Page 16 of How to Get Even

‘I don’t have to take anything into consideration, Dermot. You think that you can treat me like a first-time gallery director who can’t tell the difference between unsatisfying back-list paintings, rather than recent works of value. And, putting it mildly, it’s offensive.’

His tousled hair hung in tufts as if he’d run his hands through it several times. Frustration rolled off him in waves, and if Bella were honest, she didn’t actually mind that one bit.

‘Tell Michaela to call me if she wants to talk. But I’ll not deal with you again.’

And with that Chase hung up the phone.

‘I wasn’t sure if you—’ she tried.

‘I didn’t tell you to come in,’ he said, finally turning to face her.

No wonder the last comms director left. Chase Miller was clearly a monster to work for. What on earth had Astrid been thinking?

‘You didn’t tell me not to either,’ she countered saltily, stepping further into his office. She was quite aware that Maurice and Ali were capable of seeing this interaction and she didn’t want to have her authority questioned any more than it already was.

It only struck Bella, much later, that Chase might have been feeling exactly the same way.

‘I need to talk to you about the copy being used for the website’s welcome page.’

He eventually gestured for her to take a seat.

She lowered herself onto the sofa and presented him with the page pulled up on her tablet as he took a seat in the chair at her right.

Bella had marked up the copy with her concerns which he scanned with a shrug.

‘I’m not sure what the problem is.’

Which was worrying enough. She bit back a sigh. She had hoped to get him on side in the first week here. Lulling him into some kind of false sense of security. That, however, was proving to be almost impossible when he was making the most basic errors.

‘The copy here is clear, precise and informative.’

‘Yes,’ he stated.

‘But it lackstone.’

He was already glaring before she’d finished. ‘And?’

Now it was Bella’s turn to frown.

‘Well, it’s just that the copy you have here is’ – she searched for a word that wouldn’t offend – ‘a little flat.’

He simply held her gaze. Either he was being purposefully obtuse or simply didn’t care.

‘Chase, the copy lacks anything that would convey to a perspective client what it is they will experience here.’

‘I don’t want tosellan experience,’ he said as if the word was a curse. ‘The work here will speak for itself. Quality, precision and innovation are where we will attract the right clients.’

She was unable to bite back the scoff of incredulity that fell from her lips.

‘Of course you want to sell an experience. Especially on the home page of your website. You can absolutely sell quality, precision and innovation – if that’s what you want, but this,’ she said, picking up the paper. ‘No one will come for this,’ she stated boldly, suddenly free from the need to ‘play nice’ by his wholly irrational behaviour.

‘I don’t want the kind of hard sell, cynical jargonistic crap that comes with art galleries,’ Chase said, leaning back in his chair.

His phone vibrated on the table and he picked it up and put it in his pocket without checking the screen.

‘You as an artist, or you as a director?’ she said, the response slipping out quickly and deadly and landing, somewhat unintentionally, with the impact of a full punch to the jaw, from the way his eyes narrowed.

She wouldn’t regret her words. As an artist, he had shunned the fame he had found. But as a gallery director, he couldn’t afford to do the same. And while she was happy to help Chase fall flat on his face, she was less happy at the idea of him taking the gallery with him.

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