Page 68 of A Lot to Unpack
Jordan is on a call when I get there, so I get to know the other members of the UK team. There’s Pete, who is some kind of tech guy, and Bella, who handles PR. It’s nice, to hear a few more English accents, to make me feel a bit more at ease. I’ve never felt more self-conscious of having a different accent, mostly just because it seems to fascinate people here. Well, I’m from Yorkshire, and that is not the accent they hear in the movies.
Eventually he emerges from a private office, Jordan, in the same shirt he was wearing last night.
He comes over, catches my eye, and smiles like he’s genuinely pleased to see me.
‘Morning,’ he says casually. ‘Sleep well?’
‘Better than you,’ I reply. ‘Have you been here all night?’
‘Yeah, I got a few hours on the sofa,’ he replies. ‘But Alison is in now, and she needs her office.’
He nods towards a woman who I recognise as the one he was in the bar with. Hmm, so it really was a work meeting.
‘Has the crisis been averted?’ I ask.
‘Just about,’ he replies. ‘Tech problem. Some kind of cyberattack, but we’re out of the woods now, I think. Although I’m sure you’d love to see someone take Matcher down, huh?’
He gives me a cheeky smile.
‘If I knew how to…’ I joke.
‘You know, if you press that big red button in the corner, you can shut the whole of Matcher down,’ he replies.
‘Oh reeeeally,’ I reply, joining in on the bit.
He grins.
‘Tempting, isn’t it?’
‘It might have been, a few months ago, but now I’m happy to let it slide,’ I say with a smile. ‘I’m over it.’
I know we’re only joking around, but I am. People are always going to do whatever they want and no one is ever going to change that by simply flicking the kill switch on one app. There are plenty of others to download.
I lean in closer and lower my voice.
‘You’ve still got my lipstick on your collar,’ I tell him, noticing the shade I was wearing last night.
He looks down, startled, then up at me with faux scandal.
‘Are you trying to get me sacked?’ he jokes.
‘It was only a light HR violation,’ I point out. ‘And I won’t tell anyone.’
‘They’ve all been too polite to mention it,’ he says. ‘But I should probably change, before my meeting later.’
‘Do you want me to run out and grab you a shirt?’ I ask.
‘Would you mind?’ he replies. ‘Don’t trek back to the hotel, buy a new one, and let me know what it costs.’
Going to his hotel room would have been ideal, as far as my mission goes, but I genuinely was just thinking about him needing a shirt.
‘No worries,’ I tell him. ‘Jot down your size and your budget, or whatever, and I’ll get right on it.’
‘Gosh, is this new girl?’ the woman I now know as Alison asks him. ‘The one you’ve been telling me about? She’s great – can I steal her?’
‘Get your own new girl,’ he replies. ‘Anyway, you’ve been with us a while now, I think you might need a new title.’
I laugh, my cheeks warming at the thought of him telling people about me.
