Page 80 of Another Lucky Number

‘Well done.’ She slaps me on the back once we’re done. ‘Your answers were great and you came across well. Do that tomorrow and you’ll blow them away.’

‘I reckon, after that, I could survive an MI5 interrogation.’ I mop the sweat from my brow with my napkin. ‘You’re a hard bloody taskmaster, Amber. Being serious though, I think I am ready – on the interview side. The presentation still scares the living crap out of me though.’

‘I know you’re nervous,’ says Cat. ‘Most people would be. But you’ve got fantastic content. Believe in yourself, be as natural as possible – as you’ve done here – and you’ll do amazing.’

On digesting her words, James’s comment about me reading from a script floats into my mind – an unwelcome but relevant reminder that my presentation style is anything but natural. This stirs up a nauseous feeling in my gut. He may be right, but I’m not confident enough to freestyle it.

‘You OK, honey?’ Cat seems to sense my discomfort.

I force a smile. ‘Yeah, I’m fine. Just nervous about my presentation, as I said.’

‘You’ll be glad to know then, that we’re doing more presentation practice this afternoon,’ says Amber ‘We’ll have you knocked into shape by this evening.’

‘Hmm…’ I grimace. ‘Why does that worry me more than it reassures me?’

Chapter Thirty-Two

An hour later, we’ve retrieved our beach gear from our suites and trekked across the sand to claim three empty loungers, shaded by large parasols. They’re located on a section of the beach with a cluster of towering palm trees, giving us some extra protection from the afternoon sun. We unpack our things and get comfortable, then I look around me and sigh.

‘I may be dreading whatever you have in store for me this afternoon, but I am happy that I get to do it here.’

‘Itisstunning.’ Cat follows my gaze. ‘This view… the powdery white sand and that water. It’s mesmerising. I could never get bored of it.’

‘Me neither.’

‘Are you ready for your next task then, Emma?’ Amber terminates our moment of zen.

‘Sure.’ My reply is empty of any enthusiasm.

‘Honey, before we start…’ says Cat suddenly. ‘I want you to know that your instinct about this activity is right. It’s not going to be comfortable for you, but I’ve agreed to it because I genuinely think it’s going to help you. Please keep that in your mind.’

‘There’s a statement that fills me with confidence… anditis…?’

‘We’ll get to that in a minute,’ says Amber. ‘First, let’s go back to your personal development stuff that we talked about the other night. What were your areas for improvement again?’

She’s testing me rather than asking me to help her remember, and this time I know better than to back chat her while she’s in coach mode. I close my eyes to divert my brain to where it needs to be focused.

‘We talked about… building my assertiveness… working on my impulse control… keeping things in perspective…what else?’

‘Getting over setbacks quickly and making more of your natural skills in empathy and relationship building,’ she fills in for me.

‘Ah, yeah, that was it.’

‘Any thoughts on those since we discussed them?’

‘Not really. But I’ve been busy with other stuff.’

‘That’s true, but try to keep them in your mind, so you can catch yourself in the moment and avoid continually making the same mistakes.’

‘OK, sure. I’ll give that a go.’

‘Great, then let’s get to it.’ Amber puffs herself up like she’s about to announce the winner of the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress. ‘Emma, this afternoon, you’re going to do a presentation, but not the one you’re doing tomorrow. I want you to pick a subject – anything you like – and prepare ten-minute’s worth of content. Then you’re going to deliver it to Cat, myself and some of the people on this beach.’

‘What?’ I sit bolt upright. ‘You’re kidding, right?’

‘I’m not kidding.’

‘But… I can’t do that.’

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