I could start to take on work that would lead to me becoming an agent,’ I carried on even though the look she was now giving me bordered on murderous. ‘But then you said it would be another six months before I could do anything outside of being your assistant. This new job will start me on track to becoming an agent straight away. And so, uh, I think for my career, I should take it.’

‘Oh, do you?’ she asked icily.

‘I am so grateful for the past six months here,’ I added quickly. ‘I have learnt so much from you, Hayley. But New York was a huge challenge and I felt like you didn’t exactly support me out there and when I came up with an idea that turned things around…’ I had to summon every bit of confidence to keep going as she stared me down. No wonder she was such a good negotiator. I was almost ready to tell her I was talking nonsense but I knew in my gut, I was right. I was scared but there was relief now I had told her my feelings too. ‘You then took all the credit for it. That was disappointing, if I’m honest.’

‘It was disappointing that I had to come out there after you were messing things up.’

That felt unfair. ‘Jake blurted out that article was true; that wasn’t my fault. I did my best to make things better after that, encouraging him to be honest… In the end, that was what worked. Wasn’t it?’ I was confused why she wouldn’t say that had been the right thing for Jake to do.

‘I am your boss and Jake’s agent. You are merely my assistant. But you think in an important meeting, I should give you credit for something that was a fluke in the first place?’

I immediately knew I had done the right thing. We both knew that had been no fluke. She really was incapable of praising someone and didn’t want to admit she had been wrong. That didn’t feel like a good mentor to me.

‘I worked hard out there. I did everything I could to help Jake. And it worked. He’s had a great offer from his publisher. But you refuse to even consider me taking on more responsibility. Simon Langley?—’

‘You’re leaving me for Simon Langley?’ she said with bitterness. Then she stood up and I took a step backwards on instinct. ‘That dinosaur? He thinks more about caring for his authors than making money,’ she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. ‘He might molly-coddle you but he won’t teach you to get the best deals, Freya. This was your opportunity here. But you’re now wasting it. You know what? Any thoughts I had about helping your career are definitely over now.’

I raised an eyebrow. ‘You didn’t give me any indication when we spoke about it the other day of wanting to help me at all.’

Her cheeks turned red. ‘You’re throwing everything I’ve done for you in my face,’ Hayley spat out now. ‘Maybe Simon “Grandad” Langley might be willing to give you a job but good luck being an agent who can’t get in to see any publisher!’

‘What do you mean?’ I asked, uneasy about the now triumphant expression on her face.

‘I’ll make sure no publisher deals with you,’ Hayley replied, her red lips curving into a smile.

‘Don’t you dare,’ came a voice from behind me.

I jumped and turned to see Jake in the doorway of Hayley’s office. I had no idea how long he’d been standing there but with the door open, he’d clearly heard Hayley’s threat.

Jake stepped fully into the room as Hayley’s smile vanished from her face. ‘Freya helped my career so much in New York. I sat back in our meeting and let you ignore what she did and take all the credit for it but I won’t stand back and allow you to ruin her reputation in our industry,’ Jake continued, sounding like his usual calm self but I could hear the edge in his tone, and I was sure Hayley did too. ‘She deserves this new job and a break in her career. And if you try to stop her, I will tell everyone you took the credit for what she did for me. Whose reputation will suffer then?’

Hayley’s mouth fell open. ‘Jake, you don’t understand?—’

‘Actually, I understand perfectly,’ he cut in. ‘You don’t like the fact Freya wants to leave but you have no say in it. You like to get your own way but that isn’t what this job should be about. Freya understands that being an agent is about listening to and supporting your clients, and doing the best for them, and not yourself. That’s why I wanted to come in and talk to you about my deal offer. You didn’t listen to me on the phone about what I wanted. All you cared about was the money they’re offering.’ Jake turned to me. ‘You should take the job, Freya. And Hayley will let you leave immediately but you’ll be paid for the rest of the month. And she won’t say anything negative about your time here.’ He immediately turned back to Hayley, our eye contact kept brief. ‘Right, Hayley?’

46

I was stunned. Jake protecting me like this… a little voice whispered that he must care about me a tiny bit to speak up for me to Hayley. But I knew he was a good man and he knew what she was threatening wasn’t right. So, maybe it wasn’t about me at all.

I wished it was, though.

Hayley sighed. ‘Whatever. Get out of my sight, Freya, and stay out of my way if we ever see each other again. I thought you had the makings of an excellent agent but I bet you’ll sink without a trace now.’ She sat back down behind her desk. ‘Let’s talk then, Jake. Freya, take all your things when you leave.’ With that dismissive ending to our six months together, she waited for us to do what she’d said.

Jake glanced back at me, gave me one nod then went to sit down opposite her. I longed for him to give me more than that but when he turned away, it felt like this was the ending for us too.

‘Okay then,’ I said awkwardly as they both looked away from me. I edged out, exhaling hard that I’d made it out of that alive. Jake had rescued what could have been a disastrous meeting and I was so grateful to him. But I was also confused about how he felt about me. I was so stunned, I forgot to close Hayley’s office door behind me when I left and it was too awkward to go back so I just hurried to my desk.

I was shocked at what had happened. I had done it, though. I had quit working for Hayley and now I could start my new job as soon as I liked, and was even going to be paid for the rest of the month. It was the best outcome possible. Jake had really stood up for me in a way no man ever had done before. And it had been pretty swoony.

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