Page 51 of Hit For Six
‘I’m sorry… Could I ask you to repeat that, please? It’s just that I think you might have said one-hundred thousand… of each design… and we have ten designs in our Sympathy range, so that would equal one million cards.’
‘Yes, that’s right. The population’s growing all the time, people dropping like flies.’ Hardly. Unless Lola was now inhabiting a zombie movie. ‘Best to keep our supplies up.’
‘I see.’
Lola scribbled frantically in her notebook. She stopped briefly to pinch herself on the arm in case this was all a strange dream, only to find Joanna perusing the wedding collection on the shelf next to them with a contemptuous look on her face.
‘You will get back to me ASAP, won’t you?’ She hastily stuffed the cheery cards back into the rack, slapping their tops down. ‘I’ve had several encounters with companies who’ve not taken me seriously. So much so that they’ve sent mecrickets. Most annoying when that happens. And we may as well get down to the brass tacks of payment terms now. I work on a ninety days after delivery basis.
‘Gosh,’ Lola replied, thinking there wasn’t a chance that Harry or the accounts team would be foolish enough to agree to such a risk. Especially with a new client. ‘That might be a little tricky for such a large order, but I’ll do my best.’
‘I know you will.’
There was something indeterminable in her voice. But Lola didn’t have time to analyse what because her ten o’clock appointment was hovering and she needed to wind this up quickly.
‘Could I ask you to jog my memory and remind me of your company name?’ Lola went to dig out the business card that Harry had passed her but Joanna produced another one, waving it under Lola’s nose.
‘Showdown.’
That was it. How had she forgotten already?
‘Ooh, I like that,’ she said, lowering her voice to add. ‘Too many of the clients we work with have these flimsy, candyfloss names. Showdown is strong. Less is more. No, erm… mucking about.’
‘Exactly.’ Joanna winked. ‘I like to get straight to the point.’
They shook hands and Lola wondered if lack of sleep had made her imagine Joanna’s talons scraping her hand ever so slightly as they pulled apart before she marched off. Great, now her ten o’clock had moved on to pastures new. Oh, well. Lola shovelled down the rest of her brownie. Frankly, she needed the sugar hit. That had definitely been up there with the more bizarre work meetings of Lola’s life. Thankfully, the rest of them were much more run-of-the-mill. Eventually, Lola caught up with Harry.
‘I saw you having a productive-looking chat with Joanna. I can’t believe we’ve not had the opportunity to swap notes until now. How did it go?’
Lola needed to choose her words carefully. Harry should be old enough to know better but he was notorious for getting excitable when there was even the hint of a large order.
‘Let’s just say that I would be dancing on the table if she could agree to some sensible payment terms.’
‘I’m listening.’
And he was. Suddenly Lola had his undivided attention. Something which would have been preferable in many a past situation.
‘Well, that’s exactly it. She wants to place a massive order without being reasonable regarding credit–’
‘How massive, Lola?’
Lola swore she saw Dollar signs in Harry’s eyes then. Just for a second. Exactly like in the cartoons.
‘A million units all in all,’ she said in hushed tones.
‘W-we’ll sort something out, Lola. Don’t you go stressing about that. This is just what C and C needs! Brilliant.’ He waved his fingers about. ‘Very well done, you! I might just have to dance on the table myself. I won’t forget this come pay day!’
‘But Harry. I really think that we should check–’
Lola’s advice dissipated. Harry’s next meeting had arrived and she had a train to catch.
Day two panned out almost the same. Thankfully, Joanna hadn’t wandered on with another mega order but Harry proved impossible to pin down. He simply didn’t want to listen to Lola now that she’d forwarded the details of the deal to him, formally gone back to quote Showdown, and sent Joanna the contract. No doubt he’d have added those shiny figures to the budget in a heartbeat.
That was on him. He was the boss. It made Lola ever more determined to make a success of her own venture, which she would run in a far more scrupulous fashion. On that subject, she was desperate to slip away to make some enquiries in the West End while she was in town. Noting that Harry had shaken up the schedule again today, meaning she could potentially get off early if things quietened down, she took the opportunity to put some feelers out and started to tap away at her phone. The chances of anybody coming back at short notice were slimmer than Bruce Bogtrotter being able to refuse chocolate cake, butshe had to give it a whirl. Amazingly, three theatres responded to her, they were all close to one another, and there was someone in each of them with enough seniority that she could call in for a preliminary chat today. Result!
In-between all this madness, Lola had been pebbling Monty with cat memes. And Monty had been bombarding Lola with hilarious aerial shots of his food in a lame attempt to make out that he’d always been an Insta snapper. His reconstruction of the Smith meal had been particularly impressive. She adored their banter. She adored him. And she missed him so much it physically hurt. She still couldn’t get her head around the offer he’d made, though. It felt as right as it did wrong to take the money. That wouldn’t do. She’d no idea when she would find the clarity she was looking for but she was excited that Monty had suggested a date with a difference on Sunday afternoon after he’d finished training.
Lola was just settling into her train seat, smiling once again as she took a furtive look at the notes she’d made during her meetups in the theatres on Soho’s glitziest road, Shaftesbury Avenue, when a WhatsApp notification showed up on her phone:
